Marketing Strategy - Coursework Example

? Marketing Strategy for a Proposed Security Service Business Starting a business requires knowledge of a number of issues which validate the choice of the business and factors that influence the nature of the choice. Marketing strategies should be calculated and deliberated on. One ought to know the pros and cons and the strengths and weaknesses that they have at odds in starting a business. They should have pithy knowledge of the target market and the potential clientele. This should be a loose paradigm to base the marketing strategies on. In light of this, this paper is a marketing strategy for a hypothetical new business. 1. NAME, LOCATION & NATURE. Sequrex Security Services will be a service provider for security and related provisions’ solutions that will cover a wide spectrum of security needs. It will be located at Inglewood in Los Angeles, California. This choice of location is calculated and purposed. The market there is un exploited and there are many avenues for growth and diversification. Sequrex Security Services will be a security provision business. It will specialize in an array of inter related security Services. At the roll out, it will specialize in commercial and residential guarding, consultancy and events security. With time and growth, the company will expand its operations to GSM alarm installation, CCTV, private investigation, dog training and executive/ VIP protection. This should be in the second growth tenure. Lastly, the company should grow to offer information security, which will involve coding for computers, phones, internet portals and virtual stores and offices. 2. SELF-ANALYSIS Ensure that the self-analysis is relevant to the proposed service and that you make the comparisons. Security is a personal take due to the influences of the environment. I have researched widely on security from a personal interest to understand the key components of such a business. My fascination with security systems and creations has aroused my interest and eventual understanding of a business that has a potential market that has not been exploited fully. To run a security services business, one ought to have a number of skills, abilities and competencies. It is hard to find all these traits in a single individual but for the lack of them, employment of qualified complementary individuals should have a fully functional team. I am well placed to run such a business because the security business requires verbal and spatial aptitudes. I am also flexible and attentive to detail. The use of the important critical thinking and decision making is also imperative in management and running of the business. The knowledge of the market and the information acquired from previous observation and research has also put me in an apt place to deliver in the business. The security service business however requires leadership, firmness and general managerial skills which I lack. This predisposed the business for failure but with the employment of a manager, this will be taken care of. The potential market requires competitiveness and abrasiveness; it is a business for the tough. It requires knowledge of the changing security services, creativity to lure customers and the innovativeness to keep them. Previous experience is important as it is expediency for start-up and growth. The market also looks up to the service providers for deployment of guards who have a set of expected ethics and who can conduct themselves properly and sensibly in the line of duty. This therefore calls from leadership and role modeling. It also means that enforcement of discipline on the workforce is key. As I am not endowed with such competence and skill, I will source an experienced manager who should oversee operations and human resource. This will cater for my lack of prior experience and also have the effect upon the employees to give guidance and set an example. The leadership of such an individual will be the back that the reputation of the company will ride on. California has a set societal expectation of luxury and prudence. This has made the businesses there set very high standards for themselves and consequently for new businesses too. The security service providers of the area, Los Angeles especially, have extensive and diverse services that show opulence of creativity, innovation and marketing acumen. This however should not be a bother as I am creative and innovative. My marketing strategies are cheap but effective, simple but firm. I will use these to create a brand in Sequrex and deliver quality such that we will be worthy competitors of the established businesses. 3. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS. The potential of a security company always lies within the obvious range in the market. The potential customers are business owners firstly. Every business puts in place measures for security and as such, the target business will be the relatively new and small businesses that will buy the cheap security premiums that I will offer and are not offered by the competitors. These businesses include stores, salons, eateries and malls. Small businesses of this type will be complementary to the business as they will grow together. I will also target event organizers to serve as events security. This should as well extend to home owners of exclusive gated suburbs. The idea of event security is relatively new since most of the events are social and the chances of security breach are minimal but with adequate marketing it should be a worthy venture. I will also target all businesses, mainstream and small, for the consultation services. Businesses owners as well as clients who want secure gated communities seek a guarantee of security for their premises, personnel and assets. They also seek professionalism and value adding services that come with the ethics of the job like customer care and parking lot attendants. The guards should be professional and have mannerisms that appeal to the customers of the potential clients. They should go out of their way to offer customers advice, direction and help if need be. This requires friendly and calm but firm guards. In light of the size of target market, there are about a thousand listed small businesses and several gated communities. Targeting the businesses that are less than a year old and probably do not have security services, there should be about three to four hundred business. The company should therefore market itself to these businesses and get at least seventy clients in its first three months. This will include small businesses and home owners. 4. ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY COMPETITORS The Inglewood market is competitive and vibrant. Different companies have used different marketing strategies to remain relevant and invite customers. Below is a table that tries to briefly summarize how these companies compete. Low price Reliability Reputation Quality Customer care Rank American shield 1 Prime Securities 2 Fountain Security 3 Ecliareur Security 4 Moonlight Security 5 Rolling Guards 6 Manta security 7 5. MARKET RESEARCH To gather information on the business idea, I did a market research to establish relevant data and facts. Firstly, I searched for the location where security companies earn the most over the internet. I settled on Los Angeles after weighing options. I then searched for the part of Los Angeles with the least number of Security firms and a high number of start-up businesses. The final search settled on Inglewood. To understand the market and rate the competition in order to choose appropriate marketing strategies, I did a market research. I searched all the security companies in Inglewood on the internet and did a comparative analysis from previous posted security surveys. From the survey material, I also learnt of the competitive edge each company had and the rating of the seven existing companies. I went through the companies websites to learn see their catalogues and products. Then I searched for the small business listed in the last one year, sampled a few and placed a potential market survey through phone calls. 6. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT. The target market is peculiar and has a lot of external influence especially due to the nature of the location. The market is a high end clientele and the expectations are high and so are the standards of the competition. There are also other factors that have led to this. They include the following: • Technological factors Modern security provision requires technologically improved gadgets for prompt and accurate service delivery. The company should therefore invest to compete actively with the existing competition. • Non-marketing costs (supply purchases and manufacturing) The target market has perennially been a high end clientele and as such, it is imperative that the company should invest a lot of money to cope and become a worthy competitor. References Jain Ashok, (2006) Principles of Marketing, FK Publications Fifield, Paul, (2012) Marketing Strategy, Routledge Read More