This is Part 3 in a 4 part series on writing a business plan.
Products and Services
In this section, you will explain what you will be offering in terms of
products and/or services. You
will also want to explain what gives you an advantage over other companies.
Finally, you will want to explain your pricing structure.
The marketing
plan has seven subsections. They include
·
Financial
Research
·
Product/Service
Research
·
Customer
Base Research
·
Competition
Research
·
Niche
Research
·
Strategy
Plan
·
Sales
Forecast
1. Financial Research
This section
deals with the financial facts concerning your business. In order to determine
if your company can succeed in the marketplace, you have to understand the
marketplace. This subsection should answer such questions as:
What is the
population in the area you will be serving?
How many
people in the market area have need of your service?
Is it
possible for your business to grow in this market? You can show this by showing
the growth of the area or the current growth of the market or both.
What
“barriers to entry” would keep you from entering the marketplace?
You
will also explain how changes in the economic environment could affect your
business.
2. Product/Service Research
In this
section, your research concerns what your potential customers will see in your
product/service and what benefits they will derive from using your
products/services.
Also list
what after-sale services you will give.
3. Customer
Base Research
Demographics
include who your customers are, where your customers live, and what they are
like.
For each
group, you need to create a demographic profile. Depending upon your “perfect”
client, the demographics will change. This profile can consist of:
- Age
- Sex
- Location
- Income
- Marital Status
- Home Ownership
- Etc
4. Competition Research
This
subsection helps you identify other companies that compete with you and in what
way.
You will also
want to list indirect competitors, or those companies whose businesses have
services that overlap yours.
Finally, you
will want to compare your services with those of your competition.
5. Niche Research
It is not
possible to market to everyone, nor would you want to. Some clients are simply
not good for your business. Therefore, after looking at all the different
client possibilities, write a short, one paragraph definition of your niche
market.
6. Strategic Plan
First, you
will need to know how you plan to promote your service to your niche.
What sort of
advertising will you do? How often? Why?
What low cost
paid advertising will you use?
What no cost
promotions will you use to get the word out?
What type of
graphics will you need for your strategic plan?
Explain your
system for keeping up with your clients.
What is the cost associated with your promotional strategy? How much
will you need when the company starts and how much for ongoing promotional
costs?
How will you
set your prices? Are your prices competitive? Are your customers likely to shop
price or quality?
Explain why
your business works well from home and does not need a storefront.
7. Sales Forecast
A sales
forecast is all about the numbers. It is a month-to-month projection of your
expenses versus your income. When you make this projection, it should be based
on:
- Your historical sales
- Your marketing strategies
- Your market research
- Industry data
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