Ten Steps to Business Planning for Success

If you want a simple tried and tested method to business plan for success then this blog is for you.

At least once a year you will want to update your business plan to keep it relevant to your customer and market as things change.

By working through the following steps you will achieve maximum success for minimum investment.

Step 1: Define your mission, goals and positioning.  This is what you want to achieve and how you will go about achieving it.

Step 2: Define your values. This step sets the standards that your customers will come to judge you by.

Step 3: Define your ideal customer as precisely as possible. Know your ideal customer so well that they are immediately recognisable to you. This step is at the heart of your business plan.

Step 4: Develop your appropriate offer to present to your ideal customer. What is so important to your ideal customer? What do they need now and in future? What do they want now and in future?

Step 5: Define your pricing policy, fee structure and payment terms including any promotional policy such as a complimentary initial consultation to establish needs and build rapport. Ensure that your pricing and promotional activity is congruent to your positioning in the market and attractive to your ideal customer.

It is particularly imprtant to ensure that your pricing structure gives you sufficient margin to cover the overheads of your business and to trade profitably.

Step 6: Where will you present your offer to your customers? What are your channels to market? Make sure that you are where your customers are.

Step 7: Engage your customer through attraction, conversion, retention and referrals. What are you doing to attract customers? Where are you marketing? How are you marketing? What is your conversion strategy? What do you do to retain customers? What is your referral strategy?

Step 8: Keep your promises by giving your clients the best service and products/collateral available. What are you doing to ensure a consistently great value quality service?

Step 9: Planning and Controlling. What key metrics are you using to make good balanced decisions in line with your business needs and values?

Step 10: What infrastructure do you have in place to support your business? For example effective HR, legal, finance and IT to protect you from legal and compliance issues and to prepare you for future growth.

Let me know how you get on. For all of your business and personal goals support do get in touch via www.westofenglandcoachingandcounselling.co.uk