International Business Risks and Strategies

This assignment delves into the multifaceted challenges and opportunities inherent in international business ventures. Students are tasked with examining various risk factors associated with operating globally, utilizing a PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) analysis framework to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities. The analysis extends to explore the implications of outsourcing and offshoring strategies, evaluating their impact on business operations, risks, and competitive advantage. Furthermore, students will investigate the crucial role of brand awareness in navigating international markets and enhancing market outcomes.

Running head: MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Marketing Opportunities
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Executive Summary
This report intends to highlight the process of marketing opportunities which are available to
the various companies and the effective utilization of which can lead to the overall growth as
well as the development of the company or the organization concerned. The company
selected for the process of this analysis in this particular report is BBQfun. It is an Australian
company and provides services to the customers in various diverse sectors. This report
highlights the various strategies, which the company is considering for the process of its
overall growth as well as development. The report will also provide a PESTLE analysis of the
company and the various marketing strategies utilized by the company presently along with
the marketing mix. The report will also provide a rough overview of the various customer
needs as well as the expectations of the customers from the services provided by it. The
report will also provide a rough overview of the various risks faced by the company presently
and the ways by which the company can mitigate the risks faced by it. Lastly, the report
concludes with a discussion of the importance of the three marketing opportunities and the
benefits provided by them. This section will also provide an analysis of three opportunities
and the best method ,which the company can use.

2MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Marketing opportunities.............................................................................................................4
PESTLE Analysis.......................................................................................................................5
Marketing mix............................................................................................................................8
Manufacture and the sale of the own brand products..............................................................10
The selling of products through e-commerce...........................................................................10
Selling products and services at bargained prices....................................................................11
Risks and risk management......................................................................................................11
Scope of each opportunity as per the perspective of the customers.........................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................16

3MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Introduction
The concept of marketing opportunities, can be defined, as the process by means of
which, an analysis of the present market condition is undertaken in a bid to determine the
areas in which there is scope to attract more amount of customers (Johanson and Mattsson
2015). The focus of the process is to determine the effective means by which the customer
base of the organization or the company concerned can be increased (Czinkota and
Ronkainen 2013). The company by trying to increase the customer base can also indirectly
increase the annual revenue as well as the profit margin, which will lead to the overall growth
and the development of the organization or the company concerned. The company selected in
this report to study the process of marketing opportunities is the BBQfun. The company was
founded in the year 2009 by its current CEO, Pat Mifsud (Price 2016). The company is
known for the extensive range of products as well as the services offered by it. The products
as well as the services provided by the company, incorporates both the imported and local
services and goods. Initially the company started on a very promising note, however, after the
year 2010, the sale of the products as well as the services offered by the company drastically
dropped (Price 2016). This was attributed, to a combination of various factors like the process
of globalization, various technological changes, increased competitive retail market, the
change in the buying behavior of the customers, lack of customer confidence in the products
offered by the company and other factors. The company in order to come out of this situation
implemented several strategies, the major ones among them being the building up
organizational strengths, renewed focus on the increase of the customer base and following
the path of globalization in order to expand their business. It was a reflection of the
successful implementation of these strategies that the annual sales of the company grew to an
impressive $12 million in the year 2012 (Price 2016). The company, BBQfun, has its centers

4MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
in Gold Coast and Brisbane and is looking to expand its business in other areas as well (Price
2016).
Marketing opportunities
The company provides services to the customers in a variety of products as well as
services. The company in order to expand its business has chalked out three plans for the
overall growth as well as the development of their company. The three marketing
opportunities chalked out by the company are as follows-
 The manufacture and the sale of own brand products and services
 The sale of the products as well as services through the use of e-commerce
 The sale of the products at bargain prices in a bid to attract more customers and
thereby to increase the annual sales and profit margin.
The first marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per the
following statistics of the company-
BBQs Outdoor Furniture BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers 30,000 13,000 56,000
Quantity 1 1 3
Average Price $600 $850 $50
This particular opportunity, that is, the manufacture and the selling of the products
manufactured by the company will require the company to outsource its production in the
third world countries like India and others, as the manufacturing cost in Australia will be very
high (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).

5MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
The second marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per
the following statistics of the company-
BBQs Outdoor Furniture BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers 40,000 20,000 70,000
Quantity 1 1 3
Average Price $500 $650 $50
This particular opportunity, that is, the selling of the manufactured products through
the various online e-commerce websites will require the company to make use of the various
online websites. In this process, the manufactured products can be stored at the two existing
locations and the various delivery costs involved will be covered by the customers
themselves (Kim and Ko 2012).
The third marketing opportunity identified by the company can be explained as per
the following statistics of the company-
BBQs Outdoor Furniture BBQ Accessories
Number of buyers
Quantity 1 1 3
Average Price $620 $880 $55
This particular opportunity, that is, the selling of the various products manufactured at
bargain prices will require the company to sell its products at a bargained price in a bid to
capture the market and increase its customer base (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014).

6MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
PESTLE Analysis
A PESTLE analysis of the company will reveal the following facts-
Political  The present focus of the Australian government on the
concepts of growth as well as the development of the various
industries will act as an added advantage to the
company(Australia.gov.au 2018).
 In the recent times, there has been a strong emphasis on the
various environmental factors like the conservation of
environment, the use of bio-degradable materials for the
manufacture of products and others, which the company needs
to take into consideration(Australia.gov.au 2018).
 The company also needs to take into consideration the political
scenario of the country of Australia for the manufacture of its
products.
Threat: Therefore, the political factors will act as a threat to the company as
the company needs to take the various political factors of the nation into
consideration for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products and
services (Kolios and Read 2013).
Economic  The company needs to take into consideration the various
economic laws as well as the regulations into consideration for
the process of manufacture as well as the sale of its various
products as well as services (Australia.gov.au 2018).
 The company will also have to take into consideration the
rising prices of the land in the country
 The company will also have to take into consideration the

7MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
increasing rate of interest, which will affect the amount of
capital invested in the company (Australia.gov.au 2018).
Threat: This will act as a threat to the company as the company will have to
take into consideration these factors for the manufacture of its products. The
increasing prices of land will mean that the company will have to acquire
land for its expansion at higher prices.
Social  The company needs to take into consideration the various
social as well as the cultural norms of the country of Australia
for the manufacture as well as the sale of its products
(Australia.gov.au 2018).
 The people of Australia are also very particular about their
cultural identities and do not like the things which undermine
their culture. Therefore, the company will need to take this into
consideration as well.
Opportunity: This will actually act as an opportunity to the company as the
company can increase the sales and the profit percentage by manufacturing
the products as well as the services as per the social and the cultural
requirements of the people of Australia.
Technological  The company needs to take into consideration the various
technological innovations for the manufacture as well as the
sale of its products.
 This might include the use of latest technologies as well as
machineries for the manufacture of products and the use of
latest technological trends like e-commerce for the sale of its
products.

8MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunities: This will act as an opportunity for the company as it use the
latest developments in the technological field to increase its productivity and
at the same time the company can utilize the platforms like e-commerce to
increase its sales and thereby annual profit.
Legal  The company needs to take into consideration the various
Privacy Act 1988, Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, Competition
and Consumer Act 2010 and various others, in order to recruit
and maintain its employees (Australia.gov.au 2018).
 The company also needs to take into consideration the various
economic as well as quality laws for the manufacture as well as
the sale of its products and services.
Threat: This will act as a threat to the company as many time it is seen that
various companies fail to recruit skilled as well as trained professionals as
they need to take into consideration the various employment laws. It is also
seen that if the company takes into consideration also the economic as well as
quality parameters into consideration, the productivity of the company will
get hampered.
Environmental  The company also needs to take into consideration the various
environmental guidelines provided by World Health
Organization, United Nations and various others, for the
manufacture as well as the sale of its products
(Australia.gov.au 2018).
Threat: This will actually act as a threat to the company as the productivity
and the sale of the products as well as the services manufactured by the
company will get hampered if the company takes into consideration all the
guidelines provided by the various environmental organizations and the

9MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
governmental organizations.
Marketing mix
The marketing mix of the company BBQfun is composed on the basis of these
approaches-
 Pricing: The various products as well as the services of the company will be put in a
price range on par with the other services and products provided by the other
companies and organizations. The primary focus of the company will be on the
quality of the services as well as products manufactured by it. Therefore, the aim of
the company will be to provide best quality services to the customers at affordable
prices.
 Distribution: The distribution of the products as well as the services manufactured by
the company will be conducted through its two operational centers at Brisbane and
Gold Coast (Vivarelli 2014).
 Customer Service: The goal of the company is to provide the customers with the best
kind of experience possible. The company believes that by creating a loyal customer
base it can increase its future prospects in terms of profitability and annual sales
(Chikweche and Fletcher 2012).
 Advertisement: The company will utilize the help of the various advertisement
campaigns and the social media for the purposes of promotion of its products and
services (Vivarelli 2014). The company will also hold various competitions at its two
retail stores in Brisbane and Gold Coast to exotic locations in a bid to increase its
customer base and attract new customers to its stores.

10MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
The expenses incurred by the company in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the various
modes of advertisement are provided by the below given table-
Expenses 2012 2013 2014
Radio Promotions $30,000 $50,000 $70,000
Direct Mail $40,000 $50,000 $60,000
Magazine
advertisement
$110,000 $100,000 $80,000
Total $180,000 $200,000 $210,000
The annual sales profit of the company for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 are
provided by the below given figure-
2012 2013 2014
Total Sales $11,000,000 $12,000,000 $15,000,000
Gross Profit $5,110,000 $6,500,000 $7,500,000
Manufacture and the sale of the own brand products
The company BBQfun in a bid to increase its annual profit as well as the sale of its
products and services manufactured by it, has come up with the plan to manufacture as well
as sell its own products. The company will need to outsource its production to third world
countries like India and others in a bid to reduce the production cost (Wiewiora et al. 2013).
This strategy will help them to reduce the production cost as well as the significant amount of
costs incurred by it, if it were to sell its products using the techniques of e-commerce. This
will also enable the company o have an increased profit percentage from each product sold by
it as the company will not have to sale the product at bargained prices, which it will have to

11MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
take into consideration if it were to use the third marketing opportunity (Wiewiora et al.
2013). The company even will not have to take into consideration the various legal,
environmental and economic factors. Moreover, this will also significantly reduce the amount
of cost incurred by the company on the various advertisement campaigns.
The selling of products through e-commerce
The company BBQfun, can also utilize the concept of selling the manufactured
through the process of e-commerce. This method will enable the company to reach out to a
larger number of customers at a very lesser amount of time. However, if the company makes
use of this method the advertisement cost incurred by the company will increase significantly.
This will also enable the company to set its own price for the various products as well as the
services manufactured by it, which will not be the case if the company makes use of the
marketing opportunity of selling its products at bargained prices. Moreover, using this
method the company will be able to reach out to a larger customer base through the use of the
social media and e-commerce websites. The company can even follow a sandwich method
wherein it will utilize the first marketing opportunity to manufacture its products in India and
other third world countries and sell them at higher prices using the process of e-commerce in
Australia and other countries of the world.
Selling products and services at bargained prices
This particular marketing opportunity will enable the company to capture the market
and increase its customer by selling its various products as well as services at a bargained
price. This will considerably reduce the advertising cost incurred by the company if it were to
follow the policy of selling its products through the process of e-commerce (Wagland and
Taylor 2015). Moreover, if the company provides best quality products to the customers at
bargained and affordable prices it will be able not only to increase its customer base but will

12MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
also in the process get customer loyalty. It is to be noted that many start-up companies are
using this method to increase their customer base and earn reasonable amounts of profits.
Risks and risk management
Risks, can be defined, as the threats or the factors, which could harm the productivity as
well as the profit percentage of the company in the longer run (McNeil, Frey and Embrechts
2015). There are several risks which the company faces at the moment. The major ones
among them are as follows-
 The threat from national competitors like Yard and Outdoorz as well as the threats are
from the local competitors like various retail stores operational in the Brisbane and
the Gold Coast area (Australia.gov.au 2018).
 A PESTLE analysis of the company provided above clearly lists some of the other
risks and threats faced by the company.
 The failure to provide best quality services to the customers can able be taken as
another risk, which the company faces.
 Failure to meet the environmental, occupational and various other requirements
should also be taken into consideration.
 Inadequate management strategies
 The failure to recruit skilled as well as professionally trained individuals should be
taken into consideration.
It is necessary for the company to overcome the risks above mentioned in order to
achieve the overall growth as well as the development of the company. The various methods
by which the company can overcome those risks are given below-

13MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
 Effective management: The process of effective management is one of the best ways
by which the company can mitigate the factor of risk. The company should device
effective management strategies in order to increase the sale of its products and
services (Wagland and Taylor 2015).. It is to be noted that the process of effective and
efficient leadership can also help in the process.
 Recruitment process: The company can follow the process of effective recruitment
in order to hire individuals who are skilled as well as professionally trained. This will
enable the company to not only to improve the quality of the products as well as the
services provided by it but will also increase the productivity.
Scope of each opportunity as per the perspective of the customers
A survey conducted with 500 customers of the company reveals the following facts-
New Builds Renovations Replacements
The customers having
visited the stores in the
past 3 months
70% 70% 50%
The customers willing
to use the e-commerce
services of the
company
100% 100% 100%
The company happy
with the bargain price
policy of the company
70% 65% 70%
Customer loyalty 30% 20% 10%
Customers for whom
price as well as quality
70% 65% 60%

14MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
both are important
Therefore, from the above survey reports it becomes clear that both the quality as well
as the price of the goods and the services provided by the company are important. The above
data also reveals the fact that almost all the customers of the company are willing to utilize
the online services, which the company is intending to provide to its customers. It is also to
be noted that most of the customers do not visit the stores on a regular basis. This can be the
result of various factors. However, this defect can be overcome by providing online services
to the customers. Therefore, this data reveals the fact that the best possible strategy which the
company can make use is to provide e-commerce services to its customers.
Therefore, the best course of action that the company could follow to sell its products
as well as services through the process of e-commerce. This process will provide several
benefits to the company. A general trend seen among the Australian people is that they like to
make use of the technologies available to them. Moreover, the modern hectic as well as the
busy lives lead by the people leaves them with very little amount of time to actually go to the
physical stores and buy products from there. This will not save the time of the customers but
will also enable the company to reach out to greater number of people in a very short time.
Another benefit of the process is that the company can significantly reduce the amount of
expense incurred by it through the use of various modes of radio, television and direct mail
kinds of advertisements (Wiewiora et al. 2013). Moreover, the company can even follow a
sandwich method by which it will manufacture its products in the third world countries like
India and sell them in Australia and other countries (Wagland and Taylor 2015). This will
significantly reduce the cost of production and will help to increase the profit of the company.

15MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
The second option, which the company can utilize is to sell its products at a bargained
price. This is a long-term process and initially the profit of the company will not be very
high. However, this process will help the company to increase its customer base and also to
reach out to a larger number of customers (Wiewiora et al. 2013). The company can win the
loyalty of the customers in this way, which help them in the longer run.
The third process which the company can make use is the process of manufacturing
and selling its own products. The company will manufacture its products in the third world
countries and sell them in Australia (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015). However,
there are two drawbacks of the process-firstly, the company will have to bear significant cost
for the purposes of advertisement if the company is going to sell its own products at its stores
and secondly, if the company is going to outsource its production, the quality of the products
might not be very high (Wagland and Taylor 2015).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that for a company to be
succeed and capture the market there are various factors, which it needs to take into
consideration. The primary one among them is the choice of effective strategy, which it needs
to follow in order to expand its business. There are various options available to the companies
in the present scenario but the effectiveness of a particular strategy depends on the scenario in
which it is being utilized. It is often seen that one particular scenario which helped a
particular business to succeed might not be equally successful for another business.
Therefore, a careful study of the various needs as well as the requirements of the customers
becomes very important for the implementation of any particular strategy. Therefore, the
company BBQfun should also take into consideration the market scenario as well as the

16MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
various needs and requirements of the customers before the implementation of any marketing
strategy.