Pulling a Business Plan Together

Over the next few months you will be working revising on your business plan or writing a new one for you if you do not have a business plan at this juncture. Today, begin on the broad outlines of your business plan, and in the next module examine in depth some of the tactics you can use to work toward your goals. In the meantime, however, let’s look at an outline we can use to put together three important aspects:

What you are going to do: Goals
How you are going to do it: Strategy and Tactics
When you are going to do it: Marketing Calendar

Together, these items make up the bulk of your 10 page business plan. Probably the most challenging aspect of the exercise is choosing the tactics and the venues where you will execute them. Even if you don’t yet have venues, begin to set out a calendar, however, and then work to put some reality behind your plan. In each instance, plot against your goals. If you are going to have ten new clients in the first quarter, what tactics will you use to acquire those new clients? If you choose writing about travel, then in what venues will you publish your articles? What leg-work has to be accomplished to ensure your tactics come into being?

Everything you do over the next few months will add depth to what we have already discussed. We will fill in the tactics you need, we will speak to customer service and retention, we will examine the buying/sales process. Spend time now with these preliminaries we have covered and outline where you want to be a year from now and work backwards to determine how to best get there.

Exercise:

Use the sample plan below to begin penciling in your own preliminary business plan. For now, these are just thoughts for discussion, not your complete plan. Think in terms of overall goals, strategies with which you are comfortable and concerns you may have. Be sure to discuss your preliminary plan during your coaching sessions and identify the points where you feel hindered or even stopped in your efforts. Below is a single goal set out. Think through your own set of goals and set out a plan for the year for each goal.

What am I going to do?

Goals:

To have 24 new clients by the end of next year
12 in the first quarter and four in each quarter thereafter

How I am going to do it and when?

Strategies and tactics:

Speaking about travel –
- Work with the Tallahassee Seniors Center to talk about group travel – January
- Work with 2 churches for Holy Land talks – February/April
Cross-marketing –
- Asana Yoga Center – group trip to retreat in Costa Rica-May
- Grassroots Clothing Store – cross-market with owner for cruise wear-June
- Benson Photography – Goway Safari program -May
Referrals –
- Set up a referral campaign to get existing clients to provide referrals – Ongoing
Networking –
- Begin volunteering at the humane society to provide services to the community and to make lots of new contacts. 4 Quarterly events (pet adoption events)
Public Relations and writing –
- Make contacts at local newspaper via Junior League
- Offer services for travel articles/commentary

Now, do the same for more goals, and be both intentional and ambitious!

Begin by looking at your financial position this year. In the example below the $250,000 of bookings you brought in earned you $25,000. It’s your third year in business, and you feel pretty good about that number, but what could you do to earn more over the next two years?

1. Could you increase your percentage of commission earned by increasing your volumes with suppliers or with your host agency?

2. Could you increase the number of clients you are working with (growth) while maintaining your existing clientele (steady income)?

3. Could you increase the average booking revenue by looking for new revenue streams, a more affluent clientele, and working with more groups?

Begin jotting down ideas for new marketing venues and tactics. Play with the numbers. Set a big goal for yourself and figure out what it would take to hit that goal.

Visit your preliminary plan from many different angles. Look for additional revenue streams (insurance sales, consolidators, shore excursions), working more with groups and working with a more affluent clientele.

Naturally, you will want to maintain your current business and clientele with a good client customer service and retention program. Initiating a client newsletter, picking up your social media game and enhancing your existing website all make sense, as does beginning to mine your existing clients for referrals and testimonials.

Finally, look for new marketing strategies and tactics to develop new clients. Cross marketing opportunities with local retailers, bridal shows and developing more networking opportunities could help to expand your sphere of influence in your community.