Business Planning Business & Marketing Coursework Paper

Business Plan: Sample
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Business Plan
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc378767290 \h 2Business details PAGEREF _Toc378767291 \h 3Industry and market analysis PAGEREF _Toc378767292 \h 4Customers and value proposition PAGEREF _Toc378767293 \h 5Marketing strategy PAGEREF _Toc378767294 \h 6Operations plan PAGEREF _Toc378767295 \h 7Management team and company structure PAGEREF _Toc378767296 \h 8Resources PAGEREF _Toc378767297 \h 9Financing PAGEREF _Toc378767298 \h 10Financial projections PAGEREF _Toc378767299 \h 11Risks and strategic options PAGEREF _Toc378767300 \h 12Key milestones PAGEREF _Toc378767301 \h 13Appendices PAGEREF _Toc378767302 \h 14








Executive Summary
Dees Food Centre mainly stocks Afro Caribbean Groceries and gourmet, and a new grocery will be opened in Mountfield Way, Orpington, Kent to sell similar products offering the best value and quality of foods and groceries at affordable prices. The one-stop shop Afro Caribbean store will serve the growing population around the Greater London region. The business will sell quality and authentic foods and groceries In the is sole proprietorship business, the entrepreneur and to other workers are involved in running the business, but close family members also help out where they can. One of the key factors to the success of the business venture is meeting the consumer needs and demand, and there is a business opportunity as there is a growing population of Africans and Afro Caribbeans in the Greater London region.
The foods and gourmet industry is growing in the UK, and London attracts immigrants from outside Britain and other British regions and is one of the most diverse in the whole UK. As more consumers are looking for quality food and groceries, the store will fill in the gap in the Afro Caribbean community, who are underserved. The growing populations of Africans and Afro Caribbeans look for more authentic foods and groceries nearby, and there is a desire to open more local food stores in Kent and Greater London
Promotion creates awareness and markets the foods and groceries, and as more people shop at the store there is increased demand, and especially when the customers return. To further ensure that there is no shortage of funds, there is external financing in the form of loans, and the initial start-up costs are £ 48,000. The cash flows of the business will also cover the costs within the first three years of operation.
Establishing the business to be the preferred store for Afro Caribbean foods and gourmet will require proper planning to achieve this. This will also influence the increase in customer traffic, where turnover increases by at least 10% on an annual basis in the first three years of operation. The venture is established where customers can easily access the location, and there is an emphasis on building customer loyalty to attract new customers and retain the existing ones. The profits are expected to increase, and the general trend in the foods and grocery industry is to target niche markets like ethnic groups.
Online media marketing will help to reach out to the potential customers, and this will be useful to create a positive image where all the products and items are of high quality. While there are common foodstuffs like the meat, fish, and poultry found in other types of stores, stocking and selling the Afro Caribbeans foods a groceries targets the consumers who coon Afro Caribbeans cuisines.
Business details
The proposed business deals with authentic Afro Caribbean food and groceries for Afro Caribbean cuisines, which will be an alternative to the food products in the market. The consumers’ food habits influence their purchasing habits. As such, the business will sell beef, fish, poultry and general foodstuffs and groceries with a focus on the Afro Caribbean community. Increasingly, people are health conscious and knowledgeable, which means that they are more willing to spend on healthy food and adopt healthy eating habits. To promote the change of eating habits of the consumers and to provide authentic Caribbean food and grocery options, this will enhance the business brand and differentiate Dees Food Centre located at Mountfield Way, Orpington, Kent from the competitors. Among the grocers close by are The Indian Shop, Oriental Food, and Kram.
Even the consumers in the target market are more sensitive and concerned about knowing the food they consume. The Afro Caribbean community in the UK is well established, and they are many more who wish to try authentic foods and dishes from the Caribbean (Goff et al., 2015, p. 2200). From the above, it could be inferred that as more blacks and Afro Caribbean people are moving into the area. The demand for the foods and groceries will increase and may even attract more people beyond the primary target market. The Afro Caribbean cuisines are mostly natural, fresh and unprocessed while being nutritious and the business will fill the gap in the market as the Afro Caribbean authentic foods and groceries will be stocked.
The company structure is a sole proprietorship with the wife and family members helping out. The legal aspects are considered and prioritized for this business then include records of the business’s sales and expenses, the Self Assessment tax return as well as the income tax on profits and the Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance. The proposed foods and grocery shops will be opened next to the current one as part of the expansion plan. The objective of the business plan is to help implement an Afro Caribbean foods and grocery shop where Afro Caribbean food products, will be sold in order to satisfy the demand partially met by the market and, and marketing to the consumers who are willing and able to pay for these foods and groceries.
Industry and market analysis
Based on the market survey and information on the Afro Caribbean population in the UK, there is a gap for foods and groceries mainly associated with the demographic group. The location of the grocery store is accessible to the community members and is based on an analysis of the market potential. The Black Caribbean is estimated at 594,825 people in 2011 census accounting for 1.1% of the population in England and Wales. The population of Afro Caribbeans is growing, and they are mainly concentrated in the major cities including London (Office for National Statistics, 2018). Greater London has expanded where Orpington has been just part of Kent, as it is considered part of Greater London, which attracts more people, including immigrants from the Caribbean region.
Changes in the way consumers eat influences their purchasing behavior, and while food and grocery markets are changing and growing because of population growth and better incomes. The major retail chain is still big players in the market, and especially the food and grocery retailers at the local level (Shaw, 2016). While the stores offer a wide selection of food products, these are mostly the general foodstuffs. The high starchy carbohydrates and fried meat or fish are common, but there are different options for Afro Caribbeans (Smith, 2012, p. 245) and (Sharma, 2009). The Afro Caribbean food section is one that has great potential to grow, but the stores are still leveraging online presence to grow in advanced economies like the UK (First Research, 2018, p. 2). The business is not insulated from the changing market conditions and the macroeconomic environment where uncertainty on Brexit may affect the value of the pound and the cost of improving some of the foodstuffs and food items.
The food and grocery stores cater to the growing population of blacks in Greater London from diverse places. The UK industry is regulated mainly to ensure the safety of foodstuffs, and many still shop for groceries, but fewer do so in the supermarkets. This indicates the opportunities for growth in the foods and grocery stores located near where the primary target customers live. Nowadays, there is a wide range of sources for the foodstuffs and groceries with the more affluent shoppers choosing organic food products, and the budget-conscious shoppers choosing the discount stores (Campbell, Mhlanga and Lesschaeve, 2016, p. 68). One of the challenges for the new business is to compete with established retail chains and supermarkets that can compete on price and stock more food products and groceries if there is growing demand in a niche market. In the case of animal products and fish, accurate labeling and providing adequate product information is required, and is important to ensure the safety of the foods is maintained (Muri et al., 2018, p. 420).
Customers and value proposition
The product items represent what would be expected in Afro-Caribbean communities, but there are also personalized, services where there is an emphasis on healthy eating for the meat, plant products, and general foodstuffs. The high-end gourmet stores are the most advertised, yet the ethnic grocery stores still offer a wide variety of products (Stewart, 2017) The foods and groceries offered will be based on authentic Afro-Caribbean options and the best alternative food to the growing black and Afro-Caribbean population. There is an emphasis on great customer service to attract and retain the customers while ensuring there are accessibility and variety of the foods and grocery items (Kell et al., 2018, p. 570). As such, the quality of our products will be reviewed to ensure the business offers what customers need without compromising on quality.
While the black and Afro Caribbean community is diverse, adopting the cuisine and the whole Afro Caribbean culture will incorporate food products that are necessary to make cuisines associated with the community. Since the business will be created to be a “one-stop shop” for authentic Afro Caribbean food and groceries, this differentiates the business from others around Orpington, Kent, and the greater London region and solves the problem of those seeking the foods and groceries found in diverse Caribbean countries. This improves the situation by increasing the likelihood that potential customers will get what they are looking for to make authentic Caribbean cuisines common among Afro Caribbeans (Anderson et al., 2011, p.302). The black Caribbean immigrants in the UK mostly consumed energy-dense diets which is more common than in the Caribbean (Molaodi et al., 2011, p. 2) and (Donin et al., p. 277).
The Afro Caribbean foods and groceries are a specialization or a niche that is less common in supermarkets, larger grocery shops, and retailers. Offering customers potential products that are authentically Afro Caribbean links the business with ethnic foods and ingredients that offer variety to make diverse cuisines (Almiron-Roig et al., 2017, p. 190). The grocery is open from Monday to Saturday 09:00 - 19:00 and it is prioritized that at all times, where foods and groceries offered are the best quality at affordable prices. Having control over the quality of the products and having a wide variety of foods and gourmets to choose from is necessary to improve the value proposition (Beneke and Carter, 2012, p. 23). There are cultural differences in the feeding practices of Afro Caribbeans from a young age, and considering what influences their food purchasing behavior helps to meet the demand for these foods (Blissett and Bennett, 2013).
Marketing strategy
In the marketing strategy, there is consideration of the product offered to the market since the targeted customers purchase the foods and groceries based on some criteria. Afro-Caribbean increasingly prefer ethnic vegetables, and there is a growing market for these products (Chen et al., 2015, p. 384). Generating name recognition and visibility makes it easier to distinguish the business from the competitors where there is an emphasis on the high-quality options and convenience (Privitera, Brown and Gillespie, 2015). The price is closely linked with positioning where the foods and groceries are sold at a low price without compromising on quality. The customers have been buying the products from the shop/ store, but there is information online, and this will help to reach out to the target market. Promotion is based on the idea of authenticity and is meant to attract the attention of customers and consumers to become potential customers, and retain the existing ones (). However, since there are more competitive larger businesses since we cannot compete for prices solely, but we must differentiate our product from the rest by emphasizing the foods and groceries are authentic, and there is careful consideration of their sources.
In focusing on differentiating the groceries, and foodstuffs, the objective is to highlight the benefits of choosing the products, and through using online media create an image that attracts the customers regardless of the price of the product. As previously stated the primary target audience, are Africans and Afro-Caribbean people, but the population of Kent is also growing more diverse and through word of mouth and being associated with the community initiatives it is likely that business brand will grow. This is necessary to build loyalty among the customers, and all the products are certified to meet the required quality standards, which emphasizes reliability (Bogomolova et al., 2015, p. 3). Attracting more people will result in greater sales, where consumer spending and tastes determine demand (Castaneda-Gameros, Redwood, and Thompson, 2018, p. 52).
The specialty food stores mainly sell meat, fish, and poultry and to differentiate the business from these types of stores; there is a focus on produce and groceries to make the Afro Caribbean cuisines. Marketing will emphasize them with a broad range of products, where the potential customers are willing to purchase the unique foodstuffs, foods, and groceries hard to find in many other locations and this includes imported products since ethnic foods are less common (Orcholski et al., 2015, p.470). While jerk chicken and marinades are common among Jamaicans is mainly auspicated with the Afro Caribbean community, there are a wide variety of foods (Gerrie, 2014). There is an emphasis on the diversity of foods and groceries available, which can broaden appeal to more people.
Operations plan
Dees Food Centre is located 11 Mountfield Way, Orpington. Kent, in the UK and the estimated annual turnover, is £150,000.00. Opening a new location near the grocery will serve more customers. Even as the existing business and the new one are part of a sole proprietorship, my wife and family members are helping out. As such, the number of the employee may increase when the business grows, but there are lower labor costs since the family members are involved where possible to minimize their expenses. I will still get the food products from the same traders and associated farmers, with stock levels increasing over time.
To ensure that the required products meet the customer needs, input supply of the beef, fish, poultry and general foodstuffs and groceries is evaluated, and arrangements made for more supplies if there is increased demand. At the moment, there are three other direct competitors within a five-mile radius around the grocery shop, but the challenge is to ensure the products are fresh and there is no processing of the produce. To ensure product quality only the food items and groceries, meeting the food safety standards are accepted, and they are of the highest quality (Adekunle et al., 2016, p. 280).