Consumer Confidence Index and Business Structure for Selling Cheap Mobile Phones

This article covers two coursework assignments for BM461 Global Business Environment. Coursework A discusses the consumer confidence index and its impact on the economy, while Coursework B focuses on the best business structure for selling cheap mobile phones. The article also covers the importance of understanding the market structure and competitors, as well as the role of HMRC in international business operations.

BM461 Global
Business Environment

Table of Contents
Coursework A).............................................................................................................................................3
Consumer confidence index....................................................................................................................3
Coursework B).............................................................................................................................................5
Email.......................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................7

Coursework A)
Consumer confidence index
Consumer confidence refers to the statistical measures that is feel by the customers
regarding the existing and future economic conditions of a country. Basically, it shows how
confident are the customers regarding the overall state of the economy. If consumer index is
high, it is consider good for the country. For this purpose, different bodies conduct a study of the
consumer confidence. In this context, GFK carried out the survey of consumer confidence in
order to measure the attitude of customers regarding forward expectations of the general
economic conditions and the financial position of the households in terms of purchase of
household products. It is analyzed that index was -14 % in November 2021 that was three points
up from -17 in October 2021 (House of commons Library, 2021) . During COVID-19, the overall
consumer confidence declined due to the deep economic recession. However, the post pandemic
the country started to grow hence the confidence of the customers also increased. The consumer
sentiment affected positively despite of high inflation, fear of high prices, and increasing in cost
of living in the country.
In November 2021, the economic condition improved over the past year. However, the
customers have optimistic attitude on personal finances. It is crucial as it is related with saving
and show the strong position of the overall economy of the country. Additionally, there is also
rise the virtual and retail sales which is the indication that the customers are ready to purchase
post pandemic. Due to the pandemic the family gatherings were restricted during the past year.
But the upcoming festival season will enhance the sales of the companies. However, the
consumers are the well-known with the fact that in 2022, it will be a touch year when the
festivals will over. During November 2017, the major purchase index was up by 7 points
comparatively to the previous months (GFK, 2021).
In retail industry, the sale of the overall industry was declined by 2.5% between june and
july 2021. However, it was 5.2% up to the three months to july comparatively to the previous
three months. The sale of food stores enhanced in 2021 due to start of the football
championship. Hence, the consumer are investing in the retail segment as their overall
confidence is increasing significantly. It is a good symbol for the retail giants of UK such as

TESCO, Sainsbury and Morrisons. The retail industry will grow in future period of time (Office
for national statistics, 2021).
Fashion industry of UK recorded 20% decline in sale in 2019-20. During pandemic, the
performance of the fashion brands declined due to decrease in the purchasing power of the
consumers. In 2020, 69 % companies of fashion industry of UK were value destroyers
(Mckinsey, 2021). Also, customers are likely to avoid to invest in the fashion brands rather they
prefer to invest the amount in order to meet with basic needs. Therefore, the well-known fashion
brands such as Marks & Spencers, Burberry and more will affect with the negative approach of
the customers. It restricts the future growth opportunity of fashion industry.
Personal finance index has dropped 2 points to -7 which is 9 points better than November
2020. Here, the forecast regarding personal finance has also increased from 1 point to + 2 points
for the upcoming 12 months (GFK, 2021). This enhancement is creating favorable condition for
the financial institutions as now, people have positive attitude towards saving. They are likely to
invest in fixed deposit, mutual funds and more which is enhancing opportunities of growth of
baking and finance industries. It will prove favorable for banking companies such as HSBC,
Barclays and Standard charted bank and more.
The measure of general financial condition of UK has improved in last one year due to
recovery of economy. It is six points better at -40 which is 27 points higher than in November
2020. Therefore, the overall consumer confidence index was affected by the COVID-19. In the
recent time, the overall confidence of the customers increased in the economy which is a positive
aspect for future growth. However, there are certain industries such as retail, food, personal
saving which has potential of growth in future. But, the consumers are not likely to invest in
fashion and other such luxury products which will affect the growth potential of the respective
industry.

Coursework B)
Email
To
CC:
Dear Friend,
Due to Covid pandemic there has been a major impact on people’s earning and the various
sources through which they can rely in order to be financial independent. The idea to import
cheap mobile phones from Taiwan or countries such as China and selling them to other rural
investors sounds great but there are few things which need to kept in mind. While starting a
new business , the first step always involves choosing the right business structure and
whether the business structure would be suitable for the business as there are various
structures which are available to the new business owners which involves operating and
partnership in order to form a corporation but each business structure has it own tax and
legal ramifications. The business objective plays a important role in determining the best
structure to choose from. There are various business structures such as partnerships, sole
proprietorships, corporations and other limited liability companies( Donette Lowe, 2019)
The structure selected has its own pros and cons which are in terms of taxation, raising
capital and continuity. The chosen structure has it own legal ramifications on the company’s
owner regarding personal asset protection. In terms of sole proprietorship there are various
pros such as easy and least expensive plus it provides the freedom to take all decisions and
control over all business operations but it might include some cons such as unlimited
liability, limitation in raising funds, and no separate legal status (Marco Carbajo, 2019). In
case of partnership, it is easy to establish and involves complementary skills but there might
be chance of dispute and decision making is the main concern. In case of corporation there is
limited liability and its easier to raise the capital through sale of stocks but it involves cons
such as double taxes, more administrative duties and payment of corporate taxes. In case of
selling cheap mobile to other countries the best suited form will be partnership as it will
involve sharing of capital because mobile and such devices involves large capital and it
tough for a single person to work in a international market alone. In order to measure and

track the competitive intensity of a mart it is very important to have sufficient information
about the decision making of policy makers and competition authorities which can help in
understanding the various possible actions such as impose restrictions on firm behaviour,
removing barriers and competitors strategy. In particular scenario, the competition
authorities measure competition in mainly three reasons which involves application of laws
in market affected by potential abuse of dominance and the second is assess whether pro
competitive intervention is need to enforce and third is assess ex-post effectiveness of
competition policy of an authority. In order to run a business it is important to evaluate the
bargaining power of buyers and sellers in order to carry out business operations ( Beatriz
Estay, 2020)
In addition to that it is important to have a proper knowledge and deep understanding
of all the competitors and their business strategies before starting your business plans.
Afterwards it is important that a proper knowledge of market and its structure need to be
taken into consideration and understanding the market structure of other country and its
customers to carry out the objectives( Masha Makshimawa, 2020). Because of selling
cheap products from one country to another there is an important factor which is HMRC
which is known as Majesty’s Revenue and Customs which is basically a tax authority of
the U.K government which is basically involved in collection of taxes, enforcing taxes,
customs laws, paying child benefits and enforcing the payment of minimum wages by
employers. While carrying out business operation in other countries its really important
that your business fulfil its HMRC import duties and regularly pay its custom taxes in
order to be safeguarded from government interference. In addition to that it is important
to have a deep knowledge of rural investors to whom the mobile phones are been sold.
Moreover it is important to analyse the business market and to start the business there
should be a proper planning which involves ideas and innovations in reference to the best
choice available. With this there should be a deeper knowledge of mobile phones and
understanding of the market are of both china and Taiwan and where availability of
cheaper phones which can be useful in carrying out business operations in order to sell
them to the investors. All these criteria need to be taken into consideration in order to buy
and sell cheap mobile phones to rural investors in order for them to achieve their
business objectives and grow their business operations.

References
House of commons Library, 2021. Business and consumer confidence: key economic indicators.
[Online] Available through:<
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn02817/>
GFK, 2021. UK Consumer Confidence creeps up in November despite high inflation [Online]
Available through:< https://www.gfk.com/en-gb/press/UK-Consumer-Confidence-creeps-up-in-
November-despite-soaring-inflation/.
Office for national statistics, 2021. Retail industry. [Online] Available through:<
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/>
Mckinsey 2021. State of Fashion 2022: An Uneven recovery and new frontiers. [Online]
Available through:< https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion/>
Donette Lowe, 2019. Pros and Cons of Different Business Types. [Online] Available
through< https://www.mosourcelink.com/blog/post/blog/2019/06/25/pros-and-cons-of-each-
business-type
Marco Carbajo, 2019. Which Business Entity Structure Is Best for You. [Online] Available
through < https://www.thebalancesmb.com/which-business-entity-structure-is-right-for-you-
4103542>
Beatriz Estay, 2020. How to Know What Makes You Different in a Crowded Ecommerce Market
[Online] Available through < https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/how-perform-competitive-analysis/
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Masha Makshimawa, 2020. How to Perform a Best-in-Class Competitor Analysis [Online]
Available through < https://buffer.com/library/competitor-analysis/>