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Wednesday 6 March 2013

Business and marketing plans for an organization


Whenever we start something new we need a plan for its execution. This is also the case with the present day market. To start and perform well in a desired field of business we need unique and good marketingplans. Now what is amarketing plan? Why are marketing plans so essential for the success of a business plan? Companies that are running successfully in present market are the ones which have great marketing plans.
Marketing plans consistof asolid marketing strategy with the list of actions to be performed throughout the year. The objective of marketing plans are to make businessesthat provide solutions with the awareness that the customers expect. For a successful marketing plan you need a great amount of people involved in it. No matter the size of the business, remember to get feedback from all parts of your company, finance, manufacturing, personnel, and supply and in addition to marketing itself. The above stated things will help in covering all the aspects of your marketing plan. Perhaps the most important factor in successful marketing is the “corporative vision”. Unfortunately it is avoided by most of the marketing textbooks. In general, if an organization and its chief executive in particular, have a powerfulvisualization of where its future lies, then there is a good possibility that the organization will achieve a strong position in its markets. The marketing plans of a small company should cover the strategies of one year. This is often the best way to think about marketing. Things change, people leave, markets evolve, and customersmay change. These all stated activities should be kept in consideration when a marketing plan is designed. Later on a strong emphasis has to be done on a section of your plan that addresses the medium term future- two to four years. But the major portion of your marketing plans must be focused on the coming year.
Now there is a major difference between a marketing plan and a business plan. A business plan defines what your business is about which involves what the objective of your business is, what you do and what you don’t, and what your ultimate goals are which you have to achieve in the market. Business plans are more important than marketing plans. Business plans can include your business location, staffing, financing, strategic alliances and so on. Business plans are inherently strategic.
Now how do you make your business plans stand out? The following tips can help in boosting up your business strategies. The very first step is to determine your target market and why they would want to buy from you.
Secondly be clear in your approach and what you offer. When starting a company, be sure to understand what makes your dealing unique. What needs does your product or service fulfill? What are the odds in your business and advantages that will help your business stand out from the crowd?
Third, for small businesses, a business plan must be like that but has a better strategy to divide your products or services into manageable market niches. Creating a niche for your business’ plans is essential. For that identify the following:
·         Which areas your competitors are well settled in.
·         What are the loop holes by your competitors?
·         Potential opportunities for your business plans.
In this way a perfect synchronization between marketing plans and business plans must be set up for the betterment of your future for your business.


Marketing services have new tactics for company growth


In the present day scenario, the level of competition is increasing daily and to secure a better place in it we need new ideas and new tactics for the growth of our businesses.To provide new ideas and promote business of an individual, marketing services are provided by various companies in the market. Now why would an individual requiremarketing services for their business? What are the benefits of marketing services? What should be the goal of an individual when approaching a company which provides marketing services?
When we build a plan for the market to reach the customers, we make their experience wonderful when they use the products so thatthere is a strong chance that they repeat business with you.The most important goal of effectively marketing your brand is to capture the attention of your target market.Once you have pulled the customers towards you then it depends on you to raise the bar of their experience and to keep it high.These sort of marketing tactics will help you to know the likes and dislikes of your customers and to revise your products according to the wish and needs of customers. This will also help you to get new clients without changing your previous business plans. Thus, marketing services require you to build focus on building your image with satisfied customers so that they will build your business for you.
Marketing services can be divided into two sub categories.First is business to consumer and second is business to business services. Marketing services also includes services like telecommunication services, financial services, hospitality services, car rental services, air travel, health care and professional services.
Now to put all the strategies into the market a marketing company is the best option to serve your products in a better way. The basic role of a marketing company is to create and deliver communicating value to consumers and organizing customer relationships in a better way with the organization and its shareholders. One can choose a marketing company on the following four components, relationship marketing, internal marketing, integrated marketing and socially responsive marketing. A successful marketing company must focus on detaining marketing insights, linking with customers, constructing strong brands, determining the market contributions, distributing and conversing value, creating enduring growth, and developing marketing strategies and plans.
A marketing company that is well aware of all the trends of the present market is the one who covers all the aspects of advertising company products. A marketing company must ask themselves two big questions that are: - “Where are we participating?” and “What value are we offering to the customers?” It’s ideal for a brand or a company to build a group of engaged participants around the world where it shares the most content. If one is not sure where to start from, then a marketing company should start with popular sites where people are already talking about your brand. Jump in there and engage yourself with the conversation. Small marketing companies earlier have nothad suchnumerous tools available to understand how to get better local search results, connect with customers and quantify their success. Therefore, for a small marketing company it is essential to engage more people to come with new ideas and new measures to improve the sales and engage more customers towards their company.


Saturday 24 November 2012

Business Coach and Business Investors


Starting a business is no easy task, and there’s ample room for failure: whether it’s creating an enterprise that is too broad or narrow, not adequately funded, or not properly managed, many entrepreneurs can find themselves in a compromising position right off the bat. One of the best ways to avoid these pitfalls is to hire a knowledgeable business coach who can guide a new business through the hard work of establishment. Business coaching is one of the most important investments any young company can make.

A business coach is like a personal trainer--for your business. A good business coach will help you to realize your dreams, goals, and achieve success through careful step by step planning and processes. The business coach is there to help you with resources, support, motivation, and planning of your business venture. If you already have a business, the business coach is there to help your business succeed and grow in ways that you could only imagine. You can find a business coach in a number of different ways, and in many places. The key is to find the right business coach for you and your company. 


There are several things to consider when looking for a business coach. The first thing that you will be likely to consider is cost. Many business coaches are quite expensive, but there are some that are extremely cost effective. The important thing to remember when considering the cost of a business coach is the cost of not getting the business coach. Starting a business can be difficult and costly, but starting that same business can be more costly if you are not sure what you are doing. When you have a business that seems to be failing, or if your business is simply not going anywhere, you are more likely to lose money by doing nothing than by spending the money on a good business coach.

You also want to make sure that the business coach that you choose specializes in business start ups and development, not one or the other. Someone that can only assist in business development will not be able to help you start your business effectively. Likewise, you will quickly outgrow a business coach that can help you start your business but not manage it effectively.
The role of business investors differs greatly within different organizations. If you are starting a business or already have a small business, business investors can be a key tool to get your business of the ground. Business investors give money to small businesses or start-ups in exchange for ownership in a part of the company. Essentially, business investors are making a gamble on companies they believe will be successful with the knowledge that they may or may not profit from it. If the business is successful, the business investor can receive a return of ten times the original amount they invested. Some investors can even gain 20-30 times their initial investment! However, if the business is not successful the business investors will not profit. For this reason, business investors are generally very selective about which companies they choose to invest in. They want to know the current operational status of the business, current market conditions, visions the business has and a forecast of how the business will do in the future. 



Business Consultant Executes Your Business Plan

A business plan is like a road map that defines goals and objectives for your business to follow in order to grow and achieve success.

In most cases, a business plan is created to explain and illustrate the vision you have for your business, and to show that vision to others including possible business partners and business investors. To accomplish this, your plan will need to demonstrate on paper that you have a firm visualization of what your business is going to be and how it will succeed. It needs to convince others that your business concept can be successful and that you possess the expertise-alone or collectively-to assure that it will be both successful and profitable.

While it is obviously important to be able to present your business concept in a way that allows others to understand quickly and precisely what you hope to be doing, you also need to develop a plan for your own use. The process of developing your plan will require you to focus on exactly what you are trying to achieve, precisely where you want to be going, and exactly how you plan to get there.
  
Everyone who opens a retail business should have a full financial plan completed before they open. It is probably more important for you, than anyone else, to be able to see the potential profit and loss for your proposed business. The extensive research which will be necessary to project expenses, sales, and profitability is essential to your understanding of the financial operation of your business. The importance of each of your management functions-setting menu prices, establishing cost of sales and expense budgets, creating sales goals-can only be appreciated when understood individually, and as they relate to the overall financial statement.

The problem is that most entrepreneurs do not know how to write a plan, so they avoid the process completely. Entrepreneurs need to learn to embrace the services of small business consultants and hire a business plan consultant to help get this important document written. The first thing a business consultant is going to do is to sit down and discuss your business with you. The business consultant needs to know what your plans are, your vision for the company and the activities that the company will focus on. These things become the company's mission statement, and it is the underlying foundation of any good business plan. The next thing that a business consultant will do is give you a sample business plan and explain how to develop startup costs, operational costs and long-term sales projections. The methods you use to run your company are dictated by what you can afford. A business consultant will see you through from a startup business plan to an operational organization. He will show you the things that need to be in your plan and then give you advice on how to execute the business plan. He will also show you how to constantly amend your plan so that it matches your business progress. Utilizing a plan writing service is one of the best ways to make certain that your company's blueprint is in place and ready to go.

Importance of Marketing Consultant and Plans to Grow Your Business

Marketing plans are an essential component for all businesses. All businesses that are successful have followed a plan. Their success did not happen because of luck, it happened because the success was planned. A marketing plan helps establish, coordinate, and direct marketing efforts. It forces the organization to take a good, hard look at the market of your field and what is currently happening to it. It’s a time to establish marketing goals and objectives, which can be later used for benchmarking yourself. Marketing plans helps keep the organization on the right track by following the guidelines it sets. It is also critical when trying to borrow money. When an organization plans to allow you to borrow money or invest in your organization, they require to examine your business plan. The marketing plan is a critical part of the business plan.
Marketing Plan Elements:
•    Executive Summary: brief explanation of what the organization does its mission statement, the management’s infrastructure, and a short summary about the marketing objectives and the proposed plan.
•    Current Marketing Situation: provides information about the current location, the target markets, and competitors in the market.
•    Competitor and Issue Analysis: a more detailed description about the competition. Also includes potential challenges that could arise in the future due to business issue.
•    Marketing Objectives: where the marketing goals and financial objectives are set. Objectives should be challenging, yet attainable for the organization.
•    Marketing Strategy: plan for meeting the marketing objectives. Incorporates the marketing mix.
•    Action Programs: an explanation of the different tasks of the marketing strategy. What will be done? When will it be done by? Who will do it? What will it cost?
•    Budget: A more detailed look at the cost of the proposed marketing activities.
•    Measurements: sets levels to measure if objectives are being met. Sets timeline to meet these measurable objectives.
•    Supportive Documents: references to support the marketing plan. Includes the marketing research report.
•    Controls: monitoring system for the marketing plan. Monthly or quarterly checklists to insure that the plan is operating effectively. Also included contingency plans. Plans of action in the event of a crisis.
•    It is important to regularly update your marketing plan. The market changes almost by the hour. The first marketing plan you create probably will not be effective in the future.
Marketing is as important as the production, design, export, sales etc. Unlike agents who are middlemen between your company and the ad agency, a marketing consultant is the one who has education and experience in the marketing field.

Marketing consultants must be recruited in the company because they not only help in marketing products but also suggest tips and tactics to improve the marketing strategy of the company. Since they are consistently in the marketing environment, they know the recent trends and the competitors, thereby improving your business with their marketing skills.Marketing consultants provide new ideas and are generally creative, innovative people.

Importance of Marketing and Business Strategy

Marketing strategy is something that every single business-no matter how big or small-needs to have in place. Many business owners are hesitant to set up an actual marketing strategy because they simply don’t know how to do it. A marketing strategy can include simply trying something new every week or month, whether it’s tweeting one week or running an ad in the paper the next week. Business owners who use marketing in this way are simply using different forms of marketing in hopes that one turns out to be effective.

For truly effective Marketing strategy, you must study and evaluate your business and its target audience, then create a plan of action and follow through with it. The first part of your business that you will need to evaluate is the actual business that you’re in. This means looking at your business from a customer’s or end user’s point of view and finding what they truly get out of your company. And many business owners are surprised to find that it’s not what they actually thought. An insurance company for instance, may sell policies but it’s actually a customer’s safety and security that they’re buying, not that piece of paper. Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is (USP) and make this the objective of every aspect of your marketing techniques.

The next part of creating great Marketing strategy is finding out what your company offers that no other company does. While you’ll definitely want to advertise the fact that you sell a certain product or service, there are probably many other companies that offer the same thing for customers to choose from. So to set yourself apart, you must also advertise the thing that makes your company special – the magic that no other company has. So whether you offer the lowest prices, the best customer service, or promotions whenever customers shop at your store, this must not only be included in your marketing strategy, but it must be a part of every aspect of marketing you do. Just make sure that whatever differentiation pointyou’re promoting to your customers, that you can deliver on it.
Good Marketing strategy is essential for every business to have. This will give you a clear direction as to where you should go with your marketing efforts, and will give you a better understanding of what marketing methods are going to reach your customers in the exact manner that you were hoping for.
The success of any good enterprise is based on the measures that are laid out by the various stakeholders. In commerce, business strategy is important for the achievement of the objectives set. In a commercial setting, the main aims normally revolve around making lots and lots of profits, growing and expanding, and most importantly, diversifying. These goals must be achieved for business success in any flourishing industry.

A business strategy is a mechanism to ensure that the resources or assets of a business are applied profitably across all its activities for developing and retaining a competitive edge in the market place.  There are very many business strategies that can be utilized by new or old ventures in order to compete healthily in the market. A business strategy is a definition of the tactics and methods you will use to manage your business. One of the quickest ways to lose customers is to not have an effective business strategy in place for customer service.

The Importance of Business Marketing Plan


These days, no business can afford to trade without a marketing plan and business plan. This applies to all types of businesses, large or small, online or bricks and mortar. This vital service is offered by all online marketing agencies that recognize the importance of this for any business.

A marketing plan is a document that outlines well-organized course of action(s) to achieve your marketing objectives. Think of it this way, your marketing plan will be your marketing guidebook or rather your reference point for all your marketing activities. It details your marketing budget, target market, the proper media or channel to be chosen, etc.


In addition, a business plan provides you with an in-depth perspective of your industry and your business and gives you insight on developing targeted market strategies while also serving as a barometer of your performance. Moreover, a business plan allows you to examine and re-examine your marketing objectives and provides the basis for your marketing decisions.

Creating a solid marketing plan can be the difference between a successful marketing campaign and a failed one. As most people have already experienced, marketing can be an expensive and complicated endeavor. A business plan will help you determine your marketing strategy by specifying your objectives, defining your goals, and targeting your market in an effective, time and cost-efficient manner. This business or marketing plan enables you to reach new audiences, raise awareness of your brand and sell your products or services. And yet there are still some businesses that don’t have a marketing plan and wonder why they are failing to attract customers.


Items or Ideas a marketing plan may include:
There are several which include:
• Access to a global market which means reaching out to new customers, globally or expanding the business/markets.
• Usingnew methods (or channels) to reach different types of customers.
• Targetingor launching your products or services to a new groups of customers, e.g. market segmentation.
• Using social media to raise your online profile, target new customers and build your reputation.

The end result can be an increase in customers or web traffic if you trade online, which leads to increased sales. This provides a very good return on your investment (ROI) as well as boosting your bottom line.

Stages of a marketing plan
A marketing plan consists of a series of stages which are reviewed at intervals. These stages include:
• Customer research: identifying your target audience before dividing them into groups – if applicable. Once you know who your customers are, you can target your plan to them.
• Competitor analysis: learn more about your competitors. Study their strengths and weaknesses. How do you stand out from the rest?
• Define your goals and objective: every business has a set of goals which typically include building your brand identity, generating new leads, retain existing customers and establishing your position in the marketplace.
• Develop a strategy: work with an experienced online marketing professional to develop an individual plan. Think about which marketing methods are appropriate for your business and how these will be measured. Set a timescale.
• Set a budget: cost is always a factor. Many businesses avoid marketing due to the cost but it is possible to market your business on a budget.