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Venture Files founder and former curator, Steven Fisher, wrote a series last year that remains one of the best of its time. Even though he has moved on and is working with Network Solutions, I think it’s as important now (if not more so) than it was last year at this time. This is a consolidates (and updated) version of that series.

In Part 4, we continue building out the goals that must be accomplished through the marketing plan. This section, called “Objectives” is usually only a page in length and are the milestones that you will achieve as you execute your business on a daily basis.

As we discussed in Part 2 – Situational Analysis, there is room for the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis. However, what I like to do is take a separate section that really dives into the opportunities and problems deeper so that they can be addressed by specific marketing strategies.

The Situational Analysis is probably one of the hardest sections you will right because you are essentially laying out how the product will function in various environments and how it will be perceived in the marketplace. Let’s start with product analysis and discussing the market…

Your marketing plan should be the reference document you use as a basis to execute your marketing strategy. It sets out clear objectives and explains how you will achieve them. Perhaps most importantly it looks at how you can ensure that your plan becomes reality. It is funny, when you start writing a series like this you start with the Summary section because it is first in the document. However, it is usually the last thing you write. So how can you write a summary without knowing the content you are summarizing?

What is Founderitis? It is been called “Founders Syndrome” and it is not some type of medical disease but rather a disease that can infect your business if you are not careful. The term “founderitis” or “founder’s syndrome” refers to the unhealthy condition that afflicts many companies whose founders maintain a stranglehold on organizational leadership.