Letter of Transmittal
Dear Sir/Madam,
Enclosed is a copy of the document entitled ‘Proposal for an e-Business’ in the field of Technical Communication. The proposal is a result of a research and a field study carried out to determine the feasibility and applicability of the proposed business in the target area which is conducted as a response to a necessary identification and aimed at determining the best way to meet with the identified need of the target population,
In compliance with the fulfillment of the requirements on the subject “Technical Communication”, the proponents would like to present the proposal consistent with the provided instructions.
The main purpose of the document is to propose a small business in the given field with an aim of applying the skills and experience that have been obtained while undertaking the above named course. The study is aimed at showing how the discipline may be applied in meeting the needs of the society.
We hope that this proposal will meet your approval.
Very truly yours,
Technical Communication Students.
Introduction
The discipline of Technical Communication is one of the disciplines that have undergone a lot of reforms and improvements over the past few years, especially due to its integration with the different technological advancements and inventions. This field has now covered a wide area of application and also started applying different new methods in its functionalities in such a manner that allows it to be more modernized, easier to apply as well as to produce more consistent, satisfactory and high quality results.
One of the main applications of Technical Communication has been made in the field of technology itself and more specifically in the area of Internet.
Internet as a means of trans-national communication has drastically grown and become more popular among all the sectors in the economy and society. As a result, this has led to an increase in different applications, such as websites, online advertisements, online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tagged as well as e-businesses (Katz, 2008).
These facilities have enabled people to carry out business, easily communicate, perform social activities and be also able to advertise their businesses and products over the Internet. More advanced applications of the Internet have also enabled its users to access products from different companies, compare their prices and quality.
Then, they can purchase the goods of their choice over the Internet through online payment methods only for these products to be shipped to their doorsteps. This has enables the world to become a small marketplace where people can buy products from any place in the world over the Internet staying at home or office (Hdodd, 2011; Markel, 2007).
This proposal seeks to identify a market need for e-business and then provide a solution that will be utilized to ensure that the need in the market is met (Katz, 2008).
Project Overview
The project is a proposal for an e-business that will comprise of a website which will aim at marketing and selling different products of a cultural genre from different cultures in Africa.
Hence, this will be an e-business in the form of an online Curio Shop that will be represented as a website in which different products including African wear, such as clothes, footwear, hats and caps, belts, African ornaments, necklaces, earrings, bangles, rings, jewels, African carvings and paintings and all the other curio products, will be sold (Gurak & Lay, 2002).
Background
Curio shops have become very popular for anyone taking a tour around any state in Africa. They are one of the main attractions for tourists around the world who purchase different cultural products as souvenirs and also as a mode of fashion change from the modern trends of fashion.
This has, therefore, increased the demand for African cultural products creating a large market for such products as African wear, ornaments and jewels as well as carvings and paintings. Due to the fact that some of the African societies have maintained their cultures to be able to deal with some of the target products, such as the paintings and carvings as well as different cultural wear, the African regalia is very famous for tourists and other parties concerned around the world (Mirel, 2002).
This project seeks to apply technology in helping to meet with the need in the market for African cultural products through establishment of an online Curio Shop which will be an e-business for advertising and sale of products from different cultures all over the Africa (Mirel, 2002).
Need
Over the past, African cultural products have increased in popularity, especially due to the fact that most of the African societies have preserved their cultures against the influence of modernity. This is an important aspect which is missed in most of the societies around the world. Hence, the tourism industry in Africa is growing rapidly; different products from the African cultures have also experienced an increasing demand around the world (Bucchi, 1998).
Though there has been establishment of different physical shops selling the African cultural products in different popular cities and towns all around the world, there is a low activity in this area over the Internet. This project will hence propose a way forward for establishment of a website that will advertise and conduct online sale of cultural products from different African cultures (Bucchi, 1998).
Benefits
The online Curio Shop will have different benefits to all the involved parties. First of all, to the sellers of Curio products from Africa, this will be a place for easily advertising their products, hence allowing their products to be viewed by large population from all over the world.
These sellers will hence be able to easily and cheaply access different markets in the world and to compete with other curio product sellers from all over the world. Further, they will be able to create a base for tourists visiting their countries who will wish to visit their shops and carry out more purchases from there. This will hence increase the revenue for such sellers just with a little more input into their businesses (Katz, 2008).
For online buyers, this will be the ultimate solution to their quest for purchasing products from African cultures in an easier way. While it has been harder and more expensive to purchase such products in the past since the buyers had to travel to Africa for a tour or purchase the goods from shops in their cities which sell such products at exaggerated and uncompetitive prices, it will be easier now to access the products in an easier way and at a cheaper cost.
Thus, the goods will be sold at the competitive prices on the ground as they are offered in the Curio shops in Africa, and the only extra cost for the buyer will be the cost of shipment which has drastically fallen over the recent past due to establishment of different competing ferrying companies all over the world (Mascha, 2002).
The e-business will be also advantageous because it will help promote African culture all over the world. This will make the business unique and help it be more appreciated in different markets and societies.
Qualifications of Personnel
The staff that will be involved in the business will come from different fields of studies and experiences so as to ensure the business succeeds as intended.
The main aim of the owners of the business will be the development of the website, its advertisement and popularization as well as its integration with the different online payment options for ease of sale and purchase. Hence, the staff will need to have a few web developers, marketing and advertisement personnel, sales people and administrators who will coordinate all the different groups for the common objective of achieving the organizational goals of the company (Albers, 2003).
In addition to that, the company will not have its own products but will approach different famous curio shops in Africa and request them to enroll onto the website for a small fee.
The website owners will generate revenue from the subscription fee as well as from getting commission for every product sold over the website. Further, the website will gain large amounts of revenue from advertisement fees for different curio shops and other businesses in the same sector such as the tours companies in Africa (Pfeiffer, 2009; Hiles, 2001).
Data Sources
There has already been a research carried out in a few African countries to determine the feasibility of the project. Its results have shown a great need for the proposed form of business. This is mainly so because most of the companies know the need for their online presence to be more competitive; however, they lack the required expertise and resources to establish and manage their own websites (Tebeaux, 2004; Eliott, Swartz & Herbane, 2002).
The establishment of such a website has hence been encouraged by the different shops approached. The owners of these shops have also stated that a centralized website where different shops advertised and sold their products was a better idea that attracted a large customer base than having a different website for each of the companies (Gurak & Lay, 2002).
Limitations and Contingencies
The main limitation of the e-business will be the hardship of coordinating the different shops and updating their products so as to ensure that buyers have updated information on what is actually available on stock. This will be tackled by a group of experts who will ensure that they have a direct contact with the involved shops so as to have the exact information on the stock available. Another challenge that arises as a result of this is the increase in the cost of communication.
Though this will be mainly sought through encouraging the use of emails as a way of communication, most of the Curio shops in Africa do not have an easy access to the Internet, that is why this will be hard to coordinate. Hence, the cost of communication will be high (Eliott, Swartz & Herbane, 2002).
Scope
The business will initially be limited to sale the products from different cultures around Africa and will not integrate other cultures at the start. However, with time, the business will consider integrating other cultures from the world, though selectively, so as not to water down the initial plan of the company.
The business will also mainly concentrate on African cultural wear including traditional regalia and the fashions that are an integration of African wear and technology. It will be also involved in sale of African jewels, ornaments, carvings and paintings among other cultural products. The company will not be involved in any sale of foods and drinks (Mascha, 2002).
Further, on the advertisement lane, the company will only take advertisements that are related to the industry such as the tours companies, flight companies, ferrying companies and online payment companies.
Proposed Plan
First, a website will be developed and integrated with an easy advertisement mode and online payment methods. Then, shops dealing with sale of cultural products in Africa will be approached and convinced on why they should subscribe and carry out their advertisements and sales on the website besides their physical sales. In addition, other companies in the field will be requested to carry out their business advertisements on the website.
Objectives and Methods
The e-business will aim at promoting, advertising and selling of African cultural products to the growing markets outside Africa. This will be carried out through establishment of a website which will be accessible to anyone who has the Internet access all over the world.
Timetable
Materials and Equipment
The only main requirements in terms of materials and equipments will be computers and access to the Internet as well as telephones for communication. Since all the members have all these facilities, then it will not be necessary to purchase any other equipment in the time being. Also, the business may be conducted from a home office, hence there will be no need for a commercial office in the meantime.
Personnel
Administrators will be involved in coordinating all the different groups involved on the side of the business. Sales and marketing personnel will deal with the advertisement of the website on different media including on other websites such as company ones, Google, Facebook and others, on newspapers and magazines as well as on blogs and any other viable mode of advertisement.
Web developers and IT specialists will be involved in development of the website as well as in updating information on the available products. They will also monitor the online advertisements and all the transactions carried out on the website.
Available Facilities
There are already a group of IT experts and marketing specialists willing to offer their services for free for the development of the website only for them to become part of the ownership of the business. Also, a number of Curio shops in Africa have promised to embrace the website as part of their business once it is fully developed (Hiles, 2001).
Needed Facilities
There will be a need to raise funds that will be involved in advertisement of the e-business, establishment of smoother communication ways as well as in the integration of online payment methods.
Expected Results
The business is expected to experience an easy time since the competition in this sector is not high and also since most of the Curio shops in Africa have not yet established their own websites.
There is, therefore, expected to be a rise in the number of shops carrying out their advertisements and sales on the website especially as these different shops try to increase their competitiveness against their counterparts. Further, there is expected to be a rise in traffic of internet users visiting the website due to the laid-down advertisement strategies, a factor that will increase the frequency of potential buyers visiting the website.
The e-business is bound to raise the targeted revenue from subscription fees, from commissions offered by the companies carrying sales on its website as well as through advertisements of different companies on the website.
Feasibility
A feasibility study carried out in Africa and online has provided positive results indicating that the e-business will pick up very fast and will also have a potential for expansion over time.
Cost and Budget
Conclusion
The establishment of an e-business in the form of an online Curio Shop in which different Curio Shops in Africa will get a base for advertisement and sale of their products over the Internet will be a milestone for most of these businesses, for buyers from all over the world and for the societies which appraise African cultures.
The business will go a great deal into ensuring that products from African cultures can be easily and cheaply purchased online while on the other side, providing a large variety of products. The website will further provide a base for advertisement by different companies in the same field.
Reference List
Albers, M. (2003). Content & Complexity: Information Design in Technical Communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bucchi, M. (1998). Science and the Media: Alternative Routes in Scientific Communication. London: Routledge.
Eliott, D., Swartz, E. & Herbane, B. (2002). Business Continuity Management: A Crisis Management Approach. London: Routredge.
Gurak, L. & Lay, M. (2002). Research in Technical Communication. Westport: Praeger.
Hdodd, C. (2011). Managing Business and Professional Communication. New York: Pearson.
Hiles, A. (2001). The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management. New York: Wiley.
Katz, J. (2008). Fully Matured but not Fully Legitimate: A Different Perspective on the State of Entrepreneurship Education. Journal of Small Business Management, 46, 41-53.
Markel, M. (2007). Technical Communication. London: Wiley.
Mascha, M. (2002). Cost Management Strategies for Business Decisions. Accounting Education, 17, 12-38.
Mirel, B. (2002). Reshaping Technical Communication: New Directions and Challenges in the 21st Century. Michigan: Michigan University Press.
Pfeiffer, W. (2009). Technical Communication: A Practical Approach. (7th ed.). London: Pearson.
Tebeaux, E. (2004). The Essentials of Technical Communication. New York: Wiley.