Ambush Marketing Strategies: Advantages Disadvantages
The merits of practicing ambush marketing in any industry cannot be over-emphasized, because most people get interested in products through this. The simple word "ambush" is mostly associated with negative and aggressive procedures that even the government discourages. You may want to know the meaning of ambush marketing, and here it is;
Types of ambush marketing
Ambush marketing is a marketing used method which entails the company riding the coattails of an event but not paying for the sponsorship. Let us use the case of the Super Bowl as an example. Imagine Pepsi pays to be the main sponsor at the bowl, then if coke surrounds the stadium with adverts related to the event that Pepsi sponsored. Coke would get lots of publicity even without sponsoring the event.
The merit is crystal clear, as Coke takes advantage of an event to increase traffic. The people that argue that this would be unethical are very wrong. Using events to promote one's product is ethical, and Pepsi the sponsor gets numerous privileges that Coke will not get.
The advantage of ambush marketing to the consumer is that it makes the competition fierce. And when the competition is fierce, the prices reduces as seen in common ambush marketing examples in India.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
5 Reasons Why Every Start Up Should Have A Business Plan
Business Planning is crucial in turning a successful business idea into a successful business. Many people argue that you don't need a business plan to start a business and quite often people steer clear of business plans for fear of the level of work that goes into writing them. However writing a business plan does not have to be something too difficult or complicates it just need to be something that can be used to help give structure to your new idea.
Here are a few reasons why business plans are so important when starting a business:
However don’t make the mistake of becoming so engrossed in the planning of your business that you can’t become active in the “doing” of your business. One has to strike a fine balance between planning and action in order to see true results come to fruition.
Here are a few reasons why business plans are so important when starting a business:
- They can help you to remain focused on the core goals of your business and to evaluate the steps you need to take in order reach your goals. By writing down your vision it makes it easy for you to keep track of your growth as you accomplish successes along the way.
- They help to secure future finance and possible investment. Unless you are very lucky and win the lottery, or perhaps meet someone who just wants to give away their money (if you do meet that person please send them my way) you need a structured financial plan. Cash Flow Forecast, Break-even Charts and a budget are just a few aspects of a straightforward, yet necessary financial plan.
- Plans help to keep you organised! It just makes sense to have all the key areas of your business laid out in an easy to read format which you can refer to whenever you need to remind yourself why you started your business in the first place.
- A well written plan can guide you through difficult times - allowing you to see which areas you can work on when the going gets tough.
- It is a working document which grows and changes as your business grows. A plan is never static and thus will change to suit your changing goals and standards so don't feel restricted by a business plan.
However don’t make the mistake of becoming so engrossed in the planning of your business that you can’t become active in the “doing” of your business. One has to strike a fine balance between planning and action in order to see true results come to fruition.
How To Write A Poultry Farm Business Plan
The importance of writing a business plan for your new or existing poultry business can never be underestimated. It will give you more clarity about your business and it can be used to attract investors or to apply for a loan or grant. Unless you have your intentions for your business written down, you might miss an opportunity to communicate it to someone else or even to clarify things for yourself.
Whether you’re starting or expanding a poultry business, writing a business plan will help you become clear about what you want to do and how you will be going about it. Most emerging poultry farmers will have to make use of loans or grants when starting their business. In order to access these, you will need to write a business plan and submit it to your prospective financier or grant officer.
Here are some basic topics you need to discuss in your business plan.
What is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a basic outline of what your business is all about. It must serve as an action plan and guideline for you to use on a daily basis. The essence of it is to act as a roadmap to your desired destination. Be practical when writing it and keep it realistic.
There are several key elements to be discussed in your business plan. They are as follows:
Your Executive Summary
Write a summary of what your business is all about. What will you be selling and why is it going to work? Your executive summary is an introduction to the rest of your business plan – keep it short and mention the strong points of your plan.
Your Mission Statement
It’s important to explain why you want to start this specific new business. The simple question to answer in your mission statement is “Why am I doing this?”
Your Goals
This section should answer the question of what you want to achieve in terms of income, turnover, profits and percentages—some achievable thing. Focus on the notion of, “This is what I want to have and how much of it”. It is important to be clear and realistic about your goals. Make them achievable and set your mind to achieving them.
Your Lift Speech
This is where you give the short answer to the question, 'What do you do?'. Make sure this summary is in line with your mission and goals. By answering this question you will force yourself to be specific about what your business will be doing and how you will be doing it. Write it in less than 100 words.
The Financial Plan
This is the most important section of your business plan. Investors and grant officers will analyze and examine your financial info. Be specific about how much money you will need to get started, where you will spend the funds, how long it will take to start becoming profitable, how big your potential market is and what your running costs will be. The key is to show a potential investor that you will be able to make a financial success of your business and be profitable.
The Marketing Plan
How are you going to sell your products and how are people going to hear about it? How will you be promoting your products? What marketing channels will you be using? What’s unique about your product? Be as creative as possible when looking at various marketing channels.
Whether you’re starting or expanding a poultry business, writing a business plan will help you become clear about what you want to do and how you will be going about it. Most emerging poultry farmers will have to make use of loans or grants when starting their business. In order to access these, you will need to write a business plan and submit it to your prospective financier or grant officer.
Here are some basic topics you need to discuss in your business plan.
What is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a basic outline of what your business is all about. It must serve as an action plan and guideline for you to use on a daily basis. The essence of it is to act as a roadmap to your desired destination. Be practical when writing it and keep it realistic.
There are several key elements to be discussed in your business plan. They are as follows:
Your Executive Summary
Write a summary of what your business is all about. What will you be selling and why is it going to work? Your executive summary is an introduction to the rest of your business plan – keep it short and mention the strong points of your plan.
Your Mission Statement
It’s important to explain why you want to start this specific new business. The simple question to answer in your mission statement is “Why am I doing this?”
Your Goals
This section should answer the question of what you want to achieve in terms of income, turnover, profits and percentages—some achievable thing. Focus on the notion of, “This is what I want to have and how much of it”. It is important to be clear and realistic about your goals. Make them achievable and set your mind to achieving them.
Your Lift Speech
This is where you give the short answer to the question, 'What do you do?'. Make sure this summary is in line with your mission and goals. By answering this question you will force yourself to be specific about what your business will be doing and how you will be doing it. Write it in less than 100 words.
The Financial Plan
This is the most important section of your business plan. Investors and grant officers will analyze and examine your financial info. Be specific about how much money you will need to get started, where you will spend the funds, how long it will take to start becoming profitable, how big your potential market is and what your running costs will be. The key is to show a potential investor that you will be able to make a financial success of your business and be profitable.
The Marketing Plan
How are you going to sell your products and how are people going to hear about it? How will you be promoting your products? What marketing channels will you be using? What’s unique about your product? Be as creative as possible when looking at various marketing channels.
What's the perfect business plan for a new product ?
I had a meeting with an inventor about her product idea, and in our talking it occurred to me to put down what I consider the key points for a business plan for a new product. Although aimed at private inventors, it makes good sense for small companies too.
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The outline given below is a simplification but a good start. I met many inventors in my time at the British Library and most, I'm sorry to say, were unrealistic and naive in their expectations. They did not realise how many experts they need to call on for help (much of which will be charged for). Nor did they think that exploiting an invention would take much time.
1. First is is vital to sort out what you are trying to achieve, and constraints in finance and time. All this may sound obvious, but keeping them in mind both informs and dictates the rest of the plan.
For example, is the prime motive making lots of money, to get an idea into production, to help the world with the invention ? Particularly if it is money, you have to take into account what economists call "opportunity cost" -- if you earn £50,000 p.a. and take a year out to earn £80,000 at a cost of £60,000 (the first figure is unrealistically high, the second is only too realistic), you've lost £30,000 in earnings. I once had a conversation with such a person who was convinced that income was profit.
In considering this, it is vital to think about what finances you have, your attitude to financial risk, and how much you are prepared to lose. Someone with £10,000 in savings will probably have a very different attitude to someone with £500,000. Are you prepared to say, "I will spend a maximum of £20,000" ? Many would say to me "I've gone this far, I can't give up now." That's what gamblers say, too.
Do you want to work long hours ? Chances are good that, regardless of making any money, you will be spending a lot of time on the project trying to get interest.
A timescale is also a good idea. Will you allow say a year, or two years, to get it off the ground ? That's not much time, and how is success measured ? That's your call.
2. The first of the four Ps (the other Ps are at the end of this list):
Product (what is it, why is it a good idea. Does it have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) ? Do people really need it, can they afford it ? Is the way it works important ? Its looks ? Both ? Does the product need to observe laws and regulations on safety, or to keep to technical standards ?) If you are not familiar with the industry, learn about it.
3. You should put together a SWOT analysis of your product and also of yourself. SWOT is a useful tool: it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. In my one hour meetings with inventors when I worked at the British Library quite a few presented SWOT analyses of their product, but none offered a SWOT of themselves. Again and again they had the idea but no finance, no knowledge of accountancy or marketing or engineering... yet did not see any problem. Having weaknesses such as these won't necessarily kill the idea, but they make it harder for the inventor to succeed. My own preference was inventors who at least knew about engineering, and ideally worked with someone who knew about accountancy and/ or marketing.
In some areas, a PEST analysis of the product is also a good idea. It stands for Politics, Economics, Social, Technological. Think, say, of apps to summon cheap taxis. Perhaps the landscape has changed to suggest changes in products or processes.
4. Is it patentable ? A hugely complicated subject, and a patent attorney should be consulted. Many will offer an initial free half hour -- if so, make sure you ask questions like what will you do for me and how much do you charge for what. If it's not patentable then the odds against it being a success rise a lot. Do not reveal the idea except in confidence until you've filed for a patent, and if possible spell out the advantages instead of how it works. For example, you could say you have a new method of closing garments that operates without a zipper and which is easy for all to use.
5. Carry out a patent search, remembering that just because you thought of it doesn't mean it's not been thought of by someone before (I met someone who said he had written an idea down and locked the paper inside his desk, and was furious when he saw the product for sale a few years later. Clearly, he said, someone had burgled him). You can try doing a search online but it's better to employ an expert or at least ask someone at a public patent collection to advise you. Be prepared to take days searching and analysing the results (you will probably need help on this).
A useful starting point, particularly good for cheap products, is Google Shopping which can be used to rank by price products available through websites.
If'it turns out that the idea is protected in the country you want to sell in, give up. If not protected but it's out there already, that's a big strike against it. It greatly adds to the odds against success as competitors are either already out there or can easily compete.
6. What is your intellectual property (IP) strategy -- e.g. Europe and USA ? Patent, trade mark ? Add more countries if you like but remember that you'll need to translate the patent specification into the local languages, and probably advertising, brochures, etc. into them as well -- do you want to spend that ?
7. Make a working prototype. I can't remember how many times people would tell me that no they knew nothing about the industry, but yes, "in theory" the product would do the job. No need, they thought, to go to the trouble of making a working prototype to persuade a company to take them on. The problem is that they will immediately be shown the door.
If the prototype is to be shown at say a trade show or on Dragons' Den it needs to look good as well as working properly. Some companies offer to make prototypes and sometimes to help improve the product.
8. Should you sell, license, manufacture yourself ?
Some want to sell the idea and just collect some money. Usually in my experience some people are unrealistic in their expectations, like the man who thought of the idea of handheld flippers and didn't realise that the idea already existed. All he had was the general idea, not a specific design (this was pre Internet days).
Others like the idea of licensing it to a manufacturer, to keep some control of the product. This is a very complicated subject in itself, and is fraught with dangers (such as many companies refusing to sign non-disclosure agreements). 4% of the manufacturer's (not retailer's price) is usually the best the inventor can hope to be paid. Contract law is vital here.
Manufacturing the product yourself can be the most lucrative but also exposes the inventors to the most financial risk, and means they must spend a huge amount of time running all the aspects of the business. Rather than your own factory, it probably means sorting out an agreement with a supplier to make the product. This is very common -- it's Apple's method, for example.
9. Do you need outside finance ? Work out careful estimates, and decide how much you need. You may think crowdfunding sites are a good idea, or need business angels.
The remaining three Ps:
10. Price (how much does it cost to make, what retail price is anticipated, is it a premium product with high prices but low sales, and remember that often a retail markup is three to four times the manufacturer's price. It may cost too much for the market. Financial projections are a good idea)
11. Place (where to sell it -- online, through shops, etc. You should know by now the answer)
12. Promotion (which I've put last as the Place determines the publicity. Who is the ideal customer, what to call it, how to advertise it -- is social media vital, for example ? Despite what some people told me, not everyone will love your product, so market research to gather information is important)
Finally there should be an executive summary, which is a sober and realistic summing up of the 4 Ps. It's written last but is read first by a potential buyer or investor, and should be enough to interest them.
It may help to think through in detail what needs to happen to get from the idea to the product being in the hands of the consumer. There will be lots of steps, although not all have to be done by you. It may also help to imagine yourself in the mind of a manufacturer or supplier you might want to approach, as they want to make money too. Getting others to read the draft plan will probably help, too, especially if they have relevant skills. And don't forget to quantify as much as possible, for (realistic) figures will be your friend.
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The outline given below is a simplification but a good start. I met many inventors in my time at the British Library and most, I'm sorry to say, were unrealistic and naive in their expectations. They did not realise how many experts they need to call on for help (much of which will be charged for). Nor did they think that exploiting an invention would take much time.
1. First is is vital to sort out what you are trying to achieve, and constraints in finance and time. All this may sound obvious, but keeping them in mind both informs and dictates the rest of the plan.
For example, is the prime motive making lots of money, to get an idea into production, to help the world with the invention ? Particularly if it is money, you have to take into account what economists call "opportunity cost" -- if you earn £50,000 p.a. and take a year out to earn £80,000 at a cost of £60,000 (the first figure is unrealistically high, the second is only too realistic), you've lost £30,000 in earnings. I once had a conversation with such a person who was convinced that income was profit.
In considering this, it is vital to think about what finances you have, your attitude to financial risk, and how much you are prepared to lose. Someone with £10,000 in savings will probably have a very different attitude to someone with £500,000. Are you prepared to say, "I will spend a maximum of £20,000" ? Many would say to me "I've gone this far, I can't give up now." That's what gamblers say, too.
Do you want to work long hours ? Chances are good that, regardless of making any money, you will be spending a lot of time on the project trying to get interest.
A timescale is also a good idea. Will you allow say a year, or two years, to get it off the ground ? That's not much time, and how is success measured ? That's your call.
2. The first of the four Ps (the other Ps are at the end of this list):
Product (what is it, why is it a good idea. Does it have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) ? Do people really need it, can they afford it ? Is the way it works important ? Its looks ? Both ? Does the product need to observe laws and regulations on safety, or to keep to technical standards ?) If you are not familiar with the industry, learn about it.
3. You should put together a SWOT analysis of your product and also of yourself. SWOT is a useful tool: it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. In my one hour meetings with inventors when I worked at the British Library quite a few presented SWOT analyses of their product, but none offered a SWOT of themselves. Again and again they had the idea but no finance, no knowledge of accountancy or marketing or engineering... yet did not see any problem. Having weaknesses such as these won't necessarily kill the idea, but they make it harder for the inventor to succeed. My own preference was inventors who at least knew about engineering, and ideally worked with someone who knew about accountancy and/ or marketing.
In some areas, a PEST analysis of the product is also a good idea. It stands for Politics, Economics, Social, Technological. Think, say, of apps to summon cheap taxis. Perhaps the landscape has changed to suggest changes in products or processes.
4. Is it patentable ? A hugely complicated subject, and a patent attorney should be consulted. Many will offer an initial free half hour -- if so, make sure you ask questions like what will you do for me and how much do you charge for what. If it's not patentable then the odds against it being a success rise a lot. Do not reveal the idea except in confidence until you've filed for a patent, and if possible spell out the advantages instead of how it works. For example, you could say you have a new method of closing garments that operates without a zipper and which is easy for all to use.
5. Carry out a patent search, remembering that just because you thought of it doesn't mean it's not been thought of by someone before (I met someone who said he had written an idea down and locked the paper inside his desk, and was furious when he saw the product for sale a few years later. Clearly, he said, someone had burgled him). You can try doing a search online but it's better to employ an expert or at least ask someone at a public patent collection to advise you. Be prepared to take days searching and analysing the results (you will probably need help on this).
A useful starting point, particularly good for cheap products, is Google Shopping which can be used to rank by price products available through websites.
If'it turns out that the idea is protected in the country you want to sell in, give up. If not protected but it's out there already, that's a big strike against it. It greatly adds to the odds against success as competitors are either already out there or can easily compete.
6. What is your intellectual property (IP) strategy -- e.g. Europe and USA ? Patent, trade mark ? Add more countries if you like but remember that you'll need to translate the patent specification into the local languages, and probably advertising, brochures, etc. into them as well -- do you want to spend that ?
7. Make a working prototype. I can't remember how many times people would tell me that no they knew nothing about the industry, but yes, "in theory" the product would do the job. No need, they thought, to go to the trouble of making a working prototype to persuade a company to take them on. The problem is that they will immediately be shown the door.
If the prototype is to be shown at say a trade show or on Dragons' Den it needs to look good as well as working properly. Some companies offer to make prototypes and sometimes to help improve the product.
8. Should you sell, license, manufacture yourself ?
Some want to sell the idea and just collect some money. Usually in my experience some people are unrealistic in their expectations, like the man who thought of the idea of handheld flippers and didn't realise that the idea already existed. All he had was the general idea, not a specific design (this was pre Internet days).
Others like the idea of licensing it to a manufacturer, to keep some control of the product. This is a very complicated subject in itself, and is fraught with dangers (such as many companies refusing to sign non-disclosure agreements). 4% of the manufacturer's (not retailer's price) is usually the best the inventor can hope to be paid. Contract law is vital here.
Manufacturing the product yourself can be the most lucrative but also exposes the inventors to the most financial risk, and means they must spend a huge amount of time running all the aspects of the business. Rather than your own factory, it probably means sorting out an agreement with a supplier to make the product. This is very common -- it's Apple's method, for example.
9. Do you need outside finance ? Work out careful estimates, and decide how much you need. You may think crowdfunding sites are a good idea, or need business angels.
The remaining three Ps:
10. Price (how much does it cost to make, what retail price is anticipated, is it a premium product with high prices but low sales, and remember that often a retail markup is three to four times the manufacturer's price. It may cost too much for the market. Financial projections are a good idea)
11. Place (where to sell it -- online, through shops, etc. You should know by now the answer)
12. Promotion (which I've put last as the Place determines the publicity. Who is the ideal customer, what to call it, how to advertise it -- is social media vital, for example ? Despite what some people told me, not everyone will love your product, so market research to gather information is important)
Finally there should be an executive summary, which is a sober and realistic summing up of the 4 Ps. It's written last but is read first by a potential buyer or investor, and should be enough to interest them.
It may help to think through in detail what needs to happen to get from the idea to the product being in the hands of the consumer. There will be lots of steps, although not all have to be done by you. It may also help to imagine yourself in the mind of a manufacturer or supplier you might want to approach, as they want to make money too. Getting others to read the draft plan will probably help, too, especially if they have relevant skills. And don't forget to quantify as much as possible, for (realistic) figures will be your friend.
Develop a Business Plan and Be Ready to Change It
When I restarted Delaware Juniors Volleyball Club in 2006 we had a Five Year Plan in place to help guide us. One of these goals was to open our own facility in year 5. To accomplish this we set up yearly goals listed below. During the 2007- 2008 season we began to write our business plan, in 2008 – 2009 we began our capital funding and started working on the design of the facility, in 2009 -2010 we were to start construction and in 2010 – 2011 to open the facility. The business plan was our first challenge, I can’t tell you how many revisions and amendments we made and continue to make today. The business plan is a living document that most importantly steers the business. Our business plan was good but not great, and it has a daily impact on the business.
My advice is to find another small business owner and seek his/her guidance in business plan writing. It is very difficult if not impossible to do it yourself. Once the business plan was created we were to move on to our capital funding in 2008-2009. This was delayed mostly because our club experienced a huge growth surge and doubled in size to 24 teams. While this growth was great, it devoured much of the time we should have been devoting to raising money for a facility. Finally in 2010 we found a location and began the next steps. Location for us was critical; many of the warehouses that were available were located in industrial parks, which are not always the most parent/player friendly. The ones we could afford were not in clean, safe looking areas and location was less than ideal. It took us over a year to find our current location. Location is everything in real estate. We were following the “3 Turn Rule” common in commercial real estate. It should take no more than 3 turns off a major highway to get to your place. If you can’t get customers to your facility you are doomed.
Construction started in the summer of 2011. Two rules for construction: it is never finished on time and it will cost twice what you are told so plan accordingly. We opened 7 weeks late and $100,000 over budget. These are tremendous hurdles to overcome with any new business. We opened in November 2011 just in time for tryouts, but missed the entire Fall and about $30,000 in potential revenue. Once open, it was all a blur. Another piece of advice is be prepared to be there all of the time. If you are not open you are not making money while the bills still keep coming. To manage the finances we use QuickBooks online. We went this route because I, the owner and any of the other staff can access the books from anywhere instead of on one computer. It really is a huge help. We also made some initial mistakes on our website. We tried to save some money and wanted a fancy website for as cheap as possible, when we got the finished product it was not what we wanted and provided little functionality. So we are now using EZ Facility, another online software package that is designed to manage sports facilities, which I highly recommend.
Our overall business model is a little different. We knew that volleyball was not going to be big enough to support the entire facility; we need other sports and programs to help. We went out in search of partner groups that would also benefit from the facility. We found field hockey, lacrosse, basketball and even roller derby groups to partner with. These groups not only bought into the facility as investors, but also guaranteed us rental revenue and allow the groups to have a home and competitive advantage over other groups. It is a mutually beneficial situation for all. We also decided to not hire program experts. We wanted to run the facility with very limited staff, allowing the rental groups to run their own programs; we just rent them the space. While we may miss out on some revenue we also save on staffing and all other program costs. We don’t have to worry about all of the headaches associated with running a program. We just collect the rental fee.
Our facility also has three other sub tenants. We have a 3,000 square foot ATI Physical Therapy office in the Delaware Sportsplex that treats only athletes and gives our partner groups access to athletic trainers, PT and training equipment. In addition to ATI, a Velocity Speed Agility franchise will open in late summer. Having two well-known sports names in our facility only adds value to our customers and helps bring in potential customers, while basically covering half of our rent to the owner. The 3rd tenant is a local restaurant that runs our snack bar. Our first thoughts were to let somebody who is in the business handle this; one less thing to worry about. We would just get a cut of their profits. However we quickly found out that running a restaurant and snack bar are not the same. We have struggled to make any money with this and are now looking for a way to terminate our agreement. Snack bars make money, if you treat them like a snack bar. My advice here is don’t give up the snack bar to anybody and make sure you don't allow outside food into the building to help your sales.
We are now in month eight of business and the summer is the toughest time for any indoor sports facility. We did not have the cash reserves we would have liked to have had are now trying to create new revenue streams to compensate. Plan accordingly, put cash away. You never know when you will need it.
Well back to running the business, it has certainly been a huge learning experience and a fun ride so far!
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