EasyShop Business Plan: BH111 Entrepreneurship Assignment Project

This business plan outlines the concept for EasyShop, an online grocery delivery service in Malaysia, designed to cater to busy expatriates. The plan details the company's vision, mission, and objectives. It includes a comprehensive SWOT analysis, evaluating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The marketing section covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) strategies. The management section details the organizational structure and required skills. Financial aspects, including startup capital and financial performance, are also analyzed. The plan concludes with recommendations for future development, supported by a list of references and appendices.

Running head: BUSINESS PLAN
BUSINESS PLAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BUSINESS PLAN
Executive Summary
The business environment has become highly competitive in nature and with respect to this, it
can be understood that it becomes considerably important that new business ideas must be
developed in a timely manner to ensure long term success. Hence, in this aspect it can be
mentioned that the given report is based on one such business plan in Malaysia whereby the
customers can avail grocery items at home by ordering these goods through the company website
or the application. The report follows a systematic format whereby the company description has
been followed by an information on the marketing of the firm which is then followed by the
management and the financials of the firm. Certain recommendations have also been provided.

2BUSINESS PLAN
Table of Contents
1. Business Profile...........................................................................................................................3
1.1: Background on Business and Business Nature.....................................................................3
1.2: Organization Vision, mission statement...............................................................................4
2. Marketing....................................................................................................................................5
Section 2.1: SWOT Analysis of the product/service...................................................................5
2.2: Marketing Strategies – 4P’s..................................................................................................8
3. Management................................................................................................................................9
3.1: Management hierarchy/structure that is currently being implemented................................9
3.2: Relevant management skills required in the workforce.....................................................11
4. Financials...................................................................................................................................11
4.1: Startup capital requirement and source of funding.............................................................11
4.2: Financial performance........................................................................................................14
5. Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................20
6. References..................................................................................................................................21
6. Appendices.............................................................................................................................24

3BUSINESS PLAN
1. Business Profile
The business idea which has been largely chosen for the purpose of this specific report
can be stated to be that of the Grocery application which will provide the customers as present in
Malaysia with the convenience of buying grocery online and getting it delivered at the
convenience of their homes (Warschun et al. 2012). With respect to this, it can also be mentioned
that the items which are ordered by the customer from the mobile application or the website, will
be home delivered at cheap prices (Brigham and Houston 2013). The company will have a
limited operational cost as it runs as a middlemen and connects the wholesalers and vegetables
farmers directly to the customers. The application is planned to be launched in May 2019 and
will run on a subscription based model.
1.1: Background on Business and Business Nature
The business can be stated to belong to the e-commerce segment with respect to which it
can be mentioned that the business will be planned and designed as per the convenience of the
customers. The application or the website from which the customer orders will be taken will act
as the mediators between the buyer and the seller and hence, earn a considerable revenue from
both the parties at large (Shi and Zhang 2014). The application can be accessed from both
Android as well as the Android platforms and will provide adequate assistance to the different
individuals. The new crowd in Malaysia can be stated to be of growing expatriates and they are
extremely busy with their lifestyle which makes it considerably difficult for them to shop for
their needs. For this reason, Easy Shop provides the customers with an opportunity to not worry
about their grocery needs and just order their requirements with a single click (Brooks 2015).
Refer to Appendix 1

4BUSINESS PLAN
1.2: Organization Vision, mission statement
The organizational objectives, vision and mission statement can be stated to be as follows
Vision statement
 The Easy Shop can be stated to be a web based and mobile application start-up plan
which aims to operate in Malaysia with the following vision in mind:
 To make Easy Shop a household name in Malaysia
 To become one of the most innovative companies in 2019
 To provide convenience to the customers.
Mission
Easy Shop has come into existence with the aim of becoming one of the most popular
organizations as present in Malaysia and to see this growing inconvenience of the expatriates as
an opportunity to perform well. As the use of technology in the form of internet websites and the
mobile applications has become increasingly popular, Easy Shop aims to reach out to the
customers through this medium and deliver grocery items at their doorstep.
Objectives
The primary objectives of Easy Shop can be stated to be as follows:
1. To provide adequate service to the customers at all the hours
2. To build a large business empire with considerable networks
3. To provide the different customers with good products at affordable prices
4. To provide the customers with an overall satisfactory experience
5. To earn high amount of revenue and increased brand name.

5BUSINESS PLAN
2. Marketing
Marketing constitutes a relevant part of the organization and hence, with respect to this, it
can be rightfully stated that, if Easy Shop wants to expand its operations into the different parts
of Malaysia and convince the customers to purchase goods online instead of visiting the different
departmental stores, they will be provided with goods at the best prices at home (Pozzi 2012).
The different marketing strategies as to be adopted by Easy Shop will be largely discussed in the
particular section.
Section 2.1: SWOT Analysis of the product/service
The particular service can be stated to be of a grocery application names EasyShop which
allows the different consumers to order grocery items, fruits and vegetables at the convenience of
their homes and also get the item delivered at their doorsteps (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund 2013).
The SWOT analysis of the service which is an application has been provided as follows:
The SWOT analysis is a useful strategic management tool which is largely used by the
organization to analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the business as
faced by them. The SWOT analysis of Easy Shop has been provided in the following section:
Strength: It can be described as an internal ability of the business to combat against the
different forces as present in the external environment of the firm (Nilsson et al. 2015). These
can be stated as follows for Easy Shop:
 Product Range: The product range as kept by the company can be considered to be very
high. The application has various kinds of products under its basket and with respect to
this, it can easily fulfill the larger needs of the different audiences it caters to.

6BUSINESS PLAN
 Discounts: The EasyShop offers its customers with a large amount of discounts due to the
limited operations costs the firm is exposed to (Best 2013). In case the firm has an
operational department, the discounts of the firm would not have been this high.
 Convenience: The convenience is the primary strength of the business. Through the Easy
Shop application, the customers can gain a larger discount base as well as effortless
purchases.
 Choice of Target Market: The choice of target market as made by EasyShop can be
considered to be quite strong (Mullins, Walker and Boyd Jr 2013). By targeting the
expatriates, the firm has been successful in ensuring that, it is targeting the audience
which is mostly likely to make use of the application.
Weaknesses: The weakness can be stated to be an internal shortcoming of the business
which tends to affect the overall success of the firm at large (Beardwell and Thompson 2014).
1. Delivery time: Very often due to the large number of deliveries, the application may not
be successfully able to deliver the products to the different customers on time.
2. High variable costs: The variable cost of the application which comprises of costs like the
transportation costs, conveyance costs, cost of delivery executives and others which can
add up to the costs of EasyShop (Laudon and Laudon 2013).
3. Cancellation of Orders: Very often after the order has been processed by the firm, the
customer can cancel the order and this can lead to a loss on the side of the firm (Saunders
2014).
4. Minimum order requirement: The application has a minimum order requirement which
may or may not be easily fulfilled by the firm and is a weakness.

7BUSINESS PLAN
Opportunities: The opportunities can be described as the factors lying outside the work
environment of the business which may have an impact on the overall performance of a firm
(Baden-Fuller and Haefliger 2013).
 The Malaysian Market: The Malaysian market can be stated to be a growing market and
the plan of EasyShop to expand its operations in the country can be stated to be a smart
idea (Chan, He and Wang 2013).
 The expansion opportunities: Moreover, aside from Malaysia, if the EasyShop is able
find success, will be able to ensure expansion to the neighbouring countries as well
(Kotler 2013).
 Value packaging and cross selling: Easy shop can also engage in valued packaging and
cross selling which adds up to the revenue of the firm.
Threats: The threats can be stated to be the existence of those factors lying outside the
firm and can cause barriers to the success of the firm.
 Big players: There exists a presence of a large number of competitors in the market and
these large departmental stores can lead to a barrier in the operations of EasyShop.
 Competition: The competition which exists in the Malaysian Supermarket and e-
commerce industry can be believed to be very high (Jiang, Yang and Jun 2013).
 Changing needs of the consumer: Lastly the needs of the customer are changing regularly
which may be difficult to cope up with from the side of the firm.
 Retention of the consumers: The retention of the consumers may also considered to be a
difficult procedure and form a barrier in the eyes of the firm.
Refer to Appendix 2

8BUSINESS PLAN
2.2: Marketing Strategies – 4P’s
The marketing mix strategy can be stated to be a comprehensive strategy which goes a
long way in ensuring that a firm is successfully able to find long term success in the overall
operations of the firm. The 4Ps of the marketing mix of EasyShop is as follows:
Product: The EasyShop has kept in store a large number of products to increase the
attractiveness of the application in the eyes of the different consumers (Arnold 2013). In lieu of
this, the firm offers a strategy of stocking products like fruits and vegetables, food grains bakery
as well as dairy, beverages, branded food items, beauty and hygiene, Household items, Gourmet
as well as eggs, meat and other personal hygiene items (Hutt and Speh 2012). Moreover, the
business idea can be stated to be in the form of a service with respect to which is present in
Android as well iOS applications.
Price: The pricing strategy of EasyShop can be stated to be a price penetration strategy
whereby the firm offers a lowered pricing policy to its customers and tends to ensure that the
prices are in competition with the different supermarkets so as to ensure that the firm can gain
greater preference from the side of the customers as compared to the supermarkets (Higgins
2013). In addition to this, the firm offers a considerable amount of discounts which then makes it
popular.
Place: The application has its operations in various parts of the country of Malaysia
which includes cities like Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Ipoh, and Petaling Jaya, shah Alam,
Kuantan and Johor Bahru. The organization has considerable plans to expand its operations in
other parts of the country as well. The application will be providing the customers with delivery
options like that of Express Delivery and Standard delivery (Armstrong et al. 2015). The
company offers an inventory model whereby the basic goods like the skin care, baby care items

9BUSINESS PLAN
and other such goods are sourced directly from the suppliers but the firm is not able to stock in
the vegetables and other related goods (Hutt and Speh 2012). Its head office is based in Kuala
Lumpur, with regional offices in every city it operates in.
Promotion: The Promotional strategies can be stated to be one of the most crucial
strategies which are to be adopted by the firm in order to gain success in the long run. The
EasyShop applies various marketing as well as the pricing strategies which ensures that the
business is ahead of its competitors (Higgins 2013). They have hired popular celebrities to be a
part of the promotional activities of the company and this has assisted it to gain popularity
amongst the large masses. The company offers periodic offers to the customers and gives
cashbacks and discounts on a higher purchase.
3. Management
3.1: Management hierarchy/structure that is currently being implemented
The management forms an integral part of the organization and with respect to this, it
needs to be understood by the organization that it needs to hire a good management structure
which will ensure the convenience of operations and quick decision making (Anantadjaya 2013).
The current management hierarchy can be stated to be a combination of autonomy and
governance.

10BUSINESS PLAN
Figure 1: The management structure of the firm
It can be understood from the given organizational structure that for EasyShop there
exists a country head to whom all the city heads report (Higgins 2013). The city heads have two
different departments working under them which comprise of the management of the supply and
demand side. The supply side ensures that the firm is able to manage a good relationship with the
suppliers and is able to source the different products as per the demand easily. The demand side
manages the customer orders (Al-Nawayseh 2013). A third department manages all other
operations like Human resources, marketing and legal formalities. The primary features of these
structures can be stated to be as follows:
 It allows a complete control of the different operations to the different head management.
 It allows a certain extent of autonomy to the city heads
 It allows smooth decision making (Gatewood, Field and Barrick, 2015)
Country Head
City Head 1
Sourcing of the
supply
Delivery and
management of
the demand
Marketing and
others
City Head 2
Sourcing of the
supply
Delivery and
management of
the demand
Marketing and
others

11BUSINESS PLAN
 It allows a continuous flow of operations.
3.2: Relevant management skills required in the workforce
The workforce can be stated to be an integral part of the business as being managed by
the EasyShop and runs mainly on market forecasts (Chwolka and Raith 2013). Moreover, as the
different employees deal directly with the different customers as present, they are required to
build strong relationships with them. The skills required are as follows:
 Communication: The workforce of the firm are required to be good communicators as
these aspects will go a long way in ensuring that the firm is successful in communicating
with the customers.
 Decision making: The decision making regarding the market forecast, management of
supply and demand needs to be adequate in nature.
 Knowledge of the locations: The individuals will be required to have a knowledge of the
locations to carry out the delivery procedure smoothly.
 Time management: The time in the delivery process is a crucial part of the firm and
hence, a knowledge with respect to the same is also required.
4. Financials
4.1: Startup capital requirement and source of funding.
Important Assumptions
Year 1 model inputs