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Contents
Review the Competition
Highlight Innovation
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Welcome
the competition
11. Review
Business plans that dont include the competition are naive. You may
think theres nothing on the market that competes with your idea, but that
shows a lack of research or imagination. Even if you have a great idea for
a new product that didnt exist before (think iPhone), you need to anticipate
that success will spawn competition (think Android). Your business plan
should not only look at current competitors, but who might be drawn into
the market by your success. Information on the competition should explain
each companys place in the market and unique selling proposition. Ideally,
the business plan describes not just the working of your business, but how
it fits into the constellation of competing firms in the field.
2. Highlight innovation
for success
33. Prepare
Success can kill a business just as quickly as failure. Rapid growth
requires capital that must be advanced to generate the cash flows
needed to repay lenders and investors. Many business owners outrun
themselves, putting their businesses at risk from even slight shifts in the
direction of the market. If you are anticipating rapid growth, your business
plan should attempt to outline how you plan to cope with it.
an exit strategy
66. Exploring
A corporation has an unlimited lifespan, but the owners or managers
dont. Just as many people put off estate planning because they dont
want to face mortality, so business plans often fail to address the end
game for the entity. Are you grooming the business for sale? What
steps will you take to get it ready for market? Do you have a succession
plan? Who is going to run the business when the current management
is no longer able or willing to continue. Business plans should contain
guidance on how the company plans to sell itself, go public, or reach
other desired outcomes.
Its not enough for your business plan to talk about your customers without
including detailed information about who, exactly, they are. Business plans
traditionally include buyer demographics, such as age, gender, income,
education, and other basics. The trend in business plans is to include
detailed buyer personas that provide a 360-degree look at who your
customers are. Beyond basic demographic information, buyer personas
often include the lifestyle, habits, interests, and aspirations of your ideal
customers or existing customers.
More and more, businesses rely on the Internet and social networks to
attract prospects and distribute information about products and services.
More often, buyers are turning to the Internet and social networks for
business reviews, ratings and recommendations. The marketing portion
of your business plan should include information about how the company
intends to use Internet marketing, including:
Social Networks. What is your strategy for marketing on Facebook,
Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn? How do you plan to attract followers
and maintain these accounts?
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Why do some business strategies work and other fail? If yours fail, says
strategy consultant Steve Tobak, dont feel bad, as few business owners
are business experts. Business owners start their businesses, Tobak
notes, because theyre passionate about their product or services, and
because they see opportunity, but dont necessarily know how to sustain
growth. To achieve sustainable growth, Tobak says, business owners
should reevaluate their existing business plans often and include an
economic contingency. Meaning: Know when to walk away.
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Source: 10 Unexpected Things Every Business Plan Needs, by David Mielach, BusinessNewsDaily.
Source: Economic Assumptions For Your 2014 Business Plan, by Bill Conerly, Forbes.
Source: Business Plannings as Easy as 1, 2, 3, by Steve Tobak, FOXBusiness.
Source: Learning from the Rise and Fall of BlackBerry, by Alejandro Crawford in Economic Intelligence
by U.S. News and World Report.
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