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Business Plan Series: Part 7 – Sales and Marketing – Sales Strategy
Last time in Part 6, we discussed how to discuss your marketing strategy with investors. This included your approach, penetration strategy in addition to growth and communication strategies. But what is marketing without sales? Many say sales is marketing with actually asking for the close. I disagree and while they are closely intertwined the skills…
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Business Plan Series: Part 6 – Sales and Marketing – Marketing Strategy
Last time in Part 5, we discussed how to evaluate and present the competition in a manner that allows your company to stand out. Now that you have covered who you company is, what it provides and how you stack up against the competition, it is time to show how you market and sell it…
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Business Plan Series: Part 5 – Competitive Landscape
Last time in Part 4, we discussed how to present your products and services. It was important to follow up the problems with your solution but in this part, Part 5, we will attack the competition – the competitive landscape. This section covers how you are differentiating yourself by describing the competition and why you…
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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…
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Business Plan Series: Part 3 – Corporate Overview
Last time we discussed the importance of analyzing the market and setting up the problem(s) that exist so you can address. Some cases you will want to answer in a shorter format what your company does and the problems it is fixing. This also the time to discuss vision and overall goals. This is what…
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Business Plan Series: Part 2 – Market Analysis
In my previous post I discussed the basics of framing your plan and how to set it up. Moving forward, I would like to take more of the startup/entrepreneur/VC type of plan approach and start with the market analysis. This is because if you started with the corporate overview there wouldn’t be a whole lot…
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Business Plan Series: Part 1 – Framing your plan
First, let me start by saying that by the time you are done with your business plan your first draft will look completely different than the one you share with everyone. There are a few different forms that your business plan will take: Business Plan Type #1 – Business Plan for You Essentially a data…
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New Series: Practical Advice for writing a Business Plan
I have been thinking a lot about how many entrepreneur’s ask “should I write a business plan?” and regardless of what you think should go in one or what format it may take, the answer is essentially yes. Then I started to look at all my previous business plans and those I have advised on…