The 5P Marketing Plan: Your Competitive Edge
Every business plan is about delivering products or services in some unique way that gives you an edge over your competition. That means that you have to know what’s already out there and something about what makes one provider capture more of the market than the next guy. Most new businesses are started by individuals who have worked in their chosen industry, seen it from the inside out, and thought there has to be a better way or an untapped niche to fill.
Whatever your reason, you’ve taken the plunge and whether this is a new venture, or a deliberate evolution of an existing business, your business plan must start with your marketing plan. The balance of a business structure is built to support your ability to market, produce and distribute your products and services. Here’s a quick summary of what you will need to include:
Profiles of Your Ideal Clients – Determine the demographic (e.g., age, gender, occupation, marital status) and the psychographic (e.g., interests) profile and the specific wants and needs of your ideal clients. Find out where they meet (online and in person), what they read, and what they do for entertainment.
Prospecting and Sales – Target your promotions, networking, social media, and other marketing where they are most likely to see you and where you can create mutually beneficial relationships with the decision-makers who influence them. Research what has the greatest chance of reaching them and prompting them to do business with you (e.g., networking, advertising, social media, web site, joint ventures, cold calling). Identify the processes you will use to reach them, convert them and retain them as clients. What are their biggest problems and how will you solve them? What is your Unique Selling Proposition?
Pricing and Positioning – Will your product be a Nissan Micra in your industry (the lowest priced new car in Canada), a Jaguar or a Lamborghini? Your answer will determine your pricing and positioning strategy and the kind of investment you’ll need to make to build credibility as a new business and to reliably produce a quality product in that price range. It will also help you decide what sort of offers you will make to entice your prospects to “test-drive” your products and services and to increase your prices as you add value in the future.
Projections – Your financial projections must show how many units you have to sell by when, at what price and at what cost. They include having a budget and a cash flow management system without which you can easily run out of capital before you have enough sales momentum to survive. Whether you are comfortable working with numbers or not, this is a crucial part of your marketing strategy.
Profits – This is your bottom line – what’s left over after you and everyone else gets paid. It’s the money you’ll need for re-investment in new products and services and for expansion in the future. It’s what makes your business a business instead of a hobby or a charity.
And that’s what makes the balance of your Business Plan necessary. But this will give it a kick start.
Happy Prospecting!
For other ideas on the same subject, check out
http://magneticbusinesssolutions.com/take-your-business-from-passion-to-profit/
http://magneticbusinesssolutions.com/why-have-a-business-plan-anyway/
http://magneticbusinesssolutions.com/business-start-up-whats-your-plan-b/
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