A Marketing Plans

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GCSE Business Studies Coursework – A Marketing Plan

Marketing Report

  1. Introduction

1.1 The Task

A local manager of a sports shop in Harrow, Janice Reynolds, has decided to start up her own business. She hopes to set up a sole trader sports retail outlet somewhere in the local area.

My task will be to research and advise Janice of the market and marketing strategies. She understands that marketing a business deals with many issues, these are:

  • How to promote the business.
  • How to compete, while gaining profit, with the other sports shops.
  • What the other sports shops are doing.
  • Who the target market should be.
  • What pricing policy to use.
  • Products to sell.
  • Where to locate the business.

I will also need to reassure Janice that all these issues are giving a good affect on the local community. Finally that all legal issues are covered and in order.

1.2 Marketing

What is the definition of ‘marketing’? Here I will research the different definitions of marketing. I will use various sources to find the definitions, for example, textbooks, the Internet etc. Here are the definitions and their sources:

  1. “Marketing is the process that helps businesses to discover and meet the demands of customers.” Applied Business for GCSE, Malcolm Surridge, Collins.
  2. “Marketing is more than just selling or advertising. It is the art of making it as easy as possible to get the potential customer to buy your product.” GCSE Business Studies – The revision Guide, Richard Parsons, CGP.
  3. “The exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money.” GCSE Business Studies – Internet – www.askjeeves.com
  4. “Marketing is how a business ensures that a customer gets what they want, when they want and at the right price.” Colleague – Mark Gilby, 10H, Vyners School.

2. Methodology

The report in which I shall produce will provide sufficient information for Janice Reynolds to start up her own sports shop business successfully. In order to do this the following questions will need to be answered:

  • How to promote the business.
  • How to compete, while gaining profit, with the other sports shops.
  • What the other sports shops are doing.
  • Who the target market should be.
  • What pricing policy to use.
  • Products to sell.
  • Where to locate the business.

Some very detailed research will need to be carried out in order to gather all the answers or suggestions for the various questions. My research will consist of a detailed questionnaire with a large set of answers. Also, information will be gathered from written texts, people, organisations/businesses and electronic sources. The research will investigate the following issues:

  • Information on the competing sports shop businesses in the area.
  • The responses of many potential customers in the local area.
  • The most successful way to produce a questionnaire.
  • The methods of market research that is available and appropriate.
  • The definitions and importance of marketing.

With this information I shall produce an appropriate analysis, this will then be shown as a business proposal and a specific marketing plan for Janice Reynolds.

3. Research

3.1 Primary and Secondary Research Methods

The following table summarises primary and secondary methods of research. Also, it states whether or not they are suitable for campaigning a small sole trader sports retailer. Primary research is the collection of ‘first-hand’ information and secondary research is using already existing data. Here is the table:

The source in which I used for all this information was a textbook, ‘Business Studies Now! For GCSE,’ Borrington, Stimpson & John Murray.

3.2 Questionnaire Design

In order to research primary information for setting up a new sports shop I will carry out a questionnaire. The important issues when designing a questionnaire are explained in this section.

Questionnaires are a cheap and easy way to gather vast amounts of data from a potentially large number of respondents. Often they are the only way to gather many reviewers’ results and to put it all into an analysis. A well-designed questionnaire that is used effectively can gather information on the overall test system. If the questionnaire includes ‘demographic’ questions on the participants, they can be used to compare performance and satisfaction with the test system among different groups of users.

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It is important to remember that a questionnaire should be viewed as a ‘multi-stage’ process beginning with a definition of the aspects to be examined and ending with interpretation of the results. Every step needs to be designed carefully because the final results are only as good as the weakest link in the questionnaire process. Although questionnaires may be cheap to do, compared to other data collection methods, they are every bit as expensive in terms of design time and interpretation.

The steps required to design and administer a questionnaire are as follows:

1. Defining the Objectives of ...

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