Nerd Patrol Business Plan Analysis

This assignment delves into the intricacies of establishing a successful IT services company named Nerd Patrol. It meticulously dissects various operational aspects, including human resource management, financial considerations, marketing strategies, and the impact of technological advancements on their operations. Furthermore, it analyzes the competitive landscape within the IT industry, highlighting potential threats and opportunities. The assignment concludes by outlining strategic recommendations for Nerd Patrol to overcome challenges and achieve sustainable growth in the market.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROJECT

Table of Contents
Introduction and brief description of the venture ...........................................................................1
Organisation of the business and key players .................................................................................1
Financials.........................................................................................................................................3
Marketing/Sales...............................................................................................................................6
Operations........................................................................................................................................7
Legal and sundry issues...................................................................................................................8
Major challenges............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

Introduction and brief description of the venture
Business venture should be initiated by properly planning things in accordance to the
market and proper market research, business must be operated in a better way. It then provides
desired outcome with ease. Nerd Patrol will be established in the Hong Kong market so as to
offer computer and related services to clients in effective manner. The business plan for the
proposed venture entails how organisation will effectively meet services of clients such as
hardware repairs, debugging software problems, dealing with networking problems and related
computer services for achieving customer satisfaction in effective manner.
The business will be providing computer services intending the need for professional,
customer-focused organisation emphasizing on quality of services to be delivered to them
(Lafuente, Vaillant and Vendrell-Herrero, 2017). In addition to this, company is on the brink of
penetrating the lucrative market as IT and computer industry is growing rapidly. Located at
Kowloon city in Hong Kong aspires to provide effective services to people so as to enhance their
computer work in the best way possible.
The marketing strategy will be followed on ensuring what demand of customers are to be
fulfilled and how it can be delivered to them at right place at right time. In addition to this,
market penetrating strategy would be implemented to take market share quite effectively. The
business aspires to expand within the span of three years so as to accomplish sales and revenue
in abundant manner. Moreover, expansion will be made to more regions of Hong Kong in order
to capture competitive edge over the market. Furthermore, it will then grab good amount of share
in the market (Luftman, Lyytinen and ben Zvi, 2017).
Organisation of the business and key players
Owner- Role and qualifications
The owner of Nerd Patrol are three friends who will be starting to launch business of
computer services to customers. John Robbins and Mary Singh are computer science majors
which have thorough knowledge of computers. On the other side, Nabil Quresh has completed
BBA and knows how to manage business. These three will get started organization in which
John and Mary will handle computer services department whereas Nabil will handle the
management in effective way. Thus, in accordance to their qualifications, roles will be met quite
effectually.
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Company legal structure
The legal structure of Nerd Patrol will be company limited by shares. This form of legal
structure has been chosen as large amount of operations can be handled in a better way.
Furthermore, expansion can be made in the future by having good quantum of investment in
hand of owners (McKenzie, 2017). One of the major benefit of choosing company is that
shareholders are liable only to pay up to the shares being subscribed by them and nothing more
than that. In other words, liability is limited to extent of shares purchased. Moreover, for further
expansion to regions of Hong Kong, Nerd Patrol could easily accomplish success and establish
its firm position in the market.
Management team – roles and qualifications
Management team will consist of Computer Manager, Business Administration Manager
which will directly correlate with owners so that operational activities are accomplished without
any difficulties. It can be analysed that Computer Manager should have postgraduate degree in
Computer Science. He should posses' communication skills to meet with clients, aid workers in
performing their assigned work in a better way. Moreover, computer programming, data
processing and system analysis are another skills to be possessed by him. While, Business
Administration Manager should posses MBA degree and having good experience in field. The
role will be to oversee administrative operations of organisation. Furthermore, to supervise day-
to-day business operations quite effectually.
Employees – roles and qualifications
The employees will be from core IT fields such as Software Engineer, Systems Analyst,
Business Analyst, Technical Support, Software Tester etc. All the employees will be hired on the
basis of graduation in computer science or IT fields (IT job roles and responsibilities explained.
2018). Software Engineer has the work for designing and programming software, embedded
system, debugging issues, edge over hardware and software etc. While, Systems Analyst has to
investigate business problems and accordingly designing feasible solutions to it. Business
Analyst has main role to improve upon processes and enhance business operations utilising IT.
Technical Support will be hired to implement troubleshooting and maintaining workplace
technology and responding to requests of users in effective manner. Software tester has role to
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remove bugs so as to enhance productivity of organisation. Thus, coding will be done and bugs
will then be removed.
Contractors/vendors– roles and qualifications
Contractor will also be employed in company in order to provide customers with
effective services. Computer repair technician will be done through contract which will handle
all hardware work and server issues. The main role of computer repair technician is to maintain
computer and servers which will be extended to new hardware configuration in premises,
updating software packages and strengthening network. No such qualification is necessary, just
good knowledge of computers.
Financials
Operating costs
Start-up expenses Amount (In $)
Legal fees 700
Website expenses 100
Business Cards 200
Insurance charges 200
Advertisement expenses 300
Total start-up expenses 1500
Start-up assets
Cash in hand 25000
Inventory 1300
Other current assets (CA) 9000
Total assets 35300
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Total requirements for start-
up 36800
Investment requirement
Planned investment requirements Amount
Capital 8000
Owner 8000
Furnishing facilities 1000
Purchase of inventory 2000
Meeting payroll 3000
Furniture and fixtures 5000
Total planned investment 27000
Anticipated revenue
Proforma cash flow projection for the first year of operation
Projected Cash flow statement of Nerd Patrol for 12 months
REVENUES
Janua
ry
Febr
uary
Marc
h April May June July
Augus
t
Septem
ber
Octobe
r
Nove
mber
Decemb
er
Sales 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000 26000 28000 30000 32000
Total revenue 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000 26000 28000 30000 32000
COSTS
Rent 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Payroll 3000 4000 5500 6500 7200 8000 8500 9000 10000 11000 12000 12800
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Materials 500 800 1200 1500 1800 2000 2200 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Advertising 1500 1600 1700 1650 1800 2000 2500 2800 3000 3300 3000 3000
Website charges 400 200 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1350 1200 1450
Bank charges 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
Tax 300 300 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Direct
expenditures 1000 2000 1500 2200 2600 2800 2900 3200 3300 3500 4000 4300
General and
Administrative
expenses 300 250 100 260 300 400 200 180 300 200 300 200
Telephone and
internet costs 200 300 200 400 350 450 500 300 250 190 450 400
TOTAL COST 8700 10950 12400 14810 16450 18150 19400 20680 22650 24540 26450 28150
NET CASH
FLOW 1300 1050 1600 1190 1550 1850 2600 3320 3350 3460 3550 3850
Opening
balance 1300 2350 3950 5140 6690 8540 11140 14460 17810 21270 24820
Ending balance 1300 2350 3950 5140 6690 8540 11140 14460 17810 21270 24820 28670
Payback point
Month Monthly cash inflows Cumulative cash inflows
January 1300 1300
February 1050 2350
March 1600 3950
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April 1190 5140
May 1550 6690
June 1850 8540
July 2600 11140
August 3320 14460
September 3350 17810
October 3460 21270
November 3550 24820
December 3850 28670
It can be analyzed that company will attain payback period between November and
December which falls between 11 and 12. This is the case of uneven cash flows and thus,
formula is implemented as under-
= 28670-24820
= 3850
Initial investment (planned) = 27000
= 27000/3850
= 7.01
Thus, 11.7 months will be taken to attain planned investment by Nerd Patrol.
Anticipated return on investment
Net cash flow for whole year comes to be 28670.
Return on Investment for present year can be computed by applying formula-
Net profit / Total investment * 100
= 28670 / 27000 * 100
= 1.01 %
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Hence, it can be said that company will be able to accomplish adequate return amounting
to 1.01 % in first year of operations. Thus, further it will achieve increased return on invested
capital in next two years.
Marketing/Sales
Summary of marketing/sales strategy
The marketing is required to be done by the business venture so that it may be able to
attain higher amount of sales with ease (Greasley, 2017). Since, business will be started and new
in the Kowloon market, it will implement social media marketing strategy which is the best
available option to organization to accomplish desired marketing to all people with a glance by
using social media channels like Twitter, Linked In, Instagram and Facebook. These will be used
and marketing activities will be attained in a better way.
Marketing/sales requirements
Price-
Price plays crucial role as it influences customers to either purchase product or not in
effective manner. In addition to this, Nerd Patrol has to attract good number of clients,
penetrating pricing will be followed. This pricing strategy will be adopted as business is a start-
up venture and in order to lure customers, lower prices would be applied which will easily
influence them. This will be fruitful for company as customer's base will be maximised. Then
after few years of operations, it can implement competitive pricing strategy. Hence, in initial
stage of business, penetrating pricing will be followed.
Product-
The product is also an important part of marketing mix of company. Diversified products
and services line will be followed such as hardware and software upgrades, hardware repairs,
debugging software problems and dealing with network issues (Van der Wagen and White,
2018). This range of products or services will be offered by Nerd Patrol in order to satisfy
customers in effective manner and thereby, attaining the highest amount of profits and gaining
good market share. Moreover, it will offer quality services by customers would become loyal to
it within short time span.
Promotion-
Promotion is one of the vital marketing mix particularly for new start-up like Nerd Patrol.
It can be analysed that social media marketing is the best option for effectively attaining
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marketing and promotion of company's services. Apart from it, other promotional tools such as
newspapers, TV advertisements will also be utilised for influencing customers towards the
services of Nerd Patrol with ease. Thus, promotion will be done of company and its services,
thereby, marketing tactics will be accomplished.
Place-
Place is essential requirement of company so that maximum number of customers may
visit and avail services with ease. The office will be located in Kowloon city of Hong Kong
which is a major city in it (Zhang, Zhang, Liu and Hu, 2017). This will provide business to
attract lot of clients and due to main city, faster services will be provided quite effectually.
Hence, place or location plays crucial role in marketing mix.
Competition
Competition is becoming fierce day-by-day and company has to implement well-crafted
strategies to stay ahead of rivalry. It can be assessed that computer services industry is highly
competitive and by implementing penetrating pricing strategy, Nerd Patrol can survive in the
market. Along with it, productive and highly efficient employees will aid in achieving desired
level of profits in the best way possible as overall performance of firm will be maximised.
Operations
Business Location
The location of the business will be in Kowloon city in Hong Kong which is the preferred
location due to large availability of facilities in big city. This will aid Nerd Patrol to provide
faster services within stipulated time and as a result, company may be able to accomplish stated
goals.
Business operations
The operations' management is termed as administration of organisation practices for
creating the highest level of efficiency in company. It means how business quickly convert raw
materials and labour into goods and services as fast as possible and maximise profit of company
in the best way manner (Rosca, Arnold and Bendul, 2017). It can be analysed that business will
be engaged in computer services where operations are essentially required not to convert
materials into services, but to stick around time and provide services thereof.
The hours of operations in the business will be between 9 am to 6 pm which will provide
productivity up to a major extent to company and as a result, it will easily meet demands of
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clients. By meeting demand within stipulated time, customer satisfaction will be attained with
ease. Operations are not only meant to attain efficiency and productivity, but it provides an
overview and insight about business's activities (What Are The Business Operations of a
Company?. 2018). It helps to assign roles and responsibilities of employees with the
management of risk, allocation and resources in a better way. This will help Nerd Patrol to stick
with budgets made and attain efficiency.
Operations are subject to change as business grows and expands in the future. It can be
analysed that when business expands, roles and responsibilities also tend to increase which have
to be carry out or perform by individuals in a team for better results. The specific procedure that
will be followed in organisation consists of receiving customers' query, then personnels will
analyse the same with regards to issues. Particular personnel will be allocated the work and by
applying his own skills, abilities, customer will be approached with solution. Hence, customer
satisfaction will be achieved by following such procedure. With regards special issues, technical
support personnel will be approached and desired solutions will be provided.
Legal and sundry issues
Legal and related issues
Liability-
The liability of company arises in order to provide effective workplace to employees so
that they may work with higher productivity. Apart from it, business will be taking borrowings
from outsiders which will provide them funds to be repaid within stipulated time. It is required
that such liabilities should be paid in order to avoid any legal issues.
Intellectual property-
Intellectual property implies copyrights, trademarks and patents which is used by
company in order to attain proper rights over its own business. This provides prevention from
any rivals trying to imitate products or services of company (Cooke and Huggins, 2017). By
incorporating intellectual property, business will be able to attain an edge over its rivals and as a
result, customers will be provided with distinct activities for maximising their level of
satisfaction. It includes rights such as trade secrets, moral rights, protection against unfair
competition in effective manner.
Structuring business-
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The structuring of business is essential need of Nerd Patrol as it requires legal structure to
be followed by company for carrying out uninterrupted operations. Company should offer shares
to investors by complying with the law as prescribed under Company Act so that legal
formalities may be carried out with ease. This will provide Nerd Patrol to follow procedures as
governed by law so as to attain legality.
Commercial law issues-
There are various issues that need to be analysed and outline solution over it. The firm
will be engaged in computer services sector where data protection, consumer policy have to be
followed which are of great concern. For data protection, firewall will be implemented so that
unauthorised access may be blocked (Jansen, 2017). Consumer policy needs to be addressed as
to protect people from faulty or inappropriate services is motto of company and will be able to
abide by policy. Thus, commercial law issues will be followed.
How legal issues will be handled?
The legal issues needs to be handled. For accomplishing this job, in-house attorney will
be recruited for easing of legal issues in a better way. In-house attorney is a person who works
for firm and give legal advice on matters and protects employer. He may advice company on
issues like contracts, property interests and provide government regulations and patents. Thus,
for handling issues such as commercial law, intellectual rights, structuring business and
liabilities, in-house attorney will help Nerd Patrol to carry out legal and sundry issues.
Major challenges
The major challenges facing the new venture as follows-
Creating value-
It is one of the major issue facing by current computer services company up to a high
extent. The departments of Nerd Patrol should be able to improvise services so that end users are
benefited. This will be achieved through outsourcing activities which are not priority to company
and as a result, it can outsource the same. In this, it can effectively focus on core activities
leading to value creation.
New technology-
Technology is changing day-by-day and is the biggest challenge being faced by industry.
The real challenge is as to which technology should be implemented in order to gain efficiency
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and reduce costs in a better way (Kelly, 2018). IT management should evaluate organisation
value and to determine what seems to good fit. Moreover, to address this issue, it is required that
in which industry, technology is to be implemented for attaining productivity and reduce
expenditures in a better way.
Cloud plans-
Computer service industry have yet to initiate cloud plans in the best way possible. This
means that advancement in cloud computing technology should be implemented which has
immense benefits to company so that it may be able to save data on cloud storage. Moreover,
data and applications in-house and everything related to that is managed by it. To enhance the
network, preparing company with cloud based plan is required. In-house servers and in-house
cloud is difficult to manage by IT professionals but have to follow the same for integrity.
Big data analytics-
One of the challenge in computer service industry is that big data analytics are
unstructured up to a high extent which needs to be undertaken in effective manner (Top 12
challenges facing IT professionals. 2018). Unstructured data are in the form of mails, blogs,
plain text, audio and video which is growing faster than structured data. However, it can be
analysed unstructured data is gaining more importance as many of the untapped things are
orderly attained by it. The massive growth of IT requires new approaches to big data analytics
namely capturing, storing and analysing data.
Virtualisation-
It means to expand from desktops to servers, routers and firewalls. It provides good level
of control among devices rather than saving money. The biggest issue is to develop larger
servers, emulation software will be required involving higher cost of licenses of desktops. Thus,
Nerd Patrol has to face these challenges and achieve success in the market.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cooke, P. and Huggins, R., 2018. High-technology clustering in Cambridge (UK). In The
institutions of local development(pp. 63-84). Routledge.
Greasley, A., 2017. Simulation modelling for business. Routledge.
Jansen, W., 2017. New business models for the knowledge economy. Routledge.
Kelly, T., 2018. The British computer industry: Crisis and development. Routledge.
Lafuente, E., Vaillant, Y. and Vendrell-Herrero, F., 2017. Territorial servitization: Exploring the
virtuous circle connecting knowledge-intensive services and new manufacturing
businesses. International Journal of Production Economics. 192. pp.19-28.
Luftman, J., Lyytinen, K. and ben Zvi, T., 2017. Enhancing the measurement of information
technology (IT) business alignment and its influence on company performance. Journal of
Information Technology. 32(1). pp.26-46.
McKenzie, D., 2017. Identifying and spurring high-growth entrepreneurship: Experimental
evidence from a business plan competition. American Economic Review. 107(8). pp.2278-
2307.
Rosca, E., Arnold, M. and Bendul, J. C., 2017. Business models for sustainable innovation–an
empirical analysis of frugal products and services. Journal of Cleaner Production.162.
pp.S133-S145.
Van der Wagen, L. and White, L., 2018. Event management: For tourism, cultural, business and
sporting events. Cengage AU.
Zhang, Y., Zhang, G., Liu, Y. and Hu, D., 2017. Research on services encapsulation and
virtualization access model of machine for cloud manufacturing. Journal of Intelligent
Manufacturing.28(5). pp.1109-1123.
ONLINE
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IT job roles and responsibilities explained. 2018 [Online] Available Through:
<https://targetpostgrad.com/subjects/computer-science-and-it/it-job-roles-and-responsibilities-
explained>
What Are The Business Operations of a Company?. 2018 [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.tenfold.com/what-is/what-are-the-business-operations-of-a-company/>
Top 12 challenges facing IT professionals. 2018 [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/content/articles/12-challenges-facing-it-
professionals/>
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