Unit 19 – Pitching for a new Business
Assignment 2
Student: John Price
Market analyses and planning…………….………..……………….….……………………..………….………….….….………..2
1. Target market
2. Primary and secondary research
Business environment………………..……..…………….….…………………….……………….…...…………………………..…..7
1. PESTEL
2. Porter 5 forces
3. Unique selling points
Marketing mix……………………………………………………..………………………………………….…………….……..…………..9
Legal aspects…………………………………………………..…………………..…….….…………………………………..………..….10
1. Consumer protection legislation
2. Employment legislation
3. Health and safety legislation
4. Data protection legislation
5. Environmental protection legislation
Financial aspects……………………………………………..…………………..…….….…………………………………..………..….11
1. Pricing policy
2. Sales forecasts
3. Break-even forecast
4. Cash flow forecast
5. Statement of financial position
6. Capital structure
7. Income statement
Evaluation…………………………………………………………………….…………….……….……………………………….……..….15
8. SWOT analyses
9. Liquidity analysis
10. Profitability analysis
11. Sensitivity analysis
12. Conclusion
Bibliography………………………………………………………………….…………….……….……………………………….……..….17
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Market analyses and planning
P3: Explain your marketing plan for a selected micro-business.
Target market – Taobao UK is operating in e-commerce sector. To identify the company’s target
market, it is a good idea to look at the biggest competitors. This is
because the business operates in the same sector therefore their
target market is similar. A good business which have very similar
functions are eBay and Amazon – both companies have
comprehensive online stores that offer millions of products. Based
on this information we can establish the target market of Taobao
UK:
• Expectation – Customers will expect to have reasonable
delivery times, meaning that they don’t have to wait too long for their items to arrive. However,
because the prices offered on Taobao UK are much lower compared to competitors like eBay
consumers would be more willing to wait longer for their delivery. Further it is very important for
the consumer satisfaction to have reliable and safe delivery service. Customers want to know exactly
when they are going to receive their item and that it won’t be damage. Statistics show that discounts
and promo cods can be expected in this type of business.
• Shopping habits – Over 36% of consumers undertake research to find the best price on the
products (Edwards, 2018). This is good news because Taobao UK will be able to undercut all the
other competitors because the company is shipping the products straight from china which allows
consumers to benefit from the low prices in Asia. Now more than 50% of the online shoppers use
mobile devices like phones and tablets to make their purchases. This means that Taobao UK has to
have mobile phone compatible website, it also can be beneficial to create an app that consumers
can install on their mobile devices. Research suggests that coupons are another way to attract
consumers because people like to believe that they are saving money. Research suggest that more
than 80% of consumers are willing to shop online when there is free shipping provided, it can be
beneficial for the business to provide free shipping and slightly increase the product prices to
compensate for this.
• Demographics and segments – Research
the eBay’s and Amazon’s I found males are more
likely to shop online then females (refer to graph
1). This means that Taobao can focus on products
that are targeted more from man as this will
reach more consumers thus increasing the sales.
Because most people shop online nowadays it is
very hard to identify specific market
demographics. However, because the products
offered are low priced it is likely that Taobao UK
will attract consumers that are price oriented. This means that the business will be targeting lower
income individuals who are looking on saving.
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Secondary research is often times free and easily accessible thus making it the best type of research
method for this business start-up due to the small budget. Further it tends to be more accurate as it
has larger samples.
According to the Office of National Statistics in 2017 the gross sales over websites for all business
was £586.3 billion. This is
£80 billion more compared
to 2016 total sales which
was £506.3 billion
[ CITATION Eco18 \l 2057 ].
The figures clearly indicate
that people are buying and
selling online exponentially
each year. This is good news
for Taobao UK as it indicates
that the market is growing
and with it the potential
customer base. On the other
hand, it also means that
there is a saturated
competition in the e-
commerce sector which can
make it hard for the
company to stand out.
However, the business has
some strong USPs together
with the right marketing mix
shout be able to get
recognised by the
consumers.
Primary research
For my primery research I
decided to create the survey
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