Introduction
This project is all a five-group members thought. My partners and I sat down and decided to come up with a clothing store that is located in Raleigh, NC-27606, USA. The business offers all types of clothing as well as clothing accessories to all customers. The business helps customers to solve their problems in fashion through the varieties that are displayed by the business. The business will provide some outlets in many areas in the region so that convenience will be ensured to customers such that they will buy clothing at any time they need to, at very cheap prices. The business also offers online outlets to its customers who may not access the main store to purchase their outfits. This ensures that customers have a free and secure clothing-shopping environment that is dedicated to satisfying their fashion needs.
Business mission statement
To offer great and affordable stylish brands of clothing and accessories to customers they will use to get solutions to problems related to fashion.
Business vision statement
To assist prospective customers to access an online store or boutique where they will access all varieties of clothing to ensure that they will have a secure environment to purchase their clothing.
The business organization chart
This is an outline of the various positions available in the management of the business. This is also a representation of the chain of authority as well as the span of control. The business has a complex line outline of an organization chart. It is simplified in an outline as follows.
Manager
Assistant manager/director
Head of Department
Marketing department HR department Technical department
Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor
Employees Employees Employees
Question 1
Stakeholders of the business
The business has several people that it deals with in its operation. The company deals with customers who visit our store and visit the various online boutiques and stores to buy our products. We have suppliers whose work is to supply the business with clothing materials that we use to make clothing for our customers. Government agents are also our stakeholders. These agencies collect taxes from all businesses in the region to gather some revenue that the government uses to offer public services to citizens. These agencies give licenses to business owners, as an authorized permit from the government to operate. Utility companies are also part of the business stakeholders.
Question 2
Factors of production of the business
Since our business does not need any material to make the final product, clothing, we have inventory. These inventories are produced using natural resources. For instance, shirts are obtained for cotton, skirts from silk, and others from linen. Polyester is obtained from oil and is used to make clothing. The business has employed some staff that unpacks the clothing, displays, and assists customers in purchasing them. The business has an accountant whose work is to do the payroll and maintain the accounting statements. There is a webmaster that makes the design of our online stores and adds updates to them on daily basis. Our business has a manager who is responsible for marketing our clothing through publicity and advertising. Generally, the labor in our store is outsourced from full-timers, part-timers, and those who offer advice to our customers when they are consulted. The business has a building that is freestanding as its location for all the operations.
Question 3
Value that we offer to our customers
Usually, we do not produce products that we later display to our customers rather; our business is more on retailing than manufacturing. Our store offers services o our customers in form of merchandise not joining or assembling clothing. We produce value for our customers using two methods. These methods are merchandise selection, where we choose what best suits our customers, and competitive pricing. Competitive pricing ensures that we do not overcharge our customers (Littlerock 56).
Question 4
What the business offers to our customers
The business offers all types of clothing to all customers. These are men ware, ladies ware as well as clothing for children. In addition to this, the business offers uniforms, t-shirts, and sports clothing. These are the imports that we get from Bangladesh.
Question 5
How the business develops its resources
The business develops its human resources through the entrepreneurial efforts that we the owners of the business have. We develop finances from the contributions we give from the profits we make and loans from our financiers. Effective planning in the business ensures that we manage the business well as well as making profits.
Question 6
The competitors of our business
. We have several competitors that are within and outside Raleigh. Some of them are clothing distribution chains that operate in the area. One of them is the Express that owns and operates over 625 stores in the US and Canada (Nickels 121). Other competitors are clothing companies within and out of the United States of America. Companies like TJX Companies and Arcadia Clothing Groups Top shops in Britain produce and distribute clothing to their stores where their customers can access them (Littlerock 45).
Question 7
Key economic indicators affecting our business
Generally, sales in the business are either low or high. What brings about these variations in the volume of sales is the amount that customers spend on clothing. This is in turn determined by the amount in their hands, their personal incomes (Nickels 39). Therefore, the higher the personal incomes, the higher the sales, and the lower the personal incomes the lower the sales. Economic indicators that increase the personal incomes of citizens and further lead to increased sales are reducing interest rates inclines in available credits to customers, reduced tax rates, increased consumer confidence in the coming economic conditions, an increased amount of disposable income of the customers. Economic indicators that are associated with low sales are declines in credits available to customers, increases taxes, reduced confidence in future economic conditions of customers, high interest rates, and low disposable incomes of the customers.
Question 8
Type of business cycles followed by our business
The business undergoes some business cycles that are influenced by economic periods as well as climatic conditions in the region. Our business undergoes vicissitudes during expansion periods and recession periods. When economic conditions are favorable in the region and climatic conditions are good, that is during summers, the business expands at a high rate. On the other hand, during winters and when economic conditions are unfavorable, the business goes down in terms of sales.
Question 9 and 10
The business trade
Our business imports ready-made garments from Bangladesh and displays them for their customers. The business also exports clothing to other regions like Australia, Europe, and Africa. The business trades with other nations like Canada, Sweden, and African countries like Kenya and Nigeria. They exchange sell their garments to us and we sell our garments to them.
Question 11
Our business lends itself to franchising, making it create a healthy business environment. This results in cooperation with other clothing dealers thus exchanging their competencies. Exchange of expertise takes place, helping us to offer the best services to our customers.
Question 12
The business has formed an amalgamation contract with our suppliers as well some of the Express Inc. stores in Raleigh. This helps in improving our services because we are able to borrow some experiences from them. a healthy competitive environment is also created out of this contact.
Question 13
Ethical problems that our business faces include social responsibility to society, pollution, and ensuring equality of tender to our suppliers. The high population in the region implies a high level of sales thus disposing covers of our clothing poses some challenges. There are many suppliers in the region and thus we are unable to get equal tenders from them.
Question 14
When we employ our staff, we frequently train them how to the ethical in their places of work. We always train new employees when we recruit them. Training also takes place for old employees to upgrade their skills.
Question 15
Our business participates in cleaning activities that take place in towns near the business. This involves cleaning the regions around the business to ensure that we do not pose pollution challenges to those who stay around the area. Cleaning other places in cooperation with other businesses in Raleigh is part of our responsibility to show society that we care about them.
Question 16
The business is financially responsible to its investors by engaging in investments that are long-term and productive. It is socially responsible to customers by protecting their interests and to the employees by paying them well and giving them good working conditions. It is socially responsible to the environment by ensuring that they do not litter it.
Question 17
Our business is a partnership with other four partners. A partnership is a business that is owned by several people. Five partners who are charged with different responsibilities own our business.
Question 18
The advantage associated with the type of ownership is easy management because of combined decision-making. Disadvantages of a partnership include sharing of losses and partners depending on one another too much. Despite that, we have been able to overcome the challenges by resolving conflicts that arise.
Question 19
Internal customers are sales representatives. External customers are agents from other clothing businesses across the world. These are the people we sell our clothing to both from our store as well as through our online boutiques.
Question 20
As previously, discussed, our business has a flat organization chart, complex line chart. The manager is the head of the organization assisted by the assistant manager. There is ahead of the department in each of the three departments that we have. In each department, there is a supervisor who directs the employees.
Question 21
I hold the position of the manager of the business and my main role is to control the business and ensure that all is in order. One of my partners is the assistant manager and she assists me in maintaining order in the business. She holds my position when am not around. Another partner is the head of the marketing department and plays the role of marketing our products. Another partner is the head of the technical department and ensures that all our online stores are in order. The last partner is the head of HR department and his work is to recruit and select employees helped by our HR panel.
Question 22
We advertise for vacant positions in our website and we select the best applicants according to their qualifications. We train our employees by inviting other managers from other clothing companies to talk to them. After selecting the best, we place and train them.
Question 23
Our business pays our employees through their bank accounts in the respective banks. This is to ensure that there is safety in their payments. This also ensures that there is accountability in the books of statements in the business.
Question 24
Our business operates under centralized control from our store. Each store and boutique receives orders from our main store. This ensures that there is coordination in the whole business.
Question 25
Our core competencies are financial competence, technical competence as well as marketing competence. We have accountants who ensure accountability in the operations of the business by maintaining books of account. We also have technicians who design and update our websites every moment.
Question 26
Our business operates under a major building with strips, each strip being used for a common display of clothes. Each strip is designed to display a certain type of clothing. This ensures smooth running of sales as customers do not require to move around looking for where to get the clothing they need.
Question 27
We did choose the current location of our business because of its strategic position. It is in the middle of the town thus many customers are able to access it. This increases our sales volumes.
Question 28
Our business engages in advertising as its form of marketing. We advertise our clothing on our websites where we post our information. We also manipulate the media such as televisions where we post images of our clothing to attract customers.
Question 29
Our business targets to reach people from more nations across the world. This is to add on the existing customers from the few countries that we have managed to market our products especially Europe and Asia.
Question 30
Our total product takes 48% the overall offering in the clothing industry. The clothing industry has several businesses in it, which create a competitive environment. From the statistics that have recently been released, we occupy almost half of the market in the industry.
Question 31
We differentiate our products by incorporating into them a logo that is an intellectual property right of the business. This makes it easier to recognize our clothing in the market.
Question 32
Our business owns a trademark that marks our products. The trademark is a property to the business and legally it is used to represent the business in the market as well as in the books of the companies act. This means that no other company can use it.
Question 33
Our business manipulates penetration and skimming pricing policies. Penetration pricing involves offering our products at relatively cheap prices to secure a portion in the market while skimming aims at creating awareness through selling products accompanied by offers to people of our products to attract customers.
Conclusion
Our business has entered into the market with the aim of being among the top dealers in clothing. Despite the barriers that may lag the business behind, our entrepreneurial culture will help us maneuver in the industry. We will manipulate all factors, whether social, economic, environmental, or political to ensure that we offer the best quality of clothing to our customers at affordable prices.
Works Cited
Littlerock, CA. Garment Manufacturers Index: Klevens Publications, 2011. Print.
Nickels, William G, James M. McHugh, and Susan M. McHugh. Understanding Business. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Print