Marketing Plan Strategies for Reaching Customers Assignment

Assignment Task

Selecting the Topic

• The proposed topic should have strong business and societal relevance.
• It will be better if your proposed topic is an extension of any of your previous or present work expertise.
• You must be confident and comfortable with the topic.
• The topic should be close to your heart and you are passionate about this.
• While selecting the topic, the guidelines to follow:

Executive Summary

• An Executive Summary is a clear, concise condensation of a business persuading the reader to spend time understanding the business whether he/she is a venture capitalist or a banker.
• This section is written last after completing the project document.
• The Executive Summary should capture if the business concept makes sense, if the business has been thoroughly planned, if management is capable of handling the plan, if a market exists for the business and if the business incorporates competitive advantage with realistic financial projections.
• The length of the summary should ideally be one page.

Company information

• This section essentially captures the business to be in and the mission and vision of the company in pursuing the business with a name given to the company.
• A mission statement defines the organization's business, its objectives, and how it will reach these objectives.
• A vision statement details where the organization aspires to go (Why does your company exist? What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years?)
• Example Mission statement: We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.
• Example Vision statement: To be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
• Highlight here the names in the management of the company, location of the business/ headquarters and the milestones achieved so far (if any).

Industry Analysis

• This section should highlight major players in the industry including its trends and strategic opportunities existing in the industry.
• Most of this information should be supported with data and evidence.
• There needs to be a mention of the growth rate of the industry as also its sensitivity to economic cycles and macro-economic changes like recession.
• The industry level information on buyers and suppliers in the industry, regulation if any and financial characteristics of the industry need to reflect here.

The Market

• The primary focus here is to define the target market, arriving at it from demographic and segmentation detailed information and analysis.
• The focus here is to make an estimate of the potential size of the market, psychographics and purchase pattern, including future and emerging trends if any.
• Here the Business Plan needs to be clear about specific customer needs to be met by the product being sold and the distribution channel and other means to reach these customers.
• Customer payment plans including inventory details and cash flows needs to be highlighted/ estimated here.

Marketing Plan

• Here the focus is on reaching customers and delivering not only product and service but also expected value to the customers.
• The Marketing Plan needs to capture
  • How to make customers aware of products and services
  • Message conveyed to customers about product, service or company
  • Specific methods used to reinforce the message through advertising and media planning.
  • Securing actual sales
• Essentially this section focuses on the 4-Ps of marketing namely Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

The Competition

• It is important to know who the competitors are, what their sizes are and how much market share they control.
• By understanding, competitor strengths and weaknesses a Business Plan can highlight relative competitive position as also the competitor product and service features customers prefer so as to identify ways and means to beat such competition either by identifying weaknesses or novel ways to deliver superior value like use of internet.
• It is important to understand what first mover advantage competitors have including captive customer base, factory, warehouse and distribution as also stable internal operation and supplier advantage.
• The objective being to identify how a fair market share can be obtained for the new business as also create barriers to entry of new competitors.

Operations

• This section of the Business Plan focuses on how the business is run internally.
• Beginning with the geographic location of facilities including head quarters, plants, warehouses, branch offices, showrooms (if any) etc.
• In production it can include details of production plan including levels of automation, capacity utilization and productivity targets besides issues of inventory control, supply and distribution, order fulfillment and customer service.
• There has to be mention of R&D activities to be undertaken (indicative spending on R&D) and financial control.
• Modern issues of environmental norms, safety and insurance regulatory issues if any need to be incorporated in this section.
• A sub section may be added on technology choice keeping in mind technology development trends in the industry. Critical purchasing and vendor/ supplier development issues may also be included in this section.

The Management Team

• This section of the Business Plan describes the organization and the key management team.
• This includes key designations of employees, Board of Directors, Advisory Committee, Consultant and other specialists as also key management persons to be added progressively.
• In defining key personnel, focus is on required skills that these individuals need to possess, track record of these individuals as also management compensation and incentives including bonus schemes to be offered.
• This section defines the Organization Structure including reporting relationships, line of authority and informal relationships.
• Focus on Corporate Social Responsibility of the organization (CSR) may also be included here although the primary focus remain fulfilling the Mission of the organization.

Financial Plan & Analysis

• This section should give the numbers supporting your Business Plan decisions.
• It should highlight the accounting principles to be adopted e.g. Cash or Accrual, and in the very least make sure to include projected profit and loss and cash flow statements.
• Ideally it should include principles adopted for depreciation, break-even analysis, sources and uses of funds and start-up costs.
• The investor here will want to know projected cash flows and time taken to break even and register profit for the business.

Risks and contingencies

• Every business has risk of failure and so it is important to identify possible sources of this risk of failure and then to develop contingency plans for them. Some of these risks include:
  • Market Risk: Market will not respond to the business product or service because there is no need for the product or the market is not mature for it.
  • Competitive Risk: Possibility that competitive position will change dramatically, new competitors will enter, and basis of competition will change
  • Technology Risk: The technology currently prevalent in the industry and adopted by this business becomes completely obsolete soon. What is the possibility of quickly adopting to the new technology?
  • Execution Risk: Failure to quickly roll out product to meet launch and sale target dates. It could be due to either internal operational or external license/ permit reasons.
  • Capitalization Risk: Miscalculation of funds requirement leading to cost and project capital over runs.
• A preliminary analysis of the risks being faced can be done using the SWOT analysis
• Strength and Weakness of the organization as matched against the Opportunity and Threats in the business environment.

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