Benefits of a Marketing Plan for Small Business
Research Topic 5: “I’ve got a small business with only 3 full-time staff. Marketing Planning’s no real practical use to me! Besides, I can’t afford the time and/or the money to do it”
The writing of a marketing plan is extremely important step in the functioning of an effective and successful business. A marketing plan will give a snapshot of where the business currently stands, where the business hopes and wants to be and what needs to be done to achieve this. This is crucial if the business wants to grow or maintain its current level of profit. It could even be helpful if a business needed to down-size. Marketing plans can be as detailed as required, and as such are useful tools for large corporations and small businesses alike. The creation of marketing plans can be quite daunting without previous experience, and this is one reason why many small businesses don’t create a plan. Ross Cameron, of Cameron Research Group states “…there appeared to be a large number of small business owners who were not interested in growing. It is possible this is because many small business owners don’t know how to grow” (Hartnett and Keisler 2008, p.2) Many of the smaller businesses don’t understand the benefit of creating a marketing plan, and therefore avoid creating one.
One benefit of creating a marketing plan is in analyzing the current situation. Particularly in small businesses, the ability to step back and take an external view of the business is often difficult for an owner, as that time can be put to use elsewhere, and the results of a situational analysis can often be confronting (Hartnett and Keisler 2008). Most successful entrepreneurs of the world are able to view and analyze the business from the outside.
Another benefit of producing a marketing plan is the potential for “greater co-ordination of effort” (Overton 2007). In having a clearly defined plan for the direction of the business, as well as an idea of how to get there, all of the
The writing of a marketing plan is extremely important step in the functioning of an effective and successful business. A marketing plan will give a snapshot of where the business currently stands, where the business hopes and wants to be and what needs to be done to achieve this. This is crucial if the business wants to grow or maintain its current level of profit. It could even be helpful if a business needed to down-size. Marketing plans can be as detailed as required, and as such are useful tools for large corporations and small businesses alike. The creation of marketing plans can be quite daunting without previous experience, and this is one reason why many small businesses don’t create a plan. Ross Cameron, of Cameron Research Group states “…there appeared to be a large number of small business owners who were not interested in growing. It is possible this is because many small business owners don’t know how to grow” (Hartnett and Keisler 2008, p.2) Many of the smaller businesses don’t understand the benefit of creating a marketing plan, and therefore avoid creating one.
One benefit of creating a marketing plan is in analyzing the current situation. Particularly in small businesses, the ability to step back and take an external view of the business is often difficult for an owner, as that time can be put to use elsewhere, and the results of a situational analysis can often be confronting (Hartnett and Keisler 2008). Most successful entrepreneurs of the world are able to view and analyze the business from the outside.
Another benefit of producing a marketing plan is the potential for “greater co-ordination of effort” (Overton 2007). In having a clearly defined plan for the direction of the business, as well as an idea of how to get there, all of the
Bibliography: Hartnett R., Keisler, K., 2008, Small Business, Big Opportunity: Winning the right customers through smart marketing and advertising, Second edition, Sensis, Melbourne How to Create a Marketing Plan, 2010, Entrepreneur, viewed 2nd April 2010, Murphy, D., 2009, Marketing Budget – Where do I start?, Vista Consulting, viewed 2nd April 2010, Overton, R., 2007, Marketing Simplified, An introduction to marketing, eBOOK version, Martin Books, EBL EBook Library, viewed 2nd April 2010 Paul, S., 2010, Cost of Marketing: What Is the Average Budget?, LegalZoom, viewed 2nd April 2010, < http://www.legalzoom.com/business-management/promoting-your-business/cost-marketing-what-is>