London Business Plan: Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Blue Inc.

This report presents a comprehensive business plan for Blue Inc., a fashion retail store in London, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship within the context of digitalization. The core idea revolves around transforming operational activities through a virtual shopping experience, capitalizing on market trends and consumer preferences for technology-based interactions. The plan outlines the company's shift to an online store with virtual trial features, aiming to reduce costs and cater to evolving consumer demands. It includes a detailed industry profile, business model analysis with key partners, activities, value propositions, and revenue streams, and points of differentiation. The report also addresses potential challenges, identifies the target customer base, and presents a marketing plan, competitor analysis, and discussion of funding sources and intellectual property considerations. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations for Blue Inc.'s strategic growth within the competitive UK retail market.

Entrepreneurship and
Innovation

Executive Summary
The report is on the new business plan developed for a new entrepreneurial venture in
London, United Kingdom. The overall business idea is to convert the operational activities into
digitalisation by analysing the market and trends and desire of people to have a technology based
interaction with business .Blue Inc. is coming up with a new online store which will offer a
virtual shopping experience to their customers. Company already deals in clothing, footwear and
accessories, the concept behind the business plan is to offer a virtual trail to all the customers and
avoid any personal contact. The company is also offering virtual assistance by the sales force pre
and post sales services and is offering free delivery with every purchase made with them.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Main body........................................................................................................................................1
Start-up business idea (product/service).................................................................................1
Industry profile.......................................................................................................................2
The Business model................................................................................................................2
Points of differentiation..........................................................................................................3
Challenges to business idea....................................................................................................4
Prospective customer..............................................................................................................5
Brief marketing plan...............................................................................................................5
Competitor analysis................................................................................................................6
Sources of funding..................................................................................................................7
Intellectual properties.............................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References:.......................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................9
Appendix........................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, these terms are used interchangeably in the modern world
because of their inter-relation with each other. Innovation is described as the implementation of
ideas the result of which is a new products or services or improved products or services,
processes, new marketing methods etc. The central idea behind innovation is, the idea or concept
which has commercial value which is not present in invention as it only benefits inventor, and
which make it different from Invention (Nadikattu, 2020). Innovation is a significant tool used
by entrepreneurs to exploit the opportunities and ability of them to convert invention into
innovation. Blue Inc. was founded way back in 1912 by Abraham Levy, is a fashion retail store
deals in footwear, clothing and accessories. The below mentioned repots is to articulate a new
business model along with business model matrix, evaluation of skills critical for strategic
growth and importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for strategic organisational growth.
Main body
Start-up business idea (product/service)
Innovations have enabled the business firm to better serve to the needs of the customer and
deliver them an exceptional quality of good and services. Blue Inc. traces back its history as a hat
shop in Stratford, east London, founded by Abraham Levy. The company expanded rapidly and
opened its first store with the desire to provide a young men an affordable clothing solution with
an eye catching street look. Blue Inc. with menswear also offers, kids wear and womenswear
with its flagship store in London’s oxford street. Company have come up with a new business
plan that is to expand their clothing, footwear and assessor services to more people beyond
geographical boundaries (Tohanean and Weiss, 2019). The new business idea is to offer a virtual
shopping experience to the existing and new customer via website, social media platform and
application. Company will list their products on online platform and will develop an extra feature
of virtual trail of the goods bought. The idea behind is to reduce the cost of manpower, physical
store and go digital with the people desires to interact virtually with the business and avoid
personal interaction due to pandemic. Blue Inc. currently deals in fashionable men’s women’s
and kids wear from casual wear to formal suits and products at certainly low price as compared
to other brands. Blue Inc. also offer its product range under the brand name along with Adidas,
Mossimo, and Polo Ralph Lauren.
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Industry profile
Evidently, there is a significant growth in the clothing and foot wear industry in UK which going
to be nearly about generate the overall revenue of approximately 60 billion pounds. People
spending on apparel and clothing store, as per the recent report of UK’s office for national
Statistics was approximately 55 billion pounds in 2019. The sector employs approximately
550,000 people in fashion, textile and retail stores in United Kingdom. There are several key
player in UK along with Blue Inc., including high street retailers such as Next Plc, New look,
ASOS, Blueberry, Marks and Spencer; and Primark. It has been noticed that women fashion
industry is growing at significant pace as compared to men and kids clothing (Sá, Casais and
Silva, 2019).
Significantly, there is growth in the online shopping in UK over the past few year due to
the technological advancements and changing trends in the global market. Over 60% of the UK
population prefer to but from online stores rather than a physical store, however there are many
potential buyers who prefer to buy from offline stores which have made the giant companies to
come forwards with an innovative approach to boost online sales. Blue Inc. have developed a
new business plan where customer not only will buy from online stores but also can try and
compare the look virtually without stepping out of their home or office.
The Business model
Key partners
 Technological
partners.
 Factories in
United Kingdom
for the production
of products for
Blue Inc.
 Application,
websites and
other online
platforms
Key Activities
 Online orders
 Customer service
 E-commerce
 Shipping
 Brand network
and expansion
Value Propositions
High quality
clothing and
fashion solutions to
men, women and
kids with affordable
pricing and eye
catching look as per
the latest fashion
trend.
Customer
relationship
Online stores
assistance to the
customer with
the aid of easy
operating of
websites, pre
and post sales
assistance and
support, onsite
representatives
over phone,
web and
Customer
segment
Customers
at Blue
Inc. online
retail store
is kids
from
ranging 4-
14 years,
(boys and
girls),
adult boys
and girls
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application. (16-24),
and men
and
women of
all ages.
Key resources
 Online
community
 Scalable platform
 Internet data
 analytics
 Brand network
 Capital
 Employees for
 assistance
 and support
Channels
 Social media
 Online network
 Official websites
 Newsletters
 Shops and outlets.
Cost structure
The start-up will require an initial investment of
$200,000 to start online stores with the exponential
features of virtual trials and home delivery. 75% of
the initial capital will be paid by the investors and
the rest will be borrowed.
Revenue stream
Affordable and lifestyle clothing.
Footwear, including, formals shores, sports shoes
for men, women and kids. Accessories such as
belts, wallets, tie, hand bags, official and laptop
bags.
Points of differentiation
Differentiation are all those unique features and attributes of a products and services that helps
the Blue Inc. in gaining competitive edge over other and maximise its profitability in long (Hua
and Lu, 2019). There are several key player in clothing and fashion industry in UK that are
already offering online shopping solutions to the customers in UK, however, this innovative
business plan of Blue Inc. will help the company thrive in competitive environment and hold
significant position.
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 Blue Inc. offers clothing and lifestyle solutions to all the age group kids, youngster and
adults which is helps the company to capture large market share and increase its revenue
and profitability. Unlike other brands, Blue Inc. majorly focused on high quality of
product at a significantly low price which ease the people to look stylish, modern and be
an eye catching sight on streets of London. As London is known for its latest fashionable
trends and most of the people aspire to look as good as others (Guangwei and et. al.,
2020).
 Another trait of this business plan is that, Blue Inc. is coming up with online store that
will ease people in shopping from their comfort zone meanwhile company also offers a
virtual trial of clothes, accessories and footwear for all the customers that in turn made
easy for the customer who avoid online shopping because of size and actual appearance
of the goods.
 This is not all, Blue Inc. provide complete assistance and support to the customer while
making online order and shopping, making them feel comfortable and valued at each step
(Guerrero and Urbano, 2020). The staff personnel guide the customers throughout the
entire buying process and maintain good relations with them through pre and post sales
activities.
Challenges to business idea
There are several challenges that come in the way of implementation of business idea into
actions or in other words, commercialisation of an innovation is not an easy task as there are
numerous challenges and risk associated with it. Below mentioned are the challenges faced by
Blue Inc. while forming a new business idea:
 One of the biggest challenge that Blue Inc. faced while developing an idea was the how
to make it more attractive and profitable for the company. In a modern world,
digitalisation in the business was not a unique idea that would maximise the performance
of the company as there were already few online stores such as ASOS which is a leading
online retailer store in UK. Therefore, in order to make the business idea more attractive
Blue Inc. came with virtual trial (Feldman, Siegel and Wright, 2019).
 Another major challenge that Blue Inc. faced was the appropriate selection of customer as
most of their customer segment does not use internet or any technology such as kids of 4
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years and old ladies. The idea was restricted to the limited number of customer who make
the use of technology.
Prospective customer
Each and every business exist and operates with the aim of catering to the needs of their target
audience in a best possible way and to achieve a differentiation in the competitive environment.
Blue Inc. offers clothing, footwear and fashion accessories to the people who aspire to look
different and fashionable meanwhile expecting to get a high quality of product at a cost effective
price (Saberi and Hamdan, 2019). Blue Inc. majorly deals in menswear, womenswear and kids
wear and offers them a clothing solution from casual to formal of a multiple brands including
Adidas, Mossimo and Polo Ralph Lauren along with products of its own brand. The list of
customer for the Blue Inc. is:
 Woking professional
 College students and graduates
 Children of age group (4-14 years)
 Housewives
 And people of middle income group.
Brief marketing plan
Vision: To be a leading online retail store in United Kingdom and across globe with low cost
pricing strategy and differentiation into the business.
Mission: Blue Inc. desire to maximise the sales revenue of a company and most preferable e-
commerce brand for the internet users.
Product: Blue Inc. have developed a personalised service for the customer who make use of
technology as a mode of shopping (Horne and et. al., 2020). As buyers from online stores were
facing problem of size and imitability of product, to meet their demand Blue Inc. have come up
with a new online store which will offer a virtual trail of clothing to make better decisions.
Price: A significant element of the marketing mix, price, is the value of a product perceive by
the customers. Blue Inc. have kept the price of the product relatively low to drive a people
towards online shopping and offer an affordable lifestyle solutions to the people who wants to a
eye catchy on London streets.
Place: This element of marketing mix refers to the place from where a company’s goods are
accessible. Blue Inc. operates through both online and offline mode but laying emphasis over
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online shopping due to the buying trends of the customer and repercussions of pandemic (Dai,
Byun and Ding, 2019).
Promotions: Promotion refers to the way adopted by Blue Inc. to market its product and services
to the target audience. An effective promotional tools and techniques are key to success in
delivering the message to the audience and establish a strong brand image in the market. Ads on
social media, announcement over official website and sending newsletters to the customer.
Competitor analysis
A brief analysis of already existing marketing player will assist Blue Inc.in determining
their current position and market share. Competitor analysis aid the company in determining
potential threats the business may face with regards to cost, demand and supply; profitability,
customer base etc. There are four top companies in UK fashion industry that may hinder the
overall performance level of Blue Inc.
 Burberry: Company is well recognised for its trench coat all over the world and currently
design and distributes ready to wear goods such as footwear, fashion accessories,
fragrances, eyewear and cosmetic (Heaton, Siegel and Teece, 2019). Company’s revenue
was estimated over £3 billion and net income of £120 million approximately as per 2020.
165 year old company has its operations in nearly 55 countries at 420 locations
approximately and has a workforce of approximately 9000 people.
 Next Plc: Another competitor for Blue Inc. is Next Plc which has been valued over 7
billion pound. Next plc generates a total revenue of £3200 million approximately and net
income of £280 million approximately as per 2021. Company has almost 700 stores
across Europe, Asia and Middle East out of which 70% are in United Kingdom only.
Next Plc is prominently recognised for selling goods in clothing, footwear, and home
products to more than 3 million actives customer with more than 44000 employees.
 ASOS: An abbreviation of “As Seen on Screen” with a signature statement of “buy what
you see over internet” ASOS was founded in the year 2000 in London is one of the
leading online fashion and retail store (Klingler-Vidra and Pacheco Pardo, 2019).
 The company offers clothes, accessories, shoes and beauty products primarily to the
young people. Through its online platform company offers over product of 850 brands
and generates a revenue of more than £3 billion as per 2020. With more than 4000
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manpower, company serves to its customer across UK, Europe and USA and make
shipments to across 190 countries.
Sources of funding
Each and every business plan needs an adequate amount of financial resources to support
their activities and finance the new business ideas and innovation. Blue Inc. needs financial
resources to digitalise their business to offer internet and technology enables services to their
customers who are keen to buy a products through online stores with additional features.
Sources of funding for Blue Inc.
 Venture capital: One of the most significant type of funding for the technology-driven
business and business which have a high potential for the growth in future (Nadikattu,
2020). Blue Inc. need massive amount of capital to set a up an e-commerce business for
which this is the ideal option to go for, however venture capitalist take an equity position
in a company and hold a significant position in strategic decision making setting vision,
mission and value system of a company.
 Debt capital: Debt financing is idea for the businesses which requires a huge amount of
capital to support their business ideas. In debt financing, Blue Inc., borrower offers a
securities to the lender, usually banks or public investors, such as corporate bonds or
promissory notes and sometimes debentures, leases or mortgages. Blue Inc. exchanges
securities in need of cash and make a repayment with interest over a certain period of
time (Tohanean and Weiss, 2019).
 Equity capital: Blue Inc. can also acquire funds from public through offering an
ownership stake to the investors in form of shares. Unlike debt capital, equity owners
does not seek interest on the amount rather they seek a share of profit generated over a
period of time.
Intellectual properties
Intellectual property rights, as the name suggests grants the human intellect same right of
protection as the physical product has with the aim of protecting the invention, innovation and
artistic work from theft or being used by other without the consent of the creators (Sá, Casais and
Silva, 2019). A set of intangible assets owned and protected by the company from the
competitors and other for the duplication or use of ownership. There are majorly there types of
intellectual property rights such as:
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 Patents: They are exclusive rights generally granted by the government agencies to the
inventors for their grand discovery and inventions. Patents offers a right to Blue Inc. to
the innovation idea which they have developed to offer a virtual trail of clothing,
accessories and footwear. Blue Inc. by obtaining patent can decide whether who and how
their invention can be used further.
 Copyrights: These type of intellectual rights grants authors and creators over their literary
and artistic work an exclusive right to use, copy or steal their unique work. Copyrights
holders can grants the authorization to anyone to use their work under licensing (Hua and
Lu, 2019).
 Trademarks: Trademark is symbol, slogan or a phrase capable of distinguishing the
offerings of the company from that of a competitor due to its uniqueness and captivating
features. They are assigned to the company through which it is easily identifiable and
owning a trademark means no one can copy or use the same.
Conclusion
From the above mentioned report it has been concluded that business plans act as a guidance
for the entrepreneurs to successfully implement the business ideas into action as these are
regarded as the formal written document which clearly states vision, mission and objectives
of a business, methods to achieve those goals and pre-defined time frame to achieve those
business objectives.
.
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References:
Books and Journals
Dai, Y., Byun, G. and Ding, F., 2019. The direct and indirect impact of gender diversity in new
venture teams on innovation performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and
Practice. 43(3). pp.505-528.
Feldman, M., Siegel, D.S. and Wright, M., 2019. New developments in innovation and
entrepreneurial ecosystems. Industrial and Corporate Change. 28(4). pp.817-826.
Guangwei, Z.H.A.N.G., and et. al., 2020. Research on Cultivation Mode and Realization way of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ability of Medical College Students. The Theory
and Practice of Innovation and Enntrepreneurship. 3(6). p.128.
Guerrero, M. and Urbano, D., 2021. Looking inside the determinants and the effects of
entrepreneurial innovation projects in an emerging economy. Industry and
Innovation. 28(3). pp.365-393.
Heaton, S., Siegel, D.S. and Teece, D.J., 2019. Universities and innovation ecosystems: a
dynamic capabilities perspective. Industrial and Corporate Change. 28(4). pp.921-
939.
Horne, J., and et. al., 2020. Exploring entrepreneurship related to the sustainable development
goals-mapping new venture activities with semi-automated content analysis. Journal
of Cleaner Production. 242. p.118052.
Hua, Z. and Lu, M., 2019, March. Research on Case Teaching Reform of Economics Course
Based on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education. In 2018 8th International
Conference on Education and Management (ICEM 2018) (pp. 478-481). Atlantis
Press.
Klingler-Vidra, R. and Pacheco Pardo, R., 2019. Beyond the Chaebol? The Social Purpose of
Entrepreneurship Promotion in South Korea. Asian Studies Review. 43(4). pp.637-
656.
Nadikattu, R.R., 2020. Effective Innovation Management in Strategic Planning. Rahul Reddy
Nadikattu, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND. 9(5).
pp.106-116.
Rosca, E., Agarwal, N. and Brem, A., 2020. Women entrepreneurs as agents of change: A
comparative analysis of social entrepreneurship processes in emerging
markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 157. p.120067.
Sá, E., Casais, B. and Silva, J., 2019. Local development through rural entrepreneurship, from
the Triple Helix perspective: The case of a peripheral region in northern
Portugal. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research.
Saberi, M. and Hamdan, A., 2019. The moderating role of governmental support in the
relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth. Journal of
Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies.
Tohanean, D. and Weiss, P., 2019. DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GREEN
BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION: LEAN STARTUP APPROACHES. Quality-
Access to Success, 20.
Online source
[Online] Available through: < https://fashionunited.uk/uk-fashion-industry-statistics/
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