Strengths & Weaknesses
To work out my businesses potential strengths and weaknesses I can use a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Strengths
- Not many boarding kennels are also grooming parlours
- A lot of potential customers as many people own cats and dogs
- Not many staff needed and only a few skilled members so wages don’t need to be that high
- Willing to take risks
- Plenty of capital
Weaknesses
- Bigger rival companies
- Rival prices
- Not much knowledge of the market
- Unlimited liability
Opportunities
- Summer holidays- lots of people on holiday needing there dogs and cats to be taken care of.
- Rural are- more cats and dogs than a city for example
- Cheap local advertising
Threats
- Wont be busy all year round
- Government taxes
- Only two groomers
Marketing
Marketing is identifying the particular wants and needs of the target customers, and then going about satisfying the customers more than rival competitors. My target audience is any aged adult, so 18 and over although there is no actual limit but that is what I would expect the aged target to be. This is because they are the people who are responsible of their cats and dogs and therefore they are the people that will need a place for them to stay whilst their away.
The 4 P’s
Product
The product is the good or service that is being sold. The product is the most important of the 4 p’s as without it the others are not needed at all. There are many things to consider with the product to make it successful. The characteristics of the product must be of good quality with a decent style, size and colour. The name and packaging are also crucial to make the product unique.
Price
This is one of the first things customers think about when deciding to buy a product. Therefore it is also an important part of the 4 p’s. Deciding the price of a product has to be done very carefully. Customers will not buy the product if the price is too high yet the business wont make any profit if the price of the product is too low.
Place
This is where the product is sold to the customer. Customers expect the product to be at the right place with plenty of stock so there’s always the right amount. The product must get to the customer in excellent condition as quickly as possible efficiently.
Promotion
Methods designed and used to inform the general public about a product and why they should buy it persuading them to come and buy the product.
Market Research
Market research is finding out what the customers want and what they think about the product or service, so I know what the public thinks of my business and therefore knowing if its going to be a success.
Market research is important because the business has to adapt to suit the wants and needs of the customers and follow the trends in the market.
The types of market research I am going to use is a survey/questionnaire this is a primary source of information using the general public directly. I will find out what they want provided by Cherry Kennels so I can make a business to suit the majority of the public.
I produced this questionnaire as a means of research into what the public want and need from my business Cherry Kennels. Also I believe this is the best way to find out what the customers want because it is more personal and I get to talk to them one to one if they have any queries. From the questionnaire I hope to know how much to charge the customers so they are satisfied but also so I can make a profit considering my employees wages as well. I also hope to find an appropriate location for Cherry Kennels.
Apart from surveying there are two other types of research within market research. They are Desk Research and Field Research.
Desk Research
Desk research is where data is collected from information that already exists and has been published. This type research involves reading the wide range of current reports and statistics available. Information can be found in libraries and some can be subscribed and purchased. This way of collecting data is secondary research using secondary resources. Some examples of secondary sources used within desk research:
- Official reports + statistics produced by the government
- Information from Chambers of Commerce, trade associations and trade magazines etc.
- Company reports
- The internet
Field Research
Field research is gathering and collecting information by going out into the general public. The information therefore is obtained first hand directly from the public this is called primary research as it is using the public who are primary sources. These are a few possible ways of conducting field research:
- Surveys - public is questioned directly using a questionnaire
- Observation - peoples behaviour is watched and recorded
- Consumer Panels - groups of people sample and discuss a product
- Testing – new product is tried out in a small area to see how it sells
Analysing Data
Questionnaire Tally:
Age
Gender
Own a cat and/or dog
How many holidays a year on average
Consider leaving cat/dog at kennels
Location of Cherry Kennels
Willing to pay per night
Use grooming parlour
Willing to pay for grooming
Analysing Result Graphs
This graph shows the range of ages of the people that I surveyed. The majority was split evenly between the 30 - 40 age group and the 40 – 50 age group. I asked for this information so I could find out what age group I should target my business at in terms of style atmosphere and advertising to attract the most possible customers. Now I know who my target audience is I can advertise well to attract customers of that age and set an atmosphere and style to suit that age group.
This pie chart shows the average amount of times that the person surveyed goes on every year. This information is vital as it is an indicator as to whether the business will have many customers throughout the year. If the chart were to show that people didn’t go on many holidays then there would be no point in the business but as the chart shows the majority of people go on at least 2 holidays on average every year indicating the business will be successful.
This doughnut chart shows where the ideal location for Cherry Kennels would be for the majority of the people surveyed. This is crucial to get right because it needs to be located where the public find it most convenient and also were business will be more successful from being close to a lot of potential customers. As clearly shown in the chart, the preferred location for Cherry Kennels would be somewhere situated in Brentwood. Therefore this is where I shall set up Cherry Kennels once I have found a suitable place in Brentwood.
This bar chart represents how much the people surveyed are willing to pay per night of their cat/dog staying at Cherry Kennels. It is important to get the pricing correct because it needs to be cheap enough to keep the customers happy and attract more customers, but it needs to be expensive enough to make a decent profit. That’s why I asked this question, to see what the majority of people thought was a fair price. The majority of people believe that £30 - £35 is a fair price per night and I see this to be reasonable and enough to make a profit so therefore this is how it shall be priced.
This final graph shows how much the people surveyed are willing to pay to have their dog/cat professionally groomed. I asked this question to find out whether there is any point in having the additional grooming parlours if no-one would use it but not only did the majority of people say they would use it but they also chose a reasonable price again to suit them as customers and me looking to make a profit. As the graph shows the majority of people chose £20 - £25 so therefore this is how it shall be priced.
Competitors
My main local competitor is Ladybird Kennels located in Ingatestone. This is because they to provide boarding kennels for both cats and dogs. Ladybird Kennels aim to “provide their guests with an excellent standard of service and care based on over 10 years of experience.” As quoted in their Ladybird brochure.
Ladybird kennels is not in a very busy area but is opposite an entrance to a very busy motorway so a lot of people are constantly driving past, this isn’t too much of a problem because the front building/reception area is not that appealing from the outside. By locating Cherry Kennels in a busy place such as Brentwood I hope to gain more customers as it is more conveniently placed than having to go out of your way to get to Ladybird Kennels.
Cherry Kennels will provide very similar services as Ladybird Kennels apart from the fact that Cherry Kennels will provide the additional professional grooming parlors. Another difference is that Cherry Kennels will be able to hold and take care of a considerable amount of more cats and dogs. Finally Ladybird Kennels has a Discount food shop which is not planned for Cherry Kennels but could be considered.
Ladybird Kennels is very old fashioned and has been around for ten years so the target audience for its services will probably be the same as Cherry Kennels between 30 & 50 years of age. This is not a problem however as Cherry Kennels will be more modern to suit this age group and up and coming generations so business will continue well.
Affects Cherry Kennels will have on the community and existing businesses:
Marketing Plan
Product
Cherry Kennels will provide 50 boarding kennels for dogs and a cattery to hold 50 cats. The cats and dogs can stay for a minimum of one night. The dogs will have 4 hour long exercise sessions everyday in any weather. The cats shall have plenty of toys to play with and kept entertained throughout each day by our trained staff. The dogs and cats will be fed all inclusive 2 times a day with treats for good behavior throughout. There is additional grooming parlor for the customers cats and dogs to be groomed washed and pampered the day before they are collected. Finally to rival my competitors there will be a range of dog and cat accessories in a public gift shop which is open to anyone even if they do not have a cat or dog staying at Cherry Kennels.
Price
In my business I will be using competitive pricing as there is only one major competitor to me in the same area, Ladybird Kennels. Conveniently the prices chosen by the public in the questionnaire are perfect for my business as they are slightly cheaper than Ladybird Kennels prices, it is cheap enough to attract paying customers willingly and expensive enough to make a decent profit from the business. For a single cat or dog, it will cost £30 per night staying at the kennels. For the optional professional grooming for either cats or dogs there will be an additional fee of £20. I chose this strategy of pricing as Ladybird Kennels is the only boarding kennels in the area so therefore all the customers that use this service will go there so if my prices are cheaper they will come to Cherry Kennels instead.
Promotion
As Cherry Kennels is only going to be a local business televised advertising is very suitable as money is wasted on the rest of the nation whereas large national and global companies need that. Therefore I need to focus my promotions just on the Brentwood area and maybe even the whole of Essex as customers may be drawn in from further away. I will do this by creating an advert on local radio stations especially Essex fm 96.3 as this is a very popular radio station and everyone in Essex can hear it then. As I am starting up a new business I will have special deals to attract the customers straight away such as discounts in the gift shop and free grooming if their dog or cat stays for at least a week. These types of deals and discounts will be promoted by handing out leaflets and flyers in the Brentwood area mainly Brentwood high street but then branching out to local villages such as Pilgrims Hatch and Doddinghurst.
Place
Cherry Kennels will be located within a few hundred meters of the main high street of Brentwood this is the closest place to the high street that has grassy areas and fields that are need to exercise and walk the dogs and give all the animal fresh clean air without any noise pollution from the busy high street either. Brentwood was most popular in the questionnaire and this isn’t a surprise as Brentwood is very busy and all the villages around it go their very often. Because it’s so busy it indicates that business should go well there with lots of customers. Doddinghurst was the next best location and it would have been chosen but it isn’t a very well known place so not many customers would use it. MY ideal location would be an area like Doddinghurst with lots of fields and grass and fresh air but for it to be a lot busier or closer to a busy area.