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SBDC Resources
The Clarion University SBDC offers many resources to provide business owners with information associated with consulting, research, and training. For more information about the SBDC, click here to sign up for our mailing list.
Consulting Resources
Start Your Business
Business Plan Narrative Template (Word) Explain the business and all operations in detail using this template.
Business Plan Financial Projections Template (Excel) Make financial projections for the future of the business using this template.
Personal Financial Statement Form (PDF) Use this form to apply for funding through the SBA.
Grow Your Business
International Business Learn how the SBDC can help you explore international markets.
Technology Assistance Learn how the SBDC can help you incorporate technology into your everyday operations.
Environmental Management Assistance Learn how the SBDC can help your business become more environmentally friendly.
Government Marketing Find resources that can help you sell to federal or state governments.
Business Continuity Assistance Learn how the SBDC can help your business survive through possible interruptions and natural disasters.
Training Resources Within Our Network
The PASBDC Seminar Schedule is a calendar of all state-wide small business training seminars.
Other Online Learning Opportunities include several topics that are crucial to many areas of small businesses, including strategic planning, marketing, tax compliance, and business plan development. Services are available 24/7 at no cost.
Clarion University’s Continuing Education Department (Venango Campus) has a broad range of non-credit personal, professional, and business training opportunities for the local and regional community.
The SBA Online Learning Center provides a wide variety of free online and self-paced training courses.
The Marketing Plan
The most important part of a business plan is the Marketing Plan. To keep
one’s business on course this plan must be geared toward the business’s
mission—its product and service lines, its markets, its financial situation
and marketing/sales tactics.
♦ The business must be aware of its strengths and weaknesses through internal
and external analysis and look for market opportunities.
♦ The business must analyze its products and services from the viewpoint of the
customer—outside-in thinking. What is the customer looking for and what does
the customer want (benefits)? The business must gain knowledge of the
marketplace from its customers.
♦ The business must analyze its target markets. What other additional markets can
the business tap into and are there additional products or services the business
can add?
♦ The business must know its competition, current and potential. By identifying the
competitor’s strengths and weaknesses the business can improve its position in
the marketplace.
♦ The business must make decisions on how to apply its resources to the target
market(s).
♦ The business must utilize the information it has gathered about itself, its
customers, its markets, and its competition by developing a written Marketing
Plan that provides measurable goals. The business must select marketing/sales
tactics that will allow it to achieve or surpass its goals.
♦ The business must implement the plan (within an established budget) and then
measure its success in terms of whether or not the goals were met (or the extent
to which they were). The Marketing Plan is an ongoing tool designed to help the
business compete in the market for customers. It should be re-visited, re-worked,
and re-created often.
MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE
There is no single “right” way to approach a marketing plan. Your marketing plan should
be part of an ongoing self-evaluation process and unique to your business.
A. Mission Statement
- State the purpose of the marketing plan.
- Review business goals and objectives as well as specific strategies to reach them.
Everything your company does should be guided by and consistent with your Mission
Statement. This is a short (one or two paragraph) statement of the fundamental nature of your
business, answering the questions: “What business are we in?” and “Who do we serve?”
The mission statement is the one place you can be general, rather than specific. This is your
vision of the business: it’s philosophy, and what makes it different from any other business.
If you don’t already have a mission statement, write one down. Refer to it often as you develop
your marketing plan. An opportunity that takes you away from your business mission is not a
good opportunity for you. A strategy or tactic that does not carry the business towards fulfilling
its mission is faulty and should be revised.
How to Write a Business Plan
The following are the nine sections of a traditional business plan identified by the SBA:
- Executive summary
- Company description
- Market analysis
- Organization and management
- Service or product line
- Marketing and sales
- Funding request
- Financial projections
- Appendix
The following are resources to help you develop your own business plan:
- How to Write a Business Plan – from the SBA Learning Center, this free course explains the importance of business planning, defines and describes the components of a business plan to help you develop your own.
- Business plan template – review of two formats and their content from SBA.
- Build Your Business Plan – this SBA tool provides you with a step-by-step guide to help you get started.
- Developing a Successful Business Plan – In this webinar business planning expert Tim Berry helps entrepreneurs and small businesses better understand how to create a business plan
- How to Prepare a Business Plan – bplans.com founder Tim Berry explains how to develop your business by creating a business plan in this 8-part web seminar.
- Business Plan Outline – An in-depth look at how to create an individualized business plan with tools to make it easy.
- How to Write a Business Plan – A step by step guide to writing a successful business plan.
- Shopify – This comprehensive guide walks you through the nuts and bolts of writing your very own business plan.
- How to Write a Business Plan in 8 Simple Steps – A step by step guide with in-depth information on writing each section of a business plan.
- How to Write a Business Plan for Funding – A how-to guide on what is needed for a business plan to present to would-be investors and lenders.
- Business Plan Checklist – Keep yourself on track while writing your business plan.
Where to Find a Business Plan
- Score – Business planning, finance, sales, marketing, and management templates & guides.
- Bplans – Bplans.com contains the largest single collection of free sample business plans online as well as helpful tools and know-how for managing your business.
- Business Plan Handbook – Reference for Business/Advameg contains the first 11 volumes of the Business Plan Handbook series, a compilation of business plans for small businesses.
- The Finance Resource – Free online business plan samples
- More Business – Free online sample business plans for various industries.
- Klariti – Online templates, checklists, forms, and tutorials for entrepreneurs.
Business Plan Templates – an Alphabetized List
The following is a collection of sample business plans. Many of the business plan samples are provided by Palo Alto Software, the Makers of Business Plan Pro. Individuals working with their local SBDC, may receive a discount code for business plan software from participating SBDCs. You may use your promo code to set up your own LivePlan account using the SBDC discount.
Conclusion:
The marketing plan template excel is a must-have for any business owner. This free marketing plan template excel download gives you the tools to help run your business more efficiently, with an integrated marketing plan, budget, and other valuable marketing tools.
Now you can learn how to develop a marketing plan template in minutes by using the easy to follow guide. You have probably already heard of strategy templates or marketing plan templates, but did you know that they are an important part of effective marketing? Every time you introduce a new service or product, you need to start at step 1- create your marketing plan template. This template will then inform every other component of your marketing campaign.