The class will not meet On Monday, May 4, so this class is a matter of doing the readings and watching some online videos (below).  I’m comfortable with this because I’ve made so much available for you as online video, web materials, and readings.

Here are some of the ideas that came with the first assignment. There are no names on them, on purpose; better to discuss the ideas without mixing it with their authors:

Fine copper looms. An existing business, a real business. Click here for full-size.
Import/Export
Knowing which political party. A website to help young people figure this out.
Seattle Nanny Service
Mi Amor Coffee Shop
Men’s Underwear Retail
Foul Smell Detector

Later: Some additional submissions:

• Social Media Cleaning
• Green events
• Specialty retail
• The Glover System
• DVD place

Do you want to suggest business ideas, or ask for feedback on an idea? Use the comments area here to add suggestions, or express interest — maybe joining into a group? .

Due by 10 a.m. April 15.

Note: this is built into Business Plan Pro, so if you have the software the mechanics are very smooth. If you don’t have the software, and you’re doing it yourself, click here for do-it-yourself instructions.

This is a three-page-maximum PDF file or (preferably) BPDX file. Send it to me by email please, with the file attached. It should include a paragraph or so each for the following topics:

1. Summary: an introductory paragraph. Summarize the most important points. Only one paragraph please.
2. Ideal target: a profile of one ideal target customer (or organization). Use your imagination. Describe the ideal target customer including why he or she buys, what his or her problem is, how old, economic status, family status, favorite media, where you find this person to send a message — but only in a paragraph or so, so write richly.  A picture is a good idea.
3. Market segmentation: most markets divide into meaningful groups. When I was consulting with Apple Computer in the 1980s, for example, we divided the personal computer market into segments including consumer, small business, large business, government, and other. For a local restaurant, segments might include families, university students, high school students, older people. For the college prep business I used as an example for assignment 1, segments were high school students, parents, and counselors/teachers.Create a table showing how the market divides into segments, as suggested by this illustration:

   

   (Click on the illustration for a larger view)

   Please don’t get freaked out by the table. It’s a simple spreadsheet, years from now into the future along the top, segment names on the side, and totals along the bottom. This isn’t a course in market research. You’re allowed to make educated guesses, as long as they make sense. And there is a detailed explanation of the table and how it shows segments, including even the compound average growth formula in the last column, in the Hurdle Book online in the section called Your Target Market Forecast. I’ve also added specific instructions on this site.

   If you can — it’s automatic if you’re using Business Plan Pro — include a pie chart of your market segmentation, something that will look like this:

   

   (You can click on the illustration for a larger view)

   You can probably see how that links directly back to the present year market segmentation, the first annual column in your market forecast table. And remember, if you’re not using Business Plan Pro, you can still do this in Microsoft Excel, or Works, or iWorks. And the chart, while a nice addition, is not essential.

1. Market needs:  All marketing should be based on underlying needs. For each market segment included in your strategy, explain the market needs that lead this group to buy your product or service. Did the need exist before the business was there? Are there other products or services or stores that offer different ways to satisfy this same need? Do you have market research related to this market need?It is always a good idea to try to define your retail offering in terms of target market needs, so you focus not on what you have to sell, but rather on the buyer needs you satisfy. As a shoe store, for example, are you selling shoes or are you satisfying the customer needs for covered feet? Are there additional underlying needs, such as style and prestige for fashion footwear, or padding for runners, or jumping for basketball players, that relate to selling shoes? Are kids buying status with their basketball shoes?
2. Market trends: What factors seem to be changing the market, or changing the business? What developing trends can make a difference? Market trends could be changes in demographics, changes in customer needs, a new sense of style or fashion, or something else. It depends on what business you are in.For example, a building supply store might note the trend toward remodeling older homes instead of buying new homes, or a trend toward more rooms in larger houses, despite smaller families, because of home offices, dens, and exercise rooms.A grocery store might note a trend toward Asian foods or spicier foods, or toward fresher, healthier foods, or development of a new shopping area in a different part of town.A credit and investment counselor might note demographic trends, such as baby boomers aging, leading to a greater need for estate planning and retirement planning. Look to market trends as a way to get ahead of the market, to know where it is going before it gets there.
3. Market Growth: Ideally you cite experts: a market expert, market research firm, trade association, or credible journalist. But this isn’t a class in market research. You have only three pages total, including the table and chart, so be brief.
4. Competition: Mention the main competitors, and the strengths and weaknesses of main competitors. You don’t have a lot of space, but you might consider their products, pricing, reputation, management, financial position, channels of distribution, brand awareness, business development, technology, or other factors that you feel are important. Or maybe what’s important is what segments of the market they operate in? What seems to be their strategy? How much do they impact your products, and what threats and opportunities do they represent?  Be brief.

Important additional details:

1. You can do this in Business Plan Pro, Word and Excel, Microsoft Works,  iWork, or any other tool that you like.
2. If you do it in Business Plan Pro, you can attach the Business Plan Pro BPDX file to an email. Otherwise, however else you do it, your final step is to get it into a PDF file format that takes up a single page maximum.  If you’ve produced it as something physical on actual paper, get it scanned into PDF to submit it.
3. Put your name on the filename, but not on the page as it appears printed.

Due by 10 a.m. April 22.

As with other assignments, please deliver this as either a BPDX or a PDF file, attached to an email, with your name included in the file name. It has to include the following:

1. An explanation. Not a lot of words, necessarily, but at least a paragraph or two explaining the main assumptions. Why is it this and not double, or half of this? If you built it based on some assumptions (good idea), like for example chairs and tables and occupancy in a startup restaurant, then please share those assumptions with me.
2. Sales by month for the first 12 months of your plan, summed into a total for the first year, and by year for the second and third year. These should usually (but not always) be broken into units and price (revenue) per unit.
3. Direct costs by month for the first 12 months of your planned, summed into a total for the first year, and then by year for the second and third year.

You can find examples of the table required in these places:

• The chapter on Sales Forecast in the Plan As You Go book. Beginning of page 131, continuing through page 154. Also online, just click here.
• The Forecast Your Sales chapter in Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning. Also online, just click here.

And don’t forget, as well, that there are about 500 examples in the sample business plans free online at www.bplans.com.