Business and Marketing Plan: The Fashion Wardrobe, London, UK

This report presents a comprehensive business and marketing plan for "The Fashion Wardrobe," a fashion clothing business based in London, UK. It begins with an introduction outlining the steps involved in starting a business and emphasizing the importance of marketing fundamentals. The main body of the report provides an overview of the proposed business, including its aims, objectives, vision, and mission. It then delves into the marketing strategies the business intends to employ, particularly the use of social media and local advertising. A PEST analysis is conducted to evaluate the external environment, considering political, economic, social, and technological factors impacting the business. The report also discusses the competitive landscape using Porter's Five Forces model, assessing the threats of new entrants, competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, and substitute products. Finally, the report suggests a target marketplace, employing the STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) model to identify and focus on the desired customer segments, primarily targeting individuals aged 16 to 35. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of customer orientation and unique selling points for success in the fashion industry.

Starting a Business and
Fundamentals of
Marketing

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
An overview of your proposed business idea..............................................................................1
An evaluation of the external environment (PEST).....................................................................2
Discussion of competition along with the competitive advantage...............................................3
Suggestion for the target marketplace..........................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Starting a business is a long process and has various steps which includes market
research, construction of business plan, arranging for funds, selection of suitable location,
choosing right name, incorporation with the registrar and so on. Starting a business requires great
planning and time (Deepak and Jeyakumar, 2019). When an individual starts its own business it
follows some fundamentals of marketing in order to make the entity successful. This report is
based upon a marketing plan of a business which is going to be established soon by the name as,
“ The Fashion Wardrobe”. The business will deal with the fashion clothing of every section-
men, women and children. The report contains an analysis of the external environment of the
business along with the discussion of the overview of business idea. A discussion of competition
and suggestion for proposed target market are also being discussed.
MAIN BODY
An overview of your proposed business idea
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the business will be “To lead the fashion industry and supply its customers
with the latest trends of fashionable clothing.”
The business will aspire to achieve the following objectives:
 To build goodwill in the market in order to increase market share
 To know about the tastes' and preferences of the customers well. Satisfaction of customers for maximising the potential sales.
Overview of the Company along with its Vision and Mission
It has been observed that the fashion industry is growing rapidly all over the world and
people are engaging in it at a very high rate quite fast (Farooq and Raju, 2019). In UK, the
fashion industry contributes £28 billion approximately in GDP other than employing lakhs of
people for their creative excellence. The business is being incorporated in London, UK. As
mentioned above, the company will deal in the fashionable clothing of men, women and
children. They will try their best to serve them with the best and latest fashionable products at the
lowest possible cost. It is their strategy to build a positive image to attract customers and
establish its business well in the market. It will help the company fight with its competitors.
Vision: “The Fashion Wardrobe” will have the following vision –
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To make innovations and serve customers with the best quality products.
Mission: “The Fashion Wardrobe” will have some of the following missions –
Regular analysis of market because is to be done by the company to know the updates about the
latest fashion trends revolving in the market.
Marketing of Business
The business “The Fashion Wardrobe” will have various options available in front of it
for the promotion of its products in this highly technological world. Now-a-days, it is very easy
to reach millions of people within minutes. “The Fashion Wardrobe” will use social media or
social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc., for the promotion of its
products. Further, the business will set up campaigns and give advertisements in local as well as
vernacular newspapers to spread awareness about the products to more and more people so that
they can enhance their sales.
An evaluation of the external environment (PEST)
Analysis of the external environment
Business environment can be defined as the sum total of all the internal and external
factors which can influence the functioning of company (Day, 2022). PEST analysis is used by
the businesses for the evaluation of external factors which may influence a business working.
Below is the PEST analysis of “The Fashion Wardrobe”:
Political factors: Sometimes Government take actions which can have an impact on the
operations of the companies. These actions or factors are known as political factors as it is
related wholly with politics,i.e., the government. The fashion industry is growing at a fast pace
and the political stability in UK help the companies to operate smoothly without any hurdle.
Thus, it will be quite beneficial for the business “The Fashion Wardrobe” to establish its
company in UK from the political point of view. Corporate taxation, conflicts between armed
forces, etc., are some other political measures affecting the functioning of a company.
Economic factors: When there is any change in the economy which influence the
operations of the organizations, such changes in the economy are considered as economic
factors. Covid-19 pandemic, the effect of Brexit, economic stability, growth of the country, etc.,
are some of the factors which directly have an impact on the economy of UK in different years
and had drawn different impacts (Troisi and Et. Al., 2020). However, now the effect of both the
Brexit as well as the pandemic has reduced to a great extent and people are back to their normal
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life which means “The Fashion Wardrobe” will not suffer loss if start the business in near future.
The Brexit had various changes in the country and imposed various restrictions. “The Fashion
Wardrobe”, being a new business will not have much difficulty to comply with these rules and
regulations.
Social factors: Demand of people directly impacts the working of the organizations as it
is for their satisfaction that the companies are manufacturing products. The aspects which may
influence the demand of the consumer or their preferences are termed as social factors. Rising
consciousness towards health, desire to look the best, enhancing beauty, safety of the body and
so on are the factors which should be studied before the production of any product by doing
market research. Market research enables a company know the preferences of consumers. The
business of “The Fashion Wardrobe” will have to keep these factors in mind and then
manufacture the best products for its customers. Clothes which make their customers look nice,
attractive as well as make them feel comfortable. The quality should not be compromised. The
comfort of the customers will have to be the priority of the business, “The Fashion Wardrobe”.
Technological factors: Today's world is highly technical where the use of technological
tools is quite common. These tools are used by everyone whether individuals or companies for
the utter benefit. Everybody wants to make the best use of these technical tools for their growth
and development. The technical factors which draws an impact on the working of an
organization's results are known as technological factors. Gradual increase in the
Research&Development investments, increase in business automation, decrease in transportation
cost, etc., are some of the technical factors affecting the working of a company. Investing in the
field of R&D will be beneficial for the entity “The Fashion Wardrobe” as it helps in knowing the
tastes of consumers. Further, the company can use the digital technology or the social media to
expand their business especially among the youths.
Discussion of competition along with the competitive advantage
Every industry is highly competitive now. Porter's Five Forces model is quite essential
for understanding the competitive forces at work in an industry. The model helps to gain
competitive edge over the competitors of the company. The Porter's Five Forces model in
relation to “The Fashion Wardrobe” is given below:
Threat of new entrances
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Entry of new firms in the market increases the competition for the existing firms. The
fashion industry in UK, as mentioned above, is growing at a fast pace. Thus, it is quite clear that
the fashion industry is continuously welcoming more and more new firms in its field thereby
increasing competition for the existing ones and varieties for the residents (Blass, 2018). As “The
Fashion Wardrobe” is a newly established business, it will not have any threat from new
entrances until it is officially established in the marketplace. Hence, the threat is negligible.
Competitive rivalry
Competition among firms in the industry is known as competitive rivalry. The highly
competitive market of every industry make the firms rivals of each other (Moscato and De Vries,
2019). This threat will be quite high for “The Fashion Wardrobe”. As the company will be a
newly established business, it will be hard for it to fight in such a cut throat competition. It is
quite difficult for a new business to survive in the fashion industry and hence, “The Fashion
Wardrobe” will have to, by hook or crook, needs to make a strong customer base in order to
survive in the market.
Suppliers' powers
Fashion industry is quite large and thus there are various suppliers. The operations of any
business are not dependent on any one supplier only because there applies perfect competition
type of market rather than monopoly or oligopoly where the seller is the price maker (Routray,
2020). Under perfect competition form of market, the suppliers are price takers. Thus, it is clear
that the threat of suppliers' is low. “The Fashion Wardrobe” will not have to worry about the
powers of suppliers' as they do not have much power.
Buyers' powers
Fashion industry is quite vast and has a large variety. This give sufficient powers in the
hands of the buyers as they can easily switch from one shop to another. They will go to the
shopkeeper who will serve them with the best quality at the lowest price (Che Rusli, 2020). The
fashion industry is customer oriented and thus the threat of buyers to “The Fashion Wardrobe”
will be moderate. The company can reduce the threat after giving its best in producing the
quality products at the minimal cost.
Threat from substitute products
As the fashion industry is quite vast, it is clear that it has a variety of products and the
substitutes are easily available in the market. “The Fashion Wardrobe” after entering the fashion
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industry, will face a high threat from substitute products. Thus, it should invest money on
creative thinkers and should use their creativity for the purpose of producing unique products
which are different from the ones available in the market. This can help the company reduce this
threat to some extent.
Hence, it can be concluded from the application of the model Porter's Five Forces that
“The Fashion Wardrobe” will not have to worry about new entrances and suppliers' powers in
the industry while threat from buyers' will be moderate. The company will have to seriously
address the issue of substitute products and competition in the industry. The fashion industry is
customer oriented and “The Fashion Wardrobe” will too have to be customer oriented for the
survival in the industry. Unique selling price and products will be the point of recognition of the
company in the marketplace for rapid growth.
Suggestion for the target marketplace
STP is a marketing model used for targeting different group of customers in a more
effective and efficient manner by positioning a product or service. STP is an acronym for
segmentation, targeting and positioning.
Segmentation
It is the first stage of the model where the company creates various segments of the
consumers into groups who have identical behavioural aspects or attributes, tastes and
preferences, etc. This classification by companies is known as market segmentation and has four
segments namely, geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural segmentations
(Gilmore and Et. Al., 2020). “The Fashion Wardrobe” will decide to select, say, the region
section under geographic segmentation; age, family size, income under demographic
segmentation. Further, the company will clear that the lifestyle under psychographic
segmentation and user status along with the attitude towards product under behavioural
segmentation are to be considered. All these aspects will help “The Fashion Wardrobe” focus on
a section of consumers.
Targeting
The second stage of the model is targeting the best market. After the segmentation,
certain analysis is done which helps the companies find the best target segments for them. “The
Fashion Wardrobe” will have to be segmented the market and after analysis it came to a
conclusion that the company should target the people of the age group of 16 to 35 with at least
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average income. As the people of these age groups are more engaged in fashion and may give
company fruitful results. Groomed people will buy fashionable products more thereby increasing
sales and could be a segment targeted by the company, “The Fashion Wardrobe”.
Positioning
The last stage of the model is positioning and is quite important. It is all about the image
or the impression that the company's product have on the mind of the customers. A positive and
good image is essential for company's growth (Ike, 2018). “The Fashion Wardrobe” will use
various social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook or can give advertisements in newspapers
in order to make the consumers aware of its products and the qualities. The company might
specify in future, how their product is different from others and its uniqueness should be the
reason for the recognition for the company. This will help company grow faster.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that starting a business is a way long
process and the company has to do a lot of planning before stepping into the world of fashion
industry. As the company will be a newly established business., it will have to face certain
challenges. However, the company can overcome them with the help of strategies discussed
above. The company wants to serve its customers with the best quality of products at the lowest
possible cost.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Blass, E., 2018. Developing a curriculum for aspiring entrepreneurs: What do they really need to
learn?. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 21(4), pp.1-14.
Che Rusli, N. H., 2020. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship (ENT300) Business Plan: Artisticake.
Day, G. S., 2022. 9. Preparing marketing for greater turbulence. Handbook of Business-to-
Business Marketing, p.159.
Deepak, R. K. A. and Jeyakumar, S., 2019. Marketing management. Educreation Publishing.
Farooq, M. and Raju, V., 2019. Want to stay the market leader in the era of transformative
marketing? Keep the customers satisfied!. Global Journal of Flexible Systems
Management, 20(3), pp.257-266.
Gilmore, A. and Et. Al., 2020. Four questions of entrepreneurial marketing education:
Perspectives of university educators. Journal of Business Research, 113, pp.189-197.
Ike, L., 2018. Marketing: Traditional, Digital and Integrated. Xlibris Corporation.
Moscato, P. and De Vries, N. J. eds., 2019. Business and Consumer Analytics: New Ideas.
Springer.
Routray, J. K., 2020. Digital Marketing: Its impact on B2B in India-A study. Splint International
Journal of Professionals, 7(1), pp.25-32.
Troisi, O. and Et. Al., 2020. Growth hacking: Insights on data-driven decision-making from
three firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 90, pp.538-557.
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