Frameworks are important tools for entrepreneurial managers. Not only do they provide a cohesive system, they also provide a generally easy-to-organize set of requirements that can be used time and time again. Perhaps the most important framework and certainly the one used most often is the one known as the Six P’s of the marketing mix.

Consider this scenario. An entrepreneur thinks that a great opportunity for commercial success has been discovered. There is a clear need for a new solution and the entrepreneur has an idea that is just this side of being the greatest since sliced bread. Within the business plan, the various characteristics of the target market are identified and analyzed. Now the challenge is to figure out how to specifically and in the most cost-effective fashion, address these characteristics. Time to break out the Six P’s.

One of the great attributes of this framework is its simplicity and an often used picture is that of a group of buckets, all holding ingredients that need to be poured into the kettle of success.

People. Recognizing that ideas for success and implementation have to come from People, this first P is critical but it defines the catalyst. This human resource orientation is simply the most important for without it nothing can or will happen.

It must be honestly appraised and applied pertaining to competency when utilizing any of the other buckets. Without the right people resources, you will fail.

Product. The next is to apply the Product element. This includes all of the elements that make up the product or service the entrepreneur is preparing to launch. Performance specifications, packaging, warranties, etc., all go into this bucket.

Pricing. Following this, Pricing becomes the key decision that translates the entrepreneur’s perception of value into the market's reality of fair exchange. It is the only revenue generating bucket and its contents have to fall somewhere above the floor of costs but below the ceiling of demand.

Place. Certainly affecting the pricing element is the Place component. Place refers to the distribution aspect and looks at both distribution channel management (where and how customers buy) and logistics management (how to get the goods or services to and through the channels).

Promotion. This P deals largely with choices on the proper type and use of communication tools. These include advertising, sales promotions, personal selling and publicity.

Politics. The final bucket to consider is Politics. This element involves legal considerations both domestic and foreign.

The introduction of a new product or service is a daunting task even for seasoned marketers. But by defining the ingredients in each bucket, an entrepreneur now has a very good guide for making sure that what needs to be done gets done.

Since accumulating the information for each bucket must be a series of parallel activities, project management tools are often employed. These allow for the coordination of the various pieces of required information with the time that it takes to get the information. The result is a plan of introduction that is coordinated and supported by a higher probability of success.

Many entrepreneurs know of the Six P’s but for some this is just an academic point of interest. It is not simply an academic exercise. It is a system that works and one that needs to be intimately understood by every entrepreneurial manager.

John F. Riddell Jr., director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth-Hamilton County, writes each Tuesday about entrepreneurs and their impact on companies and the marketplace. Submit comments to his attention by writing to Business Editor John Vass Jr., Chattanooga Times Free Press, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN 37401-1447, or by e-mailing him at business@timesfreepress.com