...of another good, it must share a particular relationship with that good. When a good's price increases, the demand for its substitute will increase because consumers will go looking for a cheaper alternative. Conversely, when a good's price decreases, the demand for its substitute will decrease. For example, margarine is a substitute for butter because a consumer can meet similar needs by using margarine. So, when the price of butter rises, the demand for margarine will likely increase. Competitors - someone who is trying to win or do better than all others especially in business or sports - Organizations that produce goods and services that are similar to a particular organizations’ goods and services. Example: Petron Vs. Shell Pepsi Vs. Coke Potential Competitors – organizations that presently are not in the “environment” but could enter if they so choose. - Rivalry between competitors is potentially the most threatening force that owners or managers deal with - Strong competitive rivalry results in price competition and falling prices reduce access to resources and lower profits Definition of...
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...Homework: What's Your Business? Learning Objectives 1. To decide what fictitious business you will start for the remainder of the WEB240 course 2. To look at your potential competitors Background Imagine you are about to begin your own small business, one that will be amazingly successful. Technology will help you drive the success of your business with automated analysis of your sales and employees, responsible budgeting, quick access to data, and a dynamic website to increase revenue. Think about what your business will be. Where are you located? What will you sell or what service will you provide? Who is your target market? Who are your competitors? You should decide to sell products that you are knowledgeable about and have a passion for. Above all, have fun with this assignment! Steps to Take After thinking and doing some research, answer each of the following questions in a single WORD Doc Assignment turned in via OLS. Be sure to number your answers to match the questions, and leave a blank space between answers for easier reading. 1. What is the name of your new business? 2. Where will your store or office be located? Downtown Sacramento? Arden Mall? Lodi? Seattle? Paris? 3. Briefly list the products or services will you be selling, at least five. 4. Describe your target market (your customers). Who are they? What are they into? 5. Name two employees you'll hire, real or not. 6. Who are your competitors and what are their websites...
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...Develop an effective marketing plan for your construction company Step-by-step instructions with a sample plan showing how they are used BY JACK MILLER PRODUCER JACK MILLER SEMINARS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY M ost of us who spend our lives in the construction industry enjoy solving customers’ problems. In fact, we really enjoy solving the hard ones. If we are going to survive in the construction industry we have to be knowledgeable problem solvers. It’s a must. But the more aggressive we become in solving other people’s problems, the more we create a serious problem for ourselves— getting paid a fair profit for giving the customer exactly what he wants and needs. To assure ourselves of that reasonable profit we must also become effective marketers. Unfortunately most of us don’t learn anything about marketing in engineering school or out on the job site. Since the “school of hard knocks” doesn’t necessarily teach us how to find the prospects who will pay us a fair profit for value received, this article will explore stepby-step the development of an effective marketing plan for your construction company. For our purposes, marketing is defined as the sum total of all the things that you have to do to get the prospect to use your products and services. In addition to preparing a marketing plan, marketing includes such specific functions as: • Finding qualified prospects who have a need for your construction products and services. • Creating the proper image so the prospect...
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...smoothie is a challenge. Further in Australia, there are established players, specifically targeting smoothies and fruit drink segment. Customers therefore, have a wider available choice already. When the scenario is like this, reasons why people would still buy McDonald’s smoothies are: • No competitor can provide mix benefits of a great range of meal options and cheerful in-store ambience along with smoothies that McDonald’s can. • With 808 restaurants in Australia, out of which roughly 30% operates 24/7, McDonald’s offers widest availability and greatest convenience than any of its competitors. • In 2009, McDonald’s introduced McCafe that offers finely brewed made to order coffee drinks that has been a great success. It means if smoothies can be properly positioned keeping consistency with brand’s core values, people would also love it. • In Australia, McDonald’s good relationships with trusted growers and suppliers are drawing customers’ positive perception. Recently it has attained ‘heart foundation tick’ for its number of foods in Australia that ascertains its healthiness and high quality. 3. Target Audience and Buying Situation 1) Who are we...
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...Individual Hand-In Case “Hips Feel Good” Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................2 INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN .............................................2 Objective .......................................................................................................................................................3 Strategy ..........................................................................................................................................................3 Target.............................................................................................................................................................3 Proposed Elements ....................................................................................................................................4 Advertising....................................................................................................................................................4 Website .........................................................................................................................................................5 Public Relations..............................................................................
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...to Building a Marketing Plan KapConsultants By Sean Doyle and Martin McDermott AB/MT219: Marketing 6/20/2012 Disclaimer: The organization and characters depicted in this exercise are fictional. Any resemblance to real organizations or individuals is purely coincidental. Page 1 Step-By-Step Guide: Building a Marketing Plan Marketing Plan Manual The marketing plan is an integral part of an organizations’ strategy for success. The overall goal of a Marketing Plan is to ensure the business will be profitable. The marketing planning process involves building a strategy for getting products and services to market in a meaningful, cost effective, and profitable way. This manual provides an outline of a basic Marketing Plan, using a descriptive format to guide the development of your final project. Pay close attention to the layout of the marketing plan outline. You will need to format your marketing plan using the same format. Marketing is an all-encompassing discipline, and quite literally, affects every aspect of a business. In fact, marketing has a profound impact on society as a whole, and the life of every individual. For this reason, learning the fundamentals of marketing and how to develop a basic marketing plan is essential to your success as a business professional and savvy consumer. The marketing planning process consists of a set of activities centred on delivering a quality product or service, intended to meet customer needs, wants, and desires while...
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...the market of flipping houses, its industry, and how our service will be different from the competition. We will also discuss what kind of approach we will be using, the intrapreneurial approach, or the entrepreneurial approach. Flipping Houses Introduction Our new service is that of flipping houses. In order for one to better understand what this means, it is for someone to buy a house, fix it up, and then to resell it at a much higher price than what it was bought for (Flipping Houses, 2013). Market Flipping houses in today’s real estate market may look to be very risky; however, people that actually do this are finding lots of opportunities, but with a lot of risk. People feel that trying to flip homes with our economy would be a bad idea. On the contrary, this would prove to be the best time to do so (Moore, n.d.). Because so many homes are ending up in foreclosure, real estate investors are finding bargains all over the place, especially in Florida, Nevada, and California (Moore, n.d.). House flipping has made a huge comeback over the last four years, and because of this, more and more investors are going to public auctions of foreclosed homes. When the housing boom was popular, lots of people were aiming to make some money, so they bought and then resold homes. However, this type of house flipping dissolved several years back due to the stalling of home sales. Presently, a new type of home flipper has emerged, one that is looking...
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...life cycle concept may apply to a brand or to a category of product. Its duration may be as short as a few months for a fad item or a century or more for product categories such as the gasoline-powered automobile. Product development is the incubation stage of the product life cycle. There are no sales and the firm prepares to introduce the product. As the product progresses through its life cycle, changes in the marketing mix usually are required in order to adjust to the evolving challenges and opportunities. Introduction Stage When the product is introduced, sales will be low until customers become aware of the product and its benefits. Some firms may announce their product before it is introduced, but such announcements also alert competitors and remove the element of surprise. Advertising costs typically are high during this stage in order to rapidly increase customer awareness of the product and to target the early adopters. During the introductory stage the firm is likely to incur additional costs associated with the initial distribution of the product. These higher costs coupled with a low sales volume usually make the introduction stage a period of negative profits. During the introduction stage, the primary goal is to establish a market and build primary demand for the product class. The following are some of the marketing mix implications of the introduction stage: * Product - one or few products, relatively undifferentiated * Price - Generally high, assuming...
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...Analyzing Your Competition Overview Almost everyone in business understands the principle of trying to offer something better than what their competitors are offering. Gaining an advantage is the key to success and even survival. But many of the so-called advantages that businesses rely on are not sustainable. They can be easily copied, stolen or negated. Real competitive advantages — things like brand name recognition, patented manufacturing processes or exclusive rights to a scarce resource — cannot be easily copied. Every company has a unique set of strengths, and it's critical that you determine yours, as well as your competitors'. Hold a brainstorming session with your staff and advisors to perform a formal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. This analysis helps you to see how your strengths stack up against your competitors' weaknesses and suggests ways to take advantage of marketplace opportunities. After you have performed the analysis, there are four basic competitive strategies to consider. 1. Become the low-cost supplier. By under-pricing the competition, you can achieve greater volume, which can drive your costs down even further by realizing economies of scale. Of course, it's important to still maintain a healthy profit margin so the key here is to lower costs, not just prices. 2. Achieve product or service quality differentiation. Think about the hundreds of companies that have achieved such differentiation for themselves...
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...11-11 Develop a “Statement of Marketing Objectives” for your company. Justify those marketing objectives by explaining how they contribute to the overall business mission of the company. The objectives for my mission concerning my company is to form values and time utility to my customers' by providing benefits to families for insurance coverage, and in the medical billing & coding industry it is to develop quick and accurate payment processing of claims. The goal is to provide both customer goods that will be tangible for my customers’ concerning their life and health. The political-legal environment is the regulation and laws that are governed by the state. It has social value that will free and promote new products for a client who thinks...
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...Bangladesh’s population live in urban areas, which will be 34% by the year 2025. The role of Real Estate Entrepreneurs in providing the housing facilities for the growing urban population is very important and these are substantially influencing the growth pattern of the city and its sustainability to the trade. Real estate business especially apartment projects has started in late 1970s in Dhaka City. But from early '80s the business started to grow and flourish. At present, more than 350 companies are active in business but 95% business is still dominated by of top 10 Companies. Present market is growing at the rate 15%. The main reasons why real estate business developed in Dhaka city are as follows: Scarcity of open space in the important areas of the city Hazards of purchasing land Hazards of construction of building Rapid increase in population of Dhaka Decrease in the rate of bank interest Price of land and apartments is increasing day by day Rent of the apartments is comparatively higher than the rent of privately constructed flats Open Market Economy. Remittance of foreign currency is very easy Security Service facilities such as garbage disposal, central satellite TV connection, apartments services saves time, roof top facilities, lift and so on A good number of real estate companies are working under one umbrella association named Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh abbreviated as REHAB. Almost 300 Companies...
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...SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis can help one uncover opportunities that his/she is well-placed to exploit. And by understanding the weaknesses of the business, one can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch his/her unawares. More than this, by looking at Ginger and the competitors using the SWOT framework, we can start crafting a strategy that helps her distinguish herself from your competitors and to compete successfully in the book market. Strengths and weakness represents internal factors while opportunities and threats represents external factors. (See figure 1) Figure 1 Strengths | Weakness | -Focus on educational topics-Support from parents-Trilogy | - She does everything on her own- She doesn’t make good use of social media- No brand power | Opportunities | Threats | -Present the book in a launch party -Expand to market through social media-School encourages the the topic | -Too many competitors out in the market-May receive bad book reviews. | Strengths are those that Ginger is good at or something that can help the enables her to have competitive edge. Ginger has some strengths that make her stand out in the market. First, her book The Boy Who Rode the Tiger focus on positive spirit and teaches teenagers the concept of courage and grace. Her book contains important classroom values and will be welcomed by schools. Ginger has gone to different schools to present her previous book. It is an evidence that her work is supported by...
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...SOLD TO THE FINE kaptoxic@yahoo.com THE OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS CANVAS Dr. James V. Green Copyright © 2013 by Venture Artisans Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by Photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher. www.opportunityanalysiscanvas.com Publication Data Green, James V. The opportunity analysis canvas / James V. Green Edition 1.0 1. Entrepreneurship 2. Innovation i For Jamesia and Ally Thank you for giving me the opportunity every day to be a husband and dad. ii ABOUT THE AUTHOR An award-winning educator at the University of Maryland, Dr. James V. Green leads the education activities of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute. As its Director of Entrepreneurship Education, he manages 25 undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology commercialization. He has created and led a host of innovative programs and activities to serve 100,000 innovators and entrepreneurs from 150 countries. With 20 publications, he is a thought leader in entrepreneurship education pedagogy and entrepreneurial opportunity analysis. In 2011, he earned first prize in the 3E Learning Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Competition presented at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). In 2013, he launched the University of Maryland’s first course with Coursera, “Developing...
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...failure rears its ugly head. Genius it is argued though is when preparation meets opportunity. The first thing to do before setting out on the uncharted seas of financial security is to make sure you are aware of the dangers and pitfalls. The road is rough and has laid waist to many who have tried before you so be sure that you have what it takes, financially and intellectually. Fortunately there are solutions to this problem, albeit the people you will need to talk too are few and far between, it is good advice before you start that will give you that edge when the going gets rough and the pizazz to ride the crest of the wave when things go well. Business: Undercapitalization and Bankruptcy While there are many reasons to cling to the security of the hourly wage paycheck, the hopes and dreams of personal freedom is something that we, as humans, still crave. In this particular case, that freedom leads to the status of the self-employed businessperson. The problem is that just wanting success is never enough to accomplish it. Although freedom leads to self-sufficiency in an ever-changing, increasingly global market, the mere desire for success is a delusion in terms of real-world achievement. So the real question becomes, how can a small startup business avoid bankruptcy? The Golden Idle To begin with, the age-old cliché is true: “It takes money to make money.” This is fully understood by the business gurus of the modern world as under capitalization. It would seem so simple...
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...A Kappa White Paper Business Wargaming This white paper introduces KappaWest’s Business Wargaming concept and process. Its purpose is to help readers determine if and how wargaming might be used in their organizations. C. J. Kurtz President, KappaWest WP-BW Entire content © 2007, KappaWest CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ……………..………………………………………………………………….………………….. SETTING THE STAGE ……………………………..……….………………………………………… BUSINESS WARGAMING PURPOSES …………………………………………………………………………. LEVELS OF BUSINESS WARGAMING …………………………………………………………………………. ROLES IN THE WARGAME TYPICAL WARGAME FORMAT WARGAME DOCUMENTATION WHAT DOES IT TAKES? ………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………...…………………………………… 1 2 4 5 6 9 ………………………………………………..……..…………….. 10 …………………………………………………….………………………. 12 LESSONS LEARNED ………………………………………………......………………………………………….. 13 KAPPAWEST’S ROLE ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS WARGAMES………………………………………………...………...……...……. 14 SUMMARY ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 ABOUT KAPPAWEST Formed in 1974 as The Kappa Group, KappaWest is a strategic management consulting firm specializing in helping clients increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their corporate, marketing and sales operations. It is especially known for its application of military concepts, principles and processes - including Business Wargaming - to business. KappaWest serves clients throughout the world from its Laguna Hills, California offices and has undertaken...
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