Starting a Business and Fundamentals of Marketing

This guide provides an overview of the process of starting a business and the fundamentals of marketing. It covers topics such as idea development, evaluation of the external environment, competition analysis, target market determination, and more. The guide also includes a SWOT analysis of the proposed idea for developing solar powered electric vehicle batteries.

Starting a Business and
Fundamentals of Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Overview of proposed idea..........................................................................................................3
Evaluation of external environment.............................................................................................5
Competition and competitive advantage.....................................................................................6
Target market...............................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Starting a business is a process of identifying an idea and developing plan through which
the idea can be converted into a product or service having value for customers. Fundamentals of
marketing refer to basic elements of a marketing planning and process that organisation develops
to market its products and services. This is a marketing plan for a product and will involve
presentation of business idea, evaluation and analysis of external environment, discussion
regarding competition and competitive advantage of the product and will also involve
determination for target market of the products.
MAIN BODY
Overview of proposed idea
The proposed idea for business is developing solar powered electric vehicle batteries.
These batteries get charged directly from sunlight and can be charged when vehicles are moving
under sunlight. This battery will be created with the same technology that is used at EV charging
infrastructure where EV’s are charged through solar power. This means that batteries will be
created that can be charged directly from sunlight. In addition to this product being created is
also focuses on ensuring limited cost and affordability of products.
Vision
“To create a affordable solution for electronic vehicle batteries”.
Objectives
 To achieve break-even point by 2021
 To develop 15% market share by 2022
 To reduce cost of production by 2021
Some of the criteria to consider viability of ideas include-
Clarity- This involves clarity of idea and idea developed is perfectly clear and can be
implemented practically.

Usability- This is another important criterion and focuses on identifying whether ideas fulfil a
practical need and meet some type of market demand. This idea fulfils a practical need because
electric vehicles as well as use of renewable energy are increasing and this is why this idea is
usable.
Stability- This criterion considers whether the idea or product being developed fulfils unique
one-time requirement or have stability in market over time (Samuel Bacharach, 2021). Solar
powered electric vehicle batteries have strong market stability and demand is going to
continuously increase for solar powered batteries.
Scalability- This is concerned with capability of idea of being scaled. With investment of
additional resources and expansion of facility scale of production of solar powered electric
vehicle batteries can be increased.
Profitability- This is concerned with analysing profitability of the idea and this idea is very
profitable because of increasing demand of electronic vehicles.
Swot Analysis of solar powered electric vehicle batteries idea
Strength
 Low cost vehicle battery- This is one of the important strength which can also contribute
in reducing overall cost of electric vehicles
 Environment friendly and easy to use products- batteries are perfectly environment
friendly and are also easy to use for end user (Abdel-Basset, Mohamed and Smarandache,
2018)
 Demand specific product- Product is very demand specific that company do not require
to promote extensively
Weakness
 Limited manpower resources available- Manpower required for working on this
technology is available but limited
 Significantly dependant on sunlight and is not suitable in places that does not have
adequate whether and solar power

Opportunities
 Increasing demand for electric vehicles- Increase in demand in electric vehicles is likely
to increase demand for solar powered electric vehicle batteries
 Increasing understanding of people towards environment friendly practices
 Positive attitude of government towards such products
Threats
 Competition and its impact on new businesses
 Large organisations having strong research and development practices
Evaluation of external environment
Market analysis involves analysing market where product will be launched and external
environment of organisation plays very important role in analysing effect of different
environmental elements on product and its success. External environment can be analysed with
analysis of Pest framework and pest analysis of solar powered electric vehicle batteries is as
follows-
Political- Political factor includes impact of government policies and decisions on success of a
product (Singh and et.al., 2018). Solar powered electric vehicle batteries have positive impact of
political factor because government is continuously encouraging electric mobility and this is a
very important opportunity for solar powered battery. In addition to this solar powered electronic
vehicle batteries can also add value in government initiatives of reducing carbon emission and
increasing use of renewable energy. This means that political factor has no threat for solar
powered electric vehicle batteries.
Economical- Economic environment focuses on analysing impact of economic conditions and
different economic factors including GDP per capita income interest rates employment cost of
material and cost of operation. These are some of the factors that have impact on cost and
profitability of organisation and financial success of organisation. In this factor increasing cost of
material and operations is a threat for solar powered electric vehicle batteries. However
increasing per capita income and increasing demand for electronic vehicles is an opportunity for

solar powered electric vehicle batteries. In addition to this affordability of the product will also
enable it to take advantage of market having price conscious customers.
Social- Social environment includes identification of emerging trends and needs and wants of
customers. In addition to this social environment also include attitude and preference of
customers regarding a product or service offered by an organisation. Concern with solar powered
electric vehicle batteries social environment has several opportunities. This means that increasing
consciousness of people regarding environment and its sustainability is increasing them to use
environment friendly and sustainable alternative for mobility (LEYVA and et.al., 2018). Solar
powered electric vehicle batteries are environment friendly and are also available at affordable
prices contributing in reducing overall cost of EV and maintenance requirement will also reduce.
However limited knowledge of electronic mobility and its availability is also a threat for solar
powered electric vehicle batteries.
Technological- Technological factor focuses on identifying and analysing impact of
technological Innovation and development that can affect success of an organisation as well as
its product. Solar powered electric vehicle batteries are very important and required innovation in
electronic mobility industry and this is why there is no such thread from technological factor for
solar powered electric batteries. However organisations operating in electronic vehicle industry
can provide competition through their strong research and development practices creating a
threat for solar powered electronic vehicle battery.
Competition and competitive advantage
In order to analyse competition for solar powered electric vehicle batteries can be
analysed through application of Porter’s five forces model. This is as follows-
Threat of new entrants- New entrants are those organisations that bring new production
capacity and new resources into an industry and increases existing competition. This threat gets
affected by barriers to entry and these barriers to entry includes economies of scale, degree of
differentiation, resources and investment required and capabilities required for an organization
(Porter's Five Forces Analysis Tutorial, 2020). Solar powered electric vehicle battery is also a
new organisation in industry and on the basis of this it can be that that threat of new entrants’
isweak because significant knowledge is required along with technical capabilities and resources

to enter into the industry. This also makes position of solar powered electric vehicle battery
strong in its industry.
Threat of substitute- Threat of substitute is concerned with threat from alternative choices
available for a product. Threat of substitutes gets affected by number of substitute products and
cost of switching. Concerned with the threat of substitute for solar powered electric batteries
there is a strong threat from substitute products. This is because conventional batteries are one of
the biggest substitutes for solar powered electric vehicle batteries and provide a strong threat to
product.
Bargaining power of buyers- Bargaining power of suppliers is the power through which
suppliers can increase cost of input and ultimately leading to increase in cost of product.
Bargaining power of suppliers gets influenced by number of suppliers and products being
supplied by suppliers and their value for organisation (Bruijl, 2018). Solar powered electric
vehicle batteries are developed with technology that is used for converting solar power into
usable energy. Resources and material required for developing these batteries are easily available
and there are several suppliers to supply required input. On the basis of this bargaining power of
suppliers is low and makes position of solar powered electric vehicle batteries strong in force of
suppliers.
Bargaining power of suppliers- Bargaining power of buyers is concerned with power that
customers or buyers of a product have. Bargaining power of buyers has strong influence on
profitability of organisation and products because in their power leads to reduction in price of the
product being offered to them. This power gets affected by number of sellers and number of
buyers. In context of solar powered electric vehicle batteries there are limited number of sellers
to sell solar powered batteries and this increases controlling power of seller. In other words
limited number of sellers strengthens position of solar powered electric vehicle batteries in its
industry.
Industry rivalry- Industry rivalry is concerned with rivalry that exists among existing
organisations in an industry. This gets affected by a number of competitors and how close their
interests are linked with each other (Kawira, 2017). Increasing demand of electronic vehicles
have increased number of producers of electronic vehicle batteries and this is why there are

several Producers and organisations operating in electronic vehicle batteries. This is why rivalry
among existing organisations is strong however unique feature of solar powered batteries can
contribute in strengthening position of this product and new business.
Target market
Target market for solar powered electric vehicle batteries is electric vehicle companies.
This is because batteries are sold along with vehicles and requires linking with vehicles. This
means that solar powered electric vehicle batteries are b2b products. Segmentation of B2B can
be done on following basis-
Based on Firmographics- This includes segmentation of customers on the basis of factors like
business size, company locations, industry and technology used by companies.
Based on Tiering- This involves segmentation of customers on the basis of how well customers
match goals of business (Ari Soffer, 2019).
Based on Needs- Need based segmentation includes segmenting customers on the basis of what
they are looking for in their products.
Based on Customer Sophistication- This involves segmenting customers on the basis of their
product or industry acumen. In this segmentation offers opportunity for organisation to tailor
campaign of new business towards needs of leads.
Among these segments Solar Powered Electric Vehicles Batteries have selected need
based segmentation strategy in which it will link with businesses looking for differentiated
solutions in electric vehicles and their batteries.
Targeting- Targeting strategy involves undifferentiated targeting strategy. In this strategy every
customer is provided same product.
Positioning- Positioning strategy for new business is attribute positioning. In this positioning
strategy product is positioned in target market on the basis of its attribute (Romppanen, 2021).
Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Battery will be positioned on the basis of its attribute to charge
batteries while vehicles moving with specific requirement of charger and charging infrastructure.
Marketing strategy for suggested target market

Product- Product offering of new business includes Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Batteries.
These batteries can be charged without charging infrastructure and can be charged in moving
vehicles.
Price- Price strategy for the product is cost-based price strategy considering profit margin
(Thabit and Raewf, 2018). This is aimed at ensuring affordability of product and will also have
positive impact on overall price of electric vehicles.
Place- Place and distribution strategy includes supplying products directly to electric vehicles
companies.
Promotion- Promotion will be done considering target market that is electric vehicle companies.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that proposed idea of Solar Powered
Electric Vehicle Battery is perfectly viable in market. On the basis of Swot analysis it can be
concluded that favourable factors are high in relation with products. Followed by this, marketing
plan included analysis of external environment and analysis of competition and competitive
environment. Lastly target market was also determined and because the product offering is
vehicle batteries, it targets business customers. Segmentation includes need based in which
targeting strategy is undifferentiated strategy and positioning strategy includes attribute based
positioning.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abdel-Basset, M., Mohamed, M. and Smarandache, F., 2018. An extension of neutrosophic
AHP–SWOT analysis for strategic planning and decision-making. Symmetry. 10(4).
p.116.
Bruijl, G.H.T., 2018. The relevance of Porter's five forces in today's innovative and changing
business environment. Available at SSRN 3192207.
Kawira, B., 2017. Effects of porter’s five forces on strategy formulation: A case study of
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, United States International
University-Africa).
LEYVA, M and et.al., 2018. A framework for PEST analysis based on fuzzy decision
maps. Revista espacios. 39(16).
Romppanen, J.M., 2021. Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP).
Singh, M.K and et.al., 2018. A glimpse of sustainable electronics manufacturing for India: A
study using PEST-SWOT analysis. In Global Value Chains, Flexibility and
Sustainability (pp. 271-281). Springer, Singapore.
Thabit, T. and Raewf, M., 2018. The evaluation of marketing mix elements: A case
study. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies. 4(4).
Online
Ari Soffer. 2019. The 5 Most Popular Methods of Segmentation for B2B. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.leadspace.com/popular-methods-of-segmentation-for-b2b/>.
Porter's Five Forces Analysis Tutorial. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.visual-
paradigm.com/tutorials/five-forces-analysis-tutorial/>.
Samuel Bacharach. 2021. 7 Criteria to Select the Best Idea. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.inc.com/samuel-bacharach/7-criteria-to-select-the-best-idea.html>.