Global United Consultants - Business Plan - Free Essay Example

Table of Contents 1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1.TARGET MARKET 1.2.KEYS TO SUCCESS 1.3.OBJECTIVES 1.4.COMPETITIVE EDGE 2.COMPANY SUMMARY 2.1.BUSINESS DESCRIPTION 2.2.MANAGEMENT 2.3.SERVICES 2.4.LOCATION HOURS 3.MARKETING 3.1.MARKET RESEARCH 3.2.WHAT THIS MEANS FOR GUC 3.3.COMPETITION 3.4.PROMOTIONAL STARTEGY 4.FINANCES 4.1.CAPITAL 4.2.START UP EXPENSES 5.CONTACT DETAILS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Global United Consultants was incorporated on 20 Jan 2014 by Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem. The company was allocated company number 08852385 by Companies House UK. Global United Consultants was incorporated after Mr Saleem gained the degree of Master of Business Administration in Innovative Management from Coventry University. As he is a qualified Management Consultant, Mr Saleem wanted to provide business management consultancy services to young and experienced businesses in the UK as every year hundreds of new businesses start up in the UK, and they all need to be managed well to prosper and help boost the economy. Most of these businesses have been set up by entrepreneurs who have seen an opportunity to develop a new product or service, and pursued that vision in search of independence and financial reward. While these businessmen start with substantial ideas to support their new ventures, most do not have the skills, assistance or advice in order to help them transform their ide as into reality. Additionally, the technological and legislative pressure along with the demand of customers for quality and professional service, inundate even the most educated of businessmen. Global United Consultants (GUC) is here to help these visionaries to realise their business dream and turn it into solid, dependable reality. GUC will enable entrepreneurs to manage their business operations successfully from organisational behaviour and structural management to human and financial resource management, and from customer management to change and acquisition management. 1.1. TARGET MARKET GUC will target businesses in the local geographical region initially and then target businesses further away with an aim of targeting businesses nationwide by the 5th year operations. The other segmentation of the business market that GUC will target will be based on company firmographics. Initially the company will target businesses that deal in service provision and have a high requirement for marketing and management consultancy services. These businesses, as they will be dealing in services mainly, will need service providers or in other words; human resources. GUC can assist and empower these businesses through assistance with managing human resources effectively so as to best benefit their respective businesses. The other segmentation that will be used by GUC while targeting customers; is the size of the business. As GUC is a start-up business itself, the company will target start-up businesses and young businesses within the first 5-10 years of business operations. The reas on for this decision is also because these businesses may find it the hardest to manage change and acquisitions. A recent news article in the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The Telegraphà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ read, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“British businesses too focused on selling up rather than scaling up.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This shows that businesses in the UK are selling faster than they are growing and GUC wants to change this trend by assisting business owners to scale up by giving them the advice and guidance along with the encouragement to expand. The company wishes to build long lasting mutually beneficial business relationships with young businesses so as to gain and retain life-long customers. 1.2. KEYS TO SUCCESS GUC success will be determined by a few factors of which some of the major factors are: Customer satisfaction and retention Providing a quality service Being technology savvy Investing in education and training of employees. Employee retention Sustainable growth 1.3. OBJECTIVES GUC aims to fulfil the following objectives within the first three years of business operations: Providing quality management consultancy services. Refraining from the use of a loan Running business finances off its own cash flow and gaining a profit by year 2 operations. Begin recruitment by 6th month of operations. Gaining good business contracts and achieving sales targets through effective marketing Increase services provided through employment of various skilled employees Increase market share through increase of target area. 1.4. COMPETITIVE EDGE Global United Consultants is focused specifically on helping small and medium sized emerging businesses to maximize their potential for success. The company combines Blue Chip training with small business experience and local presence to provide top quality services. The company differentiates itself in the following manner: Extensive market research Cost-effective personal interaction with customer Project based consultation (tailored services) 2. COMPANY SUMMARY 2.1. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Global United Consultants is a London based company that provides business management and marketing solutions to new and existing business. Research shows that most businesses and entrepreneurs suffer major problems with regards to business identity, the basics of branding, effective marketing solutions and operational strategies required for their success. These lead to a drop in expectations and lack of business growth. GUC believes that it can step in and improve this situation for customers, to assist them in gaining a good market share and effectively profits. It is the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s philosophy to form a learning environment that will bring employees with diverse interests and backgrounds together on a platform to overcome these challenges professionally thereby making all of our customer businesses a success, ensuring the success of GUC. 2.2. MANAGEMENT GUC is headed by Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem who is its only Director and prime Management Consultant. Mr Saleem has been chosen for the position of prime Management Consultant as he has recently gained his degree form Coventry University and has since gained management experience from both energetic small firms and experienced industry leaders. Mr Saleem has worked in marketing, business development, and corporate strategy for a number of small and large organisations, and has experience of providing marketing consultancy services to small and medium sized businesses. 2.3. SERVICES GUC specialises in providing the advice and guidance with regards to the following: Organisation Management Change and Acquisition Management Customer Management Resource Management Marketing Management Some of the services that the company will provide will be as follows: Assessing customer needs through consultation Reviewing customer business functions, goals and requirements and identifying obstacles in policies, procedures, marketing, management and organisation of business. Overseeing all aspects of research into the improvement of the relevant functions and processes. Deciphering research results into hard facts and presenting solutions and professional views to management based on this research. Advising on cost of implementation and ensuring cost effectiveness and efficiency of implementation procedure. Assisting with the implementation of improved business processes and procedures Overseeing relevant staff and their training in line with implementation. 2.4. LOCATION HOURS GUC is based at 24 Westham Lane, London, E15 4SA. This location has been chosen so as to provide a physical presence and attract customers through physical marketing and window promotion. The company will operate between the hours of 9am to 5pm GMT unless the business requires different working hours from its employees. Initially, it may be the service department that may need to vary hours to suit customer needs. 3. MARKETING 3.1. MARKET RESEARCH A recent speech by Her Majesty The Queen announced that the government is pledging to make the UK, the best place to start a business. This pledge along with the recent recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 that has affected self-employed wages drastically and the international investor attention turned towards the UK, means that this is a good time for businesses to form and prosper; and businesses have taken this opportunity to form in the thousands. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills published the following figures that show small business statistics at the beginning of 2013. The business population in the UK totalled 4.39 million businesses nationwide that employed a total of 24.3 million people. All businesses in the UK had a combined turnover of 3300 billion GBP Small and Medium Enterprises accounted for 99.9% of all private sector business in the UK. SME also accounted for 59.3% of private sector employment (14.4 million people) and 48.1% (1600 billion GBP) of private sector turnover. Small businesses alone accounted for 47% of private sector employment and 33.1% of turnover. 62.6% of all businesses were sole proprietorships 3.7 million in total 28.5% of all businesses were companies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a total of 1.4 million companies 8.9% of all businesses were partnerships à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a total of 434,000 Nearly a fifth of businesses were operating in the construction sector SMEs accounted for only 27.5% of employment in the financial and insurance sector whereas they accounted for 95.4% of all employment in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector. Arts, entertainment and recreation accounted for only 22.5% of private sector turnover whereas agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for the majority of it. London had more firms than any other region in the UK, with 841000 private sector businesses in the area; and the south east had the second largest number of firms with 791000 in this area. Together, they account for nearly a third of all firms in the UK. 3.2. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR GUC The above statistics published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills mean that GUC needs to concentrate on a few major factors: Targeting the London and South East regions for majority of market share. Targeting the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector for human resource services. Providing service to specifically target sole proprietorships as they make the majority of SMEs Providing a wider range and more specialised services within Human Resources and recruitment to provide a supply for the huge employment demand in the industry within SMEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. 3.3. COMPETITION Yell.com shows approximately 150 businesses that provide business and management consultancy services within 5 miles of GUC. As seen above, there are over 841000 private sector businesses in London alone and all these businesses need consulting services. Although the supply may seem high, the demand if higher and the service providers have different niches that do not cater to all types of businesses. Similarly, GUC has a niche and provides specific services for a specific target market and so, not all of the companies listed below are in direct competition with GUC. Some of the other business and management consultants providing services (not necessarily the same services as GUC) in the E15 area are shown below. Alma Business Management Consultancy Ltd 54, Alma St, London, E15 1QA Tel: 020 8257 0342 Slivers of Time Ltd Unit 3, Essex House, 375-377, High St, London, E15 4QZ Tel: 020 8586 5677 East London E-Learning Ltd Boardman House, 64, Broadway, Londo n, E15 1NT Tel: 0870 2012000 Challenge Life Ltd 49, Broadway, London, E15 4BQ Tel: 020 8911 8773 Infra Solutions Group 275-285, High St, London, E15 2TF Tel: 0844 4148748 Fethiye Consultant 124, Chobham Rd, London, E15 1LZ Tel: 07771 150452 Sibam Ltd 45, Fairland Road, London, E15 4AF Tel: 020 8150 6158 Judith 39, Maryland Square, London, E15 1HF Tel: 020 8983 6498 Hcentra Ltd 48 Stopford Road, London, E13 0LZ Tel: 020 7870 1205 Marionet Consulting 55, Printers Mews, London, E3 5NZ Tel: 020 8981 5282 Global Gate Consult Ltd 210a, High Road Leytonstone, London, E11 3HU Tel: 07979 182300 CLR Management Training Consultancy Ltd 89, Fairfield Rd, London, E3 2QA Tel: 020 8983 9300 Concept Business Advisors Ltd 246-250, Romford Road, London, E7 9HZ Tel: 020 3730 3838 Composition Advisory Ltd Flat 306, Lexington Building, Fairfield Rd, London, E3 2UH Tel: 07939 201855 Advance Business Tips Ltd 14a, Crescent Rd, London, E13 0LT Tel: 07401 538180 3.4. PROMOTIONAL STARTEGY GUC will promote its business and services through a variety of promotional tactics which effectively cater to the requirements of the business. Some of the marketing tools that will be used are mentioned below: Personal Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" marketing to friends, family and professional contacts through word of mouth. Digital Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" marketing through the use of devices such as text messages on mobile phones. Internet Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Marketing through the use of the company website, search engine optimisation and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Print Marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" The use of print media such as flyers, posters, newspapers adverts and adverts on business magazines and directories. Promotional Merchandise à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This can be used at business events to promote the business as part of a Guerrilla Marketing campaign Referral marketing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Promoting employee and customer referrals through the use of rewards or perks for referrals. 4. FINANCES 4.1. CAPITAL The company director and prime Management Consultant Mr Muhammad Hamza Saleem will provide a capital of  £50,000 for business start-up expenses. This capital will fund the business start-up and will be replenished from company profits to be invested wisely into company assets. This directorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s loan will be repaid to the director from second year onwards from 20% of profits per annum until the full sum is paid back. No interest has been charged on this director loan. 4.2. START UP EXPENSES The following table shows a summary of set up expenses that are likely to be incurred by the business within 3 months of start-up. Cost Incurred Price Company Set up  £20 Business Insurance  £350 Legal Services  £300 Financial Services  £500 Office Furniture  £600 Office Equipment  £1200 Cost of Marketing Material (flyers, business card etc)  £275 Stationery (letter heads, compliment slips and others)  £125 Cost of Office Space  £2400 Business Rates  £450 Company Website  £600 Utility Bills  £400 Contingency (Buffer)  £7220 Total Start-up costs incurred  £8664