The Weakness and Improvement of Barnum Painters and Structure All Ltd - Example

Name Date Affiliation Executive summary Barnum painters and Structure All Ltd is an example business plans that are affiliated to the engineering sector. Construction consultation and painting are part of construction and therefore they are paramount in sharpening the business skills of an engineer. The two business plans have articulated procedures that can be followed in creating a good business plans. However, some loopholes need to be checked and ultimately make the plan strong and workable in the end. The two plans are exemplification of what is expected for an individual in planning business. The analysis makes the businessperson to know the pros and cons and act accordingly. Description of Barnum painters Barnum painters aim to provide exterior and interior top quality service both at commercial and residential areas. The main officers of Barnum painters strongly believe that many companies in the industry are facing the challenge of employee’s retention and poor scheduling of the job projects (Barnum painter, 2014)The above factors contribute to lower customer satisfaction and finally lack of referral by word of mouth. Barnum painters believe that through implementing the business plan it will improve the weaknesses and ultimately capture the local market share. Barnum painters have spelt out some objectives that must be achieved for the next three years. These objectives include; getting revenues that are approximately $620,000, second achieving a customer mix of 30% in the commercial buildings and 60% in the residential buildings (Barnum painter, 2014).The company seeks to provide painting services in timely and quality manner hence providing hundred percent customer satisfactions. It seeks to ensure that its relationship and the clients are longer and efficient. A Barnum painter is a limited company and constitutes three directors who have wide experience and the necessary expertise.The company will be located in rented premised in the Rucker industrial park on 710 Snoqualmie route. The facilities will include a reception area, the offices and storage area for the inventory as well as the lounge for the employees. The services offered by Barnum painters are all inclusive in the painting arena. The principal officers of Barnum painters have many years of experience, and this give them a fair ground where they can compete and ultimately win. Description of Structure All Ltd On the other hand, Structure All Ltd is a limited company specializing in structural engineering services. The home office will be located in Yellowknife NT, and it will be established in the first year of operation to reduce the cost of starting up. The founder of the firm is the professional engineer and has eighteen years of experience. The founder goes by the name Philip Nolan has provided an initial investment towards the starting cost. The amount is more than the required amount to start, and the rest portion will be used in running the business (working capital). The company will specialize in providing three dimension modeling and visualization to the clients. The state of the art analysis and the design tools are an integral part of the business plan(Structure All Ltd, 2014); The implementation of the quality control and the assurance program will provide the focus through which production will take place. The objectives of the company are Cleary spelt out and achievable. The first objective says that modest revenues in the first year and steady growth in the next two years. The second objective asserts that the company should have achieved approximately 20% market share by the end of the third year. Finally, the gross margin should increase by the end of the third year. The mission of the company is to provide structural engineering services for all types of clients in the entire Canada. The key factors to Structure All Ltd success is professionalism since the owner has the required skills and expertise. Secondly, providing quality and professional services on time and on budget will enhance its success. Finally, implementing and maintaining quality control and the assurance policy(Structure All Ltd, 2014);. Stronghold of Barnum painters Barnum painters believe that it can improve the quality of the industry through enhancing time lines of the services through instituting the procedures that will avoid many mistakes that other firms may end up making. Some of the mistakes that are made by other firms include delayed schedules and high employee turnover hence leading to lower quality service. The company will be competitive like other companies, and it will maintain close ties with the clients throughout the project since each and every project calls for customization. Through such steps, Barnum painters will ultimately build a good reputation and competitive prices compared to its competitors (Kneale, 2004). Moreover, the company has able and experienced directors who will ultimately help the company achieve its goals. The expertise and experience will help the company to provide quality and desirable work hence creating a good reputation. Reputation in the industry counts a lot, and the company will have an upper hand due to the reputation from the people. This company will target commercial and residential building, and the commercial buildings will build a good name for the company. Commercial buildings normally require fast completion and Barnum painters will be good at that. Fast completion will promote the reputation of the company and finally creating a rapport between the company and the client (D'amico, 2007). Commercial projects are completed within a short time and, therefore, there are more profitable compared to other forms of business. Commercial buildings might be few but profitable. Achieving 60% will translate to a considerable income in the company. Stronghold of Structure All Ltd In case where a given a business is initiated and run by professionals, it will ultimately succeed since it has the required environment to grow. For, example Structure All Ltd is an idea of Philip Nolan, who is a professional structural engineer. Having eighteen years of experience, he will provide a fair ground through which the business will grow. Throughout the eighteen years of experience, he has encountered challenges and learnt some skills that are paramount in ensuring that the company will grow effectively. As an experienced professional, he will give adequate and stable advice hence making the entire work easy and convenient in the end. Moreover, the company has the advantage of starting capital since he has provided it all and the working capital. Therefore, the company will be in a position to run itself until such a time when it will be independent enough to run on its own. The “experience time” that Philip Nolan has worked as a structural engineer has given him, an opportunity to serve many clients and these people will form a lot of his customers. The rapport developed initially will be instrumental creating new customers in the company (Kneale, 2004)). As a structural engineer, he will not provide consultancy to the specific structure, but he will give general services and that will increase the number of customers in the company. People have different varieties, and, therefore, providing all inclusive consultancy services increases the number of customers who will visit the company for consultancy services. Finally, the location of the company in Yellowknife NT is appropriate since only few companies are located in that particular area. Taking advantage of the opportunity will ultimately contribute to the success of the company. Weakness of Barnum painters Changes in the painting industry prove to be a challenge that the company has to solve or come to terms with it. For instance, development of some companies such as home, Depo is one of the companies that encourage people to buy and do it themselves. Therefore, the people will buy the product and finally hire out few laborers who will do it under supervision. This narrows the chances of companies ever getting the opportunity to get such contracts. High competition in the market is another challenge that increases the weakness of the company. The company has not set strategies that will deal with such challenges. Therefore, the company might eventually be faced out of the market if competition is not handled appropriately (Peters, 2007). Undistinguished services are part of the weakness that the company might exhibit. The company does not have not exclusive services that it is going to offer to the clients and, therefore, it will not possible for it to thrive in the extreme cases of competition. Exclusive services are paramount in ensuring that the company has what it takes to succeed under the difficult moments. Barnum painters have not indicated how it will solve the changes whereby the large firms compete for the large projects and the small companies going for the rest of the projects. This makes market consolidation a threat and a weakness top the company. The painting business is seasonal, and this makes it difficult for the company to earn an evenly distributed income. The main competitors of Barnum painters include Kolby, Wilson, Sun painting and finally Milbrant commercial painters. These competitors are already known in the market, and a Barnum painter has not indicated the strategy to withstand the competition (Peters, 2007). Weaknesses of Structure All Ltd Structure All Ltd is a new company and the strategies that it will use to ensure that it has captured the market are snots clear. As a new company advertisement and other promotion strategies should be clear to ensure that the business will pick at the speculated time. Failure to advertise and promote the business efficiently, it leads to stagnation the fact that hinders growth. This business has not outlined how the company will achieve that taking into account that there are other companies offering the same services (Structure All Ltd, 2014); Moreover, the biography of Philip Nolan is not enough to market the company. It should not be assumed that Philip was an exemplary man and that his reputation will automatically build the reputation. The assumption is erroneous, and it serves as weakness of the company. Moreover, the fact that Nolan appears to be only individual running the company proves to be a weakness. Nolan alone will only determine decisions that will be made in the company, and they might be erroneous in the long run. As a consulting company, they should have several professionals who combine the thoughts and come up with a conclusive ad vice more especially in the construction sector (Peters, 2007). Improvement on the Barnum painters For Barnum painters to be efficient and successful in their job, they must ensure that they have unique services (Barnum painter, 2014) Taking into account that there are many competitors in the industry, uniqueness will ensure that they get more clients. Including creativity such as producing their own paint and providing free image of the business are some of the strategies that the company can use to ensure that the business plan is lucrative. It is worth noting that it is introducing a business where there are still others that are still running and therefore creativity is paramount at this point. Through creativity, they will overcome the cutthroat competition that exists in the market. For instance, they should form contracts with construction companies, and this will ultimately increase their customer base. Moreover, the financial projection should be a bit lenient considering that the company is new in the market. Finally, the company should take advantage of the two professional (commercial and residential) and finally come up with a good and productive strategy. Improvement of Structure All Ltd Structure All Ltd is a private company with two directors. Philip Nolan is the majority shareholder, and he is the only professional engineer in the company. Having been in the market for quite a long it me, he thinks that the reputation will help him get more clients that may be not be true. Moreover, it is not necessarily that he is a good engineer as he thinks. May be the civilian population thinks that he is not a qualified engineer. Therefore, marketing is essential in this case. If the company does the right marketing, it is doubtless that it will ultimately succeed (Structure All Ltd, 2014). Possible challenges and solution in Barnum painters The Barnum painting company might face several challenges though they are within the limits. First competition is the main challenge that the company should be armed to overcome. The painting industry has giants and therefore for the Barnum has to ensure it has well spelt out strategies to overcome it. Moreover, the company should form partnerships and alliances that will eventually help in increasing profitability. Through partnerships, they will manage to increase the customer turnover. In the cases of home Depo where they encourage the clients to do it themselves, they should place their banners in the area and ultimately encourage the people to work with them. Finally, they should come up with strategies of marketing and eventually they will beat competition (Barnum painter, 2014). Possible challenges and solution in Structure All Ltd Structure All Ltd as consultation Construction Company might be facing the challenge of getting and retaining customers. For an individual to trust a consultant, reputation is paramount. Therefore, the company must work to build a reputation of the company. The assumption that Nolan has been in the industry is erroneous and marketing and promotion is necessary. Secondly, an individual alone should not do consultation (Structure All Ltd, 2014) other consultants are necessary to cross-examine the advice given to the client. Therefore, Structure All Ltd should not be an exceptional. Availability of other companies is also a challenge and, therefore, the company should ensure that efficient marketing is done to enhance profitability. Lessons learnt from Structure All Ltd and Barnum painters It is evident that from the business plans, marketing is a crucial step in enhancing the success of a business. Through marketing, one is able to increase the number of customers in the company. Working capital is necessary before the business gets in its feet (Structure All Ltd, 2014) Both Barnum painters and Structure All Ltd has set aside the money to the point of break even. Professionalism and including professional as the owners of the business is paramount. When professionals run the business, it is possible to build the reputation and ultimately increase the profits. Possible competencies that should be included the objectives should be workable and precise. Formulating difficult objectives makes the entire business a burden. Both short term and long-term objectives of the business should be clearly spelt out. Short-term goals are the determinants of the long-term goals. The business plan should clearly indicate the break-even point. It is paramount for financing. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that management engineering is a crucial course. The engineers must have the business knowledge, and this will help them in alleviating their skills. The contemporary world requires skilled people and engineers are not exceptional. All lines of operation today require a business skills hence the need to equip them effectively. Knowledge of analyzing the business plans is paramount in the business today. References Barnum painter: Barnum Painting Contractors Business Plan Retrieved on 18th August 2014 from http://www.bplans.com/painting_contractors_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php D'amico, V. (2007). Master the three phases of business continuity planning. Business Strategy Series, 8(3), 214-220. Kneale, P. (2004). Teaching Entrepreneurship: Cases from Business. Planet, 3(12), 8-9. Lloyd, D. (2007). Business plans. London: Hodder Education. Peters, A. J. (2007). Start your own event planning business: your step-by-step guide to success (2nd ed.). Irvine Calif.: Entrepreneur Press. Structure All Ltd: Engineering Consulting Business Plan retrieved on 18th August 2014 from http://www.bplans.com/engineering_consulting_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php Timmons, J. A., Spinelli, S., & Zacharakis, A. (2004). Business plans that work: a guide for small business. New York: McGraw-Hill. Read More