Strategy Planning For New Business
Strategy Planning For New Business
Name
Institution
Strategy Planning For New Business
Introduction
The case study is about strategic plans of Jerry’s new business in his hometown called Petoskey located in Michigan. Despite his extensive experience in carpet cleaning, John finds it hard to cope in the market because there is a stiff completion from his former employer Mr. Bullard. Mr. Bullard’s longer experience and high-quality services threatens the newcomers like Jim Dickson into the market. This later compelled Jim to quit the business. For the purpose of analyzing this case study, the points are discussed under subtopic.
The elevator pitch
The main reason Mr. Bullard’s business thrives well in the market is because he is capable of describing his business very well to his customers. He advertises his business and gets a wider customers base through the quality and honesty of his work. On the other hand, Jim Dickson does not have enough cash to advertise his business and therefore fails to attain larger customer franchise base (Simerson, 2011)
Elevator pitch is a strategy used to describe the business so that it can be readily sold in the market. Jim and other investors fail to apply this approach hence they are perishing in the market after meeting stiff completion from Mr. Bullard, who is already enjoying massive market base. For Jim to rise and shine in this type of market, he needs to describe and articulate his business to the customers in a better way that his compactors cannot reach. He should carry out thorough market research before venturing into the same business again.
Mission statement of the company
Mission statement states what the business intend to achieve. It is useful for the prosperity of the business because it helps in internal decision making. It shows lines of success to follow and helps in achieving business mission (Simerson, 2011). Jim Dickson Company never put in place missions statement and therefore he failed. Instead of being pushed by internal factors to achieve his missions, he compares his business with another person not knowing that he is young in a very competitive market. This leads to his failure even though he is providing the same quality of service as his main competitor. For Jim’s business to rise again, he must come up with the mission of his business and work harder to attain it at the end trading period. The business mission should be driven by stating and achieving the company’s goals first.
SWOT
An effective business plan needs a comprehensive SWOT analysis. As much as Jim has little cash to start the business, he has failed conducted SWOT analysis (Simerson, 2011). Carpet and furniture cleaning business in a small Petoskey town is not the best business for him bearing in mind he understands the needs of his customers. These customers are glued to an already and trusted service provider, Mr. Bullard. For him to break this monopoly, he must conduct a thorough market research and do SWOT analysis for his business.
The only strength in Jim’s business is his vast experience in the service because worked under Mr. Bullard. His business idea has several weaknesses e.g. lower capital base, few customers and poor marketing methods. Opportunities for his business rely on the opening and closing of summer and winter seasons when there are many customers that Mr. Bullard cannot handle. The major threat to his business is his competitor Mr. Bullard.
Since Jim Dickson business has more weaknesses than strengths, he is doomed to fail. He should work hard to improve the numerous weaknesses in his business by improving the quality of his services and winning the trust of the customers just like Mr. Bullard did. He can achieve this because he had worked in Mr. Bullard, and he is well experienced in this field.
Goal
Goal setting and ensuring that the goal is achieved is one of the contributing factors for successful business and should be one of the greatest elements in business strategic plan. The key here is to first define long term goals that one want to achieve in the market, then define the short term goals. Short term goals include those that one wants to achieve in his first year in the market. Short term goals should put one’s business in the right trajectory to achieving the long-term goals(Simerson, 2011).
Jim’s business fails because he failed to put and steers his goals at the beginning of his business. As much as he expects the return of above $65,000, he never put credible measures of achieving this unrealistic goal. The fact that he opts to quit the business indicates that he never had long term goals for his business. Jim Dickson can only be successful when he remain focused, and his goals when shaped.
Performance indicators
A good business strategy should have good parameters for indicating business performance. Successful businesses understand their matrices and performance indicators (Simerson, 2011). The indicators tell exactly the performance of the business and the necessary adjustments needed. For example, performing indicators like, monthly total sales is useful in understanding the performance of the business.
For Jim’ company, the monthly income he obtained from his services are below his target, he should come up with methods of improving the qualities of his services above his competitor instead of opting to quit in the first year.
In conclusion, after analyzing Jim Dickson’s strategic business plan, the most important aspect to consider while making a strategic plan include; identifying elevator pitch, determining goal and missions of the business, conducting SWOT analysis and also determining key business performance. After identifying all these, one should work hard to attain them at the end of the trading period.
Reference
Simerson, B. K. (2011). Strategic planning: A practical guide to strategy formulation and execution. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.
