Background information
To increase the level of income, the entrepreneur settled at a decision to venture into business by establishing a small business entity. The firm will be established within the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. The business name of the firm will be Sidetrack Computer Tech and will be located in Mexico City, US. In deciding to venture into the industry, comprehensive market research was conducted to determine the viability of the venture. Findings of the market research revealed a high probability of the firm succeeding due to the lucrative nature of the industry. This results from the fact that organizations in different economic sectors in Mexico are incorporating computer technology to attain efficiency in their operation (Piatkowski, 2004, p. 1).
Sidetrack Computer Tech will deal with a variety of computer products such as merchandising in computers and computer accessories. To develop a competitive edge in the industry, the firm will specialize in the development of electronic commerce software specific to firms in different economic sectors. The software will be developed to enhance the process of the client’s firms incorporating electronic commerce concepts in their operation. The firm will also specialize in the provision of computer technology consultancy services. This means that the firm will operate as a good and service-oriented firm. Currently, Mexico has a single-digit growth rate within the software industry. However, the past few years have been characterized by an increment in demand for ERP amongst SMEs (Pedraaza, 2004, para. 9).
Vision statement
Sidetrack Computer Tech intends to become the leading supplier of computer technology for the distribution of computers, computer accessories, and the development of electronic commerce technologies. The firm also intends have expanded its electronic software development to all the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the US within five years from its inception.
Mission statement
In its operation, Sidetrack Computer Tech will be committed to ensuring that it delivers quality products and services to its customers. This will contribute towards the firm developing a strong customer experience. This will be achieved by translating the technologies that the firm develops (software) into value. As a result, the firm will be able to increase the level of customer satisfaction received. To attain this, value addition will be incorporated into the firm’s course of operation.
Business structure
Every business should integrate a structure that is legally recognized. This is because different business structures have got diverse legal implications such as the amount of tax charged on the specific business structure. Various business structures are legally recognized. These include partnership, corporation, and sole proprietorship (Australian Taxation Office, n.d, p.2).
Partnership form of business structure will be adopted the operation of Sidetrack Computer Technology. The decision to adopt a partnership form of business structure resulted from the realization of the numerous benefits associated with such a business structure. A partnership form of business is defined as a business entity that is operated by two or more parties. Sidetrack Computer Technologies will have two partners. The decision to adopt partnership form of business structure arose from the inexpensive characteristic associated with starting up a partnership type of business structure. This is because each partner contributes a significant proportion of finance to support the establishment of the firm.
Through this, part structure, Sidetrack Computer Technologies will be able to improve on its performance. For example, the firm will be able to conduct value addition more effectively. This is because there will be ease in the process of the firm securing external sources of finance thus enabling the firm to conduct product innovation more effectively.
In addition, there will be sharing of management and operational tasks amongst the partners. As a result, there will be a reduction in the amount of workload assigned to individual partners. This form of business structure will also contribute towards the firm attaining optimal performance since the partners will share business skills amongst themselves.
Management of the firm
Customer centric
To attain the vision formulated, a high level of efficiency and effectiveness will be integrated in the firms’ course of operation. One of the strategies that will be incorporated in the firm’s course of operation includes consumer centric. Customer centric refers to the process through which the entire firm’s operations are focused at meeting the customers’ requirements (IBM, n.d, p.4). By being customer centric, the firm will be able to address the customers’ computer product, accessories and electronic business software demands. This will be attained by motivating the employees to consider the customer as the most important asset in the success of the firm. By being customer centric, it will be possible for the firm to undertake product personalization and customization. Product customization will be attained by focusing at developing a product that meets the consumers’ specific needs. This will result into an increment in the credibility of the firm’s products amongst the individual and institutional customers. The ultimate effect is that there will be an increment in customer loyalty culminating into an increase in the firm’s level of profitability.
High credibility of the firm’s products will also be attained through incorporation of total quality management (TQM). Murray (2010, para.2) defines TQM as the process through which quality and performance are improved to meet the customers expectations. TQM will result into an increment in the customers trusting the firm’s products due to their high degree of operability and reliability. A comprehensive TQM program will be developed. In addition, strict adherence to the program will be ensured in the entire supply chain.
Team work
To attain effectiveness and efficiency in developing the electronic commerce software, the concept of teamwork will be integrated. This will be attained by incorporating a high level of collaboration amongst the firm’s employees. Teamwork is necessary in software development due to the high degree of complexity involved and hence the need to share the skills. According to previous studies, it has been established that team performance exceeds independent performance. Demirors and Sarmasik (2004, para. 1) asserts that attaining efficiency in a team is a challenging undertaking and demands a significant degree of commitment. To attain efficiency in the process of developing the software, a good relationship amongst the employees will be developed. This will contribute towards the concept of teamwork being successfully incorporated in the firm’s course of operation.
Reference
Demirors, E. & Sarmasik, G. (2004). The role of teamwork in software development: Microsoft case study. Izmir, Turkey: Budapest. Web.
IBM. (n.d). The customer centric store. New York: IBM Business Consulting Services.2010. Web.
Murray, M. (2010). Total quality management. About.com. Web.
Pedraaza, K. (2009). ICT to Mexico: trends and opportunities. Web.
Piatkowski, M. (2004). Potential of ICT for development and economic restructuring in the new EU member states. London: Tiger Incorporation. Web.