Atex Media: Planning for Growth and Business Expansion

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of growth strategies for Atex Media, a software services company. It begins by examining key considerations for evaluating growth opportunities, including core competencies and competitive advantages. The report then delves into market analysis using Porter's Five Forces model and PESTLE analysis to assess the competitive landscape and external factors impacting the business. The Ansoff Growth Matrix is employed to evaluate various growth strategies, such as market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. Furthermore, the report assesses potential sources of funding available to the organization, including government grants, bank loans, and angel investors. It then outlines the steps involved in developing a business plan, and concludes by assessing exit or succession options for a small business. The report utilizes illustrations to support the analysis and provides a detailed overview of strategic planning and financial considerations for business expansion.

PLANNING FOR GROWTH

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................4
P1 Key considerations for evaluating growth opportunities for the organization......................4
P2 Evaluating Opportunities for growth of the Organization.....................................................8
LO 2...............................................................................................................................................10
P3 Assessing Potential Sources of Funding available to the Organization...............................10
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................12
P4 Developing a Business Plan for the Organization...............................................................12
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................14
P5 Assessing exit or succession options for a small business...................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Porter's Five Force Model.........................................................................................6
Illustration 2: PESTLE Analysis......................................................................................................8
Illustration 3: Ansoff Growth Matrix...............................................................................................9
Illustration 4: Different sources of Funding...................................................................................12
Illustration 5: Different Steps in a Business Plan..........................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
For any organization it is very important to have a proper planning and management
whether it is a small or big business. Planning is a tool which is used to formulate detailed
planning and strategies to achieve the targeted aim or objective for business. It helps to grow
organization in targeted market. It is important for the company to do a lot of planning before
implementing any new ideas into the management system.
Planning helps an organization to achieve its goals. Proper planning will help them to
manage the risk factor and uncertainty in the business. It will also ensure to build a strong team
in the firm and create a competitive environment for them. This report will discuss key analysis
for growth opportunities for an organization. It will also focus on various methods of funding
available and will analyze its benefits and drawbacks and developing a business plan for the firm
which can help the organization to increase its sales and services in the target industry.
LO 1
P1 Key considerations for evaluating growth opportunities for the organization
For Atex Media Company, it is very important for them to maintain competitive
environment for their employees to make them work more effectively. It will help them in the
expansion of their business in the market. Core competency is the ability of a company to do
well in the respective tasks. For example, the core competency of Atex media is the ability to
provide software services to their customers and make them satisfied.
Core competency is whatever the organization does which helps to generate good revenue as a
result. This could be the same for others in the same industry.
Whereas, a competitive environment can help the company in providing better service or
product to their clients, when compared to others which has the same core competency in the
market. Superior core competency is a competitive advantage for the organization to have
(Bridge, and Dodds, 2018). There are so many benefits of competitive advantage, for example:
 It will boost the company to deliver a good service to their customers,
 Helps to become a popular brand by advertising in different fields,
 A good reputation in the market, mostly due to their past services,
 Loyalty toward their customers.
There are so many strategies which Apex Media can apply to evaluate their strengths and
opportunities that are available in the business. It will help them in the expansion in the target

industry such as Porter's Five Force model which is used to study the power of suppliers and
their customers and analyzing competition of a business whereas PESTLE analysis helps to
evaluate the impact of different factors in their business for example: political, economic, social,
technological, legal and environmental.
Both these can be very helpful in expanding their business in the market.
 Porter's Five Force Model : This model is based on the fact that there are five forces
which help to determine the competitive environment of the targeted market. Porter’s five
forces help an organization to identify their current power present in a business. This
method can be very useful for them to understanding their strength in the current market,
and the possible strategies which they can use in the future, for example Atex media's
owner is planning to expand their business in UK as well as in other countries.
Strategic analysts often use this model to understand whether their new products or
services for customers are potentially profitable or not. By understanding this entire situation, it
can also be used to identify their key areas of strengths, which can help them to improve their
weaknesses and to avoid mistakes in the future (Bryson, 2018).
 Five key factors in this model are as follows,
1. Supplier power: This is the force where the supplier can easily affect the prices of goods
and services by setting prices according to it. This force is affected by number of
suppliers and their products.
2. Buyer power: This force basically deals with the power of their customers. They have
the ability to drive prices down of the products and services. The smaller and more
powerful a customer is the more power it will hold.
3. Competitive rivalry: This force is very importance for the company to understand their
competitors and their ability to threaten a company in the market. If there is large number
of competitors in the industry, which serves the same products and services they offer,
then there will be lesser impact of the company in their respective businesses.
4. Threat of substitution: Competitive substitutes which can be used in place of a
company's existing products or services can pose a threat to them. For example, if
products are served by Apex Media is easily available in the market from their
competitors. It becomes difficult for them to maintain their customers.

5. Threat of new entry: It is the most common factor which can affect functions of their
businesses in the market. New entrants will eventually decrease their profitability rate in
the existing industry (Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, 2014).
 Importance of Porter's Five force Model : For Atex Media, they can use this model to
understand their own strengths and can apply this in their management system to enable
its business strategy for their better use and helps to generate higher earnings for its
investors in the market. This will be a great tool to use in the expansion of their business.
This model will help them to understand factors which affect the profitability of a
company and use it to make decisions for it.
Illustration 1: Porter's Five Force Model
Source : (Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis, 2014)

 PESTLE Analysis of Atex Media : This analysis is very useful for the company to
understand various factors which can be very crucial for them to follow in order to work
properly in the market. As Atex Media company gives services related to software, it is
very important for them to analyze these factors very carefully.
1. Political Factors : These can impact a lot in the proper functioning of an organization.
There as many governmental rules and regulations which they must follow in their
system. Political situation can affect business in many ways. It is very necessary for the
government to adopt policies for the use of software industries in the market.
2. Economic Factors : Software industry has a great impact of the economic factors of the
country on them, for example, recession, inflation, etc. It can play very important role in
the expansion of their business because by knowing the economical condition of the
country it will help them to establish the business according to that.
3. Social Factors : These factors are related to the behavior of people in the country.
Implementing their services according to their customer's needs and preferences will
make them to build strong relationship (The Advantages of PESTLE Analysis, 2016).
4. Technological Factors : For software industries it is very crucial to be updated with the
latest technologies trending in the market. It is the most important factor for Atex media
to follow.
5. Legal Factors : For this industry it is necessary to implement all the legal rule made by
the government to follow.
6. Environmental Factors : Before expanding their business in the target market, they
should ensure that they are not harming the environment.

P2 Evaluating Opportunities for growth of the Organization
For the growth of the business in the market it is very important to have a strategic
planning. For evaluating different opportunities for the growth of Atex Media, it is very
important to study the Ansoff matrix for this. It is a strategic tool which is used to provide a
framework to the organization which helps their employees to develop strategies for future
growth of the firm. It is named after Russian American Igor Ansoff, who introduced this model.
I
llustration 2: PESTLE Analysis
Source : (PESTLE analysis templates, 2018)

The output from the Ansoff matrix is a series of growth strategies which can be used by
the organization to set the direction for their business strategy (Channon, and Jalland, 2016).
Ansoff growth matrix has four factors in it, which is explained below,
1. Market penetration : It is the factor which is used to focus on their existing product's
selling into existing markets. It helps to maintain or increase the market share of their
current products and services. It ensures the increase in the usage of their existing
customers.
2. Market development : Market development is the factor which is used to increase the
growth strategy where the business seeks to sell their existing products into new markets.
This will increase their customer rate. There are so many ways in which Apex media can
use this factor to expand their business, such as, new geographical markets like exporting
their product to a new country. Experimenting with pricing policies to attract their
different customers which can help them to create new market segment for the
organization.
Illustration 3: Ansoff Growth Matrix
Source : (Ansoff Growth Matrix, 2018)

3. Product development : It is the factor which is used for the introduction of new products
in the existing market for their customers. This strategy requires the business to develop
modified products and services which can increase their brand name. There are so many
key factors which should be considered by them, such as
 Proper research & development and innovation,
 Detailed insights into customer needs and preferences, etc.
4. Diversification : It is the process of introducing new products and services into entirely
new market. There is a high chance of risk in this process.
By applying all these methods and analysis into their management system, it will become easier
for the Atex Media to expand their business successfully in different countries (Darroch, 2014).
M1 : For the growth of the company its very important to analyze all the factors before
implementing any new strategy in the system. There are various methods which they can opt,
such as, porter's five force model and PESTLE analysis which can be used to analyze their
current position in the market. And with Ansoff growth matrix it becomes easy for Atex Media
to plan their strategies accordingly which can be effective to give better outcome.
D1 : From all the various method available in the market for the organization, each ha sits own
quality. For example, porter model is useful to evaluate the market strategy while PESTLE is
useful understand factor which can affect them.
LO 2
P3 Assessing Potential Sources of Funding available to the Organization
For any business to expand it more in the market it is very important to have a good
financial support to meet all the requirements in the business. It can be achieved by funding
method. Funding is a process which is used by any organization to get financial support. It helps
in providing financial resources, usually in the form of money, or other values such as effort or
time, to finance a need, etc. There can be various ways or methods in which funding can be done
by the organization to fulfill their requirement, for example,
1. Government Grants : This is the most widely used method to have funds. Government
agencies provide financial support, such as, by giving grants and subsidies that may be
available to the business. Benefits : It is easily available to get funds from government.

 Drawback : Getting grants can be a tough task to achieve as there may be strong a
competition.
2. Bank Loans : Bank loans are the most commonly used source of funding for small and
medium-sized businesses. It's a good idea to shop around and find the bank that meets
your specific needs. Benefits : They are flexible about making regular installment payment on time. They are
cost effective and has so many profits.
 Drawback : There are very strict rules and requirements. They have very high interest
rates. There is always a burden of returning that loan (Finch, 2016).
3. Crowdfunding : Crowdfunding is rapidly becoming the major source of funding for
seed-stage startups. It exists in mainly two types, i.e. reward-based crowdfunding and
equity-based crowdfunding. There are so many websites available for crowdfunding,
such as, Kickstarter. Benefits : There are so many benefits of crowdfunding, such as, it is cost saving, and has
very little overhead.
 Drawback : The main drawback of this method is that not everyone is interested in
contribution which can sometimes become very difficult for the organization to make
people agree.
4. Venture Finance : It is a type of private or institutional investment made into early-stage
/ start-up companies or new ventures. Venture Capital investment is also referred to risk
capital. Benefits : Large sum of equity finance can be provided. They bring wealth and expertise
to the company.
 Drawback : It is a lengthy and complex process to perform. It is uncertain form of
financing.
5. Angels Investors : These are generally wealthy individuals or retired company
executives who invest their money in small firms. They are often leaders in their own
field who not only helps in the contributions but they also share their experience and
network of contacts but also their technical and/or management knowledge. Angel
investors help to finance the early stages of the business by investing in them (Hawkey,
2017).

 Benefits : It helps the organization to start their new as well as existing business in the
market. It is less risky.
 Drawback : These parties keep a very low profile that is why they are difficult to find or
contact. The primary disadvantage of using angel investors is the loss of complete control
as a part owner.
6. Personal Investment : When starting a business, your first investor should be yourself—
either with your own cash or with collateral on your assets. This proves to investors and
bankers that you have a long-term commitment to your project and that you are ready to
take risks. Benefits : The greatest benefit of this funding method is that is done by own self. There is
no time limit and no rules and regulation.
 Drawback : One of the most important drawback is that not everyone has enough money
to invest in the business (Bruno, Woolley, and Carlson, 2014).
M2 : For Atex Media company for the expansion of their business in the market, it is very
important to have a proper financial resource. It can be done through funding methods, such as,
government grants, bank loans, crowdfunding, venture financial, etc. All these methods has their
own importance.
D2 : From all the funding sources available in the market for the organization, crowdfunding
option van be beneficial for them as it is easy to get and has less risk factors in it (Wu, 2015).