Mobile Beauty Business - Assignment Example

MOBILE BEAUTY BUSINESS al Affiliation) Keywords: Beauty, Social Media Introduction Glorious mobile beauty shop will offer a wide variety of beauty services. The services range from eyelash extension, manicures, massage, and hairdressing services. There are several requirements for starting a mobile beauty shop. First, correct equipment are needed for the business to start operating. Some of the requirements range from a car for transporting the equipment, portable couches, and a trolley for moving the kits. Accounting for the startup cost and other additional costs is crucial. Creativity and Innovation Creativity is the ability to conceive an original idea. It involves the creating new ideas by merging and modifying existing ideas to meet a certain need in the market. In addition, it is the ability of accepting changes and novelty. Creativity is driven by individual’s interest, passion, and the existing market problem and not by external pressure. Additionally, creativity is made up of three component: innate motivation, creative thinking, and expertise. On the other hand, innovation is the implementation of a new idea that provides an entrepreneur with a competitive advantage. The element of innovation distinguishes a successful business from the rest. Therefore, innovation increases the business competitiveness through rejuvenating and redefining an existing idea. Creativity is subjective; it cannot be measured while an innovation is measurable. Market Opportunity In the U.K., the beauty industry is a big business. There are numerous beauticians and beauty salons offering the beauty conscious populace with a large number of competent cosmetologists (Erdomus & Cicek, 2012, p.1354). In today’s world, women and men are increasingly becoming conscious of their looks. As a result, the demand for high-quality treatments and reliable beauticians is great. Mobile beauty shops provide treatment to customers at their homes. In addition, they provide reliable and accessible services to the clients. The business requires a beautician to travel to clients and provide them with beauty treatments in the comfort of their homes. The Market Problem In UK, the beauty industry is catching up with dynamics of modern day lives. An average middle-aged British woman spends over 40 hours per week on full time work. As a result, the demand for mobile grooming has rose dramatically. . In the U.K., the number of mobile beauty parlors is lower compared to countries such as the U.S. The existing mobile beauty shops are not enough to cover the ever rising for the grooming services. However, to venture into the business one must love the industry and must be ready to learn. Outstanding skills in customer service are also vital; they will help the business maintain a loyal customer base. Low startup cost is required to venture into the business, due to a minimal overhead costs. For instance, a mobile beautician does not have to pay excessive rates to rent a beauty salon. Devoid of the financial burden of renting a premise, a mobile beauty shop can provide its services at a fair price. As a result, it has the potential of attracting a considerable number of customers Opportunities Social Media Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are vital to a mobile beautician business. Social networking will allow the business to reach out to its potential client without spending a lot on advertisements. In addition, it will aid the business in creating a personal bond with the current customers. There are several benefits of social media to the business. However, for a business to enjoy the benefits, it will require a lot of dedication and work. Purpose of Social Media Facebook and Twitter connect millions of people around UK and the world. Most of these people could be potential customers, partners, and employees of the business, therefore, it important for the company to embrace the opportunity to engage in the lives of its customers. Such sites provide an open forum to which everyone is invited to make new friends and share ideas, experiences and ambitions. Before a client can engage the services of the business, most of them want more information on the company. Both Facebook and Twitter have become standard research tools. Therefore engaging with potential customers on social media develops a relationship (Vukanovic, 2011 p.101). In addition, the company can answer questions, and ensure that customers get a positive experience from the business. Satisfied customers provide affirmative feedback concerning the services of the business on social media. As a result, the comments attract more customers. Social media provides an avenue for publishing material relevant to the business. Interested customers interact with the content by commenting or reaching out to the business. Responding to feedbacks allows the company to create a loyal following. For instance, it may lead to a huge following on the business Twitter handle or more ‘likes’ on its Facebook page. A huge social media following will help the company build a community of people that demands its beauty services. Effective use of social media translates to excellent opportunities for the business. However, it requires planning and commitment. The online technology is developing and evolving at a rapid pace (Erdomus & Cicek, 2012, p.1357). Appropriate use of interaction tools helps to enhance the product brand and boost the business profile. Social media is a cost effective mode of marketing the services of Glorious Beauty Shop. In addition, social media generates a tremendous impact from a minimum investment. It will also allow the business to build a community of consumer interested in its services. Glorious mobile beauty shop will incorporate its public relation strategy to social media. As a result, it will expand the brand of the business and will get more people to talk about its positive attributes (Erdomus & Cicek, 2012, p.1356). Additionally, having a huge following on both Twitter and Facebook suggest that the business is on the cutting edge and it is keeping up with the emerging trend. Threats and Challenges On the other hand, there are challenges that the business will face in trying to manage social media campaigns. Social media can consume a lot of time and may become a potential barrier to the business objectives. While the social media offer the business a chance of building a customer base, negative feedbacks are at time demoralizing. Interaction with people online should be in such a way that it does not compromise the image of the company. To overcome the challenge, it is important to develop a social media strategy. The plan will include a set of guidelines on how to manage social media. Business Analysis Social media is the most reliable tool for marketing mobile beauty services. The target market of the business can be easily accessed through it. Most of the business potential customers are working middle-aged women who have less time on their hands. A significant number of them spend a considerable amount of time on the internet specifically on social media. As a result, social media is a more reliable means of marketing than through the word of mouth or issuing flyers (Evans, D., & Cothrel, J. 2014, p.90). As earlier stated Facebook and Twitter offers the business a crucial marketing avenue. In the UK, Twitter is more popular than Facebook among the middle-aged women. On the hand, Facebook is popular among women of fifty years and above. The middle-aged women are tech-savvy than older women. As a result, Glorious Mobile Beauty Shop intends to exploit this niche by primarily focusing its marketing campaign on Twitter. The business will engage the services of a social media agency on the best way of conducting an effective marketing campaign on Twitter. Online Market Analysis According to recent statistics, Facebook has close to 31 million users. However, it is becoming less popular since most of the Facebook subscribers are inactive. The largest demographic of the users are between the ages of 25 and 34 years. The younger generations and are less active Facebook users since it is no longer cool for them. The middle-aged women are also inactive on Facebook. Therefore, the platform is a less reliable marketing medium for Glorious Beauty Shop. Based on recent statistics, the number of Twitter users has grown exponentially since its launch. The research estimates that it has 15 million users out of which 80% are active. In addition, the study revealed that most of the users prefer to read rather than to tweet. For a business whose goal is to increase its social media presence, it is imperative to note that the audience may fail to respond but are likely to absorb the message passed on. In the U.K., Twitter is increasingly becoming an everyday life aspect for many (Erdomus & Cicek, 2012, p.1358). Therefore, this means that it offers the best avenue for Glorious Mobile Beauty shop since most of the active users are beauty conscious. Competitor Analysis Beauty on wheel and Return to Glory are U.K. largest mobile beauty shops in terms of social media following. Both Mobile beauty shops have a Twitter following of close to 20, 000 followers. In addition, they also have a huge presence on Facebook (Wikstrom, & Ellonen, 2012, p. 67). Objectives and Goals The business primary objective is to build a significant social media presence since the platform offers a number of opportunities to the business. The business will strive to create a personal relation with the customers through the social media. As a result, it will boost the company profile within the cosmetic industry. Creative Culture in an Organization The management of an organization should strive to encourage the employees to embrace creativity in there operations (Berger, 2011, p. 89). It should initiate mechanism for providing incentive to employees in order to promote innovation. For instance, allotting the organization shares for any idea generated makes them feel part of the organization. The organization should provide opportunities for all employees to use their creative aspect. For instance, sponsoring the employee for further learning translates to specialization that in turn promotes creativity. Barriers to Creativity Old beliefs and assumption among consumers restrict openness to new ideas and suppress creative and innovative processes. People prefer to maintain the status quo due to the fear of the unknown. For instance, consumers are less likely to embrace to a new product or service due to their personal beliefs or values. Most creative and innovative initiative often faces resistance. It is the human nature to be uncomfortable with change or when confronting new product and services. In an organization, the management tends to resist new ideas due to uncertainties and the possible difficulty in measuring the return on investment. Summary and Recommendation The effects of the barriers to creativity and innovation range from the dejection of possible change or misconception of the idea. Regardless of the insignificance of a barrier, it can still cripple an innovative and creative initiative. As a result, it is important to identify the barriers while understanding it is natural for people to resist change. Through a cognizant effort to overcome the barriers to creativity, a business can move past them and embrace creativity. References Berger, A. 2011. Ads, fads, and consumer culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Erdoğmuş, İ. E., & Cicek, M. 2012. The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, 1353-1360. Evans, D., & Cothrel, J. 2014. Social customer experience. Indianapolis, Ind.: Sybex/John Wiley & Sons. Vukanovic, Z. 2011. New Media Business Models in Social and Web Media. Journal Of Media Business Studies, 8(3), 51-67. doi:10.1080/16522354.2011.11073526 Wikstrom, P., & Ellonen, H. 2012. The Impact of Social Media Features on Print Media Firms’ Online Business Models. Journal Of Media Business Studies, 9(3), 63-80. doi:10.1080/16522354.2012.11073552 Read More