Eagle Optics opts for a planned approach


Byline: Giustina Parisi and Sarah White

Note: This is part one of a two-part story.

The founder of Eagle Optics was a dentist, his wife a nurse.  Neither one had any business experience, but now they own Eagle Optics, the number one distributor of optical equipment in the birdwatching industry, and one of the largest independent sports optics distributors in the country.  They got this far without any formal marketing planning, but they realize there is only so far they can go without a plan.

Lack of planning leaves a business susceptible to competitors who do plan.  Planning, including evaluation of past efforts, needs to be a continual process in good times and in bad. 
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Eagle Optics has decided to take a proactive approach.  They are evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  They have used the Business Review format described in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Marketing Basics.  As you read on, click the numbered links to see examples from Eagle Optics’ Business Review. 

Nuts and Bolts
Your business review should include basic information.  Even though you know this information well, including it here makes this document useful for others if you decide to share it (for example, with an advertising agency or bank officer.)
  • What year was your business established?
  • What major milestones have you faced as a company?
  • How many employees do you have?
  • What is your businesses growth pattern? (Are sales increasing rapidly/slowly, reaching a plateau, on the decline?)
  • What are your approximate annual sales today?
  • What is your mission and vision?

Eagle Optics Example: Nuts and Bolts [1]

Product Issues
Understanding your product is essential, as it will help you to identify product-related problems and opportunities.  Ask these questions to understand your product(s):
  • What are the physical characteristics of what you sell?
  • What makes it unique/better than similar offerings?
  • Where are these products in their life cycle? Are there any new products in the pipeline?
  • Is price strategy important?
  • How is your product packaged?

Eagle Optics Example: Product Issues [2]

“Place” Issues
“Place” issues for a business like Eagle Optics are about distribution.  Like product knowledge, understanding how distribution impacts your business can help you develop a sound marketing strategy.  Ask:
  • Where is your product sold?
  • What logistics, such as transportation and warehousing, affect distribution?
  • What value does the distribution strategy add to the product?

Eagle Optics Example: Place Issues [3]

The Marketing Environment
A business must understand both customers and competitors.  First, summarize what you know about your customers.  Who are they and what do they want?
  • Who are your primary targets? Secondary target?
  • What problems are you helping them to solve?
  • Describe the buying exchange.
  • How do your distribution channels figure as customers?
  • What research techniques do you use? What kind of research are your primary targets based on?

Eagle Optics Example: Marketing Environment (Customers) [4]

Now, summarize what you know about your competitors.  Many entrepreneurs rely on intuition, but we recommend a more fact-based approach.  The Household Spending tool can help you estimate your market share.  Use the tool to find the total market potential for your product offering, then use your annual sales to calculate your share of that market potential.
  • What is your market share?
  • What sort of competition do you face? Heavy/light?
  • How do you keep up on what your competition is doing?

Eagle Optics Example: Marketing Environment (Competitors) [5]

Review of Current Marketing Activity
An important part of any business review is the current marketing plan and a review of how effective it has been.The marketing plan describes both advertising activity and other promotional activity.  Regarding the advertising plan, ask:
  • What’s your current media plan? (What? Where? When?)
  • What’s the goal of your current advertising?
  • What’s your advertising budget?
  • How do you test or measure results of advertising?

Eagle Optics Example: Advertising Plan [6]

Promotions
Promotions include a large array of techniques that do not involve paid advertising, such as sales events or publicity.  To describe promotional activity, ask:
  • Do you use sales promotions, like coupons and so on?
  • What kinds of sales staff do you have and do they do their job?
  • Do you go to trade shows?
  • Do you pursue any public relations activity?

Eagle Optics Example: Promotions [7]

The Marketing Environment
From Eagle Optics’ business review, the company concluded:
  1. Their marketing plan needed to include ways to test the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. 
  2. They need a more precise understanding of their customers’ demographics.
  3. They would like to find a way to reach their primary target market more efficiently than their current advertising plan.

The business review is an important first step in creating an effective marketing plan.  It lays the groundwork for subsequent marketing decisions.  You’ll come up with keener insights, and make better decisions, after you have methodically reviewed all the known facts.  Your business review should be updated every year, or whenever your situation changes.  Hopefully, the example of Eagle Optics has shown you how to apply the business review technique to your own business.  Simply answer the questions you can, and make a “to do” list out of the questions that stump you.  Pursue the answers like a birdwatcher after a yellow-bellied gringot and you’ll discover—any “birdbrain” can complete the Business Review.