bizSimple

The simple way to start a business.

Monday 6 September

“Any publicity is good publicity – good publicity is better”

Marketing

Before you launch your business it is vital that you have a clear picture in your mind of:-

what you will be selling
the price you will charge
the advertising message you will communicate to your target customers
how you will get your product or service to your customers, (e.g. mail order, retail, wholesale, personal visit, etc.)

This information makes up your marketing mix and is presented under four headings in your business plan – product, price, promotion and place. The bizSimple Toolkit 02 looks at this in detail and the business plan also has a dedicated marketing section for your own marketing plan, including setting budgets.

These four elements will have a direct bearing on potential business success; get one wrong and it could seriously affect the future of your venture.

FAQs

Isn't marketing just a different name for advertising?

No. Advertising is a vital part of marketing, as are all elements of promoting your business. bizSimple Toolkit 02 will help you to develop your marketing plan, including your advertising and promotion activities and gives you some useful guides on what works for smaller businesses on more restricted budgets.

How do I work out my price?

Basically you need to work out how much your service or product costs to deliver to your customer and then add enough to make a healthy profit. From there you need to look at what your competitors are charging and the quality of what they supply.

It is worth remembering that people won't always buy something new just because it's cheaper!

There are a range of different ways of working out your price, and these are covered in the bizSimple Toolkit 02.

I have heard the term 'breakeven' but I don't know what it means?

Basically your break even point is the amount of money you need to take in sales to cover all your business costs. Anything above this amount will then start making you a profit.

The bizSimple Toolkit 02 has easy to use breakeven calculations, and demonstrates ways that you can use your marketing plan to reduce your own breakeven point. Our financial forecasting templates work out your breakeven point for you!