HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN: PART 2

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THE RIGHT PLAN

If you're still reading this article there is a good chance you will take the next crucial step and set aside some time to start working on your Small Business Marketing Plan. The whole process will probably take you anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, from start to finish, depending on your time availability and how much time you have already put into thinking about all the pertinent issues.

Much of your time will be spent researching and rethinking your original plans and ideas.

There are many ways to write a marketing/business plan, some of which are more helpful than others. In this section we will use a free sample business plan to illustrate each of the ten components of a business plan (which we will refer to as a marketing plan or business plan)

Here are the ten critical components you need to create a solid Business Marketing Plan:

1. Executive Summary and Company overview
2. Services and Products
3. Target Market
4. Competition
5. SWOT Analysis
6. Positioning, Competitive Advantage, and Unique Selling Proposition
7. Marketing Strategies
8. Financial Plan
9. Contingency Planning
10. Your Biography

Over the next few pages we will talk about the specific sections you should include in your marketing plan. I strongly encourage you to work along in your book or on your computer as you read through each section, rather than waiting until a later date to start writing your plan.

Executive Summary and Company Overview

An Executive Summary is a one page overview of your entire company designed so that a person totally unfamiliar with your business can easily and quickly know exactly what you offer, who you service, and how you help. It should be the last part you write in your Marketing Plan because most of the information you need to put in it comes from the other sections. The common parts of a Summary are: the company mission statement, goals & objectives, and a brief description of: services offered, target market, and marketing strategies.

Company Mission Statement: include a short mission statement of 30 words or so that succinctly states why your company exists, what it will provide, and to whom it will provide it. Let's use a fictional small business coaching practice for purposes of an example.

The Chicago Coaching Network (CCN) is a premier executive coaching and leadership development firm specializing in work with top-level executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners to help them experience significant increases in performance, productivity, and profitability.

Company Objectives: describe the top three to five goals and objectives you have for your company. For example,

 

	To experience at least a 50% increase in annual revenues every year.
	To make more than $500,000 annually just from my coaching services.
	To invest at least 50% of my time in marketing-related activities until I have a steady stream of new clients and am able to build up at least a 3 month waiting list.

Services and Products offered: list the full range of services and products you will provide. For example:

CCN will offer: 1-on-1 business coaching, career coaching, executive coaching, leadership development, team coaching, corporate training, workshops, seminars, coach training events, and a “How to” book on strategies for leadership development.

Target market: provide some detail about your top target markets.

CCN will target owners of small businesses within 20 miles of downtown Chicago. A small business shall be defined as: a company with less than 100 employees, privately or family owned, and $5 to $50 million in annual revenues.

Services and Products

Describe which services you will offer and to whom you will offer them. Explain why you are offering that particular service to that specific market. For example, perhaps you offer career coaching to mid-level executives, creative workshops to aspiring authors, or team building experiences to professional service firms. Why does that specific market need your particular services?

List as many features and benefits of your services and products as possible. You will use these over and over again in your marketing efforts so spend a good amount of time on this section.

Using our fictional coaching company, some of the benefits for personal coaching might include:

 

	Achieve your life goals faster
	Move from a life of success to significance
	Stop tolerating the things in life that keep you down
	Identify and overcome the obstacles to your personal success
	Experience more satisfying relationships

Possible benefits for small business coaching might include:

 

	Enhanced leadership performance in times of change and transition
	Experience significant increases in employee motivation and productivity
	Understand the difference between building a company and having a job
	Decreasing conflict between owners and partners
	Discovering how to use your competitive edge for maximum impact
	Create a business environment that produces better results faster with fewer resources

Write down the services you want to offer, which target market you will offer that service to, and why that specific market needs your particular services

Write down the specific benefits, results, and value each service brings to each target market.

Target Market

Provide detailed information of who your primary and secondary markets are including: age, gender, location, income level, socioeconomic status, education, industry, profession, title, position in company, life stage, personal interests, motivational methods, major personal and professional challenges, all their points of pain, buying habits, and any other distinguishing characteristics about them. The point is to create a comprehensive profile of everything you know about your markets because the more you know about your markets the easier it is to identify them and market to them. If you need more help, please email us and request the Target Market Identification Inventory.

Competition

Every company has competition and regardless of how unique you believe your services are there are many other people and companies doing exactly what you do, or your prospects believe they do exactly what you do.

Take our fictional example, the Chicago Coaching Network, a coaching company practicing in Chicago who does executive coaching and leadership development for small to mid-size companies. For competitors, the most obvious choice is other Business Coaches, but they have many other competitors including:

 

	business consultants
	small management consulting firms
	large national management consulting firms
	executive recruiting firms
	personal coaches who work with businesses and professionals
	industrial/organizational psychologists
	organizational development consultants
	workshops and seminars put on by major companies (e.g., Linkage, Skill Path, Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey, Anthony Robbins, the American Management Association)
	local graduate business programs with courses in leadership
	a stagnant economy because companies cut back on their budgets during these times
	best selling books and tapes on leadership
	national conferences on leadership development

A competitor is anyone or anything a prospect can and will spend money on that they perceive will achieve the same or similar results and benefits that you state your services provide. Reread that carefully, because who your competition is depends on your client’s perspective, not yours.

You do not need to know everyone of your competitors, nor do you need to know everything about them. You do need to know who the key players are in your area, which ones target your exact market, the one who are the most aggressive in their sales and marketing efforts, and the best of the best. What do you need to know about them?

 

	Name of company and key executives
	Who some of their clients are
	What kind of fees they charge and any “hidden” costs
	How do they price their services (by the hour, six month packages, a percentage of revenues)
	How their business has been going in the last six to twelve months
	What they do for marketing (networking, direct sales force, the internet, advertising)
	How to differentiate yourself from competitors when talking to prospects
	Their strengths and weaknesses
	The 10 best reasons why prospects should buy from you instead of them

How do you find out all this information? Here are two simple ways to do a competitive analysis:

1. Use the power of the internet. Many companies have websites; read through every page and take notes. Use your favorite search engine to track down articles they have written, stories about their key executives, or their company history.

2. Send for some information. Call them up as a prospect, ask their sales department several key questions, and request they mail you some information.

To read the next section on the next six critical components of writing a business plan click here.