Management Consulting Template: “The Pearl Industry: Is there a market opportunity?”) • Template provided (fillable)

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Pearls industry: Is there a market opportunity

Introduction

Pearls a highly valued and outstanding name in jewellery industry. As the pearls are one of the biogenic gemstones the reason being their desirability among the people of ancient and current world. Their natural forming derived by a living animal inside the water and it has its value of originality and purity with shape, size and color. They are formed naturally with no customizations but naturally polished and cutting.

Additionally, the pearls carry the rich history from the times of Elizabethan and romans. Pearls had the huge popularity among the women of that times and at the times of queen Isabella pearls were ranked at the top. Although the main source for the pearls from the ancient time to the almost the late 20th century was Persian Gulf, Red Sea and many other major gulfs but now they can also be produced and farmed in the pool of football sized ground.

The formation process of real pearls is quite lengthy and amazing. They are formed in saltwater oysters and mussels under the fresh water. There is a strange fact that only one natural and real pearl is found after every 10000 oysters. There are the real trades of necklace and single pearl valued at 150000 pounds (in 1990s) and $2.5 million (in 2005) respectively. These are the examples that explains richness, superiority and precious heritage of pearls.

Pearl-farming has become very common. Until breeding, they needed to be found in nature and usually take 18-24 months before they can be collected. Pearl farming has become a market worth millions million dollars and the internet-based sector is on the rise. The price of the pearls based on their origin and formation fluctuates because there are different kind of pearls processed from saltwater and fresh water and the naturally formed without any intervention of humans are known as natural pearls. On the other hand, cultured pearls of two categories fresh water and saltwater pearls. They can be farmed locally in the artificial lakes and reservoirs. There are so many vast varieties of these pearls depending on their origin.

The pearls market is taking a hype in both wholesale and retail world. Canada can be a good new place to grow the pearls business because the prospects to grow new businesses in Canada is really high. The retail rates for various types of pearls range from CA$190 to $899. Affordable choice and the next best alternative to other stones, pearls make the market for stones a mark. The offerings can be made both online with brand websites and offline in kiosks or in jewellery stores. Affordable choice and the next best alternative to other stones, pearls make the market for stones a mark. The vendors also have stone standard certification such as AAA, AA+ to ensure the proper quality.

Current Situation

Jane-Li Chinese born living in Canada looking forward to investing in the pearls market. She is really focused to pursue in this industry and have a thorough knowledge about the pearls their history their formation process. As in the current scenario the pearl industry is on hype and have market of millions and millions of dollars. Li has knowledge of stone growth, global market levels and main players, styles of natural and grown pearls and more than ambition as an entrepreneur to create a new category of precious stones like the pearls in the Canadian niche market. By only getting the certification in pearls academics she can better practice that in the business.

Currently her visits to the local malls and jewellery shops helped her to find out that there are pearls products available at the jewellery shops so she thinks that having an experienced and trained sales specific staff can do better to capture the specific market. Moreover, she is planning to open a kiosk or online store of her own focused on products made with pearls. However, she is really worried about the feasibility of the pearl market in Canada. She also has a plan to directly source the suppliers from China.

Problem Definition

In order to evaluate the obstacles that Jane-Li facing SWOT and PEST analysis has done in brief.

SWOT:

Strengths:

· Thorough research and detailed knowledge about the pearl industry and their formations procedures and proper knowledge about the history of pearls.

Weakness:

· Lack of consumer base and lack of marketing strategies to attract the customers.

· Shortage of capital and financial resources.

· Due to the complexity of activities , the company may take time to build customer loyalty.

Opportunities:

· To enter with new pearl product offerings both offline and online. As Canada is a niche market for new businesses and their growth.

· It broadens the competition as the company grows; it will touch other markets outside Canada.

Threats:

· Customers may not trust the brand name, since the business is going to be new.

· Political changes and rules and regulations imposed on the concerned business can be threat to a survival.

· Lack of reliable suppliers.

PEST analysis (Canada)

· Canada's legislative climate encourages entrepreneurs' growth and the federal government provides its own projects to help aspiring entrepreneurs.

·  Canadian's purchasing power has expanded and people tend to spend on presentation of luxury products the reason being the improved economy of the country.

· Consumer perspective about the pearl industry has changed widely overtime and the value of products made with pearls has captured the interest of society.

· Technological aspects can be helpful in setting up the kiosks in the shopping malls as well as maintaining website and the specific application related to the pearls store.

Project Purpose and Scope

Purpose:

The aim of this proposal is to deeply examine and assess the possible benefits derived from the Chinese market's output of harvested pearls and how to draw on the North American demand in the West to penetrate the pearl industry. In addition, the purpose of the proposal is to support and enable Jane Li to take her decision on whether to join the pearl industry and whether or not to continue moving with the business venture. The goal is to present and provide a critical assessment of stability, relevance, medium and platform preference as well as place to be used in the Canadian industry.

Scope:

The scope of this proposal covers the aspects of implementing the guidelines successfully to achieve positive results. The outcome of Appropriate approaches and templates will depend on how such advices are implemented by management. Execution of different solution for the study of the operating climate. Project Charter revising to review and assess each organisation for possible connections.

Approach and methodology:

Approach:

The following approach will be used for the given project:

1. Project set-up:

The project concerned to this particular case is to set a new venture in pearls industry

2. Detailed SWOT and PEST analysis:

· The SWOT analysis has done thoroughly on client’s profile and business internal and external factors.

· All the major external factors and aspects that could affect the project growth has examined by the PEST analysis

3. External research:

· All the external factors such as political, economic, social and the external forces are included in the external research. This research is basically done to define the pre-requisites of starting a whole new venture.

4. Internal organization analysis:

· The capacity of organisation in term of employees and the size of the firm will be included in internal analysis along with proper setup of required technology for the project.

5. Data collection:

Data collection by all the Canadian local existing pearl dealers and the information about the pearl industry in west and US compared to China.

6. Analysis:

The analysis of the gathered data would help in making the final call about the scope and feasible nature of the new venture.

Methodology:

Develop research plan:

· The research plan basically focuses on the collection of the heavy resources and information that will help in planning and decision making related to the project.

Primary research:

· As primary research basis is to gather first-hand information and data from the real field and for this project primary research would be done by interviewing the target market and the customers about their attitude and willingness towards the offered product.

Secondary research:

Secondary research would be with the use of internet and the literature about the existed market of pearls and gemstones.

Project schedule and milestone dates

Further to the acceptance of the proposal by Jane Li, the schedule would as follows covering all the stages of project:

Project phase	Time of progress (August and September) in weeks (W)	Completed by
	W1	w2	w3	w4	w5	w6	w7	w8
Project setup									04/08/20
SWOT & PEST analysis									11/08/20
Internal organisational analysis									13/08/20
External analysis &Market research									04/09/20
Collection of data									09/09/20
Analysis									11/09/20
Documentation of final recommendation and implementation plan									18/09/20
Presentation of final findings									25/09/20

Timing and estimated cost:

The duration of this project will be two months of August and September. The final presentation of all the findings will be provided on 25th of September 2020.

However, taking the timeline of the project into the consideration the total amount estimated for consulting expenses will be $9000.

Anticipated benefits to the client:

· Detailed analysis of the targeted market for the long term and smooth run.

· There will be increase in consumer awareness by given marketing strategies in the final findings.

· A proper guidance of choosing business medium as in online or physical kiosks.

Reference:

· Liu Su, Alex Beamish, Paul Beamish and Mila Bojic, The Pearl Industry: Is there a market opportunity?, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.