The Industry, The Company, Its Service (Product), Entry and Growth

THE INDUSTRY, THE COMPANY AND ITS SERVICE (PRODUCT)

This Section is the Basis of your Marketing and Product Strategies.

Describe the items in each section in detail. You should give a detailed explanation of the company, the service or product, the interface to the industry, how the company proposes to enter its products or services into the market and their growth.

The Industry
Research and review the industry and market you are entering. Any and all information is useful. Be careful, the Internet can bury you with information. Look at trends and the competition. Select a broad and diverse base of information -- read and reread. You are less likely to be deceived or led astray this way. Do this early in the process. Make notes and express your own feelings and ideas. Come back to this section regularly during the development of the business plan. As your knowledge grows you will be able to clarify and edit much of this section. Use a thesaurus to expand your thinking.

The Company and the Concept
Describe the business. What kind is it and what type is it? Describe the business operation. Just let the ideas flow (greenlight) and edit it later. If you are a verbal person use a recorder, talk and put it on paper later. This is one area where you can have a typist do the work and spend your time on other things. You will have to personally edit it later anyway. After editing the company description should be specific, clear and brief.

The Service (Product)
Describe the service or product. Again, greenlight, put down as much as you can and edit it later. You're less likely to leave something out this way and it's better to edit back than try to create later. Who are your customers? What are the product/service advantages, applications and drawbacks? What is the state of the development of the product? Have you researched patents, copyrights, etc? Be objective about your description of the product or service don't try to sell it here or make exaggerations about it.

Entry and Growth Strategy
What steps are you going to take to enter the market, either on or off the Internet or both? Will your entry to the market utilize a full line of products or services, or just one or two? Do you have a timing advantage? Describe your advertising, distribution and promotion plans (plans NOT ideas). How fast do you intend to grow and to what size in the first 2 to 5 years?