There is a professional way to making a marketing plan, which is outlined in MBA textbooks. Now then, I want you to take your MBA textbooks marketing plan and shitcan it.

Next, I want you to go down to AAA American automobile club and get a map of the city in which your business will be. Put a red dot where your business will be on the map and then take a string equal to a ten mile radius and put one end all the red dot and put a pencil on the other end. Next, draw a ten-mile circle around your location.

Now do the same thing for all the competitors in your market. Everywhere there is an overlap take a colored pencil and shade it in. Next anywhere in the ten mile radius where there is a river or a railroad track which limits travel across it like a wall then take that area out of your circle. Where there are traffic points that allow people to cross these barriers, make a series of a half Moon's equally in the total distance of ten miles.

This will give you a better understanding of where your businesss customers will truly come from. Next, go through the phonebook in the Yellow Pages and find all competition in your area; find out what they are charging and how they are bundling their products or services.

Also go onto the Internet and look at all the other competitors in what the going rate seems to be that people are charging in the marketplace. Now you can get your MBA textbooks out of the trash can and see what it says. Please consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Currently Lance is retired at age 40 and is running an Online Think Tank Forum while traveling North America. Perhaps considering something extremely challenging to do that will exercise his mind and utilize all his experiences, observations and skills. Any ideas?