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businesses, regardless of size, need a plan of action which will
help them to remain a profitable, viable business capable of
growth. If you have a business idea and have just decided to enter
into business or you have an existing business and need more
information on methods of marketing then this section on market
planning will come in very useful.
Defining your aim
You will probably have a good idea what you want to achieve:
sell ice-cream to children; design web pages on the internet; sell
valves to car manufacturers. What ever your ideas you need a
starting point or business aim, once you have defined your business aim your most
important process from here on is to ensure it will work. If
you plan to use your own personal capital or borrow from the bank,
then you will have to be sure you are not barking up the wrong
tree. To ensure you are making the right choice you need to
examine the people you hope to sell to (often referred to as
conducting market research); look at
past performance of selling a similar product or service;
examine where your positives and negatives at being able to deliver
you aim and looking at external factors which might
"scupper" your plans.
Market Research
What is certain, is that you believe that your business idea
is a winner. You know this because you are in love with what
you want to sell or you have seen others do it and they have succeeded;
but it isn't as simple as this. The greatest failure of any new
business is to assume too much. What you need to do is
ensure your customers what what you intend to sell - "If
the horse aint thirsty it aint gonna drink"!
To ensure your customers have a
need to buy, you have to ask them, and the only way you are able
to do this is by conducting market research.
< More details ... >
Looking at what you know
already
For most cases you will have some information of precious selling
of your products and services.
This may be because your previous employment sold the product (you
are now a competitor of theirs) or you have sold the product for a
few years an have a history of sales. What ever reason for
this knowledge you need to measure past history to determine your
success.
<Coming soon >
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Finding your businesses strengths and weaknesses
Can I supply the demand adequately?, Is the premises adequate?, Where
do my competitors have the edge over me?, am I an experienced sales
person? .... Examining your strengths and weaknesses can help you
identify what position you are starting from and what needs to be
addressed in order for you to be a winner.
<Coming soon >
Looking at issues you cannot control
The changing economic climate, the change in technology and many other
external factors can have a grave effect on the customers you are
intending to sell to. It is wise, therefore, to examine what
external factors might affect you selling to your customers. Might
the government bring legislation which restricts your product use?, could European
law change how your product is sold or used? all these you cannot change,
but you must add them to your overall marketing equation to enable you to
come to a sensible conclusion.
Generating an action
plan
Once you have completed your research and looked at every angle of
your business and other important factors can you now start to pull this information
all together to enable you to general a plan of action. The success of a
good marketing plan is now down to balancing a good mix of marketing
solutions to drive your plan, this is known as "The Marketing
Mix". The marketing mix examines your product to help you
decide whether it is in demand or in decline; it examines the price you
intend to change and the best type of pricing policy to exploit the need;
the best place to distribute your product and the best type of promotion
you should use for the best results. If your research is thorough and you
have considered the mix, you chances of success selling your products or
services will have improved dramatically.
<Coming soon >
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