A marketing plan is a plan of action including the who, what, when, where, why and how much. It describes the basic approach to the business's marketing. Making sales is the life line of a business and marketing the product/service supports those sales. Without marketing it can be very difficult to reach the potential customers therefore it can be very difficult to make sales.

The following is a list of the beneficial factors to developing a marketing plan:

• It will aid the decision making about locations, sales projections, your product, how much inventory, how many employees, etc.
• It will determine if there is a demand for your product/service
• It will compare other products/services to yours
• It will determine what the customer wants
• It will determine how to communicate to the customer

• The market area
  • Could be a building, a neighbourhood, a town
• The market share
  • A portion of total sales of a product/service in a market area that a competitor has is called a market share
• The location
  • It affects sales because if a business is hidden from the market area, it decreases the potential of attracting customers
• The customers
  • A general description of the target market(s) clarifies the realistic ones which should show a profit
• The competition
  • A profile of the competition may show a place in the market which will not reduce competitor's sales but expand the market as a whole.
• The methods of selling
  • Direct or indirect sales would depend on the product/service being offered.
• The price
  • Setting the price for the product/service requires consideration of the supplies and materials, overhead and labour/time.
• The servicing and guarantees
  • Service is a main part of a business and providing great service may require a guarantee on the product/service.
• The image
  • It is affected by many things such as the personal style of the owner/operator, the method of sales, and ways customers are greeted.
• The advertising, promotion, publicity
  • All three area are usually treated as one area of activity. The mix of these three activities requires evaluation on an ongoing bases.

• Primary research is conducted yourself, it is the first hand information
  • Questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, surveys
• Secondary research is information published and prepared by other sources
  • Census reports, trade magazines, newspapers