Project Proposal: Execution, Control, and Closure

Introduction

Customers buy and collect handicrafts from all over the world. A lot of people prefer hand-made products but they are not easily available. As a result, this makes it extremely difficult to purchase authentic handicrafts from key destinations. Purchasing authentic merchandise is extremely hard to come by online because most businesses buy in bulk to keep inventory high and prices down. My strategy leaves room for the entry of a new player into the handicraft market who offers authentic handicrafts from all over the world at reasonable prices. Handicrafts are made for a lot of purposes like decoration (Er & Gürel, 2020).

Summary

Handicrafts would be collected from all over the world. A craftsperson would be hired for making high quality handicrafts. Handicrafts would be available in-store and brick and mortar stores. The number of stores could be increased over time. This way, people of one country would be able to buy handicrafts made in another country worldwide. For this purpose, an advanced online store would be launched. Continuous innovation is very important because it necessary to compete with the rivals (CA, 2016). Highly skilled developers would be hired to develop the website of the store. Online store would ensure the exposure of handicrafts of all the people, regardless of location. Moreover, the handicrafts would be cheap because there would be no middle men. Social media marketing would be used to promote the handicraft store.

Project Goals

· My first project goal would be providing high quality handicrafts to customers. Quality is the key component for any business. When you provide high quality merchandise, this motivates the customer to return and send you referrals. Also, this is a great opportunity to get our social media team involved in some content to help attract more followers.

· Ensuring availability of handicrafts from all over the world is crucial to customers. They tend to get frustrated when things are out of stock. As a result, we would need to make sure inventory manager has the appropriate technology to understand supply and demand.

· Offering cheap products without middle men is very important. This is why it’s best to keep products on hand (warehouse) to help minimize any shipping/price increases.

Project Objectives

· Collect Handicrafts from highly skilled craftsperson

· Make handicrafts available for sale in brick and mortar store

· Make handicrafts available for sale in online store

Key Customers and Stakeholders

Key customers include individuals who buy handicrafts for decoration of homes. Even some businesses use handicrafts to decorate offices. Businesses that sell handicrafts would also be one of the key customers because most handicraft businesses do not have access to hand-made products in other countries. The key stakeholder of the project are sponsors of the project. They would be briefed every week about the progress of the project. Project review team are also an important stake holder of the project. Their feedback is very important for progress and completion of the project.

Key Milestones

There are many milestones of the project but three main milestones are mentioned below.

· Successful collection of chosen handicrafts

· Inauguration of physical store

· Inauguration of online store

Timeline

Overall Cost and Resources

The overall cost for the project is estimated at $500,000. The estimated cost for physical store and inventory is around $100,000. In addition to that, the estimated cost for online store is around $300,000. About 30 employees including IT experts are needed to run the store. Non-staffing resources like computers are also needed. Taking all these things into account, it can be estimated that the cost for this project would be around $500,000.

References Alves, R. R., SilvaMota, E. L., & PereiraDias, T. L. (2018). Ethnozoology. Academic Press. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128099131000144 CA. (2016). 6 keys to competitive craft businesses. Retrieved from connectamericas.com: https://connectamericas.com/content/6-keys-competitive-craft-businesses Er, H., & Gürel, D. (2020). Metallic Embroidery and Masters of Thread-Breaking as an Example of Cultural Heritage in Turkish Handicrafts. Journal of History, Culture and Arts. Retrieved from http://kutaksam.karabuk.edu.tr/index.php/ilk/article/view/2493