business planning - products and services

saturday's child works hard for a living....

now that i'm done the crazy bliss business plan for 2009, it's time to get back to work to implement said plan!  i've got some blog catching up to do so let's get to it!

a couple of saturdays ago, we discussed starting the business plan with business overviews.  

today we'll talk about our products and services and how we can start to think about standing out from the crowd.

this is a very straightforward section of the plan - or at least should be if you know what you're selling.  this section will inform the reader exactly what the products and services are that your company provides.

key points to include in this section are:

• are you the manufacturer 
• what stage of development is your product/service in
• is it a new idea or an improved established idea
• what additional customer service will accompany the product/service
• are your prices within, above or below market value
• what is your after sale customer support
• will you provide guarantees or warranties
• discuss future developments/plans for products/services
• discuss any copyright issues (artists hold the copyrights in most cases)

begin the section by discussing the general features of your product/service and what stage of development you are in.  below that paragraph, list the individual products and or services as the example below:

product: list the details of your individual product here 

(eg. crazy bliss offers a variety of styles of greeting cards suitable for framing or sending)

unique feature: this is what makes your product different from the competition - this is pretty easy for artists as our work is unique in nature 

(eg. each crazy bliss card includes the "story" of each image on the back of each car for the recipient to gain further enjoyment from the image and message the sender contributes)

benefit: this is the emotional reason people shop.  this can be a tricky one to wrap your head around but is the most important to know for advertising purposes...  

(eg. able to express themselves uniquely and having the choice to send to a loved one or frame, clients feel closer to their loved ones adding their personal handwritten touch on a tangible greeting)

cost: this is the retail cost to the client

after you list all of the products in one group, do the same for any services you may provide as well following the same structure above.   i also included my future products that i'd like to develop within the year.  this gives the reader even more idea of where your company is going - even if the only reader is you!

next, list your additional customer service, after sale strategy, payment options and briefly discuss how you compare to the competition (you'll have a chance to discuss the competition in detail later)

lastly, make references to any product samples you'll include in the appendix at the very end of the whole document.

then this section is done!  that was easy!

next, the dreaded market analysis!  never fear though, there are some tricks and fun things to make it less painful!