1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
THE BUSINESS PLAN MD Steve Davidson warns that it is
Page 60
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
folly to start a road transport outfit with the "suck it and see" philosophy. Instead, the best policy is meticulous preparation In the months before Davidson and Dunstan launched Megadnve, they planned every detail of their business journey.
We are handed a copy of the f irm's nine-page business plan. It says that Davidson and Dunstan intend to "build the biggest haulage, storage and logistics company possible in 15 years, in order to sell it for the maximum amount of money thereby negating the need to ever have to look at another truck again".
The plan outlines how this can be achieved It explains that work has been garnered through existing industry contacts and "by chance" but it admits that these methods "will not generate the
levels of trade at suitably high rates per mile that a business with our aspirations requires" To win more work, Megadrive is setting up what it terms as a "structured" approach to sales.
That means 'identifying, targeting and monitoring its customers and actions
The document also sets out a practical plan of attack
• A strong web presence: essential in spreading the word • Marketing: logo, liveries, uniforms and stationery.
• Public relations: issuing press releases, attending trade shows, supplying vehicles for local events, and so on
• Team development: to ensure the team is "singing from the same song sheet", in the words of the business plan