Tips of Family Business and Pitfalls to Avoid - Case Study Example

Case Study Tips of family business and pitfalls to avoid Like other businesses, a family business has its own challenges and pitfalls. One of the tips that I would offer Cooper and Schwinoff about family members who start business together is that they should have safely kept financial planning documents. According to Kaneff (2011), this helps in avoiding having one of the family members claiming more than what he is entitled in terms of profits. Another tip is that family members who start business together should have mutual trust. Lack of mutual trust makes family members to act as watchdogs over each other thus failing in their responsibilities in the business. The pitfalls I would advise them to avoid are unprofessional handling of certain roles in the business and unequal sharing of responsibilities. They should either outsource some responsibilities or employ experts to handle certain roles in the business. Form of business ownership that Cooper and Schwinoff could have used Several forms of business ownerships exist that could be adapted by several people forming a business. These business ownerships include sole proprietorship, partnership, private held corporation, and public held corporation (Madura, 2006). I would have advised Cooper and Schwinoff to use a private held corporation as their form of business ownership. This is because the liabilities of a privately owned corporation are limited and it could be easily expanded by inviting other people. This makes business ownership very suitable for the kind of business formed by these two family members. Zatswho’s target market Target market consists of the potential customers of the company’s products. The potential groups of people that make up Zatswho’s target market are parents with small children and teachers of early childhood centers. Parents with small children would need the products of this company to educate their children about their family member. Moreover, they would need the products to provide entertainment to their children. Teachers of early childhood care centers would need the products for entertaining the children as well as educating them about various issues in their surroundings. Guerrilla marketing strategy Guerrilla marketing strategy is essential for the business that ihas been established by this two family members. This is because the business would be dealing with products that are not common in the market. To form such a strategy, the two individuals will need to plan their marketing strategy and effectively implement their plan. In planning, the key points that the two individuals should consider are quantifying marketing goals, identifying their competitive advantage, addressing the target audience, identifying the marketing weapon, discuss company’s market niche, establish the identity of the company, and make a marketing budget (Karatko, 2008). Employment of the above key points in making a guerrilla marketing strategy would result to an effective strategy for Zatswho Company. Memo To: Trish Cooper and Carrie Schwinoff From: (Insert Names Here) Date: (Insert the date here) Topic: Guerrilla Marketing Strategy for Zatswho Cards Guerrilla marketing strategy is essential for any organization aiming to increase its customer base. Zatswho Company requires such a strategy. Several key points exist for consideration when making a Guerrilla Marketing Strategy. One of the key points that you should consider when making your guerrilla marketing strategy is identifying and quantifying marketing goals (Karatko, 2008). Marketing goals defines what a company aims to achieve in its marketing process. They identify the potential customers and determine the percentage of these potential customers that should be accessed within a specified period. If you apply this point, you are likely to increase your customer-base with a great percentage. Another key point necessary when making a guerrilla marketing strategy is the identification of company’s competitive advantage (Karatko, 2008). As key managers in the business, you should identify what makes your company the preference of the customers looking for entertainment and educative products for their children. In this case, you have the advantage of dealing with a product that has no direct competitors. However, your business has several indirect competitors. Moreover, direct competitor might emerge as the market grows. Therefore, it is necessary to identify what can make you have the greatest market share when designing your guerrilla marketing strategy. According to Karatko (2008), the other two key points when making a guerrilla marketing strategy are addressing target audience and selecting a marketing weapon. Addressing the target audience is necessary in revealing the measures needed in the marketing activities. Moreover, it assists in the selection of the marketing weapon to use in the identified audience. Identification of marketing weapon on the other hand assists in minimizing the resources allocated to the marketing activities. I would advise you to employ these two points when designing a guerrilla marketing strategy for your business. Discussing company’s market niche and establishing the identity of the company are two other points that you should consider when making your guerrilla marketing strategy (Karatko, 2008). This is because the strategy would be greatly influenced by these two points. The point of discussing the market niche of the company would establish the challenges and setbacks found in the market. This would assist you in coming up with a guerrilla marketing strategy that would be able to overcome these challenges. Establishing of the company’s identity on the other hand would help to identify the factors that might influence the marketing approach chosen for the guerrilla marketing strategy. Therefore, these two points are essential for designing an effective guerrilla marketing strategy for your business. Processes adapted by businesses in their operation must be economically viable. This means that they should not consume more funds than they can be able to generate. To identify the cost of a business process budgeting is required. The other point that you should consider when making a guerrilla marketing strategy for your business is the budget of the strategy (Karatko, 2008). This would indicate the amount of money that you plan to use in marketing your business. Moreover, it would compare this amount with the estimated outcome of the marketing process to reveal its viability. If the process turns up to unviable, you should either reduce the budget or abandon the strategy and design a new one. Recommended Improvements on the Zatswho’s website Zatswho’s website has necessary information for marketing the products provided by this business. However, it requires some improvements in order to convey the information in a more effective manner. One of the improvements required in this website is making it more professional. This could be done by introduction of a brief statement of the mission and vision of the company on the home page. The reason for this is that majority of potential customers access the homepage first when using an online search engine. Another improvement that would be necessary in the website of this organization is accompanying the products advertised on their website with price tags. This would enable potential customers who access the website to be able to make their decisions of purchasing the products. References Kaneff, M. (2011). Taking Over: Insider Tips from a Third Generation CEO. New York, NY: Ten Eagles Press. Karatko, D. F. (2008). Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning Ltd. Karatko, D. F. (2008). Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning Ltd. Modura, J. (2006). Introduction to Business. Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education Ltd. Read More