Putting together a solid business plan was the first move we made before we started opening our doors to customers. We already tried selling our product once to see how it sold, so we decided that having a business plan in place for our company would help us to figure out exactly where we wanted our business to go. We had our product already lined up, and we had plenty of ideas of where we were in the supply chain that brought our product to consumers, so we didn’t have any trouble at all while working together to set up our business plan.

My partner and I were the best at making our products, and we were comfortable selling the products at competitive prices. That was our plan. Until we could afford to raise our prices, we would keep them low enough to be considered competitive. That gave us a competitive advantage while we boasted about our perfect products. Serious quality with a low price made it hard for consumers to avoid buying from us before they looked at the other products. We sold our products mostly through common market places until we became more notorious within our industry. As we gained recognition, things started changing for our company.

After Gaining Recognition

It helped to have the business plan ready because we knew exactly when we could start raising the price we were charging to deliver and manufacture our products. We started using better materials before we changed the price. That was our decision early on. It seemed like common sense to us at the time. Why would we ever want to charge more money for a product that we just made you pay less for? It seemed counter-intuitive and rude to the customer. We decided that we were better off selling a slightly better product for a slightly higher price.

When we tried the things we wrote down in our business plan, some of the ideas we had actually paid off. The idea just discussed is an example of one of the pricing strategies we used to avoid bursting our bubble early. A small number of new businesses are able to make it through the first few years of being in business. We beat the curve already, so I’m hoping we can continue to grow. We’re offering our customers finer quality products and a better quality cardboard shipping tube to put the product in when it’s time to send it to them.

If you make the right choices early on, your business stands a better chance at making it in this tough economy. You need to plan the path you’ll take. Plan early, and plan often. Spend time the in the evening after you’re done working planning what your next day will be like, and make sure to look back at what you’ve been planning all along. Make sure you’re taking the right course to reach the goals you set out. Setting goals helps you reach success.