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Week 5 Discussion – Operations

Week 5 Discussion – Operations

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Note: Please review the information posted in the Instructor Insights area this week before working on your discussion reply. You will find tips and resources to help.

Review the appropriate guidelines for your selected company:

For this week’s discussion, respond to the following:

Start with a brief overview of your business: company name and what you are selling (a maximum of 3 sentences).

How does your business work? Describe the day-to-day flow of activities necessary to deliver your product or service to customers. Wherever applicable, identify costs. Be sure to address the following, as applicable to your chosen business in the response, using headings:

  • Facilities.
    • Describe the facility, including its location.
    • Specify whether it is rented or owned; include any associated costs.
    • Estimate the cost of utilities, such as water/sewer, gas, electricity, and trash removal.
  • Production Process/Description of business operations.
    • Describe the production process (how you will produce the product) or describe how your business will operate if this is a retail or service company.
    • Identify the equipment, furniture, vehicles, etc. you will use and associated costs.
    • Explain your approach to quality control.
    • Explain your approach to inventory, as applicable.
  • Personnel Needs
    • Specify the number of employees you plan to have, including managers.
    • Identify their roles, wages, and/or salary.

Week 5 Assignment – Marketing Plan and Budget

Overview

  1. In this assignment, you will focus on creating the marketing plan for your business. Your chosen company will operate within a 100-mile radius of your home address. Your goal is to reach $1 million in sales by the end of the second year.
  2. Be sure to follow the guidelines below.
  • Use the template below to complete this assignment:

Reminders

You are not starting this assignment from scratch. You have already worked on these sections of your business plan in the weekly discussions:

  • Target Market (Week 3 discussion).
  • Marketing Vehicles (Week 4 discussion).

You will revise the target market description and marketing vehicles based on the feedback you received in the discussion thread and any changes you want to make to your business plan.

Marketing Plan

In MS Word, write the 3–5 page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan, in which you:

  1. Complete the company’s target market description you developed in the Week 3 Discussion based on the instructor’s feedback.
    • Be sure to include demographic, geographic, lifestyle, psychographic, purchasing patterns, and buying sensitivities in the target market description.
  2. Assess the company’s top 3 competitors.
    • The assessment needs to include a brief description of the exact company and particular product or service you are competing against. For example, Coca-Cola offers a portfolio of products, such as water, fruit juice, and cola. Are you competing against Coca-Cola’s fruit juice product? Or its cola product?
  3. Develop a plan that includes how you compare your business to your competitors currently and how you will differentiate yourself from the competition in the future.
    • How will you stand out and why?
  4. Outline the company’s value proposition.
    • The value proposition tells your customers why they want to do business with you.
  5. Detail the marketing vehicles you will use to build your chosen company’s brand.
    • Provide a rationale for selecting the vehicles and why you believe they will be effective in promoting your business.
    • Insert the final version of the marketing vehicles table adjusted per the feedback received from the Week 4 Discussion.
Marketing Vehicles Table
Marketing Vehicle Frequency Cost/Month
Example 1

Social Media: Facebook and Instagram

2–3 times per week $600 per month
Example 2

TV Stations: Local Station, WTC

1 time per week $1,000 per month
Example 3

Free Samples

2 events $500 per month
Website $2000 (one-time cost)

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