Setting up a New Business

Preface

A marketing plan is a business document written for the purpose of describing the current market position of a business and its marketing strategy for the period covered by the marketing plan. Marketing plans usually have a life of from one to five years (Kennedy, 2011). The marketing plan contains strategies, and considers many environment aspects that work together to affect the success of the product or service being marketed. In a marketing plan, objectives are created that can be used to gauge progress. The marketing plan is essential to any successful business. It is the heart of the business, the basis from which all other operational and management plans are derived. Marketing offers the business a wealth of information that if applied correctly virtually can ensure the success of the business. A business plan is a document that summarizes the operational and financial objectives of a business. The business plan is a twenty-five to forty-five-page document that describes where a business is heading, how it hopes to achieve its goals and objectives, who is involved with the venture, why the products and services are needed in the market place, and what it will take to accomplish the business aims (Jack M. Kaplan, 2010). The business plan helps the entrepreneur, employees, partner, managers, vendors, management, lenders as well as suppliers gain a better insight into the direction a business might be. There are numerous advantages a business can extract from the marketplace and the marketing plan and a business plan are excellent tools for identifying and developing strategies for extracting these advantages as well as implementing these advantages as will be discussed in this paper.

A solid marketing plan will let the business identify it's customer's needs and wants. The business can determine the demand for its product and aid in the design of a product that will satisfy and fulfill its consumer needs and wants. It also helps the business identify its competitors and make it analyze what advantages the competition has over it or what advantages it has over them and focus on those things. The business will know if its marketing strategies are working or not and maybe can switch to another one. In addition, the business will be able to identify new product areas and new or potential customers.

A marketing plan prepares a business to be proactive in what the market does. Without one, the business will end up reacting to changes and to competition, which means it is always a step behind those who are already prepared. So, then, a marketing plan is crucial to being ready to deal with the ebbs and flows of the market. It's always better to anticipate and plan for a market change well ahead of time rather than find out about it later on. A business needs to be in the leading edge and not on the following edge.

A marketing plan is also necessary for any company seeking to enter new markets. The marketing process must be presented in detail including short term, medium and long term objectives as well as ways of measuring their progress and performance in sales, profits and brand awareness. Any effective marketing plan must also include a current situation analysis for better evaluation of the competition in any new markets. Before a business proceeds with penetration of a