Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card

Earn 15,000 SkyMiles® with your first purchase and save 5% on all Delta flights with the Card.
Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Miles
One Delta mile for virtually every dollar you spend
Always Double Miles in select categories
Payment flexibility - Pay in full or over time
One Delta mile for virtually every dollar you spend
Unlimited fee-free Additional Cards
OPEN Savings®: Automatic discounts with FedEx, Delta®, Courtyard by Marriott®, and more

Earn 15,000 SkyMiles® with your first purchase and save 5% on all Delta flights with the Card.
Earn up to 30,000 Bonus Miles
One Delta mile for virtually every dollar you spend
Always Double Miles in select categories
Payment flexibility - Pay in full or over time
APR: Prime + 9.99%, currently 13.99%
Balance Transfer APR: 9.99% fixed for the life of the balance, for balance transfers made during the first six months of membership.
Annual fee: $85 for Basic Cardholder and up to two additional cards unless you are also the Basic Cardmember for a Qualifying Business Charge Card Product, in which case the annual fee is $30 for the Basic Card and up to two additional cards.
Insurance protection
Protects you with comprehensive insurance coverage for your purchases and piece of mind when you and your employees travel.
Access to cash
Access to cash at over 500,000 ATMs.
Emergency services
Assists you with emergency card replacement, check-cashing, and hotel check-in.
Customer service
Provides help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Financing
Get 2 fee-free Additional Cards and a credit line up to $50,000.
Savings
Receive ongoing savings at FedEx®, Kinko's® and Staples®.
Online management
Manage your account with the Small Business Dashboard, track charges with Expense Management Reports, and access Dun & Bradstreet credit services.
Community
Chat, pose questions, get insights from other small business owners, and attract new business.
Advice
Ask an expert a question, use an online tool, and read articles by other business owners.
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DID YOU KNOW?

	Discovering an error on your credit report can be disheartening, especially if you are applying for credit. However, you can write a dispute letter and get the issue resolved. The credit reporting agency is legally responsible for investigating errors, but you can also involve the informing party. Be Specific With Your Problem When you write your dispute letter, be as specific as you can about your problem. List the creditor's name and contact information. Also include a copy of the erroneous report. Highlighting or circling the incorrect information will draw attention to it. The more information you provide the credit reporting agency, the more legitimate your claim looks. Reporting agencies don't have to look into frivolous claims. So be as clear and concise as you can. Don't forget to also check the other credit reporting agencies' credit reports. You may find the same error and will have to write separate letters to each agency. Site Sources And Dates When Possible To help get your issue resolved faster, provide additional information that could be helpful. Send copies of old bills or statements that are relevant. You can also include copies of correspondences you had with the company or legal documents, such as a bankruptcy discharge. By providing additional information, you make it easier for the agency to investigate the dispute. With detailed information, they can get to the root of the problem faster. Keep Copies Of Paperwork For your own records, keep copies of all your paperwork. Note dates that you sent out the letter, along with included information. This will help you keep the parties honest. And when you do send copies, don't send the originals. You may need those later on, especially if there is a mix-up of some kind. If you have any phone conversations with the agency or creditor, also make a note of the person's name, date and time called. While you are sending a dispute letter to the credit reporting agency, also send the letter to the informing source. Many times these parties can act quicker than the agencies. Make sure to follow up your letter with a phone call after a few weeks. The sooner those errors get fixed, the better loan rates you will qualify for.

Last week we talked about a few of the ways to test the feasibility of a business idea to help determine if the idea really had merit or just looked good on the surface. To recap, I said don’t bet the farm on the opinions of friends and family, consult with knowledgeable business experts, and conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis. This week let’s take it a step further and talk about the creation of a formal Feasibility Plan which will help you determine the true feasibility of your big business idea.

A feasibility plan is just that: a written plan that is created for the sole purpose of validating the feasibility of a business idea. Some call it a “Go/No Go” plan, because the results of a well-constructed feasibility plan will tell you whether or not the idea has a chance for success (that’s a Go) or if this idea would be best left on the drawing board (that’s a No Go).

Many entrepreneurs would rather have their front teeth pulled without anesthetic than go to the time and trouble of creating a feasibility plan; often because they are afraid of what it will reveal.

The last thing an entrepreneur (particularly one without prior business experience) wants to hear is that their business idea won’t fly, so they put on blinders and resist testing the idea using real world information.

In an entrepreneur’s head every idea is a good one, every hit is a home run, and every story ends with the hero sitting on a beach drinking Mai Tai’s and lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills. No one wants to imagine the story ending any other way and many would rather bury their heads in the sand and hope for the best than to test out their ideas before execution. Trust me. I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt and paid the bill. Not a smart thing to do.

Writing a detailed feasibility plan will force you to take off the rose colored glasses and look at the idea honestly and entirely. It will help you define your market, identify your customers, potential partners and competitors, recognize opportunities and warn of potential threats.

Starting a business without testing its feasibility is like teaching your kids to swim by chucking them in the lake. It might be fun to try with your sister’s kids, but not your own… just not a good idea.

Writing a feasibility plan is much like writing a mini-business plan. The end result should be a formal document that includes an executive summary, a product or service plan, a marketing plan, a price and profitability plan, and a plan for further action. Let’s take a look at each section.

Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the first section of the plan and sums up the high points detailed throughout the remainder of the plan. The Executive Summary should include a brief, but thorough description of the idea, an overview of the products or services to be offered, the target market and target customer, startup costs, and pricing and profitability. Keep the Executive Summary to one page. I have seen Executive Summaries that rambled on for pages and pages. Keep each topic to one or two tight paragraphs and go into further detail in the individual sections of the plan.

Product and Service Plan
This section details the product or service the business will offer. The point of the feasibility plan is not only to determine the Go/No Go result, but to get you really thinking about the idea from all angles. What is the purpose of the product or service? What stage of development is the idea in? What are the limitations of the product or service? Is there intellectual property involved? Are there government regulations or product liability issues to be considered? Are there opportunities for future expansion or spin offs?

Marketing Plan
The marketing plan is one of the most important sections of the feasibility plan because it is here that you identify your market, your customer, and your competition. You will need to do market research to gather the information required to develop a realistic marketing plan. Just opening up the Yellow Pages to see what similar businesses are listed is not enough. You must have a clear handle on the size of your market, growth potential, and trends. You should identify all manner of competition (direct and indirect), and detail the advantages and disadvantages that your idea has when compared to competitors. You should also profile your target customer and tell why the customer would buy from you and not someone else.

Pricing and Profitability
The pricing and profitability section should include information on how the price of your product or service was determined and the expected profitability. Many entrepreneurs have no clue how to determine the price for their product. Some use what I call the “Shrek Method,” whereby the price is pulled out of their ear (see the movie, get the joke). There are a number of ways to determine pricing, but that’s another column. Once you have pricing data in hand, include it in this section along with details on sales estimates, costs of goods sold, gross margins, operating expense estimates, start up costs, capital expenditures, etc. The pricing section is where many ideas are abandoned because the entrepreneur discovers that the cost to deliver the goods is just too high and the profit margins just too low to merit execution.

Plan for Further Action
This final section of the feasibility plan simply details the next steps in executing the plan if a “Go” decision has been reached. Do you need capital for start up expenses? If so, how much and where will it come from? Is there a location to consider and equipment to be purchased? What role will you play in the operation of the business? Is there a business plan in work? Are there licenses that must be obtained or legal tasks like forming a corporation to be taken care of? Are there partnerships to be formed or key team members to be recruited?

Finally, don’t fear the outcome of the feasibility plan. If the feasibility plan reveals that your idea was a dud, i.e. a “No Go,” it is better to know that before spending thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars executing an idea that would have been better off left bouncing around inside your head.

Writing a feasibility plan is a pain in the neck, but so is losing your house to a failed business venture.

Take the time to do the plan. If it helps, feel free to cuss me while you’re doing it, but remember to thank me when it’s over.

Here’s to your success!