Business Plan Series: Part 4 - Products and Services

Last time we discussed what you should put in the company overview section and the different formats it may take depending on the stage of your company.

In this part, Part 4, we will get at the heart of your company - its products and services.

This section covers what you provide to customers and how you deliver it. It is the reason you are in business. There is something here you decided would revolutionize a market, fill a need that has been desperately looking for a solution or provide something that rides a hot trend.

In most cases you will want to answer in an summary format what your company is providing and why it is so different. This should catch the reader’s attention and make them want to read the detail supporting your intro paragraph.

After you have caught their attention and told them how and why your offerings are so great/revolutionary/needed, you need to include the following things:

Product Offerings - This describes your products in more details and should communicate why you are unique. If you are not providing a physical product (i.e. widget, web site) then go right to the next part.
Service Offerings - This covers the services you offer and really needs to communicate how you are going to stand out because services are not as tangible. If you are providing products this is where you discuss services that support the product and complimentary services that will increase your revenue potential.
Pricing and Revenue Strategy - After you have discussed what you are offering you should discuss how you are pricing everything and how you are going to go about making money with these product and service offerings.
Goals and Objectives - This is the place for major milestones including your pricing and revenue strategy, customers and other important metrics.
Methods and Differentiation - Here is where you really need to show how you will stand out against competitors and differentiate your company as a whole with its products and services.
Relationships and Partnerships - This section is to build on your offerings and demonstrate your success and reach with important vendor relationships and partnerships/joint ventures you have established to increase your revenue potential. You might also want to include customers and important case example to demonstrate the success your offerings have already achieved.

NEXT TIME: COMPETITION- After you have explained how compelling your products and services are you will need to discuss the who else it out there doing something similar and how you will stand out and beat them.

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About the Author: Steve is currently Managing Consultant for Appsolve, Inc., a Product Development, Management and Marketing firm. Steve is also an expert in personal branding and is an avid pilot, musician and photographer. He currently resides in Columbia, MD, USA.