Vitamin Empire Start Up Project
PART 3 The Business/Marketing Plan
The Business/Marketing Plan
The business/marketing plan should follow the outline below.
This section should be at least 3 pages typed, in paragraph form, including section titles and charts and graphs, if necessary.
TARGET MARKET
A particular group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services
DEMOGRAPHICS
The study of a population based on age, race, gender and education.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS
Analysis of consumer based on personality, values, attitudes, interests and lifestyles.
CUSTOMER PROFILE
A description of a customer or set of customers that includes demographic, geographic, and psychographic characteristics, as well as buying patterns, creditworthiness, and purchase history.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Used by organizations to analyze internal strengths, weaknesses along with external opportunities and threats
STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Internal Factors
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS
External Factors
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
COMPANY MISSION
Statement describing a company's function, markets and competitive advantages; a short written statement of your business goals and philosophies.
A mission statement defines what an organization is, why it exists, its reason for being.
COMPANY MISSION EXAMPLE
“Our mission is to be the world's premier consumer products company focused on convenient foods and beverages. We seek to produce financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate.”
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Goals set by a business when promoting its products or services to potential consumers that should be achieved within a given time frame.
Examples:
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OBJECTIVES
How you will get your goods into the hands of customers. Where and how your products will be offered to consumers.
Examples:
MARKETING STRATEGIES
a. Positioning and Points of Difference (competitors)
b. Marketing Mix (four Ps)
i. Product
ii. Price
iii. Place
iv. Promotion
POSITIONING
Product positioning is a form of marketing that presents the benefits of your product to a particular target audience.
Through market research and focus groups, marketers can determine which audience to target based on favorable responses to the product.
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE
Best described as a unique selling proposition (USP) is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.
A USP could be thought of as “what you have that competitors don't.”
Marketing Mix
Factors controlled by a company to influence consumers to purchase their products.
Made up of the 4 P’s:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
a. Product Cost / Retail Price / Profit Potential
b. Financial Objectives (Sales Forecast)
c. Investment Needs (Start-up costs)
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
a. Product Cost / Retail Price / Profit Potential
How much will the product cost will be determined from the price sheet.
You will establish a retail price based on the pricing analysis you performed earlier.
PROFIT = RETAIL PRICE - PRODUCT COST
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
b. Financial Objectives (Sales Forecast)
In this section you will establish some financial goals for your company. You may want to consider setting a 6 month, 1 year and 2 year sales forecast.
A sales forecast is an estimate of how much you will sell in a given period of time. It should include your profit potential.
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
c. Investment Needs (Start-up costs)
You will determine your investment needs based on the price sheet provided. You will also have to factor in the cost of your distribution channels. For example if you choose to sell online, you will have costs for running a website.