There are many elements involved in a good business plan. Your business, like any other business not only needs to have a plan, but a timetable to work your plan. But what do your start with first and then what follows. Let's take another look at some of beginning elements and how you might employ them and when. This will also allow those of you who are have already started to double check where you are and make any adjustments you feel necessary for your success.

We'll begin with the basic premise that you know whom you want as your customers. Defining your "target customers" is a critical area that many businesses do not address correctly in the beginning development of their business plan. Until you know exactly whom you want as your customers, you cannot create a marketing strategy to correctly market your business.

Unfortunately many businesses take any and all business they can from anyone that says yes and has the money. While this creates a cash flow that pays the bills and looks like a company is starting off right, in the long run, it can be a costly move. Statistically, most businesses spend only 20% of their time with customers responsible for 80% of the revenue. Conversely, a whopping 80% of the time is spent with those demanding, complaining, and never happy customers who only provide 20% of the income.

I have queried many businesses as to what they would do if these unhappy customers went away of their own accord. The overwhelming answers were, "I'd have that extra time to spend with their best customers." When asked how they happened to end up with these customers from hell, the answer was also unanimous, "It was a sale and we needed to build our customer base.

I try to prioritize things with three specific words. 1st = 'Need', 2nd = 'Want', and 3rd = 'Like'. For example; I NEED air just to live; I WANT clean air to breath; I'd LIKE to be in some exotic beach breathing in a delightful sea breeze. While this sounds overly simplified, it puts things into quick and easy priorities. Take care of the needs first and then the wants and likes.

As you are building your business, you want to create an image in your mind of your ideal customer. If you're not sure, check with other businesses and research what their responses are. Write this information down as you go through it. What types of and sizes of customers would you want? What kind of annual income to your business would they represent? How would they fit into your desired business image, goals, and plans? If your service is limited regionally, geographically, or by a limited customer base, I would recommend that you further define your clients into "A", "B", & "C" clients. Obviously "A's" are the cream of the crop with "B's" being close to what you want. "C's" are the customers you'd rather not have, but options are limited, for now.

Another factor to take into account is where. Where you want to develop your business? Do you want to specialize in a specific region, area, city, industry, or other area of specialty? This will have a determination who your potential customers might be. Another thing to consider is that covering a region throws extra steps into the mix in selling and servicing your clients. You always need to keep track of how far out your might be going and is it working for you. Always be evaluating what you're doing. There is trend to do what's working, but you should always know why it is working. If it stops working you'll know what to adjust.

The slogan of my company is, "I work with individuals and organizations and help them be ahead by design, not by default!" Let me explain why this is critically important to the growth of your BUSINESS.

Information is power. I suggest you read " The Art of War " by Tzu, Sun, translated by Thomas Clery. The more knowledge you have of your friends and foes alike (clients will be friends), the more power you have. If you know your strengths and weaknesses, you have an edge. However, if you also have knowledge about your potential and current clients, you have immense power. This is one reason why research in surveys, focus groups, and test marketing is so valuable. It helps find out what they think.

Remember, if you're going to hunt rabbits, you have to know everything you can about these rabbits. Everything! Otherwise you might go hungry.

Knowing what type of trade magazines and business publications they read is very helpful. Knowing what groups, organizations and associations they belong to is also important. This knowledge provides you with a rough idea on their interests, habits, and places they get their information, which will give you an idea of how and when you might reach them more effectively. Study what they do and learn about it and you now have knowledge and that is power. Read the same publications and try belonging to the same organizations and associations. After all, that's where they are. It works!

How about this, even if you don't advertise in a particular magazine they might read, you could open a conversation by asking what they thought about the article. This will start the ball rolling in a relationship basis, not on a sales pitch. You might also create a marketing piece based on that article which will lend you credibility.

In designing your materials, the best words you can find are the words they use in describing what you do and why it is so valuable to them are. You'll also start gleaning what repeated words and phrases they use to describe their feelings. When you create your marketing materials and use their words and phrases and your materials will be more powerful.

Once you've clearly defined who you want as your ideal customers, you can now start to define your marketing strategy. Having a clear and concise demographic of your customers will allow you to target them with the precision of a laser rifle instead of a shotgun approach.

The first time you need to set up is your planning time. In Michael Gerber's new book, "The "E" Myth-revisited", he notes that "Most people spend so much time working in their business, they don't have time to work on their business." I recommend that your have one planning day a week. Work in your business Monday through Thursday and on Friday, you work only on planning, designing, and evaluating your marketing materials. This will take discipline, but it's how you get to be successful. You will be ahead by design, not default.

So, when you decide where you want to specialize, you'll learn who's there and who you want. Then using their words, you can start developing marketing materials designed for them.