marketing plan assignment

Stewart and Washington waist trainers

Jamellah Stewart

MKT 500-035

July 24, 2015

My company Stewart and Washington waist trainers is a manufacturing and retailing company that manufactures and sales waist trainers and also training services to its clients. The company started operations mid last month and so far sales have been picking up with the projected speed. Stewart and Washington waist trainers will be a sole proprietorship owned by me, Mr. Rahjon Reddick. Stewart and Washinton Waist Trainers Company will be located in Binghamton, New York and targets high-end clients who are looking for ways of keeping their bodies trim, mostly ladies. I noticed a market gap because the area does not have a waist trainer Seller offering the latest waist trainers at good prices. The location of the company is ideal for its operations because it is located near neighborhoods hence people around the place will provide Company environmental analysis

The marketing environment of a company can change at any minute to present a whole different scenario. The change of market environment involves things that can be changed and others that cannot be changed because they are beyond the control of the business. The environment that a business operates in greatly influences its day to day operations. This environment involves competitive, economic, political, legal, technological, and socio-cultural forces. The forces are discussed below;

Political forces- These are factors that influence the operations of the business from a political perspective. This may include political and civil unrest or sanctions of the outside world to the political system of the country. The government may also impose taxes, laws and tariffs that may influence the operations of a business entity. The political environment is favorable hence the company hopes that this will continue in the force able future so that its operations will not be affected (Cadle, 2014).

Economic factors- These are forces that are tied to the economic situation of a business environment, either a small region or country. Economic factors include interest rates charged by banks, monetary and fiscal policies affected by government or banking sector, levels of inflation and foreign exchange rates because they affect the cost of importing and exporting goods. All economic changes that occur in a business environment affect its operations hence the reason it should make sure all its operations fall in line with the changes. Banks in the Binghamton area have reasonable interests that have favored the expansion plans of the business. Rates of inflation have gone up recently which has worried the business world.

Social factors- These are cultural implications that affect operations of a business in a big way because it cannot sell products or services which the culture of certain place prohibits or considers a taboo. Stewart and Washington Waist Trainers have established that people of Binghamton care very much about their appearance hence most likely to purchase waist trainers to keep up with this culture.

Technological factors- In today’s business environment, technology plays a great role in the success of any business. Consumers are becoming more and more techno-savvy hence the need for the company to keep up with the speed of technological changes. In line with this factor, the company will make sure it has advertised its products on social media and also creating an internet platform where customers can order products online.

Legal factors- Authorities change legislative rules and regulations from time to time and business needs to be updated to make sure that they do not interfere with the business operations. So far the company has secured all required documentation of business registration and licenses of operation and it will be on the look out to comply with any other new rules that come up (Chernev, 2007).

Primary and secondary target markets

The identification of both the primary and secondary target markets is important for the business because it helps in the projection of how the business will earn its revenue. The primary target market will include consumers who are actively buying the product and buying in large numbers. Secondary target market describes consumers who have a high potential to purchase the business products. Projecting secondary target market mostly depends on assumptions that this market has the potential to influence sales of the business (Chernev, 2007). In identifying the primary and secondary target markets, the following factors are taken into consideration;

Market segmentation

A market can be segmented in terms of geographical area, purchasing behaviors of the population and psychographic traits. The Binghamton area population shows different psychographic traits from another area in terms of their lifestyle, interests, and personalities. Because of the busy lives that they live buying waist trainers is essential to ensure their bodies look good without going through the many hours of training.

Market size

Analyzing the market size is important because it enables a business person to determine whether the market is large enough to support his projected sales. After analyzing the market in Binghamton, the company management concluded that the primary and secondary target markets are sufficient enough to provide a comfortable market for its products.

The company location also influences buyers because most of the primary target market lives in and around where the company is situated. The secondary target markets are people who will be likely to purchase from the company because they have been referred to the primary target market (Chernev, 2007).

The growth of any business organization depends mostly on how it sets its goals, whether long term or short term. Stewart and Washington waist trainers will also set achievable goals that will help the company achieve its financial and expansion targets. These goals will cover areas such as tracking downloads of Website content, Website traffic, market share and margins, customer services, and retention (McConnell, 2003).

Short term goals

These are mostly goals that the company can achieve within a period of one year or less. They mainly include increasing initial market share, tracking downloads and online customer activity, competition analysis, and customer value. The company's advertising budget will increase each month for five months as a way of creating awareness of the business entity. Web traffic short term goals will include researching on and purchasing web traffic analysis software that make it easy for the company to know the latest trends that will help in online advertisements. Employee appreciation is also short-term goals that will increase employee morale by rewarding employees who perform exceptionally well in their departments. Customer service short term goals will be realized by coming up with questionnaires and incentives that will enable the company management to get feedback on how to serve the customers better (Worthington, 2006).

Long term goals

These include goals and plans which the company lays down to be achieved after a longer period mostly longer than five years. They include growth and expansion plans, increasing market share, community outreach goals and revenue goals. The first long-term goal of the company is to set realizable customer service goals that will enable the company receives at least 90 percent of positive customer feedback. This goal can only be realized by offering good services. Expansion plans are also in place and shortly the company will have branches in cities such as Harlem, Washington, Manhattan, Georgia, and Los Angeles. The expansion will only occur if the company realizes its goal of increasing its revenue by 75 percent in the next five years. Community outreach goals will be achieved by coming up with outreach projects that will enable the community appreciate the presence of the company in the society (Jennings, 2009).

Needs analysis

A business needs analysis mostly used to help the management of a company understand what the company’s goals are and how the company is supporting these goals. The company will use the business needs analysis to know what strategies it can employed to achieve its set goals. The needs analysis mainly focuses on the following; ·

· Coming up with business goals of sustainability and what exactly the business hopes to achieve these goals.

· Having strategies and procedures in place which will enable the company implements the set goals in order to achieve the desired results.

· What the business aims to achieve both in the short term and in the long term in terms of goals (McConnell, 2003).

A business needs analysis simply helps the business organization to come up with a list of the needs needed to enable it moves to the next step. It also involves knowing the procedures and questions to be answered as a way of fulfilling the laid down needs of the business. SWOT Analysis

This analysis will help the management of the business to analyze all situations carefully before undertaking any decision that might affect the operations of the business. The SWOT analysis is described below;

Strengths

· The company has experienced staff members who have knowledge of customer relations

· For the short time that the company has been in operation, it has forged strong customer relationships

· The management has instituted a strong internal communication system.

· Its location attracts many customers because it is in a populated area.

· The company has also put in place well-designed marketing strategies.

Opportunities

· Most waist trainers sold in the area are of a poor quality that makes the company stand out from the competitors.

· The products are in high demand

· The loyalty of customers in the area is guaranteed.

Weaknesses

· The cash flow system of the company is infrequent

· Cost of operation in the area is high

· Entry of bigger retail chains such as Wal-mart and K-mart in the area

New competitors and coming up in the area with new similar products that could affect the company’s market share. Giant retailers such as Wal-mart are conducting expensive advertisements that the company cannot compete with.

References

Cadle, J. (2014). Business Analysis. Swindon: BCS learning and development limited.

Chernev, A. (2007). Strategic marketing analysis. New York: Brightstar media.

Jennings, J. (2009). Marketing's 4 Ps : the consumer angle. Chicago: Learning seed.

McConnell, J. (2003). A practical guide to needs analysis. New York: AMACOM.

Worthington, I. (2006). The business environment. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.