The product
This is important as it must have the right features to sell, good looking, hard wearing. In a small business it is easy for the business to design the product for the customer. The small business can also order special parts for the design. Customer service for a small company is normally better as they can stay open longer, and there after sales support is better. It will be easier for a customer to take a piece of equipment to a local shop, then send it back to a large company. During the products life it will have many changes to improve it, this is the products life cycle. During a products life cycle the profit and sales of the product are linked, so if sales fall so does profit.
There are many ways of putting the life back into a product:
Changing, or improving the product- This could mean that the company introduces new features, designs, or models.
Altering distribution patterns- sell your products in a more attractive way, e.g. redesign your shops or introduce catalogue or Internet shopping.
Change prices- This can make the product more popular if the price is lowered.
Promotional campaigns- You can revamp a product by adverts, that say but on get one free, or free trails.
Products, brands, and packaging
If your product does not have the benefits that a customer wants the there is no point in spending money on adverts.
Product benefits
These are the benefits that your customer wants when buying your product. This means things like on a hot day you buy a cold drink this benefits you as you cool down. Examples of benefits are:
* Convenience
* Accessibility
* After sales support
* Reliability
* Comfort and easy use
* Accountability, so if the product goes wrong then you there is after sales support
* Good staff
* Good designed and looking packing
* Peace of mind, as you know that the company is trust worthy
The more benefits that you can provided the higher the price you could be sell your product for, competition is about creating benefits.
My Benefits- To see what benefits a customer would want from my product I will carry out a survey to see what benefits are important to a person. I will only as people in my target group with a wage of £15000.
Aim
The aim of the questionnaire is to see what benefits a customer would want form local electrical shop.
Questions
When buying from a shop, what is important to you? (You may tick more the one)
Shop has a good reputation 15
Good after sales service 20
Home delivery 20
Home installation 16
Convenience 20
Extended guarantee 45
Other 20
Never undersold guarantee 30
Would pay extra for these service?
Yes 70
No 30
Are the benefits available more important then Price?
Yes 85
No 15
Which of these would pay extra for? (you can tick more then one)
Home delivery 35
Home instillation 25
Extended guarantee 75
Other 19
Conclusion
My conclusion is that it is that it is very important to have benefits that help to sell your product. Also that people are willing to pay extra for some these extra services. I also found that people were influenced by what benefits that they can get from other stores.
Other research
I also used the Internet to research into the benefits that are offered by the major retail outlets and found that:
Most shops charge for:
* Extended warranty
* Home delivery and installation
Most shops for free offer:
* Never undersold guarantee
* Good after sales service
* Convenience
* Customer credit
Also I spoke to a owner of a similar shop who said that I should offer as many benefit for free as possible, as I will most likely sell more thus covering the cost.
My benefits- The benefits that my customer will get as a result of my survey are:
Benefits that they will receive for free;
* A shop that has a good reputation
* Good after sales service
* Convenience
* Extended guarantee
* Never undersold guarantee
* Customer credit
*
Benefits that my customers will have to pay a small fee for are:
* Home delivery
* Home instillation
* Customer credit (The money is made on the interest)
Evaluation
The benefits that I am offering are ones that are already offered by the local competition. This is because not one store offers all of them and my survey showed which ones where the most important. The reason that I will not be offering interest free credit is that this would loose me a lot of money. Instead I will let the credit be taken of by a third party, but hopefully the opportunity of credit would bring in extra sales.
Each and every product must have good strong brand that makes it recognisable to people. A very strong brand is Coke a Cola brand, as the colours, shape of cans, and lettering tell the buyer what the product is. The characteristic of the brand comes from the products physical features of the product. This means the taste and the shape of the product. These are created by the manufacture through adverts and packaging. People talk the products consistency the quality, but its design, and adverting campaign.
Is image Important?
The image of the product is the way that the public see you product. Your product could have a negative or positive image, this depends on how the product is advertised and presented.
My Image- The image of my product will be taken care of by the manufacture, but I will make sure that my store is a sort of brand. This is would help people to remember my shop. I plan to create my image by a good advertising campaign, and by offering a good service.
How packaging effects the product?
Packaging is the way that the product is presented to the public, the packaging can give benefits:
* Attractive
* Strong for transport
* Can be dismantled for storage
* Or is easy to use
There can be problems with packaging, it can cause the following problems:
* Increase the production cost
* Make the product bigger and heavier so it costs more to transport
* The more packaging that you have, the more waste you will produce
This means that firms have to think very hard about there packaging, as they must considered the advantages and disadvantages of there packaging. To help decide what type of packaging I will used I carried out research into existing packaging. I found that current packaging was bulky.
My packaging: My packaging will be what the goods are supplied in by the manufacture. This is because they will have spent lots of time and effort on designing the best packaging. For accessories I will supply bags that carry my logo and shop names along with other information. This would be: opening times, services available, and special offers.
What is the aim of adverting?
The aims of advertising are:
* Inform people about the product
* Create a image
* Increase sales
* Compete with other shops
* Introduce in products into the market
What is the aim of my advertising- The aims of my advertising will be:
* Increase sales
* Compete with other shops
* Create a image
I do not want my advertising to try and introduce new products into the market, as this is normally done by the manufacture on a national scale. The manufacture will also inform people about the product.
Informative advertising
Currently in the biggest spender on this form of advertising, is the government this advertising is used to pass on information to the public. The passing on of this information is very important in any advert.
Persuasive advertising
The washing power industry spends as much as the government on advertising, there adverts try to persuade the viewer that there products are much better then the compensation. There goal is to attract people to buy there products.
There are different types of pervasive advertising:
* Adverts that show a famous person using the product
* Adverts that compare one product with a other
* Adverts that use sex to sell the product
Public relations
Public relations is the department that that try's to promote the and show the good side of the company to the public.
Advertising agencies
Advertise is a very expensive business, to make sure that the money is well spent they will hire a company to do it right. For a advertising campaign to be successful it must:
* Reach the right audience
* Be attractive and appealing
* Make the money that the audience cost back in sales.
Control over advertising
In a advert you can not put just put anything in it, there are certain rules they are:
There is a code of practice in side the advertising industry that you must obey. The trade description act, which means you can must describe as truthfully to the best of you knowledge.
My method of advertising: I plan to use informative advertising as I want to inform people of the benefits of buying from my shop.
What media's are there for advertising
There are many different types of advertising, each has advantages, and disadvantages these are:
Televisions
This is a very powerful media to use to get your message across this a very useful media. The advert that is produced will be seen by millions. The time at which your advert is shown effects who see it. If your product is for children then you would show your advert during children's programmes, not adult. You must also take into account the number of people watching, as this will effect the cost. To produce a advert you must take I these things:
How many adverts can you afford, as there would be no point in only being able to run your advert once
When will it be shown
Is the advert its self correct
Advantages
* Reaches the largest number of people
* The adverts can make the product look much nicer, then in print
Disadvantages
* Very expensive
Radio
This method of advertising is very similar as television adverting, but it is cheaper and sound is used instead of visual images. In a radio advert a theme tune is used.
Disadvantages
* People may switch station when the advert comes on
* If there is poor reception then the listener may miss the advert
* There are no radio stations that take adverts that span the whole country
Advantages
* Cheaper then television
* Large audiences can be reached
* This type of advertising is very good for local shops
* The advert can be repeated many times
Newspapers/Magazines
Newspapers are normally produced and bought every day, so people will see your advert daily. Magazines on the other hand are normally produced weekly, or monthly. Newspapers can be aimed at different people, some are aimed at business owners, while others are aimed at very one. A newspaper can be local national, the difference is that a national paper is available all other the country while a local is aimed at the local area. It is easy to see what social groups read a national paper, while this is harder with a local. As magazines are normally aimed at specific groups, the adverts also do the same. This basically means that if your shops sells computer parts, then you advertise in a computer magazine.
Advantages
* A advert in print is normally kept for longer, so it may be seen many times by different people
* Colour printing is now available at a much lower cost
* Coupons can be in the advert so that the person can cut them out
* Easy to reach a target group with magazines
Disadvantages
* Reader most of the time will skip the advert
* You may have to design different adverts for different newspapers, or magazines
* In some newspapers/magazines the advert may be surrounded by others, thus causing the advert to loose its affect
* Magazine adverts cost more then newspapers
* Newspaper adverts are not normally in colour
Posters billboards
These adverts are normally in a permanent place, and they are seen by every one. This means that these are good method of advertising if trying to target a large number of people.
Advantages
* A poster will be visible for a long time
* The posters are normally big, colourful so they grab people attention
* They can placed on buses, trains, and in stations
* Very good to advertise in the local area
* Quite cheap
Disadvantages
* Posters may be ignored by drivers, or pedestrians
* Message must be brief, or it will not work
* Adverts may be damage by vandals
* No detailed information can be placed on the advert
Leaflets
These can be targeted at certain people or area, by only giving the, to people in that area. This means that they are good to target certain groups.
Advantages
* Very good to target a certain group
* Are relatively cheap
* Can include coupons for the reader
* May be kept around for a long time by the reader
Disadvantages
* May not be read
Cinemas
This type of adverting can be very affective. The film that is being watched will effect the advert, so in a kids film you will advertise kids toys.
Advantages
* This a good method for a local business to advertise
* The advert will have a big impact, because of the size of the screen and the quality of the sound
* Very good to target a young audience
* Easy to target a audience, by the film
Disadvantages
* People may dislike the fact that they have to wait for you advert before they can watch the film
* Only seen by a limited number of people
Evaluation of advertising
It would be impractical of me to use television as a form of advertising, as I will only have one shop in a local area, and television is not good to advertise in the local area. Also the cost involved in creating the advert, and putting it on television is enormous. This would mean for me to run the advert more then once I would have to cut things for my business like customer benefits, and opening hours. Radio would be a better option but as I only have one shop, it is not a good method to use at this time. This is because the advert will be heard by the whole of London, buy I am only at the moment targeting at the Harrow area. Local papers are a very good method in my case, but this will depend on the results of questionnaire that I carry out. A magazine is not suitable as they are normally national. A other very good method would be adverting on local transport, as they will be seen by people in the local area. This will also depend on the results of my questionnaire. A mail shoot I think would be a good method as I can target a specific group, and it is very cheap, but this will also depend on my research. Advertising in a local cinema would be a very good method, but I because it only goes to a limited number of people I think it is not that good. Also as films are normally seen by young people, this is a disadvantages as they often have the least money. The method of advertising that I am choosing has little effect on the local area. The only effect that there is that the leaflets that are delivered are just thrown away damaging the environment.
Questionnaire
Aim
The aim if this questionnaire is to find out:
Which media most people see/have access to
Which adverts do they read them
When they are seen/read
Questions
Which of these media's do you always notice?
Television 35%
Radio 15%
Print 6%
Poster bill boards on transport 25%
Road side posters 3%
Cinemas 1%
leaflets 15%
Do you often read the leaflets that you receive?
Yes 44%
No 56%
When do you listen to the radio
8.01 am -12 PM 22%
12.01 PM - 4 PM 8%
4.01 PM - 8 PM 34%
8.01 PM - 12 PM 10%
12.01 am - 4 am 1%
4.01 am - 8 am 25%
What grabs you attention in a advert?
Slogans 22%
Bright colours 18%
Brand names 35%
The shape of the paper the advert comes on 25%
Conclusions from results
My conclusion is that the best method for me to use is poster bill boards on public transport. Even though more people have access to a television, this media is not suitable for my business. I will also use leaflets as this would mean that I could put in coupons for the reader. Also that I should use bright colours in my advert, as my leaflets should have a distinctive shape.
My method of adverting and cost- I will advertise on the local transport system £98 per month, for a small advert on the back of a bus. The leaflets that I will produce will cost £25 for a 1000 delivery, and printing costs vary.
My advert- My two adverts will look like:
The first adverts is the one that would be placed on buses. The advert is brief, and shows some information about opening times. The advert is brief as there may not be time to read it. The advert has the logo of brands so that people know what brands I sell.
The second advert is in a round shape as I hope that this will catch a persons attention. It has the same colours, and style of the other advert so that people will remember them. There is also a discount if you show the advert on one purchase, this is a way of getting people into the shop.
Promotions
A promotions is not run for a very long time, they are used to help the adverting, and to get existing and new customers to buy the product. This is only ever used for a short time. A example of a promotion is buy on get one free for a certain time.
The advantages of having promotions are:
* Can help to boost sales when they are low
* Gets new customers to try old products
* Gets people to use new products
* Engorges
There are many ways of promoting a product they are:
Money off
This is where you offer money off your product so to attract customers. Coupons could be used, these can be in leaflets, or come in a previous product that you buy. A other way is where there is a discount in the whole shop and no coupons are needed. The idea of these are to get the customer to buy your product.
Gifts
These are normally used to get kids to buy a product. The gift can come in to ways, either in the packet its self or by collecting coupons. The coupons would be collected over time then exchanged for a toy or gift, sometimes money is also needed. The idea of the coupon is to get the person to buy the product more then once. Then when the offer is over that the person continues to buy the product.
Competitions
This is where the product that is brought will being running the competition To enter the competition you need to get a form by buying the product, the prizes that can be won normally cost a lot. This gives the person a reason to buy the product.
In store displays/demos
This is where there is a in store demo of the product in use, or there is a special in-store displays. The idea of these is to incise the customer into buying there product.
Free samples
This is when a free sample of the product is given out, this can either be in the store or posted through your letter box. The samples can also be given out when you buy other products. This method of promotion is mainly used to promoted food items, perfumes, drinks, and shampoo's.
After sales service
This is very important were very expensive products like televisions, kitchen appliances or computers are involved. A person who buys a expensive product will be influenced by a warranty, this is because a customer wants to know that if the product goes wrong in a few months they can get it fixed. After sales support can make person by from a specific shop just for the extra warranty.
My method of promotion- The method of promotion that I going to use is after sales service, price reductions, and in-store demo's. This is because televisions, videos, and hi-fi can be very expensive, and from previous research I found that this is very important. The in-store demo's would be used as the customer would want to see what the products permanence is like. Using price reductions of small amounts, like £ 10 off your next purchase would help to bring people back. The use of free samples, gifts, competitions are not very suitable for my shop. This is because it would be impractical to give out free samples, competitions will take a lot of time to set up and run, and gifts are not of any use as you normally only buy one of the product, normally.
Conclusions from action plan 2
My conclusion from my action plan are:
* I now know what methods of advertising, promotion, and packaging I will use
* I know what benefits I will offer my customers
These are laws that are passed by the government to help protect people, and the local area or country. In the UK there are also laws that protect the consumer, this is because it is easy for the customer to be mislead.
What laws must I comply with?- The laws that effect my business and I must comply with are:
1968 Trade description act- This stops a business from not supplying the right information about a product on purpose
1974 Consumer credit act- This means that when people take up a credit agreement they get a copy of it. This is so that they can see how much they have borrowed, over how long, and how much interest they will pay.
1979 Sales of goods act- This is a very important law as it makes it does not allow:
The selling of faulty, dangerous products
The selling of products that are fit to use for the required task. This means selling a wood glue to a person who wants to glue plastic
The selling if products that do not do what they are clamed to be able top do
1987 Consumer protect act- This stops people from using misleading pricing claims, e.g. saying a product is at a reduced price when it is at the same. It also makes the supplier responsible if faulty goods are sold then the supplier can be sued for the cost of the damage caused.
These are the laws that I must comply with when selling goods but there are also other laws. These laws ate here to protect the employees from unfair treatment at work. Employees are protected from:
Discrimination
Poor working conditions
Wage protection
Discrimination
The laws prevent there from being unfair discrimination at work. They can not discriminate on the basis of:
Disability
Age
Religion
Race
Gender
The laws that were passed are:
1975 Sex discrimination act- This stops discrimination on the basis of gender, or marital status.
1976 Race relations act- Thus stops discrimination because of race.
1944 Disabled persons employment act- This applies to large firms over a certain size, this act means that 3% of there work force are registered as disable.
Working conditions
There laws that stop the miss treatment of the workers. The makes it the law for a worker to have:
Breaks when working very long shifts
Provide safe, and clean working conditions
Provide a workplace that is of a reasonable temperature
Provide cleaning facilities and toilets
Protection from dangerous machines
Wage protection
This gives the worker the right to be paid for the work that they do. This also gives the employee the chance to a contract of employment. This contract sates:
Job
Wage rate to be paid
When they will be paid
any deductions that will be made
That the minimum wage is paid
Which of these are apply to me, and how will I comply with them- I must comply with all of the laws that I researched into. The consumer protection act guarding against the selling of faulty goods would be wholesalers responsibility. This is because I would be buying form them. To protect the employee I will make sure that my shop has a good working environment as I would be working there.
What dose insurance do?
Insurance helps to reduce the risk for a business. To do this you take out a contract that protects you against a certain risk. To have this cover you must pay certain amount every month, or yearly. As results of getting insurance you are given a insurance certificate. If your business suffers damage, or is closed then you receive a cash pay out.
What can you cover?
Insurance cover can be taken out against any thing. A person who plays football will insure them self agist a injury that could stop them from playing football. To have this they would have to pay a high premium (this is amount that is paid on a regular date in return for insurance), because there is a high risk.
What can not be covered?
There are some events that can be covered, they are:
A consequence of your actions, this means if you insure your car you can not then steel to get the insurance
Wide spread risk, this is widespread risk which will cause lots of loss like in a war
Risk can not be assessed this means where do not know the risk of a business failing
Insurance that a business must have!
There are only two kinds of insurance that a business must have by law they are:
Employers liability- If a business has any employees then it must take out employers liability insurance this covers the employees death, injury, or illness caused by a accident at work because of employer.
Motor vehicle- If you own a motor vehicle then you must have third party insurance, which covers the death and injury of other people in a crash.
What other types of insurance are there for business?
There are other types of insurance policy's that business can take out they are:
Bad debts
When credit is given there is chance that the person who you are giving credit to may be unable to pay you back. To stop you from loosing the money you take out insurance against bad debts.
Theft
This insures a business against theft from them, this is very important where the stock is worth a large amount of money.
Public liabilities
This insurance is very important, if a customer is injured in shop because it is your fault, or a employees then you have cover from being sued.
Fidelity guarantee
Gives insurance against your employees stealing or committing fraud against the business.
Fire and other risks
This is when your insure your business against floods, fire and storms. This is very important where very expensive machines or stock are involved.
Frozen food
This gives cover against the loss or damage of goods that are frozen due to a power cut.
Professional indemnity
Protects people in professions from being sued if they give bad advice.
Product liability
Gives cover against any defects in any products that are on the shop premises from causing injury to anyone.
Goods in transit
Covers goods that are lost, or damaged while being transported.
Plate glass
This covers very large and expensive shop windows from damage caused by vandalism or accidents
Life assurance
If a self employed person dies, then the people who rely on him for support get a cash pay out.
Loss of profits
If there is a disaster and the business can not open, then you will be covered for the profits that are lost.
Personal accident and sickness
This pays a certain amount of money to self employed person if they can not work due to illness, or a accident.
Permanent health
This cover pays a regular amount of money to a sole trader if they are unable to work for a long period of time due to ill health.
Money
This covers against of money being lost, this includes more then theft and covers all cash, cheques, and valuable documents that are in the business.
Which insurance's will I get?- The insurance's that I will have to take out are: motor vehicle and employees liability. The insurance's that I can choose to take out, and that I will are: Permanent health, as I am a sole trader
Theft, as there is a high chance of theft
Public liability, as I will customers in my shop
Fire and other risks, as I will expensive stock on the site
Loss of profits, as I my shop closes then I will need to find a income.
The reason that I took out those insurance's and not others is that those are the ones that apply the most to my business.
For my shop I will have to run I will have to higher staff, there are different types of staff I could higher:
Temporary workers- This is where I would higher staff just to complete a certain task.
Part time workers- This is where I would hire staff who just work a certain amount of hours are counted as part time.
Short term contract- This is where I would higher staff only for a short amount of time, like 6 months then I after the 6 months I can dismiss them, or renew the contract.
Which will I use- I will use part time staff, as they will be very flexible, also as I will be working in the shop I will only need staff for some of the time. The laws that I have to comply with when hiring are the:
1975 Sex discrimination act
1976 Race relations act
1944 Disabled persons employment act
How to advertise, hire, and pay the staff?
Which media to use?
There are many different media's that can be for advertising a job. News papers are the most common method of advertising, if you are looking for people to do any job locally then the local paper is best. If you are looking for a senior manager for a national company then you would use a national paper. There are also jib centres, or advertising in a local shop window.
How will I advertise for staff- I will advertise in the local job centre, and the in the window of my shop. This is because in a job centre the advert will be seen by a number of people who want the job. I will also use my shop to advertise so that I can attract a person from the local area.
How will I hire my staff?
The most common method of hiring staff is by using interviews. This is where applicants are short listed, and then asked for a interview. After the interview certain applicants are asked back, and the best is selected.
How I will Hire?- The method of hiring that is would use is interviews. This is because this is the simplest, and easiest method. A interview would give me some idea of what the person would be like if they worked in my shop. I would then have the applicant for a trail period to see if they were suitable. If they were then I would hire them.
How to pay my staff?
The rate that I pay my staff will depend on:
length of training, if I have to train the staff for a long time they may have a low wage for some time to pay for the raining
Qualifications, the more qualifications that a person has then it means that you normally pay more.
Type of job, if the work is manual then the pay rate is low, but If the work is non manual then the pay is higher.
Work conditions, if the person is working in very comfortable places then the pay mat be higher.
Trade unions, if the worker is part of a trade union then they may sometimes get a higher salary.
Also when deciding on what rate I am going to pay my staff I will have to think about the minimum wage. The minimum wage is £4.10 a hour, which is the lowest I can pay. If I pay a higher rate then my staff my feel more valued. Commission could also be used to add on to the basic, this is would reward the staff when they make a sale.
My payment method- The method of payment that I will use is based on the type of the job. If the person that I hire is qualified to carry out televisions repairs, accountants, or any thing else of use then they will be paid more. I will pay £4- £4.50, and I will not offer commission. This is because people do not like sales men who work on commissions. I will pay my self with what is left from the profits. This means that if I am doing very well then I will have a higher pay.
A bank loan is a very common source of eternal finance for a business. The loans is repaid over a certain period of time and interest is paid. The time period can be anything from one year to twenty or more.
How is interest worked out?
Interest must be paid on a loan, this is paid back to the person who lent the money. To figure out the amount of interest that is paid on the loan is worked out by this formula:
Amount borrowed
100 * percentage rate = total interest paid
Nominal rate of interest
This is the rate of interest that is applied to the whole loan from when you take the money to when you pay back the last penny.
Fixed or variable?
The interest that is charged to the loan may be fixed or a variable interest rate. The fixed rate means that it does not change, while the variable can change. The interest rate that is charged depends on:
* The status of the borrower, a small shop may have a higher rate of interest then a large company
* How much money is to be borrowed, and for it will be used for
* The amount of risk that there is, will the borrower be able to repay the loan
* The value of the goods that are used to secure loan (these are taken if the loan is not paid off)
* Bank rate, this interest rate is set by the bank of England, they also set the other interest rates.
Are there any advantages or disadvantages to a bank loan?
A bank loan may be set up quite quickly, in a sole trader business the borrower may have to use there home as security, and interest must be paid on the loan.
My loan, and how much?- The amount of money that I will £ 40,000. This is because when I talked to the owner of a similar shop they said that I would need that much to fit the shop out, and buy stock. The bank at which I would take the loans out at is with Natwest. This loan would be taken out over 5 years at a fixed rate of 5.5 % per month. This would work out as:
5 years = 60 months
£40,000 divided by 60 months = £666.67p
£666.67p* 5.5%= 700.00 + repayments per month