What business is needed?

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To: Donald Powell

Title: What business is needed?

Introduction:

I have been asked by Donald Powell to give him advice. He has decided to set up a local retail company using his redundancy payments of £10,000. He has no real experience and is seeking help. My report will be due for January 2001.

Action taken:

In order to complete this assessment, I will use my business studies textbooks, handouts, notes and my knowledge to help Mr Powell run a successful retailing business. I will also prepare and undertake a questionnaire, providing Mr Powell the necessary information to help him.

Findings:

After conducting my questionnaire, my results show the following...

 

Gender

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

From the chart, you can see that I questioned 50% males and 50% females. This means there should be no sex bias in my results and I will be able to get a good indication of what retail outlet males and females want.

Age

17-20

17-20

17-20

21-30

21-30

31-40

31-40

31-40

41-50

41-50

51-60

Over 61

Under 16

Under 16

Under 16

Under 16

Under 16

Under 16

By looking at these results, I can clearly state that I surveyed a range of ages. Donald Powell and myself can use these results to gain more knowledge on what people of all ages want.

Do you shop on the Internet?

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

From these results, I have gathered that the majority of people do not shop on the Internet. However, Donald Powell can hook his company onto the net so the other 42% of customers can order goods online.

Where do you live?

Broadfield

Broadfield

East Grinstead

East Grinstead

Gossops Green

Ifield

Ifield

Langley Green

Langley Green

Maidenbower

Pound Hill

Southgate

Southgate

Three Bridges

Worth

Worth

Worth

Worth

I undertook this question to find out where people come from to shop in Crawley. Donald Powell and I can use these results to find out whether he needs to improve his infrastructure or not.

Where in town do you shop most often?

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

County Mall

High Street

Square

I used this question to find out where most people shop. These results can indicate where Donald Powell should locate his business. Looking at these results, Donald Powell should set his business up in the County Mall, as most of the 88% of the people shop there. However, locating in an area such as the County Mall is very expensive.

What shops would you like to see?

Bike shops

Bowls shop

Car shop

Clothes Shop

Clothes shop

Cookery shop

Cookery shop

Designer wear

Designer wear

Jewellers

Leisure Store

Men’s designer wear shops

Record shop

Record shops

Sport shops

Sports Shops, games shops

Toy Store

Toy store

I used this question to find out what stores the people of the public wanted to see. I made sure I asked a range of ages to get a variety of stores. Donald Powell can use these results and sell things in his store that are in a lot of demand e.g. bikes.

From my results, I can see record stores are very popular, however, many people did want stores selling clothing e.g. Men’s designer wear, clothes shop, designer wear e.t.c… Therefore I would think that on the whole, clothes shops are in demand.

From these results, I have concluded that Donald Powell should make sure his company is on the Internet. The most popular choice of store is a men’s designer wear shop along with a cookery store and a clothes shop. (For males and females). Also, his infrastructure must be very good for people coming from Worth as most of them come from there to shop in Crawley. (Not always the case!) The most ideal place for Donald Powell to locate his business is in the County Mall as most of the people shop there.

Q2 The factors affecting a business being located in Crawley are:

Factors affecting business location

There are a range of location factors Donald Powell should consider before locating his retail outlet. One location factor for Donald Powell to consider is labour. If Donald Powell needs a highly skilled workforce, it needs to be in an area linked to his local industry, or one with the training facilities. If Donald Powell is looking for cheap, unskilled labour, locating elsewhere might mean costs in transporting staff, or persuading them to relocate.

Land is also an important factor. The amount and cost of land clearly affects Donald Powell choice of location. A site in bad condition needs more money spent on it, and local planning restrictions must also be considered. If Donald Powell were to set up his shop on the high street, it would be a lot more expensive than if it were to be in the back street.

Another important influence is infrastructure and service. Infrastructure is a man made enviroment. Donald Powell needs a good source of water and energy, efficient drainage and waste disposal and good communications. These are the few good things Crawley can supply. It has four train stations, Three Bridges, Ifield, Crawley and Gatwick. It also has an airport nearby in Gatwick and the M25 and other strong road links are not too far away and links up to Crawley quite easily. This allows people from other towns to visit Donald Powell’s shop easily.  Locating to a remote, undeveloped site means paying to link up such systems. E.g. The County Mall had to pay a lot for good infrastructure. Being close to fast, efficient transport links are vital. (I have a map of Crawley and have marked on all of the links and roads e.t.c…)

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Competition is also a factor for Donald Powell to consider before locating a business. If there is too much competition, it may force Donald Powell’s company to lower prices for products and he may even lose many of his customers. Too much competition is not an advantage.

Although this factor should not be worth considering, the government can be a factor worth considering when locating in an area of high unemployment. The government will grant you money and give you other benefits. However, in Crawley, the government will not help you, as you are not locating in an ...

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