Portfolio Tasks Business Essential: Introduction
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Instructions:
All submission of coursework will be online via Turnitin on the module’s Moodle site. For formative assessment (informal feedback) you should bring them to your seminars to discuss with your seminar tutors.
The Roehampton Harvard Referencing system should be used for any resources used as part of your research.
Final summative (formally marked) submission deadline for the portfolio of tasks is Monday 18th December, 2pm. The final submission of the four tasks should be as a single MS Word file containing all four tasks, along with a title page and contents page that lists each task. Please consult the module handbook for rules and regulations regarding submissions.
Please ensure your document is saved as: “student number and project title” as the name of the file before you upload it to Moodle, for example:
“1234567 Casto Coffee”
Formatting
- Main text Arial font Size 12
- MS Word document (not a pdf)
- 1.5 point line spacing
Referencing Requirements
Note that as indicated in the marking schema, it is expected that you will use references to support your work and you will be taught about this in your English Academic Skills module. These references may be in the form of examples of similar work that you have used and based your own work on (for example another marketing plan), theory discussed in articles or text books, a relevant case study that has helped inform your answer or something else that has helped inform your answer. These references may be found in a variety of places but you are expected to use at least one non-web-based reference per task as well as any number of additional references that may be useful. These should be listed and referenced using the standard Harvard referencing system you will have been taught in your English classes but your seminar tutor will also be able to help with this. Failure to reference correctly will result in substantial loss of marks and each non-web reference (per task) is worth up to 5 marks, if it is of sufficient quality and relevance.
Introduction to Task Portfolio
In your seminar groups you will be invited to develop a business idea that in some way involves the university. This can be anything at all and you are encouraged to build your idea around something you are interested in and already have some understanding of – perhaps a hobby, a family business or a business sector where you have some employment experience. The business may be based anywhere (does NOT have to be sited on university premises) but you might, for example, wish to set up a business that targets students or perhaps supplies something of importance to the university. As we will be looking at expanding this business idea in the second semester it is essential that your business could, if successful, be scaled up across other universities both in this country and abroad, so avoid any ideas that truly rely on something unique about your current place of study. You are encouraged to think creatively but be realistic.
You may make any reasonable assumptions. For example, if you wanted to set up a Krispy Kreme franchise stall somewhere on the campus it would be reasonable to assume that A) you can get the franchise from Krispy Kreme and B) that the University would allow you to do so and it does not conflict with its existing catering contracts. In practice this may or may not be true but it is would be acceptable for you to assume these things for the sake of carrying out this assignment. All assumptions MUST be clearly stated in your assignment submissions.
The tasks that follow all relate to this business idea and build upon each other to produce a set of outputs that form a portfolio of structured outputs that could be of some use to someone launching this business for real.
Task 1 – MANDATORY
Please note that once a business idea has been chosen, it cannot be changed. The same business ideas has to be used for all portfolio tasks that follow.
Part A
What is your business idea? Clearly state with justification the business, the sector, location, how the business is going to operate (e.g. online, high street, both). Also, briefly state the reasons you think the business is a good idea, how it is going to meet the needs of its customers in a new and innovative way that is not already met by existing businesses. Include a table that identifies some of your key competitors, explaining why you consider them competition. Note that this first part is all about justifying WHY you want to do this and should be supported with evidence wherever possible.
Word limit: 500 (guide)
Part B
What are the four most important objectives for your new business?
- Objectives should start with the word to. For example: To make it easier for people to find copies of older books and specialist literary novels
- Objectives should be relevant to your business idea. Each objective needs to be briefly explained and the justification of the importance of each objective should also be given.
Out of the different forms of ownership (e.g. sole trader, partner), which ones is the most suitable for your business and why?
- State why this form of ownership is the most suitable, giving at least two referenced examples to support your justification. Failure to do so will not score a pass mark
Word limit: 400 (guide)
Task 2
As part of portfolio task 1, you have clearly defined what your business is, its objectives and the form of ownership it will have. The next step is to complete a PESTLE analysis.
| Political | Technological |
| Economic | Legal |
| Social | Environmental |
Complete a PESTLE analysis for your chosen business. For each of the PESTLE headings, one or two or factors that could potentially influence how your business will operate need to be identified. However, only writing a list of factors would not be acceptable, discussion regarding impact and significance that each factor could have on the organisation is needed.
Word limit: 600 (guide)
Task 3
This assessment builds upon the activities assigned for portfolio tasks 1 and 2, where business ideas and objectives were established and a PESTLE analysis of the external environment was carried out.
This task is concerned with the launch event of a business. This is the moment you introduce the market and the media to your business, what it does and what it has to offer. This type of event can be very expensive, however, and it is important that you keep a tight control of costs. To help achieve this it is important to establish a budget for the event.
It would be helpful for you to review the lecture and seminar on budgeting and managing cash flow. Both the lecture and seminar contain example budget templates that you could use to guide your launch event budget.
Consistency with previous portfolio tasks is needed. For example, if one of your objectives was about high quality then you should make sure that your marketing plan is consistent with this objective. It is recommended that you re-read the portfolio submissions for tasks 1 and 2 before starting this task.
Part A Defining your Launch Event
You should write a statement that describes the launch event you intend to hold. This should include what format the event will take (e.g. what form of social gathering, will there be a business presentation and or a celebrity opening, will food be served), when (day time evening weekend) and where the event is going to take place (on site off site).
You should make sure that you justify the choices you make in the context of your business description and its objectives that you submitted in assessments 1 and 2.
- If you intend to spend a lot of money on food and entertainment, for instance, how is this compatible with the business objectives and image?
- If you chose to invite a celebrity, for example, why have you invited them and how they will help you achieve your business objectives?
You should also explain whom you intend to invite, including overall numbers, and why they should be invited.
Answers that just describe will not score high marks. It is really important that you justify your choices in relation to your proposed business.
Word limit: 500 (guide)
Part B Producing a budget
The lecture on budgeting and cash flow introduced you to the concept and importance of budgeting. Using the budget templates provided to you in this lecture and its accompanying seminar, please construct a budget for your event. These templates are only a guide and you will need to modify them to make sure the budget items included are relevant to your event.
Your budget will be judged on both whether it includes all of the major cost items your event will incur together with whether the costs you include are realistic. You will need to carry out research to find realistic costs to include in your budget.
Whenever possible you should give notes at the bottom of the budget to explain and reference where your costs have come from.
For example, imagine you had a line in your budget (for a party of a hundred people) that stated
£
3 course luxury meal 5,0001
You might then have a note at the bottom of your budget that stated:
1Food costs based on an average cost of £50 per head based on a mid-range catering firm (www.Eat Well.com/prices).
Task 4
The lectures will have introduced you to marketing, marketing plans and how the marketing mix (the 4Ps and the 7Ps) could be used to drive sales. It would be helpful to review this material, particularly the exercise on building a marketing plan and the exercise on constructing a marketing mix.
In the lectures you were introduced to the key sections of a marketing plan. In this assessment you are going to develop content under some of the key headings for your proposed business.
The headings are
Marketing objectives
Target Markets
Marketing Mix
Marketing strategies for each target market
Below are some notes to help you with each of these headings. You should note that for all of the headings it is really important that you explain why you are making the choices you are. Answers that just state what you are doing will not score highly.
Marketing Objectives
How do you intend to position your product/service in the market? Is it a luxury or a mass market offering? What are the key brand messages you want to convey to customers, e.g. quality, service, low cost, value?
You should make sure that what you write here is consistent with your business description and objectives as stated in assignments 1 and 2.
Word limit: 400 words (guide)
Target Markets
What are your target markets and why? Are you, for instance, targeting young people, people with a particular belief (e.g. green consumers) or is the targeting based on wealth or gender (e.g. luxury clothing for men). If you are going to be offering products that target all segments in a market then please state why.
Word limit: 400 words (guide)
Marketing strategies for each target market
For ONE of your target markets please explain your marketing strategy. How are you going to communicate with customers in your chosen market segment and why? What forms of promotion and advertising are you going to use and why? Do you need to make any specific modifications to the marketing mix to reach the customers in this segment and why?
Word limit: 400 words (guide)
Marketing Mix
For each element of the marketing mix describe what your approach is going to be. You should also explain for each element why your chosen approach is the right one.
You might find it helpful to set up a table like the one below (an example is given for place for a business selling pizzas that are delivered to your door within 15 minutes).
| Element | Description | Justification |
| Price | ||
| Product | ||
| Place | The business’s product is going to be sold completely on line via the company’s web site and smart phone app. There will not be a shop customers can visit. | Research shows that many customers will want to order pizzas on their way home so that the food will be waiting for them on their return. Customers will want to be able to order whilst on the move and won’t really want to stop off at a shop on their way home. |
| Promotion |
Word limit: 500 words (guide)
Task 5
The lecture on business information systems introduced you to the nature of operational, tactical and strategic decision making and the information systems available to help support each type of decision. Before tackling assessment 5 you are advised to recap on this lecture and its associated seminar activities.
In this assessment you are required to identify the following:
- One operational business decision
- One tactical business decision
- One strategic business decision
For each decision you need to explain why it important to the business and to detail the information needed to make the decision, together with its source and characteristics. You are then required to identify the type of business information system that is needed to provide this information and why is it is the correct system to use.
An example of a tactical decision is given below to guide you on what you need to produce.
A book store needs to make regular decisions regarding the type and quantity of books to be stocked in the shop. Every three months the book store managers should analyse a summary of book sales by type (e.g. crime novels, travel books, gardening books and so on). This is important as a summary of sales by type will help the management team to identify what is selling well and from this to plan their future procurement of books from its suppliers. This will improve stock management and reduce the risk of buying large quantities of books of a type that the store then struggles to sell or has to sell at a loss.
This section of the answer clearly states what the decision is and why it is important. It also clearly states the frequency of the decision and how the decision could enhance business performance.
This information will be in summarised form as there is no need to detail every single sale. Data will be entirely sourced from internal sources. Sales figures will be available from the sales order processing system (a transaction processing system). However, to make the information easier for management to use, it should be displayed using a management information system that has the ability to create summary reports in graphical format that can be easily interpreted. Most transaction processing systems lack sophisticated facilities to analyse and present information.
This section of the answer states where the information is coming from and its nature and the type of information system that should be used and why.
Word limit: a limit of 200 words for each decision: operational, tactical and strategic (so the guided word count is 600 words in total)
Task 6
As a result of completing assessments 1 to 5 your business ideas will be starting to develop. You should have a clear idea of what your business is going to offer and its external environment, together with its objectives. You will also have established how you intend to launch the business and the cost the launch event, together with developing key elements of a marketing plan.
The supply chain suggestions must be compatible with your business objectives and business plan. Before tackling assessment 6 you are advised to recap on this lecture and its associated seminar activities.
By now you have a really good idea of your what your business is to offer, together with the marketing plan you would use to generate interest and ultimately sales. At this point, however, the details of the supply chain to support your business remain undefined.
In the lecture and seminar on supply chains you were introduced to the concept of the supply chain from raw materials to delivered product/service. In addition the seminar discussions explored some of your different business ideas and the types of suppliers they require.
For assessment 5 you are required to identify the main categories/types of supplier and how your business intends to develop each element of the supply chain.
E.g. From where do you intend to source your products or raw materials and why?
E.g. What information could you and the supplier share to enable them to support you better?
E.g. How are you going to support your customers post sale?
For each element of the supply chain you need to explain what you are intending to do and why it is the best option for your business.
It would be helpful for you to set up a table similar to the one below. The first row is filled in with an example to illustrate the kind of answer you need to produce.
| Element of the supply chain | How is this going to be addressed in the business | Why is this the correct way to operate? |
| Suppliers of books | A good supply of second hand books is essential to keep the store stocked. These might be sourced by setting up a web site offering to buy second hand books for individuals. In addition the business will establish links with schools, libraries and publishers who might be clearing out old stock or have excess books to sell. | It is important for the book store to establish a reliable supply of books. This can be achieved by establishing a wide range of suppliers (the general public) in addition to buying old books from bulk suppliers. The general public are more likely to supply copies of more recent books which will be complemented by larger suppliers of older texts from bulk suppliers. Bulk supplies will be cost effective to collect by van and private sellers will bear the cost and time of parcelling up books to send to the shop. |
It is worth noting that the most important column in this table is column three where you are required to explain why a particular choice has been made.
Word limit: 500-600 words (guide)
Answered
Task 1
The business is about starting up a day care in campus that will be committed to offering safe and warm nurturing of the children so that they can have interactive exploration with the others. The business will ensure ease of dropping and picking of children in the morning and evening respectively. It will not only be beneficial to the parents but also to the child who is enrolled the facility since it is located conveniently and there are quality amenities that surround campuses. Consequently, the faculty also benefits from the daycare facility since it is able to recruit and retain staff and student that have childcare responsibilities. The benefits surrounding the daycare are also unlimited owing to the fact that there no major restrictions that will be imposed on the facilities in campus compared to those outside. One of the major competitive and innovative strategies that the business will adopt is offering quality services at an affordable price. Among the problems that student-parents face include finance and lack of support and pressure from responsibilities of taking care of their children (Tracy 2005). Most of the day cares located outside campuses are expensive and such students are unable to afford a nanny, this is one of the reasons why opening a day care within the campus will not only be a lucrative business for us but also will benefit them.. Having an on campus day care is a business that has potential for growth since being privately owned will ensure that there are better services and the business will grow to opening day cares in other campuses and also outside campus (Ciciora 2010).
Table of Competitors
| Competitors | Why they are competitors | How to tackle them |
| Playtime Nursery-Wandsworth | While our day care will be admitting children between 3months to 3 years, playtime nursery admits kids up to five years. Currently, they have 15 staff while we have five | One of our future goals is to have additional space where older children will be admitted As the day care grows, more staff will be hired so that we can remain competitive. Additionally, we will try as much as possible to offer excellent services even with fewer staff. |
| Little stepping stone day nurseries | The day care allows and teaches other foreign languages such as Amharic, French, Castilian, Italian and Spanish | Non-English speaking kids will be taught English. Communication ease will be made by interpreters. |
| Puddle-ducks Nursery | Has all weather play ground. Located near shopping center with excellent transport links | Plans for roofing the play ground are underway. Parents can enroll to campus transport system Campus has a shopping complex |
| Asquith Putney Pre-school & day Nursery | Famous for exceptional Ofsted rating after May 2016 inspection. Engages students with ICT resources | Campus day care will offer outstanding care coupled with affordability so that it can receive excellent rating. 3 year old kids will exposed to ICT |
| The Little Tug Boat Day nursery | Well known since it has been operating since 1990. Kids are engaged in Yoga and other sports activities Children are taught different languages Outstanding in all areas are recognized by Ofsted 2017 | We will engage in vigorous advertising. Has a advantage of being located in campus where children can engage in sports activities offered Other languages will be taught as the business grows |
Objectives
To ensure that the daycare provides a safe environment for children. Since the campus day care is aimed at offering affordable daycare services for parent students and staff, the management will ensure that along with subsidized prices, the services offered will be competitive compared to other facilities in the region and that the children will be in a safe environment. By so doing, the facility will attract more clients.
To provide an environment that fosters child growth and development in an environment that supports learning. By doing so, the children will improve their mental capacity and will be able to understand the things that are happening around them and will also be able to interact well with one another
To develop the children self image by offering an environment that requires them to make independent decisions and solve problems. The major aim of opening up a day care business is not primarily about taking care of the children but they also need being in an environment that encourages them to do things on their own without depending n the parents and care givers.
To improve the level of service provided by adopting information technology and efficient customer service. In order to ensure that our customers are well served and that they enjoy our services, adopting a top notch customer service that is coupled with information technology will be necessary.
Partnership form of business
The day care will operate as a partnership form of business since it will be owned by more than two individuals who will be involved in business management and sharing of profit and loss (McKinlay, Connor & Ross 2007). Starting a day care facility requires a huge amount of capital, supervision and specialization. There has to be a formal agreement which will be put in writing and witnessed by a lawyer during registration. The partners will join hands and contribute to the capital, decision making and other resources required. Since all the partners will be owners of the business, they are required to participate actively in the business affair depending on the areas that they are best specialized.
Task 2
PESTLE ANALYSIS
PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological and Environmental factors that have an impact on the affairs of the business.
Political
Some of the political factors that may affect setting up a day care are also included in the legal factors. Additionally, the political state in the country has a major effect not only in day cares hubs but also in other businesses. Political factors dictate the policies for hiring employees and the courses that such employees are required to have taken. When political factors are favorable, businesses experience no constraints since the laws and legislation will not hinder the running of the business (Yüksel 2012). There are Acts by the government such as sex discrimination Act and minimum wage rate that are affected by politics.
Economic
One of the major economic factors that must be considered is payment figures for the locality. In most cases, the rates of employment are high in the locality, there will be more parents seeking for daycare services. In the case of campus day care, it is quite evident that there will be a lot of people seeking for the services due to the high population of students with young kids. Another basic issue to consider is the cost of running the facility. The costs include feeding, insurance, repairs, plumbing and waste disposal. A campus day care will have lesser running costs since they are subsidized.
Social
Although increase in population of children is among the factors, it is also evident that number of mothers in schools and in employment is also getting higher. Generally, women are seeking employment than they were before and this requires them to look for a safe place to leave their children. Additionally, change in families have also increased the need for day cares, for instance, in the past, children would be taken care of by their grandparents but currently the values have changed and parents are seeking other alternatives.
Technological
Technology in day care facilities is in form of innovations that occur day by day (Yüksel 2012). For instance, the facilities require changing of toys regularly as they are being invented since there are pare parents who would not take their children to facilities that have old fashioned toys. Additionally, technology has an impact on the way the business will communicate to its clients.
Legal
When opening up a day care, licensing is mandatory from the state and the requirements must be met before obtaining a license. The state officials will conduct inspection, licensed workers, nutrition requirement and health and safety (Yüksel 2012). Health and safety must also be observed and the premises need to be always in good condition in order to avoid accidents and illnesses. Safety measures also include training of staff on hygiene measures such as changing diapers regularly. The contracts made between the facility and the parents of the children should always follow the law
Environment
In a day care setting, environmental requirements should always be met. This include waste disposal, for instance day care waste include diapers and left over foods which must be disposed carefully without harm on the environment. Transport links should also be considered as environmental factors since they determine accessibility of the day care.
Task 3
Business Launch
The launch party for the day care business will occur at the business premises during the weekend since most of the parents will not be schooling or going to work. The aim of this is to ensure that the business is able to reach the target customers and that the clients will know the location of the day care. During the event, simple meals and drinks will be offered order for the parents to have an idea of the kind of feeding that they expect for their children. Preparing the meals at the facility will also give parent an insight of the quality of our services. Additionally, a welcome speech will be given by the CEO and the staff who will be working at the center will introduce themselves to the parents. To attract more attendants, the launch party will be advertised through the campus website and on various social sites that the parents are expected to be members. Also, as part of ensuring that people trust our service, Earth’s best diaper which is most trusted brand and perceived to be the best will be invited. There will be music, kids’ games and orientation whereby parents and kids will visit the various departments of the center. Additionally, parents that willing to start using the services will be registered by the company staff so that their children can be part of the center. Being a new business, the day care center will be strict on budget and try to use minimum financial resources as possible.
Part B. Event budget
| Item | Amount in $ |
| Food and drinks | 600 |
| Fruits and snacks | 350 |
| Decoration | 200 |
| Event advertising | 150 |
| Posters and banners | 170 |
| Support staff 1.Registration 2.Event photographer | 40 60 |
| Total | 1570 |
Task 4
Marketing objectives
Increase the number of children enrolled in our program by 40 percent in the next one year- As the day care business grows, the major aim is to ensure that the number of parents enrolling their children are increasing by 40% every year. Although the capacity of the current facility may not cater for many children, having many children will lead to business growth and more branches can be opened in other parts of the country.
Increase brand awareness all over the US- Although not everyone in the US is interested in a day care, maybe they have nannies, are housewives or do not have children, we expect that the business will be the talk of town. This will increase the number of clients through referrals. The value, price and quality of services will be the selling strategy.
Acquire atleast 50 enrolments at the beginning of the program- At the beginning of the program, it is quite difficult to attract clients since they do not know what they expect. This object is geared towards ensuring that people are aware of the program, its pricing and the quality of services. With this knowledge, it is expected that during the launch, atleast 50 parents will enroll their children.
Target Market
Mothers in colleges have numerous responsibilities that see them as parents, wife, caregiver, bread winners, employees and students. The mothers are faced with responsibilities and competing demands that make them struggle to remain enrolled in campus and complete their studies till graduation. Compared to students who do not have dependants, they are more likely to drop out of school due to financial challenges associated with child care. It is also evident that campus are struggling to hire staff and retain students since most of them are seeking to study or work in campuses that offer affordable and quality childcare services. This is the reason why this group came up with the idea of opening up an affordable daycare facility within campus.
Market strategies
The target market for the business is student mothers and working mothers. For this audience group, one of the strategies for communication is using social media more so, facebook. It is quite evident that almost all of them have face book accounts and are members of different groups that target mothers. Most of them use such groups to ask and discuss issues regarding the well being of their children (Cravens & Piercy 2006). Therefore, it is easy to market day care services in such groups.
Mothers can also get information using video tutorials. These tutorials may include child walking and potty training, by sponsoring such tutorials; it will be easy for them to trust the facility.
Blogging is also another way for reaching mothers. In most cases, mothers consult the internet whenever they want to learn something about children. A blog that answers question regarding parenthood will be a way for reaching them.
Marketing Mix
| Element | Description | Justification |
| Price | $20 per day | The pricing was made based on the fact that the aim of the day care is to provide quality care at an affordable price. Additionally, campus day cares are subsidized by the government in that they pay less tax and the facilities are provided by the campus. |
| Product | Day care services | Offering full day care services which means that children will be taken care of for more than 5 hours. Half day sessions of less than 5 hours will also be offered. The other package will include parents who want their children to be on day care on hourly basis only when they are busy. |
| Place | Roehampton campus- early childhood department | The depart is well is well equipped with adequate space for children including sleeping area, kitchen, washroom, medical facilities and other facilities such as toys, swings, slides and refrigerators for milk and food. |
| Promotion | Social media marketing, blog and video tutorials on you tube | Now that the product is ready, it will be marketed through these channels since mother and students visit them frequently. |
References
Ciciora, P. (2010). News Bureau | ILLINOIS. [online] News.illinois.edu. Available at: https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/205711 [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
Cravens, D.W. and Piercy, N., 2006. Strategic marketing (Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.
McKinlay, I., Connor, M. & Ross, S. (2007). Marketing. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa.
Tracy, B. (2005). Campus Child Care Centers. ERIC Digest.. [online] Ericdigests.org. Available at: https://www.ericdigests.org/2005-2/child-care.html [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
Yüksel, İ. (2012). Developing a multi-criteria decision making model for PESTEL analysis. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(24), 52.
