Issue link: https://docs.hic.us/i/403552
• What are your location needs? • What kind of space will you need? • Why is the area desirable? the building desirable? • Is it easily accessible? Is public transportation available? Is street lighting adequate? • Are market shifts or demographic shifts occurring? NOTE: It is a good idea to make a checklist of questions you identify when developing your business plan. Categorize your questions and, as you answer each question, remove it from your list. II. Sales & Marketing Marketing plays a vital role in successful business ventures. How well you market you business, along with a few other considerations, will ultimately determine your degree of success or failure. The key element of a successful marketing plan is to know your customers - their likes, dislikes, expectations. By identifying these factors, you can develop a marketing strategy that will allow you to arouse and fulfill their needs. Identify your customers by their age, sex, income & educational level and residence. At first, target only those customers who are more likely to purchase your product or service. As your customer base expands, you may need to consider modifying the marketing plan to include other customers. Your Sales & Marketing portion of the business plan is actually a separate plan called a Marketing Plan. Though separate, it should be included within the business plan and used to generate essential Sales & Marketing data for this phase of the business plan. Sales & Marketing should address the following topics: Section A - Customer Base and Target Markets Section B - The Competition Section C - Pricing Strategy Section D - Advertising and Public Relations A. Customer Base and Target Markets In this section you will define who your customers are, which markets you will pursue, and what growth you expect within each market. To properly address these subjects, you need to develop a Marketing Plan, which is separate from, but part of the Business Plan. A more detailed explanation of the marketing plan and how to develop an effective marketing program is provided in Chapter 4. www.hsi.us care@hsi.us 38