Analysis of Douglas & Gordon: Small Business Management Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Douglas & Gordon, a London-based estate agency, focusing on its small business management practices. The introduction establishes the context of rising rents in the UK and the selection of Douglas & Gordon as a case study. Task 1(i) identifies the firm and justifies its selection as a small business, highlighting its narrow market focus, personal relationships, and innovative approach. Task 1(ii) critically analyzes the opportunities and threats faced by Douglas & Gordon, utilizing SWOT analysis to evaluate potential solutions and strategies for growth. The opportunities include the rising demand for real estate and the implementation of new technologies, while threats include economic uncertainty and competition. Task 1(iii) examines team-building efforts and entrepreneurial processes within the firm, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and innovation. The report concludes with a reflection on the research and its implications for small business management in the real estate sector.

SMALL BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK...............................................................................................................................................1
(i)1 Identify a London estate agent and provide a rationale for choice of this firm as a small
business...................................................................................................................................1
(ii)2 Critical analysis and discussion of the potential opportunities and threats of Douglas and
Gordon. ..................................................................................................................................3
3.Team building efforts and Entrepreneurial processes by Douglas and Gordon..................6
4. Critical personal reflection on the research undertaken.....................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Small business is a small-scale enterprise that consists less number of employees and
other stakeholders and low volume of sales. These entities are usually owned by private
individuals and are certified by local or state governments (Lewis, D. and et.al, , 2017) . In the
present study the management of small scale estate business is discusses which is dealing with
the recent situation of UK in which rents are rising faster than the house prices Although,
management of small sized establishments is an easy but important process. In order to clearly
understand the management of small business entity, the selected organisation is Douglas &
Gordon which is founded in 1958 and a small-scale real estate enterprise located in South-West
London. The opportunities and threats of this entity will be analysed in this study. Further,
methods which should be implemented by the firm to deal with the development in the estate
sector will be identified and evaluated with the help of this assignment.
TASK
(i) Identify a London estate agent and provide a rationale for choice of this firm as a small
business
In the next five years, the rents in UK are set to ascent substantially quicker than house
prices. In UK the rent will rise to 19% by 2021 whereas house prices will increase by 13%. The
difference between house price and rent is even more in London. The average cost of renting a
property outside London rose by 5.1% whereas in London this percentage is 7.7% which is really
a matter which needs high concentration (Milligan, 2016) . The increased rent has made many
people homeless as they can not afford the rents. There are many reasons behind this increment
in rent such as high mass of people are moving to UK from different countries, rising taxes of
UK, increased living standard of people, etc. (Vandenbroucke and et.al, 2017) In order to
evacuate this situation government of UK has taken various steps. Also, a survey was conducted
after launching of governments' housing white paper scheme, that survey promised
encouragement for private developers to build large-volume rental flats for tenants.
In order to understand the management of a small scale business entity in present
context, a London based estate entity Douglas and Gordon is selected. This company is working
from South-West London from 1958 and became the most innovative, respected and independent
estate agents in London. All the options of estate business are present in this entity such as
buying, selling, renting of property, etc. The present study is based upon the rise in rent in UK
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and the impact of that rise of the small scale estate entities. The management of small business
establishments will be discussed and for that one organisation is selected. The selected entity is
Douglas and Gordon. There are many reasons for choosing this firm as a small business
enterprise for this study and they are explained below:
 Narrow Focus- Douglas and Gordon, being a small business enterprise concentrate on
adoption of narrow market. This approach helped them in earning god reputation of their
firm in a short span of time. Thus, consequent to their reputation, large customer figures
are met. But it is somehow difficult to manage a large figure by a small entity so the
effective management strategies will be needed for this entity (Jansson and et.al, 2017.) .
 Developing personal relationship- Small scale entities have complete idea of their
employees, suppliers and customers as they are limited in size. These relationships will
help the entity in developing its business value.
 Business for controlled or niche markets- Small businesses makes their profit by selling
their low scale services in regional market. They don't need to create a lot of sales to earn
profit.
 Nimble mindset- Douglas and Gordon can get new data from market and can alter their
business strategies to line up with new opportunity. Being a small business entity they
don't need to conduct various activities to alter their policies. Their flexibility is their
major innovation (Yan and Yan, 2017).
 Innovation- In Douglas and Gordon, there is no hierarchy of organisation, thus
implementation of various innovations and technologies can be done at the desired time
without disruption of high authorities. Thus, they can implement methods to deal with the
increased price rates of rent without any interruption (Mole and et.al, 2017) .
Douglas and Gordon contains all types of property either house, flat or other for buying,
long let and short let. Also, this entity is going to launch a new hybrid style model in Streatham,
South West London and in order to promote this model, the entity is offering an opportunity to
100 Streatham homeowners to sell their property free of any commission. In the upcoming time
when rents are to grow faster, they can use these property for renting to gain more profit. The
reputation of Douglas and Gordon among the residents of London helps in making customers
(Templin and et.al, 2017) . In order to satisfy customers and win their trust, the organisation
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provides them numerous services. Various services provided by the establishment are listed
below:
 Residential sales.
 Residential lettings.
 Property management.
 Corporate and relocation services.
 Professional Valuations.
 Lease Extensions.
 Refurbishment and interior services.
 D&G block management.
 Mortgages.
 Insurance.
 National Properties.
(ii) Critical analysis and discussion of the potential opportunities and threats of Douglas and
Gordon.
Douglas and Gordon being a small size enterprise comprises of various opportunities and
threats associated with its business.
Opportunities- The demand for real estate properties is growing vastly. It is an
opportunity for real estate entity holders to expand their business value. In the present context, it
is stated that the rent in UK will be increased rapidly in next five years. Thus, it is an opportunity
for real estate to buy properties and sell them on rent. Douglas and Gordon had already took a
step in this order, this entity has bought 100 houses in Streatham so that at the high rent time,
they can use them for renting.
Real estate business can analyse the opportunities and threats using the SWOT analysis
(Krishnan and Scullion, 2017) . There are many things which can bed analysed using the SWOT
analysis for example-
 Evaluation of the possible solutions depending upon the problems that are been arise in
the entity.
 Examining the weaknesses of the establishment and designing strategies to overcome
them.
 By enhancing the productivity level of organisation, both individually and collectively.
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 By implementing more accurate decision making strategies.
 Effective management of real estate resources.
Opportunities are the field where your business can grow and succeed, either by using
new services or through existing products. Opportunities of any firm can be determined by
evaluating its strength. Strength of the entity involves solid understanding of real estate taxation,
its respect and popularity in the region, the connections entity keeps with good hard-money
lenders, etc. Further, by asking the below listed questions, Douglas and Gordon can analyse the
opportunities coming to their entity:
 The business objectives on which you are working?
 The more you can do for your customers?
 How can technology be used in enhance of business?
 Do you keep the calibre to target new customers?
 Any more addition you can do to your services in order to gain business value?
Opportunities can be gained by:
 Implementing new technologies- Nowadays, the major element on which everyone focus
is the technology. The implementation of new technologies is a good tool in real estate
business (Lam and et.al, 2017) . Douglas and Gordon can enhance its services by
technological development. These technologies are beneficial for both the customers and
the entity. For customers, it provide them with the latest services and for organisations
they are helpful in reducing the manpower. Also, these technologies can increase the
productivity level of the real estate.
 Effective use of new communication ways- A long list of opportunities can be opened up
with the help of new and effective ways of communication. In the present date, internet is
the most effective and major source of communication (Martin-Rios and Erhardt, 2017) .
There are many methods of communicating with the customers and some are social
media, websites, company site, emails, phone calls, etc.
Present opportunities to the entity:
 The rent price in the UK will increase in next five years and thus, the people residing
there are more interested in buying houses so that they can save huge money in renting.
This factor is helping real estate entities. Douglas and Gordon can sell number of houses
in this time period.
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 Implementation of new technologies and new tools in the business has increased the
number of customers in the establishment (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017) .
 By its advance approaches and business strategies, Douglas and Gordon has weaken its
competitors which will result in high profitability of the entity.
 Douglas and Gordon can use its high understanding of real estate taxation and can
develop service according to them.
 With the connection of good money lenders, establishment have the ability to invest in
development and modification of services and products.
 The high popularity of Douglas and Gordon is the biggest opportunity for it. It makes the
maximum profit because of its respect among the neighbourhood.
Apart from the opportunities, there are also some threats associated with the Douglas and
Gordon. Threats in an organisations arises due to the weaknesses of establishment. Major
weakness factor for the entity are its limited savings, considerable economical uncertainty in the
region, etc. (Leonidou and et.al, 2017) Threats can be identified using these questions-
 What hurdles, company is facing?
 strength of the competitors?
 Economic condition of business entity?
Present threats to the organisation:
 In UK the price of renting is increasing rapidly. Especially in London this growth rate is
so high, resulting to this, the locals of the London are avoiding the services of renting
which is impacting the establishment.
 The substantial uncertainty in the economic condition of the UK are influencing the
entity to change its policies.
 As this entity is a small scale enterprise, thus the benefits of international expansion are
absent in this.
It is essential for Douglas and Gordon to evacuate the threats over the entity in order to
attain its aim of organisational growth.
(iii).Team building efforts and Entrepreneurial processes by Douglas and Gordon.
The process of developing and establishing the sense of team work can be referred as
Team building. Working of a group of people together by which they can develop their qualities,
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by mutually accounting the ideas and experiences of group of people is the easy and the most
appropriate way to that work can be found. Team building activities can enhance social relations,
it is profitable as well as time saving. By team building qualities and fair working environment
any organisation can achieve great success. The most important reason behind team building is
getting of the results, the reason behind this is the combination of planned ideas, events that are
motivational and fun, working in a team can built communication, planing, conflict resolving and
the problem solving skills of the candidates. Douglas and Gordon is a very good example of
team work, the organisation has started its first office in a flat of Sloane Square and now it is one
of the largest, most innovative independent Estate Firm in London and serving in almost whole
part of the London (Campbell and Park, 2017) . Basically its services includes lettings and sales
as well as corporate services, interior services, property management, refurbishment, residential
services, block management and others. Focus of the organisation is always to create healthy and
fair work environment which results in development of the company in every sector they are
working because of the work sprite and the friendly environment towards the workers.
Douglas and Gordon is having many fields in its organisation and each of the field is
making very good profit to the company, they are providing services in residential sales since
1958, and providing the best possible property asset and support to their clients. Their
management services includes key holding, rent and deposit collection, arranging inventories and
many other services which are being managed by their skilled and talented workers team
(Wheelen and Hunger, 2017). The organisation is also providing services Property management,
corporate and relocation services, professional valuations, lease Extension, insurance, mortgages,
refurbishment & interior services, block management, and also working in national properties.
Combination of all these services and a great sense of teamwork by the employees of the
company has lead Douglas and Gordon to create a benchmark and the trusted name in London as
well as all over the world.
Entrepreneurship can be defined as the process of launching and designing to run new
business and the people who are creating their new business are called Entrepreneur. Along with
any of the risk to make profit to the organisation it gives them the capacity and willingness of
taking the risk. Later the definition of entrepreneurship has expanded to how the entrepreneur
take their opportunities, exploit and evaluate them for profit making to their company and
opportunities for the development of their organisation. By creating or launching any new firm,
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business or even any new industries to for development and the creation of wealth (Daspit and
et.al, 2017) . An entrepreneur is the person who chooses to run a new business rather working as
an employee and taking every risk of running new business by proper study of business ideas and
services for the offering of proper sale. Commercial undertaking, factors of production, material
and financial resources indirectly controls an Entrepreneur and oversees the growth of the
enterprise.
The identification of the business opportunities and the development of the resources,
entrepreneurial opportunities also includes actions such as developing a business plans,
maintaining the production and the sale ratio of any business, hiring the human resources,
leadership providing. With the help of proper implementation, adjustment where necessary and
assessments,the organisational and the entrepreneurship strategies of any Real Estate
organisation can be understood. There are many ways to make money in entrepreneurship
process in Real Estate such as renting and owning of residential properties and making money
from them including selling of that properties, renovating and investment in improvement of that
property to increase its value (Cornée, 2017) . Investment in commercial properties such as
renting, selling and owning of that property, Also investment in mortgage notes, and also
working in Real Estate securities such as Real Estate investment trusts (REITs) and others are
good option of entrepreneurship.. Douglas and Gordon is servicing in all this possible ways to
make money from the beginning and spreads in all these business. Douglas and Gordon can be
the best example for the Entrepreneurship process as this firm also started with the small
platform with two entrepreneurs and now had spread in all over the London and many other
countries. (iv). Critical personal reflection on the research undertaken.
The above research was conducted on a situation of UK in which the rent price is
increasing more rapidly as compared to the house prices. I examined the impact of this situation
over small scale real estate business organisation Douglas and Gordon. I found that both
advantages and disadvantages arising in the entity due to this condition. It was evaluated that this
situation results is high demand of houses in the UK which is enabling the profit to the entity of
selling large number of houses. Whereas this condition came with a drawback too. The increase
in rent price will force people to avoid rent leasing and it will result in loss to the entity. In this
study I carried out some effective ideas of business in order to achieve some opportunities for
establishment's growth. Moreover, I carried out a research to compare those ideas with the
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opportunities and found that there are still some factors on which organisation should work to
gain more opportunities so that management can be done accordingly.
Also, I explained advantages of team work and effective process of entrepreneurship
which will help organisation in its proper functioning and operation. Further, advantages and
disadvantages of having small business entities can be evaluated using this investigation done by
me. I examined that there are number of benefits while working in a small scale business
organisation but there are also some threats associated with the small scale business. This
evaluation is really helpful for the one who is planning to open a small scale business entity in
field of real estate. Real estate is the rapidly growing sector and thus proper management of this
business is needed to stand in this competitive environment of this concern. Thus, in order to
attain success in this business it is essential to pre-examine all the threats, strengths, weakness
and opportunities of this sector and this study contains detailed information of all these factors
which are useful in small business management. I further added the importance and benefit of
narrow focused approach of this business type. Also, I examined various factors that can help
small business entities to evacuate the threats over them. I completed this research with the help
of secondary sources. The sources used in this study are company records, government reports,
books, journals and reports of small business management.
CONCLUSION
This study is based on a situation of UK. In this study, steps needed in effective
management of small business entities are discussed. For this study, a London based estate agent
is selected and a rationale was also provided for choosing this organisation. In this learning
analysis of all the opportunities and threats present in the the entity has entity are discussed so
that effective and proper developments cab be done. Further, the significance of team work is
evaluated in this learning and to enable the team work, team building process of the selected
establishment are carried out. Also, the process of entrepreneurship undertaken by the chosen
organisation in order to develop the firm is identified and evaluated. This learning is carried out
to understand all the factors of management of a small scale business organisation.
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REFERENCES
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Online
Milligan, B, 2016. (BBC News, 4 November 2016) Rents to rise faster than house prices, says
Savills. Retrieved
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[Online]. Available through: <http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37864258>. [Accessed on 7th
July 2017].
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