When You're Ready To Take The Leap
Strategy | Marketing | Communications |
A Sound Strategy A misstep we frequently see is a start-up developing a Business Plan with inadequate attention given to framing its business idea within the overall context of its market. Here are some important early steps that are often overlooked or minimized, and some tools we’ve found helpful in dealing with them. |
| Understanding Your Market and Competitors Secondary Market Research, which uses publicly and (usually) readily available market information, can help develop an understanding of your potential market position, your customer base and competitive environment. Business and trade press and their websites, trade associations, State business development departments and the Internet are obvious places to start. A Competitive Analysis should include quantitative and/or qualitative research assessments of your product or service against current or new competitors to understand its relative performance, potential market position and strengths or weaknesses. |
| Identifying Your Customer Needs Primary Consumer Research uses various techniques to talk directly to current or potential customers to understand their needs, issues, views of your product or service or to assess reactions to new products or ideas. Most investors insist on consumer testing of some sort and there are a variety of techniques, depending on the product or service. The Internet is an increasingly capable and viable test vehicle. |
Framing Your Business Write a Business Strategy which utilizes the previous research and assessments |
| Distillation Into a Business Plan Business Planning is the distillation of the above research, assessments, strategy and modeling into a detailed plan for a set timeframe. It details specific goals, market and product focus, expected financial performance, investment requirements and the initiatives or tactics required to achieve the plan. Business Plan templates can be found at good business schools, venture capital firms and other Internet sites. |