Today’s Tip
Brand Best Practice: To insure success of your brand, connect it with a solid business plan to better insure the business will be profitable.
Today’s Article Connect Your Brand to a Profitable Business Plan
A business plan doubles your chances for success, says a new survey. “The study found that writing a business plan correlated with increased success in every one of the business goals included in the study. These were: obtaining a loan, getting investment capital, making a major purchase, recruiting a new team member, thinking more strategically and growing the company.”
Build your business success on a solid foundation, with a brand that provides customers what they want, how they want it and at a price they can afford. Part of that solid foundation is a business plan that assists in implementing and monitoring the brand along with proactively guiding future operational decisions that complement the desired brand.
Business Plan Sections
Executive Summary – 1 page overview of the business and why it will be profitable
Business Description – type of business, legal structure & customer’s value proposition
Target Customer – describing the customer using demographics and psychographics
Pricing Strategy – review of pricing strategy: below market, at market or above market
Competition – review top 3 competitors with their brand, value proposition and pricing
Competitive Advantage – what causes you to stand out to new and repeat customers
Marketing/Sales Strategy – describe how you will attract new and repeat customers
Management Team – describe who has the skills to operate a profitable business
Capital Requirement – review how much money the business needs and its source
Financials – Cash flow Statement – 12 month spreadsheet with income and expenses
Financials – Breakeven Analysis – shows when the business will break even: income versus expenses
Financials – P& L Statement – shows how the business performs profit versus loss
Action Step: Complete or update a current business plan. Will you write the plan on your own or use an online program to write the plan?
Write Plan on Your Own (Template)
Use a Fee Online Program (Plans with more content and graphics)
Additional Resources
Return to Brand Library Return to Brand Yourself
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