Many businesses are begun with a few ideas scribbled on a paper napkin. While this is all well and good, the truly successful business must have much more important planning and research to operate well. Furthermore, the plan should be in written form. Writing the plans down forces the owner to put the plan ideas into concrete, understandable form. That will be important as a definable benchmark to which to refer later.

Every business should have a business plan, a topic for another discussion. Within that should a carefully considered and researched marketing plan. Most business plan forms have the marketing plan forms or instructions included, though, surprisingly, some do not do a very effective job of this.

There are several reasons why a written plan is important. It is important to have the ideas written as a foundation to which to refer later. It will continue to grow as your business grows. If you exercise the discipline to rewrite it when you believe a slightly different direction is in order, or that you would like to pursue another product line or territory, you will proceed in a much more orderly and considered manner.

To Organize Your Thinking
Every business has many things going on at the outset and changes are inevitable. A clearly written marketing plan will serve as a reference for the question, “What were we thinking about when we started this business?”

A written marketing plan helps keep the founders on a single, well-defined path. It also helps avoid getting sidetracked onto unprofitable or unplanned, less important activities.

To Demonstrate Your Commitment to Your Business
A written marketing plan shows others that you are truly committed to your business and that you have carefully thought out the important elements of your marketplace.

Potential investors, suppliers, and employees will all feel more comfortable dealing with a business that has a clear analysis and understanding of the market, the customers, the competition, and direction to be pursued by the business in solving the problems successfully.

To Measure Your Progress
When you have a distinct market direction for your business, you can set up goals and a timeline against which to measure the progress of your business. Regularly checking your business marketing plan, you can make any adjustments necessary in the plan or in your projections to keep your business growing in a realistic and profitable manner.

This helps confirm that your idea was a good one. It also helps you understand where you may have missed something that needs to be revised in some manner.

To Guide Your Employees
Too often businesses make marketing decisions and plans without ever consulting or informing the employees. This is an avoidable mistake. An important use of the marketing plan is to be sure all employees know what the business owner is doing and hopes to accomplish. Furthermore, they will better understand how they fit in and how they can make the project more successful. Never forget that your employees have a “frontline” perspective that may be very important to consult before making additional plans.

The well-written business marketing plan is as essential as the blueprint is for a building. Certainly there will be adjustments and periodic corrections, but it provides the overall direction and path to success in the marketplace that no business should ever try to proceed without.

To your business success!

Let me help you grow your business today!

Paul Elliott

paul @ MarketingSuccessBlueprint.com

Turning Small Businesses Into Large Ones!

Marketing With Unbelievable Guarantees!™
http://www.MarketingSuccessBlueprint.com/blog

© 2009, Paul Elliott, All rights reserved world wide.