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3月31日 Building Your Business Plan: The Sales Plan - Part 6
The Sales Plan is an extension of the fourth “P”, Promotion. One of the challenges businesses often face when developing their business plans is selecting the most effective sales channel for the product or service that will be offered. For instance, if you’re business provides services personally, the individual participation in the sales process can be extensive and time consuming. If the business deals in the production and sale of large quantities of products with limited service expectations, the business will face a much different challenge, as the customers may not know or care who you are. The importance of understanding the type of business you are and what the product and/or service mix will be is crucial in determining the Sales Plan portion of the Business Plan. The focus of the Sales Plan for the purpose of this discussion is based on personal selling, where the individual participation in the sales process is needed. There are a few core competencies that all successful Sales Professionals should have to make the sales process efficient and effective. These competencies however will not make the sale, it is the sales person themselves who engage the prospect and close the deal. The focus on hiring the right sales person is crucial, so make sure that you have identified what characteristics you are looking for from that individual. If you are going to be the sole sales force, you should still indentify the characteristics and skill sets needed to be successful, and invest in the time and resources in yourself to learn the skills needed to meet the expectations. Core Competencies of the Successful Sales Professional¨ Accountability ¨ Achievement Oriented ¨ Action Oriented ¨ Adaptability ¨ Builds Effective Teams (Teamwork) ¨ Builds Relationships ¨ Business Acumen / Information Seeking ¨ Continuous Learning & Self-Development ¨ Flexibility / Versatility ¨ Integrity ¨ Interpersonal Savvy ¨ Leadership ¨ Organizational Awareness ¨ Persistence ¨ Problem Solving Once you have found the “right fit” for the organization, it is then time to educate them on the product and/or service that they will be selling, provide them with the proper tools (sales brochures, testimonials, competitive advantages, sales presentations, etc.), and give them the support needed to grow your business. It will be important to spend time with this person, to establish reporting procedures, and to open a two-way communication channel that allows you to see and hear the feedback and desires of the clients and potential clients. (To be continued) 3月25日 Building Your Business Plan: Marketing & Sales – Part 5
At this point, you have now identified your product and service offering, and your work on the Market Analysis has provided you with a set of potential customers. Now it is time to reach out and grab those potential customers in a targeted fashion. The Marketing & Sales plan explains how to reach your customers and how you will effectively market your product or service to those customers. This portion of your business plan gives you a step-by-step plan to promote and sell your products or service, providing a timetable for the specific actions to occur. Traditionally, a Marketing & Sales Plan follows the 4 P’s of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. To keep your plan as streamlined as possible, I would recommend using the four P’s as a guideline, although depending on the complexity of your business and competitive landscape, you may need to delve further into some of these areas. The development of the 4 P’s is best done through answering a series of questions for each. Product¨ What are the goods and/or services that your business will be offering? ¨ How are your offerings better than those against which they will compete? ¨ Why will the consumers choose you to purchase these goods and services from? Price¨ How much will you charge? ¨ How will you balance between sales volume and price to maximize your company’s net income? ¨ Will you be testing multiple price points? ¨ Will you be offering discounts, such as volume discounts or introductory specials, and if so, under what circumstances will the discounts be offered? Note on Pricing – all pricing strategies depend upon a balance of three critical influences: Cost, Competition, and Demand. The real concern for almost all small businesses is to price their product or service at a level that will cover all expenses and that the consumer will accept. This generally translates into a pricing framework that aligns closely to those of the primary competitors, thus your company must provide added value or better quality to secure the business! Place¨ Which sales channels are you most likely to use? ¨ Will you sell by telephone, internet, or will your product or service be offered at retail locations? ¨ Which channel will let you reach your target market most economically? ¨ Which channel provides you with the greatest ease of entry against the competition with the least financial risk? Promotion (Often Includes the Sales Plan)Once you have determined all of the above, you will need to communicate to your target buyers (consumers). Most businesses will need to use all three of the components of Marketing Communications – Promotion, Advertising, and Public Relations, in some combination. To do so effectively, you will need to narrow down the available choices and build a communications program that makes sense. Here are five tips to building such a communications program:
Your Marketing & Sales Plan should incorporate a calendar that ties in your marketing and sales activities. As your business expands, or as new products and services are offered, you will be able to utilize the calendar to prepare the market in advance as an introduction. Sales PlanAs stated earlier, your sales plan may be included in the Promotions part of your Marketing Plan. However, if you are planning on using personal selling as a large part of your sales strategy, and especially if you are planning on utilizing a sales force, you will need to devote a separate section to your sales plans. Tomorrow we will expand on the Sales Plan, so check back then. (To be continued) 3月12日 Building Your Business Plan: Products & Services – Part 4
During your efforts to develop the clear Business Description, the research and data that you uncovered when analyzing the market, you most likely kept thinking of the product and service that you will be offering. That said, the description of your product or service should be easy, right? Not so fast, remember that it is your idea and others will need to have the details spelled out to them to get a full understanding of its true value. Although the product and service description sounds somewhat redundant to the business description, it is important. Be aware though not to over think it. Make the description clear, simple to understand, and show the product or services benefits, applications, and what it means to the consumer. You will want to start with a clear statement of what the product is or what service your business will be providing. Focus on the factors that differentiate your product or service from a customer’s perspective compared to what your competitors are currently providing or offering. Explain what it does, how it works, what its life expectancy is, and what options are available. Make sure not to use internal industry lingo so that persons outside of your circle of influence can understand it. This is very important if your plan is going to be written for an external audience. Within your description you will provide complete comparisons of your product to your competitors in the market. This can be done easily through the use of a table with side-by-side comparisons, an example of which is shown below. This section does not have to be done for all business plans, but is highly recommended if you are seeking financial assistance from an outside source, as it will become a focal point of their decision making process. Table 1.0: Product / Service Comparison
Source: Above information is a comparison of Online Course Deliver Software Products in a study completed by Marshall University found at: http://www.marshall.edu/it/cit/webct/compare/comparison.html Two other areas to consider for the product and service description are who your suppliers are and what future products or services could be available from your company. Once again, these are particularly important if you are seeking outside financing or investment, but even if you are not, establishing the supply chain and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your vendor relationships can save you time and energy in the future. As for future products and services, keep things in perspective and know that the competitive nature of the global economy we live in requires everyone to adapt to change, and your local business is no different. Embrace the phrase “Change is Good” and use your openness and willingness to change as a competitive advantage for your organization.This is the third step in creating your Business Plan. You are now well on your way to putting your new ideas into action and creating a business plan that will work as your road map for the organization. You may find it helpful at this point to have someone without the emotional attachment you have to evaluate your plan. This is a good time to engage an outside mentor or advisor, such as e-Future Consulting Group , to assist in this evaluation. Unbiased feedback is critical for uncovering areas of risk and opportunity that you may have overlooked, and the small investment in utilizing such a resource pays big dividends in the long run. 3月10日 Monday Morning Quarterback
Happy Monday and Congratulations, you made it through the weekend! Our Monday Morning Quarterback entries are based on what the headlines are in today’s business sections and on topics that peak my interest. This segment will be a standard Monday entry, and will include links to other blogs and news that I feel are interesting. So check us out each Monday and enjoy. Odds and EndsThis past week we began the discussions of writing a Business Plan for that great idea you have. We’ll continue with the next steps later on this week, but first I thought it was ironic and appropriate that in today’s Wall Street Journal on-line, Kelly Spors, in her Small Business blog titled “The 100 Page Start-Up Plan – Don’t Bother”. Kelly is spot on when it comes to plans, it’s not how big they are or how much data you can regurgitate that will make your plan successful, it’s about taking action, albeit smart action. TechnologyOK – in a show of hands, how many of you out there felt that Microsoft just wasn’t embedded enough in our daily lives, both business and personal? Well, they obviously feel that they have much more to offer, and today announced that they have expanded their Online Services (Microsoft Expands Online Services – Wall Street Journal). These services are in essence just online versions of the Microsoft Office software the majority of us are using on our own PC’s, but Microsoft feels they must jump on the trend to web-based services or potentially drop behind the Google’s and Yahoo’s of the world. Let’s hope it works out for them, as I can’t imagine the world as we know it without Bill Gates and company. EconomyIs it just me, or is anyone else wondering what those poor oil companies did before $100+ a barrel of oil? The thought of $4 a gallon gasoline not only turns my stomach, but it stomped on my wallet as well – U.S. Auto Manufacturers, are you listening??????? To make matters worse, it is reported in today’s Financial Times that ventures in the Gulf of Mexico to uncover additional crude have been disappointing (Oil groups suffer Gulf of Mexico setback). It wasn’t long ago (December 2007) that the so called experts said that there was no way the global economy would allow crude prices to raise above $100 a barrel, a glass ceiling that has easily been broken. I think it is time to break out the bicycles, cut back on oil use, and come up with alternative energy sources at a much faster rate, that is truly technology that would be well worth the investment! SportsOK, so we all know that professional sports is a big business, so let’s ponder for a minute what the fans of the Green Bay Packers have gone through in the past 10 days. Supposedly by mistake, the Packers PR people had updated their website with a page announcing Brett Favre’s retirement, just four days before that became a reality. Maybe that was just a warning shot for the fans to let them know what was soon to follow. Wisconsin’s most beloved athlete walked away last week, and with it the NFL lost one of its premier draws, the Packers lost their heart and soul, and many of us have lost the one person we saw played that reminded us of ourselves with our friends in the backyard playing ball as kids. In Favre’s farewell address, he said he hoped the Packers felt he was worth the money they had paid him, which may be the best investment any sports franchise could ask for. 3月7日 Building Your Business Plan: Know the Market – Part 3
Now that you have crystallized your thoughts and developed a clear Business Description for your new venture, it is time to take those ideas and turn them into a commercially viable product/service. This step is known as the Market Analysis or Opportunity Analysis portion of a Business Plan, and it may very well be the most critical part of your plan. The Market Analysis provides the evidence that there is a spot in the market that your company and product/service can exploit. This analysis consists of: ¨ Industry Analysis, a detailed view and assessment of the general industry and business environment where you plan to compete ¨ Target Market Analysis, which identifies, quantifies, and qualifies the potential customers that you will be targeting ¨ Competitive Analysis, where your competitors are identified and their strengths and weaknesses are analyzed ¨ SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis, a detailed view of your company’s strengths and weaknesses and the market opportunities and threats, which will allow you to see where the needs are met and unmet in the marketplace. For additional information provided by QuickMBA.com, click on SWOT Analysis. This analysis will determine the External Market Risks you will face, the Competitive Advantages that your business, product/service offers, and the Internal Risks you will need to reduce in order to succeed. It is recommended that you exhaust each of the above areas when preparing the Market Analysis, as any shortcuts that you take with this step are likely to come back and bite you in the long run. Fortunately, the Internet allows one to gain access to information with great ease, which has cut down the length of time it once took to perform a Market Analysis. The type of information you will be looking for is readily available and for the most part free through specific Trade Association websites, Industry Publications, Standard & Poor’s, Hoovers, Government Databases such as your local/state Department of Business and Economic Development, U.S. Census Bureau, and others. Understanding the four components of the Market Analysis and what information is useful from within this components will help you narrow the focus of your business and better prepare you to succeed. Building upon the passion you have for the business and how you have defined it in the Company Information section, the Market Analysis details specific information on risks and opportunities and provides a road map for your entrance into the marketplace. This is the second step in creating your Business Plan. Working with a Business Advisor, such as e-Future Consulting Group , to assist in this development is encouraged, but remember, it is your plan and your Passion must show throughout, so make sure you don’t hand off the planning to someone else and then expect it to work when it is complete. The more time and focus you put in on the front end, the more valuable the plan is and the more likely you are to be successful in your new venture. 3月6日 Putting Your Business Plan Together: It's All about Passion - Part 2You have now been kicking this great idea around in your head for some time now, and have finally decided to take the first steps of making your dream a reality. You have heard that having a Business Plan is a sure fire way to give your dreams a chance and one of the best ways to get your ideas in front of someone with the cash to help fund your business, so you look around the Internet and find hundreds of different software programs and boilerplate templates to use. WRONG – PLEASE STOP RIGHT NOW!
While there is a place for these types of software and templates, what is really important about your initial steps of your business plan is making sure it expresses your views, creativity, and passion for the business itself. Financial Institutions, Bankers, and Loan Officers have read hundreds of business plans, using those same boilerplate templates and produced with the same fill-in-the-blank software programs. What is going to separate you from the others is your creativity and passion for the venture you are about to undertake. As a coach, I will tell you that I’ll take an athlete with passion and a drive to be the best they can be over the Prima Dona who may be the best today but doesn’t understand that hard work and dedication will make them better. I like to say, “Character Counts, Passion Sells, and Drive and Determination Makes it Happen!” For most of us, taking the time to create the written plan is when you realize the magnitude and scope of what operating a business is all about. In your mind, you’ve thought out all the exciting and sexy attributes of having your own business – only seeing the fruits of your success. In your written plan, you begin to spell out the day-to-day activities of making the business work, the true nuts and bolts of the operation, the challenges that will exist and that you’ll need to overcome. The plan becomes an important tool to manage the mission critical activities of your business. Depending on the type of business you offer, Service Based or Product Based, certain levers within the plan will differ. No matter what type of business you are going to begin, you will need to start with the Company Information or Company Summary. This is the portion of the Business Plan that shows your character, commitment, and passion for the business, and although almost all plans have this section, each is truly unique to the individual or individuals that are founding the company. The Company Information section should contain at least four components, and depending upon the nature of the business and its current position, could contain additional components as well to help clarify the entity. The section is made up of: ¨ Company Ownership ¨ Mission Statement ¨ Company Objectives ¨ Keys to Success ¨ Company Location (Optional ) ¨ Company Background (Optional – important if this is a Spin-Off or New Division of Existing Company) This is the first step in creating your Business Plan. Working with a Business Advisor, such as e-Future Consulting Group (shameless plug), to assist in this development is encouraged, but remember, it is your plan and your Passion must show throughout, so make sure you don’t hand off the planning to someone else and then expect it to work when it is complete. The more time and focus you put in on the front end, the more valuable the plan is and the more likely you are to be successful in your new venture. 3月5日 The Keys to Successfully Starting Your Own Small Business – Part 1Fun, Challenging, Daunting, Confusing, Nerve Racking, Exhausting, Fearful, Painful, Liberating, Exuberant……..these are but a few of the terms that I have heard from business owners over the years when the subject of starting their own business came up. Many of these words you will find have a negative connotation to them, and for good reason. In 2006, there were nearly 650,000 new businesses established and an astonishing 565,000 closures! The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census reported that there were 26.8 million businesses in the United States in 2006. Of that, 99.9 percent were classified as “small businesses”, which is defined as having fewer than 500 employees. These small businesses employ nearly half of the private sector employees and pay more than 45 percent of the total U.S. private payroll.
“Two-thirds of new businesses established survive at least two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years”, according to Amy E. Knaup in her article Survival and Longevity in the Business Employment Dynamics Database. These types of statistics are not new and many entrepreneurs go into their new endeavors understanding the steep odds of making the business a success. One of the primary keys to making a run at starting your own business is putting together a strong business plan, which provides you with a road map to follow. What is so important about writing a Business Plan? Many of us have been here before, we’ve got this great idea for a business, based on a particular market need or a skill we possess, but when it came time to make it happen, we either took a futile swing at it or just plan passed on the idea. Why? Because when we began to think it through, the idea of writing out the details behind how the venture will be structured and funded, the specifics on how it will be marketed and sold, setting up a financial and accounting system, all seemed like something not worth the effort. Experience however tells us that those businesses that do create a Business Plan are much more likely to make it. So before you throw your latest idea out as not being viable, take a few moments, sit down and start putting down on paper exactly what your idea is and what your vision for such an endeavor will be. This is just the first step in the development of your business plan. By doing this, you will find the time you spent writing it down to be invaluable! Tomorrow we will go into further detail as to where to begin in writing a Successful Business Plan. 3月4日 Intelligent Business Strategy - Invest Within
It is one of the most over used and underappreciated sayings, “you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with”. Most of us believe that by surrounding ourselves with bright people, that we will further our professional careers and improve our businesses. Why is it then that when things begin to tighten up and business slows or doesn’t accelerate at the rate we would like, the first place we look to cut costs is in the ranks of our employees? Is this because we didn’t surround ourselves with the right people the first time around, or is it a knee-jerk reaction to try and save a few dollars when times get tough? Wall Street would like nothing better than to see cash continue to flow in, stabilizing a market that can’t seem to find a leveling point. As a business owner, we must look closer into how we are investing in our organization(s). Whether that is an investment in the people we have, the equipment we own, or the real estate that we lease. In a time where the your local bank (if you can find a local bank), will give you 3.35% on a High Yield CD with a 4 month commitment or 0.2% on a traditional savings account balance, isn’t it time to evaluate where we want to invest our money as business owners. A quick look at the math on this one shows that if you are currently paying your employee, let’s call them your Account Representative, $50,000 a year, that a 3.35% return over four months is only a $558. Now with a small investment in Sales and Relationship Management Training, the return you get from that Account Rep over the next four months is sure to be much greater than that. So as you reflect back on how you have done in Q1 2008 and plan on how the organization is going to reach the 2008 goals you have set, remember, “YOU ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH”. Take a look at the employees in your organization and consider what they are doing well and what they can improve upon, and include feedback from your clients on how you are meeting their expectations. The time it takes for you to make this evaluation will be time well spent and will help guide you as to the areas where your organization can make the investment to improve. Make the smart decision and invest within, and you and your business will surely reap the benefits in the future! 3月3日 Welcome to Opinions from a Business Advisor!
Welcome to Opinions from a Business Advisor! Today marks the beginning of what amounts to the Business Commentary Section in your local newspaper. Here, we will discuss how Business today is being accomplished, the pros and cons of globalization, the challenges facing today's business leaders, the economy and the impact it is having on all of us. "So", you may ask, "what makes your opinions so special?" Well, like most of you, I too am living the life of a business person, facing the same struggles of balancing too many hours in the office, too little time to enjoy the fruits of my labor, and not enough time to get in front of the people, clients and potential clients, who can take advantage of what products and services we all have to offer. My opinions are just that, opinions, based on my perception of what is happening in the world today. Your feedback is encouraged and please pass along the blog to all of your friends and co-workers, as information and knowledge is best when it can be shared. As The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi believes..."Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity". ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ With tomorrow's primaries in Texas and Ohio on the forefront of today's headlines, I find it very interesting that business and politics are once again strange bedfellows. Both Senators Obama and Clinton claim that our country's agreement and participation in NAFTA should be re-examined. In today's USA Today Money section, the feature article speaks of loss of manufacturing jobs in Ohio due to NAFTA and other off-shoring efforts. And although I feel for the workers in Ohio and elsewhere in the country where jobs have been lost and families have been uprooted, I have to ask "isn't it important to be competitive?" We have to keep in mind that today's business environment is much different than the 40's and 50's where American Steel was king, and even more so than the 80's and 90's, when the United States got its first taste of gobal competition. Businesses must continue to change in order to maintain the competitive advantage needed. Albert Einstein's quote below is very appropriate for all of us to keep in mind: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when creating them" - Albert Einstein With consumer confidence down, inflation rates going up, same-store sales growth dropping, residential real estate prices continuing to drop, and the value of the dollar verse the Euro at an all-time low, should we just put our heads in the sand and say "we'd be better off with closing our borders and doing business only here and on our terms?" It is unrealistic to think that the majority of us could afford to buy a car if it were made solely of U.S. Steel, where the cost is twice as much as that of foreign steel. Throw in the continuing escalation of gasoline prices, and we'd be talking about driving around the $55,000 Chevrolet Impala and paying $4.50 a gallon for gas. No, it is time for all of us to climb outside our protective cocoons and put our minds to work on making our businesses more competitive in the global workplace. What you did yesterday might have worked, but tomorrow it will be obsolete. In America, we still have great opportunities in front of us to set ourselves apart in the Service Economy, but if we continue to pout about what we are losing along the way, it will be too late to take the leadership role and set the stage for future successes. Take inventory of your business practices today and make sure that you are positioned for the future, because tomorrow is almost here! Additional Business Blogs that might be of interest: WashBiz Blog: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/ The Checkout: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/ Small Business Blog: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/ Business News Websites: The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/page/us_in_todays_paper.html Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/home/us USA Today - Money: http://www.usatoday.com/money/default.htm If you would like to comment, sign in and provide your opinion. If you do not have a MySpace account, feel free to comment by sending an e-mail to Jerry.Thomas@e-futureconsulting.com and I will incorporate the response in a future segment. |
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