RGD Sports Trading: Business Plan and Reflective Report

This assignment presents a comprehensive business plan report for RGD, a London-based sports trading organization. The report includes a group peer review form, an executive summary, and a detailed analysis of RGD's internal and external business environment. It examines the company's market segmentation, sales and marketing strategies, and competitive landscape. A key aspect is the application of the VRIO framework to assess RGD's competitive advantages, such as its strong supplier base and low employee turnover. The report also explores product development strategies using the Ansoff Matrix, identifies potential risks like high costs and R&D inefficiencies, and suggests mitigation strategies. Additionally, the assignment includes an individual reflective report analyzing the group's collaborative efforts and lessons learned in team dynamics. This comprehensive analysis provides insights into RGD's market position and strategic planning.

ORGANISATIONAL
CONTEXT

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
COMPONENT 1.............................................................................................................................1
Group Peer Review Form............................................................................................................1
Business Plan –Report.................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
COMPONENT 2...........................................................................................................................16
Individual reflective report........................................................................................................16
REFEREENCES............................................................................................................................20

COMPONENT 1
Group Peer Review Form
iMBA Group Coursework Report Form
Provide a brief answer to the following questions
1. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the way your small group worked together to
complete the Group Work?
Strengths: Smooth flow of information making communication strong within the group.
Weakness: Perceptual differences.
2. What difficulties, if any, arose in your group? How were these addressed?
Meeting deadlines was quite tricky based on the number of people working at the same time.
Time Slots for all members were decided to prevent this.
3. How well do you think you each member contributed as a group member? What was the
main roles played in the group?
Each member contributed exceptionally. The main roles played team leader, mediator,
manager and concluder.
4. What did the group learn more generally about how to work effectively in a team and what
would you all change in the future to improve the outcomes?
In general, the group learned how to value opinions of everyone and work cohesively
towards a main agreed goal. In future, to improve the outcomes, clear delegation of
responsibility is something which would benefit the group more.
Business Plan –Report
Executive Summary
This business plan is based upon a Sports Trading Organisation known as ‘RGD’ which
is headquartered in London. It summarises the internal as well as external business environment
in which RGD operates. For this purpose, a critical analysis of company’s business model is
undertaken which is largely related to the delivery of premium quality sports products, namely
Skateboards, Inline Skates, Ice Hockey Sticks and Tennis Rackets. This plan expands upon what
the company aspires to grow its profits within the constraints of the simulation as well as how it
1

plans to do it in the upcoming three years. RGD’s Market Segmentation is largely based upon
demographic of sports individuals aged between 18 to 35 years of age. Sales of the Company are
deteriorating, thus, making its overall share in the market to shrink substantially. RGD’s Strong
Supplier base and Low Employee Turnover redeem its position in the market and helps in
providing a considerable amount of competitive advantage as determined using VRIO
Framework. Product Development Strategy is the most suitable alternative for the company to
undertake which can help in gaining revenue growth and recover costs effectively as determined
using Ansoff Matrix. Two main risks faced by the company relate to facing higher cost of funds
and having an ineffective Research and Development Strategy. These risks can be mitigated by
convincing more investors and collaborating with other firms respectively.
The Business
RGD is a London based company which basically deal in providing sports equipment to
athletes as well as other sports associated people. The company provides best quality sports
equipment to its customers and supports them in attaining their specific goals in sports field. It
also promotes sports opportunities among community which enhances their chances of success in
the same field. RGD mainly provides four sports equipment’s that is Skateboard, Tennis racket,
Inline Skates and Ice hockey stick. It has been seen that overall market performance of the
company is not good as it is stated that the company is unable to supply products to customers
according to their demand
Market position of this company is not so good which could give effective business to the
company. It has also been observed that short term debt of this company has been raised in the
8th year which depicts that is being moving towards the loss in comparison of the previous
record.
Markets and Competitors
Market refers to the place company offers its products and services. In context of the
RGD, it has been seen that Currently the company is offering its products in UK market only.
Furthermore, it has been observed that existing competitors for this company are Sparkle,
Strength, ASD, PSM, Slike, MMKS and AVG. All of these competitors are dealing in the same
products which are being offered to customers in same market zone. After attaining success in
the current market zone, the company is planning to expand its business in the periphery areas of
UK as it would be easier for them to execute their business operations in that area too because
2

with the familiarity with the market as well as customer’s demand. It would be essential for the
management team of RGD to focus on adopting effectively segment their targeted market so that
they can easily expand their business in that market.
Market Segmentation refers to the process in which individual divides market of their
potential customers on the basis of their various characteristics. There are four main types of
market segmentations that is Geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation,
demographic segmentation and behavioural segmentation.
Here, management of RGD has segmented market on the basis of demographic market
segmentation. In this, youth belonging to age group of 20-35 have been targeted as the main
customers for the company as they will give more preference to the products of the company in
comparison of customer zones. In this specifically sports lover customer’s o this age group will
be targeted as their interest can easily be persuaded by the company towards their high quality
sports equipment which can satisfy needs of these customers at the time of their usage. The
chosen segmented customer zone will help this company in enhancing their sales performance in
the upcoming 3 years. Along with this, it will also provide good business to the company in the
coming years.
Sales and Marketing
Sales is considered as the activity associated with selling of goods and services over a
particular period of time (Kotler and et. al., 2017). It also shows that how many people are
consuming particular product offered by the same company. As per the current situation of the
company, it has been analysed that the sales performance of the company is very weak as it is
supplying around negligible proportion of products at marketplace in comparison of its actual
demand for the same product. Whereas, marketing refers to the action of company taken towards
the promoting and advertising products and services among the customers (Ingram and et. al.,
2015). This is mainly done by conducting effective market research about the specific area and
then developing right strategy according to the customers’ characteristics so that they can easily
get influenced towards the same. While looking towards the marketing activities, at current state
the RGD is using very basic and common promotional tools for promoting its sports equipment
in UK market. It uses social media campaigns and direct marketing methods for enhancing
awareness of its customers about its products. The main motive of this company is to increase its
supply at marketplace in order to fulfil market demand towards the same products. It has been
3

observed that currently the company is spending around £600 for executing its marketing
activities and providing information to the customers about the products that is sports
equipment’s. While looking towards the development of new market strategy of the company
while targeting its youth as its customers, RGD will focus on using internet marketing, youth
newspapers, mobile marketing, email marketing etc. The company will also use other modes of
digital marketing in order to approach maximum number of customers towards them and
influence its sales performance. In a collaborative manner, all of these marketing technique can
be seen as cost effective for the company as they will not consume high cost for their execution.
Along with this, it can also be said that usage of these methods will help the company in
improvising its sales performance at marketplace.
Management
For every organisation, it is important to ensure that all the business activities undertaken
by it are carried out in an effective and efficient manner. It is the responsibility of the
management to forecast, identify, plan, organise, implement, direct as well as control activities
(Jenkins and Williamson, 2015). This will not only help the company to achieve economies of
scale but also prove to create a sustainable work plan that would ensure the identification of
resource allocation as well as its optimisation for each stage across all departments and
organisational levels. Some of the critical decisions taken by management include Marketing,
Human Resource, Financial and General Administration.
Essentially, RGD deals in Sports Products which are Skateboards, Inline Skates, Tennis
Racquet and Icy Hockey Stick. In order to ensure year-on-year sales growth for each of their
product lines, it is important to keep track of the resources utilised based on the competitive
advantage possessed by RGD in current period as well as in the context of forthcoming years.
For this purpose, VRIO Analysis has been undertaken. It can be defined as that business analysis
framework that takes an organisation’s internal environment into consideration (Chatzoglou and
et. al., 2018). In the context of RGD it has been discussed in the following manner:
Sources V R I O
Market Demand ✔
Brand Awareness ✔ ✔
Low Staff turnover ✔ ✔ ✔
Strong Supplier Base ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
4

The above table illustrates a Resource Based View of RGD that provides them with a
certain level of advantage to ward off the competition prevalent in the business environment that
they operate in. This has been further elaborated in the following points: Valuable (V): When a resource is valuable, it is advantageous for an organisation as it
helps in rendering the business to enjoy some kind of benefit over other market players’
existent in the business. As per the Resource based view, the four most valuable
resources identified for RGD are Market Demand, Brand Awareness, Low Staff Turnover
and Strong Supplier Base. All these contribute towards enhancing customer value by
creating a work environment within the organisation that enables them to focus on
creating products that cater to the demand for sports products in an effective manner. Rarity (R): Those resources which can be acquired by a particular business are said to be
of rare nature. From the table illustrated above, it can be observed that except for Market
Demand other sources are both valuable and rare. Thus, indicating that Brand Awareness,
Low Employee Turnover and Strong supplier base provide a competitive advantage to
RGD against its competitors on a temporary basis. This is due to the fact that once such
sources are also acquired in abundance by RGD’s competitors, the company would lose
its edge to compete proactively in the market. Inimitable (I): Inimitability refers to the ability of an organisation to be in possession of
a resource which is hard to imitate by others operating in the same industry. Within the
Sports Equipment Market, the products are highly standardised. As a result, the only
room left for differentiation is through customization and features added to the product
offerings of business. For RGD, Strong Supplier base and Low Employee turnover are
two of the resources which provide a strong value to the business and enhance its overall
competitive advantage. This is due to the fact that historical conditions have led to
strengthening their supplier network as well as build a reputation in terms of its policies
which is attractive to current as well as potential workforce. Thus, making it costly for
others to imitate. Organised (O): Lastly, it is important for each business enterprise to have a framework
provides an organisation-wide support to all of its activities and processes. It is to be kept
in mind that if there is no such support present the business entity would fail to capture
the overall value or essence from the activities and opportunities it undertakes. From this
5

perspective, RGD’s supplier base ranks the highest which is crucial for its operations.
The company has different tie-ups with famous sports brands such as Prodovski S.A.,
Hong Kong Ltd., Kansas, Inc., Henderson Ltd. and Schneider GmbH. Thus, providing it
a strong assortment of sports products which rank premium in quality and service.
Operations
Business operations refers to the set of activities which contributes in the development of
the new product or services at market place. It includes various activities such as planning,
organizing, coordinating and controlling all sort of business activities which supports in
execution of the work. With reference to the RGD, it has been analysed that the company is
operating its business activities in UK market. In order to enhance efficiency of its operations it
is essential for its management team to develop better strategies so that they can attain their
targeted goals and objectives and also increases their profitability. In this regard, the company
will conduct an effective growth analysis by adopting Ansoff growth matrix which will allow
them to analyse all situation and finalising best feasible strategy through which RGD can grow
effectively.
Ansoff growth matrix refers to the strategic framework in which various strategies are
developed in order to check that which strategy is feasible for the company s that they expand
their business with it and enhance their profitability towards the same (Chiang, Chen and Ho,
2016). This model also allows company to analyse all types of growth strategies which could be
adopted by them towards their business. Along with this, it also allows them to check that which
strategy is feasible for their business plan. The framework is consisting of four main types of
growth strategies such as market penetration, market development, product development and
diversification. With reference to RGD, all of these strategies are described below effectively:
Market penetration: This growth strategy states that businesses are required to sell
existing product in the existing marketplace in order to enhance chances of their growth. In
context of RGD, as per this strategy the management team of this company is required to sell its
sports equipment’s in the UK market only. This is because, they are aware about the product as
well as customers which makes it easier for them to influence interest of targeted customers.
Product development: In this growth strategy businesses are required to focus on selling
new product in the existing marketplace for their success (Howson, 2016). In context to RGD, it
can be said that the company can adopt this strategy by introducing sportswear for athletes and
6

sports person as its new product and sell it into the market of UK only. This strategy seems to
look more effective for the company as they are able to influence interest of their existing
customers because they are getting new products from the same brand. It has been analysed that
it is also easier for the customers too to trust on the company because they are already aware
about it and can easily trust on its new offering. Along with this, adoption this strategy will also
result in increase in the sales performance of the company as they are offering new products to
the customers which will provide them reason to make purchase from this company.
Market development: As per this strategy, business organisation is required to sell their
existing products into a new marketplace so that they can improvise their business performance
(Lidstone and MacLennan, 2017). In context of RGD, the management team of this company is
required to offering its sports equipment’s the into the new marketplace such as periphery area of
UK in order to expand its business. This strategy is seen as an effective growth strategy for the
company as they are able to approach maximum number of customers which are available at new
market place. It can be said that approaching of maximum number of customers will influence
their sales performance.
Diversification: Diversification is seen as the most riskier growth strategies among all as
it suggests to offer completely new product at new market place. For adopting this strategy, top
management of RGD is required to develop a completely new product that is sportswear and sell
it into the marketplace of Australia. It can be said that chances of success for this growth strategy
is quite low for RGD because the company is not having high customer base and it would be
feasible for them to attract adequate amount of customers who could provide justified business to
the company.
On the basis of above mentioned report, it has been analysed that product development is
considered as the best strategy for RGD as according to this the company will offer sportswear
within the UK market only. This decision of company will work as positive factor for the
company because they are aware about the market condition of UK as well as demand and
supply of customers. As a result, with this strategy it would be easier for the marketing team of
the company to attract existing as well as new customers with the new offering. This will directly
increase sales performance of company which will lead to enhancement of profitability of RGD.
Financial Forecast
7

Financial Forecasting is mainly defined as the process of estimating future financial
outcomes for an organisation based on historical figures and results (Rubin and Patel, 2017). It is
an effective tool used in the planning and strategy formulation activities undertaken by the
organisations all around the world. For RGD, a comprehensive Financial Forecast has been
provided wherein Demand, Supply, Sales and Inventory figures are forecasted based on the
historical figures:
Demand Forecast
Year/Products Skateboards Inline Skates Tennis Rackets
Ice Hockey
Sticks
1 420 320 470 380
2 416 349 483 387
3 395 373 2 0
4 492 524 693 555
5 375 584 726 581
6 376 644 724 490
7 335 718 680 464
8 319 795 704 447
9 313.7512347 865.9276 863.7016022 600.47764
The above table provides a break-up of units of four sports products viz. Skateboards,
Inline Skates, Tennis Rackets and Ice Hockey Sticks, demanded over a span of 8 years whereas
for 9th year figures have been forecasted. This shows that the maximum demand is for Inline
Skates as well as Tennis Rackets and minimum for Skateboards in the next year.
Supply Forecast
Year/Products Skateboards Inline Skates Tennis Rackets
Ice Hockey
Sticks
1 0 0 0 0
2 500 500 500 500
3 584 651 517 613
4 689 787 1015 1113
5 199 313 323 564
6 2 50 1 6
7 2 50 1 6
8 2 50 1 6
9 -59.61436407 -4.467691 -60.6841733 -56.3749989
This table indicates product supply break-up of the four sports products over a span
of 8 years wherein the supply has fallen marginally over the years. If the company needs to
stay operative, RGD needs to undertake new technologies and conduct proper market
research so as to maintain demand requirements effectively.
8

Sales Forecast
Year/Products Skateboards Inline Skates Tennis Rackets
Ice Hockey
Sticks
1 0 0 0 0
2 416 349 483 387
3 395 373 2 0
4 492 524 693 555
5 199 313 323 564
6 2 50 1 6
7 2 50 1 6
8 2 50 1 6
9 -44.08953916 19.82024 -4.33601435 18.2694889
The aforementioned figures are a financial forecast of Sales of RGD Sports products
wherein the sales have declined substantially for skateboards and Tennis Rackets in the
forthcoming period. Whereas they are almost same for both Inline Skates and Ice Hockey
Sticks in the next year. Thus, it is important to take necessary R&D activities so as to
prevent a situation of negative revenue growth in the company.
Inventory Forecast
Year/Products Skateboards Inline Skates Tennis Rackets
Ice Hockey
Sticks
1 0 0 0 0
2 84 151 17 113
3 189 278 515 613
4 197 263 322 558
5 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0
9 -15.52482491 -24.28793 -27.3912451 -38.831355
The aforementioned figures are a financial forecast of Inventory of RGD Sports products
wherein the figures for all has declined substantially in the forthcoming period.
Based on this forecast, it can be said that the company may face a situation of loss if
necessary steps are not taken so as to help it enhance its profitability in the forthcoming years.
Financial Requirements
In order to enable an organisation to achieve cost efficiency and resource allocation
optimism, it is also crucial to determine ahead regarding the various financial requirements
which may directly complement the needs forecasted by the management (Diamond and
Kashyap, 2016). In this context, a budget has been prepared and illustrated as under that provides
9

a detailed break-down of financial requirements essential for meeting the demand forecasted for
the next year:
Budgeted Financial Requirements of RGD for the next period
Particulars Amount (£)
Acquisition of Products from Suppliers 300000
Warehousing Costs 10000
Accounting and Legal 20000
Advertising 5000
Depreciation 4400
Research and Development Expenses 15000
Other General Costs 17000
Remuneration to Staff 1000
Selling And distribution Expenses 6000
Market Research 8000
Quality Costs 850
Total 387250
As per the above table, one of the main costs to be undertaken by RGD relates to
Research and Development Expenses that forms 3.87% of the total budget. This is important due
to the fact that the market is highly dynamic with a variety of industry participants. Hence,
acquisition of new technology and inculcation of innovation are two important ways for RGD to
redeem its position in the current market scenario. Also, in order to meet the demand forecasted,
the company would also require to buy more Sports products from their suppliers. This cost is
estimated to be not more than £300,000.
Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment
S.
No.
Type of
Risk Description
Who
may be
harmed? Likelihood Action Feedback
1 Higher Cost
of
Technology
Technological
Developments are rapid in
the industry. There is a
considerable risk of
incurring higher costs due to
their demand in the
industry.
RGD and
its
stakeholde
rs
Highly
Likely
Attract
more
number of
investors so
as to gain
funds at an
optimal
cost.
This action is appropriate
as RGD requires cheaper
sources of funds which
can help in recovering its
overall costs in short-run
and provide benefits in
long-run. Convincing
investors would help in
10