business plan

Daniel Goldsmith, DBA

Strayer University

February 28, 2018

Create an operations plan for your NAB company using the template in the text as a guide (p. 214 | Operations Plan Preparation Form - Click here for help accessing a specific page number in your eBook). Extract appropriate information from the NAB Company portfolio, where applicable. Other required items in the template should be filled in using your personal preferences.

Strawberry Rite Inc. will operate from its headquarters located in VA Chantilly, Washington DC. However, for convenience, the company will have several small home offices which will serve the startup teams more efficiently. Strawberry Rite Inc. has a large part of its house (garages and basement) which will be used for various inventory proposes such as storing its supplies and products. Worthy of mention, this resource will only be useful in the short run but as the company grows, obviously it will need a larger facility. After packaging, the ready to drink non-alcoholic drinks will be kept in the basement of the facility, of course at appropriate temperatures.

Cost and Time Efficiency

Wine is a delicate substance. In order to prevent spoilage or contamination, it must be kept at the appropriate temperatures, light, and movement. Strawberry Rite Inc. will thus purchase the best refrigeration facilities and equipment so that it can guarantee its customers fresh, delicious an enjoyable wine.

Once the wine is produced and packaged, it will be kept at the appropriate temperatures for several days or even weeks awaiting distribution. In the beginning stages, most of the activities will be carried out using manual labor-involving the company employees brewing the wine and then packaging it into individual bottles for retail sale within in VA Chantilly, Washington DC.

Competitive Advantage

Notable, the nonalcoholic wine that Strawberry Rite Inc. aims to produce is a niche product. Its non-alcoholic nature makes it appealing to individuals who wish to have a good wine experience but they do not take the alcoholic brands due to religious, health, cultural or even personal reasons. This is a unique feature that will give Strawberry Rite a unique edge in the market.

The second source of competitive advantage is the local brewing and packaging. The company's nonalcoholic wines will be brewed and packaged locally with environmentally sustainable packaging (Barrington, 2011). This will on way of supporting the company's environmentally friendly mission.

The third important competitive advantage is that the building and the land where it is situated are owned by the company having been inherited from the parents of the sole proprietor-the company owner. This is a huge competitive advantage because the company will not incur rental costs (Ready, 2011).

Provide a rationale for the competitive advantages section using appropriate functional-level and business-level strategies to explain the competitive advantages.

Strawberry Rite owns the land and offices and storage spaces from the time of startup. This is a facility that has been inherited and it will keep the operating costs significantly down. This provides Strawberry Rite Inc. with additional finances to spend on production and distribution.

All the wine brands produced will be distributed in the local zip code using the two trucks that were also inherited. However, since these may not be adequate, the distribution will be outsourced from other local companies if need be. The outsourced distribution services will be contracted to local companies.

One of the daunting tasks facing the company is scaling. Given the fact that Strawberry Rite's non-alcoholic wine will start as fully fermented alcoholic wines, it must obtain grapes from strategic suppliers. Grapes will be sourced from Chile, Spain, and Argentina which are among the world's best grapes producing countries. Grapes will be crushed, pressed, fermented, and clarified. Notably, since the company will be producing different brands of non-alcoholic brands, it will need various types of grapes. These include moon drops, Concord, Pinot Noir, Lemberger, and sweet Jubilee. When the company starts scaling its production and processes, it must invest in bigger and better machines, particularly its thermal de-alcoholization unit that is technology intensive. This expansion will enable large-scale production of wine to meet the anticipated huge demand.

Initially, packaging and labeling at Strawberry Rite will do manually by employees until it scales into Phase II but as it grows, it will invest in bottling machines. This will be financed by a personal loan that will be obtained from the owner's family and it will be repaid within 1-5 years. The company observes the highest standards of quality in every process including cleaning, packaging, etc.

Describe your research and development activities and explain how they will contribute to the company.

Research and development are at Strawberry Rite's priority list because the company aims to stay abreast of the dynamics and trends that call for every ambitious organization to stay up with the local and global competition. The company will keep close tabs on changing consumer needs and technologies so that it can produce premium quality nonalcoholic wines tailored to meet consumer tastes and preferences. Moreover, it will keep close tabs on news and climate/weather updates regarding South America when its grapes are sourced from.

Additionally, Strawberry Rite will ensure its stays abreast with the changes in local, state, federal, and internal political, legal, and social environment. For instance, its representatives will attend seminars, conferences, and also subscribe to key news magazines in order to not only gain an understanding of market dynamics but also to ensure everything it does is in full compliance with all regulations and laws.

Create a technology plan for your NAB company using the template in the text as a guide (p. 227 | Technology Plan Preparation Form ). Extract appropriate information from the NAB Company portfolio, where applicable. Other required items in the template should be filled in using your personal preferences.

Software Needs

Technology is increasingly becoming part and parcel of almost every operation in companies today. Worth a mention, without technology, a company finds itself at a competitive disadvantage in the increasingly competitive market environment. Strawberry Rite will begin by using Microsoft Office Suite to carry out its daily business activities such as data entry, accounting, creating letters and memos, storage, data sharing, etc.

Given the rising threat of information security, the company will employ cloud computing to manage, store, and process data. Proprietary information such as product source code, secret formulas, processes, trade secrets, trademarks, and methods of production will be backed up in the cloud.

The company will also need to keep track of its customers, generate sales and reports. To do this, it will purchase Bitrix 24 and CRM systems. The company will and must embrace online marketing but given its limited budgets, it will have to firstly pursue social media marketing. It will use social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Whatsapp to reach new customers and to interact with its existing customers. Socal media marketing is both effective but less costly (Zarrella, 2009). It will create a website where any interested individual can view wine brand verities and even place orders. However, as the company grows, it will invest in more advanced software such as Sailthru, MailChimp, Yesware and also to hire marketing consulting services.

Hardware Needs

The important hardware equipment includes computers, printers, external hard drives, network server solutions, wireless routers, and phones. Just like the land and facility, the computers to be used have been inherited. The company has an e-fax so it will not need a physical machine.

Telecommunication Needs

Strawberry Rite Inc. will have office phones in its offices. However, employees will use their cell phones. The rest of telecommunication needs will be carried out using email and fax.

Personnel Needs

As part of its corporate social responsibility, Strawberry Rite will provide internship and job opportunity for the surrounding local community. Its staff is small and therefore, many interns will be accommodated to support growth and expansion.

Consultations services will also be acquired for technical issues such as marketing, legal, and technology. Noteworthy, these services will only be sought if need be especially in the second phase of the company’s growth.

5. Provide a rationale for the personnel needs section by incorporating appropriate functional-level strategies.

Starting out, Strawberry Rite's staff will be relatively small but gradually, it will expand the size of its staff to take up the new duties and responsibilities. With time, the company will need to operationalize its team and play to their strengths. Labor will be divided in order to increase efficiency and quality (Blumberg, 2013). The company's management has strong operations, marketing, and sales background. The company will hire per diem while positions such as labelling, cleaning, and packaging will be taken by interns.

6. Create a management plan for your NAB company using the template in the text as a guide (p. 248 | Management Plan Preparation Form ). Extract appropriate information from the NAB Company portfolio, where applicable. Other required items in the template should be filled in using your personal preferences.

The management team will comprise of three individuals. The company owner will be president. Under him, there will be operations and finance manager. He will also be in charge of all legal services, research and development. Being a former operational manager assistant of New Horizons Inc. he has a strong background in operations, sales, and marketing management. Other than this, he has also been manager of his family real estate property. As such, he brings in vast experience which will be a key benefit to the company. However, he remained unpaid until the phase of the company growth, which is a milestone of $1 million per year. In this phase, he will be entitled to a monthly salary of $75,000 per annum.

The second person will be the sales manager who will be responsible for management of the company's sales right from the beginning. She is also a vastly experienced professional having worked in a similar position at a reputed insurance company in the U.S. She will be entitled to an annual salary totaling $50,000 with bonus options.

The third last management personnel will be production manager. Just like his colleagues, he has a strong academic and professional background having worked for an international clock manufacturer. He brings in a deep production management knowledge and experience. H will take an annual salary totality $40,000 starting out.

The three individuals will be the key decision makers for the company. Each of them will have a team of other professionals working under them in the various departments such as customer service, HR, IT, etc.

Using the flow charts on p. 242 as a guide, outline your company’s management hierarchy. Note: Charts or diagrams must be imported / included in the MS Word document.