Every business’ main objectives are to survive, make a profit and expand. Greenways estate agent in this case was no different.
When this business first started up nearly 25 years ago Tom had no customers, no reputation and had a very hard competition from other large companies such as Baristow Eves and Glenny’s. Tom would have aimed to survive in order to expand and make a profit in the future. In the early 1980’s the business was very successful and Tom couldn’t keep up with the demand for housing, but as the decade went on things became more difficult and home ownership was affected by growing unemployment. Customers seemed to be happier to go to larger, well-known companies. Tom lost a lot of business, so he would be aiming for survival.
Another aim for Tom was to expand to make the business more successful in the future. Tom’s business expanded when the nearby University needed accommodation for students coming from across the U.K. The business diversified and moved into different markets to become more successful. However he found difficulties with this because as young students were renting the properties they were becoming damaged. Tom would have to foot bills that he was not responsible, causing him to lose money. Still he had good links with solicitors, Banks and mortgage providers.
Toms final aim was to make a profit in order to do this successfully, he needed to expand and survive. In the early 1980’s he was successful with this and earned a good ideal profit, but as most businesses do he lost a lot of money, which threatened the survival, and expansion of the business.
Each of the objectives affects one another. For example if competitors, which are in the survival aim, threaten the company then the company cannot possibly make a profit or expand.
Greenway’s is part of the tertiary industry because they are providing a service to the public and local community. The people want to buy and sell homes because they have a disposable income and the numbers of people being able to do this is increasing, providing business and profit for the company. To ensure his service is of the highest standard and to ensure his customers are totally satisfied, Tom visits every potential seller personally and shows clients around properties himself. His job involves giving potential customers a quote based on the value of their home. He will receive a commission on each sale he makes.
In the U.K there are other sectors that are not as popular as the tertiary industry. These are secondary and primary industries.
In the primary industry people work extracting natural resources and raw materials. These are jobs such as mining and farming. These jobs are generally hard work, boring and don’t earn a lot of money. Modern industry has found alternatives to natural resources, causing loss of jobs in this industry. The U.K have been importing goods from other countries, making the demand lower for these natural resources in our country.
In the secondary industry people work manufacturing, building and providing components. These are jobs such as construction and engineering. These jobs are not as popular as they used to be because of automation. Machines are replacing a lot of people; also the demand for foreign goods is often higher than that of U.K goods.
Greenway’s has a much better chance of continuing business than a coal mine or a car manufacturer because the public will always require a service from this company. It will not have the threat of being taken over by machinery and will therefore continue to be successful. Also automation, imports or scarce resources will not affect greenways.
Manufacturing has declined due to automation, imports and factory jobs becoming unpopular with workers. People tend to go for more pleasant jobs, in the tertiary sector, working in places like cinemas, hospitals etc. these jobs tend to pay a higher salary and work in better environments. More people are working in this sector and they are receiving a higher disposable income and can afford to spend their money in shops, cinemas and restaurants. Tom has achieved new business by diversifying into different markets. He has expanded the business so that he provides a better service to the community, offering houses to rent to university students and he often recommends independent financial advisers to his customers as he feels it will give clients a better deal with no conflict of interest. From when Greenway’s started to trade, they diversified to provide better services to potential customers, this would give them a better reputation, leading them to expand and make a higher profit.
When an estate agency considers locating their business there are several factors they should consider. Firstly they should consider the initial cost of the land. The property should be in a position so that it is easy to get to. Having easy access requires it to be located on a main road, near a train station and it need to have a privately owned car park or a car park nearby for staff and customers. The estate agency would need a road that at least links to a main road so they can receive deliveries from suppliers and send out important documents potential customers. The business need to be located where people can walk past and can see properties in the shop window, somewhere like a shopping mall or a high street. The property will need to be away from competition of well-known estate agents. The company will need to advertise in local newspapers, with bright, eye-catching advertisements.
All businesses have two types of stakeholders. A stakeholder is and individual or a group who affects or is affected by the business activity. Internal stakeholders are people or groups involved with the business, whereas external stakeholders are people or groups outside of the business.
The internal stakeholders of Greenway’s are the business employees, and the business owner. The external stakeholders are the local community, business suppliers (stationary/computer supplies), competitors (Bairstow Eves/ Glenny’s) and the customers. Between the stakeholders there is a conflict of the fact that each of them all expect different things from the business. For example the customers expect a high quality service and the business owners expect profit, survival and expansion.
