week 10

BUS599 – Strategic Management

Company Name- Final Business Plan

First Name Last Name

Strayer University

BUS 599: Strategic Management

Professor

April 15, 2024

Document Instructions

Delete the instructions in red before submitting the assignment!

· Write a one to two (1–2) page executive summary highlighting key aspects of each section of the business plan. Do not exceed 2 pages, excluding title page and reference page.

Important:

· Review the description of this assignment in Canvas and use the tips provided along with this template to help you write.

· Review the grading rubric before writing. Know what you are graded for. Always look at the “exemplary” section.

Notes:

· Leave the text in black as it is. You are required to have a heading for each of the sections in your paper.

· Use SWS format. You must respond to each question using indented paragraphs. The preferred font is Times New Roman, size 12.

· The references must be on a separate page at the end of the paper.

· Check your paper for grammar, spelling, and organization in Microsoft Editor ( https://library.strayer.edu/editor) before submitting it.

· Check your paper in Turnitin Draft Review (located after the Week 11 Module) for plagiarism. You should have 100% original content, paraphrase, and cite all sources (in-text citations and sources at the end).

Company Name - Business Plan

Executive Summary

· Check out Chapter 4-The Executive Summary and use one of the two examples provided as a guide (pages 62-66).

· Use subheadings for each section of the executive summary , just as in the examples provided in the textbook Required subheadings in the Executive summary provided below.

The Company

Mission

Product and Services

Marketing and Sales Strategy

The Competition

Target Market

Management

Operations

Stage of Development

Financials

Funds Sought and Utilization

· Once the Executive summary is done, start the Business Plan on a new page with the headings “Business Plan” and then include revised Assignments 1, 2, and 3, including all headings. See the next page where the business plan starts.

Business Plan

Company Description and SWOT Analysis

Company Description and Mission Statement50

· Specify the company name and explain why you think it is a good name for your business.

· Describe the product or service your company is selling and list the options offered. (see week 1 discussion)

· Provide the final version of your mission statement in quotation marks. Be sure to include the 3 required components: what you do, how you stand out, and your core values (you worked on this in week 1 discussion).

· Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor as a reply to your week 1 discussion post in the week 1 discussion thread and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

Trends in the industry

· Research at least three trends in your specific industry, focusing on your particular type of product or service you sell.

· Describe the three trends and cite your sources.

· Provide industry information such as the size and growth rate for the overall industry and for the specific product or service on which you are focusing and any other relevant industry information.

· Search the Strayer Library, industry associations, and reliable websites for recent data.

Strategic Position

· Choose one strategic position from the text (pages 146-147) and discuss why you believe this would be the best position for your chosen company.

· Explain the approach you will use at your company to implement this strategic position to stand out from similar products and competition.

Distribution

· Describe the company’s distribution channels. For example, will you sell your beverage in grocery stores, restaurants, or sports venues? Are you attempting to sell online or as a subscription?

· Provide the rationale for your chosen distribution method (s).

SWOT Analysis

· Insert the SWOT table/matrix (at least 4 bullets in each category). You created this in week 2 discussion. Be sure to read the feedback provided by the instructor and adjust as needed.

· Summarize the key learnings from your matrix (the takeaways from this analysis) in a few paragraphs under the matrix. For example, you can explain your greatest strengths and how these can be used to pursue the opportunities you identified or to mitigate some of the threats. You can discuss how some of the opportunities. You can also discuss your plans to minimize some of the weaknesses, etc. Be specific and avoid generic information.

Strengths 1. 2. 3. 4.	Weaknesses 1. 2. 3. 4.
Opportunities 1. 2. 3. 4.	Threats 1. 2. 3. 4.

Marketing Plan

Target Market

· Describe your target market (customers) in demographic terms (age range, income range, gender education, etc.) as well as the geographic, lifestyle, psychographic, purchasing patterns and buying sensitivities description.

· You have addressed this topic in week 3 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

· Use the bold subheadings below.

Demographic Description

Age range, income range, gender, family size, education, occupation, et cetera. Example: A likely user for X product is a male aged 25–34 who earns between $35,000 and $55,000 per year and has a four-year college degree.

Geographic Description

Area you would like to serve, density (urban, rural), nature of location (mall, business center, et cetera), climate condition. Example: Atlanta.

Lifestyle Description

Where do your customers shop, what do they do for leisure, what kind of clothes do they wear, what type of cars do they drive, et cetera?

Psychographic Description

How would you describe your target market, for example, socially responsible, trendsetters, or fun-seeking?

Purchasing Pattern Description

How will your target market use the product, how many times will they buy it, where do they buy the product, how do they pay for it, et cetera?

Buying Sensitivities Description

What factors are important to the customer before they buy (price, quality, customer service. packaging, et cetera)?

Market Competition

· Identify and describe your top 3 competitors.

· When assessing the competition, specify the exact company and particular product or service you are competing against. For example, Coca-Cola offers a portfolio of products, such as water, fruit juice, and cola. Are you competing against Coca-Cola’s fruit juice product? Or its cola product?

Differentiating from Competition

· Explain how you compare yourself to each of your competitors.

· Detail a plan to differentiate yourself from the competition in the future. How will you stand out and why?

Value Proposition

· Outline the company’s value proposition (be specific to the product or service you plan to sell). The value proposition should be a brief description of how your product or service solves a problem the customers may have (or provides an improvement), should list the benefits the customers can expect, and why customers should buy your product or service instead of other similar ones on the market. You should also consider providing some evidence of your claims. The value proposition tells your customers why they should buy from you.

Marketing Vehicles

· Insert the final version of the marketing vehicles table adjusted per the feedback received from the week 4 discussion.

· Provide a rationale for selecting each marketing vehicle, clarifying why you believe they will be effective in promoting your business.

Marketing Vehicles Table
Marketing Vehicle	Frequency	Cost/Month
Example 1 Social Media: Facebook and Instagram	2–3 times per week	$600 per month
Example 2 TV Stations: Local Station, WTC	1 time per week	$1,000 per month
Example 3 Free Samples	2 events	$500 per month
Website		$2000 (one time)

Operations, Technology, and Management, and Social Responsibility Plan

Operations Plan

· Remember to assign a dollar amount to each operational cost you find, as you will need these figures for the financials document.

· Follow the guidelines provided in the For-Profit Startup Company Guidelines

· Check out Chapter 11- Operations

· You addressed operations in the week 5 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor and make changes as needed. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

Facilities

· Describe the facility, including its location

· Specify whether it is rented or owned; include any associated costs.

· Estimate the cost of utilities, such as water/sewer, gas, electricity, and trash removal.

Production Process/ Description of Operations (if service company)

· Describe how your business will function to make the product or deliver the service.

· Identify the equipment needed to run your business (machines, refrigerators, vehicles, furniture, etc.) including the cost of each major item.

· Explain your approach to quality control.

· Discuss your approach to inventory (as applicable).

Personnel Needs in Operations

· Specify the number of employees you plan to have, including managers.

· Identify their roles, wages, and/or salary.

Technology Plan

· Remember to assign a dollar amount for each cost, as applicable.

· Check out Chapter 12- Technology Plan

· Consider the type of technology your selected company will use to conduct activities such as managing personnel, taking, fulfilling, and tracking orders, managing inventory, communicating with customers and providing customer service, producing your product, or providing your service.

Software Needs

· List and briefly describe the software you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: graphic software, customer relationship management, accounting, inventory, office, etc.

Hardware Needs

· List and briefly describe the hardware you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: computers, monitors, servers, routers, tablets, etc.

Telecommunication Needs

· List and briefly describe the telecommunication equipment, etc. you think you will need and the approximate cost. Examples: phone, internet, fax, etc.

Management and Organization Plan

· Remember to include the salary costs associated with the management personnel you plan to hire.

· Check out Chapter 13- Management and Organization

· You will create a management and organizational plan for your selected company, expanding on the topics below.

Key Management Employees

· List key management team members and provide a brief description of each person’s background (experience, skills, certifications, etc.) and job responsibilities. Includes the salary.

· Justify your selections. Explain how each manager can make a difference in your business.

Management Hierarchy

· Using the flow charts on p. 248 as a guide, outline your company’s management hierarchy.

· You must include a chart or diagram in this section!! In Word, click on the Insert option at the top of the document/ then Smart Art/and then Organizational Hierarchy to create your figure.

Social Responsibility Plan

· Check out Chapter 14- Social Responsibility and Sustainability

· You have addressed this topic in week 6 discussion. Be sure to check the feedback provided by the instructor and make appropriate changes. Check the suggestions made by other students as well.

· Create a social responsibility plan for your selected company, expanding on each of the topics below:

Impact on Stakeholders

· Describe how your company will impact each of the stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, and the community.

Employees

Customers

Suppliers

Community

· Consider the benefits you plan to offer to your employees (healthcare, flexible hours, development opportunities), support to your community (sponsored events, classes, charities, etc.), suppliers (fair prices, support, loyalty), and customers (how do you plan to interact with them, consider your core values; offer quality products, etc.)

Environmental Impact

· Explain your approach to minimizing your company’s impact on the environment, considering all aspects of your operations.

· For example, your company might develop a process to minimize waste or reduce energy usage, such as using recycled materials in its production process.

Sources

· Be sure to cite all your sources.

· Use SWS to format all the references.

· Wikipedia and other similar websites (blogs, opinions) do not qualify as academic resources.

· You can use websites as long as the source is reliable (company websites, forbes.com, fda.com, census.com, etc.)

· For each reference you must have a corresponding in-text citation.

Below are examples of references (please delete and replace them with yours).

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. Causes of Climate Change. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-change-science/causes-climate-change_.html

2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2008. Graphic: The Relentless Rise of Carbon Dioxide. https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/graphic-the-relentless-rise-of-carbon-dioxide/

3. Ellie Zolfagharifard. 2014. Tree Roots Act as 'Earth's Thermostat': Mountain Forest Growth Has Stabilized the Earth's Climate for Millions of Years. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2552933/Tree-roots-act-Earths- thermostat-Mountain-forest-growth-stabilised-Earths-climate-millions-years.html

4. Ronnie Cummins. 2013. How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming. https://www.ecowatch.com/how-factory-farming-contributes-to-global-warming-1881690535.html

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