Business Plan: Brave Hearts Sportswear Investments - Term Paper Example

Corse & Business Plan: Brave hearts Sportswear Investments Executive Summary The Brave hearts Sportswear is a small business venture that is in Student’s Area (Town, city). The venture is in its pilot state and run by Student’s name an all round sports enthusiast and active field hockey player. He is an experienced collector of quality sports outfit and equipment both as a hobby and occasionally provides upon request any required sports merchandise to fellow sports participants and fans at the institution’s name (university) and interested external clientele. He is familiar with the city’s community sports taste and seasonal needs and has an advantage of an intensive network of all sports events and team compositions in the city. The business is to be set on rented premises within the University. The current target market has no serious competition basing on a study that clearly indicated that no individual or institution had seriously considered kitting fans (Kurtz, MacKenzie, & Snow, 60). This is with respect to their sports with the aim of encouraging them to actually participate in the events at leisurely levels as opposed to watching and cheering from the sidelines. The niche is cut by the fact that fans only put on new replica outfits meant to identify with their teams but majority rarely try out their respective sports of interest. Provision of cheaper outfit should encourage participation hence a new market. This can also be seen as a way of offering excellence personal training kit for the very active and lively sportsmen at the expediency of their training grounds (Kennedy 2000). Through provision of carefully sourced used equipment not easily found within the city, Brave hearts intends to command personalized customer attention at an affordable price hence a great business opportunity (Hiebing & Cooper, 89). The Student has secured a central location in the city for easier correspondence with external customers. This should provide a collection point easily accessible from any part of the city through all available means of transport. Proper shop layout combined with Student’s knowledge and interest should make Brave hearts Sportswear Investment a worthwhile and profitable venture. Vision Statement Four years from now, Brave hearts Sportswear Investments will be one of the best suppliers of used but quality sports gear within the country with a fully satisfied customer base. This should translate to annual revenues of over two million by being consistent in timely delivery, reasonably priced products and organizing sports events for both professional and regular sports enthusiasts. This should boost the society’s interest in sports and health levels through encouraging more of the population to shift from passive to active sports participation. Mission statement Our mission at Brave hearts Sportswear investments is to equip sports enthusiasts with high quality through used sports equipment and outfits. With our detailed survey report concerning the rising number of both active and passive sports fans who would not mind having comfortable but cheaper sportswear and equipment to match those moments of sports thrill, we intend to reach out to them at all convenient venues to satisfy their needs Management Summary Brave hearts Sportswear Investments is sole proprietorship owned by a student in the University. All the membership rights are vested on him. Management plan Name (student Name) – CEO- Accounting, marketing, Human Resource and the sole owner of all the premises. Employee 1- Shop keeper- Runs the store that is equipped with the sports attires. The employee is equipped good customer relation, accounting skills. A minimum of Diploma in sales Employee 2- Messenger- Deliveries of the business. Must have good personal skills, knowledge in accounting and a valid driving license Personnel plan The above named individuals will be the only employees and management of Brave hearts Sportswear Investments. The business will be very slow in the hiring of employees in the initial stage of operation but will be very loyal to those hired. As the business grows, indent to hire an overall manager with relevant skills and reward him accordingly. In doing so, I will be able to get enough time to concentrate on my studies. From time to time, I indent to raise the responsibility of each employee as opposed to hiring more employees. Our employee policy will include: Weekly management and employees meeting Performance review every week Performance incentives for employee of the month Encourage invention and creativity Situation Analysis (SWOT) Brave hearts is a start-up business currently operating at a low level thus marketing is an integral aspect in its prosperity and subsequent financial gains in high revenues (Philip, K & Armstrong, 67-70). The venture provides a wide variety of sports gear in various indoors and outdoors games, randomly for new customers and on order placement by existing customers. The basic demand of the market is quality used and reasonably priced kits for sporting activities. Brave hearts Sportswear Investment through extensive market research has information about common desires of the market base which consists of busy customers either studying or working that have serious time constraints to purchase desired sports equipment and outfit. This is reiterated through our existing loyal customers hence Brave hearts intends to take advantage of this knowledge to fully exploit the untapped customer bases through expansion plans which includes door to door marketing and delivery networks. The acronym SWOT stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats within any existing competitive market (Debelak, 2000). Our analysis highlights key strengths and weaknesses and further indicates threats and opportunities Brave hearts is likely to face. Strengths A strong working bond with suppliers and producers of products which enables us to meet our orders in good time. Exceptional location which is more accessible through all mode of transport in the city. Properly trained staff members in customer service that are trustworthy and highly efficient in meeting deadlines, thus ensuring a huge chunk of our income comes from repeat business. Weaknesses Brave hearts has a limited financial outlay to meet branding requirements which is important in our expansion program. It is costly to acquire quality used goods at all times with regards to our current employees’ number. Opportunities An expanding market that is significant in terms of our financial projection that has limited knowledge about Brave hearts existence. An increasing number of the state’s population that are constantly looking for avenues to dispose their used sports gear at a minimum price consideration or free of charge in some cases. There is a high profit margin with considerably static costs which makes it easy for budgeting and operational planning. Threats Stiff competition that originates from web based companies who offer constant discounts. Struggle in always having stock for the market. Market Strategies The focus of my marketing strategy will be to attract new customers and create a loyal base within and outside the University. Brave hearts Investment goal to be identified as a unique sportswear outlet in the University with superior quality and customer service. The following marketing strategies will be employed: Signage- Highly visible, eye catching and recognizable signs will be placed at all convenient places with and without the University. Fliers- Distribute to all our market to create customer awareness on our sportswear stocks which will be accompanied by promotions. Word of Mouth- Unsurpassed customer service and the unique product will help to develop strong word of mouth advertising and in turn aid in extending the business brand. Alliances- The business indents to capitalize of alliances with the other sports clubs within the University. This will be attained as the clubs will play a vital role in informing its members on the sports attire sold by my business. Market Mix The marketing mix focus on two broad classes of customers based in the institution namely: The "Active sports person" – The University has many sports persons who engage in different sports. This will provide the investment with an opportunity of meeting the high demand for sports attire by the sports persons across the college. This is the largest target of my business as I will be able to utilize the opportunity of high demands by the sports people in the University. The prices of the sportswear for the routine customers who purchase on routine basis will be relatively low as compared to those students who purchase once in a year. Non-active sports students- This is my second client base which will also play a vital role in the demand of the sportswear within the University. This group comprises of customers that purchase sportswear on irregular basis as they not necessarily require the attire on routine basis. They only purchase when need arises or when called upon to per-take on a sports activity within the University. Brave hearts intends to minimize expansion costs by selling through the consignment method whereby we will collect used items and only pay our suppliers after selling them off and deducting our profit margins. With proper savings and business establishment, we intend to also deal in a few new sports products to further address any new needs of our existing and most prized customers. Our suppliers will be; individual citizens interested in profitable disposal, manufacturers who intend to have sales, and retail suppliers who closing down business. Basing on our existing city’s consumer base, our positioning in the market will highly rely on excellent customer care that will deliver quality used products that is not common in the city. This is strengthened by the fact that our niche is not explored extensively and our pricing is negotiable between us and the suppliers and might change due to prevailing circumstances in the market. The consignment mode of product acquisition gives us room to cover from any setbacks in the market hence only pay for storage before considering our suppliers. Market Needs The venture intends to provide a wide variety of products in sports which should be able to address most if not all the customer needs. We intend to also have communication options through our website whereby our customers can input their order specifications in good time for maximum satisfaction of their needs to be achieved. The store will be open for reasonable and fluctuating extended hours suitable for any prevailing sports event. Further accessibility will be enhanced through our website for special delivery considerations. We intend to maintain and improve quality standards and from time to time provide extra magical moments to our customers through bonus gifts and surprise prizes (Cohen 2006). Apart from the normal profit pricing factors, our products will be priced according to the sporting atmosphere in the specific times of the sports calendar. This is a unique way of considering emotions in pricing thus a sure point of attracting and retaining clientele. Market Trends The prevailing trend in the sportswear and equipment industry is to acquire products at a good discount. Sports gear is marked for utilization more than fashion trends thus pricing is based more on durability. Brave hearts has the ability to exploit this because whether new or used, a sports Item will still be saleable due to its durability and used items can generally yield high profits at any reasonable discounting rate. Competition At the moment there exists no known serious competition within the city. The bulk of competition arises from scattered general traders who do not specifically pay much attention in the used sports gear segment. The competition further deals in bulk consignments that are majorly composed of new products suitable for large scale consumption by institutions and large scale dealers like super stores. Controls The purpose of Brave hearts marketing plan is to guide the venture into profit maximization and customer satisfaction hence proper monitoring of Revenues and expenditures on a monthly and annual basis. Financial statement Start-up Requirements Start-up expenses Legal Office equipments $200 $1000 Stationery etc. $5000 Insurance $900 Rent $3,000 Total Start-up Expenses $ Start-up Assets Cash Required $100,000 Start-up Inventory $0 Other Current Assets $0 Long-term Assets $50,000 Total Assets $150,000 Start-up Funding Start-up Expenses to Fund $60,000 Start-up Assets to Fund $40,000 Total Funding Required $100,000 Assets Non-cash Assets from Start-up $30,000 Cash Requirements from Start-up $60,000 Additional Cash Raised $0 Cash Balance on Starting Date $ 50,000 Total Assets $150,0000 Liabilities and Capital Liabilities Current Borrowing $0 Long-term Liabilities $0 Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) $0 Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) $0 Total Liabilities $0 Break-even Analysis The company’s break even analysis will be based on the running costs thus the costs which the company will incur in keeping the business operations including administrative fixed costs as well as variable costs such as salaries and wages, rent, vehicle and computer maintenance costs, water and electricity, insurance amongst others. The company will endeavor to ensure that the sales levels are running effectively above break-even Projected Profit and Loss Operating in a competitive market with many competitors gaining tremendous growth quickly will not be easy hence initially we foresee a slow growth in sales as we strive to gain a stable market. Operating expenses are expected to be relatively high but as the company gains access to a larger market we anticipate a bump in our sales and revenue generation as we spread our services during expansion. Though, this situation is very critical we are not in position to control it easily because we intend to create a positive relationship with our clients by avoiding them judging us. Conclusion Brave hearts new market segment and small scale start up does not enable it to have constant financial projections but with the expansion vision we intend to establish a permanent finance and budgeting department. We have consequently established an office space in the City centre fully equipped with the resources to seriously embark on all our departments this year. Some of the sports image attires include: Works Cited Charles, C. Financial management, concepts and ideas. New York: Wiley and Sons. 2010. Cheverton, P.Key marketing skills: strategies, tools, and techniques for marketing success.2nd ed.Chicago: Kogan Page Publishers. 2004. Cohen, A. The marketing plan, J. Wiley. Hoboken, New Jersey. 2006, print. Debelak, D. Streetwise marketing plan: winning strategies for every small business, Adams Media. Holbrook, Mass. 2000. Print. Hiebing, R., G & Cooper, S., W.The one-day marketing plan: organizing and completing a plan that works.3rd ed.Washington:McGraw-Hill Professional. 2008. Kennedy, D. The ultimate marketing plan: find your most promotable competitive edge, turn it into a powerful marketing message, and deliver it to the right prospects, B. Adams. Holbrook, Mass. 2000. 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