1: Types of Business

I am required to analyse my business ideas and demonstrate how it will lead to a success. I will be looking at the aims and objectives of the business. A wedding planner business involves planning the venues, flowers, cake and other decorations needed for a perfect wedding.

1. Choose their business type

The business type of a wedding planner will be a private limited company where owner’s responsibilities will be limited so they can spend the rest of the time doing something different. At the same time, they don’t have to pay for any debts with their own money and would instead get paid from the company’s profit. It allows the owner to keep their own assets. In order to be part of a private limited company, the owner will have to get registered at the company’s house and a variety of legal documents will have to be submitted before hand e.g. annual accounts.

2. State their aims and objectives

The aim of the company should be SMART so it can easily be achieved. S stands for Specific; M stands for Measurable, A stands for achievable, R stands Realistic and T stands for Time. The aim for the company is to provide a unique service to customers. For example plan their venues in an island so they can enjoy a new atmosphere and feel relax. The objectives for the wedding planner are to maintain a good relationship with their customers and satisfy them by giving them a lot of choices to make for their venues, decorations, flowers and many more. To make sure that the business survives longer, they will have to ensure personal and customers satisfaction.

3. Identify the unique selling point and the competitive edge the business will have

A unique selling point is used so one product can be different from others and having one tends to make more sales. The unique selling point of the business is that wedding venues will be located all over the world and not just the UK. This will make my business unique since I will be working with other foreign agencies to plan the wedding package (includes venues, food, honeymoon).

4. Show how they can establish the Potential demand for their new business

To set up potential demand for the business, I will be carrying out a market research which will be based on both primary (surveys) and secondary research (E-Marketing). I will be using numerical techniques to forecast sales figures thus I will be looking at past records so it can be used to predict future trends. This also requires me to look at customer’s reaction to new products or services. This is because some people might prefer traditional weddings and some modern weddings. I might decide to distribute surveys to prospective customers to know more about their choices. Furthermore, I will be investigating whether the business have lots of competition around so I can carefully choose my unique selling point. Strengths and weaknesses are an important aspect to observe as it can make a difference on the business’s performance. (PESTLE analysis).  The economic outlook will not make much difference to the business as people will get married mo matter how bad the economical situation is.

5. Demonstrate how they will balance their personal and business needs

Balancing personal and business needs (lives) is very important as stress can change a decision and affect responsibilities. Therefore, having a strategy such as spending half of the day working and the other half being at home with families (this relates to flexible working). This policy will help to pick up on the main needs of the business e.g. having a staff at the customer service reception between certain hours.

6. Estimated: potential profitability

Gross profit = (TSR) Total Sales Revenue – cost of sales

Suppose: Total Sales Revenue = £140,000 per year

Cost of sales = 50% of Sales Revenue

Number of customers = TSR / Revenue per sale

As a result: Gross profit = £140,000 - £70,000 = £70,000

Net profit = Gross profit – Expenses

Suppose: Expenses = 50% of Gross profit

As a result: Net profit = £70,000 - £35,000 = £35,000

    7.   Identify any business trends

8. Conduct a PESTLE analysis

Political	Economical
Ensure the bride and the groom is legally allowed to get married  Have a wedding licence	Being able to adjust with overseas economies Fair charges to their packages e.g. Honeymoon tickets Wedding venues will differ according to weather issues
Social	Technological
Having a good advert to attract customers Being able to adjust with customers choices Being part of the wedding exhibition Affordable prices for all customers	Service available online Patent for the business

9. Develop their self-esteem through a business mentor - pick a mentor from Businesses Start-up Seminars - link profile to your answer

A self esteem tends to show an individual’s personality and belief. It is very important as it helps making a decision that is beneficial and requires self-confident. I chose Prabha Shiyani as my mentor as she is inspires in being her own boss. This is relevant to my business as I want to arrange everything on my own but when its time to pay off expenses, it will be from the company’s profits and not mine.

10. Illustrate how business planning will help them to ensure their success

Building up a business plan is very helpful in terms of identifying your potential markets and customers. It helps gaining the finance needed to start up the business as bank managers will ask for a business plan to give you the amount needed.  It is very important to have the right business type as having an incorrect one can affect future plans. In this case, I have chosen a private limited company because I will consider turning the business into a family business where liability will be limited. In order to make sure my services is available to the public domain, I will have to market it well e.g. advertising, exhibitions. It also helps identifying sales by drawing out a break even chart. A market research will also be used to fulfil the process.

The business plan follows these seven steps:

1. Type of business
2. Target Market
3. Human Resources
4. Legal and Physical Resources
5. Financial Resources
6. Growth and Development
7. Financial Contingency

2: Target Market

Market research

Market research is used to identify a specific target audience, in my case who will be able to afford my service (wedding planner). It is about collecting information and evaluating them for better understanding. This type of research looks at primary and secondary research. Primary market research tends to be more up to date and some examples are surveys and focus group. However, secondary market research is resources online which have already been collected e.g. websites (govt stats) and agencies.

Sales forecasts

Sales forecast is used to identify and predict sale’s figures by using numerical methods such as evaluating past market trends. This process is used by businesses so they can arrange for investment and plan for making new product. Furthermore, it avoids unexpected cash flows difficulties.

Customer behaviour analysis

Customer behaviour analysis is used to get a better knowledge of who, how and why should customer buy a product. It considers buyers of all types of group such as families, friends, elderly people and children. It looks at what age group of people will prefer a particular product. For example, children will prefer to buy a remote car rather than a real one. This analysis looks at customer behaviour (choices). Surveys and certain websites can be used figure out customer behaviour analysis.

Competitor analysis

Competitor analysis studies the level of competition so they are aware of future threat and thus, try to create a unique selling point product. High competition is risky for business as it can reduce sales and profits but by having a low competition in the area, it allows the company to sell their items at high prices but still gain demand. This also refers to the strengths and weakness of competitors.

Category	Group	Type
Wealthy achievers	Affluent greys	Mature couples, small detached house
Comfortably off	Starting out	Young couples, flats and terraces
Urban prosperity	Prosperous professionals	Well-off professionals, larger houses and converted flats

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses are identified by business so their can improve their performances in the future. Thus having a USP is a good element as it helps attract customers but having a weakness can force the business to shut down or perhaps. They will lose their existing customers. SWOT analysis is mainly used to identify these aspects. One of the wedding planner strength is that their venues will differ according to their cultures. However, one weakness is the presence of the business which will require excellent advertising. The business has an opportunity to work with partners in the future. Unfortunately, one of the threats is the weather which could affect wedding venues.

Market trends

Market trend studies the patterns of the market to see whether they are doing well compared to other businesses. It involves looking at sales and demand for specific product or service.

The economic outlook

Economic outlook is very important for businesses as it contributes to the success of the company. It outlines the entire positive and negatives points of the business that needs improvement. For example, how can VAT changes affect demand of a product? This refers to PEST analysis. One political issue is to have a wedding license that will legally allow me to plan for wedding. One economical issue is to provide an affordable service to customers whilst one social concern is to advertise the service effectively. The business should make sure people can afford the service online which is part of technology.

The “Green” agenda

The “Green” agenda is design to help business to operate successfully by concentrating on environmental issues. Therefore, it looks at consumer preferences e.g. packages (goody bags) made up of recycling materials.

3: Human Resources

Skills required in developing the business

ü  Communication skills

ü  Organisational skills

ü  Financial skills

ü  Marketing skill

ü  Recruitment and Selection skills (HR)

ü  Negotiation skills

ü  ICT skills

Communication skills

Communication skills are very important to run a business as I will have to deal with people from all background based on the types of wedding they have planned. Therefore, by understanding exactly what they want, I will be able to deliver a good service to them. This could also increase demand for my service as if one of my customers understand me well, they could probably share the experience with others.

Organisational skills

For the business to do well, I should be well organised with all my equipment needed. For example I should know where to get the flowers from, where to get the cake from etc. At the same time, I should provide a guidance book to my customers that are well presented and organised so they can choose their wedding venues, honeymoon destination and so on.

Financial skills

Financial skills are very essential to my business, because I will be dealing with weddings thus, I will be getting lots of money to put in different areas e.g. catering, lights. This means that I should control money using a budget to avoid future debts for my wedding planner business. Moreover, I should know to make profit in order to make a successful business and spend that money in effective areas for example employing an assistant to help me out.

Marketing skills

This skill is very important to new businesses as it allows promoting new product/service. It will help me to know where, when and how to advertise my service e.g. how to promote it on TV or newspapers. . I will also get a chance to know who my target audience is. By using good marketing tools, I will be able to have a unique selling point and become more competitive

Recruitment and selection skills (HR)

I will need good recruitment and selection skills to recruit the right people to help me out in my business. Therefore, they should have appropriate qualification in wedding planning in order to make a successful business. By having the right candidate to help me, I will be able to provide a good customer service. Even though, I will not employing lots of candidate, I should make sure that the one selection is worth the job.

Negotiation skills

This skill will allow me to negotiate with customers in situations where they will have to choose one venues from 50s of them. Therefore, I will be telling them which one is appropriate based on their budget. For this reason I should know how to liaise with them and get them to agree on one thing.

ICT skills

ICT skills is very essential for business as it allow them to provide them product and services online, allow them to edit information etc. in my case, I will be using IT skills to sell my service online, put pictures and videos about wedding venues and I will also be using Excel to budget my business.

My skills audit: level 1(bad) to level 3 (good) – these are the skills I possess.

Skills	Skills level
Communication skills	3
Organisational skills	3
Financial skills	3
Marketing skills	2
Recruitment and selection skills (HR)	2
Negotiation skills	2
ICT skills	3
Customer service	3
Decision making skills	2

My strengths

Looking at my skills audit, I see that my strengths are Communication, Organisational, Financial and Customer Service skills. Therefore, my Communicational skills will help me to communicate with people from different cultures and will allow me to know what exactly they are expected form me. At the same time, my financial skills along with my ICT skills will help me to design a budget to control my inflows and outflows. Also, by using Financial and Marketing skills, I will be able to identity my market trends (competitors), know how to price my service and how to promote it effectively. In addition to that, my Customer Service skills will assist me to deal with my client well. In other words, if I satisfy them, they will come back for their friends and families meaning more demand for my business.

My weaknesses

Based on my skills audit, I can see that my weaknesses are HR and Marketing skills. This is because these are not my strong points therefore; I will have to go through a training process. At the same time, I find it difficult to act quickly and make decisions to sort out problems.

Skills and abilities I don’t have

• Able to work under pressure
• Patience

I believe that I do not have full experience of how to operate a business and how to promote a new service. Therefore, it could be risky for me to run a business on my own. For that reason, I will have to find someone fully qualified to assist me. Even after completing a course in wedding planning, I have realised that I can not work under pressure and be patience when a problem had occurred.

How will I compensate for those weaknesses?

As I am not able to work under pressure, I will have to recruit someone who can do the work for me. Furthermore, I will have to employ a candidate with good marketing skills in order for me to promote my business and use marketing tools well.

What will I do about each of those missing skills and abilities?

In order for me to improve my skills and abilities, I will attend a training session of how to operate a business. From this I will be able to build up my confidence. This will allow me to gain more insights of how to operate business stress free and be patience with all kinds of situations.

Skills gap and development needs

At the moment I have good ICT, Financial, Customer service and Organisation skills. However, I will have to develop my Marketing and HR skills which are required for my wedding planner business. In order for me to develop my skills, I will be recruiting someone to cover me up with the areas I’m struggling with. This is because it is a new business and is very important to avoid small mistakes. However, for the long term basis, I should be ready to operate the business on my own and if not, I will provide my staffs with training so they can build up their confidence.

Action plan

Short term:

• Look at for my market trends/competitors
• Promote my business well as it is new in the market
• Recruit a qualified candidate that will help me in my weakness area

Long term:

• Design a good and attractive advert for my business so my service reaches a wider target audiences
• Come up with new business ideas to extend the business.
• Have more training session

4: Legal and Physical Resources

Legal aspects

Legal status and liabilities

My legal status is a private limited company and my liabilities are limited. A private limited company is normally owned by shareholders who are good for the company as it means that they will be investing some of their money into the business. The more money the business will get, the more they will spend on resources and assets. Therefore, the business will be more profitable and will make further growth. One of the benefits of having a limited company is that it has limited liability meaning the shareholders are safe in term of getting involved in the business’s debts and their personal assets will be untouched. This is because they will be paying off debts with the company’s capital and not their own money. Another advantage is that the organisation will be ongoing even if one of their shareholders pass away or sell off their shares.

However, there could be some problems with dealing with other members of the company, as decision making will be slower and difficult. This is because everyone will have a different opinion of how to run the business which could lead to disagreements. At the same time, the legal formalities of the business will be more complicated as they will have to get a licence and all shareholders will be needed to make legal decision for example making sure that they follow the Data Protection Act so their information do not get pass to other businesses. One major drawback is that profit will be shared amongst shareholders.

Trading standards and licences

Trading standards is design to protect customers from dishonest traders. The trading standard has an institute that provides advice to consumers and they ensure the protection, health and wellbeing of consumers and make business’s competition process and success easier. The TSI make sure people are aware of business and their deeds as some of them to illegal dealings. They also make sure that members can develop their professionalism and competencies. In relation to my business it will allow me to know more about consumer’s rights about what they expect from the business. It will also help me to identify and find a good supplier who can be trusted and has not been involved in any illegal dealings. Furthermore more, I will have to make sure that my products and services meet all legal safety requirements and I do fair trading.

License

A business needs a license to operate for the safety of the business and for customers to get the right service. They are normally issued by authorities and it shows an agreement between he two parties involved.

Record keeping

Record keeping is very important to business so they can track their progresses and weaknesses. This will also allow them to record financial information so they can check on their assets and liabilities. Financial record is considered to be kept for at least 6 years and this includes their cash book, sales/purchase ledger and wages/petty cash books.

Ø  Cash book - this is a record of money inflows and outflows. It has all the details about cheque deposits and payment s made which also includes every credit/debit transactions made.

Ø  Sales/purchase ledger – a sale ledger records all sales made by the company and a purchase ledger records all the items bought by the company.

Ø  Wages/petty cash book – it keeps a record of all wages and salaries that is paid by Wedding Planner whilst a petty cash book has information about all small items that is bought with cash.

There are some records that are kept by the business. They are:

Ø  Accident records - it records all cases if accidents, injuries and diseases that took place within the organisation. It is normally kept for at least 3 years time.

Ø  Stock records – it is used to store information about all the stock such as raw materials, assets that is bought and ordered by the business. It helps them to identify whether more resources are needed and whether they will be used efficiently.

Ø  Minutes of meetings – it records all meetings taking place by the company and they are used to check whether they need to attend or carry out more meetings in the future.

National and local law

As my business is new, it is very crucial that I am aware of all the legal obligations that I need to follow. Therefore, I will have to understand the effect of the law on the firm and know how to comply with them. There are insurances that are compulsory for business. They are;

Ø  Employer’s liability insurance – it ensures the health and wellbeing of employee for example if my assistant get injure, she or he will have an insurance to protect with. Hence, they can claim damages against my business.

Ø  Owner’s liability insurance – this will protect my business if someone claims false damages against me.

Ø  Public liability insurance – it is important for my business to have public liability insurance as me or my assistant can cause small damages to the public or property where the wedding will be held, therefore, my insurance will protect me against claims.

Legal responsibilities as an employer

Contract of employment

It is the employer’s responsibilities to provide a contract of employment to its employees. In my case, I will give my assistant a contract to sign before starting the job because we need to make an agreement first in order to avoid future problems regarding hours, pays etc. a contract of employment contains the:

Ø  Number of hours

Ø  Names and address of employee

Ø  Job description

Ø  Notice periods

It is very essential that I am aware of the Minimum wage legislation and pays my assistant at least £5.35 per hour if aged over 22 and £4.45 if aged under so I don’t get fined. The pays will also includes other pay such as maternity, sick and holiday pay. I will also make sure that the hours given to my assistant meet the working time regulations. At the same time, it is very important that I follow the discrimination Act and I don’t discriminate on the grounds of age, gender, race and disability. One of the legal requirements is to register for VAT.

Other laws

Environmental Protection Act 1990 – I will have to make sure that I don’t pollute the environment when planning for wedding venues.

Health and safety Act - this act ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of employees. Therefore, I will have to plan resources well for example making that there are no wires on the venues entrance that could lead to falling over.

By law there are some regulations to be followed such as:

Ø  Data protection – this will protect my business to keep customer’s information safe which is followed by the law.

Ø  E-commerce regulation – this ill allow me to sell and advertise my service using the internet.

Sources of advice

This applies to my business because it is new and it can be stressful to start up with something new. Thus, I will need some advices from professional so they can help me to deal with all types of circumstances. This will also help to build up my confidence. I also need some marketing advices so I know exactly how, when and where to advertise my service at.

Therefore, I will be setting up a websites so people can access my service quicker and cheaper.

Physical resources

My physical resources are the building where I will be operating my business in and the offices where administrations and human resources (marketing) work will be done. The size of my premises will be 60 metres square (£1000 per month) and will have two offices on the ground floor and 2 on the first floor.