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Do You Have a Marketing Plan?
It's been awhile since I've written to you and I apologize. December through February are my speaking months and so I've been very busy developing presentations and speaking. But I felt compelled to talk to you today about an "epidemic" that I've noticed during my speaking engagements these past two months. The Fatal Small Business Mistake During my presentations I've asked the business owners in the audience who have a written marketing plan to hold up their hands. Even I was shocked at the response. Out of audiences of an average of 120 - 250 people only 2 -4 business owners had raised their hands! Wow! That comes out to about 2% of the business owners who had written marketing plans. Or turned around...98% of the small business owners that were in attendance at my presentations did NOT HAVE A MARKETING PLAN. Is it Any Wonder Why Small Businesses Have Such a High Failure Rate! The biggest reasons that small businesses fail is the lack of customers. No customers - No Cash Flow Some experts will tell you that undercapitalization is the biggest reason that small businesses go under. But my personal observation is that having lots of cash-paying customers solves most financing problems. It's an Epidemic! With statistics like this (i.e. 98% of small businesses not having a marketing plan), I believe this marketing mistake has reached epidemic proportions. In fact, it's a wonder any new start-ups survive without a marketing plan. They are probably a victim of good luck and a great marketplace. The reason that almost no business owners create a marketing plan (in my humble opinion) is because they are too busy putting out fires. Instead of focusing on "business building" activities they focus on "administration" activities. They run from one problem to another and suddenly wonder why there are no customers walking through the front door. Listen, please don't get offended. I do the same thing. Case in point -- look how long it's taken me to write you :-) Here's a Simple Way to Create a Marketing Plan Here are two brief articles I've written on the topic of creating a marketing plan. The first can be found at http://www.marketingprofs.com/preview.asp?file=/Tutorials/frey1.asp (BTW, this article is one of the most read articles on MarketingProfs.com and holds the record as the longest front page running article on their site.) Here's another article in which I reveal a simple way to create an effective marketing plan. http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/marketing-action-plan.htm Start Your Marketing Plan Today If you're a small business owner, please don't fall into the same trap that 98% of all other owners fall into -- that is putting "fire fighting" as a higher priority than "business building." Use the process I've outlined in the articles above and start writing your marketing plan today. |
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