Business Plan
This is a business plan of Scarves Unlimited. The business will be a partnership business between Andy, Brandy, and Savanna. The partners of the business intend to improve business operations, and ensure there is increased productivity in the business. Therefore, this business plan will clearly illustrate how the business plans to operate, market its products and services and introduce technology in its operations. This is aimed at ensuring the business attains its basic goals and objectives and ensuring there is effectiveness and efficiency in various operations undertaken in diverse departments in the company. This plan will describe the business, its products and services, supply chain management strategy, customer relations management strategy, system integration/enterprise resource planning strategy, database/MIS infrastructure, business mobility/E-business strategy and ethics/security of the business.
Business Plan
Description of Business
The name of the business is Scarves Unlimited. The business will be a partnership business between Andy, Brandy, and Savanna. The partners of the business will be the owners of the company, and will ensure that all processes in the organization are taken into consideration. This will be aimed at ensuring that customer requirements have been attained successfully, to enhance profit making. (Champan, 2010).
Description of Product/Service
The business will primarily focus on operating online with advertising and selling of different styles of scarves, heavy weight, light weight, infinity, traditional, formal, and informal among others. This will help ensure that requirements of individuals from diverse communities have been attained. This will also help the business attain a competitive advantage as the products and services offered with be of considerable range.
The scarves produced by the business operators will be of various types, and made to fit requirements of both the female and male genders. This way, the organization can capture attraction of diverse customers and also introduce new styles of dressing among individuals from diverse communities, races, tribes, ethnic groups, cultural beliefs and traditional backgrounds as well as nationality (Harold, 1955).
The solution that the business offers to the online market opportunity is to help clear a market niche in the market. The scarves produced by the organization are of good quality and have not been found in most markets. This will help ensure that various organizations in the market access the scarves and sell them to their local markets, to make it more available to individuals of all races.
Supply Chain Management Strategy
Supply Chain Management (SCM) strategy is illustrated as the process of managing the flow of products in an organization. This primarily entails designing, planning, executing, controlling and monitoring various processes involved in activities related to chain supply. The basic aim of implementing a supply chain management strategy in the company is to ensure there is a competitive advantage attained by the organization, increase productivity, as well as improved schemes of operation in the business (Louis, 1964).
My SCM strategy involved incorporating various aspects of technology and innovation in the business activities that are to be undertaken in diverse departments of the business. This strategy is aimed at influencing marketing, design, planning, management and controlling as there will be use of modified equipment. This will also enhance proper decision making and implementation of guidelines to help improve effectiveness and efficiency of processes involved in production and offering of services.
My SCM process will be automated to help ensure that various products and services offered by the business are marketed and made public through the internet. This is also aimed at increasing the number of customers to the business and enhancing operations undertaken by the managers of the company. Automation of business activities will help follow keenly how resources are handled in organizations, and and analysis to be implemented (George, 2000).
The automation process may require system integration with suppliers. Therefore, managers of this business will be required to use various protection keys to ensure only authorized personnel get access to data and information of the company. This will be aimed at reducing cases of theft in the company, and also ensure that hackers cannot access company information. This will also be attained by frequent change of security codes and passwords to the recipients.
This chosen strategy will help the business attain its goals as it will help ensure that business operations are made public through the web. Customers from diverse nations can gain access to various products and services as well as the amount for each product, where they can also purchase the required goods online. This will immensely benefit the business as it will gain an international competitive advantage and enhance various operations undertaken in the company (Philip, 1967).
The challenges associated with this strategy are the fact that some websites are not a hundred perfect guaranteed of protection. In this case, individuals considered authorized to the company data and information can leak the information to hackers and non-authorized personnel, who can temper with the company’s progress. Therefore, strict measures need to be implemented by the company managers, to ensure that trusted persons can only gain access to information that is made public and cannot change the company policies and regulations in other web sites through the internet.
There are associated costs to this SCM, which includes online transaction payments to ensure that goods and services offered by the company are advertised from time to time. This is aimed at ensuring that various goods and services offered by the business are made available frequently to alert customers on changes that have been introduced. This helps increase comments by customers and assures customers that their various requirements have been attained by the company (William, 2004).
Customer Relations Management Strategy
Customer Relations Management Strategy (CRM) has been explained as a series of processes and strategies that help in creating mutual and new values for customers that are considered individual and also develop a preference for various organizations that are aimed at resulting into an association that is a lifetime with customers. The CRM strategy that will be implemented by the business will be developing an information system for customers. This will involve introducing technological changes in this application to make it more reliable and effective.
I will also use social networking in this strategy as it will help ensure that individuals from various nations and communities share information about the diversity in products and services offered by the company. This will also enhance marketing strategies of business products and services, and also help in understanding requirements of individuals in the market (Ralph, 1951).
I will also implement operational and analytical CRM to help in various operations that will be undertaken in managing and marketing processes of items on the web. This process will also help analyze various analytical models and procedures used in attaining various goals and objectives of the company. I will not specify my CRM operations on one product in the company, as I aim to ensure all products and services have the same measure in the business operation.
This strategy is aimed at enhancing business operations, which are relative to attracting more customers to the business. This strategy will also help introduce business products and services to other customers faster and using more reliable means of communication. The only drawback in implementing this strategy is the fact that not all individuals in the market gain access to technology and its appliances. This also illustrates that not all individuals are technology literates, which means that the required information can be difficult to get to them at their community levels (Philip, 1967).
Therefore, the company’s managers aim at sending the marketing to various communities and help them understand the variety of goods and services offered by the company as well as the benefits of using the various products and services. This strategy will only involve costs incurred in online publishing and marketing, and sometimes travelling costs of marketers to places where individuals rarely apply technology.
System Integration/Enterprise Resource Planning Strategy
I will integrate my departments into a single IT system as it is easy to manage and record various activities using a single system. These departments include designing, production, distribution, and marketing departments among others (Champan, 2010).
The core Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) components that I will integrate in the business include manufacturing, shipping and payment, marketing and sales, inventory management as well as development, cost and product planning. These components will help ensure that all processes undertaken in the organization are effective and efficient in ensuring the organization attains it goals and objectives.
I will also integrate my supply chain management and customer relations management systems, to help ensure there is increased number of customers to the business. Integrating the two also helps improve the relationship that exists between customers and employees in the company. The challenges that can be experienced in implementing this strategy includes failure of customers to understand the management strategy applied in the supply chain. However, managers of the business will establish schemes that will help customers understand how the company operates (Louis, 1964).
The ERP system will be automated to fit the requirements of the changing market. This integration will not cost the organization any capital as it will involve the top managers and the human resource team of the organization as well as technology experts. The technology experts will only be paid for their services, which will not exceed what the company can manage. There is no ERP product that I plan to use in the business. The success of my ERP system will be measured by the turn-up of customers to the business.
Database/MIS Infrastructure
Management Information System (MIS) infrastructure will be organized from a top-down structure. This will enhance the flow of data and information from one level of management in the organization to the other. The data and information to be shared among individuals from one level to the other will be available in the servers of the company, and only required personnel can get to retrieve the information needed (George, 2000).
I will implement the use of cloud computing because it is easy to apply and can be managed easily. The primary assets that will be needed in the organization include the computers, Internet Service Providers (ISP) and system (UPS). The costs associated with these requirements vary from one producer to the other, but the organization will acquire them from a company that will assist in all processes of transportation and installation at lower rates.
Business Mobility/E-Business Strategy
The business will have an e-business component that will have a model consisting of e-business concept, value proposition, sources of revenue and activities, resources, as well as capabilities. This is primarily aimed at defining the rationale of the business and also strategizing various goals and objectives aimed at improving the business operations. This is the model that can be found to create an immense impact to effectiveness and efficiency in the business operations stated.
The e-business tools that will be used in the business operations include the email tool. This will help in connecting individuals from various nations and the company operators. This will also increase communicating strategies in the organization, and ensure there is accuracy in the delivery of information between the clients and employees as well as the company managers and the human resource team (William, 2004).
Once the business has established an email address and customers are made aware of this, there will be reduced challenges faced by the management. However, not all communities in the market can gain access to mailings. This will be a challenge, but the managers of the company aim at establishing strategies to reach individuals who will not access mails and introduce to them the new ways of operation of the company.
Ethics/Security
Security challenges that will be experienced by this business involves hacking of information and access of information by individuals who are not authorized by the organization. However, strategies have been set to ensure that the organization operates to the required standards, and passwords, as well as protection keys, are used by authorized personnel, to gain access to information and data in the company. This is aimed to secure information and maintain privacy. This will also be changed frequently to avoid hacking procedures (Ralph, 1951).
References
Champan, R. (2010). Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. M.E Sharpe.
George, R.T. (2000). Principles of Management. Homewood: Illinois.
Harold, F.S. (1955). GE’s Philosophy & Approach for Manager Development, General Management Series # 174. USA: American Management Association.
Louis, A.A. (1964). The Management. New York: .
Philip, W.S. (1967). The Theory and Practice of Management. Association of .
Ralph, C.D. (1951). Fundamentals of Top Management. New York: Harper & Brothers
William, H.N. (2004) Administrative Action. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
