Challenges Faced by Stone Point Ltd. during COVID-19 Pandemic

This report discusses the challenges faced by Stone Point Ltd. in conducting their business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes an analysis of the issues and provides recommendations for overcoming them.

Business
in
practice
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Description of company and its operations............................................................................3
Issues through which company is dealing currently...............................................................4
Analysis of issues by which company is dealing...................................................................5
Recommendations for overcoming issues by using appropriate frameworks........................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Business is consider as activities of developing one's living or creating money by
manufacturing or purchasing and selling products that can be goods or services. In other word it
is considered as any activity or enterprise that entered in the market for attaining profit and
market shares (Bican and Brem, 2020). There are different types of businesses i.e. sole
proprietorship, Limited Liability Company, corporations as well as general partnership. The
organization selected for respective report is Stone Point Ltd which is located in Hitchin, United
Kingdom and they are operating in construction as well as refurbishment project over the United
Kingdom. Their project team deliver huge range of practices or works from the small fit outs to
the new builds. Respective company business highly impacted due to COVID 19 pandemic. The
respective report is based on determining the current challenges experienced by respective
company while conducting their business operations and functions. In addition to this, report will
also include analysis of business challenges or issues along with recommendations by which
issues can be resolve effectively.
MAIN BODY
Description of company and its operations
Stone point Ltd is mainly specialised in refurbishment and construction projects which is
done across the United Kingdom level. This firm was founded in 2003 as well as in 2009
company board of director accept a buyout proposal as well as acquisition from the new
management team. From that time respective company is delivering huge range of construction
project in several industry. The respective company project teams deliver a huge range of work
in which they turn small fit outs into the new builds. They are operating in respective industry
from more than fifteen years as well as they are delivering excellence services to the local
government’s clients as well as blue chip companies (Bocken and Geradts, 2020). The clients of
respective company are mainly from educational, retail, commercial, financial, residential as
well as medical sector. Respective frim have huge and high quality skill set they able to deliver a
flexible, catering, turn key solution as well as they also take those projects which are reluctant by
other firm in same industry. This will help them in attracting more and more clients and earn
huge profitability as well as market shares. The respective company is experienced several issues
due to COVID 19 situation as they not; able to conduct their work in regular as well as effective
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manner. In addition to this, respective pandemic also impact on the Stone Point Ltd profitability
as well as market shares negatively.
Issues through which company is dealing currently
Stone point Ltd. is conducting their business at the United Kingdom level and during
COVID 19 pandemic they experienced numbers of issues as they not able to operate in effective
as well as appropriate way. It is essential for respective company manager to understand these
issues as well as develop strategies and plans in effective manner for overcoming these issues
successfully. Below some of the major challenges or issues are mentioned which are experienced
by Stone point Ltd. in current time at the potential marketplace:-
 Operating online is not easy – Around the world there are numbers of companies who
experienced issues in operating at the online medium as they not able to deliver proper as
well as effective services (Ebner, 2020). This will also impact on the profitability as well
as market share of a company as they not able to work properly. In respect of Stone point
Ltd. they are conducting business operations in construction and refurbishment industry
and due to COVID 19 Company not able to accomplish their project. This will affect the
company market image as their client not able to get work done on time. Moreover it is
also not easy for company to conduct respective industry work properly as well as
effectively. In addition to this, another reason of not operating online is easy for
respective is that their client are also experiencing issues. The main clients of respective
company are banking or finance sector, retail sector and education sector which also
experiencing operational issues during COVID 19.
 Retaining and engaging employees – During the situation of COVID 19 every company
sales get reduced at the worldwide or national level as well as due to which company
experiencing loss. This will leads to situation where numbers of companies need to fire
their employees as they not able to give salary to all staffs as well as there are several
company which half the pay of staffs. In respect of Stone point Ltd., they are conducting
their work in construction and refurbishment industry and during COVID 19 there is
highly decrease in profitability ratio and market shares. It is so because their client are
also facing issues in operations (Galvão and et.al., 2020). Due to which company not able
to provide proper pay to staffs that leads to turnover situation as employees are not get
proper pay according to work or hard work.
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 Increase in cost – This is one of the main challenge which is experienced by every
company due to COVID 19 situation. It is so because in order to adopt different
preventive measures companies need to conduct several practices such as providing PPE
(Personal protective equipment) kits to employees so that they can avoid contacting with
employees (GUNESCH, 2020). In addition to this company also need to conduct proper
sanitization of working areas so that it can get disinfected from COVID 19. In context of
respective company they are conducting their business in construction and refurbishment
industry and in order to operate at office line they need to follow several guidelines
developed by government. So it is necessary for them to follow different preventive
actions which are developed by government such as provide PPE kit to staffs, do regular
sanitization of store, ensure availability of sanitizer and so on. These all practices directly
or indirectly leads to increasing in budget of company.
These are some of the main issues which are experienced by Stone Point Ltd during the
COVID 19 situation and it is essential for them to overcome from it effectively. So that they can
operate properly as well as effectively.
Analysis of issues by which company is dealing
There are numbers of issues and problems faced by Stone Point Ltd. due to COVID 19
pandemic and it leads to have major impact on performance of business. From the above
determined issues it has been analysed that respective company is facing issues in operating
because their main clients are retail industry, educational industry and finance industry.
Moreover these all sectors get impacted due to the COVID 19 pandemic as they need to operate
through online medium this will directly impact on the Store point Ltd. As they are conducting
work in construction as well as refurbishments sector (Lindgreen and Di Benedetto, 2020).
Respective company try to operate their operations through online medium but they are not
getting success like before. In addition to this, there are numbers of guild lines, rules and
regulations which company need to follow that directly or indirectly impact on the company
operations. Moreover, due to respective pandemic Store point Ltd. not able to get proper
manpower for construction or refurbishment work that also leads to delay in the accomplishment
of project. This will also leads to decrease in the company goodwill and market shares in the
potential marketplace.
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Recommendations for overcoming issues by using appropriate frameworks
By the above analysis which is based on the case of Stone point Ltd., it can be determine
that during COVID 19 company goes through numbers of issues which directly effect on their
business operations and functions. So, it is essential for them to overcome these issues in order to
enhance their business in the potential marketplace successfully. In respect of this, respective
company conduct SWOT analysis as through that they able to determine their market position
along with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats during the time of COVID. Below
SWOT analysis of Stone point Ltd. is mentioned:- Strength – This show the capabilities of a company which help them in dealing with the
situation occur at the workplace. In respect of Stone Point Ltd. they are conducting their
work in construction and refurbishment industry as well as they have contacts from
numbers of industries (Rodríguez-López and Souto, 2020). This include industries like
finance, retail, education, medical, residential and many more. Moreover respective
company have wide range of skills, capable as well as knowledgeable employees who
accomplish project in best way. So this is their strengths which help respective firm in
conducting business in proper manner every in the effective manner.
 Weaknesses – In this an organization able to understand their weaknesses and
accordingly they develop strategies and plans for overcome it effectively. By overcoming
weakness company able to enhance their capabilities which leads to accomplishment of
work properly. In respect of respective company they are conducting work in
construction and refurbishment industry and during COVID 19 they are not able to
conduct their work properly. This is so because they need to operate online as well as
while working like this staff not feel motivated as well as encouraged. It is also weakness
that employees not able to visit the project sites on which they need to work on for
construction or refurbishment. Opportunities – It is determined as chance which help a company in enhancing their
business in every situation. It is necessary for the companies to find the best opportunities
and work hard to grab it successfully (Smith and et.al., 2020). In context of Stone point
Ltd. they have numbers of opportunities to start their working such as they ensure that all
their team members will be safe during pandemic as they are following all rules and
regulation of government. Moreover they must also have opportunity to invest in some
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other sector in which online operation can be easily as that will help them in making
business financially strong.
 Threats – It is one of the main factor which need to consider while develop decision or
plan. Threat mainly impact the business negatively as well as this may also leads to
decrease in profitability as well as market shares at the potential marketplace. In respect
of Stone Point Ltd. they are operating in construction and refurbishment sector at which
there are number of company is operation that is threat for firm (Thompson and et.al.,
2020). On the other hand, respective company also experienced threat related to their
operations as they are not able to operate effectively due to pandemic.
By conducting evaluation through SWOT analysis framework it can be identify that there
are some of the main recommendation for the Stone point Ltd. that will help them in conducting
their business effectively in pandemic of COVID 19. Stone point Ltd. must ensure that they are
following all rules and regulation related to pandemic as well as they may also start taking
project from different industry (Weking and et.al., 2020). It is so because they have time to do
their work effectively at location when there is no one is operating. Along with this they must
also motivate employees so that they get encouraged to visit office and other location for
conducting work.
CONCLUSION
Through conducting evaluation of above mentioned topic it can be determined or
summarised that for every company it is essential to conduct market evaluation in effective
manner because through that they can determine challenges which they are experiencing. In
addition to this, market as well as business evaluation also help in developing strategies or plans
by which issues of firm can be resolve successfully. In current time, almost each and every
industry experience issues or challenges due to COVID 19 as due to that firm not able to conduct
their business operation and functions in effective manner. In this situation one of the most
affected sector is construction and refurbishment industry because they are not able to operate
properly. Although company started conducting work online but they not able to get the track
line like past. Due to which their sales as well as profitability get decreased and it also leads to
other challenges such as employee’s turnover, customer’s satisfaction and many more.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bican, P. M. and Brem, A., 2020. Digital Business Model, Digital Transformation, Digital
Entrepreneurship: Is There A Sustainable “Digital”?. Sustainability. 12(13). p.5239.
Bocken, N. M. and Geradts, T. H., 2020. Barriers and drivers to sustainable business model
innovation: Organization design and dynamic capabilities. Long Range Planning. 53(4).
p.101950.
Ebner, N., 2020. Examining—and Expanding—the Practice Scope of Cross‐Cultural Negotiation
in International Business. Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation. 38(1). pp.1-8.
Galvão, G. D. A. and et.al., 2020. Towards a value stream perspective of circular business
models. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 162. p.105060.
GUNESCH, C. K., 2020. CHAPTER SEVEN CULTURAL SLOWNESS IN TRAVEL
PHILOSOPHY AND BUSINESS PRACTICE FOR PLANETARY
SUSTAINABILITY: SLOW TOURISM FOR ECONOMIC, SOCIAL. Transnational
Interconnections of Nature Studies and the Environmental Humanities. p.129.
Lindgreen, A. and Di Benedetto, C. A., 2020. How to become a top business-to-business
marketing scholar.
Rodríguez-López, Á. and Souto, J. E., 2020. Empowering entrepreneurial capacity: training,
innovation and business ethics. Eurasian Business Review. 10(1). pp.23-43.
Smith, T. and et.al., 2020. Biodiversity means business: Reframing global biodiversity goals for
the private sector. Conservation Letters. 13(1). p.e12690.
Thompson, C. L. and et.al., 2020. The development of emotional intelligence, self‐efficacy, and
locus of control in Master of Business Administration students. Human Resource
Development Quarterly. 31(1). pp.113-131.
Weking, J. and et.al., 2020. Leveraging industry 4.0–A business model pattern
()framework. International Journal of Production Economics. 225. p.107588.
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