marketing plan

Include:

· A professional looking front page with your company name, address and logo.
· Contents page.

Include an interesting introduction explaining:

· What product or service you have chosen and why?
· What price you are going to charge - high, medium or low and why?
· Where you are going to operate from - the area and why?
· How you are going to promote your business?
· The important highlights of your plan

Market Research

Give a brief background on the market you have decided to operate in. You can discuss the economy in brief relating to your business.

Determine the total market potential:

·	Define exactly who your potential customers will be in general terms e.g. for a bottle store it will be people that drink alcohol.
·	Determine the total market spending power or the potential for your product in rands e.g. each customer spends approximately R100.00 per month on liquor.
·	Define the area you are going to market in e.g. Natal, Durban, or PMB.

Include:

· Surveys - in this section include market research surveys that you have done.
· General research - how many homes in the area, population count etc.
· Statistics - obtained from Human Sciences Research Council etc.
· Maps of the area you are going to operate in.

Swot

·	Do a "SWOT" analysis of your business and yourself - what is going to make your business different and better.
·	Do a "SWOT" analysis of all your main competitors, including an estimation of their market share.

Define your specific target market/niche.

· Who are your customers?
· Geographical parameters.
· Discuss all factors that could exert an influence on your market - race, ages, income patterns etc.

Calculate your expected market share

Do a forecast of:

· Poor
· Average
· Best-case scenario.
· What is your expected monthly and annual turnover?

List your business goals or objectives going into:

· Short term goals, medium term goals, long term goals
· You can include your personal goals here.

Develop a promotional plan so that you can achieve your marketing goals

How are you going to promote your business?

· Newspapers
· Internet
· Pamphlets
· Public Relations
· Customer Service
· Free samples
· Competitions, radio advertising, word-of-mouth, door-to-door etc.
· Make sure you include the cost price of each method of promoting your business.