Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
A Business Consultant’s Perspective
Does Your Fort Lauderdale Business Have a Marketing Plan?
It is Tuesday, 9:40 at night, the last invoice is finally out, and you post a quick photo of today’s job because the page has been quiet for two weeks. Owners like you are sharp at the work and new to the business side, and the business side is exactly where Dr. Paul, Fort Lauderdale business consultant, helps.
If that is your marketing, you do not have a plan. You have a habit of remembering. A marketing plan for a Fort Lauderdale small business fits on one page: who you want, what you tell them, where, how often, what it costs, and how you will know it worked. Then you give it one protected hour a week. That is the whole system.
Want help building yours? Call or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: 10/29/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Before and After
Posting When You Remember vs. Running a Plan
Same owner, same business, same hours. The only difference is whether the marketing lives in your head or on a page. A working marketing plan Fort Lauderdale owners can actually keep fits on one sheet.
Posting when you remember
- Content happens late at night, after the real work
- Busy months go silent, then slow months panic
- Money goes to whatever salesperson called last
- Nobody knows which post or ad brought a customer
Running a one-page plan
- One protected hour a week, on the calendar
- Marketing keeps going when the shop is slammed
- A monthly budget you set before anyone pitches you
- One number you check every Monday
Notice what the right column does not need: a bigger budget, an agency, or a marketing degree. It needs decisions made once, in advance, instead of every Tuesday night. The small business marketing guide covers every piece if you want to go deeper.
Ready for Help?
Four Ways to Work With Dr. Paul
01 · Start Here
Business Consulting
A working session where you and Dr. Paul fill the six boxes with your real customers, budget, and week. You leave with a plan you understand.
Business consulting →02
Business Plan Writing
Need marketing inside a full business plan for a lender or partner? Dr. Paul writes the plan and the financials behind it.
Business plan writing →03
Fractional CFO/COO
Growing and want someone checking the numbers monthly? Dr. Paul works part time beside you so the plan stays tied to profit.
Fractional CFO and COO →04
Small Business Education
Want to learn it on your own time? Free guides on marketing, management, and finance in plain English.
Small business education →The Plan Itself
The One-Page Marketing Plan, Box by Box
Fill one box at a time. The gold notes show an illustration: a made-up mobile boat detailing business working the marinas near Las Olas.
Who
Your best customer, in one line. Not “everyone with a boat.”
Illustration: owners of 25 to 40 foot boats docked within ten miles.
What you say
The problem you solve and why they should pick you.
Illustration: “Salt-free and show-ready, done at your slip while you work.”
Where
The one or two places those customers already look or gather.
Illustration: marina bulletin boards, a Google listing, and dockmaster referrals.
How often
A rhythm you can keep in your worst week, not your best.
Illustration: two posts a week, one marina visit a month.
What it costs
A monthly number you set now, before anyone pitches you.
Illustration: $300 a month, reviewed every quarter.
How you will know
One number that says it worked. Booked jobs beat likes.
Illustration: new booked boats per month, and where each one heard about you.
If a box takes more than ten minutes, that box is the one to bring to a consulting session.
One Week That Changes the City
Put Boat Show Week on the Plan Before It Arrives
Some local weeks are big enough to deserve their own line on your page. In Fort Lauderdale, the boat show is the obvious one.
Sources: FLIBS press release, Nov. 6, 2025 (show owned by the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, produced by Informa Markets); 2026 dates of October 28 to November 1 per YachtCharterFleet, Aug. 2026.
Every marketing plan Fort Lauderdale owners write could treat that week as its own season. If you serve boats, the “Where” box may change for a few days: the people you want are walking the docks, not scrolling at home. If you run a restaurant, a car service, or a cleaning crew, the week could bring more demand and more traffic, so your “How often” box may need a lighter schedule you can still keep.
Write the dates on the plan now. Set the offer and the posts six weeks ahead, and decide in advance what you will stop doing that week so the plan does not fall apart when the city fills up.
From a Business Consultant’s Chair
Dr. Paul’s Insight: Done Beats Draft Fourteen
“I’ll send it when it’s right. Why does everyone keep asking when?”
Dr. Paul’s take: The ant’s problem is not laziness. It is a notice rewritten so many times it never goes out. Plenty of Fort Lauderdale owners do the same thing with a website refresh, a flyer, or a holiday promotion that is still “almost ready” in March. A plan fixes that by putting a date on every piece, so “right” gets replaced by “due Friday.” Good enough and sent will beat perfect and saved, every week. The marketing calendar card in Dr. Paul’s small business marketing guide goes deeper on this one.
The Fort Lauderdale Calendar
Plan Around the Year This City Actually Has
Greater Fort Lauderdale runs on visitors as well as locals. Visit Lauderdale reports Port Everglades welcomed over 4 million cruisers in 2025, and tourist tax revenue reached $124 million. A plan that ignores the swing in visitor traffic may leave you quiet when customers are here and loud when they are gone.
Sources: Visit Lauderdale, January 2026; City of Fort Lauderdale Business Tax FAQs.
- Before your busy stretchLoad the pipe
Check your own sales history for the months that run hot. Businesses that touch visitors, boats, or events around Las Olas and the beach may run on a different season than a local-only shop, so let your own invoices decide. Schedule content and offers six weeks ahead, because you will not have time once it hits.
- During the busy stretchRun on autopilot, ask for reviews
Keep the weekly hour short. Your one job is asking happy customers for reviews and referrals while they are standing in front of you.
- July 1 to September 30Renew, then rebuild
The City says most businesses need both a City and a Broward County Business Tax Receipt, and city renewal runs July 1 to September 30. Put it on the plan. Use the slower weeks to refresh photos, your listing, and your offer.
- FallWrite next year’s page
Look at what each box actually produced. Keep what booked jobs, cut what did not, and set next year’s monthly number.
- Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce on NE 3rd Avenue runs networking and referral events that could fill the “Where” box. ftlchamber.com
- Florida SBDC at FAU serves Broward and Palm Beach owners, with a Broward office in Davie. FAU SBDC contact
Run It
The Sixty-Minute Marketing Week
A plan only works if it fits the week you really have. Three twenty-minute blocks, same days, same times.
- Monday, 20 minutes: read last week
How many new customers, and where did each one come from? Write the number down. That is your box six.
- Wednesday, 20 minutes: make and schedule
Take photos on the job during the week. Wednesday, write two short captions and schedule them. Done beats clever.
- Friday, 20 minutes: follow up and ask
Call back open quotes, then ask two happy customers for a review or a referral.
That rhythm is Organize-Plan-Grow™ at its smallest. If your week is too full for even sixty minutes, that is a management problem worth solving first. See the South Florida business consultant pillar for the rest of the region’s marketing questions.
Learn the Marketing Side
A Marketing Book Written for People Who Hate Marketing Books
Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series · Book 4
Marketing for Small Businesses
Book 4 of Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series takes one owner’s question per chapter, like the ant’s unsent notice, and answers it in plain language. Calendars, budgets, referrals, and the message itself, without the jargon. Built for owners who want to get back to work.
Get Book 4 on Amazon →FAQ
Marketing Plan Questions Fort Lauderdale Owners Ask
What should a small business marketing plan include?
How long should a marketing plan be for a small business?
When do Fort Lauderdale business tax receipts renew?
Can Dr. Paul write my marketing plan for me?
Bring your calendar and your last month of spending. Leave with a plan.
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Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Author & Educator | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a business consultant, author, and educator, and the founder of Quality Business Plan. He works with Fort Lauderdale and South Florida owners on marketing that pays for itself, business planning, financial modeling, fractional CFO services, and the everyday problems of businesses that depend too much on their owners. He is the creator of Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of numerous published books on Amazon including Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series, and publisher of over 1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. Examples are illustrations with made-up details; tourism and licensing information is cited to its sources and changes over time. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.