A Business Plan is a written description
of your ministry's operations.

Focus Questions:

• How can I plan for my ministry's success?
• How can I ensure I have everything I need for my ministry to make an impact?

A. Business planning takes a hard look at your overall business and decide:

1. What needs fixing?
2. What needs to be nurtured?
3. What needs to be thrown out?

B. Four things to know about an effective business plan.

1. Your business plan should be written. Simply “thinking about it” won't do.
2. A good business plan is simply a written description of your ministry – as it operates now, and as you expect it to grow in the future. Be as detailed as possible.
3. Write your plan, then become an enemy or very critical to your plan. This will help you to remain objective and realistic.
4. With a written plan, the probability of success is greatly increased.

Business Planning Questions for FY 200X

Financial Preparation

How much money do you expect earn at the end of next year?

How much money do you expect your ministry to gross next year?

What can I do to increase revenues this year?

How can I decrease costs this year?

How much money will your ministry net in five years?

What services and products do I offer?

Itemize them by type (speaking engagements, books, tape albums, etc.), by price range (less than $20; $20-50; $3,000 to $5,000; etc).

How will I make my income next year?

Speaking Engagements %____________
Counseling %____________
Product sales %____________
Training %____________
Salary %____________

Do I have any liabilities?

What are they?

Can I eliminate them?

Can I convert them to assets?

Who do I market my products and services to?

What are my monetary assets?

How much is liquid? (‘Liquid' means easily spendable. If someone owes you money, that is a monetary asset, but you can't spend it now.)

What does my cash flow look like?

How much do I owe?

How large is my credit line?

How many speaking engagements do I expect to accept?

How much product do I expect to sell?

Impact Preparation

1. Who do I market my products and services to?

2. How can I reach them? (Advertising, direct mail, trade shows, cold calling, etc.)

3. How many people will I reach this year?

4. How much will the marketing material cost?

5. How much revenue will it generate?

6. How is the Internet going to affect my ministry?

7. What conventions, meetings or workshops do I need to attend in the next year?

8. When and where are they scheduled?

9. Are there any scheduling conflicts?

10. Where do I see the overall Body of Christ going?

11. Where does my ministry fit in?

12. Am I prepared to handle the growth or changes when they come?

Asset Preparation

What equipment do I need? (Computer, fax machine, copy machine, voice mail, e-mail, paper shredder, microphone, slide projector, etc.)

What is the state of each item? (Operational, needs to upgraded, needs to be replaced, to be purchased etc.)

What are my unique assets?

Ministry Preparation

What can I do or provide that the average minister doesn't or can't? How long will they remain unique to me? How long will they remain assets? What other unique assets can I acquire?

How will I accomplish this?

What training do I need?

Where will I get it?

How much will it cost?

How much time will it require?

Who performs the following services for my ministry? If they're unavailable, who can I use as backup?

Marketing Strategy

Marketing is the skill of figuring out what people need then communicating that you can fulfill the need.

Focus Questions

• How can you make your ministry different from all other ministries that are trying to attract new members?
• How do we make our ministry the obvious choice for the Christians in our city?

A. Impact Marketing - The Objective

1. The primary objective of Impact Marketing should not be to sell more products or fill up pews with more people. The objective is to create and influence an entire industry with your vision.
2. Impact marketing is used to change the way people see you.
3. Impact marketing focuses on individuals, not large amounts of people

B. Corporate Marketing vs. Ministry Marketing

1. Coca Cola used marketing to make an ordinary sugared beverage a global experience. The product wasn't unique, offering no price advantages or special distribution.
2. Nike used marketing to invent an entire industry - increasing fifty times the amount of money spent on sneakers.
3. Marlboro cigarettes dominate an entire industry filled with ruthless competitors like generic cigarettes and copycats, but they dominate because of marketing. Our methodology is different, but the objective is the same.
4. Federal Express made a brilliant promise, “When it positively, absolutely has to be there overnight.” They kept it simple. Simple marketing equations can birth an entire industry and is responsible for billions of dollars in profits in the marketing arenas.

Many ministry leaders resist marketing. They like everyone to believe that their ministry or business is so compelling, so unique that people will want to hear all about their organization's attributes. However, without consistent impact upon individuals, ultimately the message will be ignored.

C. Why is marketing important?

1. Clutter - makes marketing necessary, too many services in too little space/time.

1. Clutter refers to the crowding and confusion in the marketplace caused by the unbelievable number of products people are trying to sell.
2. There are too many competitors chasing too few dollars.

2. Positioning - because we live in the information age, people are faced with information overload; therefore people force everything into stereotypes then file it away in our minds. We position everything, people, products and places according to their reputation and advertising. There is not enough focus in people's minds to get the whole story. Marketing helps you to avoid stereotypes.

Once you are positioned, it's difficult to get out. So you might as well choose a position to occupy.

D. How To Stand Out—If You Don't Stand Out, You Will Disappear

1. Positioning - There are many ministries and some are ignored. Find one unique position you can stake out in people's mind, one attribute or benefit. Communicate it and defend it.

2. Rule of Positioning - You remain anonymous unless you position yourself.

Secret: Great men and women position themselves. You must choose a position or have it chosen for you.

What would you like to be known for? ___________________

3. To make your message stick in the minds of people, describe your position in eight words or less.
_______________________________
_______________________________

For example, Robert Watkins' position: An evangelist who understands and teaches success principles.

4. The message behind position isn't to invent something brand-new out of the thin air. It's just the opposite. You position yourself well when you capture part of your essence in accordance with your passion, then communicate it in a short phrase or symbol.

5. Chose a position you can live with, be proud of and a position you can deliver.

E. How do some people manage to get what they want?

1. They know what they want and they communicate it.
2. They make promises and they keep them.

How to Impact Everyone You Meet Starting Now

Ensure you possess the following traits in your everyday life.

1. Passion - Bring excitement and energy to everything you do.
2. Honesty - Respect the power of your words and be consistent in your actions.
3. Self-awareness - See yourself as others see you.
4. Positivity - Expect the best. Be someone who can make lemonade out of lemons.
5. Humor - Don't take yourself too seriously.
6. Attention - Pay attention to the moment. Maximize the value of where you are now.
7. Sow - Always consider how to give to people.
8. Over Marketing - Know when to stop.

Make a list of four things that can make your ministry stand out.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________

Write down four weapons or tools you could implement to improve your current marketing campaign.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________

Make a list of four things you really should measure but have been afraid to.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________

Make a list of areas in your life in which you would have succeeded if you would have been a little more patient.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________

Make of list of things about your ministry that you are proud of.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________

Make a list of how to promote each attribute that are proud of:
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________

A Business Strategy is a systematic plan of action toward success.

Focus Questions:

• What can you do to make your ministry dominant in your city?
• What have you done in the last two years to improve your relative position in your city?

1. Ministry Marketing vs. Business Strategy

Many ministry leaders understand the concepts of marketing relative to creating advertisements for special events. Advertising such as event flyers, ministry brochures and media commercials are often construed as a plan for growth. While marketing is important, it should not take priority over a ministry's business strategy. Even the most well-conceived marketing plan doesn't assure growth. In most cases, a marketing plan can be seen as hit or miss. A ministry should have a strategy in place before spending any marketing dollars. The purpose of marketing should be to support your overall ministry strategy, not lead it. We will discuss marketing in greater detail in the next section.

2. God always has a strategy

1. (Genesis 3:15) God's strategy is to win back His people.
2. When God calls a man or woman to lead a body of people (an organization), He provides them with a systematic plan of action to ensure its success. Moses had a strategy to keep the children of Israel moving in the right direction:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. (Exodus 14:15)

3. Why do ministries lose adherent members?

Studies tell us: 3% of member move away or die; 5% lead are to shop elsewhere by friends; 9%, other churches provides better services; 14%, are unsatisfied with the ministry; 68%, sin and/or indifference makes them feel no one cares about them, so ultimately they leave.

Over 80% of people who leave are either dissatisfied with your ministry or feel as if no one care about them. To make huge gains you must start by paying attention to these two issues.

4. Successful companies have strategies:

Both Fortune 500 corporations and military organizations strategically plan their success. They do not leave their products' or operations' long-term success to chance. The leaders of these organizations create a highly detailed systematic plan of action then communicate that information to the rest of the organization. From the shipping department to the president's office, these companies communicate their strategies to everyone within the organization to move their products or services.

5. A strategy must begin with a goal. To have an effective strategy, success must be defined then measured.

Over the next three months, my ministry goals for each area of the ministry are:
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

Over the next year, my ministry goals for each area of the ministry are:
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

What financial resources do I need to reach my goals?
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

How can I best impact the people that can help me?
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

Who has the resources?
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

How can I get the resources?
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

I know when I have or have not achieved my goals when I...
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

I know that I have reached the next level of my ministry when...
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________

My mission statement is:
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________