Business Essentials Sample Assignment

Introduction

In order to increase profitability in business, expansion is one of the most effective strategies. In this project, the business idea is to set up a store of Uniqlo at the University of Roehampton campus. Uniqlo is a Japanese organization that manufactures affordable casual clothes. This will not be only helping the company to increase its customer base but also give an opportunity to the students at the campus to acquire affordable clothing. Throughout this project, different activities required to cement the business idea in reality will be described in detail. Marketing strategies will be evaluated in this project in order to detect the feasibility of tyhe business idea.

Task 1

Part A

University of Roehampton is a university that has enormous students studying in it. The campus is equipped with different stores that cater to the different needs of the students. However, there are no stores regarding fashion or clothing. Uniqlo by collaborating with the college wants to open up a franchisee in the college campus. The organization Uniqlo is Japanese organization that designs, retails and manufactures casual wear. The company was entirely subsidized by Fast Retailing Co. Limited and operates in Japan and seven other countries (Uniqlo.com, 2018). Clothes from Uniqlo are affordable in their prices; therefore opening up a store of the brand in the college campus will be a profitable for the organization as well as the students. The business idea conceptualized will be profitable one as there are no other clothing stores in the college campus. The students have to travel great distance in order get hold of casual wear from the market, which is expensive. As Uniqlo is subsidized, the clothes are affordably priced which will not burn a hole in the pockets of the students. Uniqlo is the organization that operates in the retail-clothing sector in the market. The organization has its business presence felt in seven countries in both the offline and the online domain. However, the business idea proposed here would be only having its single store in the college campus. Further, if the idea is accepted by the students increasing the presence on the online media can be thought off.

The students in the campus are in constant need of affordable and casual clothing and the stores of Uniqlo in the campus will suffice this need. In addition to this, the organization can also diversify its product line by incorporating products that are required for trekking and camping. Winter wear is another product line that can be considered. Inside the college campus, the store of Uniqlo will not face any competition, as there is no other clothing store in the campus. However, other casual clothing brands like Primark, Zara and many more.

Part B

The business idea stated here needs to have some objectives in order to curve out its activities. All the activities taken up in the business project should be aligned to the objectives of the business idea. The four most important objectives of the business idea are as follows:

• To provide affordable clothes to the college students within the college campus. This objective is the core idea of the business proposal given out by the student. The college campus does not have any clothing store and therefore the students have to visit the stores outside the campus to buy their everyday wear. Presence of a store in the campus will suffice the needs of the students in the campus.
• To increase market share for the organization in London. London has many brands that manufacture casual clothes for the young generation and Uniqlo is one of them. Opening up a store at the university will help the organization increase its share in the market among the other competitors.
• To earn profits by investing the minimum amount of money and infrastructure. Uniqlo has its manufacturing units installed in different countries and therefore need not spend money on getting infrastructure. In addition to this, the company can hire designers from the college campus itself, which will cut down the cost of external recruitment. The place for opening up a franchise will be borne out by the college
• To diversify the product line in order to get hold of more number of consumers from the campus and other nearby colleges as well. The Uniqlo store in the university campus will not only have casual clothing pr everyday clothing. In addition to the parent clothing line, the stores will have essentials regarding camping and trekking. Atheleisure product line will also be available at the stores, which will help in attracting the students.

When any business idea is surfaced, it is very important to finalize the type of ownership that will be followed while setting up the organization. The ownership pattern summarizes the pattern profit sharing and investments done in the business. In order to set up a store of Uniqlo in the campus, partnership will be followed. The two partners will be Uniqlo and the college authorities. This will help in easy setting of the stores in the college campus. The profit sharing is 50% between the two partners. Regarding the resources, the college will provide the place to set up the store. The designers can be hired from the college, staffs and manufacturing process will be taken care by the parent organization. The positive impacts of using the partnership pattern of ownership are the burden of investments is divided between two organizations, which help in the process of setting up business (Kaya and Vereshchagina, 2014). There have been many business collaborations in the real world that have fetched success through the partnership pattern.

Task 2

As the university is Located in London, UK it is very important to analyze the external and the internal environmental factors in order to understand the feasibility of the business idea. In this part of the assignment, a PESTLE analysis of UK will be done.

PESTLE Analysis of UK

Table 1: PESTLE Analysis of UK

(Source: Created by the learner)

Task 3

Part A

Statement of the Launch event regarding the business idea

“The Nitty- Grities of Opening Up a Store of Uniqlo at Roehampton Campus”

It is very important to bring awareness about the business idea towards the different stakeholders. The stakeholders are the different people who are directly involved in the activities surrounding the business idea. It is very important to pitch the business idea to the different stakeholders in order to acquire appropriate funds. The launch event idea will be briefed out in a formal gathering where in the college campus where CEO of London Unit of Uniqlo will be present. The administrative members of the college, different investors and significant students from the Roehampton University will be present in the launch event.

Venue of the Launch Event: Main Auditorium of Roehampton University

Date and Time: 16^th December 2018, 15:00 hours onwards

The business idea will be pitched by the college dean to the crowd and later a high profile celebrity will be selected to increase the visibility of the event in the media.  The launch event will help in increasing the profile of the business and this is supported by the presence of a celebrity. There is a common notion among the youth and college goers that they are influenced by what the celebrities’ wear or use. Involving a celebrity in the business idea will increase the value of it and as a result, customers could be acquired easily.

Different people will be invited in the launch event in order to increase the visibility of the business idea, which in the end will fetch more number of consumers. CEO of Uniqlo London will be the chief guest of the event. The other guests will be

• Principle of college
• Investors
• Principles of other neighbouring colleges
• Prolific Students of the Roehampton Campus
• Prominent Ex-students of the Campus
• News channel representative
• Celebrities

Part B

Some financial budgeting needs to be done in order to acquire the different elements required for the launch event. 150 people will be present in the launch event, therefore the budgeting needs to be done considering the strength of the people attending the event.

Table 2: Budgets for different elements

(Source: Created by the learner)

Food and Beverage Budget

Table 3: Budget for Food and Beverage

(Source: Created by the learner)

The entire budget of the event will be approx £19,250. All the prices in the table have been allocated by referring to the different organization. A fund of £1,000 will be kept for the other miscellaneous activities that might be required in the last moment. Grace Elizabeth is a fashionista who has great appeal among the youth. The celebrity is quite in limelight due to her high-end fashion choices. Bringing her to the event will increase the visibility of the event in the media.

Task 4

Marketing Objectives

There are different marketing objectives of the stated business idea. The casual clothes from Uniqlo will be positioned among the youth and college goers. The different products will be casual t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, cargos that will be designed by the students of the campus. This will have greater appeal among the students in the campus. The products will be affordable in its price so that students can acquire it easily. There are different key messages of the brand and they are affordability, quality, different product line and availability. The marketing objectives are aimed towards increasing market share in the market through attracting the young college going audience.

Target Market

The target market will be the young adults and college goers. Uniqlo is known for its affordable casual clothes and therefore, opening up a store in a college campus is a feasible idea. The target market will be based on the age. The products from the business idea will only target the young crowd. Diversification in the product line will help in gaining more consumers.

Marketing Strategies

The marketing mix strategy will be used to target the potential consumers in the market (Ryan, 2016). Among the 7P’s in the marketing mix, the product and price element will be considered as the most important to attract the target customers (Fine, 2017). The young crowd are always in need of casual clothes in affordable prices in their fast forward life. Different promotional strategies need to be used. Online promotions, hoardings, sponsoring events in the colleges and free samples can be considered as effective promotional strategies for the young crowd. The youth crowd is mostly active on the social media and promoting the brand on Facebook will be very effective.

Marketing Mix

Table 4: Marketing Mix of Uniqlo

(Source: Created by the leaner)

Conclusion

In this business project, different activities, strategies have been discussed in detail in order to move ahead will the stated business idea. Opening up a store of Uniqlo will help the students to get hold of things that would suffice their fashion needs. The affordability of the clothes from the brand is a plus point, which will play a crucial role in having success of the business idea. The business idea will also help in increasing the market share for the organization in London and as a result, the profit percentage will be increased.

Reference List

Davidsonlondon.com. (2018). Luxury Bespoke British Furniture & Design | Davidson London. [online] Available at: https://www.davidsonlondon.com/  [Accessed 4 Dec. 2018].

Fine, S.H., 2017. Product Management in Social Marketing. In Marketing the Public Sector (pp. 81-95). Routledge

Gayatri Weddings And Events. (2018). Gayatri Weddings & Events in UK. [online] Available at: http://www.gayatriweddings.com/  [Accessed 4 Dec. 2018].

Ikea.com. (2018). Kitchen Accessories & Kitchenware - IKEA. [online] Available at: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/cookware/  [Accessed 4 Dec. 2018].

Kaya, A. and Vereshchagina, G., 2014. Partnerships versus corporations: Moral hazard, sorting, and ownership structure. American Economic Review, 104(1), pp.291-307.

Li, Y., Savage, M. and Warde, A., 2015. Social stratification, social capital and cultural practice in the UK. The handbook of research methods and applications on social capital, pp.21-39.

Officeoutlet.com. (2018). Office Supplies, Stationery, Print Centre and Furniture | Office Outlet. [online] Available at: https://www.officeoutlet.com/  [Accessed 4 Dec. 2018].

Rees-White, T.C., Mønster, J., Beaven, R.P. and Scheutz, C., 2018. Measuring methane emissions from a UK landfill using the tracer dispersion method and the influence of operational and environmental factors. Waste Management.

Ryan, D., 2016. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Kogan Page Publishers.

Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.

Uniqlo.com. (2018). Mens, Womens & Childrens Clothing | Lifewear | UNIQLO UK. [online] Available at: https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/home  [Accessed 4 Dec. 2018].