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Once you’ve validated your business idea through research and testing, it’s time to build a plan. The more detailed and robust your planning, the higher your chances of securing financial support and ensuring business success. This stage will walk you through key components of building a marketing, operations and financial plan.
Marketing Plan
STP – Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
How you segment your market, target your niche and position your brand is the foundation of your marketing strategy.
Pricing
There are no hard rules around how to price your product, it’s highly contextual. However, these resources highlight some approaches you can take to ensure your price is right.
Marketing Activities
To ensure a return on your marketing activities, be sure to set clear goals and choose a tactic that addresses your need.
Sales
Having a sales strategy in place before launching your business will help prevent a lot of stress. It helps to think about the sales process as a funnel containing different stages; this way you can consider individual tactics for driving results at each stage.
Website
The impression created by your brand’s web presence is vital from a marketing perspective – it is often the first interaction many stakeholders will have with your business. Though there are many pitfalls to watch out for, the good news is that your website is completely in your control.
Social Media
To gain value from social media marketing one must approach it as one does any other aspect of business, with well-defined goals, resources and a strategy.
Operations Plan
Process
From base material delivery, to production, to shipment and fulfillment, every link in your product’s supply chain requires careful planning and monitoring. The following resources highlight some key considerations. Be sure to review the section “What are the operational requirements for starting my business” in the Explore Bucket.
Customer Relations Management
CRM technologies are no longer only for big business, many low-cost options exist for start-ups too. Regardless of which tools you use, managing your customer relations data should be a key operational focus.
Team & Culture
The people that work on and in your business, simply put, make your business. Be sure to review the below resources to attract and retain the best people for your team.
Financial Planning
Credit Worthiness
Without good credit you are unlikely to receive character-based loans, a vital funding source for start-ups. Review this section to understand how to stay on top of your credit score.
Where to find funders?
There are countless avenues you can pursue to seek funding, the trick is to know what each type of funder is looking for. See also: Regional Resources for province-specific funders.
What is cash flow and how to build cash flow assumptions?
Cash flow is how money enters and leaves your business. A cash flow projection, therefore, is a budget for your business. The following resources will help you understand how to make cash flow projections for your start-up.
Financial Planning Templates
Use these templates to help you document your startup’s financial planning.
Creating the Business Plan
Once you’ve mapped how your business will tackle its marketing, operational and financial needs, it’s time to bring it all together as a business plan. Our Business Plan Writer is an interactive tool that guides you through each section you will need to include. You can also reference our list of business plan examples, offering examples from different industries.
