A Business Plan for Cyprus Financials Limited - Report Example

A Business Plan for Cyprus Financials Limited January 15, 2008 I. PESTEL A. Political Analysis The Cyprus government is currently keen on promoting foreign investments in the country. Limassol, being the 2nd biggest city, holds a large number of businesses and investors who thrive on great marketing and sales opportunities in the area. This advocate by the Cypriot government shall give the CFL easy entry into the market, and also gain leverage in terms of positioning, due to the endless prospects of getting clients in the years to come. Since Cyprus welcomes the entry of foreign businesses that would be needing the services of an agency like CFL, there is plenty of chances for the business to succeed. B. Economic Analysis Cyprus is continuously growing in terms of economy. It’s being open to foreign businesses is proof that it aims to grow in strength in terms of entrepreneurship and trade. The economy welcomes the arrival of more entrepreneurial ventures, consequently giving business to financial agencies such as CFL. The free market policy enables small and mid-scale businesses to grow well with the local economy. C. Sociological Analysis Cyprus being a member of the European Union has already been exposed to global trade and economy. It has generally an educated population who considers English as its primary language. D. Technological Analysis Cyprus has already evolved through the years as a highly-technological country. It boasts of good transportation and communications system, even being at par with its European Union counterparts. The living conditions represent a good market for CFL as the city and the country has become globalized not only in terms of economics but of technology as well. Data technology, one of each being the Internet, would be very useful for CFL as this would be the vehicle for it reach a wider market. It will utilize technology to be able to gain its fair share of the market E. Environmental Analysis CFL’s operations don’t have direct impact or contribution to Cyprus’ current environmental issues. F. Legal Analysis Cyprus’ is currently implementing the Acceleration of the Licensing Procedures Related to the Realization of Investments. With this, it has created the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, a government body that assists and approves small to mid-scale entrepreneurial groups. CFL, as start up company, will seek for the assistance of this group to ensure that all Legal issues are covered prior to start of operations. II. SWOT A. Strength CFL’s strength lies on the fresh and tactical approach that its owner shall apply in handling the business. Fresh from intermediate school and brimming with fresh ideas and concepts, CFL would be able to provide the much needed assistance to its clients due to the well-trained account managers who have a network of a support system to make its clients reach their objectives. B. Weaknesses CFL, being a start up company, may encounter difficulties in into the market and penetrating it. Being another new financial agency among a hundred others, CFL has not solid base of customers yet to back them up and give them the needed push to start the business. C. Opportunities Cyprus, as an open-market, provides CFL limitless opportunities in terms of acquiring clients. This is because Cyprus shall continue welcoming foreign investors who would be needing the expert advise of agencies such as CFL D. Threats The most evident threat to CFL is the existence of competitors who have already been in the market for the longest time. The presence of other well-established financial agencies poses a threat to start up companies such as CFL. III. REFLECTIVE ESSAY As learned from classroom discussions, a Business Plan is a guide to ensure that entrepreneurial ventures are planned carefully. It is a formal statement of business goals containing a list of plans for reaching these goals. In my experience, writing a business plan, indeed, enabled me to look at the different facets in planning for a business. What started out as a mere concept became a full-fledged plan of action. Slowly, the business being planned took shape, until the reader could already understand from his perspective the ins and outs of the project. Personally, I feel that I was able to organize my thoughts well while planning out the business. To start the process, I identified the outline that I would be using. This is to ensure that all points that I need to discuss are included in the plan. By this alone, I realized that there are many factors that need to be considered to start up a business. First, I have to be as particular as I could with my goals. Success can be measured only when the objectives are clearly written down. Moreover, it can be seen not just by the efficiency of the business operations or the market feedback, but more importantly through qualitative objectives. For a business to be truly feasible, the owner must learn to aspire for measurable results: revenues as compared to expenses, and the amount of savings the business can derive in between these two factors. As I move on writing down the business plan itself, I also realized that my concepts and ideas need to be supported with facts. As I am aspiring to start up a financial company, I have to know the current industry situation and the other circumstances that would eventually affect my business. With this, thorough research was made, particularly on those areas I have to deal with such as the current trade rules, related tariffs and event the current practice as far as marketing, advertisement and promotions is concerned. I have to determine current rules and costs involved in starting up this kind of business for me to know better how to reach the goals I have set. Along the way, adjustments were made accordingly, to ensure that each goal is achievable given the available resources. I have also encountered many limitations that affected the way I planned the operations process. I decided on sole ownership and as such, the responsibility in carrying out the plans lies solely on my shoulders. I have to know what exactly are the things I can and cannot do to ensure that I am not over committing. Analyzing the financials needed to carry out the business proved to be crucial to the business plan. As the owner, I have to acknowledge that I cannot spend overly much on things such as the office renovation, design and furniture. For as long as the office proves to be safe and meets the regulatory standards of the state, it should be okay. The design of the office doesn’t exactly affect the operations. Clients just need a space conducive for meetings and discussions. As such, I also learned to categorize things depending on the priority. And premium is given on the manpower since this is a service-type of business. Top caliber Account Managers are needed and to sustain this, a budget was allocated for their compensation and benefits. Finally, a good marketing plan is the key to the success of the business. As such, it was necessary for me to research and understand current trends and identify the possible promotional activities needed to further introduce the business. I also realized that to sustain the business, it is crucial to be able to maintain the trust of potential clients as good service to them would mean more referrals to the company. All in all, the experience was enriching. I would say that I learned the essentials in being a good business planner in the future. Reference List Background Note: Cyprus. Retrieved November 27, 2007 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5376.htm#econ Read More