It is thrilling to develop a plan for business success and part of that is understanding marketing.  

This article is the third in a five-part series on preparing business plans. Each article has been dedicated to creating a plan for starting or running your business. At the end of the series, if you follow the articles and complete each section, you will have a complete business plan you can use to operate your business or seek financing. Each article will cover a different topic:

• Part One: Introductory Matters: purpose statement, executive summary, and business information
• Part Two: Personnel Matters: who will work with you, and where will they work
• Part Three: Marketing Matters: who are your clients, who is your competition, how will you get more clients 
• Part Four: Financial Matters: current finances, sources of income and explanation of expenses
• Part Five:   Financial Projections: what will happen with the money moving forward

As was discussed in Part One and Part Two of this series, a business plan is a tool for gathering all the important information about running your business and your financial condition all in one place. A well-done business plan will help you run your business on a day-to-day basis according to a preset, well thought out and organized plan. Even in times of unexpected crisis, a business plan is a great tool, to keep you focused, on track and mindful of the big picture you have set for your business. This section will be dealing with the business plan sections marketing information.