Question 1:“Describe the internal/external elements an entrepreneur must consider when developing a comprehensive business plan? What are the basic sections of a business plan?”
A business plan is a roadmap that is set by the strategic team which is to be used in a certain project or for a specific period of time. When developing a business plan, the strategic management team must consider; self development, idea development as well as the business plan. Self development relates to the effect of the business plan to the whole business entity. Any business plan must optimization of productivity for it to improve the entity. On the other hand, the idea that is introduced by the plan must be developed this entails ensuring that the idea is not diluted or in contravention with either the government policies or the business entity premises (Canzer, 2005).
A basic business plan has; executive summary, market analysis, effects on business structures, financial analysis, management information systems, human resource and funding. However, different authors have added other sections of business plan while some plans according to the needs that are dictated by the industry also have different sections. The above mentioned sections are most recommended as they touch almost every part of the business entity as well as embracing the new models of technology. The effectiveness of the business plan, however, is dependent on the contents that are in each part. Inclusion of the above part does not guarantee any effectiveness (Canzer, 2005). Thus, the strategic management team should ensure that a thorough research is done before a business plan is laid out.
Question 2: “What are the key elements to consider in developing an effective marketing plan? Does it matter in what order the elements are implemented?”
A marketing plan is a formulated method on how reach new market grounds and how to introduce a new product into the market. A good marketing plan follows five steps to implement. These stops include; having a swop analysis, market strategy development, building of a business plan, the implementation, a follow up to the implementation gauging its success or failure (Robert, 2010). Al these key elements are crucial to the effectiveness of marketing plan. The first stage; strengths and weaknesses analysis is crucial in that the marketing team is able to weigh itself before it enters into the market. The development of marketing strategy includes involvement of different organs of the departments and other stakeholders especially where the company is to involve a third party (Robert, 2010). The last part of the strategy involves a close look into every phase of the implementation, collection of feedback from the sales team and the customers and also a feedback from the marketing team itself.
There is no written law that the marketing team should follow the order that is written in this article in implementing the strategy. However, the marketing team should be aware of the importance of each of these steps and ensure that it does not take risks that will be regrettable in the future (Robert, 2010). This article highly recommends following the strategy to the latter as this would increase the probability of receiving a positive report especially from the sales department in the company.
References
Robert, B., (2010). Marketing Plan Handbook: Develop Big Picture Marketing Plans . Canada:
Media inc
