Business Research
RES/351

Business Research
With looking to open a new Tattoo shop in the Plymouth area, we need to look at many things before we can open the doors. We must consider our research problem and purpose, our research design, sampling methods, the analysis of our research, and any ethical considerations we need to look at. With this information, we want to see if Plymouth is the right place for us to open our Tattoo shop and it being a profitable location.
There are many questions to ask with opening a new tattoo shop, from what is a good location to what our profit margins would be. One-research question to ask is; do we have clientele in the same location as where we want to open our business? This is an important question because even though people are willing to travel to get a quality and personal tattoo, local clientele still account for profits. A second question to ask is; will we gain profit at this location? As in any business, we are in it to make profit, not debt. A third question to ask is; is there competition in the area? We as new business owners need to know if there are any other tattoo parlors in the area where we would like to open up, and if so, what kind of service and body artwork are they offering? Are they the same type of body art we are going to offer our clientele? A fourth question to ask is; what will it cost to open the doors for the first year? The last question is the most important question we need to ask ourselves because without capital we cannot open our doors for business. Our research should include the probability of financial gain for whatever location we decide. Finally, the last question to ask is; what is required for our shop to comply with city regulations? This is an important question and needs addressing because it goes along with if our artist will be able to receive licenses in the city we choose as our business’s location. Now that we have some basic questions for ourselves that need answering, we can now come up with our hypothesis.
As future business owners, we must first generate a proper hypothesis for our researchers to investigate. If we can provide quality body art with a unique style, we will be able to maintain a good clientele base that will in effect help reduce overhead costs for advertising. Word of mouth is the key here. In essence, our clients are going to be our advertisers by informing their friends and family about the quality and service they received at the shop. They will also be able to show off their new body art and explain their experience. Our research shows that when a person receives magnificent service, customers will refer between three and five friends or family members. The amount of money saved every month on advertising, the shop can spend the revenue more adequately, as in rent, utility costs, machine maintenance, new needles, and ink. In addition, enhancing the knowledge and skill of the artists, we can develop unique styles of tattooing to separate our shop from any competition within a limited radius.
A tattoo shop will have to worry about many independent and dependent variables, which will interfere with day-to-day business operations. One independent variable that our business will incur is that of the square footage of the shop. If the company purchases a space too small, it will not allow the tattoo artist the adequate space to function properly and provide the customer with his/her “own space.” Another independent variable is, if there is a demographic that will come to the new tattoo shop location. Whereas a dependent variable that goes along with the previous independent variable is; will tourist come to the location if they happen to visit the area? In the summer months, there is an increase in tourism in the location we have decided on, and we will need to prepare for this. Finally, weather can and will be a major dependent variable for the shop. As stated previously, during the summer time, tourism will bring in the customers, and a rough winter may deter customers from making the drive to our new tattoo shop. Along with considering the independent and dependent variables that the shop may see, we also have to consider any ethical issues that may come about.
Exploring ethical issues is good to consider in the beginning phase of starting a tattooing business. Before applying for any financial loans for start-up costs for the business, the results present must show how successful the business will become. This information should include several pieces of information, such as how the location of the business will be fruitful, what type of clientele will live in the area and their age groups, other types of businesses in the area, what types of residences are in the immediate area. This information should not have false information, padded or show any misleading numbers on the reports to be presented to whomever you are seeking financial backing from. The way we conduct business is another ethical issue, we will start with a written waiver for all of your customers to read and sign, acknowledging their consent for any type of artwork to be permanently inked on any portion of their body. This “contract” should also include a waiver holding the business harmless to any lawsuits that should arise from their purchase and receiving the agreed upon artwork. Although this is more of a legal issue, it is considered ethical as well because it keeps the business honest and free of breaking any laws by servicing minors in the establishment. The type of research design that will help with the Tattoo shop dilemma is the descriptive and dismissed causal and exploratory.
The most appropriate type of research for the opportunity of opening a tattoo shop would be “descriptive research.” Using the information readily available through the internet, I can determine the mathematical statistics needed to market a successful business plan. Putting the information gathered into bar graphs will show the exact percentages needed to make the best possible educated guess. Casual research is, I feel, looking too deep into the needed information, requiring more time and resources. The act of holding experiments to find out information that is open to the public already; I feel would be a bad approach to a successful business plan. Cause and effect statistics are unnecessary to make an educated guess towards this opportunity. Exploratory research would be inadequate for the proper business plan in question. The correct information that is needed is to make a general hypothesis as to why this location has been chosen could be found by using descriptive research methods while simultaneously acquiring extended information that would greatly help the building of a proper, successful business plan.
In performing our research, we have selected two different sampling methods in gathering information specific to what answers we are looking for to solve our dilemma. The first sampling method we used, and which provided us specific information, was the use of a written survey. Our team visited certain locations within a specific area which we decided fit our criteria and asked individuals to complete a survey questionnaire. Although our sample frame was people in the age group of twenty five to thirty five, we also surveyed people from other age groups as well. This was done in order to keep our findings more realistic, and from being too biased. Our team also decided that an appropriate sample size of people surveyed would be approximately 1000 which would be divided into different locations, one hundred people surveyed at each of the six colleges and universities in the thirty mile radius. The remaining four hundred surveys were divided up among the last three locations our team decided on using, the South Shore Mall in Braintree, the Kingston Mall in Kingston and a random spot on Main St. in Plymouth.
The data collection instrument we chose was survey. It will be administered by person-to-person interview this way we can measure reaction and body language. Some of the questions will be a bit personal like gender and marital status, however the other questions will be whether or not they have existing body art and whether they are interested in future work. The survey will give us a better idea as to who lives or visits Plymouth and whether or not these individuals would be interested in getting a tattoo. A survey is the most economical way to find out necessary information. Also, going out and finding participants ourselves will help us reduce costs of having to hire a research company to find out the information we need.
The sampling method will be primarily survey results from our efforts in handing out surveys at the following locations:
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth - 100
Quincy College of Quincy, MA - 100
Curry College - 100 Bridgewater State University - 100 Bristol Community College - 100
Cape Cod Community College - 100
Main St, Plymouth, MA – 150
South Shore Mall, Braintree, MA – 100
Kingston Mall, Kingston, MA – 150
The second sampling method will simply be information retrieved from a variety of public records, especially those from the Census Bureau. Most of the figures from these web sites was used as basic background information and was used in establishing the questions used in our survey. In 2010, Plymouth had a population of almost 7,500 people (Bureau, 2013). As a tourist attraction, thousands of people visit this historic city every year. Choosing to go with a 1000 participant survey will allow us to collect information from residents and visitors. Curry College is also located in Plymouth (Bureau, 2013), so it gives us an opportunity to extend our data collection to our targeted age group, which is 25-35 yrs. Having a larger amount of participants will drive our decision in a more confident way. It will give us vital information on what type of people might visit our shop and also what price people are willing to pay for quality work. The statistical test we will be using for the attainment of useful information for the proposing business plan will be a standard 1,000 person survey in the local area of future business on the south shore in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The survey will provide information such as, age grouping, locals vs. vacationers, tattoo preferences (i.e. number of tattoos, location of the shop, quality), employment and marital status. All of this information will then be put into a stacked bar graph to show a more visual, and descriptive statistic layout to better project the knowledge into a successful business plan. By using the bar graph, I will be able to determine the majority demographic for the Plymouth area, therefore making a better educated guess, towards the overall business plan. There are many ethical considerations that need to be looked at when opening a Tattoo shop and gathering quantitative information (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). One is that as we conducted our surveys on the streets that we did not skew our results by targeting “typical” tattoo people. Another is that we need to make sure we receive consent from the participants and not distribute their personal information (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). In addition, that we make sure the participants right to safety is met (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). By this, we mean that while conducting the surveys we will as the participant to step aside from the main sidewalk traffic. We did our best to make sure all of these ethical considerations were met while conducting our surveys on the streets of Plymouth, malls, and Colleges. In conclusion to our research we have decided that Plymouth is the ideal location for us to open our Tattoo Shop and will help us gain the most revenue for all parties involved.

Questionnaire
Survey questionnaire regarding the locality of a body art parlor and likelihood of your business 1. Are you a resident of the South Shore in Massachusetts? a. Yes b. No 2. What is your age group? a. 18 – 24 b. 25 – 35 c. 36 – 45 3. Do you attend one of the local colleges in the area? a. Yes b. No 4. Do you have any body art and how many? a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3 or more 5. How likely are you to have body art work done? a. Definitely b. Maybe c. Never 6. How long would it take you to have body art work done? a. 1 – 6 months b. 6 – 12 months c. 1 – 2 years d. Never 7. How far are you willing to travel to have body art work done? a. 0 – 10 miles b. 11 – 25 miles c. More than 25 miles 8. How much did your last piece of body art cost you? a. Less than $40 b. $40 - $150 c. $151 - $250 d. Greater than $250 e. Never had body art work done 9. How far did you travel to have your body art done? a. 0 – 10 miles b. 11 – 25 miles c. Greater than 25 miles 10. How much would you pay for quality body art work? a. Less than $40 b. $40 - $150 c. $151 - $250 d. Greater than $250 e. Never Sampling InformationSample size = 1000 | | | | | | | | | | | | Yes | No | Maybe | | | | | | Do you live on the South Shore in Massachusetts? | 64% | 36% | | | | | | | Are you on vacation? | | 56% | 44% | | | | | | | Do you like tattoos? | | 83% | 17% | | | | | | | Do you have any? | | 20% | 80% | | | | | | | Interested in a new shop in Plymouth? | | 14% | 18% | 68% | | | | | | | | | | | | | Male | Female | | Gender | | 54% | 46% | | | | | | | Single | | 38% | | | Sample size = 1001 | | | | | | | | | | | | Yes | No | | | | | | | Do you live on the South Shore in Massachusetts? | 13% | 39% | 20+ | | | 0.066 | 0.39 | 25% |

References
Bureau, U. C. (2013, 09 28). Plymouth CDP quickfacts from US Census Bureau. Retrieved from quickfacts.census.gov.
Cooper, D., & Schindler, P. (2011). Business research methods (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.