Assessment 1- 222

Assessment 1

1. Introduction

Briefly discuss the organization and the purpose of the report.

The purpose of the report

To identify marketing opportunities and evaluate each opportunity for risks, strengths, weaknesses and alignment with organisational objectives. Reviewed the opportunities, select the best fitting opportunity for the organisation and develop marketing strategies, approaches and activities to take advantage of the opportunity.

History of Houzit

Houzit is a homewares stores in Brisbane that specialise in bathroom fittings, bedroomfittings, mirrors and decorative items. They currently have 15 stores spread across the greaterBrisbane area, with all stores being managed and coordinated from their head office in Milton.You have recently been appointed as the marketing manager and must now review the organisationand devise marketing strategies that will move Houzit towards its strategic goals.The CEO has also asked you to consider some marketing opportunities that may assist Houzit in reaching its goals, and provide him with brief summary evaluating two alternatives, including the benefits and risks associated with each option, and making a recommendation for the opportunity most likely to produce results

2. Organisational Overview

Discuss the Strategic Direction and Organisational Objectives of Houzit

Houzit has plan to be a national retail brand, catering to the needs of home makers with a range of unique, high quality homewares made accessible to all through our easy to manage payment plan. By 2020, Houzit will have a significant retail presence in homewares in every Australian capital city, starting with 15 stores in the greater Brisbane area and growing to 100 Australia wide. And Houzit still willing to increase sales from $15million per year to $20million per year in the next three years, increase our loyalty customers list from 10,000 to 15,000 and stablish brand recognition in Brisbane so that at least 1 in 3 people recognise our brand in a random survey taken in 18 months time.

Discuss Current size, Capabilities and Resources of the Organisation, including any notable strengths and weaknesses

Current size

50 years of operation so the company offering a wide range of home-ware items

The typical Houzit store has size – 1,000–1,500 m2.

Capabilities

The company can manage payment terms and supplies a three year guarantee on every item sold.

Resources of the Organisation

The typical Houzit store has employees 15–20 full time, plus several casuals

Strengths and weaknesses

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trengths and weaknesses

Strengths:

Excellent staff who are highly skilled and knowledgeable about homewares.

Great retail space that is bright, functional and efficient for a commercial urban district.

High customer loyalty among repeat customers.

Assortment of offerings that exceed competitors’ offerings in quality, range and accessibility.

Weaknesses:

A limited marketing budget to develop brand awareness due to the lack of critical mass and store cover.

The struggle to continually fund the growing long-term repayment plans taken out by our customers.

Discuss the Gaps between the objectives and the current capabilities and resources

3. Opportunities

Identify two marketing opportunities (choose from Joint Venture, Franchising, Strategic Alliances, Merger or Acquisition) which meet the objectives and evaluate the risks and benefits of each opportunity.

Joint Venture : A joint venture is a  where two or more parties, usually businesses, form a partnership to share markets, , assets, knowledge, and, of course, profits. A joint venture differs from a merger in the sense that there is no transfer of ownership in the deal.

This partnership can happen between goliaths in an industry. It can also occur between two small businesses that believe partnering will help them successfully fight their bigger competitors.

Companies with identical products and services can also join forces to penetrate markets they wouldn’t or couldn’t consider without investing tremendous resources. Furthermore, due to local regulations, some markets can only be penetrated  with a local business.

The risk

Because strategic alliances are built on trust and convergent goals, one of the main risks you can face may occur if the partners are from different cultures. They may not trust operating a certain “way” or have divergent goals. Even with similar strategic goals, two partners who lack trust in each other may lack the willingness to reciprocate.

Franchising : Franchising is a business relationship in which the franchisor (the owner of the business providing the product or service) assigns to independent people (the franchisees) the right to market and distribute the franchisor’s goods or service, and to use the business name for a fixed period of time. The International Franchise Association defines franchising as a “continuing relationship in which the franchisor provides a licensed privilege to do business, plus assistance in organising training, merchandising and management in return for a consideration from the franchisee”.It is also a Win-Win relationship where the franchisor is able to expand its market presence without eroding its own capital, and the franchisee gains through access to established business systems, at lower risk, for their own commercial advantage.

The risk

Not a fix for a failing business – franchising is not a solution to provide injections of capital from other people when a business is in difficulty. You should only go down the franchise route if you already have a successful business up and running.

Costs – franchising your business…

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