No MBA, No Problem - Creating Your Startup's Marketing Plan

Millions of marketing dollars are wasted every day by companies whose managers shoot from the hip, use their hunches to make decisions and generally have no plan. If the cash reserves are fairly high that day, a media rep making a sales call could get lucky walking into your restaurant and leaving with an order for an ad. If business is down, any scheme that claims it can drive traffic to your restaurant that the owner sees on the Internet that day could get a tryout.

Large companies may be able to take the hit of marketing dollars spent badly. Small businesses can't. That's why it's crucial to have a marketing plan for your restaurant.

Don't get discouraged. If you've Googled "marketing plan," no doubt you have been overwhelmed by the fancy, formal language, software, spreadsheets, books, guides and everything else that makes creating a marketing plan seem much more difficult than it is. You can make a workable and successful marketing plan using just your brain, a pen and a piece of paper.

And it doesn't have to be January for you to start a plan. You can make a marketing plan for the next few months or any 12 months, so don't wait for 2007 to get going. You don't need an MBA to write a marketing plan; just a thorough knowledge of your restaurant and the market you serve.

Bear in mind that there is no one proper format for a marketing plan. Even though there is some agreement as to what information should be included in a marketing plan, there are many variations and outlines to follow. Your plan is going to be personalized for your situation. That's why it's so crazy to buy a marketing plan online and then copy it or try to adapt it to fit your own needs.