Marketing Proposal Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

Your full full March 09, Marketing Proposal Entrepreneurship Success of any business depends mainly on the management policies applied by the managers or an entrepreneur. A business is considered profitable and successful when it provides profit and benefits in return of the investment done by the owner of that business. A business owner needs to consider many factors for starting a new business in order to make the business successful and profitable. Some of the core factors include cost of running the business, hiring of employees, proper budgeting technique, products and services to be delivered to the customers, marketing plan, and analysis of competitors. We are planning to start a product-oriented business related to the hospitality sector. The business we have planned for is a bakery where ready-made and custom-designed cakes, biscuits, bread, cookies, and many other delicious products that will be sold to the customers. Being the new owner of a new bakery in Colorado, we would need to develop an effective business plan and conduct environment analysis to give a good start to the business. General Description As mentioned above, we have planned for opening a new product-based business in Lakewood, Colorado. The idea is to open a bakery and provide a wide range of bakery products of the highest quality to the customers so that they always think of this bakery as their first choice. We will have all items available in the bakery which people love to eat. For example, there will be a wide range of wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and occasion cakes. Similarly, there will be a huge variety of biscuits, cookies, and pastas available for the customers. The bakery will be located in the Lakewood area because the level of competition is relatively low in that area as compared to other parts of Colorado, such as, Denver and Parker. The low level of competition at the early stages of the business will help us establish our name and making a strong customer base in that area. We will have one location during the first couple of years. After first two years, we will start expanding our business to other parts of Colorado as well as to other nearby states but all of that will depend upon the level of success which we will achieve in the initial years of business. We will meet the double/triple bottom line by focusing on the delivery of quality products to our precious customers. Ensuring Sustainability We will take special measures to ensure a favorable impact on the environment. We will adhere to the principles of corporate social responsibility as well as those of sustainability. Protection of the environment will be one of our prime objectives. Going green is the key to build high reputation for the business (Brooks). We will develop an efficient waste management system in order to ensure that our business do not produce any sort of harm to the outside environment. We have also planned to involve community as much as we can not only in improving our services but also in building our image, we will do this by arranging ‘All For You’ program twice a year in which half-price meal will be served to the public and different forms of entertainment will be provided to them. Target Market Our target market will include every person living in Colorado or any other area. There are no restrictions of any type for our target market. The reason behind this is that bakery business has nothing to do with the make-up of the target market. Any person can go to any bakery to buy his/her desired bakery products. However, in our case, one thing will be different. We will be mainly targeting the lower income people and families because we believe that if a hospitality company achieves success in gaining the trust of lower income families by providing them with high quality products at lower prices, it becomes very famous among that population which ultimately leads to rapid growth. Therefore, we will be keeping the prices of our products comparatively low at least for the initial couple of years. Difference from Competitors Every business has some potential competitors. Two of the main competitors of our business will be the Elegant Bakery and Simply Cakes. Our bakery will be different from its competitors in that the products will be scratch-made from a range of locally sourced ingredients. Moreover, we will be carrying gluten-free products, as well as a wide range of dairy-free products to maintain sensitivity to special diets. Health will be our focus along with quality. We will be providing light sugar cakes and biscuits to the health-conscious customers. Moreover, we will be providing another facility to the customers, which will be custom designs for cakes. Customers will be able to come up with their own designs and our skilled chefs will discuss the specifications with the customers to design the cakes accordingly. “A bakery with a niche market, such as a cupcake bakery, might focus more on its ability to do custom cupcake designs for special occasions” (Hirsh 1). Along with these efforts, we will be having extended hours from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., which will allow the customers to come to the shop even in the earliest and midnight times. Moreover, we will be providing all bakery products at discount on every Saturday. None of our competitors does this at the moment. We believe that these little efforts will definitely help us build a strong image in the minds of our precious customers. As far as our internal strengths are concerned, these will be quality, customer focus, very clean and attractive environment, and a skilled team of chefs. We will be targeting the external opportunities, such as, occasions for arranging programs and events for public and social websites for promoting our business. Competitors Although there are many competitors operating their businesses in different areas of Colorado, but Elegant Bakery and Simply Cakes are going to our main primary and secondary competitors respectively. Given below is a short description of the business of these two bakeries. The ways to reduce the risks posed by them are also described below. Elegant bakery Elegant Bakery offers their customers classical European style delectable baked goods. They present premium quality cakes and pastries using fine natural ingredients to their customers. Quality, customer satisfaction, and attention to detail are the three main success factors for this primary competitor. The market share of this bakery is quite high at the moment. We will be providing custom designed cakes and gluten free products to our customers to build our customer base and draw our share from that of the Elegant bakery. Simply Cakes Our secondary competitor will be Simply Cakes. Although this bakery only provides cakes to the customers, but the cakes are of extraordinary quality. It is often said that a customer who eats a piece of cake by Simply Cakes never wants to go to any other bakery to buy cakes. This is the main threat we will be facing from this company. Moreover, they also provide custom designed cakes to their customers, so had to plan something more innovative to beat the specialty of this bakery. We decided to reduce the threat of less number of cake customers by setting low prices for the custom designed cakes. We believe that through continuous efforts, lesser price, and quality, we will be able to build a strong customer base for our bakery products, particularly for cakes. Marketing of the Business Implementation of an effective marketing plan is a key towards success of a business (Mikoluk). “The goal of advertising is very direct - make the viewer buy a product or service” (Duenas). To develop a good first year service strategy, an entrepreneur must know how to integrate marketing and advertising techniques in the strategy. We have developed a well-structured advertising strategy to promote our business. During the first year, we will make use of billboards and newspapers to advertise the products offered by the bakery. We will also use newspaper and television advertising to make people aware of the new bakery in town. There will also be special discounts on the placement of special orders which will help us attract a large number of low income customers. Moreover, we will also promote our bakery through social websites, such as, Twitter and Facebook. “Give your bakery a friendly and active presence on social media sites to keep customers, friends and group members updated on specials, new items and discounts” (Hill 1). The prices of the products will also be less as compared to the competitors as we will be mainly targeting the low-income families. There will also be a scheme of giving a free $5 card to the customer who makes purchase of $50 or more and a $10 card for the customer who reaches the limit of $75 on one visit. We believe that such schemes will definitely help us in attracting a large number of customers during the initial years of the business. Positioning Statement For the lower income people of Colorado, provision of low in cost but high in quality products will be a very productive step by the company because people of lower middle usually cannot afford going to highly specialized bakeries to buy high quality cakes and other bakery products. Works Cited Brooks, Sarah. “How Going Green Can Help Your Company’s Reputation.” Sustainablebusinessforum.com, 07 Feb. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. Duenas, Joaquin. “The Importance of Advertising.” Ezinearticles.com, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. Hill, Brian. “The Strengths of a Bakery Company.” Chron.com, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. Hirsh, Anne. “What Is a Bakery Concept Statement?.” Chron.com, n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. Mikoluk, Kasia. “The Importance of Marketing: 10 Reasons You Can’t Afford Not to Market Your Business.” Udemy.com, 28 Jun. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2014. Read More