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Normally one would start the business planning
process by developing a business strategy. From the business
strategy you can evolve it into a marketing strategy, production
strategy and so on.
With many companies the starting point is the
marketing strategy, as the owner understands what the business is
there to do, but has difficulty in deciding how to market the
company.
Constructing a strategy appears a relatively
simple exercise on paper. It normally consists of three steps.
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
It sounds simple, but in order to do it
properly, it does get more complicated.
Where are we now?
This seems a relatively simple
question, but do you really know the answer. Do you know your
relative shares in the market place, what your competitors are
doing, what sort of pricing they are using, and how their products
and services differ from yours? How do customers rate you against
your competitors?
We use systems for measuring factors
and influences. STEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Political)
measures the external market forces in action, while SWOT
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) measures both the
internal and external forces acting on your company.
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Where do we want to
be?
The vision of the company. The market
share you would like, the way in which you want customers to view
you against the competition, the long-term aspirations that you have
for your business, perhaps you have them, but they’re not written
down let alone communicated to your workers.
How do we get there?
The planning process. Consideration of
external factors. How will your competitors view the changes that
you will need to make in order to achieve your objectives, and what
are they likely to do to stop you. After all, you are probably
going to look to grow at their expense, and they won’t take that
lying down, would you?
Economic factors, availability of labour, and
many other factors that will need to be considered in any changes
that you want to make to your business and the way in which it is
run.
When you start to consider these other factors,
the process doesn’t look quite as simple as it did. In fact it can
become very complicated, if the planning is done correctly.
KCA Marketing has many years of experience of
helping businesses through the planning process. Of producing
robust and creative strategies, and of helping businesses to grow.
If you need help and assistance, please
contact us.
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