Create ing your own business - create a full plan on a business of your choice you plan must not be more than 60 pages

This is my piece of coursework and it is all about creating a successful business in a location of choice. I will be having a mobile phone business and it will sell all mobile phones with great new deal to encourage consumers to come to my mobile phone shop Slash. The coursework will include in-depth research to produce a functioning and profitable business. I will be sending out a questionnaire to the consumers so that I can get an idea of what they want once I have this information I will analyze it and use it to help along my business the questionnaire will give be specified views about what the customers want. The coursework includes information on the four p’s price, product, promotion and place. In order to create a successful business I will need to find out about all the factor that will affect my business and one of the main causes of downfall has to be competition. Towards the end of the coursework you will get to know which methods of advertisements worked and how effective the one’s that I used were. The advertisements department will need to be good in order to keep the business up and running if the advertisement department fails then the business does not get any customers resulting in the business failing. Since the aim of the coursework is to create a successful business I will need to access these risks and avoid them at all costs. My business aims are simple the aim of my business is to have a successful marketing campaign making a profit in order to survive and after the profit hopes for expansion.

The market

A market is a place where buyers and sellers come to exchange products and services for money. This means that it is immanent that the sellers have something that the buyers want or are prepared to buy.

Marketing

So now you know about the market but there is no point in having the goods for sale if they are not wanted or needed by the customers. The product or service is also useless if the public do not even know that the product exists that’s were marketing comes in. Marketing means finding out what the consumers want, providing it and making sure the public are aware of what it is and where it can be bought.

Marketing activities include:

Carrying out research to find out what the consumers need or want.
Developing products to meet the demand of the public. In some cases large improvement and in other little adjustments to make the product either better suited to its job or to change any other negative things about the product that the consumers dislike.
Finding out what types of customers are likely to buy the product (target audience)
Deciding where the products are to be sold.
Working out what should be charged for the product or service (obviously a profitable amount but not to expensive or the customers would be put of and go to opposing businesses.
Advertising and promoting the products so that customers are are aware of the product and where it can be bought.
To persuade the customers through advertising and promotion that your product is the best and make them want to but your product or service.

The marketing objectives:

To introduce a new product into the market
To increase the sales of an existing product
To target a new market segment
To stop a decline (decrease) in market share
To change the image of a brand.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix describes all the activities that go together to make the customer buy a product. The marketing mix shows all the different stages and gimmicks to make a consumer buy a product your marketing mix needs to be within a good range or quality for price, product, promotion and place. The business should ensure that the product is the right one and matches the criteria of what was required in the first place. The promotion tells the customer about the product, the price matches the product but is dealt wrong could be the difference between success and failure. And the place is where the product is sold. There are often referred to as the ‘4 Ps’.

Product- it is important that a firm finds out what the consumers need and want through market research, and produces products and services to match. This includes design, its quality, its appearance, its special features and its reliability (how much you can trust the product)
Price- this is based on how much the consumers are prepared to pay for a certain product, how much the service costs to produce, how much competitors are charging for similar products and finally how much profit the company wishes to make.
Promotion- this is all about the methods used to drag the customer in from opposing businesses. The point of promotion is to bring a product or service to the attention of the public. This means advertising the product.
Place- this involves making sure the product is in the right place at the right time, so the customers that want to buy it can do so.

Marketing Mix for Slash

Slash is a company that is looking to make profit through mobile phones. Slash main objective is to have a successful running business based on the budget. In order to have a successful business you need profit and in order to have that you need to have market research and a good marketing mix. I will need to know about the consumers in a local area to the shop (harrow near shopping centre)

Product- the products will obviously be mobile phones. Slash will provide different mobile phones from the latest phones to the old cheap and cheerful ones. The shop will also provide a repair service for a small fee. As well as having mobile phones slash like many other mobile phone shops will have mobile accessories and the essentials. Once the business starts rolling in slash will also get sponsorship from named tariff’s who are looking to get people on there network.

Price- the prices will vary accordingly to the contract or handset which is up for purchase the price will be reasonably close to the prices of competitors but it needs to be large enough to make a significant enough profit.

Place- the products will be sold at the slash shop in harrow. Near St. Ann’s and St. George’s shopping centre the shop will be located within St. Ann’s road so that customer will find it very hard to ignore the shop and because of the success of other shops in this area it must be a good area to set up regardless of competition

Objectives of promotion

To make consumers aware of your new company or a new product launch
To remind consumers of offers or your shop
To persuade customers to come to your shop and buy your product

Methods of promotion

Sale promotion: - Short term incentives to increase sales, e.g. free coupons, samples, competitions. Effect is often to destroy loyalty to other brands so that people will come to your brand by encouraging brand switching; when consumers end customers often switch to other brand offers in this case my shop as the offers can be better than others. Sales promotion can also be known as below the line promotional activity.

Advertising: - advertising is a way of drawing customer’s in. generally customers are not looking for the best mobile phone shop but which mobile phone shop has that particular phone cheapest or with better service. In order for them to come to my shop or any shop I will need to advertise in different forms. Advertising is called an ‘above the line’ promotional activity.

Public relations: - this is a very important field in order to have a successful business you will need to form a good relation with certain types of customers and the public in general. In new product launches everything must go smoothly as there may be media coverage. The whole point is to make a good impression on the customers.

Personal selling: - involves the use of sales representatives to sell your products or to spread the name of your company

Direct mailing: - when information on the company and the location of the shop and new deal are distributed through the postage service.

Exhibitions and trade fairs: - obviously to improve your relations with the general public and to spread the name of the company exhibitions and trade fairs would be great.

Merchandising: - this method of promotion is a way of dragging in consumers by showing off what you have in your shop and what it can provide. E.g. through display cases or regular demonstration on how to use a public service offered by the shop. Listening to music or seeing the mobile handset models in the showcase.

Packaging: - by letting people know that you exist through unique packaging e.g. design, shape, information displayed on the packaging.

Branding: - name or design which identifies the products or services of a manufacturer and distinguishes them from their competitors.

Sponsorship: - firms finance events e.g. firms sponsor sports to attract publicity on the side of a boundary for cricket or football.

My business will be located in harrow. The location has been carefully thought out. Eventhough there is a lot of competition in and about the harrow complexes of St. Ann’s and St. Georges. My mobile phone shop will be located in St Ann’s road. It will be replacing the O2 shop on the street and so will be the perfect shape and size shop for one that sells mobile phones.