The first steps for an effective business & marketing plan

Tips and advice for a successful and complete presentation of your business idea

In recent years, Greece has made significant progress in enhancing infrastructures that foster business growth and thereby help create a sustainable economy.

The progress made in this area is particularly encouraging, but this doesn't mean that the new business owner won't face difficulties or delays. In the past the process of setting up a business required endless paperwork and visits to various government agencies; now things are much simpler, and it only takes four days to register and set up a new business.

However, before you launch your business, it’s vitally important that you make a detailed analysis of your business’s needs and goals, the market in which you're operating, and the competition. Statistics show that only 20% to 25% of businesses manage to grow after the first five years, which makes the need for a full, accurate and flexible business and marketing plan even more urgent. 

The answers a business plan should provide

A prerequisite for starting a business, apart from the concept, is to have created the team that will participate in its financing, as well as the additional funds that will be required, especially in the earlier period of its operation. 

Financing can be obtained through equity, lending, or participation in programs designed to encourage and support business activity.
By means of NBG Business Seeds, NBG actively supports start-up entrepreneurship and innovative ideas, offering advisory support and guidance, as well as important networking and funding opportunities.

With the right financial support you can form the basis on which to grow your business. Once developed, your business growth plan should answer three key questions:

  • Where is your business today?
  • What are your goals and aspirations for the future?
  • How will you achieve them?

 

At the same time, your business plan should include a description of the products and/or services you will provide, and what your target market is, so that you can then plan your business marketing plan. 

The first steps for an effective business & marketing plan

Visibility and marketing: Who is your target audience?

The right marketing strategy is a key component of a successful business growth plan, since this enables it to generate a recognizable profile among the public, to stand out and thereafter grow, thus laying the foundations for future success. 

The way you decide to advertise your business should be the product of relevant research. There are many options available: through traditional channels, such as TV, the press, magazines or radio, through all the potential offered by digital marketing, or a combination of all of these. No matter what you choose in your efforts to boost your corporate profile, one thing is certain: your budget is what will guide you to a large extent, so it’s necessary to make the optimal allocation and use of available resources, with sound calculations and forecasts.

In addition, it’s crucial that you're able to answer the question "Who is the target audience for my business?". It has been proven, especially in the case of today's advertising environment where information is almost infinite, that the most successful campaigns are those that know their target audience well and can best meet its needs.

Your plan for the future

Your business and marketing plan is not just some general and vague notion of where you think you're heading, or a few numbers and statistics recorded on paper or an excel sheet. It's your specific goals and aspirations for where you want your business to be in a few years from now. If preparing such a plan feels like an overwhelming task, you can seek guidance from qualified market professionals.

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