Marketing
Gonzalo Manchego
Business Consultant
Business Plan
What is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a written
document that describes your
business start-up or expansion.
Why You Need to Write a Business plan?

To Raise Capital
Lenders
Investors
 To plan company growth:
 Identify markets
 Strategize ways to grow
 Identify opportunities and threats
 Have a clear vision of what to do
Key Sections of the
Business Plan
 Cover Page
 Executive Summary
 Company Description
 Products & Services
 Market Analysis
 Production & Operation Plans
 Management
 Financial Statements
 Appendix
Executive Summary
 Max 1-2 pages long
 Why your business idea is feasible?
 Who will finance your company initial expenses?
 How will you use this money?
 Who is in your team?
 What is your business model?
 How revenue will be generated?
Company Description
 What products or services you are planning to sell?
 Where will your business be located?
 Is your company:
 1) An existing business?
 2) Start-up Business?
 3) A Franchise?
 Will your company be a sole proprietorship,
partnership, LLC or an S corporation?
Products and Services
 What is different about your products or services?
 What is your gross profit margin?
 How do you know your product or service meet the
needs of your target customers?
 Are there any substantial opportunities for growth?
 Are your products and services protected? (patents,
trademarks, copyrights)
Market Analysis
 Do you know your customers? ( Age, income, purchasing
habits)
 How are clients reached?
 Is this a B2C or B2B company?
 Who is your competition?
 How would you beat your competition?
 What are the typical distribution channels?
 What is the price for your products and services?
Market Analysis
 Do you know your industry?
 Is the industry growing or declining?
 How big is the opportunity?
 What are the entry barriers?
 Is the industry labor intensive?
 Is technology impacting your industry?
How?
Production & Operation Plans
 Is this a brick and mortar operation?
 Where your firm will be located?
 Do you need to modify an existing building?
 How many employees?
 What is your criteria for hiring?
 How many hours of operation per day/week?
Management
 Who will be the key personnel in your company?
 Will your partner part of the management team?
 What are your or key personnel management skills or
experience?
 What will your responsibilities?
 Who will be your professional supporting system?
(advisors, accountants, attorneys)
Financial Statements
Income statement
Cash flow
Balance Sheet
Anns Nursery-Projected Income Statement
Jan
Feb
Mar
Nov
Dec
Totals
Income
Local Nursery Plant mix
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
Web Gardner Plant Mix
10,000
250,000
-
-
-
Distant Nursery Plant Mix
-
-
-
20,000
5,000
57,000
20,000
10,000
40,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
50,000
25,000
347,000
5,500
5,500
5,500
5,500
5,500
137,500
Total Cost of Sales
5,500
5,500
5,500
29,500
14,500
195,700
Gross Margin
4,500
4,500
4,500
20,500
10,500
151,300
Owner's Compensation
4,000
4,000
4,000
4,000
4,000
48,000
Salaries
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
36,000
834
834
834
834
834
10,010
7,834
7,834
7,834
7,834
7,834
94,010
Advertising
600
600
600
600
600
7,200
Legal and Professional Fees
150
150
150
150
150
1,800
Office Expenses & Supplies
200
200
200
200
200
2,400
Rent (on business property)
300
300
300
300
300
3,600
Telephone and Communications
250
250
250
250
250
3,000
Travel
200
200
200
200
200
2,400
Total Income
Cost of Sales
Local Nursery Plant mix
Salaries and Wages
Payroll Taxes and Benefits
Total Salary and Wages
Fixed Business Expenses
Utilities
500
500
500
500
500
6,000
4,300
4,300
4,300
4,300
4,300
51,600
Amortized Start-up Expenses
244
244
244
244
244
2,933
Depreciation
730
730
730
730
730
8,757
254
251
249
231
229
2,895
-
70
157
261
196
2,548
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,678
1,743
1,826
1,896
1,826
22,402
(9,312)
(9,378)
(9,460)
6,470
(3,461)
(16,712)
Total Fixed Business Expenses
Other Expenses
Interest
Commercial Loan
Line of Credit
Taxes
Total Other Expenses
Net Income
Anns Nursery - Projected Cash Flow Statement
Jan
Beginning Cash Balance
Feb
Mar
Oct
Nov
Dec
Totals
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,046
3,005
3,000
3,000
3,000
10,500
15,000
7,500
104,100
3,000
7,000
30,700
28,500
29,000
205,400
6,000
10,000
41,200
43,500
36,500
309,500
Cash Inflows
Income from Sales
Accounts Receivable
Total Cash Inflows
3,000
Cash Outflows
Investing Activities
New Fixed Assets Purchases
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Inventory Addition to Bal.Sheet
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Cost of Sales
-
5,500
5,500
25,500
20,000
29,500
181,200
Operating Activities
Salaries and Wages
7,834
7,834
7,834
7,834
7,834
7,834
94,010
Fixed Business Expenses
4,300
4,300
4,300
4,300
4,300
4,300
51,600
Taxes
-
-
-
-
-
-
Financing Activities
Loan Payments
1,346
1,346
1,346
1,346
1,346
1,346
16,151
274
261
196
2,548
1,900
9,800
Line of Credit Interest
-
70
157
Line of Credit Repayments
-
-
-
Dividends Paid
-
-
-
Total Cash Outflows
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
13,480
19,050
19,137
41,154
43,541
43,176
345,509
(10,480)
(13,050)
(9,137)
46
(41)
(6,676)
(36,009)
Operating Cash Balance
(7,480)
(10,050)
(6,137)
3,046
3,005
(3,670)
Line of Credit Drawdowns
10,480
13,050
9,137
3,000
3,000
3,000
Cash Flow
Ending Cash Balance
3,046
3,005
6,670
3,000
60,509
Anns Nursery - Balance Sheet
Base Period
End of Year One
Assets
Current Assets
Cash
Accounts Receivable
Inventory
Prepaid Expenses
Total Current Assets
3,000
3,000
-
37,500
30,000
30,000
8,800
5,867
41,800
76,367
Fixed Assets
Real Estate-Land
100,000
100,000
Buildings
30,000
30,000
Leasehold Improvements
15,000
15,000
Equipment
5,000
5,000
Furniture and Fixtures
2,000
2,000
Vehicles
20,000
20,000
172,000
172,000
-
8,757
213,800
239,609
-
14,500
Loan Payable
33,800
30,169
Mortgage Payable
50,000
49,064
Vehicle Loans
15,000
11,580
Total Fixed Assets
Less: Accumulated Depreciation
Total Assets
Liabilities and Owner's Equity
Liabilities
Accounts Payable
Line of Credit Balance
Total Liabilities
-
36,009
98,800
141,321
115,000
115,000
Owner's Equity
Common Stock
Retained Earnings
Total Owner's Equity
Total Liabilities and Owner's Equity
-
(16,712)
115,000
98,288
213,800
239,609
Appendix
 Resumes of key personnel
 Sales agreements
 Partnership agreements
 Past tax returns
 Bids
 Contracts
Marketing
Gonzalo Manchego
Business Consultant
UI21 Business Plan - Marketing Sections
 Markets: Describe your product or service, describe who is going
to buy your products and who are your potential customers.
Quote facts that add credibility. Up to 120 words.
 Marketing Strategy: Describe your competitive advantage, average
market prices for similar products or services. Up to 120 words.
 Sales and promotions: How you plan to sell your products or
services. Up to 120 words.
UI21 Business Plan - Markets
Description of Your Product / Service :
 Describe all your products and services.
 Explain how your product or service meets consumer needs
 Explain how your product is different.
 Explain if you have any existing, pending, or if you will need
future copyright or patent filings.
Is There a Market for my Products/Services?
• Check if your product/service is needed
• Use an advisory board
• Survey your customers
• Focus Groups
• Use a suggestion box
• Customer want list
• If so, identify your target market
UI21 Business Plan - Markets
Industry Description and Outlook – Describe your industry,
forecasted industry growth, major customer groups.
 Is the industry growing or declining?
 Is the industry consolidated or fragmented?
 How big is the opportunity?
 What are the entry barriers?
 Is the industry labor intensive?
 Is technology impacting your industry? How?
 Technology provides opportunities and new ways to conduct businesses
 Ex: Internet, software (sas), on-line stores, apps for smartphones, 3D printers
Industry Analysis - Resources
http://www.census.gov/econ/snapshots/index.php
http://thedataweb.rm.census.gov/TheDataWeb_HotReport2/econsnapshot/2012/snapshot.hrml?NAICS=624410
http://www.sbdcnet.org/category/industry-links
http://www.virtualpet.com/industry/mfg/mfg.htm
First Research
 First Research is the leading provider of market analysis tools that help you perform faster and
smarter, open doors and close more deals. First Research performs the “heavy lifting” by
synthesizing hundreds of sources into an easy to digest format a sales person can consume quickly
to better understand a prospect’s or client’s business issues. Our customers include leading
companies in banking, accounting, technology, telecommunications, business process outsourcing,
and professional and business services. Used by thousands of sales and marketing professionals,
First Research can benefit any organization that has prospects in multiple industries.
 Our product is supported by a team of industry specialists, many of which have advanced degrees
and 10-20 years experience in business writing about companies and industries, with deep
knowledge in specific areas such as banking and finance, computers and telecommunication,
manufacturing, media, retail, and real estate.
 Today First Research, a division of Hoover's Inc. and located in Austin, Texas, offers customers
industry research reports covering over 1000 industry segments. Many of our profiles include indepth international industry information, creating a comprehensive suite of data that is
continuously updated to ensure content is both timely and top of mind.
http://www.firstresearch.com/industry-research/Janitorial-and-Carpet-Cleaning-Services.html
D&B
 Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, known as D&B, is one of the world's leading
suppliers of business information, services, and research. Its database contains
information on more than 200 million companies in over 200 countries, including
the largest volume of business-credit information in the world. The company's risk
management segment (the largest segment, accounting for more than half of D&B's
revenues) sells that information and integrates it into software products and Webbased applications. D&B also offers marketing information and purchasing-support
services.
Business Source Premier
 Business Source Premier is the industry's most popular business research database,
featuring the full text for more than 2,200 journals. Full text is provided back to
1965, and searchable cited references back to 1998.
 Journal ranking studies reveal that Business Source Premier's full-text coverage
outshines its competitors in all business disciplines, including marketing,
management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full text,
non-journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country
reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
Hoovers
 Hoover’s Inc., a subsidiary of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, offers
proprietary business information through an online platform and integrated
workflow solutions. Whether you are looking for leads, companies, or industries,
our data on more than 85 million corporations, 100 million people, and 1,000
industries fuels powerful data cleansing, analysis, list building, and corporate
linkage capabilities that accelerate your sales and marketing cycles.
 In 2003, Hoover’s became part of Dun & Bradstreet, expanding the breadth of
information to more than 240 million business records today through access to
Dun & Bradstreet’s global database, the largest single source of business
information anywhere.
IBIS World
 IBISWorld is one of the world's leading publishers of business intelligence, specializing in
Industry research and Procurement research. Since 1971, IBISWorld has provided
thoroughly researched, accurate and current business information.
 Today, IBISWorld employs teams of analysts in the US, UK and Australia that scour
economic, demographic and government data so you don’t have to. IBISWorld research
provides your organization with valuable industry market research and procurement
research, so you can make better business decisions, faster.
 IBISWorld's unrivaled range of business intelligence is available online wherever and
whenever you need it. Whether your company requires a better understanding of market
conditions now and in the future, whether you need a clearer picture of major suppliers
or a supply chain, or whether you need to keep abreast of competitor activity, IBISWorld’s
suite of business intelligence reports will keep you ahead of the competition.
Mintel
 Mintel is the world’s leading market intelligence agency, with offices in London, Chicago, Shanghai, Belfast,
Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Munich, New York, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.
 Mintel in the Media is a review of the past week, bringing together a selection of the most high profile press
stories showcasing Mintel’s data and analysis from around the world. Highlights from the past week include:
 Forbes The High Stakes Of Craft Beer Marketing Research from Mintel reports sales have doubled in the
past five years, and are on track to surpass $36 billion by 2019.
 New York Times Owl’s Brew Tea-Infused Cocktail Mixers Find Their Flow Mintel, a market research
firm, said about 82 percent of United States consumers over the age of 18 drink tea. At the same time,
demand for premium cocktail mixers, which contain natural ingredients, is surging.
 Beverage Daily High strength beers are booming – but for how long? 1 in 4 beers launched in 2014 were
high ABV, says Mintel. Almost one in four beers launched in 2013 and 2014 were high strength – a
significant rise since 2012 – with craft beer driving acceptance and popularity among consumers,
according to Mintel.
Google
Trends
Alexa
 Alexa is a global pioneer in the world of analytical insight. Our vast experience means
we've dealt with all of the pitfalls and tripped over all of the landmines, and over time,
developed the most robust and accurate web analytics service of any provider.
 Alexa's traffic estimates are based on data from our global traffic panel, which is a sample
of millions of Internet users using one of over 25,000 different browser extensions. In
addition, we gather much of our traffic data from direct sources in the form of sites that
have chosen to install the Alexa script on their site and certify their metrics.
 Our global traffic rank is a measure of how a website is doing relative to all other sites on
the web over the past 3 months. The rank is calculated using a proprietary methodology
that combines a site's estimated average of daily unique visitors and its estimated number
of page views over the past 3 months.
UI21 Business Plan - Markets
Target Markets – Identify your target markets. Research and include
the following information about your market:
 Distinguishing characteristics – Is this a B2B or B2C enterprise? What
are the critical needs of your potential customers? Are those needs being
met? What are the demographics of the group and where are they located?
Are there any seasonal or cyclical purchasing trends that may impact your
business?
 Size of the primary target market – What are the typical annual
revenues for similar firms in your market? What is the forecasted market
growth for your industry?
 How much market share can you gain? –What is the market share
percentage you expect to reach? How many customers per year will your
company serve? Will your target market has a geographical boundary?
Distinguishing Characteristics
• Demographics: Information on customers’ age, income, race
• Psychographics: Information on factors that influence
consumer’s purchases such as perception, attitudes and
personality
• Geographic: Information on customer’s location: region,
suburban or urban areas
• Behavioral: How often they buy, life style, spending patterns,
sex of the decision maker, response to advertising, media
they use (TV, radio, internet)
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Homewood-South-Pittsburgh-PA.html
American Time Use Survey - http://www.bls.gov/tus/
http://www.census.gov/people/
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Consumer expenditure: http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxann13.pdf
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/expenditures_on_children_by_families/CRC2013InfoGraphic.pdf
PGH SNAP – Pittsburgh demographic info
http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/snap/
http://www.alleghenycounty.us/uploadedFiles/DHS/About_DHS/Report_and_Evaluation/Homewood-Childrens-Village-Profile.pdf
UI21 Business Plan - Marketing Strategy
 Competitive Analysis –Your competitive analysis should identify your competition by
product line or service and market segment. Assess the following characteristics of the
competitive landscape:
Market share
Strengths and weaknesses
Are there any barriers that may hinder you as you enter the market?
Are there any indirect or secondary competitors who may impact your success?
What barriers to market are there (e.g., changing technology, high investment cost, lack of
quality personnel)?
 Average market prices for similar products or services





 Regulatory Restrictions – Include any customer or governmental regulatory
requirements affecting your business, and how you’ll comply. Also, cite any operational or
cost impact the compliance process will have on your business.
Competitive Analysis – Know your competition
 Who is already there?
 What products do they offer?
 Where are their locations?
 What are their hours?
 What are their prices?
 What are their strengths and weaknesses?
 Visit them
 Talk to their suppliers and vendors
 Check their website, Facebook, Twitter, blogs
http://www.ura.org/business_owners/business_district_market_profiles.php
http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/index.html
https://www.sba.gov/tools/sizeup?ms=nid2977
SWOT ANALYSIS
Internal Factors
External Factors
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
Weaknesses
 Management experience
 No Parking
 Good Location
 Small Size
 Excellent Reputation
 High Employee turnover
 High Customer Loyalty
 Low gross margins
SWOT ANALYSIS
Opportunities
Threats
 New market
 Barriers to entry
 Technology
 New competition
 Changes in regulations
 Saturated market
 New services/product
 Changes in consumer
preferences
Marketing Strategies
 Explain how products/services will satisfy the needs of
customers
 Do you plan to increase marketing share or expand product
range?
 High volume vs high price. Volume vs profit
 At what price products/services will be sold ?
 What distribution channels will be used?
 How the company will communicate with customers?
Marketing Strategies - Marketing Mix
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Products and Services
•
•
•
•
What are your products/services?
Which ones are high volume sellers?
Which ones are the most profitable?
Where is your product/service in the life cycle?
• Introduction: New to customers: Iphone- customer education is needed
• Growth: Business begins profiting
• Maturity: Market is saturated, highly competitive
• Decline: Sales fall, obsolescence, new customer preferences
• How is your product different? Positioning, pricing
62
Market Positioning
• Products have no universal appeal. Consider distinct
product position for each segment
• Positioning on specific product features
• On benefits
• Against another product
• Class dissociation: new vs old
Pricing
• Penetration pricing: Below competitors price.
• Premium pricing: Above competitors price.
• Economy pricing: Just above product cost
• Price Skimming: Set the price high and gradually
lower it
• Odd pricing: Price end in 9
• Multiple pricing: 2 for $
Pricing
• How much should I charge?
• 3 C’s of Pricing: Cost, Competition, Customers
• Supply and Demand
• The right price is the one that the market bears
Place (Distribution)
• Location, location, location
• Distribution: Provide a product at a place which is
convenient for consumers to access.
• Intensive: Product is everywhere
• Exclusive: Franchises with exclusive territories
• Selective: Product is sold in just some stores
• Type of Channel: Direct or Indirect sales (retail)
Promotion
• Communication between the seller and the potential customer
intended to influence the customer. Ways to promote products
and services are:
• Personal Selling or sales force
• Sales Promotion: Short term incentive to buy a product: Ex: coupons,
product samples, rebates.
• Public Relations: Manages the flow of information between an
organization and its target market. It does not require any payment. Ex:
press conferences, community events, charitable events
• Advertising: Presents a reason to the customer to buy a product. Ex:
Billboards, printed flyers, radio, cinema and television adverts, web
banners, web popups, bus stop benches, magazines, newspapers, and
the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts.
UI21 Business Plan - Marketing Sections
• Markets: Describe your product or service, describe who is
going to buy your products and who are your potential
customers. Quote facts that add credibility. Up to 120
words.
• Marketing Strategy: Describe your competitive advantage,
average market prices for similar products or services. Up to
120 words.
• Sales and promotions: How you plan to sell your products or
services. Up to 120 words.