The shop will be on St. Ann’s road with all the other shops here’s a close up
Factors that effect the location of my business
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Raw materials/components: - the raw materials can be more expensive to transport to the shop as the raw materials may weigh more than the finished product but as I am opening a mobile phone shop this will not be a problem however if the supplier of the mobile phones is further away from the business or the business is in a place where getting the mobile phones is hard the supplier may charge more for the products coming in and this will result in a loss to the company.
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External economies of scale: - as well as having the suppliers and components nearby it would also be a good idea to have supporting businesses located nearby, like the people who maintain equipment for example. I would want this so that is there was a break down in the system or anything else they would be able to respond quickly and solve any problems my shop might have.
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Availability of labour: - for any shop or factory some labour will obviously be needed. If unskilled labour is required setting up in a area of high unemployment could be wise but for a mobile phone shop some skills are obviously required and setting up in harrow could be wise because of all the existing mobile phone shops and their success there will be people who want to work in mobile phone shops checking out that certain area.
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Transport and communications: - my shop/ business will need to be near a transport system so that customers can reach my shop quite easily and what better place that harrow the transport system is not a problem because it is quite easy to get to the shop for local and even so for outsiders.
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Power supply: - electricity is available everywhere so it is not but of a problem as all the other shops in harrow do have a supplier although it is important to have a reliable source of power for some businesses.
My company will encounter a lot of competition in harrow from other mobile phone shops but the mobile phone shops also get competition from each other and they seem to be doing fine and if they have survived and made a profit which is essential to keep the company up and running. Seeing as our shop is new people will want to try it out and we have to really impress them once they have tried out the services of our shop they will come back if they were satisfied and we might just make some regular customer bringing in money for the business.
This action plan shows a basic brainstorm of the information I am going to need to research.
1. Do you take notice of advertisements?
2. Do you listen to adverts and which one if yes?
If yes then specify below:
3. How many times have you done what an advert has told you to?
If yes then specify how many times exactly:
4. Do you read flyers?
5. Which adverts would you consider the best and most persuading?
6. Do you think promotion is a good idea for a mobile phone company in the form of flyers?
7. How big do you think a noticeable flyer should be?
8. How long do you think an effective TV advert should be?
9. How do you feel about posters?
Question 1 do you take notice of advertisements?
8 yes
2 no
Question 2 do you listen to advertisements?
Yes 7
No 3
Question 3 how many times have you done what an advert has told you to?
Yes 7
No 3
Question 4 Do you read flyers?
Yes 8
No 2
Question 5 which adverts would you consider the best and most persuading? Television 6
Radio 0
Flyers 2
Billboards 1
None 1
Question 6 Do you think promotion is a good idea for a mobile phone company in the form of flyers?
Yes 7
No 3
Question 7
How big do you think a noticeable flyer should be?
Small 0
Medium 4
Large 6
Very large 0
Question 8 how long do you think an effective TV advert should be?
30 seconds 3
1 minute 6
2 minutes 1
Question 9 how do you feel about billboards?
Good 4
Bad 4
Don’t care 2
For question 1 (do you take notice of advertisements?) 8 people said that they did take notice of advertisements and this shows that the advertising promotion will work because 80% of the people in the questionnaire take notice of advertisements. As the bar graph and the pie chart shows
Controls on advertising
Advertising and promotion are very powerful persuaders, and sometimes it is claimed that advertising misleads or exploits consumers. For this reason there are laws that protect consumers. Advertising standards authority (ASA) is responsible for monitoring adverts in the UK. It makes sure the advertisers obey the laws. This is a voluntary agreement which stresses the advertisements and promotions must be legal, decent, honest and truthful. Also the advertisements must not cause offence. This applies all different types of advertising. If consumers feel the adverts do not meet the law they simply contact the ASA and make the complaint once checked out either the adverts will be edited or withdrawn. These are the laws:
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Trade descriptions act 1968, which makes it a criminal offence for traders to make false statements about the goods they sell. This means, for example, that it is illegal to say that goods can do something they cannot, such as saying that a black and white printer can print colour. Also it is illegal to say that goods contain ingredients that they do not contain.
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Sales of goods act 1979, which states that goods must be as they are described in any advertisement or promotion, e.g. a water proof match must not let water in.
I have considered both the laws that will effect my promotion and advertising and I realize it is immanent to stay out of trouble with the law. To avoid breaking the trade descriptions act I will make sure that in my promotions and advertising I describe the deal and mobile phone exactly as they are. And to prevent getting in trouble with the sales of goods act I will make sure that the phones are capable of exactly what the providers say they are by double checking with them and returning any phones that do not live up to what it is supposed to live up to. Advertising standards authority
For my business I will have a total budget over a year for advertising and promotion. That budget will need to cover different types of advertising over the year this will be split into different segments. The budget amount is £10,000. I will have to make full use of this budget to make the company recognized and hopefully well famous by the end of the year (after all the advertisements and promotion).
Now my budget for advertisements and so forth is 10,000 pounds. I will have to carry out research in order to discover which company can give me the best quote with the lowest APR. And low monthly repayment rates so that you don’t end up paying to much more with interest. Here are the banks that I looked at for a loan.
Alliance and Leicester
RESULTS
Monthly Payment
£137.77
The typical rate is 7.9% APR variable and the total amount payable is £16,532.18 over 120 months.
These were the options given by Halifax all at a good APR of 6.4%
This was the offer from Norton finance with an APR of 10.9%
These were the offers from intelligent finance.
This is what abbey said my monthly payments
Amount I'd like
(£1,000-£20,000 - in increments of £50)
Length of loan
Looking at all the choices I have made a decision that the best possible loan for my company out of
- Halifax
- Alliance and leister
- Intelligent loans
- Norton finance
- Abbey
The loan offer that I will be taking will be the one from intelligent loans this is because the loan offered gives the lowest APR and depending on the amount of years I would like to spend on paying off the loan there are good selections shown on the above pages but most importantly they are all given at a rate of 5.9% APR. This is why I will be accepting a loan from intelligent finance.
About planning permission
Planning permission is one of the biggest influences local authorities have on businesses is the granting and the denying of planning permission. If any business wants to build a shop or a factory they have to obtain planning permission from the local authorities. The same applies if a company need to change of develop a building or even the use of the building for example changing a launderette to a coffee shop requires planning permission from the local authorities. Planning decisions are taken by councilors who are advised by the policies and decisions by appointed planning officers. Today the planning permission process has speeded up thanks to the local authorities working in a partnership with local businesses. By speeding up the process the local authorities have realized that they will attract more business to the area, which will create more jobs, increase their revenue from local business taxes and help boost the local economy.
Why some people object planning permission
Much business related people and individuals object to planning permission as they believe it is local government interference and that they know what is best for their business. And other individuals object planning permission as it might affect them in a way as in block out light or impede their nice view and so forth mostly for loft conversions and on occasion the conversion from a house into a flat.
However planning permission exists to encourage economic growth while at the same time protecting the environment and the local heritage of an area.
The planning permission for my company will need to be approved by the local council (harrow council) the form for the permission is below.
Reported to: Ms Sethi
Reported by: Kushal Patel
Date: 18/3/06
Title: Conclusions and recommendations for marketing strategies
Marketing strategies
For my business the marketing strategies I will be using are as follows: Television, flyers, business cards, local newspaper (the sun) and posters. I have not done any radio advertising because you do not have radio advertising for mobile phones based on questions I asked people actually working at a mobile phone shop (phones 4 u) I was told the best method of advertising for a mobile phone shop is the television and after that flyers/information booklets even my questionnaire agrees that radio advertisement was no the way to go. I have used television advertisements it has worked for existing companies and although not cheap certainly effective. I have used flyers because this has work for mobile phone companies in the past and people still pick up a flyer. The flyer is also strongly recommended by a manager of a phones 4 u shop and my questionnaire. The newspaper always has ads in it about phone deals and I chose a famous newspaper to make my company recognized and I have seen ads in the sun from more successful names in the mobile market (Phones 4 u, Orange) the posters are big bright and appealing and I need a successful business so I made them so that people are attracted by them and are drawn in towards my shop I have also used business cards just incase people want to know more and once spread around they could be a useful source of advertising for my company.
Analysis & conclusions from research
From my research I have come to the conclusion that flyers although cheap can be effective I have been to harrow in the shopping centre for an hour by one mobile phone shop (phones 4 u) looking at how may flyers are actually taken to read or the booklets and in an hour 62 flyers were taken which shows that flyers are effective and in my questionnaire asked to people looking around in mobile phone shops I found out that large flyers are the best but when asked they did say the flyer booklets were preferred more. From my questionnaire I also picked up that the most watched ads were of course on television and although expensive it can be a good promotion for my business. I found out that radio adverts were disliked and should not be used I also found out that people did not mind billboards and unlike TV and radio billboards are there 24/7 to advertise so that can be a good option. I have a draft of the front cover of a booklet flyer type thing the rest of the pages showing the phones prices and deals like most other mobile phone booklets. So to sum it all up from the questionnaire and my observing mobile phone shops I have found out that flyers/booklets are a good from of advertising for a mobile phone company and of course what I predicted the television is a good form of advertising
A draft of a Flyer for my company:
The best there is the best there was and the best there ever will be so check it out
Evaluation and improvements of marketing campaign
For my marketing campaign I have tried to advertise for my mobile phone company through many different methods television, flyers, local newspaper, business cards and posters. I have split them out into periods of three months in a year. I have done this in a rather forced way because of limited money. I could not afford to advertise on the most effective methods for more than a couple of days due to tight budget so I have tried to make an exception for some days holidays and I have advertised throughout those days in small 10seconds adverts. I do not think that there was enough money given originally to start with when I look at the cost now. When the money was first given I though that it would be more than enough but it turns out I was wrong. I think the budget should be larger so that more effective methods of advertising (television) can be used on a larger scale with out spend a years worth of money for advertising in one month. I think that if I was given a larger budget to work with my advertising campaign would improve immensely because advertising on posters doesn’t really compare with advertising on TV or London billboards in prime positions. To market my business successfully I think that I would require at least £5,000 but with 10,000 more it would be a perfect budget. During my campaign I did encounter problems and I would very much like to make improvements. I could go out and ask interviews and more research time could provide better information or advertising deals with other advertisers. And I think I could have written more letters regarding information.
Problems
In my campaign I did encounter some problems. When I went to harrow to give out my questionnaires I was kicked out of the t mobile shop but that problem was resolved as the phones 4 u staff were very helpful. I had a problem with writing a couple of email I did not get a reply from either company and I have shown that earlier in the coursework. I did not visit any banks but on the websites some banks were not very good at all when asking for a loan quote while most had a loan calculator the site would just type your e mail and we will send a reply within a few days.
Facts and Opinions
The main company that is similar to my company that let me do research and talked to me and helped me was the phones 4 u Branch in harrow. This company is in a area of healthy competition as my company will be and not only has it survived it has also made a profit I know this because I asked the manager at the phones for you branch in harrow. Phones 4 u is a company that is expanding rapidly and although not quite as good as rivals like orange they are well recognized and they do have a good marketing campaign. The mobile shops in harrow all seem to be doing well so I am not going to comment on why they were unsuccessful.
Environmental effects
Heat -- If there is a lack of heat and the rooms are cold, customer will be negatively affected and will not want to be in the shop.
Fresh Air -- It has been proven that with a lack of fresh air and increased carbon dioxide level in the air, the customers will become drowsy and less attentive. Making it an issue
Noise -- Noise interference from surrounding shops or other areas will affect the ability of the customer to stay in that area or come into the shop.
Pollution – if there is too much pollution and congestion in one area it might put customers off and they will not visit the shop and there fore not take advantages of any of the deals.
Pollution created – if my company is obviously causing a lot of pollution which I don’t think is possible for a mobile phone shop I don’t think that customer will come to the shop in fact they might even start a protest against the shop.
To become more of a green environmentally friendly company my company could do some things that will help. We could use environmentally friendly packaging for our mobile phones or even biodegradable packaging. We could also keep recycling bins in and around the shop to help the environment.
My first email was to ITV
Dear Itv,
My name is Kushal Patel and I am sending this email because I need to know how much it costs to advertise on your tv channels ITV would be great please can you give me a reply on with some information
Thanks
I sent this email 2 weeks ago and I still haven’t got a reply from the company.
My second email was to the sun newspaper
To whom it may concern,
My name is Kushal Patel and I would like to place an add in you newspaper for a new business I would like to know the costs for advertising on your newspaper and the advantages could you please email me back at with some information.
Thanks
I’ve sent this email 3 weeks ago and still no reply from the sun.
Even with out the reply’s I have managed to gather the information I need on these companies through other websites.
In this piece of coursework I will need to advertised my company in order to make it well recognized I will be telling you how much each type costs then what I will be using and why at which times in the year. The budget covers marketing for a whole year.
Radio advertisement costs
These are the costs of radio advertisements I might need advertisements for the radio and these are the costs radio however in my opinion seem a good method to advertise in my year I might use the radio for a certain amount of time and I might need to due to money shortages:
Annual Packages:
Costs of TV advertisements
These are the costs of advertising on ITV1 the costs are explained in the tables below these costs are over the period of a year on the infamous channel ITV 1 so people will watch it and TV advertisements seem to be the most popular so there will be a section of advertising with the television during the year but being costly it cannot be for to long.
10 spots across all day parts:
15 spots across all day parts:
20 spots across all day parts:
25 spots across all day parts:
There are six main ways for a business to be run and controlled by. They are:
- Sole trader
- Partnership
- Private limited company
- Public limited company
- Co-operatives
- Franchises
Here are some advantages and disadvantages on sole trader and partnership:
Sole trader:
Advantages:
- It is cheep and easy to set up
- You are your own boss, this means you do not have to take orders from anyone else
- There is not much capital required
- Business affairs can be kept private
- All the decisions can be made by your self
- Can keep all the profits to your self
- There are tax advantages to the owner
Disadvantages:
- There is no one to share the work load with
- You cannot get off sick or leave to go on holiday
- Finance issues can be difficult as there is only one person
- There is unlimited liability, you could lose everything if the business fails
- The owner and the business are classed as the same, if anything goes wrong; it is the owner that is sued, not the business.
- More responsibilities for one person
- All the risks is the owners
- There is difficulty raising capital
Partnership:
Advantages:
- More owners means more capital
- The work load can be shared between the owners
- Low start up costs, as there is more people to share the costs with
- Additional sources of investment capital
- Possible tax advantages
- There is limited regulations
- There is broader management base
Disadvantages:
- Unlimited liability
- Lack of continuity
- Divided authority
- Difficulty raising capital
- It may be hard to find suitable partners
- There could be possible development of conflict between partners
- All the profits must be shared
- Partners have to consult each other before decisions can be made
- Decision making can be slow
- Partners may disagree about running the business
- Each partner is legally responsible for the actions of others.
Decision:
Looking at the advantages and disadvantages of being a sole trader and a partnership, I have come to the conclusion that I would like to become a sole trader. The advantages balance up in general there are good points and bad points. The business seems easier to run when a sole trader rather than if the business was a partnership.
The main reasons why I do not want to become a partnership are the idea of having someone else with you to run the business. I have a fear of finding a great business partner, and we start off great but then happen to disagree on something, which leads to disagreement on many things later on. This would mean that out business would fall apart and all of our hard effort and work would go to waste.
Also, you cannot make any decisions about the business without consulting your business partner. This does mean that all decisions can be slow. All profits must be shared at the end. I may find this very difficult because I may have put more effort into opening the business than my partner, therefore I would feel that I should have more of the profit than my partner.
As I have decided to be a sole trader, I must state my reasons why I have chosen this. One of the reasons I prefer to be a sole trader is because compared with the other business structures, operating, as a sole trader is the cheapest option to set up and the easiest to administer.
Operating as a sole trader is the most common structure used when starting a business. When the business is being started part-time, while the owner continues in full-time employment, operating as a sole trader allows the owner to reduce tax payable on the employment income if losses are made. This tax reduction is subject to the business satisfying non-commercial business loss provisions.
As being a sole trader, you can keep all the profits to your self with out sharing it with anyone, unlike being a partnership. All decisions can be made by your self with the consultation of anyone else. I would prefer all the profits to go to my self as my partner may not of but as much effort into the business as I have and they are still getting half of the profits that they do not deserve.
The other advantage is that I am my own boss. I do not have to take orders from other people. This is an advantage of not being a partnership as my and my owner may disagree about something and then the business may fall down hill and all our work would go to waste just because we didn’t agree.
All the things above are all the advantages of being a sole trader. However, there are some disadvantages of being a sole trader. These I can cope with and here is how I will:
One of the disadvantages of being a sole trader is that there is no one to share the work load with. This means I will have to work extra hard to fulfil the business that I want on my own.
Another disadvantage is that I cannot get off sick or go on holiday as I am a sole trader and I will work on my own. I can control this by having a few staff to help me run my business. They will only be part time though. If I want to go on holiday, I can hire someone temporality for the period of time that I go on holiday for. I will do this because I know that there are many people that want a job just for the money, no matter how long the job is for.
Another problem is, that if anything goes wrong, I am sued, not the business. I will have to be careful with every thing I do from the cleanness of my shop to the products that I sell.
Finance issues may be difficult as I am on my own but I will take out a bank loan and may as much as I can every month to re pay it back. I am very good at handling my money so I won’t have any problems playing it back.
Looking at the advantages and disadvantages of being a sole trader, the advantages balance up the disadvantages. This means I will have problems with being a sole trader and there are only minor things that I will have to take into consideration.
Newspaper advertising costs
There will be use of other advertising costs in the page above these methods will be used as it is good advertising at cheap prices and will help me use up my budget and advertise my shop to the fullest potential. The methods include
Flyers
Flyers are a good way of advertising as I learnt from my questionnaire and they can spread around by accident as well for example thrown away and other people see the flyer on the road miles away which could also appeal to outsiders bringing in more business.
Business cards
Business cards given out at certain places as they are cheap they can be distributed easily and advertising with them will not cause you any hassle and you could get a chance to explain your business to them further if they call you up.
Posters
Posters available in A1 and A2 sizes to appeal to people a bit like a billboard but you only have to pay for it once unless you’re paying to put it in a certain location
Ms Sethi
Mr. Williams
Edexcel GCSE business studies book by Sue Alpin, Jan Cooper, Gerard O’Hara and Fiona Petrucke
and in general for pictures and to search for the above websites
My advertising table (on the previous page) shows what types of advertising I will be doing and when I have chosen these types of advertising to get my company recognized and well used because if no one knows that my company does not exist then I will not sell anything making no profit, that’s where advertising comes in. these are the different types of advertising I have decided to use
- Flyers
- Local paper (sun)
- Business cards
- TV
- Posters
All of the prices are written above and if you do not understand the clear prices of different selection are given earlier in the project with the research. First of all I did not use the radio, why? This is because I have heard from people myself when I went to harrow to ask no one liked the radio they said that it would be waste of money and I have supporting evidence in my questionnaire.
Flyers
I used flyers all around the year because they are a brilliant way of advertising for a mobile phone shop flyers it has worked in the past as I have seen with various different mobile phone shops furthermore my questionnaire thought that it would be a good idea to advertise a mobile phone shop with flyers.
TV
Now I knew that television was going to be expensive and to make sure that the money I used on television advertising was used properly I have place the adds on one of the most watched TV channels ITV 1 and I have put adds on two different days through out (10 seconds every time) and these were put on two national holidays so that people will actually see my advertisements.
Local paper
Again for the newspaper advertising I put the adds on a well recognized paper so that people will actually read my adds and what better newspaper than the sun. I have put advertisements throughout the year in different periods of the year (3 months) I have put a 4 week Monday to Saturday Scc bid and a 6week Monday to Saturday bid on the other two sections.
Business cards
Business cards, I have invested a small amount of money in business cards £260 for printing over 500 cards every three months. I have used them because if they are distributed and seen interested people might ring up the company and ask about what it does and how it is better. So the main reason for the business cards is their cheap and could attract extra customers.
Posters
Posters are bold bright and often catch the attention of people and I have selected large posters in the first month and I will stick them in crowded areas and they should attract people to my shop. I have bought 5 A2 posters for the year simple yet effective.
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