Entrepreneurship Business Plan of Style Now - Essay Example

Entrepreneurship Business Plan Part 2 – Marketing, Operations and Management Style Now Eliana Haiman Rio Garcia Mariela Rossiter Bo Shi Table of Contents Brand Strategy 3-4 Product/Service Strategy 4-5 Pricing and Promotion Strategy 5-6 Distribution/Place Strategy 6 Sales Strategy 7 Communication, Media, Web and PR Strategy 7-8 Marketing Calendar 9 Operations 9-11 Business Plan Management 11-13 Complete Works Cited 14 Brand Strategy Brand positioning: To women who want a convenient and unique shopping experience, Style Now, is the truck boutique that offers customers a styling experience to be their own. Brand mantra: “Your own unique and personal shopping experience at your convenience.” Brand vision: To view it as the new way to experience shopping. Brand promise: Merchandise that is uniquely tailored to meet the needs and wants of their customers. Brand description Style Now is a mobile fashion boutique business that provides customers with a very unique, personal shopping experience. From the Style Now smart phone application to the truck’s location and merchandise, Style Now will meet the retail needs of their customers in a personalized manner and environment. Customers will be able to locate Style Now mobile boutiques through the mobile app. Style Now will also have the ability to modify their trucks’ merchandise per customer to ensure all customers receive their own personal shopping experience. Our target customer is a millennial woman who is technologically savvy and desire trendy clothes and accessories at their convenience. Also, are women who get stressed, have little time to shop, and would generally like help in figuring the right clothes and styles to wear. Our competitive advantage is that Style Now provides an app for our customers. It is not only convenient for our potential customers but is also affordable. Compare to our top competitors, we are the only fashion truck that provides an app and merchandise prices that are in between our competitors. Our Style Now app is $5.00 and our merchandise ranges from $10.00 through $300.00. Also unlike the current fashion trucks parked on the street, Style Now trucks will sell merchandise that is uniquely tailored to meet the needs and wants of their customers. Product/Service Strategy Style Now’s strategy sets the expectations for our customers by always having limited quantities in merchandise. Also, our demand in stock will always be new, since our merchandise will be updated with the latest trends. Style Now will be offered in your convenience since it’s the first to travel to customer’s desired destinations. Our shopping bags will resemble the truck’s atmosphere for memorability and gratification from their experience. Style Now has been designed and tailored to meet the needs of our target market since Style Now is customer service oriented; it provides customized selection of clothing and accessories that is convenient and accessible. Style Now’s pairing of customers with stylists is one example of the company’s excellent customer service. All Style Now trucks personal stylists are available to help customers select the perfect outfit that meets their needs. Great Customer Service-Oriented Service promise: delivering superior personal customer service Product warranties and return policies:Customers will be able to return an outfit/outfits if the tag is still placed on the merchandise and they have kept the receipt. Retail/Customer experience: When customers have located our boutique, the Style Now shopping experience begins. A stylist will greet the customer and then they will both enter the truck. The truck’s merchandise will be customized to cater to our customers, which ensures each customer will be able to find what she desires. The stylist then assembles an outfit or outfits, which the customer will try on inside the truck in our fitting rooms. After the customer selects the merchandise that she wishes to purchase, she immediately pays inside the truck and receives instant gratification by purchasing and receiving the merchandise completely at her convenience. Pricing and Promotion Strategy Pricing strategy Our pricing will be consistent with the market and will be our competitive advantage. It will be consistent with the market because we offer quality over quantity. However, it will still be affordable. Style Now sells merchandise up to $300.00 which is more than our top competitor, J.D. LUXE, which sells merchandise up to $120.00 but less than Planet blue, which sells merchandise up to $767.00. Promotion strategy Style Now will build brand awareness and knowledge of the new business through its growth in appearances on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest. We will also maintain a blog with Lookbook images of our merchandise to inspire our customers to shop at our boutique. Since our customers are already shopping online foe convenience, introducing Style Now app on these social medias will be the best way to reach our to these customers. We will attract new first-time customers by hosting parties and galas that display a Style Now truck and guests can be informed. We will provide presentations, explanations and demonstrations on Style Now. We will build repeat loyal customers by having our customers wait for coupons and promotions which will be displayed on the Style Now app’s homepage. Distribution/Place Strategy A significant factor that will contribute to the success of Style Now is the fashion truck’s unique ability to travel to customers throughout the Los Angeles region. The location of a business is critical because it greatly impacts brand image and the target customers’ accessibility. Locationcan ultimately affect the success of a business. Style Nowwill have a prime location inthe Los Angelesareabecausethe fashion truck travels to its customers and provides quick and easy access to merchandise. As the business grows and develops, we hope to get more trucks to reach more customers at one time. Style Now will have a website with a similar design to its smart phone application. Customers will be able to login and have their information not only saved, but also easily accessible. The website will also enable customers to request a truck to come to their desired location. Sales Strategy Style Now’s apparel and accessories will be received from the providing retailers and sold in the fashion truck. Inside of the truck, there will be two stylists/sale associates, who are experienced with both retailers’ merchandise. These stylists/sale associates will be recruited from the retailers’ store locations. If these recruits successfully demonstrate knowledge of the merchandise, they will be given the option to work on the fashion truck. Training will consist of being instructed on and educated aboutthe two retailers, their merchandise, and the imagethat they desire to project. When recruitsdemonstrate knowledge ofthe retailers and merchandise, they will begin their truck training. Truck duties will consist of maintaining the demonstrated visual presentation of merchandise, keeping the truck clean and well organized, and styling and selling merchandise to customers. The transition from store location to fashion truck should be easy for recruits, as the duties are similar. Communication, Media, Web & PR Strategy The marketing and advertising plans for the truck will mostly follow the marketing and advertising plans of the providing retailers. For example, Style Now will be featured in the providing retailers’ emails, websites, Instagram, and twitter. In addition, the fashion truck sometimeswill be the main focus of the retailers’ email, website, Instagram, and twitter. With a target market that focuses primarily on females of the millennial generation, Style Now’s best marketing strategy is social media. Below are some examples of Style Now’s Instagram, Twitter, website, and blog. Smart Phone Application Instagram Not complete yet. Twitter Not complete yet. Website Not complete yet. Blog Not complete yet. In addition to social media, Style Now will have events to reach their target market. Style Now’s events will be parties that coincide with the providing retailers’ individually hosted events. At these parties, a Style Now truck will be displayed, and guests will be provided with presentations, explanations, and demonstrations. Upon the first release of the Style Now truck, a large gala focuses the fashion truck; it’s accessibility, simplicity, and affordability. Style Now is confident that they will become very successful due to their clever social media strategies. Marketing Calendar Date Task Week 1 Establish objectives. Research social media trends on Instagram and twitter. Begin prep and planning for special event Post on social media. Week 2 Photo shoot for advertisement. Create guest list for special event. Hire DJs, caterers, etc for event. Post on social media. Week 3 Approve and finalize images and advertisements. Send invitations for special event. Post on social media. Continue event prep. Week 4 Place and send out advertisements. Post and advertise on social media. Continue event prep. Week 5 Post on social media. Continue event prep. Week 6 Post on social media. Continue event prep. Week 7 Day of event Post on social media. Week 8 Send “Thank You” cards to attendees. Write press releases regarding special events. Discuss future advertisement plans and placements. Measure consumer response from special event. Operations Strategy Style Now will have buyers that will purchase merchandise for the fashion trucks such as clothing, shoes, and accessories from local vendors in the Los Angeles Fashion District. Our merchandise will be available for purchase in our mobile fashion trucks. Initial costs for Style Now to consider are the purchase and restoration of a mobile truck, as well as, overall maintenance and up-keep. According to The American Mobile Retail Association, approximately $20-$30,000 in capital will be needed to start a mobile retail boutiquei. We will also have to design a logo and purchase a trademark certification in order for our brand image to be implemented into the design of our fashion truck and other extensions of our brand to be recognized by consumers. Additionally, Style Now will purchase merchandise from various local vendors and supply our trucks with full size runs of each product to best accommodate our customers. We will also have to rent out a separate warehouse space to keep a back stock of our inventory in order to pull from to fill in depleted sizes/products. Furthermore, we will also build a website and mobile application for our customers to be able to learn and interact with our services while also being able to locate our fashion truck in the Los Angeles area. According to Quora, it will cost $10-$40,000 to get an application outsourced or to have a mobile application generated through freelancers it will cost $15-$40,000 to produceii. Most importantly, we will have to acquire parking permits from the city in order to park and sell merchandise from our fashion truck. Lastly, we will have to purchase business liability insurance, a commercial auto policy, and vehicle insurance. Since our fashion truck is mobile our location varies on a day-to-day basis. We are located in various areas in Los Angeles including the Fashion District in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as, areas in Venice and Santa Monica. We will have a warehouse of our inventory located in Downtown Los Angeles. Style Now will conduct daily business activities such as staff meetings, marketing strategies, scheduling, event planning, arranging purchase orders for merchandise inventory, and sales reports. Each staff member hired by Style Now will receive a full course of training on our specific selling techniques to provide the best experience for each customer. A typical working day on the fashion truck for our stylists/sales associates will be an eight-hour shift with a half hour lunch break and a ten-minute resting period. We are available from 10 am to 6 pm to be able to catch peak times of shoppers and able to work closely with each customer to deliver the best customer experience while shopping. Also, we will require additional hours from our stylists/sales associates on board the fashion trucks each week to touch basis on management, selling techniques, and sales report information (best sellers, slow sellers, etc.)Additional hours are needed for our buyers to calculate a budget for purchase orders, meet and finalize negotiations with vendors, and allocate merchandise to the fashion truck. BusinessPlan Management The success of any venture is much more dependent on the management team employed by the company. It requires the commitment of the relevant stakeholders to the objectives and goals of the firm. Our venture will thus involve investors, board of directors, and the team that owns the business, staffs, and employees. All these groups will be working hand in hand to ensure the firm succeeds in its operations in the market. Owners of the venture These will include the people to whom the business idea has evolved and will be involved in various activities in the firm. They will be able to plan for the business and set structures on how division of work will be done in the enterprise. The management will also be responsible for creating the links about how the information will flow to all departments and define the relationship that ought to exist among various employees. The members will also formulate different criteria that will be used to hire board members and different staffs required in the diverse departments. Investors Since the business is still a young, it will require a lot of capital if we are to compete effectively in the market. The industry has a good future and there is no doubt about that. As we grow, we will be able to go public so that we encourage the citizens to invest in our company through buying shares or any organization that might be interested to partner us. This extra capital will enable us to invest in more sales strategies like shopping online as well as targeting more attractive areas to girls so that we increase our profitability. The Board of Directors Style Now will have a board of trustees led by the chairman. This group will comprise of experienced persons from the fashion industry and understands the current changing market dynamism with the female generation. They will be tasked with the main decision making process to the organization and giving advice to various management heads so as to ensure the smooth running of the organization (Vargo, Deanna and Ruth, 2012)i. The Chief executive officer of the business responsible for running the daily operations of the company will also join the board. He will implement decisions passed by the board or either makes changes in consultations with the directors. Thus, this group will be comprised of the most senior management team and should ensure the firm succeeds. Business employees The company will hire a few members of staffs in various key departments to begin its operations. However, as the firm grows, the number will be able to increase gradually to cater for the increased activities (Vargo, Deanna and Ruth, 2012)ii. These persons will be qualified in their various sectors and will be hired through a vigorous recruitment system to ensure we get the best that will make us compete effectively with our rivals in order to gain control of the market. Through the human resource department, we will create a talent acquisition team. The company will seek to recruit hardworking young persons with knowledge about the fashion industry. This will enable us to create our future teams at relatively low cost and this will save the company some money and help it to compete with other boutiques. Works Cited "How to Start a Fashion Truck." The Fashion Mobile RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. "Starting The Fashion Mobile in 3 Months." The Fashion Mobile RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015 Vargo, Deanna, and Ruth A. Bryant. "CREATING THE BUSINESS PLAN." Acute & Chronic Wounds: Current Management Concepts (2012): 21. Read More