assignment 4

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Assignment 1: Company Description and SWOT Analysis

Due Week 3 and worth 100 points

In this assignment, you will create a revised company description and mission statement based on the feedback you received in the Week 1 discussion. Then, you will conduct a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis for the type of beverage you have selected and for your company. As you work on the assignment, consider why you have chosen one type of non-alcoholic beverage over another and the reasons for that choice. As you complete your SWOT analysis, be sure to include external factors such as industry/market trends and competition, and internal factors such as your capabilities or abilities to reach certain market segments.

Write a 3–5-page paper in which you do the following:

1. Create your revised Non-Alcoholic beverage (NAB) company name and explain the name’s significance to you. Describe a NAB that you would produce and sell.

2. Develop your revised company’s mission statement and provide a rationale for its components.

. Hints: Use the Statement of Mission template on pages 72–73 of the course textbook, Successful Business Plan, to aid your development.

. Extract appropriate information from the NAB Company Portfolio, where applicable. You should fill in other required items in the template using your personal preferences.

3. Describe the trends in the non-alcoholic beverage industry, especially the specific type of beverage category you have chosen.

. Hints: Research and outline beverage industry trends. Consider the size and growth rate of the industry overall and the specific beverage type you have chosen. Use the worksheet in the course text (p. 88 | Past and Future Growth of Your Industry) to help you project the future growth rate. Consider the use of industry associations and search engines to find reliable and recent data.

· Choose one strategic position from the course text (pp. 142–143) that you believe is the best strategic position for your company. Explain the approach you will use to implement this strategic position in order to distinguish your beverage from other non-alcoholic beverages.

· Provide an overview of your company’s distribution channels. Explain the manner in which your product will reach end users. Provide a rationale for your chosen method.

. Hints: For example, will you sell your beverage in grocery stores, restaurants, or sports venues? If so, describe the types of resellers and distributors who will sell to resellers and fulfill their orders. If you are attempting to sell directly to consumers, for example, online via a monthly subscription, how will you manage warehousing/fulfillment/shipping?

· Outline at least three types of risks (including any regulatory risks) that your business faces. Describe your company’s plan to mitigate such risk.

. Hints: You may refer to the types of risk listed in the course text (pp. 148–149) as well as any risks not listed in the text. Regulation weighs more heavily on beverage and food businesses than many other types of companies, so be certain to consider any regulatory risks your type of beverage faces. For example, what kind of regulation and/or risks are you likely to face if you make health claims about your beverage?

· Develop a SWOT analysis for your NAB company using the SWOT matrix worksheet in the course text (p. 153 | SWOT: Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats).

. Hints: What are your company’s likely strengths? Have you chosen a beverage segment that is growing and lacks an entrenched competitor? Are you in a niche market that has great potential? What are the strengths that you and other team members bring to your company? Do you or other team members have previous experience in the food and beverage industry?

. Hints: What are your company’s likely weaknesses? Is the competition in your industry segment entrenched? Is your own management team inexperienced? Will it be challenging to actually produce your product and maintain quality?

. Hints: What are your company’s opportunities? Does your segment have more demand than supply? Have larger corporations stopped serving smaller or niche markets that you could enter? Is a new market emerging because of demographics, immigration, and changing tastes?

. Hints: What are your company’s threats? Is there a clear market leader that will be hard and expensive to displace? Are downward-pricing pressures in the segment making profit margins slim? Are there little or no barriers to entry for new competitors? if you have a novel idea that succeeds, can the competition easily enter your market? If you have a global aspect to your company, do factors such as currency fluctuations, political instability, offshoring, or outsourcing pose threats?

· Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:

a. Cite the resources you have used to complete the exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.

b. The paper must be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with 1-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

c. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

· Develop a company overview and SWOT analysis that include trends, strategic positioning, distribution channels, and risks

Assignment 2: Marketing Plan

Due Week 5 and worth 100 points

This assignment consists of two sections: a marketing plan (Word document) and Marketing Budget (Excel document) Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

For the first 6 months your company is in business—to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers—you will start marketing and selling in your own community, a radius of 25 miles from where you live.

For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success.

Section 1: Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)

Write the 3–5-page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan in which you do the following:

1. Define your company’s target market.

a. Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description).

b. Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zip codes).

2. Hints: At American FactFinder (http://factfinder.census.gov), you will find demographic information on potential consumers in your area. If you are selling through other businesses (such as grocery stores), indicate the number of those businesses in your local area. You will find information about such businesses in your local area at County Business Patterns (http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful Business Plan for more research sources.

· Assess your company’s market competition.

. Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.

. Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).

· Hints: Every business faces competition, and the non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market.

· Hints: For example, in the soft drink market, it is intimidating to try to compete against Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in mature markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market categories, as Red Bull did with energy drinks.

3. Clarify your company’s message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s). Create a marketing slogan/tagline for your product.

1. Hints: Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.

· Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective.

· Hints: If you plan to use online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p. 171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you’re selling through grocery stores, you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in regard to beverages. Some of the marketing tactics that beverage companies use include sampling in grocery stores, building a following on social media, sponsoring events, and exhibiting at trade shows attended by retailers. You will use a combination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores, promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery store.

· Hints: If you are planning to distribute through resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through industry trade shows or by establishing your own sales force. For information on trade shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (http://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows.

· Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:

a. Cite the resources you have used to complete the exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.

b. The paper must be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with 1-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

Section 2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)

Section 2 uses the “Business Plan Financials” MS Excel template (see: Required Course Files in Week 1). Use the Business Plan Financials Guide (see: Required Course Files in Week 1) to support your development of the marketing budget.

6. Complete the “Marketing Budget” worksheet for your company.

Note: Complete the Setup tab first based on the instructions located in the Business Plan Financials Guide (document you also downloaded from PlanningShop). Only the setup tab and marketing tab should be completed for this assignment.

1. Hints: The goal of the marketing budget is to help you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals.

1. Hints: When filling out the “Marketing Budget” worksheet in the Excel spreadsheet, do the following:

2. Begin in the current year and complete a marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income Statement” in the “Business Plan Financials.”

2. Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing vehicles you do not intend to use.

2. Remember that all marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing, assume you will incur costs of advertising and these should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketing campaigns, and most likely pay for ads on that site.

2. Do not leave the “Marketing Budget” blank assuming you will not have any marketing costs.

2. Do not complete all the rows; only fill in the costs for the marketing vehicles you will actually use. These must match the content you describe in Question 4 Word portion of this assignment.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

· Create a marketing plan that identifies a target market, market competition, a company message, and marketing vehicles for a company.

Assignment 3: Operation, Technology, and Management Plan (with Financials)

Due Week 8 and worth 100 points

This assignment consists of two sections: the Word document and your business plan financials. Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

Use the NAB Company Portfolio (see Required Course Files in Week 1).

Write a 4-8-page paper in which you provide the following information below.

Operations Plan (1–2 pages)

Note: Remember to assign a dollar amount to each operational cost you find, as you will need these figures for your income statement and cash flow in Week 8.

1. Create an operations plan for your NAB company using the template in the text as a guide (p. 214 | Operations 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.

1. Note: Most of the research pertaining to the hints provided here can be found in the NAB company portfolio.

1. Hints: Consider whether you will rent or buy your facilities or outsource production to an existing company.

1. Hints: One of your biggest expenses as a startup non-alcoholic beverage company will be transitioning from a small-batch prototype of your beverage to production on a large scale. Research the equipment you will need (vats, refrigerators, burners, ovens, bottling equipment, and so on), whether you will rent or buy, how you will maintain and clean the equipment, and so forth. Consider how you will ensure quality control. What capacity do you intend to reach?

1. Hints: Deliberate your inventory control. Where do your supplies come from and what is your turnaround time to produce your beverage once you have received an order?

1. Hints: Consider your distribution method. Refer back to your notes for the SWOT analysis assignment in Week 2 of the class.

1. Hints: How will you stay abreast of new developments in your industry? What new products do you have in development now, in addition to your flagship product?

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

Technology Plan (1–2 pages)

3. 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.

1. Hints: Consider the type of technology your company will use to conduct the following activities: managing personnel; taking, fulfilling, and tracking orders; managing inventory; communicating with customers and providing customer service; and producing your beverage.

Management and Organization (1–2 pages)

4. 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.

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

Create an ethics and social responsibility plan (1-2 pages)

1. Describe the ways in which your company is committed to being a good corporate citizen.

. Hints: Consider the following areas:

1. Creating jobs

1. Following the laws of every jurisdiction in which your company operates

1. Fair and honest treatment of employees

1. Non-discrimination of employees and increasing diversity of your work force

· Hints: If your company is designed as a social venture—in which you have a primary purpose of achieving a social or environmental goal—describe what that goal is and what aspects of your company are designed to reach that goal. Provide a rationale for why you have or have not chosen this to be a social venture.

2. Discuss how your company’s activities will affect the environment and identify the steps you will take to mitigate any negative impacts.

1. Hints: As a beverage company, consider such issues as your choice of packaging, disposal of bottles/packages by consumers, and your use of resources, such as water in areas where water may be scarce.

· Determine any health issues/claims related to the product you are making, whether negative or positive. Suggest the strategy your company will use to mitigate any negative issues and to ensure any positive claims are true.

Section 2: Business Plan Financials (MS Excel worksheets bundled with course textbook)

For year one, submit the entire completed “Business Plan Financials” Excel document based on feedback from week 7 discussion and information from your business plan.

Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:

1. Cite the resources you have used to complete this exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.

2. The paper must be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with 1-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

3. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

The specific course-learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

· Create operations, technology, and management plans for a company.