Business Plan
In order to have the best possible Business Plan I had to take various steps. These may have included: Primary and Secondary research or even an analysis of the competition I'd be facing. Deciding on what we were going to sell was easy, as the business is situated on the college premises and it's for the student body selling stationery was the perfect idea. When the final decision was made it seemed in our best interest to check out who our competitors are and what type of items they sold, and at what prices. Our competitors consist of; WH Smith (main competitor), Woolworths, Rymans, and Stationery Box.
Going to these stores and seeing what they sell and at what prices was quick and simple to do. Being in the same field as we are we only had to look at the products that we were going to sell. Within the college we had to see if students as well as teachers would purchase from us. To do this we created a questionnaire with various questions. From the response of the questionnaires it showed that students would buy from us, and they were happy that we would be setting up a stationery stall to provide items for them at reasonable prices.
With exams coming up and the possibility that students would run out of stationery or forget certain things, the perfect times to sell the stationery would be at break time or period 3 (just after break).
For this to work in the best of our advantage we had to analyse our potential customers. This was successful as our customers are the students of St. Charles aged between 16 and 19. The research taken place here is Primary research. Secondary research consisted of who our suppliers would be, and whether or not we could buy in bulk. Our suppliers are GLS and Consortium.
These are companies that supply schools with stationery; this has enabled us to be able to buy certain items in bulk. We had to analyse what products were available in the market and whether we could buy such things in bulk. The items we could buy in bulk are; Pens, Pencils, and Plastic pockets, this will make it easier to sell them at low prices and sell more. With all business functions there would be external factors that would affect the business; these can either be positive or negative. We as business owners have no control over the influences that happen outside the business.
The positive aspects of the business are that we are on site so the students don't have to travel. We are available to the students everyday within the school premises. The negative aspects for the business are that the student body may not trust us as suppliers. Also they may think that the quality of the goods is not very high therefore they will not buy. For example with pens whether its biros or highlighters students may think that the pens don't work therefore this creates negative publicity. Who are our competitors and what's their market share?
This was a question that we had to acknowledge and work out. Are they successful? If yes then WHY? Analysing our competitors was easy as they are WH Smith, Rymans, Stationery Box and Woolworths. The reason why they are so popular is because they are known for selling quality products, at reasonable prices. They will be more successful than us as they are well known by the public. Since we are a small business that is situated in the college we won't get any outside publicity. I believe that my approach was successful in reaching its goal.
The format was easy to follow and certain areas were presented in the form of graphs, and tables, this was done to give readers a clearer depiction of my findings. The way I went about finding out certain information was done carefully as this would be very beneficial for my company. The analysis of my competitors was effectively prepared as it enabled me and my colleagues to fully understand what we had to provide for our audience. Basing our business on our competitors made it easier for Stationery on Tap to know exactly what the customers wanted.
I actually think that the way some of the primary research was conducted could've been improved. Only being able to use three questionnaires to find out whether students would buy from us wouldn't have determined if the entire college would've brought items from us. Being that it was up to us to ask a wider audience if they would purchase goods, there could've been a more positive approach that we could've taken. Each "employee" had the obligation to carry out the proper research to enable Stationery on Tap to have the best possible knowledge of what to expect when we started out.
Secondary research was done to its highest standard. Mapping out who our suppliers are, what products they sell, comparing that to what products are available to us, and whether we can buy in bulk, took extensive research but we were successful. Looking at positive and negative effects of the business was done effectively as these elements are very important to the business. Knowing that our customers know that we are on site and they don't have to travel far to get their stationery is extremely important to Read More Here. .
Going to these stores and seeing what they sell and at what prices was quick and simple to do. Being in the same field as we are we only had to look at the products that we were going to sell. Within the college we had to see if students as well as teachers would purchase from us. To do this we created a questionnaire with various questions. From the response of the questionnaires it showed that students would buy from us, and they were happy that we would be setting up a stationery stall to provide items for them at reasonable prices.
With exams coming up and the possibility that students would run out of stationery or forget certain things, the perfect times to sell the stationery would be at break time or period 3 (just after break).
For this to work in the best of our advantage we had to analyse our potential customers. This was successful as our customers are the students of St. Charles aged between 16 and 19. The research taken place here is Primary research. Secondary research consisted of who our suppliers would be, and whether or not we could buy in bulk. Our suppliers are GLS and Consortium.
These are companies that supply schools with stationery; this has enabled us to be able to buy certain items in bulk. We had to analyse what products were available in the market and whether we could buy such things in bulk. The items we could buy in bulk are; Pens, Pencils, and Plastic pockets, this will make it easier to sell them at low prices and sell more. With all business functions there would be external factors that would affect the business; these can either be positive or negative. We as business owners have no control over the influences that happen outside the business.
The positive aspects of the business are that we are on site so the students don't have to travel. We are available to the students everyday within the school premises. The negative aspects for the business are that the student body may not trust us as suppliers. Also they may think that the quality of the goods is not very high therefore they will not buy. For example with pens whether its biros or highlighters students may think that the pens don't work therefore this creates negative publicity. Who are our competitors and what's their market share?
This was a question that we had to acknowledge and work out. Are they successful? If yes then WHY? Analysing our competitors was easy as they are WH Smith, Rymans, Stationery Box and Woolworths. The reason why they are so popular is because they are known for selling quality products, at reasonable prices. They will be more successful than us as they are well known by the public. Since we are a small business that is situated in the college we won't get any outside publicity. I believe that my approach was successful in reaching its goal.
The format was easy to follow and certain areas were presented in the form of graphs, and tables, this was done to give readers a clearer depiction of my findings. The way I went about finding out certain information was done carefully as this would be very beneficial for my company. The analysis of my competitors was effectively prepared as it enabled me and my colleagues to fully understand what we had to provide for our audience. Basing our business on our competitors made it easier for Stationery on Tap to know exactly what the customers wanted.
I actually think that the way some of the primary research was conducted could've been improved. Only being able to use three questionnaires to find out whether students would buy from us wouldn't have determined if the entire college would've brought items from us. Being that it was up to us to ask a wider audience if they would purchase goods, there could've been a more positive approach that we could've taken. Each "employee" had the obligation to carry out the proper research to enable Stationery on Tap to have the best possible knowledge of what to expect when we started out.
Secondary research was done to its highest standard. Mapping out who our suppliers are, what products they sell, comparing that to what products are available to us, and whether we can buy in bulk, took extensive research but we were successful. Looking at positive and negative effects of the business was done effectively as these elements are very important to the business. Knowing that our customers know that we are on site and they don't have to travel far to get their stationery is extremely important to Read More Here. .
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