A Business Plan is often described as a written document explaining the nature of the business, its financial background, the sales and marketing strategy and the projected profit and loss.
The most crucial and one of the most important components of a business plan is sales and marketing. It determines how you’ll plan on generating profit and it details your strategy for penetrating the target markets. It also describes how you intend to create exposure to best sell your product.
Some of the key elements of Sales and Marketing are as follows:
A description of the company’s desired strategic positioning.
This proposition shows what market need you are planning to solve. It is your secret ingredient that combines factors such as customer service, technology, and a twist on a product or service.
Descriptions of the company’s desired image and branding strategy.
In a business, you create strategy to attract customers, known as marketing strategy. But before that, you have to think about “branding” first. The look and feel of your business is called branding. It shows what customers will experience when interacting with it. Branding is also about the fonts, colors and text of the website, your business cards and the overall image portrayed in the product itself. Branding is the reflection of how you will execute your marketing strategy.
Image of the business on the other hand, is the perception people have of your business when they hear your company name. A good business image is made up of an infinite variety of facts, events, personal histories, advertising and goals that work together to make an impression on the public.
An overview of the company’s pricing strategies.
How to determine your pricing scheme? First, check what your competition is charging so you have an idea of what customers are willing to spend. Then, determine how you can add value. Value is the benefit that a customer gets by using a product to satisfy her needs minus associated costs, and when determining how much your added benefit is worth in the customer’s mind, always beat in mind the word “reasonable.” You can charge any price you want for every product or service, but there’s a limit to how much the consumer is willing to pay.