Business Plan for Soccer Nation Company - Case Study Example

Executive Summary Soccer Nation Company is a limited sports store that will be situated in Boston. The store is premier soccer merchandising retail shop in the area. This location is strategic as it will provide Soccer Nation with a target market that is soccer savvy and ready to purchase soccer related products. The young population of Boston will make a perfect target market for the sports kits, equipment, gifts, souvenirs and custom items that will on sale in the store. The prices of the products will be generally at the same level as those offered by other companies. This will ensure that Soccer Nation’s business remains as competitive as the others which are already established. The store is a Limited Partnership that is owned mostly by Steve Thomason and Esther McKenna who control a 40 and 30% stake of the company. The main objective of the store is to be the leading provider of top quality soccer products around Boston. The store will make it possible for its customers to sample and enjoy its wide selection of products which are specifically made to make the sporting experience an enjoyable one. The target market for Soccer Nation will be anyone from the age of 10 to 40. Most soccer enthusiasts fall under this age group and they are also some of the most frequent buyers of soccer items. Soccer Nation wants to be the one stop shop for all people, young and old, who want to enjoy high quality soccer products. Soccer is without a doubt one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. However, there remains a huge deficit in the market since the suppliers of soccer items are very few. Over the last years or so, soccer as a sport has made tremendous achievements in the US and its fan base is growing each day. This has meant that the market for soccer merchandise is expanding at a fast rate, thereby presenting a great opportunity for start up businesses such as Soccer Nation. Boston is a perfect location as it is home to several universities and colleges, which contain many local and international students, the majority of soccer products’ consumers. At this location, the products will be available at a competitive price similar to that offered by other companies. The promotional strategy for this specific group of people will include free passes and tickets to soccer matches. The soccer merchandising industry in the US is marked by a clear lack of competition. The only serious competition for soccer items in the Boston area is from companies such as Nike, Olympia and City Sports which offer a variety of sports paraphernalia unlike Soccer Nation which is planning to concentrate on soccer items only. Since there is no other store that specializes in soccer merchandising, Soccer Nation will face very little competition. This will enable it to establish itself in this particular market, hence developing a competitive advantage that is likely o benefit it in future. The people who will be in charge of running the day to day operations at the store are all well experienced in their various fields of expertise. They are also dedicated individuals whose only purpose is to ensure that Soccer Nation establishes itself into a sports powerhouse to reckon with not only in Boston, but in the rest of the country as well. Company Outline Soccer Nation is a limited proprietorship that is located in, Boston, Maryland. Esther McKenna and Steve Thomason are the founders and executives of this company. Steve Thomason is the majority owner, with a 40% ownership. Esther McKenna owns a 30% share while Michael Lutherfield, Moses Blundell and Richard Travis own 10% each. The company’s main aim is to provide high quality soccer merchandise at an affordable cost. The mission of Soccer nation is: To offer high quality and affordable soccer merchandise to its customers in Boston. The company’s vision is: To become the leading supplier of sports items and services in Boston. Some of the strengths and competencies of Soccer Nation include offering top quality soccer merchandise for soccer lovers across the city of Boston. Many of the products that will be on offer will be sourced from top sports manufacturers across the world. Customers will also be able to enjoy customized services as they will have a chance of purchasing items that are made according tot heir personal tastes and preferences. Some of the products that will be on offer at the store will include: sports kits, equipment, gifts, souvenirs and custom soccer items. Soccer Nation aims to reach a market share of 15-20% by the end of its first year. The company also plans to achieve sales figures of approximately $70,000 for its first year and the figure is expected to go up by 10 to 15% after that. With a most capable management team, the company will achieve its major goal which is to be the biggest and most trusted supplier of top quality soccer paraphernalia to soccer fans in Boston. Products The products that will be sold at Soccer Nation are sports kits, equipment, gifts, souvenirs and custom items. There will also be sports fashion and training merchandise that will be on sale at the store. The kits will include: short and long sleeve jerseys, socks, soccer shoes, shorts and cleats. These products will be for customers of all ages and gender. All the sports kits will be sourced from well known sports designers so as to ensure that quality is not overlooked. The sports equipment that will be on sale includes: soccer balls, whistles, trolley bags, goalkeeper gloves and equipment, gym bags, wallets and backpacks. The equipment will be from well known sports manufacturers, both international and local. Souvenirs will include: flags, stationery, badges, toys, computer games and car accessories. The store will sell souvenir items that all customers will find attractive. The souvenirs with graphics of different soccer teams will be available for customers of all ages and gender. Gifts will include: jewelry, DVDs, books, watches and calendars. Custom items will be available depending on the preferences of the customers. Customers from all walks of life are likely to get gifts they will love from Soccer Nation. Fashion merchandise that will be on sale at the store will include: caps, scarves, nightwear, hoodies, knitwear, shirts and track tops. In keeping with modern fashion trends, Soccer Nation will offer avid soccer fans fashion merchandise with graphics of their favorite teams. Training items will include: training magazines and videos, jackets, polo shirts and sweaters, pants, t-shirts, truck suits and training tops. The store will offer different training items not only to soccer fans, but also to soccer players. The products are designed to give the customer a wonderful training experience. The pricing of the store’s items will be similar to that offered by our top competitors such as Olympia, Nike and City Sports. However, the store will offer flexible pricing of those products that are specifically related to soccer. This is due to the fact that such items are rarely available in Boston, and their international pricing also varies. Cleats and soccer jerseys are likely to be the most popular items on sale in the store and this is where a huge percentage of the company’s income is likely to come from. Therefore, the pricing of these products is likely to be slightly higher than other products. Pricing the store’s products like other companies will ensure that Soccer Nation does not loose its customers based on uncompetitive prices as the company will be competing at the same level with its major competitors. The only competitor who sells products that are of high quality as those that will be offered by Soccer Nation is Nike. However, the store’s collection is quite limited and this will make it possible for Soccer Nation to offer its products at slightly a higher price than offered at Nike. The company will have the added advantage of having a wider collection of soccer items, thus attracting as many or more customers than Nike, or any other competitor for that matter. Having customized products that are also of very high quality will also help attract a sizable number of customers to Soccer Nation. Market Analysis Soccer is without a doubt one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. However, there remains a huge deficit in the market since the suppliers of soccer items are very few. Over the last years or so, soccer as a sport has made tremendous achievements in the US and its fan base is growing each day (Abrams and Kleiner 56). By 2007, there were about 14 million soccer players and more than 2 million households had soccer participants in the US alone. Most of the soccer players in the country are aged below 18 years, but it the sport does reach far and beyond this age group. Active soccer families are very important soccer merchandise market as they are also the most active consumers of soccer products and services (57). In the US there are two well known as established soccer leagues: the Major League Soccer and the US Soccer League. These two leagues boast of more than 16 member clubs. With the arrival of well known international players such as David Beckham, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg help catapult the popularity of the sport in the country (245). This has meant that the market for soccer merchandise is expanding at a fast rate, thereby presenting a great opportunity for start up businesses such as Soccer Nation. Soccer Nation will be located in a place where there is a large concentration of consumers of soccer products. Boston is a perfect location as it is home to several universities and colleges, which contain many local and international students, the majority of soccer products’ consumers. At this location, the products will be available at a competitive price similar to that offered by other companies such as Nike. Students are not the only target customers for Soccer Nation; the older population is also part of the target market for the store’s products. The promotional strategy for this specific group of people will include free passes and tickets to soccer matches. Soccer Nation’s target market will be all the soccer fans in Boston. The target market will be composed of people aged between 10 and 40, from all genders and social backgrounds. This seems like it is the ideal age group to target for this kind of business since they are the most active in the sport of soccer, either as fans or players. Boston is a big city that has a large population of young soccer enthusiasts. Over the years, there have been many changes within the market as more and more people in America get drawn to the soccer craze that is common in the rest of the world (308). The number of people who count themselves as avid soccer fans in Boston alone has more than doubled in the last few years. This has meant booming business for sports businesses that specialize in the sale of soccer items. The main focus of Soccer Nation will be on college students and other young people who are passionate about soccer and have the financial capability of purchasing soccer merchandise. Competition In the US, the sports merchandising industry is one of the most successful in the world. However, competition in the soccer merchandising subsector is not as intense as in other subsectors such as football, hockey and athletics. However, soccer merchandising is slowly catching up in the market (311). In Boston, there is a lack of serious competition as most of the sports stores, such as Olympia and City Sports do not deal with a specific kind of sport. Instead they offer sports items of all kinds, meaning that they have a very limited stock of soccer items on sale. Nike is also a major competitor since they have high quality soccer items that they offer to their clients. Olympia, City Sports and Nike are the main or direct competitors of Soccer Nation. This is because they are the only stores within the vicinity of Boston that deal with sports items that are exclusive to soccer. These three companies are well established within the Boston market and they all post impressive profit margins every year. This is their major strength. Their major weakness is based on the fact that they do not have a wide collection of merchandise for the increasing population of soccer enthusiasts (328). Nike commands the largest market share of 38%, followed by Olympia which has a total market share of 26%. City Sports commands a market share of 16%. For the start, Soccer Nation will aim at reaching a market share of 15% to 20%. There is a great opportunity in the Boston soccer merchandise market which too good to ignore. The other sports retail stores have left a huge gap which Soccer Nation can fill by offering exclusively soccer items to the Boston population (334). As the soccer fan base continues to expand, more and more people will be purchasing different soccer items and since the stores that offer soccer merchandise are not that many, Soccer Nation is sure to make a name for itself in this particular market. Taking advantage of the absence of clear competition in the market will enable Soccer Nation to firmly establish itself and gain competitive advantage if and when other similar stores come up within the Boston vicinity. People Working in the Company The management team of the Soccer Nation store will be composed of: Steve Thomason as the company’s chief executive. Steve has got more than 10 years experience as a manager in different sales companies. He has spent six of these years managing a medium size sports store in the suburbs of Boston. This means that he has got first hand experience of what the sports market is like in the Boston area. His experience will help the Soccer nation establish itself among the soccer enthusiasts of Boston. Esther McKenna will be the companies assistant CEO. She has spent eight years in the sports retail sector and this puts her in a good position to steer Soccer Nation toward achieving its goals and objectives. Esther is also a true soccer fan as she is from a soccer oriented family. This means that she knows and understands exactly what customers will want in their soccer products. Her knowledge will go a long way in enabling the company fulfill the needs and wants of all of its customers. Michael Lutherfield will be in charge of the store’s finances. Every business needs to have a proper financial structure that will help it run its operations smoothly. Michael has been an accountant in a local bank and a busy retail store in Boston for the last seven years. Moses Blundell will be in charge of the sales and marketing department of the company. His five years of experience in a busy retail store will come in handy as it will enable him oversee the day to day sales operations of the company. He will also be in charge of ensuring that as many people as possible get to know about the products offered by the store. Richard Travis will be the man in charge of customer relations. As a retail store, Soccer Nation will need to ensure that its customers are well served. Richard will be in charge of not only ensuring that customers are happy and content with the products and services offered at the store, he will also ensure that they remain loyal to the store’s products. Work Cited Abrams, Rhonda and Eugene Kleiner. The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies. San Diego, CA: The Planning Shop, 2003. Print. Read More