Month: October 2020

Project management skills are absolutely essential for entrepreneurs. You will need to make deadlines to get your product on the market in a reasonable timeframe. You will also need to work on limited resources to create and distribute the best possible product.

What A Project Manager Does

Some entrepreneurs delegate startup project management to a trusted and experienced project manager. In the early stages of your startup, however, it is more than likely that you will be your organization’s primary project manager.

Timeliness, cost and quality are the three key areas of concern when managing a project. You will need to allocate resources and time efficiently for optimal results and on-time completion. You will also need to establish working relationships with everyone on your team and communicate every step of the way to ensure the project milestones are met.

The Steps Of Project Management

The process of managing a project for your startup can be broken down into seven steps.

1. Project selection. First and foremost, choose a project that is worth pursuing. Define a main goal and a tentative end date. Your project might be to design and launch a new product, to create an advertising campaign, or to market to a new audience. It should be specific; rather than “increase sales,” start a project to “increase international sales by 25 percent.”

• Break it down. Set mini-goals that lead up to completion. Goals should describe actions, such as “complete draft of print ad” and “distribute customer survey.” Create deadlines by which each mini-goal should be completed.

• Set a budget. Break down the overall project budget to correspond with mini-goals. Allow room for revision.

• Manage risk. Your project may cost more than expected, or a team member may suddenly drop out of the job. While you cannot predict all mishaps, having backup plans helps prevent delay.

• Delegate responsibilities. Choose a skilled project staff with which you have established working relationships. Discuss each role, and make sure your staff agrees that the deadlines are reasonable and achievable.

• Start the project. Request updates and check in with each department on a daily basis to ensure each milestone is reached on time.

• Complete and evaluate. As you wrap up the project, evaluate the results, as well as the total costs.

Helpful Tools For Project Managers

Assign one of your project staff members to be a scribe during your meetings. This person will take notes and submit a summary of the meeting to each member. A coordinated summary puts everyone on the same page.

Online project management apps are a godsend for startup projects, especially if some or all of your staff works remotely. There are numerous tools available for different operating systems. Choose one that creates a mutual workspace where team members can share files, updates and notes. This ensures nobody gets left out of an email correspondence or misses an update.

Communication failure is one of the biggest obstacles to working with a group. Your staff should be able to communicate problems to you as soon as they arise for swift resolution. A great project manager communicates well and sets clear guidelines that lead to optimal results.

It’s likely that you have heard of a mission statement. It may sound like a wishy-washy buzzword, but it’s actually a very purposeful way to begin your marketing plan and communicate your company’s founding values to customers, investors and employees. If you’re in the beginning stages of starting a business, or if you think your existing statement needs a makeover, read on for inspiration.

Your business’ slogan is a different element entirely. While your slogan should be catchy and memorable to customers, your mission statement is written on the behalf of your company, your employees and your brand. It will be between one and five sentences, and its style and focus is entirely up to you.

3 Examples Of Mission Statements from Fortune 500 Businesses

What could be a better way to drum up your new mission statement than by drawing inspiration from the greats? Use these examples to explore a few different types. There’s no one way to create a brilliant, substantive summary of your business’ objectives and philosophy. You can choose whichever way best represents your company’s persona.

1. The Walt Disney Company: “The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.”

The Walt Disney Company uses two long sentences to describe its entertainment and production business. They have chosen to mention their use of innovation to lead the whole world in entertainment. While not as magical as everything else that comes from the world of Disney, it succinctly and accurately describes just what the company strives to achieve.

2. CVS Corporation: “We will be the easiest pharmacy retailer for customers to use.”

CVS Corporation uses just 11 words to convey a customer-centric philosophy. It is clear that CVS does not make a priority of being the cheapest or most widespread pharmacy retailer; just the one that gives customers the easiest and most convenient experience.

3. Dole Food Company: “Dole Food Company, Inc. is committed to supplying the consumer and our customers with the finest, high-quality products and to leading the industry in nutrition research and education. Dole supports these goals with a corporate philosophy of adhering to the highest ethical conduct in all its business dealings, treatment of its employees, and social and environmental policies.”

Dole Food Company’s mission statement, like Disney’s, is composed of two long sentences. However, many goals are detailed in these sentences: a high quality standard for their products, fair employee treatment, good ethics and concern for the environment.

Length does not denote quality or completeness. In fact, you might be surprised to find that it is more difficult to condense your business objectives into fewer words. Coming up with a page full of information on what your company is about will be easy. Abridging it to just one or two sentences will take much more thought.

An excellent mission statement serves as a reminder to yourself and your employees as to what your company strives towards. It will help guide your decisions that those of your managerial staff. You might decide to focus on your product’s affordability, your service’s high quality standards, your fair treatment and compensation of employees, or just what exactly it is about your business that makes it the best.