It’s day 3 of our business plan series. Today, we’ll be looking at ow to know your market – and this is crucial for your success. Even if you have a business and don’t have a business plan, you really shouldn’t miss this step out.
If you want other people to invest in your business or if you’re writing your plan to focus your existing business activities, you must be able to clearly convey what your business does.
This part of the plan sets out your vision for your new business and includes who you are, what you do, what you have to offer and the market you want to address.
Start with an overview of your business:
- when you started or intend to start trading and the progress you have made to date
- the type of business and the sector it is in any relevant history – for example, if you acquired the business, who owned it originally and what they achieved with it
- the current legal structure
- your vision for the future
Then describe your products or services as simply as possible, defining:
- what makes it different
- what benefits it offers
- why customers would buy it
- how you plan to develop your products or services
- whether you hold any patents, trademarks or design rights
- the key features of your industry or sector
Remember that the person reading the plan may not understand your business and its products, services or processes as well as you do, so try to avoid jargon. It’s a good idea to get someone who isn’t involved in the business – a friend or family member perhaps – to read this section of your plan and make sure they can understand it.
Your markets and competitors
In this section you should define your market, your position in it and outline who your competitors are. In order to do this you should refer to any market research you have carried out. You need to demonstrate that you’re fully aware of the marketplace you’re planning to operate in and that you understand any important trends and drivers.
You should also be able to show that your business will be able to attract customers in a growing market despite the competition.
Key areas to cover include:
- your market – its size, historical data about its development and key current issues
- your target customer base – who they are and how you know they will be interested in your products or services
- your competitors – who they are, how they work and the share of the market they hold
- the future – anticipated changes in the market and how you expect your business and your competitors to react to them
You also need to know how your competitors’ advantages and disadvantages compare to your own. Describe any competitive analysis you have carried out and include some what-if scenarios that show how your business would deal with customers’ changing needs or any other market changes.
Download a guide on getting to grips with your competitors from the Chartered Institute of Marketing website (www.cim.com).
Related articles
This is a five-part series, so make sure you read the rest to get the best out of this:
- {{post id=”business-plans-part-1-what-are-they” text=”Part One – Business Plans – What Are They?”}}
- {{post id=”business-plans-part-2-what-they-should-include” text=”Part Two – Business Plans – What Should They Include?”}}
- {{post id=”business-plans-part-3-knowing-your-market” text=”Part Three – Business Plans – Knowing Your Target”}}
- {{post id=”business-plans-part-4-marketing-and-sales” text=”Part Four – Business Plans – Marketing and Sales?”}}
- {{post id=”business-plans-part-5-financial-forecasts” text=”Part Five – Business Plans – Financial Forecasts?”}}
Provided by Business Link