Finding Your Market
Finding Your Market: An important part of creating a business plan is being clear on who your market is.
Finding Your Market
Let’s say you think you’re ready to write your
business plan. You know the business
you want, you have a decent idea of the money needed to start, as well
as the money you think you can make, and you have an operations
strategy in mind. Great! That is all helpful information to have. But
do you know what you’re selling? Sounds obvious, right? Of
course you know what you’re selling, or you
wouldn’t be bothering with all of this in the first place.
But don’t jump the gun on this. It’s important to
have a specific, targeted market. Unless you’re a giant
corporation, you simply don’t have the resources and capital
to meet the needs of a broad demographic. So, think smaller. Do you
want to open a coffee shop? Great. Those are popular, because coffee
drinkers always need a fix. But can you afford to sell every type of
coffee that a major national chain offers? If so, great, though if you
have that kind of money you should probably just retire and buy an
island or something. If you’re not exactly that lucky, then
you need to consider how to narrow your market.
If you’re selling coffee, consider specializing in a
particular type of bean, for instance. Find a way to make your shop
stand out from the rest, but don’t do that by going so big
that you can’t afford to operate. And remember that finding a
corner on the market could backfire, too, so you need to think through
all the possibilities. Have you decided that a self-service coffee shop
will allow you cut down on the cost of payroll? Great. But can you
afford the liability insurance to pay for all the burns customers are
sure to get while steaming the milk for their own cappuccinos?
Writing a business plan forces you to sit down and think ahead, and
requires you to go through all the different scenarios. When you
realize that there are a large number of coffee shops already in your
area, you’ll understand that finding your own little place in
that world is key if you intend to survive, and even thrive, in the
business world.
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