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10 Steps to Bring a Product to Market - Start Your Own Company
Step 7 - Create a Business Plan and Market Introduction Plan
Before you move forward with starting your own buniess, you will need to create both a business plan and a market introduction plan.
Market Introduction Plans
Inventors almost always find that marketing their idea is much more difficult that creating it. Where do you start? Who do you sell to? Even if inventors know who they want to sell to, they rarely know how to get their foot in the door.
Marketing your product requires you to know the price structuring of different industries, what types of margins you will need, what type of distribution would be the most effective and profitable, and a myriad of other things.
In your market introduction plan you will need to: list who are your target customers, what strategy you will use to reach them (i.e. through retail stores, direct marketing, internet, etc.), the concrete steps you will take to realize your strategy and the pricing you will need to sell through your chosen sales channels.
The more specific the better. For instance, saying you will sell through retail stores is very vague. Through which stores? To reach those stores do you need to sell through a distributor, or will those stores buy directly from you? Selling through a distributor changes your pricing structure. For instance, you may sell your product to a distributor for $10. They in turn may sell it to a retail store for $14 who will sell it to consumers for $28. Will customers pay that much? That is why it is so important to know your pricing structure to see if your manufacturing price is at the right level for that sales channel. Every sales channel has different a pricing structure.
Business Plans
Business plans are more general than market introduction plans. Business plans list the goals of the business as a whole, not just how to bring a product to market. You must also list how you plan on achieving those goals and the background and experience of your management team.
Business plans are a vital aspect to every business venture. Not only are they necessary to raise money, but business plans also communicate the company's strategy, assuring that employees and owners have the same vision and direction for the company; they give you a standard of evaluation, allowing investors and owners to have the same criteria to measure the company's progress; and they also set a plan for spending financial, personnel, and equipment resources, which will help you allocate the necessary assets to the crucial areas of your business.
Need Help with this Step?
We can provide the following services for you:
- We can prepare a market introduction plan for you, which will list a number of market introduction options including different industries, distributors, and stores you can market your product to. The plan will include a description of each option, the pricing structure, a suggested introduction strategy, important contacts within the company or industry, proposed letters to send to those contacts, key associations and trade shows you should attend, and magazines you should request. This information will allow you to make a decision on which direction to take and the give you the necessary information to start contacting companies or distributors. Also, by attending the important association meetings and trade shows, you should be able to make contacts within whichever industry you want to pursue. The service costs $750. For a less detailed market introduction plan, we charge $250.
- We can also write a business plan for you. Prices for business plans vary depending on your business, but typically they cost between $2,000 and $6,000. Five free hours of consultation accompany every business plan.
- If you want to write your own market introduction plan, but need some help, we recommend buying Streetwise Marketing Plan.
- If you want your own business plan, we highly recommend buying Perfect Phrases for Business Proposals and Business Plans.
For more information, or to request one of these services, contact info@onestopinventionshop.net.
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