Chapter 20 Preparing for Your Career 597 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Mentors One of the fi rst steps in building a successful team is realizing that there are a lot of things you and your classmates do not know. You will probably need the help of experts. You have already identifi ed a mentor to help you with your business plan. As you identify other information you need, you can search for mentors who can supply it. These people may be students, teachers, or people in the local community. Mentors play a role in many different companies, not just those run by students (Figure 20-17). For school-based businesses, however, experienced business and social leaders often volunteer their help. Smart business owners listen to the advice offered by mentors and other interested people. These people can give you the benefi t of long years of experience for free. They can help your team avoid some of the pitfalls of starting a new business. Mentors are particularly useful for suggesting ways to deal with fi nancial and business management. They can also help you establish public relations. In some cases, they can help you extend product sales beyond the local area. Mentors provide business information, help your team focus, make recommendations, and act as a sounding board for your ideas. Preparing a Marketing Plan An effective marketing plan sets your product apart from your competitors’ products. A marketing plan describes how and to what kind of customers you will market your product. It describes the target market. You can develop a good marketing plan only after you know the facts about potential customers. A marketing plan identifi es the customers, attracts them to see the product, and persuades them to buy it. Who will buy your product? What are the characteristics of people who will buy your product? How can you best appeal to this market? To start your marketing plan, fi rst describe how your product is different from competing products. Next, think about your customers. You want to know as much about them as possible: their age group, income, education, and many other factors. These factors determine how you will present, or market, your product to the customers. It is important to know your competition. Your market is infl uenced by your competitors and the strengths of their products. For example, if one of your competitors is offering a very low price, you may have trouble competing on price. It may be better to focus on their weaknesses and make sure your product excels in those areas. In this example, the competitor may be able to offer low prices because of a high output. If this is so, your company may be able to offer better product customization, with lower output. Customization would become part of your marketing plan. garagestock/Shutterstock.com Figure 20-17. Mentors can help new businesses in many ways.