Introduction
In any business, the initial stages of planning and development play a significant role in determining its overall performance both in the short run and the long run. It is important for the responsible parties to put the necessary effort in terms of human resources as well as financial resources in order to achieve maximum results.
Marketing is a very essential tool in a business organization as it enhances sales and thus productivity and profitability (Business Resource Software Inc 2011). This report will look at Professional Hair care Company and how establishment of a marketing plan and a website would help it.
The project stakeholders will include the organization owner, Lutfi El-Hila, the operations manager Zahra El-Hila and the project supervisor Leon. The physical location and contact details for the head office are; 133 Whitehorse Road, Blackburn, (03) 9877 3333.
Project Description
This project entails creation of a marketing plan and website for Professional Hair Care Company in an effort to enhance business practices around Victoria. In every organization, the main target is to maximize the level of sales. Marketing is one of the main strategies through which a business organization can manage to win its potential customers. For this reason, marketing process is very significant bearing in mind the current situation where the market is characterized by a very high level of competition.
One of the marketing tools that can be feasible to Professional Hair care Company is advertisement. It is a tool that is lacking in the organization. Advertisement as a method of promotion is associated with a number of advantages. For instance, it is effective in reaching a wide range of audience (Trehan and Trehan 2009).
This is more so when advertising is conducted through a media which reaches a large number of people. The method will reach greater number of people compared to other methods like the sales promotion. Therefore, this method will not only reach the people from around Victoria, but also other people from outside the region. This will significantly help in improving the level of sales.
However, this type of advertisement suffers from the fact that it is impersonal and therefore it becomes impossible to answer the customer’s questions (Lamb 2009). By using this method in promotion, the Company will be limited in interacting with the customers effectively. For instance, the company sometimes needs to learn more about the customers’ tastes and preferences. In this method, it becomes difficult to pick views from the potential customers. Other marketing methods will thus be incorporated.
Creation of an effective website will also save the company from the situation. This is because the organization’s website will play a significant role in marketing the organization. The website will be designed in such a way that it can attract the eyes of the viewers and make them curious of what is offered in Professional Hair care Company. The website will also include an option where the customers can order online.
This will significantly help in reducing shortages. The website will concentrate on the strengths of the business organization such as being the biggest independent suppliers of hair products in Victoria and being well established having been in the industry for over 30 years, its relatively low pricing system, having qualified staff and more so, have strong links with well renown international distributors for instance Salon Hair supplies in Findon -South Australia, Adelaide, Queensland.
In a nutshell this project aims at enhancing the business activities of Professional Hair care Company in Victoria as well as in other parts of the world. Having had a competitive advantage due to its strong foundation and pool of clients it has been able to attract over the years, there is need to expand its territories with an aim of maximizing profits which is usually a desire for any business organization.
The Professional Hair care Company has a business opportunity that is worth exploitation. This includes a large pool of clients in the north eastern areas where this particular business field is not well established and hence high chances of excelling in its practices in this region. Hair dressing schools also offer a great opportunity to Professional Hair care Company since it is a prime supply of various equipment and appliances.
The desired impact is to achieve maximum market penetration possible. This will be through utilization of effective strategies and for this case, marketing has been considered crucial. Through establishment of an efficient and effective website as stated earlier, Professional Hair care Company will be able to reach as many clients as possible through internet saturation. This is because the internet is widely used by people around the country irrespective of age or location and hence it will in one way or the other increase sales.
Project Scope
This project will be comprehensive and exhaustive enough in order to bring about a long term solution to the problems experienced in Professional Hair care Company. Based on the situation of the company as described above, different strategies will be employed in an effort to allow for overall success of the business practices.
All the parties that ought to be reached will be evaluated for instance the hairdressing schools and new market in the north eastern areas. Some of the deliverables in this project will include a clearly written report that could be used as a reference in future for instance in case of recommendations given, an effective website that give all relevant information about Professional Hair care Company aimed at attracting as many clients as possible.
A marketing plan will also be a project result item. Other intangible results that are aimed at by this project include increased sales and profitability as well as placing the company at a competitive advantage to acquire better market share in the competitive business world.
Project Schedule
Just like any other project, the project of discussion has to follow a certain schedule in order to achieve the desired results at the desired time. The entire project will take three months starting October 1st 2011 to 3oth December 2011. The project will therefore take approximately 720 hours excluding the weekends.
The project will not be done at once but rather in phases. This will include doing some research in regard to the situation of the market, laying out the strategies to be implemented, implementing the strategies and finally gauging or measuring the results so as to make the necessary adjustments. The project will require various resources including human capital and finances (Randall 2000).
Quality Issues
Quality is a very essential aspect in every project irrespective of its size. Since this is a new project in the organization, it requires some changes to be effected. The management should for example ensure that all the resource required to facilitate the project are made available.
There could also be some changes in the course of implementing the project for instance where there could be a necessity in addition of finances to cater for some activities for instance travelling to probe information from different customers or even placing advertisements in different media (Chandra 2005).
Quality should be maintained throughout the project to allow for efficiency and effectiveness during the implementation stage. The website to be established should for example follow all the required protocols to allow for easy access and navigation.
Resources Required
The project requires some resources from the planning stage all through to the implementation stage. The very crucial resource is the workforce since they manipulate all other resources to obtain the desired output. Another resource needed is technology for instance availability of computers and internet accessibility to carry out research and establish the website. Finances are also required to keep all processes of the project working.
Assumptions and Risks
In carrying out this project, we will assume that the results will be positive and that it will enhance sales. Some of the risks that may be faced include technological risks for instance those related to hacking and cracking where the website could be used for malicious gains by intruders. To deal with this risk, there should be strategic IT security measures to ensure that the company’s strategic information is not used by intruders in a negative manner an aspect that would render the website useless and also put the Company into danger (Fischer-Hubner 2001).
Reference List
Business Resource Software, Inc 2011. Marketing Plan. [Online] Available at: <http//www.businessplans.org/market.html>
Chandra, 2005. Fundamentals of Financial Management. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Fischer-Hubner, S. 2001. IT-Security and Privacy: Design and Use of Privacy-Enhancing Security Mechanisms. New York, Springer
Lamb, C., 2009. Marketing. Canada, Cengage Learning.
Randall, G. 2000. Branding: A Practical Guide to Planning Your Strategy. UK, Kogan Page Publishers.
Trehan, M. and Trehan, R., 2009. Advertising and Sales Management. New Delhi, FK Publications