Unit 19 Assignment 1- Making a dream a reality.
Introduction:
In this report, I will be exploring potential ideas for a new micro-business and setting up and
running my own micro-business myself and becoming my own boss. This report will include
what start-up business ideas I think could work well, the processes involved for them to be
successful and what start-up business has the best potential to succeed.
Business Idea 1: Selling sweets boxes online
Potential Opportunity:
For this business idea, I will be making personalised sweet boxes and selling them online on
the website for this business, so that customers all around the UK will be able to order from
the business whenever they want to, as selling online will mean that my business is not
restricted by its location or by opening hours. Selling sweet boxes online means that
customers can order their favourite sweets without having to leave their house, as fewer
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,people will want to go to shops during the pandemic. While customers will have the choice of
going to many supermarkets in the local area to get the sweets they would like, as the sweet
boxes will be offered online, there will be no opening hours to this business and therefore I
will have a competitive advantage over sweet stores and some supermarkets as I will be
offering home delivery instead of just a store. There are only 2 other sweet stores within my
town, which are both limited by their location and opening hours, therefore there is a gap in
the market within the local area for this. While other sweet box businesses do exist within the
local area, on websites such as Etsy, I will make sure the business stands out compared to
them, by offering a fully personalised experience, asking the customer what their favourite
sweets are and making a personalised box just for them. Additionally, I will also offer a
weekly or monthly subscription service, so that customers can get their favourite sweets
delivered to their door at a time that is convenient to them, either weekly or monthly and to
make this business different to other sweet box businesses online. Offering subscription
services would also help to reduce costs because if I know how much demand there is for
the sweet boxes, I could buy them in bulk to reduce the cost of each pack of sweets. This
would help me reduce prices and offer similar prices to other sweet stores and therefore
being competitively priced could help my business grow, as customers know they will be
getting good value for money, as well as a personalised service that regular supermarkets
and sweet stores cannot offer.
As well as this, the demand for sweets is
constantly rising, with a compound annual
growth rate of 3.99% between 2021 to 2026
and the largest target area being Europe,
nd
which the UK has the 2 highest demand for
within Europe. This shows that there is
demand for sweets, and there will continue to
be demand for the foreseeable future, which
shows that this business does have a
possibility of being successful and it is not
high-risk as businesses similar to these have
been successful in the past, and there is a
constant demand for sweets especially as the
population for the target market of children
and teenagers continues to rise around the world
(Mordor Intelligence, 2022)
In the UK alone, 432 businesses manufacture sweets
and confectionery which generates a revenue of £3.9
billion, which shows that there is a great demand for
sweets and confectionery, which this business will offer.
With UK consumers spending £13.6 billion on sugar,
confectionery and ice cream and spending continuing to
grow year-on-year, this shows that there is enormous
demand for more sweets businesses within the UK as
consumer spending is so high, and therefore having an online sweet box business would
help to meet this demand, and also benefit from the constant rise in consumer spending
(Statista, 2021).
Product:
I will be selling a choice of sweets online, available to order 24 hours a day. I will also be
offering a personalised service where customers can comment on what their favourite
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,sweets and snacks are and I will make a box which has been specially personalised for their
order, which will give me a competitive advantage. Furthermore, I could also offer
subscription services where customers can order their favourite sweets and snacks to their
house weekly or monthly, which would make my business stand out compared to
competitors and will also help me afford to offer competitive prices, as having more orders
could give me economies of scale as I could buy the sweets and snacks in bulk if I knew
there was enough demand for it. The business will be aimed at teenagers and children as
these are the target market for sweets and snacks, however, everyone would be able to
order from my business. This will be a non-technical idea development as this idea already
exists and will be part of the tertiary sector as I will be selling the goods and not making
them.
Processes:
The sweet store will be available online so that
customers can buy from my business all around the UK,
as sweet boxes will be posted to them. As the UK is a
high market share area for sweets, having the 2nd
highest demand for sweets within Europe, this will be an
ideal place to sell to (Mordor Intelligence, 2022).
This also gives me access to millions of potential
customers which can help the business be successful,
while if it were just a sweet shop in the local area then I
would be limited to just customers within the local
population. I will be sourcing the goods from two local
supermarkets, so I can offer the most choice and the
best prices for customers, as I can source the sweets and snacks from the best priced
supermarket.
Responsibilities and Size:
As the business is simple to run, I will not be taking on any employees and just be a sole
trader when running this business, which means that I can make decisions for the business
and use my own ideas to help the business be a success. While a disadvantage of being a
sole trader would be that this could limit creativity within the business as working with other
employees will bring in innovative ideas, being a sole trader means that profits do not need
to be shared, and as employees are not needed for this type of business, it would be more of
an advantage to stay a sole trader.
Ownership type:
As other employees will not be needed for this business to be a success, I will run this
business as a sole trader which will make the running of the business more straightforward,
as I will be able to make important business decisions for the business to be successful
without having to discuss with other employees beforehand. This means that important
decisions can be made quicker, and I can quickly change the business structure or purpose
of the business if I need to for the business to survive.
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, Business Idea 2: Clothes stall and website
Potential Opportunity:
I could offer a clothes stall which is in a
busy town centre and open when most
people are likely to be walking past, such
as when schools finish for the day or
when people are walking to and from
work. While many clothes stores exist in
town centres already, this might not be
the most successful idea, however, I
could offer a personalised service to
customers, where customers can choose
the size, colour, and material of the
clothes they want and then get it
delivered to their house to give me a
competitive advantage. I would also offer
a website to stay competitive, as 49% of
all men and 62% of all women buy
clothes online, especially young adults (Statista, 2022).
Offering the website alongside the stall will increase the number of potential customers my
business could get, as I will not be limited to just the amount of people within the town
centre, but I will have the ability to sell to customers throughout the UK through posting
clothes to their house. This also offers customers convenience and could offer a competitive
advantage over clothes stores, as customers that do not want to go to a clothes store will be
able to buy clothes online, at any time they want to, from any place they want to.
Product:
The clothes stall will be aimed at teenagers up to middle-aged adults, as these are the target
market to regularly buy new clothes. The clothes website will be aimed at customers who are
between 16 to 44 as many people these ages buy clothes online, with 69% of customers
between 16-24 buying clothes online according to Statistica. This will be a non-technical idea
development as this idea already exists and will be part of the tertiary sector as I will be
selling clothes that already exist.
Processes:
The clothes stall will be in a busy town centre, where other shops and stalls are found as
customers that want to buy clothes will be likely to be in this location already. Customers will
be able to buy clothes from the clothes store or choose what clothes they want to
personalise and then get these delivered to their house. Customers will also be able to buy
clothes online, so the business will not just be limited by the location and the limited storage
of the stall. I will be sourcing these clothes from affordable clothes stores within the town
centre, and then selling them at a slight mark-up to make a profit.
Responsibilities and Size:
As the business is a partnership, there will be me and one other person with the
responsibility of running the business. One of us will run the online division of the clothes
store, while the other partner will run the clothes stall to keep both parts of the business
successful, as it would be unlikely that I would be able to run both the clothes stall and the
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