Overview
Larry Brownlow, a master’s degree student, resigned from his job with the view of acquiring more knowledge about his business idea. He wanted to invest in a beer distributorship business in Delaware. Therefore, he planned to apply for a distributorship opportunity at Coor, Inc.
However, he lacked enough information about the market, and had to engage a research company to help him make a feasibility study before he could put his money in the business. The study was meant to test the potential of Coor, Inc. to carry out the distributorship in two counties within the region.
He arrived at the conclusion to carry out the study due to his past experience with his family business. He had to carry out the study using $ 15, 000 before he could reach his 30th birthday in order to start operating the business immediately he would reach thirty.
He sought the assistance of Manson and Associates, who came up with a proposal from which he was supposed to choose the most appropriate research for his project. However, he found it very difficult choosing one since all of them seemed important.
Diagnostic
Several problems exist in this case. For example, Larry did not have enough time to study the research proposal in order to identify the most relevant study. Therefore, he had to leave everything for the research company. Secondly, he had limited time to make the decision.
Precisely, he was supposed to meet John Rome in two days for the purpose of giving him his choice. The main problem was the actual selection of the relevant study. The proposal had nine studies, and all of them looked important.
Some were needed immediately while others could be important to the business in the future. Larry found it very difficult to arrive at a particular study that would be more necessary compared to the other studies. Nevertheless, studying Coors market share estimates in the region is more important than other issues such as population estimates.
The reason for this situation is knowledge of the market share helps project the likely outcome of its involvement in Larry’s business. On the contrary, using population estimates may lead to wrong projections since not everybody in the population will drink beer. Some people do not drink while others drink only some brands of beer.
Analysis
The industry is very competitive. Consumers go for high quality and tasty beer. Therefore, each company works hard to produce the required standards of beer. The main competitors in the industry are Budweiser and Miller. Their strengths include their ability to consider all types of employees, especially through encouraging the activities of unions.
They also ensure that their beer is tasty and to the standards that customers prefer. However, their weakness is their inability to change with the needs of their customers. They do not know when their customers require improvements in their products. Many consumers, usually, buy their drinks in the evenings, after work, from pubs near them.
Some buy in small quantities for immediate consumption while others buy many bottles and cans for later consumption. The beer market can be segmented according to the quantity consumers buy and the amount of alcohol in the drinks. It has large scale and small scale sellers and consumers. Some of the consumers prefer drinks with little alcohol while others prefer those with more alcohol.
Success in this industry requires a keen assessment of consumer behavior in the region. Otherwise, sellers may end up incurring losses due to bringing products that consumers do not like to the market. I once, went to a cinema where people did not like the movie on display: everybody left the hall, leaving the owner to bear the loss.
Recommendations
- Larry should mainly study consumer behaviors and the potential of Coor, Inc. and forget about the other studies for the sake of being economical.
- He should also look for ways to outdo his competitors in the market.