Launching a New Venture: Market Analysis, Resources, and Promotional Activities

This report discusses the process of launching a new venture called FitEat, which offers healthier eating options. It includes a market analysis, detailing the target market and competitive analysis. It also discusses the tangible and intangible resources required for the venture and proposes a plan for its launch. Additionally, it assesses the skills and capabilities required for the venture and outlines promotional activities and channels. The report concludes with a cash budget and the selection of a legal form for the venture.

LAUNCHING A NEW
VENTURE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Detailing of the new venture its market and competitive analysis.........................................3
P2 Tangible and intangible resources required............................................................................3
P3 Proposal to launch the venture...............................................................................................4
M1 Competitive Analysis............................................................................................................5
M2 SWOT and risk analysis........................................................................................................5
D1 Critical Analysis....................................................................................................................6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P4 Assessment of the skills and capabilities required.................................................................6
M3 Acquiring of the skills...........................................................................................................7
D2 Timescale required for the development of the skills............................................................7
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Promotional activities and channels.......................................................................................8
P6 Promotional plan for launch and pre- launch.........................................................................9
M4 Evaluation of promotional plan...........................................................................................10
D3 Justification..........................................................................................................................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P7 Developing a cash budget.....................................................................................................10
P8 Legal form of venture and the reason for its selection.........................................................11
M5 Justification of cash budget.................................................................................................12
D4 Anticipated outcomes..........................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
New venture is a new entrepreneurial idea that is mainly based on innovation and caters to
some unmet or unique needs of the targeted customers’ base. Launching a new venture is a long
process involving a series of steps to be taken and analysis to be done (Mullins, 2017). The
current report will analyse the target market and competitive market of the new venture FitEat.
Further the report will analyse the skills that are required to start a new venture and the
proportional activities that need to be undertaken will also be evaluated. The prospective cash
budgets and cash flow forecasts will be prepared for FitEat and lastly the best legal form or
structure that FitEat can adopt will be identified.
MAIN BODY
LO 1
P1 Detailing of the new venture its market and competitive analysis
FitEat is the new venture that has been planned and the venture will basically offer a non-
exhaustive list of healthier eating options without compromising much on the taste aspect. The
venture will offer both eatables such as diet biscuits, diet ready to make food items, diet
chocolates etc. and at the same time cover a range of healthy drinks that are as good as or even
better than the brands that sell chemical based drinks. The venture will be mainly based in UK
and will operate through offline stores as well as online and digital platforms. The venture
basically operates with the aim of increasing the preference and inclination towards a healthier
lifestyle by providing options or alternatives that are much healthier and does not compromise
much on taste as well. This idea has been selected as a venture option because right now there
are a very few companies that are selling both diet food as well as healthy drinks.
The target market of the venture would be based on behavioural and psychographic basis
where the customers who have a tendency to behave in a healthy manner and live as much
healthily as possible (Zane and DeCarolis, 2016). Additionally the psychographic basis will be
used to beat the thinking that healthier products are more costly by reasonable price and easier
access of all the products that will be made available for the larger public in general.
P2 Tangible and intangible resources required
The major tangible resources that will be required by the FitEat venture in order to operate
successfully are the technological equipments, information technology i.e. relevant software for
better management, premises and facilities, tools and equipments etc. (Frederiksen and Brem,
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2017). Additionally various other tools for assistance such as utensils and cutlery that is
necessary, the stationary and communication equipments etc. are also necessary. Apart from this
there are various intangible resources as well such as the natural, financial and human resources
that the venture will require necessarily. The financial amount that the FitEat venture is likely to
require will be approximately £ 170000 in order to begin the business successfully. Additionally
the staff at the time of opening would only comprise of 15 people and will eventually be
increased and replaced as well as the venture proceeds further. The employees will be given
regular trainings as well and for that purpose the expenses incurred will be included in the
operational costs. Further FitEat will also require the marketing tools and resources such as
digital marketing, getting articles and advertisements published etc and all these will also require
resources (Coleman, 2016). Therefore collectively, these are the main tangible and intangible
resources that will be required by FitEat.
P3 Proposal to launch the venture
The proposal for the venture can be developed in the manner where the funds can be
generated based on the unique idea of the venture and the profitability that it will hold. FitEat can
use different sources such as venture capitalists; loans etc. and the innovation and uniqueness
which are the key aspects must be maintained and targeted. The proposal to launch the venture
can be based only on the market research and the risk factors that have been identified. The
FitEat is a new venture with the great advantage of being a relatively new entrant that is serving
both the health drinks and the diet foods together and the prices as well as the rates of the
products will not be kept too high.
The resources that will be required are some machineries that are necessary for producing
fresh food and juices, equipments to store and display the items, the land i.e. a physical location
at which the store can be set up, necessary raw materials, the human resources for the running of
the store etc. Additionally the owner will also require the website developer and a software
engineer so that online activities can be regularly maintained.
The skills required would include entrepreneurial skills such as communication, good
decision making etc. and the necessary skills such financial management skills, ICT skills etc.
The budget that has been identified for the launch of the brand is at £ 1500.
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The contingency planning can be done for the FitEat venture where if the plan of opening a
combined store that gives both healthy food and drinks does not become a success then the store
can easily venture solely into the healthy food industry which has a huge growth potential.
M1 Competitive Analysis
The competitive analysis for the venture can be best evaluated by the implementation of
the Porter’s Five Force model of competitive analysis:
 Existing rivalry (Low): Currently there are many companies that are offering the similar
products in the market where they either sell dietary or healthy food or they sell healthy
drinks. There are however very few companies that are dealing in both i.e. food products
as well as drinks. Therefore the competition is comparatively lower.
 Threat of new entrants (Low): The industry is very easy to penetrate with not very
significant barriers but it is difficult to develop contacts and establishing the venture
successfully in this market. Hence the impact of this competitive environment can be
termed as low for the FitEat venture.
 Threat of substitutes (High): The threat of substitutes is extremely high for the venture
because it is very easy to replace food items and drinks that FitEat is giving with other
healthy or unhealthy items (Martin and Javalgi, 2016). The venture therefore needs to be
aware of such substitute products and their consumption.
 Bargaining power of buyers (Medium): The bargaining power of buyers is
comparatively at a medium position because there are not many brands who are selling
both the categories of healthy products and therefore, the options that are available are
comparatively at a lower level. This gives a limited number of healthy options and hence
the buyers are able to exercise less power.
 Bargaining power of suppliers (Low): The raw material required by the FitEat venture is
very basic and therefore the venture can easily shift over to the next supplier who is
providing raw material at a cheaper cost. The influence of this factor is hence low for the
venture.
M2 SWOT and risk analysis
The Swot analysis will help in analysing the venture better:
Strengths
The unique business idea is the main
Weaknesses
The weakness lies in the fact that the
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strength of the venture along with the
innovative product designed (Mancha,
Gordon and Stoddard, 2019).
products offered can be easily substituted
and the industry can be taken over very
quickly.
Opportunities
Venture can delve as much as possible
into the digital market so that the brand
value can be established quickly.
Threats
The major threat is in the form of
external environment factor where it
might not be possible to target more
customers or even operate successfully.
The above analysis indicates that the major risks that venture is facing is in the form of the
external market risk where the entity of competitors can capture the market significantly if FitEat
does not goes out first and does this.
D1 Critical Analysis
The proposal that has been prepared can be critically analysed to conclude that the decisions
that have been taken are reasonable and justified and will ultimately lead to the success of the
venture. The competitive environment does not hold tough competition or any major competition
and the risk is also identified at a lower level. However the threat that idea can be easily copied
still exists and hence the FitEat venture needs to establish themselves quickly.
LO 2
P4 Assessment of the skills and capabilities required
FitEat is an entrepreneurial venture and therefore the owner will require some critical
entrepreneurial skills that are necessary to establish, maintain and succeed in the new venture
that has been developed (Allen, 2015). The main skills are the networking abilities, problem
solving skills, financial management and understanding, research and development skills, project
and time management capabilities etc. These can be further illustrated as:
 Communication and negotiation: These are the key skills required because
establishment of a new venture often requires marketing and relationship building and
this can be done only hen the communication as well as the negotiation skills are well
developed. An entrepreneur must be capable to get the best deal by using these two skills
and hence both of them are necessary (Li and Dutta, 2018).
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 Financial Management: An entrepreneur must have some basic knowledge about
financial management so that they can ascertain the profits and losses and also keep
account of the potential revenues that the venture is earning.
 People Management: For an entrepreneur, it is important to quickly analyse the feelings
of the other person and then act accordingly. This is necessary not just with the customers
but also with suppliers, employees, contractors etc.
 Networking: The skill of networking helps in developing contacts and ties with multiple
numbers of people in and out of the industry. Networking is critical in the success and
smooth operation of any venture because there are multiple problems that are being faced
and every problem cannot be faced simply with resource utilisation (Bernstein, 2020).
 Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping is the most effective skills that an entrepreneur can
develop and it can help them in getting out of difficult situations also very easily. This
guide a person in complex situations and helps them in evaluating what would be the best
way to get out of it within the limited resources that are available to the person.
Hence the different skills that are necessary for the success of the FitEat venture were
identified and illustrated.
M3 Acquiring of the skills
The different skills that have been identified for the entrepreneurial venture can be
developed using different tools and mechanisms. For instance the communication skills can be
developed using the proper practice sessions and financial management skills can be developed
by enrolling in any course that develops these skills. Further the networking skills and the
bootstrapping skill can be developed only with experience and time where the owner will learn
how to develop relationships and maintain them and is usually a long process.
D2 Timescale required for the development of the skills
Communication and negotiation skills can be developed with time if a person does not have
those taking 6 months as the basic time. Financial management skills can be easily developed
within the time period of 3 to 4 months. People management is one the major attribute that must
be possessed and can be developed within the time period of 8 months. The skill of networking
can be developed in a brief time of 2 months as well. The development of bootstrapping skill can
take a time period of 1 year.
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LO 3
P5 Promotional activities and channels
In order to identify and evaluate the different channels that can be utilised by the FitEat
venture in their new business, the marketing mix evaluation can be undertaken. This will help in
ascertaining and identifying the key aspects of the promotional activity and the manner in which
the brand can be positioned in the new market.
Marketing Mix Analysis
Product FitEat is the new venture that will be offering a vast range of
healthy food items and drinks collectively which will present
before people a healthier option of the food items that they
see regularly and taste would also not be compromised upon.
Price The prices of all the food and drinks items under FitEat would
be very reasonable and within the budget ranging from the
lowest of £ 5 to a maximum of £ 100. These are based on
different sizes and types of products (Marketing plan for your
product launch, 2020).
Place The place of operation currently will only be in UK and the
first stores would be opened in some of the highly visited
malls in London and in the London high street as well so that
maximum of the customers can be attracted towards the
products of FitEat.
Promotion FitEat will be engaging in a lot of promotional activities that
will mainly be through the online and digital marketing tools
such as use of social media platforms, email, software etc.
(Allen, 2015). In the offline of traditional marketing as well,
there are a variety of tools such as use of colourful
advertisements and catchy lines etc. that can be used.
Physical Appearance The products of FitEat will be present in all the major malls,
other retail stores, medicine shops and in its own stores as
well. It will be easy to identify the FitEat products due to their
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colourful packaging and catchy lines.
Process The entire process of the FitEat will be based in the delivery
of fresh products within the short time period and since it is
base in UK only right now the supply chain will be much
shorter and less complex thus creating better productivity.
People The people i.e. the employees would be properly trained and
they would be given knowledge regarding different
characteristics of all the products so that they can target
customers accordingly.
P6 Promotional plan for launch and pre- launch
The promotional activity prior to the launch of the brand of FitEat can be ascertained as follows:
 Using social media platforms and interactive tools such as audience polls etc. to develop and
evaluate the preference of the customers (Villani, Linder and Grimaldi, 2018). This will also
help in creating the buzz that is essential in the marketing of the products of the venture.
 Distribution of pamphlets, extensive advertising, distribution of free samples etc. will help in
making the brand popular and recognised amongst the people and will also help in
evaluating their preferences and opinions or feedbacks.
 Forming alliances with the influencers’ affiliates and marketers will also be a good strategy
in implementation of the pre- launch activities.
 Carrying out effective campaigns, hosting events and programmes will attract the public and
help in carrying out the ultimate pre- launch promotional activities.
Promotional activity at the launch of FitEat brand:
 The first step should be the targeting of the correct audience i.e. it should not be promoted
within the audience that would not consume it and rather aim for the audience who prefers
and demands the goods similar to that of FitEat (Mullins, 2017).
 The launch activities should be in perfect integration with the goals and objectives of the
brand. Use of digital logos, display signs, online and offline marketing must be used in order
to achieve the goals set.
 The use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter etc. is quintessential in
the launch of any major or minor brand today and these will be used by FitEat as well.
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 The key is to set aside a specific budget that can be used to influence the customers and
launch the brand at a wide scale so that the brand can be a hit as soon as it hits the stores.
M4 Evaluation of promotional plan
The overall plan that has been developed for the FitEat venture in both prelaunch and
launch context is the properly justified approach that will help in the meeting of the various
objectives that have been set up and will attract the majority of the customers.
D3 Justification
The activities that have been deicide in the promotional plan incline more towards the use
of digital and online platforms and this is justified because the majority of the awareness and
publicity stunts are carried out on such platforms only.
LO 4
P7 Developing a cash budget
Preparation of a cash budget is essential for the FitEat venture as it will indicate the
proportion of amount that should be spent by the venture on different departments and activities
and will also help in better management of the financial resources that are limitedly available in
the venture (Kuratko and et.al., 2017). The cash budget for the pre launch of the venture can be
developed as:
Particular Amount (in £)
Technological requirements 250
Human resources 300
Marketing 400
Research expenses 250
Other expenses 300
Total £ 1500
Further, the prelaunch asset cash budget can be prepared in following manner:
Particular Amount (in £)
Raw Material 650
Cash 1500
Machinery and equipments 2100
Physical Outlet (On rent) 1000
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Other Assets 350
Total £ 5600
This is the budget that will be required prior to the launch of the FitEat brand and now the
potential cash flows forecasting statement for the period of 12 to 18 months can be prepared as
follows:
(Amount in £)
Particular Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Quarter 5 Quarter 6
Opening balance 35000 56600 83650 116850 153850 176000
Cash sales 17000 20000 25000 28000 15000 60000
Receivables 16000 18500 19000 20000 20500 21000
Sales of assets 20000 0 0 0 7000 0
Total cash received 88000 95100 127650 164850 196350 257000
Cash Expenses
Direct labor 1900 2000 1800 1600 1800 1600
Direct material 2000 2100 2200 2300 2000 3000
Selling & distribution
o/h
4500 4200 4000 4100 3600 3900
Manufacturing o/h 3000 3150 2800 3000 2950 2500
Assets purchased 20000 0 0 0 10000 90000
Total Cash expenses 31400 11450 10800 11000 20350 101000
Net cash flow 56600 83650 116850 153850 176000 156000
P8 Legal form of venture and the reason for its selection
There are a variety of legal forms that are available to the new ventures and business ideas
that plan on setting up a business in UK (Danes, 2015). Every venture has to select a particular
form of stricture for their business which they can select and operate within and which gives
them legal recognition as well. Some of these are:
 Sole Proprietorship: Here there sir a single person who own the business and is
responsible for all the profits or losses that are earned by the business. This is the most
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preferred style for small businesses with limited number of stores. The mechanisms of
forming a sole proprietorship is very easy and there are no complex legal conditions that
are to be fulfilled but the liability of the owner is too high and can face severe risks in the
situation of crisis.
 Partnership: Here there are two or more persons who decide to come together and work
collectively in a business (Barringer, 2015). They operate o the basis of profit sharing
ratio which indicates the proportion of profits as well as the liabilities that are to be borne
by the respective partners.
 Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): This is also a form of partnership but here the
liability of the partners is limited to a particular extent or percentage only and the profits
are still distributed in the profit sharing ratio only. However it is a much more expensive
form of partnership.
There were only three legal forms that were discussed above but there are many
additional structures as well such as public or private limited companies etc. However currently,
the best legal form most suitable for the FitEat would be the development of the business on the
basis of sole proprietorship. This is because the business is currently operating at a very small
scale and it can be easily managed by a single person or owner along with the assistance of a few
employees (Adomako and et.al., 2018). Additionally, the profits are also expected ot be
comparatively lower in the initial phase and therefore, limited earning can prove to be sufficient
only for a single owner so that sufficient amount can be reinvested back in business as well.
Further, the owner always has the options to convert their sole proprietorship into a
company or a partnership based on the preference of owner and scale of operation. Hence
currently sole proprietorship is the best option for FitEat.
M5 Justification of cash budget
The budget that has been prepared is exhaustive and takes into consideration all the
potential expenses that can arise and also leaves a balance of the other expenses as a contingency
fund that might be required while developing and planning for a new venture.
D4 Anticipated outcomes
The preparation of above cash flow forecast statement clearly indicates that the venture is
expected to be in a profitable situation right from the beginning and the period of 12 to 18
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months for which the forecast has been prepared indicates that FitEat will be able to capture the
targeted market successfully.
CONCLUSION
The research conducted in the report above helps in concluding that the new venture and its
launching involves a lot of steps and analysis that needs to be performed. The report identified
that how the target market for the FitEat was identified and comprehensive competitive analysis
was done in order to develop a market view. The report also identified the cortical skills that are
necessary in order to launch a new venture and the marketing and promotional campaigns that
must be carried out were also analysed. The report further developed a cash flow forecasting for
the FitEat for 18 months and lastly the best legal form that Fitbit should adopt i.e. sole
proprietorship was identified and justified.
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REFERENCES
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Villani, E., Linder, C. and Grimaldi, R., 2018. Effectuation and causation in science-based new
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Zane, L. J. and DeCarolis, D. M., 2016. Social networks and the acquisition of resources by
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Online
Marketing plan for your product launch. 2020. [ONLINE]. Available through<
https://learn.marsdd.com/article/marketing-plan-for-your-product-launch/>
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