Q: I'm a graphic design student in my final year of a HND, as part of my course work I have to put together a business plan, I actually want to start my own business so this is all great research, I want to design websites specialising in online shopping carts, the problem I've found is how I project my monthly sales? How do I know how many people will contact me from my advertising etc?
Jan 04 2006
Answered by: Clive Lewis Ask a question
You appear to have grasped the first essential of writing a business plan – do your research. Before you can consider how many people will contact you following advertising your product you need to decide your objectives, the time frame you set yourself to achieve them, and what resources are available, particularly how much you plan to spend on marketing. One view is that for a new business or product the marketing spend needs to be 20% of anticipated revenue in the first year.
You need to draw upon the experience of others. For example, you should look carefully at how existing businesses drive potential customers to their website – consider Google, Ebay, CD WOW, etc. How do those marketing “business to business” succeed with attracting interest? Which works best for them – direct mailing, PR, advertising (in which media?), inserts, etc. Talk to web designers to find out how they select shopping carts. You should also talk to people with a marketing expertise. Perhaps there are lecturers and marketing students at your college whose expertise you can tap into? Good luck!
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