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Creating A Business Plan

You could just decide to take a shotgun approach to marketing. Flying by the seat of your pants and making adjustments and new plans as you go. Not only would this be hard to manage, it would also risk forgetting critical processes.

Being a small business is all about flexibility, speed and creativity, but that doesn't relieve a smart small business owner from developing a strong marketing strategy. Let's look at what you need to do to create a workable marketing plan.

The approach outlined here is consistent with the recommendations of the U.S. Small Business Association. Some of the text regarding certain aspects of creating your own marketing plan has been taken directly from SBA materials.

The first thing you have to do is to define your business. That might seem overly simplistic and like a waste of time to you. After all, you live, breathe, eat and sleep your business already. However, breaking it down helps make the process run more smoothly.

Consider the following as you define your business:

• Your product or service
• Your geographic marketing area - neighborhood, regional or national
• Your competition
• How you differ from the competition - what makes you special
• Your price
• The competition's promotion method
• Your promotion methods
• Your distribution methods or business location

Customer Profile

Now that you have outlined your business, it's time to start writing about your customers. Break them down based upon the following:

• Your customer base: age, sex, income, neighborhood
• How your customers learn about your product or service - advertising, direct mail, word of mouth, Yellow Pages
• Patterns or habits your customers and potential customers share - where they shop, what they read, watch, listen to
• Qualities your customers value most about your product or service - selection, convenience, service, reliability, availability, affordability
• Qualities your customers like least about your product or service - can they be adjusted to serve your customers better?
• Prospective customers whom you aren't currently reaching

See how things are taking shape? Your small business is coming into focus a bit more clearly, already. Now you need to define both your overall marketing plan and your budget based upon it.