Marketing Perspectives for General Motors, Black Tie - Business Plan Example

The name of this business is ‘GM, Black Tie’. It was chosen to fulfill the desires of the students to feel like a celebrity and enjoy their time with their age group fellows. This event will offer the students, who belong from different institutions, to meet on a single spot. With the different happenings that will occur in this ball, the students will cherish their moments and will remember the night in the GM forever.

The name of the business, GM, is made from the combination of the partners’ names: Gloria & Matilda​. The business name is used as the Logo, for simplicity. Colour gold is used to represent elegance. The following is the logo of the GM:

Figure 1: Logo of the Business

2.3 Mission Statement

“To be known as the best entertainment event provider in Edinburgh and Glasgow with continuous improvements, profitable growths, and continuous innovation”

2.4 Organizational Structure and Legal Issues

The organizational structure of this business will be of partnership, i.e. it will be owned and operated by two persons. The reason for this structure is that it will be easy for two persons to run such business. The debt obligations will be shared to two persons that will secure them in the future.

Choosing the right organizational structure is the part of legal issues that have to be considered before starting a business. To guard the company from the unions, discrimination and patent issues, there will be separate section in the contract for the employees to sign and approve. In order to tackle the legal issues, the company will use the best tool, which is observing good communication, to solve its problems on the workplace.

3. Marketing

3.1 Customer Analysis

The target customers of this business will be the students, who belong to different college and universities. The age group of these students is from 18 to 35 years. The background and level of education of the student does not matter here and this event will be open for every single college or university student. The target audience will have an adjusting nature that can make them feel comfortable with different people of their age group. They will like to experience unique sort of events that can entertain them to the fullest. Moreover, the target customers will have the characteristics of socializing and attending formal affairs. The potential customers would consider it as the best opportunity to have fun. Except for the children, the other age groups are allowed to join in.

3.2 Unique Selling Proposition

It differentiates the product or service of a firm from its competitors. The Unique Selling Proposition of the GM is to offer a platform for the student only to enjoy in a different way. Generally, the balls do not differentiate its customers on the basis of this educational factor. They use the other qualities that must be having in a customer to join in the ball, such as, belonging to a certain social class or area. The customers of the GM have to be enrolled in some college or university and this is the only criteria of entering into the ball. Likewise, this is the Unique Selling Proposition of the ‘‘GM, Black Tie’’.

3.3 Competitive Advantage

The competitive advantage of the GM is its phenomenal activities in the ball to the students only, at the lower ticket rates as compared to its competitors. The potential customers will be wearing formal clothing and men have to wear a black tie. The ambiance and the environment will reflect the style of Hollywood ball parties. Such atmosphere will create a distinct feeling in the target audience. There will be a musical night that will divert the mind of students from their tensions and problems. By immersing their minds and souls into the night, the customer will move into the treasured and magical moments. A comedian will be also invited to spend his/her witty and humorous jokes with the audience. It will bring another mode of joy and roar of laughter. Moreover, 10% of the money raised from every single event will be donated to the Scottish Association for Mental Health, as a charity. The way GM will bring merriment to its customers is far different from the way the other ball parties are doing.

3.4 Schedule and Time Frame for Marketing

This business will start operating in the month of June, 2016. The launch of the GM will be done in the same month. The first ball event will take place in the month of September, which will be named as ‘Back to school party plus fashion night’. Similarly, the second ball event is scheduled in the month of December, which will be organized two weeks before the Christmas and it will be names as ‘Christmas party, Christmas theme’. Same idea will be used for the second and third financial year, but with price increase, greater number of people and three number of events per year.

From this schedule, it is clear that the marketing team has the duration of two months (Two months after the month of June and two months after the month of September) to advertise and convince its potential customers to join the ball. With the marketing and advertisement campaigns, the number of customers will increase every year.

3.5 Competitor Analysis

3.5.1 Direct Competition

There is no direct competition of the GM in the Edinburgh. The ball or party events that occur in the Edinburgh are far different from the objective of the GM. They are more concerned about the Christmas, wedding and birthday parties. Yet, the GM aims to capture the target market of students of various colleges and universities. It is concerned about the gathering of students on different periods of time. It will organize the ball on occasions and traditional festivals and it will organize the ball, when there are no cultural or traditional festival day(s).

3.5.2 Indirect Competition

GM will face an indirect competition with some companies. These companies are the ones, who are running the ball and other party events in Edinburgh. Yet, there target market is completely different from the target market of the GM. There are three major indirect competitors of the GM. They are Steel City Events, JD Parties and Smart Group Limited. The Steel City Events conduct corporate events, private parties, unique weddings, themed events and conferences (Steel City Events, 2016). JD Parties focuses more on the New Year Eve and Christmas. It also handles tailor-made events, such as product launches and corporate fun days (JD Parties, 2016). The Smart Group Limited emphasizes on the Christmas parties, event management and event catering areas (Smart Group, 2016).

3.6 Strategic Marketing

In order to establish and sustain the competitive advantage of the GM, the strategic marketing will be used. It is applied to form a robust marketing strategy that can lead the firm to ace in all the operations (West, Ford, & Ibrahim, 2015). It will also assist the GM to achieve its objectives and goals. It will also identify the resources that can be used by the GM to serve the market.

3.7 Marketing Mix

3.7.1 Product/Service

GM is offering a service that is providing the customers a place to entertain themselves to the fullest. The event and the experience is the product that the GM is offering. The USP of this business is creating a place for the students to gather and enjoy.

3.7.2 Price

To attract the customers, the strategy of low pricing will be used. Another reason of this strategy is that the students do not have much to spend on the entertainment, because the level of their earnings is not that high. Therefore, the price of the tickets will be nearest to the cost of a single person, who attends the ball, which is estimated as £50 per head.

3.7.3 Place

Since, it is a new business and its organizational structure is of partnership, the amount of investment is relatively low. The venue of Ball will be booked in the halls or gardens that are located in Edinburgh and Glasgow. It will include Event Manager, Bar, Wi-Fi, Catering Staff, Parking Area and Decorated.

3.7.4 Promotion

For the purpose of promotion, different marketing strategies will be used. The Marketing team will be having a period of two months to bring awareness of the new ball organizing company in the town. The team will use the tools of social media, print media, word of mouth, brochures and pamphlets.

4. Resources

4.1 Organization and Administration

The administration will be carried out by two partners and 3 employees. The employees will keep an eye on all the operations and will administer them. Two of the employees will perform the marketing activities and will bring awareness of the launch and events of the GM to the students. They will do activities like marketing & registration, print & design work, advertisement and invitation. Another employee will be responsible to manage and note the financial area of the business, such as direct cost, overheads, fixed cost, venue hire, marketing, travel, phone bill and security deposits.

4.2 Management and Employees

Initially, the management will be comprised of a two persons, named as Gloria Sekwiha and

Matilda Thoronka. Since, the GM has a partnership organizational structure and the business is in the initial period, the company has to manage and control its expenses by not making a full fledge management team. Yet, there will be a little bit burden on the owners, which will be reduced by hiring assistants and workers.

The company will hire 3 employees before the mid of May. They will be responsible to take care of the key areas, such as marketing, budgeting, communication, finance and planning. The number of employees will remain be at this figure till the end of the financial year. The next year will decide the need of employees to increase or not, depending on the expenses and profits. The rest of the employees who will be hired are DJ, Entertainers (depending on event’s theme) and

Catering staff provided by the hotel.

4.3 Premises and Location

GM will organize the events in the premises of Edinburgh. Depending on the number of customers and profits, the location can be changed. The company will expand its range on the geographic level with the passage of time. The venue of the ball will be booked on rent basis. The company will try its best to rent halls, otherwise gardens are also a good option to arrange the ball.

Figure 2: Location and Premises

The venue that is selected for the first event is the Place at 28 York place, because it is close to train station, which is useful for people travelling from a distance. It is also close to a cinema and big shopping centre. The focus is more on Edinburgh and Glasgow, because it will be easier for the employees to go to Glasgow and deliver flyers. In future, the business hopes to do events in London and other cities.

4.4 Equipment

Equipment is one of the major things that are required to start and carry on such business. In the beginning, the things will be managed from the home of owners and there will be no office. Yet, there will be a need of a small warehouse, in which the ball equipment will be placed. Although, the catering will be done by the other company, which will be finalized after comparing the rates and menu of different catering businesses, there are some other things that have to be purchased. The necessary items that will be required to arrange the ball will be things for decoration, coverings for chairs and tables, separate tables for different purposes, props, hanging frames and curtains. These things will be stored in the warehouse. Apart from them, laptop for the owners and employees will be required to carry out the functions, like marketing and calculating cost and budgets. Lastly, the items for the marketing purpose will be needed, such as papers, charts, markers and paints.

5. Finances

5.1 Funding and Start-up Costs

The funding of the initial investment will be taken from the bank in the form of loan. The Start-up cost will be close to the cost of small business enterprises. Most of the capital will be used for contracting with the catering company, DJ for his music system, comedian, venue owner and musical band. The remaining portion of the capital will be used for the marketing activities, salaries and other miscellaneous work. Therefore, the starting capital of this business shall be around £3,500. The following are the estimation of costs for a ball that will cover the audience, who will be 145-150 in number:

Investment

Amount

(£)

Details

Venue + Catering

£2625

Contract with the catering company and venue owner.

DJ

£70

Contract with DJ, musical band and comedian.

Photographer

£150

Contract with the photographer.

Musician

£300

Contract with the musician.

Total

£3,145

Table 1: Initial Investment Estimation for the First Event.

5.2 Expected Revenue Generation

This business idea is unique through its target market and low pricing strategy. The main business idea is the entire experience. These are events that young people can look forward to. The revenue that will be generated from this business will cover the expenses. For the first event, the revenue generation will be150 people x £50 = £7,500. In addition, this revenue will exceed in each and every event, as compared to the previous one. Through the Hollywood theme, the customers will be convinced to attend this ball for once in their life time. It is expected that the every year, the revenue will be increased by 10%.

5.3 Direct Costs

The cost which is related to the service will be considered as the direct cost. In this business plan, the direct cost will be the contract with the venue owner, catering company, DJ, musical band and comedian.

5.4 Overheads

The cost that is not attributable to the service will be included in the overhead costs. The overhead cost of the GM will include the items like marketing, bank interest, electricity and phone bills, travelling expenses and website maintenance.

5.5 Fixed Costs

The fixed cost is not directly related with the service and despite of the level of services, the amount of fixed costs remains relatively same. Here, the fixed costs are the rent of warehouse, decorations, hanging fames, props and covering clothes of chairs and tables.

5.6 Sensitivity Analysis

In order to tackle the potential threats that may arise in future, the sensitivity analysis is very important to use. The following is the forecast of the revenue and profit generation from the GM:

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

Net Profit

£8,710

£9,581

£10,539

Revenue/ Sales

£15,000£

£16,500

£18,150

Table 2: Forecasting of Profits.

In the actual forecast, the sales and revenue have been expected to rise about 10% on every year. Through the sensitivity analysis, the assumptions can be made that to where do the firm stand, if it do not experience profit and observes loss.

5.6.1 Scenario 1: Loss of Sales

In the case of experiencing loss in the first year, then the owners of the company have to meet the financial needs from their own pocket. There are times, when the businesses do not gain profits in the beginning. Yet, they do shape their position well in the future by not losing hope and by creating ways to change their current situation. So, for 3-5 years, it is recommended that the owners must deal with the losses by believing in a better future. However, if the position remains the same after the period of five years, then it is essential for the owners to wind up the business. In this way, the owners will not face more losses.

5.6.2 Scenario 2: Increase in Sales

In the case of experiencing sales higher than the expected figure, then there are a lot of things that can be done by the business. The first one is to increase the number of audience, like 50 to 100 people. The increase in the tickets will increase the revenue as well. The business must save some of its revenue for future purpose, because ups and downs do occur in the business life cycle. Robust marketing strategies can be used, because they require a high amount of spending. If there is a lot of pressure on the employees, then by hiring 1-2 more employees can release their burden.