Business Plan Report: Strategies for Entrepreneurial Success

This report outlines a business plan for a vending machine service designed to provide essential medicinal and sanitary products to travelers. It begins with an introduction explaining the business model and its objectives, followed by a feasibility analysis that highlights the innovation and creativity b...Read More

Business Plan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Perform a feasibility analysis of the business plan. By using concepts of innovation and
creativity, conduct their importance in the working of entrepreneurs and their businesses...3
Conduct an STP and competitive analysis with opportunity gaps in the business through
detailed research.....................................................................................................................4
Illustrate Osterwalder’s business model canvas and Porter’s value chain, discuss the business
plan and explain how the plan will work in the market?........................................................6
Discuss business and the marketing tactics that the entrepreneurs attempt to gain success.
Investigate the errors committed by first-time entrepreneurs. Comment on the strategies they
apply for development, consolidation and underperformance...............................................8
Explain the financial techniques, planning tools and decision-making models that could be
used to estimate and diminish risks?......................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
A blueprint which shows marketing, financial and operational goals (Ahmed, 2019). In
this report, a vending machine of sanitary pads and other medicinal needs for travellers has been
set up at places where these needs are not easily fulfilled so that people travelling to different
places don't have to suffer and fear while deciding the dates and mode of travel. Osterwalder's
business canvas has been discussed to describe, design and analyse the business model. STP
analysis which shows the target audience of the service and how to make the service efficient is
also done. Porter's value chain, a tool that breaks the company into different segments to help
evaluate the activities in length and make necessary changes has also been explained. Moreover,
the various strategies on how to get funding and fulfil the everyday needs with different
marketing & planning tools for the company growth and to pacify the risks involved with the
idea are also discussed and provided.
MAIN BODY
Perform a feasibility analysis of the business plan. By using concepts of innovation and
creativity, conduct their importance in the working of entrepreneurs and their businesses.
There exists a very significant relationship between entrepreneurs and innovation and
creativity. It combines these two paths to align and apply them in a specific way to generate
business profits and sales revenue. Creativity is an important tool that helps the business to
prosper and is vital for the success of the business. The business plan is about a vending machine
invention that caters to the medicinal needs of travellers across different travel regions. It helps
the travellers by supplying them with the necessities of sanitary pads, medicines and other
medical items that are not easily available while travelling through different regions. The
feasibility of this business plan is determined by the way it has targeted the emergency medical
needs of the travellers across the country and has aimed to solve the issue of unavailability of
certain medical requirements at places that are easily accessible to the persons travelling
(Altobella, 2018). According to the market research done, it has been noticed that there are no
companies that cater to the medicinal needs of the people travelling as there occur many
situations in which there exists a need of emergence sanitary pads or any medicinal requirement
which then takes a lot of time for them to purchase and acquire from any medical shop or nearby

store, as to locate such stores become a task for travellers as they are at a place not known to
them or they are not familiar with. Concerning such situations, the respective business plan
decided plays a pivotal role as it represents and provides a new problem-solving idea to a certain
class of customers. The location decided for this business and its marketing includes all the
exigency places such as petrol pumps, parking lots, metro stations, airports and highway stations.
All these places are such that somehow occur in the travel journey and hence are an easy reach
for all those who travel across regions as they will surely not have any problem in finding and
locating any places that include these vending machines. The competitor base for this product is
negligible as there exists no company which provides these facilities at present. Although there
are companies which have their vending machine established at different locations mentioned
above including airports, and highways they provide food and snack items and hence there
remains no such competition for the company at this point (Despotovich and Traub, 2020). The
USP of the business plan is established by the creativity and the innovation of the entrepreneurial
mind that has brought in this idea to create and manufacture such vending machines that cater to
the medicinal demands of the travellers in different cities and regions where they are new to the
area, city or regions. The creative opportunity is exhausted by the entrepreneurs in the best way
possible as they take into consideration all the factors responsible for establishing a business and
innovating a product or service that proves to be successful in today's business environment. As
entrepreneurs with their innovative nature create the combinations of different products and
services according to the needs and requirements of people in the market and finalise a product
creatively with the help of the one that reduces the cost and provides maximum benefit to the
business. Entrepreneurship with innovation and creativity are very closely knitted to each other
as they provide entrepreneurs with the base on which they can place their business idea which
then flourishes in the markets due to their creative approach and USPs.
Conduct an STP and competitive analysis with opportunity gaps in the business through detailed
research.
Segmentation, targeting and positioning analysis enable the company to better understand
the market, help in customer satisfaction and use the data available so that auxiliary income is
generated. For the setup of vending machines, it is necessary to understand so that the business
flourishes in the dynamic environment. STP analysis identifies the niche market and accordingly
sets the strategy for the targeted audience (El-Hiary, 2021).

Segmentation is a strategy which targets a particular group of people the potential customer of
the products. Women and travellers who tend to get sick while travelling is the target audience.
Women are the main target group. Attracting this group with affordable products on their
journey is the way to influence customers. People who are in need and forgot to pack their
medicines are the focus group.
Targeting is a step where the selected niche market size, profitability and reachability are
checked. Fulfilling the needs and wants of this group of customers can be profitable, having
separate compartments for sanitary pads, travel medicines and some general medicines like
paracetamols might increase the customer size. Affordable rates would help connect people
better. For customers who are in need or want different products, the machine can cater to their
needs in even hard-to-reach areas.
Positioning the products that are being put up are quality assured, branded and expiry date
checked. The medicines can be consumed by people who are 14 or above. The price of the
products is nominal with a charge of 10% above MRP (Flori, 2018).
Opportunity gaps
There are a lot of disadvantages
 Flexibility for new entrants: since the setting of vending machines requires quite heavy
investment and protocols, competitors may find it difficult to enter the market.
 Equipment maintenance: the equipment used for the storage will require regular
servicing failing to which may result in loss of the machine. Even maintenance will rise
operational expenses.
 Heavy operational charges: with all the installation and purchasing of the machine, the
overall expenses will increase which will ultimately be reflected in the price of the
product.
 The marketing and advertising cost will be high.
In the UK, vending machine customers who look for on-the-go food have increased to 11
million. Based on an average, vending machines make approximately £15600 per year.
Vision and mission
The company strives to be a well-known leader in providing essential services and
provide satisfactory products to the customers. The mission is to provide the best quality,

MHRA-approved and long-dated expiry to all the people and commit to providing excellent
customer service (Gryn, 2021).
Illustrate Osterwalder’s business model canvas and Porter’s value chain, discuss the business
plan and explain how the plan will work in the market?
Key Partners Key Activities Value Propositions Customer Relationship
 Manufacturers
and suppliers.
 Written
agreement
binding
productions
 Logistics
businesses
 Departmental
and pharmacies
 Valuation
and pricing
 Analysing
consumer
needs
 Buying and
selling of
medicines
and sanitary
pads.
 Wide
accessibility
 Broadly
selected
products
 Safety
 Vending
machine
covers all the
necessary
medicines.
1. Establish reliance
among customers:
It is essential to
accomplish the
trust and reliance
of clients by
rendering them
superior goods and
services.
2. Online marketing
3. Faithfulness
4. Prolonged
relations
5. Customer
satisfaction
Customer segments Key resources Channels
 People from all age
groups above 14 years.
 Vend It is a new
business established
in the UK market and
provides sanitary
pads and medicines.
 A connected system
of networking
 Vending machines
 Airports, metros, bus
stations
 Social groups and
platforms (Janíček,
2018)
 Events
 Billboards

and logistics
 IT substructure
 They structured a
payment option
through mobile
wallets and cash.
Porter's value chain of Vend It:
1. Buyer's Bargaining ability: The buyers have only two options either get medicines from
home or buy them from the vending machine as pharmacies are not readily available on
highways, metros, railway stations and airports so in case of emergency people will have
to purchase.
2. Bargaining capacity of suppliers: The supplier's bargaining power is very high because
they'll assist in the supply of medicines and pads. Also, they are only gaining an extra
amount while they don't have to invest anything in the venture except their products. Plus
the suppliers are limited and have to be approachable so that the products can be re-
stocked in time (Jenkins and et.al., 2018).
3. Competitive magnitude and challenges: The porter model assists and guides on how to
calculate and check the capabilities and toughness of the competitive firms in the market.
The only competition is with the local shops that are present but our machines are
available at a little isolated place so competition is very low.
4. The problem of substitute products: Substitutes are not as such possible as shops are
not available and Vend It are not producing products but only providing them to the
consumers.
5. The threat of new firms: After looking at the machines in the market, there might be the
entry of new firms but the products would be different, no entrepreneur will put the same
machine at a similar location knowing one such machine already exists.
The vending company principally deals in sanitary pads and medicines and this business
will be profitable because no other business like this exists in the market. Along with generating

profits for their business, their motive is also to provide a comfortable tour to all the people
going for long distances. Moreover, providing the best quality and MHRA-approved medicines
makes it trustable. The business will also perform their everyday tasks like re-stocking
effectively and efficiently keeping profits and sustainability hand in hand. Continuously working
with the same spirit and work ethics in the coming years, Vend It guarantees to accomplish its
short-term and long-term goals and get along to become a well-known service provider in the
UK (Kakoyannis, 2018).
Discuss business and the marketing tactics that the entrepreneurs attempt to gain success.
Investigate the errors committed by first-time entrepreneurs. Comment on the strategies
they apply for development, consolidation and underperformance.
In today's times, entrepreneurs follow a marketing routine that allows them to help their
business grow and prosper amid all the competition and challenges present in the environment.
There exist certain strategies that should be followed by entrepreneurs to attain and ensure
success in the market.
Analyse the competition: For the entrepreneurs around the globe, no matter what the
business is about but all of them are required and advised to study the competition that exists in
their sphere of the market. The understanding of the competitive products, services and the rival
offerings should be clear-cut so that all the unavailable facilities that do not exist in the
competitors' products or services can be used and acquired in the business plan that the
entrepreneurs produce and market their products in the best way possible (Lüttmer, 2018).
Understand customer responses and adapt: In today's dynamic business environment, the
entrepreneurs must understand and listen to the customer feedback that is received. As an
entrepreneur, it is the responsibility to listen and adapt to the customer reviews and adapt to that
feedback to ensure the business growth and reach development. Adaptations are possible in any
field of the business, b it the business idea, product simplification or development or the
response to the trends and new applications. All of these help the entrepreneur to gain success in
the field of entrepreneurship with continuous growth and development.
The errors committed by the first-time entrepreneurs:
 Assuming the absence of direct competitors: It is almost impossible that there exist no
real competitors in the product or service that the business is marketing or producing. As

many first-time entrepreneurs make the mistake of assuming that there exists no direct
competition in certain products or services or that it is new and no one has established a
market in that sphere. There is always someone who has a niche in any market area that
exists hence the entrepreneurs should do their good research before thinking that there are
no competitors (Monin, 2018).
 Not deciding upon attainable results: This is a general problem among many new-time
entrepreneurs that come into the market as they decide on certain goals that are almost
impossible to attain and achieve in a certain restricted course of time. Hence it is advised
to them to leave this image of a big idea and focus on achieving standard goals that when
accumulated provide the business with the achievement of a big goal with the help of
specific and reasonable goal setting and achievement.
Strategies to utilize for development, integration and underperformance
1. Communication plays a crucial role in developing and improving the performance of the
employees and helps them improve the areas that they lack in terms of their working in
the organisation. As entrepreneurs have the responsibility of communicating all the
important frameworks, workings and models to those in the business to achieve growth
and integration of the company and its workings (Muthuraman and Giri, 2019).
2. Understanding the existing working conditions to learn about the areas that the business
lacks is an important part that the entrepreneur has to play in evaluating the present
workings and the steps that can be applied for further growth and development with
consolidations of various business goals and departments.
Explain the financial techniques, planning tools and decision-making models that could be used
to estimate and diminish risks?
Financial techniques are used to avoid unforeseen losses. It is a process that is necessary
to survive in this changing environment. It doesn't focus only on the Finance department but also
on the HR and Operations departments as well. Techniques used to lighten risks are:
 Evaluating risk: The risks which are unavoidable but can be calculated or predicted
should be taken care of first and save the company from losses. For example expiry of
stock, breakage or damage to the machine, etc. (Shaikh, 2020).

 Insurance: The vending machine will always be at the risk of natural causes like fire,
theft and disasters. Insurance of every machine should be done so that the company could
recover some amount from uncertainties.
 Funds for undetermined events: Things that are not in control of the organisation like
labour strikes, changes in economic policies, etc. to overcome these uncertainties, funds
should be maintained.
 Investment portfolio: Having investments in different areas can help in reducing the risk
and increase in liquid cash of the company.
 Avoiding the debt market: Loans should be minimum so that the company doesn't have
to pay interest and can increase its profits.
 Technology up-gradation: Maintenance and upgradation of machines have to take place
to keep up with the market changes and breaking down of the machine (Syed Nasir,
2020). Quality checks: Only the products that are MHRA approved will be put up inside the
machine and regular expiration checks will be done by the team. Moreover, a random
check will take place by the management to ensure that products are being re-stocked on
time and the machines are working perfectly.
Decision-making models
 Decision Matrix: It can be used when there are several products and different factors to
consider. Aligning factors and products on the x and y-axis and then taking decisions
based on the graph.
 Cost-Benefit Analysis: It helps to determine what will be the best alternative to decide
which product to use which is cost-benefit and at the same time is profitable.
 Pros and Cons: Make a chart and note down the pros and cons of the products as well as
the service to decide whether to continue with the product or service or not.
 SWOT Analysis: An organisation needs to analyse its Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity
and Threats, which allows the entity to look at its potentialities, risks, competition and
growth prospects.
 PESTLE Analysis: Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Legal and Environmental
factors need to be examined to know about the situations prevailing in the economy and

overcome uncertainties. When a decision is made these factors should be strictly analysed
(Wijaya, 2019).
 Pareto Analysis: When different actions are asking for attention, this technique estimates
the benefit each action will have and then select that action which gives the most benefit
possible.
CONCLUSION
The above report gives a detailed study about the business plan of a vending machine that
provides medicines and sanitary pads to travellers. It contains the feasibility study of the venture
with STP and a competitive analysis of Vend It. Additionally, Osterwalder's business canvas and
porters value chain has been discussed in detail. Moreover, business and marketing strategies
have been explained that can be undertaken to help Vend It grow and work efficiently. Lastly,
the financial techniques and decision-making models which can help the company to overcome
and avoid risks have been given.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahmed, S., 2019. Feasibility study and business plan for a new men fairness cream in Pakistan
an entrepreneurship venture.
Altobella, G.J., 2018. You’ve Got Skills—to Write a Business Plan: If you can execute a
treatment plan, you can also craft (and tweak) a business plan for your practice. The
ASHA Leader. 23(1). pp.40-41.
Despotovich, A. and Traub, B., 2020. Increasing physician referrals of patients with rheumatoid
arthritis to a health-system based specialty pharmacy: a business plan.
El-Hiary, M., 2021. Permaculture Design and Business Plan for Sustainable Livelihoods
Programming: Low-Cost, Sustainable Solutions for Food and Nutrition Insecure Agro
Pastoral Communities in Jordan.
Flori, G., 2018. Business plan for an Autonomous Driving Formula car in the FSG17
competition.
Gryn, M.P., 2021. Developing a Business Plan for a New E-commerce Enterprise (Doctoral
dissertation, Katedra Finansów i Systemów Finansowych).
Janíček, J., 2018. Podnikatelský záměr-založení marketingové agentury se zaměřením na affiliate
marketing: Affiliate Marketing Agency Business Plan (Doctoral dissertation, Brno
University of Technology).
Jenkins, M., and et.al., 2018. MU Grocery Delivery Business Plan.
Kakoyannis, C., 2018. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation-Delaware River Watershed
Business Plan.
Lüttmer, J., 2018. Business plan for an online booking pet related services marketplace:
Petsity (Doctoral dissertation).
Monin, C.C.M., 2018. Le Cocoon-coworking: innovative business plan (Doctoral dissertation).
Muthuraman, V.L. and Giri, S.K., 2019. Feasibility analysis and tentative business plan for
subject labs catering to elementary classrooms in rural areas.
Shaikh, N.R., 2020. Business plan to focus on retail segment for IGI funds product/services
[EMBA Project].
Syed Nasir, S.A.S., 2020. ENT300 Business Plan (Telekung Nor Aripah).

Wijaya, D., 2019. Perencanaan bisnis (business plan) penukaran mata uang asing (Doctoral
dissertation, Universitas Tarumanagara).