The problem with buying a plan
A strategy document delivered to a small business owner with no capacity to execute it is a very expensive way to feel organised. It arrives, it is read once, and it goes into a folder alongside the last one.
That is not a criticism of planning. It is a point about sequence: the constraint in most small businesses is execution, not knowing what to do.
What a plan actually needs to contain
Strip out the market analysis and the persona exercises, and a workable small business marketing plan is short:
Who you are for. Which customers, which jobs, which areas. Stated narrowly enough to exclude things.
Why you rather than the next firm. One sentence you can say out loud without wincing.
The three or four things you will actually do. Not twelve. Three, with dates.
What you are not doing. The most useful section and the one usually missing.
How you will know. One number per activity, agreed before starting.
That fits on two pages. Longer plans are rarely better plans.
Where planning sits at BayouEdge
Inside the setup fee of each package, which runs $2,500 to $12,500 depending on how much is being built. The plan and the build are the same conversation, so separating them into two purchases means paying for the thinking twice.
For an owner who genuinely only wants the thinking, a strategy session is the right shape rather than a document — see the strategy session page.
The most common planning mistake
Planning for the business you would like to have. A plan that assumes you will publish weekly, post daily and follow up every lead within an hour is a plan for a company with a marketing department.
Build the plan around what will actually happen given the hours available. A modest plan executed beats an ambitious plan abandoned in week three, and this is the single most reliable predictor of whether small business marketing works.
What to bring
Last year's revenue by service, where your best customers came from, and an honest account of how much time anyone has. Those three inputs produce a better plan than any amount of market research.
The test of a good plan
You can tell someone what you are doing next month and why, in under a minute, without reading anything.
If you cannot, the plan is too complicated to survive a busy week.
Getting one built
Twenty minutes on the phone usually establishes what the plan should be. It is a short conversation when the business is clear.
Frequently asked questions
Should I buy a marketing plan on its own?
Rarely. The constraint in most small businesses is execution, not knowing what to do. A plan with no hands attached becomes a document read once and filed.
What should a small business marketing plan contain?
Who you are for, why you rather than the next firm, the three or four things you will actually do with dates, what you are not doing, and one number per activity. Two pages.
What is the most common planning mistake?
Planning for the business you wish you had. A plan assuming weekly publishing and hourly follow-up is a plan for a company with a marketing department, and it gets abandoned by week three.
How do I know the plan is good?
You can say what you are doing next month and why, in under a minute, without reading anything. If you cannot, it will not survive a busy week.