Page 77 - Duct Tape Marketing

Chapter 5

Goals, Objectives, Strategies,
and Budgets

In This Chapter

ᮣ Defining your business mission and vision
ᮣ Setting goals and objectives — and knowing the difference between the two
ᮣ Funding your marketing program

Too many small business leaders feel paralyzed by the marketing process
for the simple reason that they don’t know where to start. They ask,
“Should we hire a marketing director?” or “How much should we spend?”
before they ask, “What are we trying to achieve?”

Once they get around to setting their goals, though, most small businesses
find that they face a pretty reasonable marketing task. An accounting firm
might determine that it wants to add three new corporate clients. A retail
establishment might want to gain $20,000 in new sales. A commercial clean-
ing business might want to take on five more business contracts.

Knowing the goal simplifies everything.

What’s more, when small business owners are clear about where they want to
go, they nearly always get there. In huge companies, the process of getting all
the departments focused on the same end point is like herding cats. But in
small businesses there are fewer people to orchestrate, and the owner’s will
can more clearly impact the actions of the full business team. As a small busi-
ness marketer, if you start with a goal, a plan, and a reasonable budget for
achieving your desired outcome, chances are you’ll get where you want to go.