Summary
I believe that the aims and objectives eWave have set their selves are very ambitious. I fell that if they want to successfully go to the top and compete with major companies they should revise their aims and objectives. More over them are a small start up firm and have the objectives that a big company will have like dell. If their company was know and established these aims and objectives would suit them. As they are a new company to the business world they have debts. I firmly believe that they should first of all look into how they should repay their debts. In order for them to survive they should consider looking at their ambitious aims and objectives and changing them to aims and objectives that will suit them.
Report
The next few pages will be regarding the success of eWave. I have been employed by eWave to be a consultant for their business. This is where I will give them advice on how they should improve to become a better business.
I have many steps which will enable me to find out how they are currently doing and how they should improve.
The strategies are as followed:
- A questionnaire which is based on their business.
- Use the answers to figure out where they are going wrong.
- Use the answers to give them advice on ho they should improve.
- I will write a final report on their business stating their strong and week points and how they should improve.
Ben Johnson Road
London E1
28 November 2006
Mr Shamsul Hoque
eWave Computers
Unit 13C
Truman’s Brewery
Brick Lane
London
E1
Dear Mr Shamsul Hoque,
Re: Questionnaire for eWave computers
I am writing to you because I would like you to fill up a questionnaire. I would be grateful if you could fill the form up and address it to the above address. Enclosed is the form which I would like you to fill in. this form is regarding the success of your business eWave computers.
If you require any further assistance in this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me on 0207 790 8979 or on my mobile 07904590065 or through the post. I will be waiting for your replay in this matter. Therefore please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you
Yours faithfully
eWave computers questionnaire and answers
Q1. One of your objectives was to advertise to Advertise to a minimum of 260,000 people in first 12 months I would like to know how you are getting on with this objective and how many people you have advertised to?
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We haven’t achieved the target of advertising 260,000 people. This is
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because one of our marketing was to hold workshops this failed and we now
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are struggling to advertise our company.
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Q2. An aim was to offering low-cost affordable computers to individuals in a way that they can understand and afford. Have you achieved this and aim? If yes how did you do it?
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We couldn’t sell many computers at a low affordable cost this is because
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we didn’t have any good amount of income. This is why we couldn’t
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Achieve this aim.
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Q3. Another of your objective was a Turnover of £450,000 by December 2004 have you achieved this target? If yes how did you manage it? If no can you explain why?
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We haven’t achieved the target of £450,000 turnover. This is because we
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couldn’t advertise our company and companies such as Milltech are much
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stronger than us.
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Q4. You aimed to compete with Dell how do you think you are getting on with achieving this ambitious task?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Currently we are behind with this aim as we are struggling to sell our
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computers to the public and us finding it hard to establish our selves.
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Q5. How many schools have you visited in the past month? Do you think that this scheme will help for you to get a profit?
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We haven’t visited any schools. This is due to the schools policies they
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claim that we can’t visit their school as we are advertising our company.
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They don’t want companies to go to schools to advertise their business.
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Q6. How many schools have you visited in the past three months?
Cross the box that affects you.
0-3 3-6 6-9 9-12 12+
Q7. Do you wish to expand your small firm to a worldwide business one day? If yes what are the steps you will take to achieve this target?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Ofcourse we want to expand our business to a world wide company. We
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will take many steps to achieve this target. Targets such as establishing our
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selves and competing with dell. This will be the ultimate test as dell is the
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most known brand in the world and if we mange to compete with dell I
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Believe we have achieved our goal of becoming a world wide business.
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However first we will have to take small steps in order to achieve this task.
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Report on eWave
Looking back at the questionnaire answers it is clear that eWave are struggling. They also are trailing to reach their aims and objectives. I believe that eWave computers can become a successful business. However if they want to achieve this goal they will have to change some of their strategies. Strategies like their aims and objectives.
On of their major issues was concerning sales. This issue is affecting their business as a whole. Why? Their sales are affecting their revenue which with out a doubt is affecting their success. In the questionnaire Q2 and Q3 was about their sales. Their response was that they couldn’t manage to achieve their targets because of the marketing. This shows that eWave are also struggling with their marketing. I think that eWave do not have a proper financial system and I also think that they need one. This will then enable them to see how they are doing.
eWaves main marketing scheme was through workshops. Referring back to the questionnaire Q5 and Q6. They have stated that they didn’t hold any workshops. This was a major blow for the company as this was their main marketing scheme. They failed in this, because they couldn’t get the permission from the schools to hold these workshops. I strongly recommend eWave to scrap this scheme and to work on a more reliable scheme.
Another problem eWave are facing is the attraction of customers. This issue is mainly for the reason of location. They are located in a place were it is hard for customers to see them, hard for customers to park and hard for customers to find. A good business which has a good location site would be Sainsbury’s. This company has it own car park, it’s easy to locate as it is frequently placed on the main road and visible.
According to the questionnaire, when eWave Computers did get customers and sold items such as be-spoke computers, customers were not paying on time. This affected their cash-flow. Which meant the owners went into further debt unless they paid from their own pockets.
In a business I believe that there will always be down sides. However there will also be high sides. In Ewaves case their strong points are web website design and development services they offer. This is because website design is unique and not many businesses provide this service, so there is a high demand for the website design and maintenance. There are many small business located the area of east London who need websites. If they can be successful in this felid then many be big companies will approach them for web design.
In order for eWave to be threat to the business industries I would recommend changes to it business plan, aims and objectives and the location. If eWave concentrated on their income they would find that most of it is coming through the web design. I would recommend that eWave concentrated mainly on website design and development and also online advertising sector. Selling computers will be an obstacle for them as there are established companies renowned for selling computers. Changing the business name I think will boost their income. eWave computers are known for computers however if they change it to eWave designs this will shoe that they are in the design sector. A new logo would also boost their status. Below is the logo and the new name for eWave that I have created.
The advertising scheme for eWave is unsuccessful. I recommend eWave scrap the workshops and advertiser from scratch. A way which they could advertise their design scheme is going to local business and explaining the advantages of having a website and that eWave can do it for them.
Currently eWave are located in a place where trade is difficult. eWave should change their location where access is good the business is seen and where the business is easy to find. All these recommendations that I have stated could go in to the category of a business located on the sides of roads. This is an advantage as pass by trade is available.
My final recommendation to eWave is to change their aims and objectives. At the moment eWave’s aims are very unrealistic. However they can change the aims and objectives. This will hopefully lead them to success.
Aims I would set them:
- Offer high quality, up to date websites at low affordable rates.
- Build a strong residual income through website design and maintenance and online advertising which will now be their primary activity.
- Build partnerships with smaller companies through activities to publicise the company.
Objectives I would set them are:
- Turnover of £200,000 by December 2007.
- Net profit of 10% from January 2007 – June 2007 and 20% from July 2007 – December 2007.
- 33% gross margin by December 2007.
- Establish a minimum of 3 online services per week.
- Advertise to a minimum of 100 businesses by December 2007.
I believe eWave have the potentials to be a real threat to the business industry. However if they continue the way they are going they will achieve nothing. I have recommended many aspects which are strong and week. I have faith that if they concentrate on these aspects they will eventually be successful.
Report on the market for home computers
PC sales has fallen dramatically for fifteen years, this was due to the slow economic growth. This widespread hit the US which accounts 40% of the world market. A research firm named “Gartner Dataquest” has revealed that this is mainly due to the poor economy. The poor economy was due to the fact that there was unemployment this meant that people didn’t have enough money to buy services or items. The name to this situation is rescission. People are worried that the slow growth of the computer industry is reaching Europe and Asia.
Despite the downfall in computer sales US giants Dell still managed to hold the top spot as market leaders. Earlier this year Dell took over the top spot from Compaq. Dell increased its share of global sales to 13.8%, up from 11% a year ago.
Tiny was a renowned company in the computer industry. Tiny’s arch computer rivals time bought the company through its shares. The company had new plans. They decided to launch a new chain of shops called “The Computer World” which will sell PCs and accessories under the time and tiny brand. Even though tiny was bought there were signs that it would struggle. It g=had strong competition from high street giants PC World and Dixons. Tiny claimed that they sold 400,000 computers however the giants PC World and Dixons sold more.
The term administration is when a company is in financial difficulties, in this case Tiny Computers, and is given a chance by the law, to apply to the court for an Administration order.
Tiny Computers had many customers before they went into administration. The reasons for this were many of the computers sold were with warranty. And there were also customers who had paid for their computers but still had not received them. Tiny Computers going into administration meant that those customers couldn’t get their computers fixed if they were damaged. And for customers who paid for their items but never received them, well they wouldn’t receive their items, although there was a refund available.
The worlds leading computer industry Dell was a huge success. Dell was a success due to the fact that not only it had a good business model it also had a virtuous marketing strategy.
Dell sells it items using a direct sales model via the phone or the internet. The company maintains a negative cash conversation through the use of its model. This means that Dell receives the payment for the product before it has to pay for the material. The use of this model enhanced through the internet making it easy for customers to contact directly to the company. This way both worlds are happy, the customers are happy and Dell receives its money.
Dells marketing strategy is outstanding. Dell advertises through several types of media, weather it’s the television or newspapers. Some of the media used by Dell for advertisement are television, internet, magazines, catalogues and newspaper. Dell makes a lot of money. This is because of its marketing and the offers they give. Some of Dells marketing strategies include lowering prices at all times of the year and offering free bonus products such as Dell printers. They also have many more offers like free delivery. These are some of the strategies used by Dell. This is why today Dell is a known company which is worth a lot of money.
At this current moment I think that eWave will not be able to compete with companies such as Dell, PC World and Milltech. This is why I believe that eWave should change their ways.
Dell are manufactures in computers. This is an advantage for them because they make the computers and then sell it to their customers. Dell computers are not sold in shops this is why Dell are worth a lot. Worth a lot, because the people who want to buy the computers the order to Dell. Dell then make the computer and give it to the customer.
eWave will not be able to compete with PC World mainly for the reason of “economy of scale”. Economy of scale is when a company buys items in a large figure, these items are bought in numbers. They buy thousands of these items and sell it for a low price. They still make a profit. However the small companies cannot afford to buy many items as they do not have enough money. Specific examples of companies who buy in economy of scales are Sainsbury’s they are out of the leagues of the corner shops. The corner shops sell at a much higher price than superstores this is because they can’t buy at an economy of scale. Likewise eWave can’t compete with PC World due to the economy of scale.
Milltech is a company which eWave will have to compete with first before competing with PC World and Dell. This is because Milltech is a company like eWave computers. They are a small firm. However eWave will find it difficult to compete because Milltech have established them selves in the computer industry and the community. I believe if eWave manage to establish them selves in the community first they will one day become successful after improving the strategies.
Sainsbury's
As this coursework require two business firms a small company and a well established large Plc Company I have chosen Sainsbury's as the Plc. I have chosen this particular company for many reasons. Reasons such as I will be able to go to the store, it is known there for I will be able to take in many account from people and that it is big. And hopefully be useful for my portfolio.
Sainsbury's was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. They opened their first small dairy shop at 173 Drury Lane, London. Drury Lane was one of London's poorest areas and the Sainsbury’s' shop quickly became popular for offering high-quality products at low prices. It was so successful that further branches were opened in other market streets in Stepney, Islington and Kentish Town.
Sainsbury's is a renowned supermarket, renowned for its sales in food. Food ranges from organic food to fruits and popular food. The type of business Sainsbury's is tertiary business. This means providing a service in Sainsbury's case selling food. They get their food and sell it of making them a tertiary company. The famous company Sainsbury’s has a significant figure of stores as well as convenience stores around the country. With 262 convenience stores and 727 supermarkets Sainsbury's is one of the biggest supermarkets in the country. Having many stores will obviously result in many employees. A rough total of employees is 157 thousands from is 157 thousand 49 thousand work full time and the rest part time. 60% of the employees are women and 40% male. Sainsbury now have roughly 17 and a half million pounds sale with more hoping to come by the end of 2007. The location of Sainsbury's is very widespread having said that most stores are located in the capital London.
Aims
Like any firm or company there will be aims. It is very crucial for the Plc Sainsbury's to have aims. The main reason behind this is that the company is very big and needs to control all the stores. Examples of their aims are listed below;
- To make a profit
- Increase management team
- Increase sales
- Save money on operational costs
- Save money on delivery
- To expand
I believe that the aims made by Sainsbury’s are reasonable. This is because they are a very big company and make a lot of money so for them to make these aims is not a problem. An example of their aim is “Increase sales.” This is an aim which they can achieve by doing many things like promotions which will attract customers. there are many more aims.
Objectives
As I stated before all firms and companies should have objectives. The objectives are the keys to the success of the aims. This is because is because are guidelines to achieve the goals. Without objectives it will be immensely hard for any company weather it is a Plc or a small firm to reach their aims. Moreover without aims and objectives firms will struggle as they will not know how they can improve and what needs to be improved. Finally objectives that are set should be SMART.
The objectives that will be set by Sainsbury’s will be important aswell. In addition these objectives will help the company achieve their aims. Some of the objectives set by Sainsbury's are below;
- Increase the different ranges of food by 20% this year.
- Increase 5% quality of merchandise by the end of year.
- Employ 15% of the current workers as management and train them properly before the end of year.
My belief is that the objectives set are useful, SMART and will hopefully help the supermarket achieve its aims. For instance one of their objectives is “Increase the different ranges of food by 20% this year” I think that is can be categorised as a SMART objective. Specific as it is the range of food. Measurable because 20%. Attainable because the objective can be achieved as Sainsbury’s is a large company. Realistic as the company is not aiming very high it is a reasonable objective. Time, the objective is set for the end of the year.
Like any other firms or businesses activities are crucial for the well being of the company. The aims are important because it is the lead to achieve the aims. Activities keep the business on track, as the business can see how they are performing and what they need to do to make sure that they cover all their activities. This makes the business better and more successful.
Ben Johnson Road
London E1
26 April 07
Sainsbury's
Cambridge Heath Rd
London
E1
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re: Questionnaire for Sainsbury’s
I am writing to you because I would like you to fill up a questionnaire. I would be grateful if you could fill the form up and address it to the above address. Enclosed is the form which I would like you to fill in. this form is regarding the success of your firm.
If you require any further assistance in this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me on 0207 790 8979 or on my mobile 07904590065 or through the post. I will be waiting for your replay in this matter. Therefore please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you
Yours faithfully
Sainsbury's questionnaire and answers
Q1. Do you believe that Sainsbury's advert campaign is virtuous enough to attract customers?
I believe that the current advertisement is of good quality to attract customers. However I believe that it must improve in order to compete with our rivals Tesco.
Q2. Sainsbury's activities are of high quality and standard however do you think that these activities will make the firm more successful?
We have received many good feed backs from our customer about our activities. For example our involvement in the comic relief charity more over the healthy eating campaign. Due to the good feed back the firm will be looking to enhance the activities done.
Q3. Many goods are stolen from stores, this affects the business is there any way that this problem can be resolved?
Ofcourse this is a major issue of our cash flow. Every week two to three thousands worth of good are being stolen. Moreover not all this is stolen by customers. currently our team are working on something g that will reduce theft in stores.
Q4. Your main competition lies with Tesco how can Sainsbury's be a harder competitor for Tesco?
Our is looking to enhance our activities like I said before. By doing this hopefully these activities will attract customers to come to us instead of our rival. More over we plan to advertise more to gain customer offer better promotions and many more.
Report
Here I will be analysing the success, competition, survival and well being of the supermarket Sainsbury's. I will also be commenting on their industrial sector and how Sainsbury’s are coping with the aims and objectives.
Restating that the company Sainsbury's is a Public Limited Company. This is mainly due to the supremacy of the selling of goods. The company has many stores including convenience stores, supermarkets, online home delivery service and their own bank. Sainsbury’s Supermarkets is Britain’s longest standing major food retailing chain, the bank’s current product range includes savings and loan products, credit cards and a number of insurance products.
The expansion of Sainsbury's has been quite significant over the past few years. Due to complaints from small firms about the consumption of space Sainsbury's are now limited to the amount of stores they can open. Due to this factor Sainsbury's are now opening convenience stores. These are small stores selling the same goods but in a small area. The convenience stores are named as ‘Sainsbury's local’.
Figure 2- An example of the convenience stores
To get a good reputation from the public Sainsbury's has joined in the fair trade campaign by selling item which are fair trade. This will hopefully make customers believe that Sainsbury’s as a large company are doing their part in helping the third world. The benefit for Sainsbury's is that more customers will be coming to the stores.
Figure 3- Fair trade food being sold at Sainsbury’s
Another massive 1000 prices have been lowered in a matter of the last few months. New brand standards, such as only using free-range eggs and British-sourced chicken and pork, and the cutting of hydrogenated vegetable oils, have been applied to ‘Taste the Difference’ products. “Hydrogenated vegetable oils, or more precisely trans fatty acids sometimes contained in them, have been associated with health issues such as heart disease.”
Sainsbury’s have many schemes in making money. One of which is the “active kids”. This scheme is designed for children and to encourage them to eat healthily. Eating healthy has become a political issue. So the advantage for Sainsbury’s is that they will gain a good reputation from the public. Moreover parents and children will want to come too Sainsbury’s as the parent will get health food for their children and the children will get vouchers for there school. The advantage for Sainsbury’s is that money will be becoming in to the business. Around 95 per cent of Sainsbury’s customers are aware of the scheme and believe it is providing a valuable contribution for the local community. This shows that their advertising is successful.
Figure 4- The voucher received
Online service at Sainsbury's is superb. This service is crucial and good as the company will be able to also make money via the net. More over various people cannot go to the store for many reasons they will be able to order their food over the net. Furthermore the service gives home delivery with more discounts when bought over the net. The service is good that the food delivered within an hour of chosen time.
Figure 5- Advert for the service
One of Salisbury’s activities is based Comic relief. The money they receive by selling good of comic relief part of it goes to the charity. This is a good sponsorship as many people will be pleased towards the firm for their help. Sainsbury's have been helping the charity since 1999 they are the only supermarket supporting the charity. This is more of a boost for them.
Figure 6- The logo of comic relief in the firm and items sold in the supermarket
All these schemes that I have mentioned are good for the companies’ reputation. Moreover it will create competition with their main rivals Tesco. Sainsbury's have many campaigns which are beneficial for both worlds them and the community. Compared to Tesco their community advertisement is about petrol. Yes Sainsbury's do have a petrol service however they do not concentrate as much as they do on for instance the active kids and comic relief. In addition the petrol service in Tesco had a problem. The petrol customers filled damaged many cars. This is a big blow for them as the public might not want to refill in Tesco any more.
Resembling to any other firms Sainsbury's will have good point and bad points. However having bad point is not a bad thing as, if the firm does something to improve it will become much more successful.
Issues such as:
Sainsbury plc was making a loss as most of their customers were turning to there rivals for food. They were making a loss as they did not have a proper stock control as people came to buy one thing that Sainsbury were out of stock of.
There share price was decreasing as more shareholders were pulling out because they believed Sainsbury will become bankrupt then they turned to Tesco as they were taking all there customers. Sainsbury's has issued three profit warnings that year as problems mounted, and since the start of 2004 its shares have underperformed rival food retailers by 23%
Cash flow because customers were leaving to there rival. Stock because they had improper stock control and people weren’t getting there need as it was out of stock. Shares, share holders left because they believed Sainsbury will become bankrupt.
Recommendation
As I stated before no business is perfect there always is space for improvements.
I believe that Sainsbury's should start to improve where they got their main issue. Issues like stocks. A lot of stock is lost by theft. This will affect the cash flow as food is being stolen so the company will make fewer profits. Theft is happening every from customers to staff. This is why I believe that security should be improved. Security should be improved.
There are many ways where security can be improved. For instance face recognition. This system will recognise the face of people who have been previously convicted of theft. The system will automatically alert the guard they will either monitor the person or tell them to leave. More over staff will also be monitored for thet as some staff do steal.
Many customers complain of waiting in quays. If Sainsbury's introduce the self check out system then not many people will be complaining. This system goes by it name the customers pay the money of the good to the computer. The customer check them self out.
Figure 7- an example of a self check out
Taste of Success
Active Kids complements our successful 'Taste of Success' programme. This promotes food education and cookery in schools. Supported by the Department for Education and Skills, more than 250,000 school children have been involved so far.
