Rangefinder Magazine
September 2005

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Business Savvy by Ira Gostin
To Plan or Not to Plan

WHEN YOU DEVELOP your business success strategy, the most important task is to develop a marketing plan. This scares away many people, and it doesn’t need to. A marketing plan is merely a road map of your present business status, to guide you to where you want to be. It should be something that grows and changes with your business, not sits on a shelf. Here’s some basic information about marketing plans. Next month will conclude this article with a sample that you can follow to build your own plan.

What is the difference between a marketing plan and a business plan?
The marketing plan is a segment of the business plan, though it can effectively be used as a stand-alone document. The marketing plan identifies the business’s target market (client base) and isolates specific goals and courses of action needed to achieve those goals. The business plan contains all of the financial information of the company or business, which is not normally a component of the marketing plan. A solid marketing plan, supplemented with financial forecasts and information from your accountant (or from standard reports created in QuickBooks), will provide you with an excellent business plan. The business plan may provide you with financial goals; however, in my opinion, it is the marketing plan that will drive you to achieve those financial goals.

How important are financial records, financial forecasts and financial goals?
Extremely important! As a small business owner, you must be able to acquire the financial status of your business in a matter of minutes. In a large corporation, the CEO merely calls the CFO who calls the controller, and the exact financial position of the company is presented at that moment. Most of us do not have that luxury! If you are trying to run an effective and efficient small business and do not have computerized accounting, now is the time to invest in it. I have found that QuickBooks is not only the most cost-effective small business accounting package but certainly the most efficient. I also work closely with an accountant—we do the work here and then simply drop off a disk every quarter for them to review. Again, if you want to succeed as a business you must act like one.

How long should the marketing plan be?
On the average, an effective marketing plan can be completed in about five to 10 pages, depending on how elaborate you are, as well as how many goals you present. The more concise and efficient the plan, the easier it will be to follow; the longer and verbose the plan, the more likely it will not be used.

How long would it take me to write my marketing plan?
I have found, in most cases, that 75–85 percent of the marketing plan can be written in a weekend. At that point, I recommend closing the file for a week, giving yourself some air, and reopening it later to edit for the A, B, Cs—Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity. Areas needing additional research or questions to be answered can be identified at that time and followed up with necessary research. A marketing plan can be ready to go in several weeks.

Why do I have to write the plan?
I have had photographers want to hire me to write their plan, and there are two reasons why I don’t do this. First of all, I edit mine regularly, and that’s enough! Second, and the more important reason, is that for you to follow a plan, it must be your plan. It must be something you have researched and something you have written. For you to hire someone to write a plan, you will simply put it on the shelf as another reference tool, just as if you had purchased it at the local bookstore. You have to put your personality into it. It is about your business, and you have to take the initiative in making this an efficient working plan.

I am not sure what my projections should be or how to calculate them.
I have found in the past few years that my marketing plan has become a much more efficient document over time. In the same sense, so has my business plan because my accountant sees spending patterns with greater detail, and I can now look at figures with some historical reference. The same will prove true in reverse when you start making goals. Do not over-complicate things: Keep them simple, and make them achievable. You may find that as you start to achieve your goals, you wind up revising your marketing plan every six months. The key is to be realistic, as well as specific.

Should I buy one of the business and marketing plan software programs?
If you want to do a full business plan, the programs are pretty good. If you are strictly doing a marketing plan, I don’t recommend it. I will provide you with a sample outline (in next month’s column), and if you are not talented at writing, you can simply make your marketing plan an outline with short sentences. The key is to make it a document that you will use and refer back to.

Why do I need a mission statement for my small photography business?
Again, this is not a mandatory item. However, I think the process of sitting down and writing out goals, objectives, wishes, and wants, and combining those with the practicalities of business and formulating a mission statement are important to keeping you on track while writing your marketing plan. It is easy to get frustrated and sidetracked trying to wade through all the information. The mission statement simply grounds you, centers you and says, “Hey, if it’s not about my mission, if it’s not about my goals, then do I need to spend time on this?”

This article will be concluded next month with a sample marketing plan outline.

Ira Gostin is a photographer, cowboy and educator based in Reno, Nevada. “Business Savvy” is a regular feature in Rangefinder. If you have questions about this month’s column, or want to suggest future topics, write Ira at ira@gostinproductions.com.