Food and drinks will also be taken care of; a local caterer will be contacted for the occasion. The food has to be suitable for the event and the specifications requested by the client followed. Allergies of any food type must be prioritized.
Location is another important aspect of the service. Although the firm does not offer any areas to hold the event, they have contacts at various hotels, halls and business centers. There are many great options for the clients to pick the right venue.
Staff for food service will be provided by the aforementioned local caterer. Other staff services, such as secretarial services for business events may be requested.
The firm ‘Memoirs’ is committed to putting the client’s needs first. If that is impossible then slight compromises will have to be made. Since the events that the company creates are done so meticulously, the reputation of the host will further raise their standing within the community. This is important as clients will feel good about themselves.
The Unique Selling Proposition of ‘Memoirs’ is that the firm offers flexibility to its client’s so that their needs may be met. In addition, no matter what event the client wants, the company will try and achieve it.
The competition now offers a limited variety of events that they plan. Since they dominate the market, the client’s do not have much of a choice. However, if ‘Memoirs’ breaks into the market, this will all change. The market will now have a choice and they will definitely go to the one that offers them better service, wider choice, greater flexibility and the one that gives them a value for their money.
- Vision and Mission Statement
The vision statement of the firm ‘Memoirs’ is to provide an event planning service that will cater to the needs of each of its clients in the most professional and resourceful manner.
The mission statement of the company is to be the market leader in the country, contribute to society through the execution of events and maintain the level of service, in order to creatively and innovatively accomplish events in the most proficient and practical manner.
The organizational culture of the company:
- ‘Memoirs’ has to provide clients a service that is both and ethical and moral to its consumers.
- The company has to offer clients a service that will give them a value for their money.
- The employees of the company have to treat the clients with utmost respect. This goes likewise for fellow employees.
- There is an open communication policy in which every employee is encouraged to discuss openly regarding execution of events.
- Suggestions and comments will all be taken as constructive criticism and will be an opportunity for the company as a whole to improve.
- All workers of the company are bound to a contract not to release any personal information about any of the clients.
- They are also expected to come to work in smart and professional manner, wearing business attire clothing.
- Hygiene and grooming are a must, since the employees are the face of the company.
- Tardiness will not be tolerated as promptness is an important trait in this type of business.
- The client’s wishes must always come first, it is only when they ask for the company’s opinion does the company give theirs.
- We believe that the client’s wishes have to come first, and we must treat them with the utmost respect and hospitality so that they can establish an element of trust to out company.
- Organizational Plan
The business organizational ethics revolve around the company treating all clients with the same respect no matter what race or religion. The company will provide its services as long as the event being planned will be conducted in a moral fashion and the involvement of the company does not contradict our mission and vision statement.
Since ‘Memoirs is a Limited Liability Company (LLC), the idea is that the owners are financially only responsible for the amount they have invested in the company rather than their personal wealth. Thus, if the firm becomes insolvent, the maximum creditors can receive is the shareholders’ initial investment. The importance of limiting the amount of a shareholders’ liability is that it encourages all those involved to invest with relatively little risk.
This therefore entails the company to write Ltd. at the end of the company name.
- Marketing Plan
The Unique Selling Proposition of ‘Memoirs’ is that the firm offers flexibility to its client’s so that their needs may be met.
In order to meet the marketplace needs, the company has to promote its services as being a good value for money but at the same time professional, prompt and orderly. The primary feature of this firm is that the service being offered is tailored to suit the needs of each client.
In order to effectively sell the service, the company must be well established in an easy-to-find and reputable location. The area must be clean and tidy as these are the first impressions of the client. The company will have direct contact with the clients and no middle man shall be involved. In this way, communication to the client is direct and is communicated more efficiently.
The objective of the firm is to not only provide an event planning service but to also send a message that “a great event can create a thousand memories”. This comes along with the promotional tagline. This is also the manner in which the company name has been conceptualized. ‘Memoirs’ is the French word for memories. The company aims to create memories to those people who have attended any of the client’s events and make sure they will never be forgotten. The way in which this media will be communicated will be through brochures and flyers.
The pricing objective of the company is to initially make sure that the client is getting a value for their money. Since the target market is the upper and middle class, budget constraints are not always necessarily the problem. However, the pricing of the services will be dependent on the amount charged by the suppliers and associates. These include the caterers, entertainers, etc.
In order to make a profit, the client will have to pay 20 percent more of what these services demand. In this way, the 20 percent will be for the company to utilize in whatever means they wish. In addition a service fee of 35 percent will be charged to the client on the total expenses made during the whole planning, production and execution stage. There is a loyalty program that provides clients with a 10 percent off after the third event that they plan with the firm.
Since the target market is the more affluent population of society, the service that will be provided will match that as well. The company plans to personalize all its services to meet the discerning wishes of its clients.
- Growth Plan
To achieve growth within the company, expansion must take place as soon as the company has established a good reputation and sufficient funds are available.
In order to achieve this quickly, market penetration is a must. This is why there is a loyalty program placed for those who frequently demand for our services. After the third event planned with us, they get a 10 percent rebate on the next event that they need planned. Moreover, ‘Memoirs’ plan to dominate the market as the other existing competition does not provide all the services that this firm does. This already gives the company an edge to the other competitor. Development of old techniques is vital to survive the business as well. The latest technology, entertainment, decorations and paraphernalia will be used to create these events to make them memorable. In the future, aside from just planning parties, the company can also extend into creating its own line of party favors.
Keeping in line with the company’s mission statement to be the market leader in the country, contributing to society through the execution of events and maintain the level of service, in order to creatively and innovatively accomplish events in the most proficient and practical manner. The aforementioned development and expansion tactics will be achieved by following the mission statement closely. In addition, since the job description of the accountant is to meet monthly with the director, this will keep the financial growth of the company in check. Therefore, where there is an opportunity for expansion, necessary action will be taken.
Internal and external factors must also be considered so that the growth of the company may not be threatened in the long-run. Yearly assessments of the company and the economic factors will be taken into consideration for the growth and expansion of the firm. This study will be conducted jointly by the Marketing Manager and the Accountant.
- SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The strength of this particular business type is that the market is not saturated. There is only one competitor in the market and so far, and they do not offer the same services that the company does. This puts ‘Memoirs’ already at an advantage. In addition to this, the company offers a specialized service that will cater to the unique needs of each of its customers. This has never been done before and therefore, this an innovative approach to the business.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of ‘Memoirs’ is that most employees are relatively new to the business with no prior work experience in the field of event planning. This will therefore affect the first few clients that the company will manage. Initially, losses might be made and this puts the company at risk. However, as the employees start to possess the skills necessary for surviving in the business, there will be fewer losses made and hopefully profits will start to come in.
Opportunities
The opportunity of this firm to become the market leader is big since there is only one competitor and their service does not match that of ‘Memoirs’. Another opportunity for the company is that if it really becomes successful, the firm can start to make their own line of part favors, place settings, décor, etc. This will include contracting entertainers and service staff to work directly for the company. This gets rid of the middleman or the supplier. In this way, more profits may be made.
Threats
In a few years, if another firm plans to compete with ‘Memoirs’ and their services are better than that of this company, and they use more cutting edge technology than the company, more clients will shift to their service. This must be avoided at all costs. This will mean that all staff must go on regular training for the field that they specialize in order to keep up with the modern and new discriminating tastes of the clients.
- Executive Summary
The business concept of ‘Memoirs’ is to offer an event planning service accessible to the public. The focus of the company is to target the upper and middle class population and offer to create their events for them. Event planning and execution will be performed in the most professional and proficient manner.
The business will be a successful one as the market is not yet saturated and there is only one competitor so far. In addition, there is little chance of the company failing as there has been a trend and rise in events and parties being hosted.
In order to accomplish goals that have been set by the company in its mission and vision statement, the company has to closely worked with its clients and also other support staff such as suppliers, caterers and entertainers. Only through this can the company achieve high quality and standards in its service.
The financing required for this type of business will probably be about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars as initial set up cost. This will be used to rent an office in a reputable area, pay for utilities, and also services rendered by caterers, entertainers, suppliers and support staff. The start up money will mostly come from those employees working within the company itself. This makes them shareholders. The remaining amount will be loaned from the bank and be financed. The accountant will initially work very closely with this so that the loan can be paid off immediately. The next focus will then be to make profits.
Since ‘Memoirs is a Limited Liability Company (LLC), the idea is that the owners are financially only responsible for the amount they have invested in the company rather than their personal wealth. Thus, if the firm becomes insolvent, the maximum creditors can receive is the shareholders’ initial investment. The importance of limiting the amount of a shareholders’ liability is that it encourages all those involved to invest with relatively little risk.
