Course: SLF 130 Marketing Practices for the Small Business

Unit 7 Reading

SubTabs

- Unit 7
- Table of Contents (Selected)
- Unit 7 Glossary (Selected)

Creating Your Business Plan Page 5

Marketing and Sales Plan

Marketing is the process of creating customers, and customers are the lifeblood of your business. In this section, the first thing you want to do is define your marketing strategy. There is no single way to approach a marketing strategy; your strategy should be part of an ongoing business-evaluation process and unique to your company. However, there are common steps you can follow which will help you think through the direction and tactics you would like to use to drive sales and sustain customer loyalty. An overall marketing strategy will generally include information about your important strategies.
Strategy | Questions to Answer
Overall Marketing Strategy
- How will you reach the people who are interested in your product or service?
- How will you gain market share (a sustainable percentage of persons that will become repeat customers)?
Growth Strategy
- After you have reached your first target group, how will you continue to expand?
- Will you provide the same type of products to different users?
- Will a product or service expansion be viable in the future?
Media and Communication Strategy
- How are you going to reach your customers?
- Have you considered social media, promotions, advertising, public relations, personal selling?
- What printed materials such as brochures, catalogs, flyers will you produce?
Sales Force Strategy
- Are you going to rely on a sales force?
- Will they go into the field to meet customers?
- Do you plan to use internal or independent representatives?
- How many salespeople will you recruit for your sales force?
- How will they be trained?
OTHER BUSINESS PLAN SECTIONS TO CONSIDER

Funding Requests

- Current and future amounts
- Use of funding
- Financial strategies that will impact your ability to repay loans

Financial Projections

- 3-5 year history of your financial performance
- First year monthly or quarterly projections
- Forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, capital expenditure budgets

Appendix (details as they apply to your business)

- Credit history (personal & business)
- Resumes of key personnel
- Product pictures
- Details of market studies
- Licenses, permits or patents
- Legal documents including copies of leases, building permits, contracts
- Business consultants, including attorney and accountant