In this strategic white paper, Professor Malcolm McDonald tackles a fundamental question that boards, CFOs, and marketing leaders must answer: Will our business plan actually deliver the shareholder value it promises?
Combining insight from thousands of business plan evaluations, this paper introduces a proven process for marketing due diligence. It systematically assesses the risk built into a business strategy and its likely impact on future performance, investment decisions, and value creation.
Key Challenges Explored
- Customers want the most value at the lowest price
- Shareholders want the greatest return with the least risk
- Marketers are caught in the middle — and must quantify how their strategy satisfies both
The Three Categories of Business Risk
- Market Risk – Is the market really as big as the plan claims?
- Share Risk – Will we win the expected share?
- Profit Risk – Will we make the expected margin?
Fifteen Risk Factors Unpacked
The paper breaks these three risk categories down into 15 specific, measurable risk factors — from product category maturity and sales volume confidence, to pricing optimism, cost assumptions, and SWOT realism.
The Due Diligence Process
- Step 1: Explicate the strategy — identify where growth is expected and how it will be achieved
- Step 2: Assess risk across 15 categories using comparative benchmarks
- Step 3: Determine whether the adjusted profit exceeds the cost of capital
Who Should Use This?
- Marketing and business strategists preparing board-level investment plans
- CFOs and investors evaluating commercial risk in market-facing strategies
- Private equity, venture capital, and M&A advisors conducting marketing due diligence
Insight
“When risk is accounted for, many business plans fail to beat the returns of a simple bank deposit. Marketing due diligence exposes this — and helps fix it.” – Professor Malcolm McDonald
Download the Full White Paper
This summary covers the framework — the full PDF includes tables, risk definitions, and a step-by-step methodology for marketing and financial integration.