Business Knowledge - Essay Example

Title of the module: The assignment: The date: Word count: 1100 Student number: The paper aims at measuring the level of understanding that has been gained throughout the course. Business knowledge is very important for any venture to be successful. Using different seminars the paper explains the knowledge in different areas that lead to development of a successful business. In this paper I will explain how participating in SimVenture have helped me to understand marketing of a business and how to realize full potential of a given business. Seminar one is very important for each and every business aspects because it lays the base under which the business will grow to realizing its full potential. I learnt that it is important to have a feasibility study in form of a market research to be able to know if the intended venture will be able to give returns to the business. Any new business should carry out a market research for it to identify the possible competition in the field. This will help the business to draw strategies on how to counter competition (West, Ford, and Ibrahim, 2010). The research also helps the business to look at how other businesses in the field are performing so as not to venture in a loss led business. Also I learnt that proper planning is essential for any business to survive. The reason behind this is that any time lost in business leads to a lot of negative consequences. Therefore, a business to be successful there must be a clearly drawn plan that should be followed to the letter and can be modified in case there is need to do so. A business without a clear plan ventures incurs unnecessary expenses because of doing so many activities at the same time. This leads to low productivity which leads the business into losses. The reason behind losses is that the company spends more than its income. Low productivity means that all the resources owned by the company are not fully utilized for example in seminar one the labour force was not fully utilized (Buil, Chernatony and Hem, 2009). In seminar two I learnt that for business to be successful it should have a marketing strategy. The marketing strategy will help identify a market segment. It is also important to identify a market segment where the company will sell its products this helps produce what is to be sold. A market for a company’s product is very important because it is the determinant of what the company should produce at a given specific time. A business with a ready and a wide market will do better than that one with a limited market. This will help utilize the workforce to full capacity because production will be continuous (Buil, Chernatony and Hem, 2009). This will help solve the problem of overproduction where a product will be more than one month old leading to cancellation of orders. It will also solve the problem of underproduction where an order is cancelled because it was not delivered in time. This helps work on customers’ orders as they come. Since the current location does not favour the company’s marketing strategy there is need for relocation. Seminar three helped learn on how to choose business locations that will help the company increase its sales. A prime location is important for any business to market itself and be able to sell its products to its target market. I have also learnt that there is need for modification of products designs to suit customer’s need and to win competitors customers (West, Ford, and Ibrahim, 2010). A unique design will always attract new customers from your competitors. It is also important to have a high competent staff and, therefore; there should be recruiting body charged with this task. I have also learnt that it is important to keep on training staff to ensure they are up to date with the needs of the customers and keep on modifying the current designs. It is also important to have necessary workforce to avoid scenarios where the labour force is dormant. This problem can be solved by hiring part time employees when needed. This will also help the company in cutting the costs incurred in form of salaries. The management should ensure that the staffs take different courses (Jeannet and Hennessey, 2004). I have also learnt that a business should be located near its market and the source of raw materials should be considered. This will help in cutting down the operation costs and increase the profits a business can earn. Therefore, if a business is far from these two factors there is need for relocation to prime place. The business should also consider competition as a factor for a prime location (West, Ford, and Ibrahim, 2011). This is because a venture in a new area will attract customers from other competitors. I have also learnt that in order for customers to be loyal to the business there should be a contract signed between the business and customers. This will ensure that both parties deliver as expected without breach of the signed contract. The contracts will help produce according to the customers a business is having at a particular time. I also learnt that the enquiries made in a business should be able to sustain the business. This means that the business should be able to cover all its expenses and still be profitable. I have also learnt that production should be continuous so as to be able to deliver to customers when they order. This will help occupy the work force throughout and hence leading to realizing its full potential (Jeannet and Hennessey, 2004). I have also learnt that any business that is successful it should have a clear recruitment procedure. This will help the company identify the best candidates in the field. This will help the company to realize its goals and objectives. I have also learnt that at no given point should a business expenses exceed the income because this will mean the business is running into a loss. This will increase the debts which will mean the business cannot be stable. The company should not have a negative cash flow when it has been in existence (Jeannet and Hennessey, 2004). I have also learnt that there is need to increase the enquiries made by customers in order for the business to succeed. This means that there should be an increased awareness of the business to the people. This awareness will be increased through market promotions using different methods such as advertisements, road shows and any other method that will create awareness among potential customers (West, Ford, and Ibrahim, 2010). References West, D., Ford, J., and Ibrahim, E., 2010. Strategic marketing: creating competitive advantage. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Jeannet, J. P. and Hennessey, H. D., 2004. Global marketing strategies. 6th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Buil, I., De Chernatony, L., and Hem, L., 2009. Brand extension strategies: perceived fit brand type and culture influences. European Journal of Marketing, 43(11/12), pp.1300-1324. Read More