- Product – The actual goods or services that need to be focused on
- Price – Are the prices reasonable at the moment and how could they be improved?
- Place – Is the business situated in an ideal place?
- Promotion – Is the business taking reasonable steps to promote themselves?
If I have time I will also make a questionnaire for the employee to find out whether she is satisfied with her job and also what she thinks of the extra work load she will be given if Resham Mehal does diversify.
After completing my research, I will be better informed to write solutions and a recommendation for Resham Mehal.
SUMMARY:-
Resham Mehal
Resham Mehal was opened in 2005 on Stratford Road, Birmingham. Shahnaz Ahmad, the owner, had always been passionate about clothing as well as starting a business. Mrs Ahmed is the only owner and is a sole trader.
When the business was first started, Shahnaz employed one of her job seeking friends to work part-time in the shop. The same employee is still working at the shop and there have been no others since the opening.
Resham Mehal sells ready made women’s suits that are all imported from Pakistan and its target market is the young Asian female generation. Shahnaz buys in bulk and pays on delivery. In terms of stock control, she just keeps an eye out and orders new stock when she notices it is low or her current stock is going out of fashion. She makes all the decisions on designs alone and does not involve her employee. Her suits are priced between £15 and £40 depending on the amount of work done on them.
Currently, Resham Mehal has not taken any steps in order to monitor customer satisfaction. They do not have any kind of loyalty card. There is no return policy as Resham Mehal only exchange items within a seven day period but do not accept any returns.
Being situated on Stratford Road means that there are a lot of shops competing with Resham Mehal, but so far they have not had a lot of trouble from competition. For this reason, Shahnaz has not taken any steps to combat competing shops. She has also never carried out any market research of any kind or invested in any sort of advertising and promotion.
In the past three years, revenue and profits have fluctuated. The highest sales figures were achieved in 2007 where most of the sales were made around the times of either one of the two Eids.
Resham Mehal does not have any outstanding debts at this moment in time. All previous loans etc from the bank have been paid off along with a few personal debts that were created when the business was first opened. The current premises are being rented.
The shop doesn’t have a website and there are no current plans to launch one. The main reason for this being that the owner prefers the low key environment and does not wish to expand too much. She does however have possible plans to diversify in the future and introduce sales of jewellery and other accessories. This mainly depends on finding a good supplier.
Other plans for the next 12 months include refurbishment. So far, the shop has already been upgraded by painting and new signs. The last refurbishment included the creation of two changing rooms in order to decrease exchange levels. This effort has been successful.
Due to lack of market research and advertising, the business must rely on word of mouth and in store promotions.
Therefore my working title is:
Would diversifying into jewellery and accessories be beneficial for Resham Mehal?
*NB: This is just the first part of the project that needs to be done. Each business used would be different and have different issues that need addressing. Statements in this piece of work should not be generalised for all companies.