AJ distributors focus on the distribution of food purposely to retailers, restaurants, schools, and hospitals. One of the significant decisions in food distribution is to create a better channel linking customers with producers. It helps in reducing unnecessary costs and delays. The founders have completed the five-year marketing plan for AJ distributors to secure business growth and development purposely to inform employees of the current status and direction. Considering the nature of the United States Market, the industry is highly fragmented, with Sysco capturing 17% of the market, the United States food with about 9%, Gordon Foodservice, and Gold Star Food playing a significant part. The greater consideration in the food distribution channel is to ensure providence of all necessary aspects to promote safety and ensure the quality of food being distributed. AJ distributors formed a few months ago have been focusing on the greater than anticipated demand for its products. To promote effective supply chain management, all the staff are trained on the better means of connecting on customer-oriented focus. The marketing environment has been very receptive to the interest of outdoor enthusiasts around the country. Over the next ten years, AJ distributors can increase their distribution channels by employing new mechanisms and fast-tracking customer feedback regarding a specific commodity.
Business Description
AJ distributors is a middle-based distribution company that focuses on distributing food products to the final consumers. It has been actively engaged in the small distribution activities, thus concentrating on the improvement of distribution channels and distilling the extension of the customer-based approach. AJ distributors are designed to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs as well as enhancing the general output. The supply chain management of this company is designed to fit in any environment purposely to maintain its competitive goals and satisfy customer needs. The company acts as a link between consumers and producers, thus helping in the reduction of distribution costs. This helps in reducing the cost of the product, which is beneficial to both customers and producers.
The company aims to provide higher quality products to consumers across the world. The supplier’s idea is to maintain a competitive environment by ensuring all the agricultural products meet the quality standards and customer preferences within the shortest period possible. The other goals include the financial objectives, which elucidates the expansion of distribution capabilities to increases revenues within the next two financial years. The primary aim is to distribute specific products in different parts of the world based on demand and supply. The company focuses on the distribution of products such as Rice from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indian. The other products include Grains from France, the USA, Argentina, and Asia. Most of the supplied items are determined by the nature of demand in the various countries. Therefore, AJ distribution is open to any business opportunities linked with the distribution of goods and services across the world.
The company’s non-financial goals include introducing customized distribution channels in which customers can quickly identify and positively influence business. The other objective involves entering the new geographical markets such as the Middle East and Mid Atlantic states and developing a solid and successful internet platform to create a stronger relationship with retailers and consumers. To achieve business core competencies, the company will employ sustainable competitive formulas to gain a competitive advantage.
Literature Review
A successful business plan plays a significant role in determining whether the business idea is viable and sustainable. This is one of the primary factors in the business world. The business plan generates ideas in which organizations can raise funds and boost business activities. The significant factors in highlighting business activities are to ensure the company has a better framework for solving various challenges, whether related to the financial, management, or employee.
A business plan works as an outline of the company in a written form that can help businesses achieve financial objects through lenders and initiate positive measures towards realizing various goals. Achievement of business goals can be well highlighted and embracing favorable inference towards the achievement of those goals. The AJ distributors is a service-oriented company that focuses on linking customers with producers. It is necessary to evaluate the need for those specific services in a highly competitive environment. It illustrates the means of achieving a competitive advantage over the existing companies in the market.
Starting a successful business venture may require initial exposure to the specific environment. Various scholars have already indicated means of creating a business plan that will likely result in a prosperous business. In a published literature form, companies have illustrated a means of achieving successful operations by presenting the business plan. Various companies venturing into several business activities advise entrepreneurs on how to create a successful business plan (Tipu, 2019). In the current business days, crafting a business plan is an essential part of any organizational operations.
Several people with business ideas may fail to start in business due to lack of exposure and information necessary to venture into a particular business environment. The modern environment requires the more experienced person for a specific business activity more than new ventures. There are various aspects and advantages associated with a business plan for both small and medium organizations. It is essential to institute multiple goals related to business growth and development. Focusing on the modern aspect of a business plan enables people with ideas to focus on better planning and achieving various short-term goals. To allow a business, achieve long-term goals, it must first embrace the need for achieving the short-term goals.
Business planning plays a critical role as it forces the authors to go through various aspects of their professional occupations and pay attention to the essential primacies and purposes. Business plans enable entrepreneurs to gather and analyze necessary information, which acts as an eye-opener to the founders by allowing them to quickly identify what they don’t know and push them to solve the various problems and attain specific goals. The other primary purpose of a business plan is to help people communicate the determination, objects, and actions of a particular business, which is the primary qualification to achieve a productive venture.
Considering the nature of the business environment, uncertainty is the primary factor that precipitates the business plan failure. It is, therefore, essential to understanding the possible uncertainties associated with a specific business activity (McKenzie, 2017). Most founders fail to examine the potential risk of business operation hence leading to unsuccessful business ventures. There are many risks associated with business activities ranging from government restrictions and a ban of specific business channels, thus limiting the operationalization of certain business activities. Environmental uncertainties stimulated business planning because learning is desired under indeterminate situations than under certain ones.
According to Colclasure (2020), planning is one of the best option for fastening a decision-making process compared to trial-and-error learning. There should be the encounter of specific activities to initiate operations. By gathering necessary information, business founders can understand market dynamics and embrace positive actions towards realizing various goals. A business plan improves communication with the external environment, such as governments, customers, and competitors (Colclasure, 2020). For example, potential financiers may wish to understand and see specific details to examine the business’s ability to pay off loans.
Besides helping organizers in the decision-making process, resource allocation, and evaluation of uncertain situations, a business plan allows businesspersons to focus on the most imperative aspect of the business. This means disregarding what seems to be of no importance in a business environment. Setting specific goals and operational steps helps the organization focus on the best activities for the company rather than activities that seem to be sidetracking their efforts.
According to the business giants and entrepreneurs, the other aspect of planning is the ability to motivate workers to achieve the set goals. Generally, when staff is actively intricated in business activities, they tend to assume responsibility, leading to higher output (Fani & Subiadi, 2019). The positive perception of business activities sets a framework in which employees gain motivation impact, leading to positive feedback. Setting goals has a more significant influence on employee motivation, which may improve company output.
The most argued subject regarding the business plan in this literature review is whether planning is valuable under various condition especially the uncertainties which may arise and surround the business ventures. Many professional business experts elucidate that forecasting future with a lot of confidence is not possible, especially with the uncertain nature of the business environment (Akpunonu, 2020). Therefore, business founders and entrepreneurs must evaluate their organizational strengths and weakness until they became fully confident with the current experience.
Marketing Plan
Due to the rising of the worldwide population, the demand for food is expected to drive growth in the nourishment industry. As a global distributor, the primary focus will be food services in South Florida, serving small clients. This vision of being an international distributor is a long-term goal that is currently substituted by domestic operations to understand marketing dynamics. The primary consideration in the marketing goal is the nature of products, both imported and locally produced, to reach retailers and customers. These products include dry edible beans such as pinto, black, navy, small red, another pulse, and long grains, rice, corn, and wheat products.
The market segmentation and target market selection will be determined by the demand and supply implications. The Major market segment will be influenced by the customers and retailers interested in various products under our supply chain (Ferreras-Garcia et al., 2019). The online reviews on demand will be done to determine the need for specific products. Understanding market dynamics and evaluating the competitive nature of the external environment will help in estimating the marketing needs in various target points.
Understanding the market analysis in term periodic will enable the company to embrace various aspects which can be used to promote specific products. For example, the rice industry is poised to grow at a rate of 1.2% during the forecasted business strategic plan (2021-2026). Thailand’s price is expected to rise by almost 20 percent after the outbreak. This illustrates the need to engage better marketing dynamics, ensuring customers don’t feel a more significant change in pricing.
The Rice industry is considered the most important cereal crop after maize. Therefore, significant efforts should be made to ensure plenty of food security and promote the practical application of positive marketing procedures geared towards realizing the company goals and objectives.
Food industry distribution companies can range in sizes from one truck operations to influential organizations. Market division is the primary consideration for AJ distributors. Every organization, especially distribution companies, focuses on engaging in international and local distribution platforms to extend the revenue base and tap into the new environment. The privilege of serving the North American national foodservice industry, foodservice distributors, big-box retail, institutions, and non-profit corporations is a significant achievement towards realizing company goals.
The ultimate marketing plan is to enlarge the operation territory towards the south, east, and west of the United States. Furthermore, the incorporation of other states and global countries will be based on long-term marketing plans. Domestic marketing plans involve understanding customer needs through marketing evaluation and determining various aspects that can influence positivity in understanding the basic requirements. The supply of the different products will be directly proportional to the demand in the market.
Operational Plan
The importation of products from globally produced products involves shipping costs to returning the container to the producer. For example, the export process from India (TRICO), our leading supplier, consists of tracking activities and ensuring custom formalities are completed on time. The operational plan should consider maximizing output and minimizing cost after receiving all the necessary documents such as bills of lading, invoices, and product certification. The organization focuses on providing documents to the customs broker for the preliminary custom entry. Once the product is approaching the United States Port, we will receive arrival notice from the ocean handling Company in Miami, Florida, to proceed with customs clearance. After receiving the release custom, the brokerage will initiate other documents necessary for the payment confirmation to set up the appointment to deliver the product in the company’s warehouse.
The business operations will be based on the progress done in warehousing. Most distribution-related plans are limited to warehousing activities, which determines what to be done and at what time. For example, once the container arrives at our business premises, we begin receiving the products. This involves unloading the product and palletizing it because the cargo arrives in bulk. The next step consists of checking the quantity and reporting any damage or missing product. This is done to ensure accountability and promote effectiveness.
The following operational stage involves entering the product into the inventory system and labeling it effectively. The storage is done based on the safety of the location. The production activity involves repacking the product based on the customer’s preferences. Cargo is placed in the safety and repacking area. Based on the needs and quantity required by the various customers, labeling is done and palletized for storage in the inventory. Most of our products are distributed according to customer preferences and needs.
A distribution which is a significant activity is done as soon as an order for a particular product is places. The warehouse manager coordinates the warehouse activities involving recovering the product base on the purchase order provided. To ensure safety in food distribution, the warehouse agent will examine the condition of each foodstuff and provide necessary feedback to the receiver. Furthermore, embracing a better transportation channel should be done before the customer orders a particular product.
Risks
There are various uncertainties associated with this kind of business. The primary reflection should be based on the organizational plan to handle uncertainties in the operational environment better. The risk involved in this business requires theft, accident, poor-quality products, and the risk of disposing of expired products due to poor market—open competition from local companies and strict government measures such as high taxation for import.
Resolving uncertainty challenges requires a prior understanding of the market dynamic based on the business plan. There should be better means of handling various risks based on the company’s capabilities. For example, import costs such as customs brokerage fees, USDA declaration, and X-Ray Port fees are significant challenges, especially for a company wishing to engage in a foreign trading-related transaction. Resolutions to these challenges require advanced technological know-how, which involves understanding foreign market dynamics and better means of assessing investment costs.
Structure of Business
AJ distributors is a limited liability company set within the regulations by the leadership of the company. The company leadership involves the board of directors, who are the core decision-makers and are likely to influence the nature of policies and principles for guiding business activities and assigning responsibilities to the company personnel. Being a limited liability company, it separates the responsibility of individual liability from that of organizations.
The organization is divided into various divisions, which acts as the significant booster towards specialization and division of labor. Focusing on the nature of business engagement, most of the attention is given to supply and chain management which resolves various activities in the business environment. The departmental heads present necessary reports to the board of directors to examine the potential environmental inferences and make critical business decisions.
Financial Information
AJ distributors are mainly targeting to improve its financial information and maintain a positive inflow of finances into the business activities. One of the significant challenges is to secure finances from financial information, especially for startup businesses. The startup costs include the Rent and facilities, Utilities and other operating expenses, salaries and labor costs, Equipment repair and maintenance, cost and legal compliance, and marketing and promotion costs. These are the basic costs associated with the business initiations.
As part of organization operations, the cost associated with importing products from the external supplier should be incorporated in determining the prices of each product. The longer the supply chain, the higher the cost. The AJ distributors will focus on attaining bank loans as part of initial finances and directors contributing money through the distribution of shares to facilitate the company’s initial operations. The supplier export cost breakdown may involve a custom declaration of $120, custom security surcharges of $60 and 20HC container Port MIA DPP for $2,400, and the cost of the specific product intones.
Conclusion
AJ distribution is a company that focuses on linking retailers with producers and facilitation better flow channels depending on the demand for specific food products. It engages the network of growers and processors, ensures liable logistic transportation, and treats customers like family. The presentation of a business plan helps an organization effectively plan and make a necessary decision towards realizing company goals and objectives. To foster effective management of business activities, there is a need to consider various aspects relating to business risks, the financial implication, and business structure. Financial planning such as budgeting is an essential component in achieving.
References
Colclasure, M. (2020). The importance of business plan proficiency to business school graduates (Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University).
Ezeogidi, C., Ezeogidi, N., P., Akpunonu, U. (2020). Business plan: A road map for a successful entrepreneurship. SSRN, 1-10.
Fani, S., & Subiadi, A. (2019). The trend of business continuity plan: A systematic literature review. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Business, Law, And Pedagogy, ICBLP 2019. European Alliance for Innovation (EAI). Web.
Ferreras-Garcia, R., Hernández-Lara, A., B., Serradell-López, E. (2019). Entrepreneurial competencies in a higher education business plan course. Education + Training, 61(7/8), 850-869. Web.
McKenzie, D. (2017). Identifying and spurring high-growth entrepreneurship: Experimental evidence from a business plan competition. American Economic Review, 107(8), 2278-2307.
Tipu, S. A. A. (2019). Business plan competitions in developed and emerging economies: What do we still need to know?Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 11(1), 81-97. Web.