Business plans and all that jazz

Need a business loan ?  What is the first thing the financiers and banks ask you ?   Where is you business plan ?   Sir , but you do not understand I just need information. I just need to know if I will qualify !  Sorry sir we do not do pre-qualifications.

What is really the problem here ?  The present capability of bankstaff and the new credit act prevents them from being able to answer the client.  So what does the client do ?  He pays some unqualified outsider to use a business plan templet to draft him a business plan  for which he will fork out easily a cool R10 grand.  Will he get the loan - in all probability not.  Why not ?   Because he did not qualify in the first instance and that could have been told to him if the banks were only focussed on client service and not on lunch times.

Now there is help !   We utilize our 100 + banking years to help you to find out if you qualify.

What do we offer you?   We will write you a businessplan that is acceptable to all financial institutions plus do a proper cashflow projection for you for a mere R5000.   But will you get the loan ?   No guarantees here as anywhere else.  But we will make you the following offer :

We will do an interview with you, do a basic cashflow projection and evaluate your proposition for you for only R500.  We will basically pre-qualify you for the loan. Should we agree after consultation with you that it is a viable application and you request us to do the business plan we will knock the R500 off our price for the plan and you will have your plan within 48 hours.  We know what the criteria of most of the financiers are for business and property loans and keep up to date with new developments in die financial industry.

Phone me today for an appointment :  John Brandow  082 222 5002

Practical marketing Part 2

Marketing plan




Simply put : what is marketing:


Find out what your customers WANT and NEED & GIVE it to Them !

Know your market !

Why do I have to do MARKET RESEARCH !!??

No matter how good your products and/or services are, the venture cannot succeed without effective marketing. This begins with systematic and careful research. What do you really know about your intended market ? This is why you need to do market research to make sure you’re on track. Use the marketing planning process as your tool to uncover data and to clarify your marketing efforts. This is not an option - it is the first step

Market research – how?

There are two kinds of market research: primary and secondary.


Secondary research means using published information such as industry profiles, trade journals, newspapers, magazines, census data and demographic profiles. This type of information is available by just Googling it . Look on websites like industry associations, chambers of commerce, from companies who sell to your industry and from government agencies. You need to know who your competitors are - have a look on their websites

Your chamber of commerce has good information on the local area. ( By the way - Join them !)Trade associations and trade publications often have excellent industry-specific data.

Primary research means gathering your own data. For example, you could do your own traffic count at a proposed location (if this is relevant to your product ) use the Yellow Pages to identify competitors and do surveys or focus group interviews to learn about consumer preferences. Professional market research can be very costly, but there are many books that show small business owners how to do effective research them
selves.

In your marketing plan, be as specific as possible; give statistics, numbers and sources. The marketing plan will be the basis, later on, of the all-important sales forecast.

Facts about your industry:

How big is this market of yours and what percentage share are you going to have. This might not be too important if you are not planning to knock the competition totally out. Do not dwell on these figures too long - Rather place your focus on your CUSTOMERS - they are the guys with the money !

What is important is the current demand in target market.What does your customers want and need !

Trends in target market – growth trends, trends in consumer preferences and product development.

( No sense in trying to sell them something that is already obsolete)

Growth potential and opportunity for a business of your size.

What barriers to entry do you face in entering this market with your new company? Some typical barriers are:


o High capital costs
o High production costs
o High marketing costs
o Consumer acceptance and brand recognition
o Training and skills
o Unique technology and patents
o Unions
o Shipping costs

How will you overcome these barriers?

How could the following affect your company?
o Changes in technology
o Changes in government regulations
o Changes in the economy
o Changes in your industry

To be continued ..............Become a follower of this blog - it might just be the best thing you did this year !

Practical marketing Part1

Following our very successful marketing workshop I am going to post some of the discussions on this blog in the next few days and weeks. The first of these will be written today and probably posted here by tomorrow
Some of the needs that came out of the discussions are the need to get up to speed with technology, the drafting of a 90 day action marketing plan and monitoring every action done in the process.  The absolute need for all staff to buy into such a plan is the most vital part of it.

So............Watch this space >>>>>>>>>>>>>

How effective is your Marketing effort ?

FACING SOME TOUGH MARKETING CHALLENGES ?

Marketing workshop : 6 October , Centurion

Improve your chances of surviving the next 3 years as an Entrepreneur !

We are going to discuss some stunning marketing ideas and concepts at this workshop. Participants are going to discuss what works for them and what not. They are going to find out what works for other participants. We are going to discuss Internet marketing , direct marketing, branding and a whole lot more.

We have various experts in different marketing fields that are going to lead the discussions and everything that will be discussed and focussed on will be available to all that attend. You will be one of many participating in the discussions and walk away with stunning practical ideas and tools to boost your marketing and sales !

Some of the goodies to be discussed :

Press releases , Trade shows, The Internet and website effectiveness, Direct Mail. Yellow pages, Sponsorships , Games and prizes and the other Weapons in the war of marketing.

Interested ?

Book your spot now : Call Hester on 083 625 0341 or John 082 222 5002
or send us an email to: workshop@brandow.co.za

Date : 6 October.

Place : Duo of Dreams , Raslouw.

Time : 7.30 till 1 pm.

Investment : R 300 per person.

Included : Continental breakfast , Lunch


IF YOU NEED TO DO ONE THING ABOUT MARKETING THIS YEAR :

DO THIS !

What is a business

What is a business ?  It is not a Website.  It is not a product. So what is it ?  

It is customers ! of course it is.  So who are your customers? 

The rich uses networks to do business with.  What is a network . It is your lists!

Ever heard of lists?  How big are you lists?  Do you have Lists? If not you do not have a network of customers or potential customers

This you can think of seriously when you are thinking of marketing !

The consumer affairs act

What does it hold for businesses and when ?

The President of South Africa signed the Consumer Protection Act Act on 24 April 2009 and it was published in the government gazette on 29 April 2009. The Act will only operate from 24 October 2010
But and this is the basics you need to know now :  there are currently no regulations (not even in draft form) for the Act. It is very difficult to consider the implications of the Act without the regulations. So it might be some time yet until you can establish with certainty what your obligations will be under the Act.

So what do you do now ?  Get a copy of the act and study it - it might just keep you in business in future to know your rights as a supplier too !

More details here :    http://www.michalsons.com/the-consumer-protection-act-a-heads-up/1382