Maximising Sales and Client Base of Contemporary Art Gallery - Essay Example

? [Submitted to] Maximizing sales and client base, new approaches for a Contemporary Art Gallery The paper is aimed at providing a deep analysis regarding maximizing sales and client base for the Contemporary Art Gallery. CAG is a modern art gallery developed to enrich the artistic sense of its customers and also to facilitate the modern age artists and their respective art work. The success of any business heavily depends upon its mission statement and objectives (long run and short run) which should be very clear to everyone from the management to the employees and from the suppliers to the clients. The clarity of the objectives leads the organization to work in the correct dimension. The paper has built up a very substantial and suitable mission statement and has also assigned the immediate tasks to be done by the company. Deep analysis on the business activity is presented and future forecasting is made on the basis of PESTEL analysis and Seven Ps of marketing. Mission Statement Contemporary Art Gallery will prove to be a distinctive platform for the display of visual and performance art. Located near to the nature such as a sea side it will not only provide entertainment to its visitors but also put an additional mark on the earnings of the artists. Wide range of customers would be served aging from 16-65 who maintain varied lifestyles and tastes with respect to art. CAG would be only art gallery showcasing visual and performance art all at one place. Objectives The initial business plan is made on the basis of ‘The Pyramid of Goals’ presented in ‘The Business Plan Workbook’ (Colin Barrow et al.). Art has fascinated the core team members of CAG and therefore we have decided to build a ‘Contemporary Art Gallery’ which would be different from the traditional art galleries as it would be showcasing the visual art along with the furniture, artists’ books, textiles and a platform for the projection of performance art such as music and poetry. Within the next 3 years we are aiming to achieve a significant position in the world of Art as well as in the artists’ lives. Over the next year the sales and client base is expected to be increased by 15% which would enable the company to achieve the future goals as well. CAG would be catering to the needs of customers ranging from various age groups possibly from 16-65 and people from diverse lifestyles. The company has a strong belief in values and therefore the employees would be given a 10% gain sharing on the basis of their performance in the next year. Apart from this the company is aimed at acquiring 20% return on its applied capital assets in the next 15 months. Company has identified the following tasks on the basis of short term plan: Approach to the clients for the CAG to identify their needs and tastes more into the roots. Locate the sponsors and investors for implementing the objectives. Establish the infrastructure for the art gallery with all the latest facilities and equipment. Plan the first art exhibition and first musical concert which will held within the next six months. External Environment The external environment for CAG is explained using the PEST analysis. PEST is an abbreviation for political, economical, social and technological analysis. It is primarily used to describe the macro environment for any newly started project in order to analyze the external factors which might influence the business in the short run or in the long run. In the recent times the horizon of pest analysis has broaden to PESTEL which further includes the environmental and legal factors affecting the business activity. Political The stable political condition of the country enables the company to carry out its operation smoothly and soundly. However the expected areas for the political intervention would be tax policy; this will be dealt through modern age accounting solutions such as the principle of depreciation which is a helpful tool in decreasing the tax rate and simultaneously increasing the company revenues. Then comes labor law; this will be strictly followed as it is also a part of the company’s basic policy. Other areas such as the health and education of the nation would be kept highlighted during the course of action as no material which is harmful for the society would be encouraged by CAG. Economical Factors such as inflation rate and interest rates can harm the activities of the company. Here the financial management would be done in such a way that the owners of the company and the employees would get least harm by the fluctuations in the rates. To deal with such situations the company will acquire assets on the basis of combination lease to avoid possible damage by the fluctuating rates. Interest rates needs to be closely examined as they would be mostly affecting the cost of capital for the company. Social and Cultural The products’ specifications are made considering the culture and traditions of the society in which CAG will be operating. Different events will be arranged according to the age of the customers as well as their mindsets. The company will ensure the safety and security aspects to avoid any possible mishap and also to encourage people who do not attend such events as per the security reasons. Technological Latest musical instruments will be available to facilitate the performance. Modern day lightening and stage setup will enhance the impact of performances even more. Apart from this the overall infrastructure of CAG would be encompassing the most recent technological features such as the building design and formulation of services. Environmental Environment has a great impact over the tourism and therefore it also affects the art and entertainment industry. To deal with these changes events will be scheduled as per the forecasted climate and overall environment of the city. Changing environment will also support the company to increase the product line and client base. Legal The overall documentation of the company from registration process to the arrangement of different events would be done within the legal boundaries and limitations. In addition to this other legal factors which influence the business activity will also be closely administered such as health and safety law, consumer and employment law. Internal Environment The internal environment for CAG is briefly explained using the 4ps of marketing in addition to 3 more ps including people, process and physical evidence. This is a successful and most practiced form of identifying and describing the variables dealing with the internal operations. These variables are beneficial for the business activity as they help the managers and the employees to locate their working areas in addition to explaining them the potential growth opportunities. Variables such as price and promotion can fluctuate as per the influence made by the factors of external environment which are discussed early in this paper. Product The company is operating in the art industry. Initially it will introduce two of its products; visual art and performance art as it is harmful for small companies to come up with wide variety of product introduced all at ones. The visual art will include paintings only whereas the sculptures and decorative art will be showcased in the next year of operation. Performance art will support musical concerts only and the poetry reading and writing will be introduced in the next two years. Collectively all of the CAG’s products will be launched within the time span of five years. Later products will include furniture, artists’ library which will contain large variety of books from all over the world of different artists and finally textiles. As soon as one product will gain growth and start climbing towards maturity phase the second would be launched while keeping the first one at its position. In this way the company would be able to tackle with its diversified range of products and also with the upcoming demands of the market. Price The price for the different products will be calculated after considering the expenses occurring on a specific event and deciding the profit margin for the company. However the price rates would not go beyond the reach of target market nor would they be compromising on the profit margin of the company. Promotion The baseline promotion activities include a buzz creating some curiosity within the target market. This will be supported by further promotions such as street plays, electronic and print media advertisements and awareness programs in relation to the art and its brighter scope. This would be followed by art exhibitions in colleges and universities on a very small scale with the sole objective of launching CAG. All the promotion activities require heavy investment which will be acquired through sponsorships and loans from the banks. Promotion is basically a comprehensive and logical blend of different variables such as advertisement; which will be done through electronic and print media and also through the advertisement over the social networking websites, public relations; in this area sponsorship and seminars would help the company as a key element of communicating the product details and the manuals of upcoming events. Personal selling will specifically deal with the word-of-mouth promotion which will be done through the satisfied and contented customers as they will share their experience with others. Finally the sales promotion would be done through giving discounts to the early customers. Place CAG will be located at a prime location full of natural beauty so that people can enjoy the natural aspect with the artistic features showcased by the gallery. Sea side would be a best suitable place for such a project as it induces the natural artistic element within the people. The art is usually associated with the entertainment so people coming for picnic or enjoyment would be surely inclined towards visiting CAG especially when it would be holding certain musical concerts with the most popular country bands. Physical Evidence The employees and the working staff of CAG would be recognized all over through their especial dressing and logos in addition to their distinctive communication and presentation skills. The outlook of CAG would be entirely different from traditional art galleries as it would be arranging musical concerts and related activities. There would be extensive signboards present in the area around the CAG so that people can easily locate their destination and also they would be able to find about the upcoming events of the art gallery. People Employees who would be directly dealing with the customers and clients would be given specialized training in order to enhance their customer dealings and to maintain long lasting customer loyalty. People such as sales person or the cashier usually have to straightly deal with the customers so they should be very well aware of the responsibilities towards the customers and the impact of their attitude on the company’s prestige and performance. Process The overall process from the idea conception to its successful implementation and positive feedback from the clients is a result of collective efforts of all the departments and employees including the managerial and working staff. This process will be clearly defined to the employees and to the managers so that they can prepare themselves for the next step. Conclusion Extending the business operations while considering different external and internal environmental aspects will facilitate the company to maximize its sales and increase the client base. The initial business plan is made to clarify the aims and objectives of the company and also to encourage the employees by assigning them certain goals to be attained within the specified time period. Motivated employees play a vital role in increasing the overall productivity. As the level of production increases the sales automatically advances if promotion strategies are applied with the suitable price rates. Firm control over the external factors such as political, social and environmental will help CAG to increase its client base as the sound taxpaying record helps the company to maintain good reputation in the industry and also facilitates in launching new products and services. By close analysis of the changing trends in the society and living standards of the people company can renew its promotion policy and can easily utilize it to increase the number of potential customers. As for the art industry tourists also make up a large market therefore CAG will use the environmental factor and the tourism rate to increase its client base. Work Cited Colin Barrow, Paul Barrow and Robert Brown. The Business Plan Workbook. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2005. Print. Read More