Marketing

[Faith]

This is my first post... I am currently in marketing class and don't get any of it. I have to do a powerpoint presentation by Tuesday. I have never had to do one of these. I also have to do a business plan. HELP!!!! I am so lost, and the instructor isn't really explaining it in a way I can understand. ANY advice or pointers are appreciated.

 

[california_love]

Marketing

Hello! Welcome to MassagePlanetL

I just graduated so I remember business class pretty well still. What book(s) do you use for the class? What discussion have you had so far on this topic in class? I'm sorry I can't help you with powerpoint, but I can give you the name of the book we used that might help you. It is called Business Mastery by Cherie Sohnen-Moe.

As for the business plan, you will need to outline what it is you are going to do, as in: Be an employee, independent contractor or open your own business establishment. Whichever you choose, what is your plan for moving forward in these endeavors.

In our class, we had to assume all of these roles, and make a plan for each. No matter what we decided after graduation, going through the general motions was very helpful. For instance, we had to find all of the regulation for our particular town if we were going to open our own business out of our home (or if it was even allowed!).

You might also contact a fellow student and get some advice and contact your instructor for more help with this project. There SHOULD be some kind of outline for you to follow, the reason you are in school is to learn. If you knew how to do all of this, you wouldn't need to be there. :altwink:

 

[daxica]

Marketing

When I did my business plan, I set out what I wanted to do (outcall), how much it would take me start up (massage equipment, products, linens, advertising, filing cabinet and file folders, phone line, business cards, copy paper for intake forms, etc). Even priced sheets at Walmart, so I had the correct dollar amount for everything. I included a price for an unfinished wood filing cabinet and the price for a quart of paint to paint it, lol. I researched the price for local newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, etc and decided how/where I would spend my advertising dollars. I tried to think of every single thing I would need to do my business. Professional insurance and association fees, licensing. Laundry detergent. Candles. CDs and a portable CD player. Paper gift certificates. Things you don't think about in the beginning.

Another student opted to 'open her own shop' and made sure she included the cost of decor, plants, rent and utility deposits, office furniture, etcetc.

Then I thought about where I wanted to be and where I would be, 3, 6 and 12 months after graduation. How many clients I hoped to be seeing each week (and I was realistic about how many I would have when starting out) and how many at each milestone of the 3/6/12 months; what I would need at those points such as more linens, more products, how I might be looking at different and better advertising such as buying a bigger ad in the Yellow Pages, or placing weekly ads in the local paper fora few weeks. That I might consider incorporating at 12 months, or hiring a tax preparer who specialized in small business. Also noted that I would be setting aside money for license & insurance renewal, CEU and CPR classes.

Not sure if that's what your instructor is looking for but hope it helps somewhat!

 

[Mae B Jolly]

Marketing

This is pretty much what I did too.
I went so far as to download and include business forms to file -
such as a dba (doing business as) form with the state to register my business, my local townships application for running a business and displaying a sign.
I broke my binder into sections. Along with a master list of needed supplies and equipment I included pictures of items if from a catalog, pictures of what I wanted the rooms to look like, ads for commercial rental properties, a mock up of a website and menu of services, policies, intake forms, mission statement. Then for good measure I threw in a 3, 5 and 10-yr plan.
I listed briefly how I would finance everything, if you don't have real finances you could even make up a fictitious business loan or rich Aunt Harriet who has offered to finance your business.

It doesn't have to be very formal - you can look at it as a "dream" book. What would your ideal business look like?

A PP presentation would have been beyond me - luckily we had the entire course to work on the BP not one week (or did you procrastinate?)

When I did my business plan, I set out what I wanted to do (outcall), how much it would take me start up (massage equipment, products, linens, advertising, filing cabinet and file folders, phone line, business cards, copy paper for intake forms, etc). Even priced sheets at Walmart, so I had the correct dollar amount for everything. I included a price for an unfinished wood filing cabinet and the price for a quart of paint to paint it, lol. I researched the price for local newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, etc and decided how/where I would spend my advertising dollars. I tried to think of every single thing I would need to do my business. Professional insurance and association fees, licensing. Laundry detergent. Candles. CDs and a portable CD player. Paper gift certificates. Things you don't think about in the beginning.

Another student opted to 'open her own shop' and made sure she included the cost of decor, plants, rent and utility deposits, office furniture, etcetc.

Then I thought about where I wanted to be and where I would be, 3, 6 and 12 months after graduation. How many clients I hoped to be seeing each week (and I was realistic about how many I would have when starting out) and how many at each milestone of the 3/6/12 months; what I would need at those points such as more linens, more products, how I might be looking at different and better advertising such as buying a bigger ad in the Yellow Pages, or placing weekly ads in the local paper fora few weeks. That I might consider incorporating at 12 months, or hiring a tax preparer who specialized in small business. Also noted that I would be setting aside money for license & insurance renewal, CEU and CPR classes.

Not sure if that's what your instructor is looking for but hope it helps somewhat!

 

[delouse]

Marketing

Definetly call your city office to find out what you would need if you were to open your own shop, or begin as an independent contractor. There you can find out what you would have to do to open a business and how to collect sales taxes if its required in your state or to pay your quarterly taxes to the city. Find a good accountant that has experience working with small businesses to see what their fees are and what they suggest you do with your accounting.

Make a list of the things you 'think' you would want/need when you get your license. Such as business cards, a seperate cell phone, website, any equiptment, extra training, ect. The big thing with me was 'not knowing where to start', so if you make a list then look into each item on that list, you can find out alot more. Alot of this has to be learned on your feet because everyone has different needs for their business, not to mention that it varies from state to state. When I was in school I felt like I was sort of 'stuck' with the planning since I didn't know what I was doing yet, but you can still shop around for different business cards (which will evolve with your practice anyways), websites, and find out what you need to do locally with your city.

As for the powerpoint, those can be very simple and are most effective when they are done so. Do *not* have a ton of text on your slides, go for more pictures and an outline format. The best PP presentations are ones that you can glance at and talk about your slide topic and your audience doesn't feel like they have to 'read' the slide. So say your presentation is about your business plan. You can go with this format for the slides: Intro, who, what, when, where, why, how, and ending. This makes it easy to organize your slides and gives them a good flow.

Good luck, and enjoy to process of learning what you want to do with your business. Thats one of the 'fun' parts of being a massage therapist, you can shape it to be a role to suit you.

 

[Chigirl]

Marketing

Thank you all sooo much! I think I got it I sat down with my instructor tonight and she went over the power point presentation with me. Thank you all again! Your info helped me SO MUCH!!
greenhaze113