...All successful small business startups eventually face the issue of handling business expansion or growth. Business expansion is a stage of a company's life that is fraught with both opportunities and perils. On the one hand, business growth often carries with it a corresponding increase in financial fortunes for owners and employees alike. In addition, expansion is usually seen as a validation of the entrepreneur's initial business startup idea, and of his or her subsequent efforts to bring that vision to fruition. But as Andrew J. Sherman observed in The Complete Guide to Running and Growing Your Business, business expansion also presents the small business owner with myriad issues that have to be addressed: "Growth causes a variety of changes, all of which present different managerial, legal, and financial challenges. Growth means that new employees will be hired who will be looking to the top management of the company for leadership. Growth means that the company's management will become less and less centralized, and this may raise the levels of internal politics, protectionism, and dissension over what goals and projects the company should pursue. Growth means that market share will expand, calling for new strategies for dealing with larger competitors. Growth also means that additional capital will be required, creating new responsibilities to shareholders, investors, and institutional lenders. Thus, growth brings with it a variety of changes in the company's structure...
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...Executive Summary Central Indiana Cage Bird Club (CICBC) is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to educating their members and the general public on the keeping, conservation and stewardship of exotic birds. Several other clubs offer educational opportunities to members and the public at large in addition to bird fairs being offered 1 to 3 times each year. There are many stores and breeders in the area that do offer some education on the care and breeding of exotic birds, but they do not offer the in-depth lectures from subject matter experts as CICBC. Ongoing efforts are in place to continue to improve the quality and integrity of the club’s educational programs. CICBC is able to make contributions to rescues both local and national, and avian medical research funding. This is done through a series of successful bird fairs and managed through the board of directors with membership input and approval. CICBC donated more than $10,000.00 for fiscal year 2011 to worthy organizations. None of the other clubs are as generous as CICBC providing donations to local and national organizations. CICBC’s closest caged bird club competitors are in northern Indiana, Chicago and Cincinnati. The nature of the organization is to educate its members and the general public regarding the general welfare and keeping of exotic birds; therefore there is no real competitiveness regarding an online presence. Bird Fever is the only competition for CICBC’s...
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...Proposal for Business Expansion Online Presented to J. Smith Construction Co. J. Smith Construction Company is a small, but talented, general contractor and building company. The company specializes in remodeling and room additions with an emphasis on kitchen and baths. J. Smith has the experience and ability to add residential and commercial building projects, starting from the ground up. It has the personnel and suppliers, in place, to take on several projects, simultaneously. J. Smith has a website built. The basic graphics the company has chosen, the services offered, former customer referrals, pictures of previous jobs completed, contact information, is good. This website is not getting the attention it needs, though, because J. Smith currently does not have any online tools in place to attract a new customer base to it. The company is located in the moderately sized area of Branson, Missouri and has been doing business for about 17 years. The business has held its own for several years, but, a change in location and recessionary times have created a need for growth to survive. An untapped source for growth, Springfield, Missouri, a much larger city than Branson, is about 30 – 40 miles away and should be considered. Due to the recessionary downturn in the economy, marketing funds are limited. Creativity will be needed to stretch available finances. Paying thousands of dollars for ads in a phonebook are costly....
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...The Process of Expanding a Business into a New Region Author’s Name Institutional Affiliation The Process of Expanding a Business into a New Region Business expansion gets defined as the process of enlarging the operations of an enterprise either by launching new products or building more branches. Each year, thousands of companies consider exploring new markets by expanding their operations into new geographical locations. According to Awe (2006) the drive to enjoy high-profit returns, and economies of scale are some of the primary reasons why companies keep migrating from one region to another. Stiff competition within the domestic markets may also force some firms to seek alternative markets. Given the importance of this process to the future of an expanding company, it is critical for the firm to take into account a number of the factors. This research investigates the importance of political forces, socio-cultural variables, and economic factors in the expansion process. The role of politics in promoting economic growth cannot be overlooked. Kay (2013) compared the economic performance of different countries with their levels of political democracy. The survey established that countries characterized by high degrees of political stability, goodwill, and democracy had better economic development statistics. In particular, the study compared the economic performance of Ukraine (a politically unstable country) and Uzbekistan (a stable country) over the last...
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...Business briefing series 20 issues for businesses expanding internationally At Ernst & Young, we understand the challenges and we know what it takes to drive sustainable growth because we’ve helped many of the world’s most dynamic and ambitious companies develop into market leaders. Our global network of Strategic Growth Markets professionals are dedicated to serving the changing needs of fast-growth companies. Whether working with dynamic mid-cap companies or early stage venture-backed businesses, our professionals around the world draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help growing businesses reach their full potential. As well as providing traditional assurance, advisory, tax and transaction advisory services, our professionals work with you to reduce the complexity of legislation, help align your tax strategy with your business goals, expand into new markets and pursue mergers, acquisitions or other strategy transactions to take your business to the next level. We can provide guidance around how to manage and control your risks, so that you can approach the future with confidence. So whether your business thrives on entrepreneurial spirit, innovation or superior customer service – and regardless of your stage of growth – our Strategic Growth Markets team can help you take the next step. It’s not luck that makes leaders. Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people are...
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...The Process of Expansion of the Business into a New Region or Country The business world around the globe is changing fast inspired by globalization. Companies go into new regions or nations with the typical objective of growth and diversification of its activities. In the contemporary business world, many companies are expanding into new-geographic regions or countries with the aim of gaining competitive advantage through overcoming international trade barriers. The process of expanding businesses into a new region involves complex operations, which are not impossible. However, venturing into the international market is not the same as expanding the business into a new town or state. Foreign nations offer an entirely different set of risks as well as other business factors. Organizations that venture into new regions manage to stay ahead of their competitors because they get to enjoy more profits, cheaper labor, new markets for their product and most importantly growth opportunities. Selecting an expansion approach: Martinez (2012) states that expansion of a business into new markets sounds great, but there are some risks involved. An enterprise might be thriving in its domestic market, mainly because the entrepreneur is well-acquainted with the region. The entrance of a business into new regions or nation implies that it will have more workers, new clients to service, as well as new competitors to fight with for the market share. Therefore, it is an excellent idea to approach...
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...International expansion enables companies to potentially enhance their competitiveness through securing access to new markets, technologies, brand names, resources and strategic assets abroad by utilizing a variety of strategies, including product and technological diversification across fields and geographical sites (Cantwell and Piscitello 1999). These potential enhancers of competitiveness would not be available to firms that elected to stay focused on their own domestic economy, potentially missing out on opportunities that are available only to firms that are prepared to expand globally – opportunities such as becoming integrated in global value chains or attracting global customers. A combination of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors is responsible for international expansion and these will be examined below. This report is to propose the strategy for future implementation upon evaluation of the driving factors and available options. Asset-Exploitation and Asset-Seeking There are various modes to engage in international business activities with exporting with the lowest risk to direct foreign investment on the other end of the spectrum. According to the conceptual framework by Dunning (1981, 1988), a company chooses among three modes of internationalization (exporting, licensing and FDI) on the basis of three different but interrelated advantages (ownership, location and internationalization). While in accordance to the Uppsala model, internationalization is incremental...
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...E-Business, QRT Task 1: Online Business Expansion Raygan Schieving Western Governors University E-Business, QRT Task 1: Online Business Expansion The Candy Makers is a Utah-based business that currently has no online presence. The Candy Makers will be developing a proposal for online business expansion. The proposal will include an assessment of how the business will be viable online, an assessment of current online competition, development of online marketing strategies, and utilization of social media tools to expand The Candy Makers presence online. A1: The Candy Makers offers a wide variety of candy gifts available for online purchase. Market demand is very good for these products because online shoppers buy candy products for many different reasons including, but not limited to, birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and corporate gift giving. Considering that birthdays occur every day of the year, it stands to reason that consumers could potentially purchase candy gifts at any given time on any given day of the year, making the business functionality “useful, practical, and right for the purpose” of which The Candy Makers intended with their online store (Cambridge University Press, 2013). Moreover, other similar candy companies such as Godiva and See’s Candies have an online presence, which indicates that there is a demand for candy gifts. Expanding The Candy Makers to an online environment could potentially increase...
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...Task 1: Develop an online business expansion proposal. 1. Viability of product or service This proposal is to develop an online presence for Simply Asia (Simply Asia Foods, LLC). Simply Asia is a neighborhood restaurant that serves Thai, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine in the Grand Prairie/I-20 area where this author resides. The restaurant is famous for its authentic rendition of the three very distinct Asian culinary styles for very affordable price, great service and family-friendly atmosphere. The restaurant currently has good size customer base, loyal, repeat customers who either live or work around the area. Simply Asia’s quality menu and affordable price are its best assets. The restaurant has a great potential to expand its customer-base and increase sales by adding catering and delivery services. Establishing an online presence can greatly help with this expansion through the utilization of easily available and affordable technology along with careful planning and development of effective and creative marketing strategies appropriate for the restaurant business. Nowadays, every competitive business has online presence. Today’s technology allows people quick and easy access to information and services. People ‘on-the-go’ rely heavily on the internet for information that help them make daily decisions on food, traffic, weather, banking, entertainment and almost anything and everything with a few touch of a button from their mobile devices. Simply...
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...Online Business Expansion Plan for Clovis Transit A1. Online Business Viability Clovis Transit is a public transportation agency located in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. Clovis Transit provides two types of transportation – fixed route and paratransit. The fixed route service is called Stageline and runs regular routes throughout the city of Clovis proper and into some portions of the neighboring town, Fresno. The paratransit service is called RoundUp and provides service to disabled residents of the city. Clovis Transit is considered a mid-sized transit agency and provides approximately 300,000 trips per year. The city brands itself in the western motif with the goal of maintaining a small-town feel and personality while still serving a population of just short of 100,000 citizens. Passengers who use Clovis Transit fall into three main categories: low income, student, and disabled riders. These riders are considered “transit dependent” which means they have no other choice for transportation beyond the bus and therefore marketing has remained a low priority. The City of Clovis maintains a website that provides access to all its departments including Transit. The Transit department’s website currently contains basic information about the services offered and various forms and documents that can be downloaded by the user. Because the department serves two distinct customer groups, regular fixed-route transit riders and disabled citizens, there is an opportunity...
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...Stokes Mortuary Business Expansion Plan Stokes Mortuary Summary The mission of Stokes Mortuary (all names have been changed) is to gather people together to celebrate life when it ends and to move forward with living. Stokes Mortuary will have facilities that bring families and communities together to remember the life of the deceased and renew bonds of social support. Because 71 percent of people choose a mortuary based on reputation, the key to success is quickly establishing a reputation for the community to celebrate life when they die. The mortuary’s cornerstone will be its reception facilities. These open and spacious rooms will promote uplifting interactions after the funeral and may also be used for nonprofit organizations. This will make the mortuary more of a community center, which will uplift, connect it to the community, provide the basis for publicity, and make it a center for the living. The reception room and website will feature digital photos and audio of the persons whose lives are being celebrated. This web presence will increase the center's exposure by letting people participate in the celebration of life after the funeral and reception are over. Providing the greatest choice of quality caskets and headstones will make the center the place to celebrate the lives of locally prominent persons. This will foster publicity and further promote our reputation. Stokes Mortuary currently has a website but is seeking to expand the current information, features...
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... Strategically planning will help aid Sandwich Blitz with the decision of expanding and locating new locations. It allows for all management persons to get involved in the process. Although I believe that the expansions should be on small scale because this allows them time for growth if the new expansion takes off. The biggest STRENGTH of Sandwich Blitz is that they have the resources to open two additional locations if good locations can be found. Another strength would be, that they have the staff to move to these new locations. This also allows for low level management to get involved in the marketing of the new expansions. A major WEAKNESS of Sandwich Blitz is that due to the recent economic downturn, the larger park offices have been affected and this could affect business because people are probably not shopping in these areas too much. They would probably have to come up with cheaper menus and do specials to attract business which could be costly. The OPPORTUNITY for Sandwich Blitz would be that the expansion allows for more business especially if it is moved to another city. The new city may not have top competitors or mimics of Sandwich Blitz and this allows to them to enter another market. Another opportunity is that it can bring about new business and more customers for the franchise. It also gives them the opportunity to create new sandwiches and drinks for customers. The THREAT of Sandwich Blitz would be that new competitors is on the move. The...
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...What is a Motherboard? The Motherboard is the main circuit board inside the PC. It holds the CPU and memory, provides expansion slots for peripherals, and, whether directly or indirectly, connects to every part of the PC. The essential motherboard make-up includes the chipset (known as the “glue logic”), some code in ROM and the various wired interconnections between the components know as buses. The chipset is fundamental, and controls how the motherboard interacts with everything else in the system. A good chipset can be more important than the power of CPU or the amount of RAM. The ROM code includes the BIOS, which has user-changeable options for how the motherboard operates with integral and connected devices. The buses are the electrical wires that connect everything together. Motherboard designs use many different buses to link their various components. For instance, wide, high-speed buses are difficult and expensive to produce. The signals travel at such a rate that even distances of just a few centimetres cause timing problems, while the metal tracks on the circuit board act as miniature radio antennae, transmitting electromagnetic noise that introduces interference with signals elsewhere in the system. For these reasons, design engineers try to keep the fastest buses confined to the smallest area of the motherboard and use slower, more robust buses for other parts. Types of Slots on a Motherboard Motherboards are the backbone of a computer, holding different...
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...Proposal for Online Business Expansion for Author Stu Campbell Jeffrey N. Meads Western Governors University Proposal for Online Business Expansion for Author Stu Campbell A1. E-Commerce Solutions During the review of several top payment processing solutions, consideration was given to available options and features, setup costs, monthly costs, transaction costs, and ease of integration into the website and with the requisite customer relationship software solution. Google Checkout was eliminated from consideration because Google has announced that it will be discontinuing its checkout product after November 20th, 2013 (Google Support, 2013). The Authorize.net transaction gateway was eliminated from consideration because it would require the client to establish a separate merchant account (Authorize.Net, 2013). Our selection for a payment processing solution was the PayPal Website Payments Standard. Customers will be able to pay with either their PayPal account or with their Visa, American Express, Mastercard, or Discover credit card. The PayPal Website Payments Standard Integration Guide, pages 323-327, provides a method of using a web form to capture the billing information for each sale on the client's website in HTML input variables, and then pre-filling the PayPal payment form when the customer clicks the "submit payment" button. The payment information transmits to PayPal via the Website Payments Standard form. PayPal will return an Instant Payment...
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...Running head: Proposal for Online Business Expansion Proposal for Online Business Expansion Proposal for Online Business Expansion A1. Viability of Product or Service Umake is a 3D printing company that is currently in the Discovery Phase of business development, and is looking to start mainly with an online presence, then expanding to a brick and mortar. The company is looking to introduce the technology of 3D printing to a market where the technology has been restricted to machine shops and prototyping companies. This will give the public the opportunity to customize, design, and create physical objects from their imagination, with little to no drawing or technical knowledge, at an affordable price. The company will offer a variety of products, for simple customization, including cell phone cases, key chains, and other novelty type items, allowing the customer to add their name or images to the product. Umake’s target market is separated into 3 categories: 1. Hobbyists With the introduction of 3D printing, hobbyists have flocked to the technology to reproduce lost or difficult items needed for their projects. Everything from car enthusiasts to scrap booking, customization is key. 2. Prototyping Inventors, companies, and entrepreneurs, need to produce a product for proof of concept. 3. Students Children ages 10 – 17 are the fastest growing market, other than companies, for cell phones and accessories. This market has the need to customize everything...
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