Hope and trust this note finds you well. A friendly reminder and recap of where you should be at with your business plan:
Vision — paragraph format — where is the organization heading– becoming/establishing/positioning/creating/ etc… the number one, the leader, the best, etc, organization — (be specific)– online and in the city of.. or online only… or in dade county, or south florida, or in the united states etc— highlighting where the business is going to take place is very important and will help you to be more clear and specific about your strategies, tactics, etc.
Mission — think of three steps that are going to honor and make that vision happen– then, once listed, put them together in a well structured, connected, said, paragraph format — 3, 4, lines max.
From the 3 steps in the mission- you will formulate the goals — at least 1 goal for each step– and each step got to have at least one objective. Remember the goal is broader in time frame and unit of measure– objectives also have timeframe and unit of measure, but narrower– if the goal is to increase 50% sales in the next 6 months (stick to sales, don’t make the objective about advertising, operations, etc)– the objective could be– increasing training of a new sales force by 25%, weekly. Do not get philosophical about goals and objectives– these are very specific, practical, technical, straight to be point— so yourself and those you work with understand what needs to be done, take place, due dates, what’s been assessed and what they are accountable for.
Branding 3 attributed you want to be known for or by
Marketing message – another paragraph format — well said, connected and expressed– Marketing message = branding + comp advantage + value proposition (there are videos of this on tumblr, watch them.
4 P’s — Nice or Mass?
Price — easiest formula — P= PM% (profit margin) – cost of doing business (expenses, fixed and variable, etc)— there is a video on tumblr on pricing strategy, watch it!
Product — the more niche, the more compete on benefits– the more mass, the more you compete on low prices.
Promotion– channel of advertising
Place — channel of distribution
There is a video on tumblr on the 7P’s … must watch it.
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Marketing strategy — website presence, direct marketing, etc– with an educational approach– I want you to have a website, facebook page or instagram , blogs, articles, videos, tutorial, produce a video, pictures, sketches, etc-
Marketing Tactics — perks, incentives– coupons, specials, two for 1, etc
Sales strategy — remember the sales process– the attempt to assume the sale– where, how and by whom the exchange is going to take place– outside sales force, inside sales, consultants, online, platforms, apps (if you show an app for your business more power to it– this is a real business– include real tools, strategies, etc)
Sales tactics– helps in the closing stage of the sales process to close the sale– story telling — there is a video on tumblr on story telling, must watch.
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Business culture — what kind of company would you like to work for– norms, values, principles, moral, rules, regulations, policies, norms, incentives, benefit package, flexibilities, think outside the box, be creative, adapt to new times and technology— what kind of company, ethics, you would like to work for and with… watch working for google or working for zappos on tumblr.
Your power point can be prezzie or any other– make it appealing, creative, is your visual aid to engage your audience/potential investors– and your guide, as you elaborate presentation– keep is simple– not a busy, crowded, confusing power point — bullets, images, nice colors and fonts ( even though APA format establishes 12 for font, might be to small- 14 or 16 for tittles and subtitles might be good here– make sure the audience can read– but have class and elegance when choosing fonts, styles of fonts and combination– without preventing yourself from being creative and write your own signature on your presentation– be you, be smart, be wise on your business plan choice, content and presentation!
You can have background music, not too loud, the point is to listen to you– on your primary and secondary research– you can and should have — videos, interviews, questionaries, surveys, etc — interview a business owner, make a video of yourself or potential customers, etc…
Have embedded links on your slides to support all information/content you have on the slides– either by placing those links at the bottom of the slide or immediately after any bullets or content you place on the lides– so once you click on the link, it open on a new tab– and you can defend your presentation/business and business thought process — why you selected or formulated the strategies or tactics that you did– with real data, statistics, charts, numbers, info, about the industry/competition/market/etc– collected when doing your business/marketing research