Strategic Planning for Small Business
Table of Contents
Business description is the short plan to start up any kind of business. Business description includes all basic information like name of the business, location of the business, type of the business, etc. In it we include the service or products of the business. In this fast moving century everyone is in rush for whole day to satisfy their basic needs. Mainly in the morning everybody is running late for their jobs or schools. Most of the people have no time to cook food for them. To satisfy the appetite of the people in the morning we are thinking to set up an online Packed Meal business. Selling Packed Meals in the morning will be very helpful for those who cannot cook for themselves in the morning. We are planning to deliver the food at the railway stations or bus stops. At these public places people can easily grab the meal. To start this business first of all we are going to create a website by which people can order the food online. They can book the food in advance and according to their orders we can deliver the food. We are planning to provide quick breakfast to the customer’s at railway station or bus stop. To order the food people can visit the website book an order and can pay online. For convenience of the customer’ we are setting a plan that customers can book order for the whole week and after week they can pay the amount of the food. It will be helpful for the customers in the sense that they can have food in the morning and secondly they can save time.
Numerous surveys have revealed that breakfast is often skipped among Kiwis (Hills, 2012; Impact PR, 2016). Similarly, others have been making poor breakfast choices like leftover party food, pizza, fish & chips, ice cream, and even beer (Impact PR, 2016; NZ Herald, 2016). Despite the widespread awareness of the important benefits of breakfast, it is quite alarming to see that many people still forego the need to make time for breakfast. These attitudes and habits towards breakfast are apparently influenced by a hectic lifestyle and poor time management. However, various surveys conducted in the past confirmed that nearly half of New Zealanders acknowledge breakfast as the ‘most important meal of the day’ (Hills, 2012). It is at this point that a business idea comes to mind: to provide value by satisfying a need (Hartnett, 1998, as cited by Sweeney & Soutar, 2001). In this case, it is the need for a good, convenient breakfast. Through an entrepreneurial endeavour supplemented with the collection of the right information, this idea can become a business opportunity (Massey, 2005). Although a business opportunity does not guarantee success, this business idea requires the support of a business strategy so that it gains a reasonable chance to become a successful operation (Oliver & English, 2012) in the near future.
The aspired future state of a business or any organisation is described in the vision (Srivastava, Franklin, & Martinette, 2013; Duygulu, Ozeren, Işıldar, & Appolloni, 2016). This statement provides a starting point (Kantabutra & Avery, 2010) and a sense of direction for the business, hence, it should be clear, appealing and compelling (Srivastava, Franklin, & Martinette, 2013; Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). The business idea comes with an ambitious but altruistic goal, hence, the vision statement:
“To cater to a multi-cultural society that does not miss breakfast.”
This above statement satisfies a number of definitions of vision. It is easy to understand, and represents the ‘fundamental purpose’ of the business (Srivastava, Franklin, & Martinette, 2013, p. 50). According to Kantabutra and Avery (2010), strategists have proposed numerous characteristics a powerful vision should possess, but these can be summarised as being concise, clear, stable, challenging, inspirational, and future-oriented. This bold vision not only indicates a long-term standpoint of the business (Hubbard, Rice, & Galvin, 2014); it also offers an inspiring image of the ‘big picture’ (Alter, 2001) which is a more desireable situation in the future.
The mission statement is perceived to be a crucial factor in formulating business strategies that are sustainable (Duygulu, Ozeren, Işıldar, & Appolloni, 2016). It describes the organisation’s aim, the reasons for its existence, and what it is trying to accomplish (Duygulu, Ozeren, Işıldar, & Appolloni, 2016), all of which are extremely valuable in establishing the organisation’s major goals (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). This business idea will be guided by the mission statement:
“Enriching busy Wellingtonians through a delightful breakfast to-go.”
The above mission statement is expressed in a progressive structure to connote the ongoing process and continuous improvement in developing this business. It is also customer-oriented (Wellingtonians) and does not focus on the products (breakfast items) alone. This broad approach acknowledges the possibility that there will be shifts in demand in the future and the main purpose of the business may need to be served in diversified ways (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). Ultimately, the mission statement establishes what this business intends to excel at (Hubbard, Rice, & Galvin, 2014) which is the provision of an enriching and delightful breakfast.
The lifestyle preference this business wants to achieve is very evident in the product it aims to serve. The proponents of this business idea are relatively young adults who also constantly miss breakfast due to the demands of both work and studies. Values reflect the underlying behaviours, attitudes and outlooks held and used by the organisation in its operations and activities (Hubbard, Rice, & Galvin, 2014). The proponents believe in the value of good health and nourishment – a realisation that fundamentally produced this business idea. Innovativeness, the ability to create or adapt to, and implement new ideas into practice and new products (as cited by Lebedeva & Grigoryan, 2013), is another essential value preferred by the proponents which should also be integrated into their personal lifestyle. Innovativeness will be a good basis for organisational behaviour once the business becomes operational as innovation is a key factor for survival in a dynamic environment. In the future, the personal values of the business stakeholders should ideally be aligned with the value statement of the organisation by encouraging participation in its development (Alter, 2001).
Social responsibility is integrating environmental and social concerns, apart from the financial aspects, in the strategic decisions of the organisation (Massey, 2005; Hubbard, Rice, & Galvin, 2014). The simplest ways to practice social responsibility are by reducing energy consumption (i.e., during food production) and using recyclable food containers. In friendly and creative ways, customers will be reminded to recycle plastic items and dispose of food scraps responsibly. Donating food items to a charitable organisation (i.e., The Free Store, Kaibosh) is also highly considered, and will depend on the size of orders and calculated profit margins. Due to the small size of this business, the proponents will be open to collaborations with other small enterprises in various community involvements.
Core values are the inherent principles that guide an organisation’s actions which eventually become the distinct features of the business entity (Lencioni, 2002). This potential business start-up will possess the following core values:
- Deliver a healthy breakfast on time.
This business idea was formed out of poor time management and a busy lifestyle, hence, time plays a major factor in its implementation. It is extremely important to ensure that the food items are available at the right place and at the right time. In line with the over-arching vision to ‘not miss breakfast’, orders must always be on the agreed time of pick-up. Additionally, this core value also highlights the importance of a ‘healthy breakfast’ which means ingredients are carefully selected, ethically sourced, and hygienically prepared.
- Listen to serve better.
As a start-up business, what the customer has to say will determine its fate. During the first few weeks of operations, suggestions and comments will be proactively collected from customers through the website or direct interaction. Comments particularly about the food taste, variety and options will be taken into account for the subsequent servings.
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