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A Salute to Women in Business 2012
A no nonsense marketing plan Doing business without a marketing plan is like driving without a map—you may get to your destination but you risk making time-consuming and costly errors along the way. You might be assuming there’s demand for your product when there isn’t, for example. Your services might be priced too low. Or you could be venturing into a market that is impenetrable because of regulatory restrictions.
CONFIDENT MARKETING PLAN
The only way to start a business venture with confidence is to develop a good marketing plan—one that’s backed up with facts and research. This document clearly shows how you’ll attract customers to your product or service and persuade them to buy. The marketing plan also builds confidence with financial institutions, showing lenders that your business has a good chance of being successful. Contrary to popular belief, a marketing plan is not a one-time effort destined to sit in a binder on your desk. On the contrary, it should be updated on a regular basis to reflect the changing needs of your business and customers. There are many different models for marketing plans. Here are seven essential ingredients.
1. DO A SITUATION ANALYSIS
Many companies start with a SWOT analysis, looking at their firm’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This involves identifying your competitors, understanding exactly how they operate and becoming familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. Strengths are any competitive advantage, skill, expertise, proficiency, talent or other factor that improves your company’s position in the marketplace and can’t be easily copied. Weaknesses are the factors that reduce your company’s ability to achieve its objectives independently. Examples include unreliable delivery, outdated production tools, insufficient marketing efforts and a lack of planning. Opportunities are ways for your business to grow and be more profitable. These can include seeking new markets, managing technological change or addressing new consumer trends. You need to look at how your company’s main skills can be used to take advantage of these opportunities.
2. PROFILE TARGET MARKET
Here you want to demonstrate that you know your customers inside and out, including their expectations and their whims. Your profile should include basic demographic portraits that paint a clear portrait of your clients. Look at characteristics such as age, sex, profession or career, income level, level of educational attainment and geographic location.
3. ESTIMATED DEMAND
You’ll want to provide re-
search that shows the estimated demand for your product or service as well as the rate at which that demand is expected to grow. This builds confidence within financial institutions that your business has growth potential.
4. PURCHASE MOTIVATION
It’s also important to understand exactly what motivates customers to buy. Are your clients looking for savings or a way to simplify their lives, for example, or are they just shopping for pleasure? Ask yourself why they would buy your product or service. In the same vein, you may want to know what keeps customers away from your competitors’ products or services. Are they too costly? Do they lack something unique? These insights will help you develop a product or service that outshines the competition.
5. SET CLEAR OBJECTIVES
Here you describe the desired outcome of your marketing plan with attainable and realistic objectives, targets and a clear time frame. The most common approach is to use marketing metrics. For example, your market objectives could look at total market share and segments, the total number of customers and percentage retained, the proportion of your potential market that makes purchases and the size or volume of those purchases.
6. DETERMINE YOUR STRATEGY
Once you’ve determined your objectives and targets, it’s time to look at how you’ll promote your business to prospective customers. Strategies typically cover the Four Ps of marketing—
Glenda A. Peacock Glenda is a lawyer with the firm Smith Peacock. G She Sh obtained her Bachelor of Commerce Degree at the University of Calgary and her Law Degree at UBC. Glenda has been practicin practicing law for over 20 years in Kelowna. She specializes in the area of civil litigation, with an emphasis on family and estate litigation matters. Glenda is certified as a Family Law Mediator and is also a member of the Okanagan Collaborative Family Law Group. Glenda’s goal is to achieve positive results for her clients in a cost-effective and timely manner.
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product, price, place and promotion. Your choice of marketing vehicles will be governed by the profile of your target market, so you need to understand how different vehicles reach different audiences. Don’t always assume you have to spend money on costly advertising. If you have a niche audience, for example, you can take advantage of low-cost marketing strategies such as email. The costliest options are usually advertising, sales promotions and public relations campaigns. Referrals and networking are lower-cost ways to reach customers, and e-marketing is a powerful strategy because it is inexpensive and effective in reaching target markets.
7. DO YOUR FINANCIALS
A marketing plan without financials has little clout. Financials can also be included in a general business plan. One document you’ll need to produce is a budget and sales forecast. This needn’t be complex; in fact, it’s wise to keep it simple. It may help to start with the following questions: • How much do you project that you will sell? • What will you be charging? • What will it cost to produce your products or deliver services? • What will be your basic operating expenses? Be sure to include recruitment costs and salaries. • How much financing will you need to run your business? • A break-even analysis is another important step in developing your marketing plan. This analysis shows exactly how much you need to sell to cover your costs.
CAPITAL NEWS
Going green will pay big dividends
Canadians have come a long way over the last decade when it comes to awareness about environmental issues and the importance of sustainable practices. And entrepreneurs are no exception. An increasing number of business owners are committing themselves and their companies to improved environmental performance. This is good news for the planet and the bottom line, says Ian MacFadden, vice-president of BDC Financing and Consulting. “A proactive approach to sustainability can pay dividends in reduced waste, higher efficiency and increased customer engagement without requiring large capital outlays,” MacFadden says. A 2007 survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business identified the most important environmental issues for entrepreneurs. At the top of the list were recycling (59.8%), energy conservation (56.1%) and clean water and sewage (50.8%). Note that the top two, at least, involve process changes that don’t necessarily require large capital expenditures. The study also found a near consensus on the idea that it’s possible to grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. And entrepreneurs indicated that they are motivated to protect the environment both as a reflection of their personal views and as a potential source of cost savings. MacFadden says there are at least three practical reasons for undertaking an environmental review of your business and then taking action to improve your performance. 1. The trend toward resource conservation and sustainable development is here to stay. It has grown over the past 50 years and will advance even faster over the next 50. 2. Businesses that supply large corporations are increasingly being required to improve their environmental performance. For example, Walmart, the world’s largest company, now obliges its suppliers to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Companies looking for business opportunities in supply chains would be wise to act now on improvements. One important way to achieve the goal is to implement an ISO 14000 Environmental Management System (EMS). 3. Consumers are leading the environmental awareness trend and will increasingly “vote with their wallets.” Products and services that are eco-friendly are already in higher demand, and overall corporate environmental responsibility is a key consideration for consumers. In fact, a 2009 report by the Conference Board of Canada predicted that a green marketing strategy will be the most important source of competitive advantage for companies in the future. However, the conference bBoard report also warns that green strategies must be backed by real action. Otherwise companies leave themselves open to accusations of “greenwashing.” “It’s never too late to get started on greening your business,” MacFadden says. “For all of us, becoming more environmentally sensitive is a work in progress. You don’t have to be perfect; but you do have to do more than just talk about it.”
Barbara van Steenoven “If you ask me why I choose to work in real estate, I will tell you every time that it is because I love the people! From the first time home buyers to the empty nesters looking to downsize, the purchase of a new home is one of the most important decisions most individuals make in their lifetime and imp I dedicate my efforts towards ensuring that the experience is a great one. With over 24 years experience in direct sales and marketing, I know the critical importance of providing my clients with exemplary customer service! I have always prided myself in building business through referrals so your satisfaction in a job well done is vital to me. I look forward to helping you or your friends and family make a smooth and enjoyable transition into your next home.”
250-801-9500 Cellular 250-768-2161 Office barbv@royallepage.ca