Business Studies Controlled Assessment

My small business Introduction A brief description of my small business. My small business is a local business that is located near its potential customers on Nags Head Road, Enfield. This small business is a small off lenience that it is a sole trader however it does have two employees working for him regularly. A small selection of the products/services are that It provides for Its customers If things Like bread, sweets, drink, alcohol and a key meter that allows you to put money on the key, which then provides the customers with electricity for their homes.

Another thing that this small business provides to the customers is that it allows them to top up their oyster card for them to travel around London. The consumer profile of customers would be 10 years and above, this business attracts all ages of customers whether you are a young or a senior person. Furthermore this business provides a standard/excellent customer service which gives this small business a really good name and reputation. Map of the location of my small business and its front and side view of the shop.

Consumer Profile Competition and their location/ why they are competitors. I have Identified my competition by conducting primary research and secondary Off License This business is located at Tyrants Road and they provide competition to my business because they Just like my business are also off licenses who practically sell the same products at say different prices. This business has the upper advantage as they are also nearer to their customers and are located on the main road which gives them more customers to advertise at that are driving past.

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This then gives them more of a chance to make more sales and more profit than my business. Tests extra This business is located at Southbound Rod, NNE ART and this well-known business provides completion to my small business due to it being so big and so well known in 13 countries including the United Kingdom and they plan to still expand. Tests also provide the same products to the customers but at a lower and cheaper price attracting more. Moreover they have a massive product portfolio giving the customers more of a chose.

Furthermore they attract to all ages from young children to seniors. Licks Chicken This also small business is located right next to Deco's. They happen to be an indirect threat to my small business due to them not selling the same products and services as mine. However they sell chicken and chips and burgers etc. , which are cheap and fill people up and attract them. This business attracts customers by making deals not like my business as they attract customers using posters on their windows using bright and bold colors to attract the customer's eyes.

Sad This business is located on 67 High Street, Ponders End, Enfield, NNE FEE and they just like Tests, big competitors with similar products and a wide product portfolio. Sad compared to Tests have more cheaper products which is a threat to my small business and they may be out of business if big companies like Tests and Sad decide to set up more of their business nearer my potential customers. SOOT analysis for my small business. Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Product Description of the product/service of my small business.

The products that my small businesses entrepreneur sells are things like tobacco, alcohol, groceries and the things that are convenience in a normal persons day to day life because my small business knows that if someone forgets something when doing ND they are fine and don't need to worry. They also provide a guaranty service and deliver what the customers need closer to them than say someone like Tests or Sad. Furthermore this small business a personal service which most big companies doesn't.

Why the product/service that my small business sells is important. The product/ service that my small business sells is important because it knows the customer's needs and is in walking distance of them making it easier for the customers to pop in quickly if they say have guest over and need something like biscuits. Also it is important because it has convenient daily needs and its own unique selling point. The USPS of my small business is that it sells calling cards allowing customers with friends and families abroad to talk to each other.

Moreover the location of my small business is really well thought because on the road that they are located on many of the customers have families and friends in countries like Bangladesh, giving them a chance to sell more cards and make more sales which then would add up to their profit increasing them. Finally the service they provide is kind of on a personal level skins the customers how their day was and getting to know them a bit. A satisfactory customer service is provided also. Through my questionnaire I asked the entrepreneur why he thinks customers buy his product/service.

Selling these products/services help my business competes. These strategies are good and they work. The strategies that the business uses do work due to them still being there and not having any liquidation problems. The promotions that the business uses are that it has large images of some of the products on its window and its wall on the outside of the shop. Big and colorful images that attract the customers due to its selling convenience goods that customer's need, which makes them meeting their needs.

Also strategies of getting to know the customers as they come in and go out of the store on a daily basis. This helps my small business compete in the big market because it interacts with its customers finding out what feel as if they have made a new friend. Again this would be another of their unique selling point unlike big businesses like Tests who don't have enough or a lot of time on their hands to talk to each individual customers asking them how their day is due o them needing to move on to the next customer in the line waiting to be served.

Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Price Definition of the term price and explanation of the importance of pricing to a small business. Price is part of the marketing mix and is the amount charged by a business for its products and services and if this is done in the wrong manner then my small business might not be so profitable. If the pricing is too right then the customers might not go and buy the products; but if it's too low then the customers might think that there is meeting wrong with the product hence them selling it for a really price.

Explanation of why the pricing strategy used by my small business is important. The pricing strategies used but my small business is important because if the product/ service is too high, they might think that the product is not worth that much which might put the customers off buying the product. However if the products price is too low then the customers might think that there is something doggy about the product. If the price of the product/service is not right then the demand for the small genuineness products/services might no longer be needed or required.

That is why my small business has a wide range of products to make sure that if one fails then the whole of the business will not be affected so badly. Through my questionnaire I asked the entrepreneur of my small business which pricing strategies the business. Using these pricing strategies help my small business to compete. Using these strategies is good and they do work. Using these strategies my small business has been able to compete with other big businesses and still managed to stay open and make some sort of it's in the big outside market.

Using the penetration pricing strategies helps my small business as it sells his products/services at a lower price saving the customers a lot of money instead of having to go to the big supermarkets and spend a lot of money there, which through the questionnaire he said was mostly Tests. Even though it's at lower prices than its competitors it still makes enough profit for the business to carry on with its daily essentials for examples bills, rent etc.

Competitive strategies of my small business Off License: Promotion is the method of advertising the business uses to communicate around in the local rear, trying to get customers to come into their shop and buy their product/services. The type of promotion my small business uses to attract its customers are thing like big images and posters on the big windows of the shop and another cost free one is the word of mouth which is good for the business as it gets the business recognized . Also it promotes to make people aware of the shop presence and to stand out from its competitors with its products and services.

However using the promotion word of mouth can also be a really bad thing as customers could be telling their friends that hey had a bad experience at the shop which will stop them from coming to the business and spending their money. The cost of my small business' promotion budget. During my conversation with my small businesses entrepreneur I think that roughly they spend around a year IEEE but however this is Just an approximation from by knowledge that I have gathered from the questionnaire that I have asked him to fill out.

Method of promotion Advantages Disadvantages Leaflets Word Of mouth Posters on The window Through my questionnaire and my observations I found out that my entrepreneur seed the following strategies to promote his small business. Strategies is good and they do work. Using these promotional strategies do help my small business compete as it does put forward an image of itself making itself look good in selling convenient thins like snacks: drink: bread and more.

My small business has big posters up on its window displaying some of the many few products that it sells to its potential customers letting them know if they need anything urgently they can always rely on this small business giving them a good reputation. The other strategies my small business uses that works are things like the word of out encouraging customers to tell others about their experience in the shop. For example a friend to me about the small business and told me that this business is really good and that it has reasonable pricing for their products and good quality products.

This made me want to go there and check it out for myself and now I always go there. Proposal Competitive strategies of my small business Off License After having collected primary research from my small business and portraying the data that I have collected I will provide a proposal of strategies for my small business in order or me to help them improve their business in any shape or form. Whether that be making it more known around the local area or helping it attract a wider range of potential customers.

Proposes strategy: Customer Service Implementation-My small business could provide a special/standard greeting for their customers s they walk in to the shop making them feel wanted there like 'How may I help. ', so the small business sounds professional and looks good. In comparison to that my small business could have some sort of dress code or a special uniform that makes them stand out compared to their competitors and also hen customers come in and go out of the store they are able to recognize who they recognized and build up a reputation for themselves.

Success-This strategy of customer service would be really successful as it will give the small business recognition for the types of services that it provides making new customers attracted to it even more, even if they don't live that close around the business. Building their reputation will give them an opportunity to ask big brands to allow them to sell their products in the small business, increasing their product portfolio. Proposes strategy: Promotion

Implementation of this strategy-My small business could use different forms of promotional strategy by making posters and putting them up on the trees promoting their products wanting customers to come to their small business and buy their products giving the business chance to increase its sales and hopefully its profit. The good thing about this strategy is that it does to require any special training or anything like that to make a decent poster to put up on trees.

Moreover to implement Chichi would be reasonable amount of money for a small business like mine to spend annually on promotion. Success- This strategy of promotion would be really successful because in the long term it will draw in more new/potential customers increasing the sales and the profit, however during the short term it might cause the business minor cash flow problems as they might not have enough money coming in to pay the day to day bills for example rent, electrical bills etc, making harder for them to cope.

But putting this hard work in now will pay off eventually in the long run. Proposes strategy: Diversification Implementation of this strategy This strategy will help my small business as it allow he customers to purchase different items of products than Just the convenient products like bread and sweets etc, giving them more of a variety of things to hose from, that way they will spend long in the shop and might buy than they came in for.

If the customers are able to purchase different items on a daily basis then maybe there may not be a reason for them to go to the big supermarkets to buy single items making them attracted to the offers of different products and spending all their shopping money there. To implement this strategy will take a maximum FIFO but ritually this will be paid off in the long run giving the small business a bigger chance of growth.

Success-Diversification strategy will be really successful as it will encourage potential customers to come to the small business not only for convenience but also for other things for example labeled brands that you would have to go to the big supermarkets for increasing the small business chance to wow the customers with their products making them want to take their money out of their pockets and put in to the small business cash machine, making them happy and the small business really happy.

Proposes strategy: Sales and BEFOG Implementation of this strategy-Applying this sales and buy one get one free strategy will help the small business as it will allow more customers to come to the store and buy products at a cheaper price compared to the competitors making them want to come to my small business instead of going to the big supermarkets for a couple of products, increasing the chance of more sales and more profit for my small business.

Having sales and buy one get one free offers automatically send a message to customers minds that this is a really good deal and that it cheaper compared to no ales and no buy one get one free. Success- The success of sales and buy one get one free offers are that they make customers want to buy more at say couple pennies less making it seem to them that they are getting a good deal, making the customer not need to go to the big supermarkets for the products and maybe the same 10 minutes walk away from them when the my small business is only 4 minutes walk away from their house.

Proposes strategy: Increase product range (product portfolio) Implementation of this strategy- Having a wider range of products gives the customers more of a chose in what they want to buy making them spend more time in the shop looking for a product, which is the kind of same as diversification (giving the customers more of a pick). To implement this strategy will take EYE or more in buying the different products for the small businessmen them to sell to the customers.

At first this might sound like a lot of money for a small business to use to buy products but the money that was used to buy the products will later be repaid by the Success-Using this strategy will help my small business succeed as it allows the customers to come to the small business to buy what big branded products other big supermarkets have attracting them to the small business.

Recommendations for my small business I have been analyzing for the past few weeks my small business which is called Nags Head Off License and have been gathering in depth primary and secondary research to give some suggestions and recommendations to help try and improve the small business. Even though some of the recommendations might have some sort of disadvantages mostly being with money; I think that in the long term this would ally beneficial and help to grow the business further.

Being a regular customer at the shop and also being a well-educated business student; not only do I have a professional view of the business, but I can talk from past experience and these are the recommendations that I have come up with for my small business. Recommendation no. L- Advertise in the local newspapers I am recommending this to my small business as I would like them to be successful in their business and the recommendation that I will be advising to them is that they put a local advertisement in the local newspaper making them small business known round the area.

This way many potential customers will know what types of products/ services my small business has to offer for them meeting their needs and other customers' needs and letting them know that they can come in at any time to purchase any item knowing that this small business is a really good business. With this recommendation will come a fee fee that will have to be paid to the local newspaper in order for them to advertise the small business advert however it is really simple to do.

All that my entrepreneur will have to do is that they will have to all up the local newspaper telling them that they want to advertise their business which then will take two days Max to print their advertisement in the paper for the public/potential customers to see. From my secondary research that I have gathered I have been able to find out that not only does Tests its main competitor put advertisements in the national papers but also do TV adverts giving them the upper advantage compared to my business.

Even with this huge disadvantage I am certain that the benefits will outweigh the Costa and the competition. Recommendation no. -Having the employees wearing the same uniform Another recommendation that I would offer to my small business is that he has his employees and him-self wearing the same uniform making them look smart and professional and feel that way about their business.

From being a regular customer of theirs and having collected secondary data I have noticed that the employees wear what they want and that it a not ironed shirt and a pair of Jeans which you can't see because they are sitting on a stool behind the counter makes them look like they don't care about the business. Also the clothes that they wear reflect their business and right now the reflection is not a good one. This may prove to be a problem when customers black pair of trousers and a simple one colored shirt can make all the difference and give that professional touch to the business that it never had.

My small businesses like Sad, Tests even Licks Chicken all have uniforms making them look smart and have the advantage over my small business. Recommendation no. 3-Having the employees greet customers Moreover another recommendation for my small business could change how it revises its services and this could be done by getting to know his daily and none daily customers by asking them things like 'How was your day? , and giving them a warm smile with it.

Also if they (the customers) come into the shop on regular basis, like once every day, the entrepreneur could give them something like a small sweet extra, to make them want to come back again. Even more they could then go and tell their friends about the shop and their service which could encourage more customers to come in and spend money. This would then give the business a good petition may be increasing their chances of say expansion. To implement this recommendation will not cost any amount f money what so ever or any special training.

All the employees have to do is remember a few words that will be said when a customer walks through their door giving the customer and sense that this business is really good and they are being treated/ served with an excellent manner, they will probably come back again. On average a happy customer informs seven to eight people about their experience and recommends them to go there. Hence, this proposal will benefit the business mostly but also its customers.

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