START YOUR OWN BUSINESSA business plan begins by your defining clearly the product or service
you are going to offer. You must determine exactly how much you will
be able to charge for the product or service. You must calculate how
much you will have to pay to make your product or service available in
the first place.
MARketIng MAsteRYBefore you enter the market with a new product or service, you must ask,
“Why would someone switch from what they are currently using to my
product? Why would they buy from me rather than from someone else?”
For a new product or service to sell in a competitive market, it must
have at least three factors about it that make it superior to whatever else
is available. It must have three features or benefits that make it stand out
from the competition. It must have a “unique selling proposition” and
at least three competitive advantages. It must offer something more and
better than whatever else customers are already using.
A new product or service must be faster, cheaper, easier to use or pos-
sess different features, factors or ingredients that competitive offerings
don’t have. It must cause customers to see it and say, “That’s for me!”
A business plan is usually a month-by-month projection, going forward
about 18 months, of how much you intend to sell of your product each
month. You put these numbers along the top line. Below each of these
numbers, you list every expense necessary to generate and fulfill those
sales. You then deduct all your expenses from your sales figure to get
your amount of profit or loss for the month.
When you assemble these numbers, imagine that you are going in front
of a board of bank examiners and they are going to ask you to explain
and to defend every number on your plan. Discipline yourself to care-
fully calculate every number and base it on the most verifiable facts and
details possible.
WheRe WIll the sAles CoMe FRoM?If you project a certain level of sales, you should be able to show ex-
actly where those sales are going to come from. How much advertising
will you need to do and how many leads will the advertising generate?
You should be able to show exactly who will call on or speak to each of