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Take 2: Anyone written a business plan?

by Ben Roy
3 replies
Has anyone out there ever written a business plan that pertains to your IM-related business? I'm working through one and really struggling with some of the information like demographics, market size, etc. If you've gone through this and had any success gathering this type of information, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!
#business #plan #written
  • Profile picture of the author Shane Hale
    I got one from Microsoft Office Templates but one suggestion would be not to over complicate it. Use it for a goal and vison statement. Explain where your business will go and where you plan on taking it finanicially. Unless you are trying to get funding don't over complicate it. The beautiful thing is you can update it as your business evolves. If you are going for funding ask a loan officer which crucial requirements they want to see in a business plan and go with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Roy
      Thanks for the reply Shane. I actually have a template already, I'm just trying to fill it in. I am not going to attempt to get funding, but I am bringing other people on board and this isn't your typical 'build a list and try to get people to buy an ebook' type business so I want to have the plan fairly buttoned up.

      In order to have any semblance of a reasonable business plan, I need to be able to say roughly how many people there are in the industry (IM), and try to forecast what kind of sales numbers I might be looking at. That's really where I'm struggling. I can see that there are about 100,000 members of the WF, but I don't know what % of those people are actively engaged, or what % of the IM market are actually members of the WF.

      I know I won't be able to be accurate, but having some ballpark numbers will go a long way.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaskedMarketer
    Originally Posted by hummusx View Post

    Has anyone out there ever written a business plan that pertains to your IM-related business? I'm working through one and really struggling with some of the information like demographics, market size, etc. If you've gone through this and had any success gathering this type of information, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

    Hey Hummusx,

    Its good to see someone actually planning out there success. As far as finding out demographics, market size, ect I can't answer that directly.

    Maybe you can try adbrite and type in the type of people you want to reach and they should tell you how many people they can reach for you... I know this isnt bullet proof, but it might help get you started.

    You'd have find a good place for market research. If you think the WarriorForum is the only place for "Internet Marketers" then you're thinking in a closed mindset. There is a potential goldmine out there- think about those that could benefit from IM offline that don't know about it.

    Every website online should have the potential to benefit from your product/services since every website should be marketing.

    Internet Marketing is a broad term. Marketing is the life blood of any business ( imo) and you can market on TV, Newspapers, Magazines, Direct Mail, Radio, ect. The internet is just another medium of communication like the others and any business can potentially be a customer...

    By the way, what type of product or service were you thinking of creating?
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