The aim of this business is to make enough profit to cover all my costs for my basic needs and that I can have extra money so that I could spend some money on things that I don’t necessarily need, but things that I would like to have.
Definition of Marketing
Marketing is when you make it as easy as possible to get the potential customer to buy your product, so that you can make a profit. Marketing is also about selling and advertising.
USP – Unique Selling Point
USP stands for, “Unique Selling Point” meaning a unique way to sell your products so it could beat competition and attract customers. I have included a unique selling point in my business which would attract customers. This is in the form of monthly special offers to try and sell more of my products. Also I will do a monthly raffle competition so people could buy raffle tickets at the cost of maybe £1 or £2. The price will either be vouchers or an expensive product from the shop. I will also have a slogan to attract an even more amount of consumers. I will give out an Olympic discount membership card to the first 50 customers in the shop when it opens. Anyone after the first 50 will have to pay £4.99 if they want an Olympic discount membership card.
Objectives
My main objective is to make a profit from the products that I sell in my business. If I do not make a profit, then my business will go bankrupt and I will have to close it down. My other objectives are to sell a range of goods from tracksuits and trainers to cricket bats and footballs and to try and be the biggest in the market and expand my business to other locations. However the range of product will rely on the results of my questionnaire. Also I will try to provide something special to boost my profits.
Business
I know that being a sole trader/ proprietor the business will have to rely on high quality products. If not, the business will most probably fail.
Target Market
A target market is the certain group of people that I will be aiming to sell my products too. I will be aiming to sell my products to young adults because it is highly unlikely to see a 50 year old man to buy some Nike trainers
Market Research
The only reason a business carries out market research is so that it can find out whether the type of business they are setting up can be a success or not.
Some businesses do primary research. This is research that you gather up yourself. Primary research is useful for finding out new information and getting views from customers’ about your products. It involves things such as questionnaires, telephones surveys, product testing and working with consumer groups. The Advantages of primary research are that it provides data that is up-to-date, relevant, and specific to your products. However there are a few disadvantages. These are that primary research is expensive to collect, it takes up a lot of time, and it needs a large sample size to be accurate. Primary research is also known as field research and original research.
The other type of research is secondary research. This is when you look at other people’s research. This is useful for looking at the whole market, and analysing past trends to predict the future. It involves looking at things like market research reports, government publications, and newspaper and magazine articles. The advantages of secondary research are that it is cheaper than primary research, the data is easily found and the data is instantly available. However, the disadvantages are that the information is not always relevant to your needs, it is not specifically about your products, and it is often out of date.
There are two types of data that you can find. These are quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative information is anything that you can measure or reduce to a number. Qualitative number information is all about people’s feelings and opinions. Qualitative data is awkward to analyse because it is hard to compare two people’s opinions. It is best to use both types of information because it will give a wide range of data every week.
Marketing Mix
There are four P’s. These place, product, promotion and place. They are the key to understanding what marketing is all about. If a firm gets it right then it will be easy to sell their products. If one of them is wrong then the firm will be in trouble.
Product: The product is something that the people would want to buy. It must fulfil the needs of the customers. My products will be sports equipment, sports clothing and sports accessories.
Price: The price ahs to be something special that is good value for money. However this does not mean the product has to be cheap, just something that will be a good price for the product.
Promotion: The product has to be promoted so that potential customers are aware that it exists. I will promote my company by distributing flyers. I will also advertise my business in local newspapers and sponsor some local events.
Place: The place has to be a decent place so the customer will find it convenient. I will locate my shop in Stratford shopping centre. The problem for me will be that there will be a lot of competition from bigger firms, so I may have to provide something special to sell my products.
SWOT Analysis
For my S.W.O.T analysis I have found out my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and the threats that I will have for my business.
My Strengths in my business:
- I have got a good location to put my shop.
- I have got a good USP in my opinion.
- There will be lots of shoppers around my shop during the school holidays.
My Weaknesses in my business:
- There are lots of tough competition such as JD sports and foot locker.
My Opportunities in my business:
- I can change prices anytime I want.
- I could some extra services like ‘free delivery’
- I have got a chance to make a name for myself in the retail market.
My Threats in my business:
- There are other shops in the centre which are very well known.
- There is 90% chance of me failing to have successful business because 9 out of 10 people who start a business fail.
Questionnaire
I will make this questionnaire and I will give it out to the public out side the Stratford shopping centre.
Please answer this questionnaire. It will help you and other people in the future. Please can you tick the boxes for your answers.
1. What is favourite sports shop?
JD Sports
Foot Locker
Sportsworld
Other (please Specify) ………………..……………………………
2. Do you wear trainers?
Yes
No
If yes, please specify your favourite brand ……………………………………..
and how much you spend on trainers £ …………
3. Do you wear sport clothes?
Yes
No
If yes, please specify your favourite brand ……………………………………
and how much you spend on sport clothes £ …………
4. Do you use sports equipment?
Yes
No
If yes, please what type of sport equipment you use ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
and how much you spend on sports equipment a year £ …………
5. Are you happy with your current sports shops’ service?
Yes
No
6. Suggest any change that you would like to see in future sport shops?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Results
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Question 4:
Question 5:
Marketing Strategy
My marketing strategy is as follows:
5 Weeks before the opening day
I will begin to distribute flyers and leaflets to people. I will send out most of the flyers by post around Stratford, Forest Gate, East Ham, Canning Town, Beckton, and Plaistow. I will also give out flyers while standing outside Stratford Shopping centre.
4 Weeks before the Opening day
I will again distribute flyers by post around Stratford, Forest Gate, East Ham, Canning Town, Plaistow, and Beckton. I will add a special offer onto the flyer so I could attract more customers. Also I will ask a few local shops in forest gate if I can put a large poster on the shop window so when people go past they can see the poster and hopefully they will take some of the information.
3 Weeks before the opening day
I will put posters on my shop about its special offers and I will leave it there until the shop opens. Also, on the poster I will put all the special offers that I will have on the first day.
2 Weeks before the opening day
Zaid Patel
11WALL
Business Studies
