Business Plan: Galaxy Retail's Response to the COVID-19 Challenge

This business plan outlines the strategy for Galaxy Retail, a new retail venture focusing on organic and immunity-boosting products, including grocery items, in London. The plan begins with an industry analysis, including PESTLE factors and market trends, followed by a product description and an application of the Ansoff matrix. The report then details the company's USP, competitor analysis using Porter's Five Forces, and a sales and marketing strategy. An operations plan, a risk and contingency plan, and a financial plan are also included. The business plan emphasizes the company's use of VR technology to enhance the customer experience and addresses challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes a detailed financial and funding plan and outlines the management team's structure.

The Covid Challenge
Business Plan
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Table of contents
Business details............................................................................................................................3
Industry analysis..........................................................................................................................3
Product description......................................................................................................................5
USP and competitor analysis.......................................................................................................6
Operations plan............................................................................................................................7
Risk and contingency plan...........................................................................................................7
Sales and marketing strategy.......................................................................................................8
Finance and funding plan.............................................................................................................9
Management team......................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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Business details
Objective –to become most valuable and trusted company
Mission
To increase customer experience by providing them high quality products with ease. Also, to
provide VR experience to customers in stores.
Location- the stores of Galaxy retail will be located at high street market London. The head
office address is 887, Gain, Bradford, UK.
Business details
Galaxy retail is planning to establish an online and physical retail store. It will offer
variety of organic and immunity booster products to customers. Besides that, it will be a retail
store where grocery items is also available (Abdullah, 2020). Galaxy retail will also provide
home delivery of products and it will have its own App as well from where customers can do
shopping and order products online.
Industry analysis
It is necessary to do industry analysis so that it can be identified what factors can impact on
business operations. Besides that, in retail sector there occur trends so doing analysis will help in
finding out those trends. Thus, there are framework to do analysis which is as below :
Pestle analysis
Political – In this it includes factors such as trade laws, tariffs, change in government, etc. Thus,
any change in these directly impact on business. However, brexit is also a factor in this as UK
rules and regulations changes. Thus, Galaxy retail operations will be affected as they have to
follow UK regulations. Besides, Brexit may led to high inflation and low expenditure of
customers.
Economic- There are factors such as interest rate, currency rate, GDP, per capita income,
economic growth, etc. of nation. Hence, any change in these factors affect on economic growth.
Moreover, due to covid 19 economic growth of UK has declined. Thus, it will impact on Galaxy
retail sales and profits. In addition, the growth of business can be affected as people make less
expenditure.
Social – The social factors are related to change in taste, needs, etc. of people. Also, it includes
ethics, values, of culture followed by people (Bulatova, 2018). Due to covid 19 the lifestyle of
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people has changed. They have become more health conscious and their needs have changed. It
will affect on Galaxy retail in positive way. This is because the firm is offering organic and
immunity booster products. So, more customers is attracted towards it.
Technological – It consist of technological advancement. As UK is developed nation and due to
lock down more people are using technology. Therefore, this factor will affect on Galaxy retail
operations in positive way as they are also e commerce business and provide home delivery of
products. Besides, Galaxy retail can operate in wide area and attract more customers.
Legal – it contains laws and regulation related to employment, health and safety etc. So, if there
is any change in these then operations is impacted. However, due to covid 19 there is change in
health and safety rules. Hence, Galaxy retail will have to focus on health of staff. So, there
operations will be affected due to that.
Environmental – In this it includes factors that is CSR practices, environmental laws, etc. The
UK government has focused on reducing carbon emission. For that new guidelines and laws are
implied that focus on reducing use of plastic (Colclasure, 2020). Therefore, this impact on
Galaxy retail operation in negative way.
It has been analysed that in UK the total retail sales value in 2020 was £403 billion.
Moreover, there are total 306, 985 retail outlets and the sector generate about 5 % of GDP.
Besides that, the annual growth rate of online retail sales in 2002 is 45% and since 10 years there
is rise of 324% in online sales. Furthermore, there are 2.9 million employees in retail sector. It is
evaluated that there is growth of 2.2% in retail sales in 2020. There is 28% proportion of retail
sales which was online in 2020. In 2021, the retail sector is only one which has increased to
2.1% as compare to all other sectors.
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By above graph it can be stated that in UK retail sector is growing rapidly. In 2005 the
industry was 281 million worth which in 2020 is 436242 million. This clearly shows that in UK
retail industry is expanding and there is high rise in its sales and profits (Costa, 2017).
Product description
There is need to describe the products or services that is being offered by Galaxy retail. In
this company will provide variety of products such as grocery items, organic food, eatables, etc.
Besides that, it will also offer immunity booster powder, biscuits, snacks, etc. These all basic
necessities items is offered by Galaxy retail. The products will be available on both App and in
stores of Galaxy retail.
Ansoff matrix
It is a framework which allows Galaxy retail to develop plan and strategy to expand in
market. The matrix contains 4 strategies that can be adopted. The market penetration strategy is
one in which focus is on existing product and current market (Lima, 2020). Market development
is one in which company enter in new market with same products. In case of product
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development, the business develops new products in existing market and diversification is
strategy in where firm enter in new market with new product. Thus, this is most risky strategy as
it can led to failure.
But for Galaxy retail they need to focus on market penetration only. This is because it is a
new venture and there is no awareness within people regarding it. Hence, by doing promotion,
and giving offers, etc. Galaxy retail can attract customers.
USP and competitor analysis
STP- It is important for F&J to find out their target audience so that their needs are
fulfilled. For that STP is done which is a strategic framework and it helps in finding target
market.
Segmentation- this is first step in which segmentation is done in basis of specific criteria. It can
be demographic, behavioural, etc. so, here F&J will do segmentation on basis of demographic. In
that they will chose age.
Targeting- This is done after doing segmentation. In this the criteria followed is on basis of
demographic that is chosen above (Hasmidyani, Fatimah, and Firmansyah, 2017). Therefore,
F&J will target people of age between 23- 45 who are adults.
Positioning- The last step where positioning of product is done in such a way that it attracts
people. Here, purpose is to create a distinct image in mind of target audience. Thus, F&J will
position themselves in market by giving discounts, offers, etc. on buying products.
USP -
It refers to unique selling price of product and what are distinct benefits that is being
offered by Galaxy retail to customers. The benefits differentiate company from its rivals. Thus,
there are many types of benefits in it such as quality, product features, characteristics, etc. It
depends on nature and type of product.
However, Galaxy retail USP is that it offers VR technology to its customer to visit the
store and then buy products. Along with that, the organic product that is offered is of high
quality. Thus, it enables in gaining competitive advantage in market with help of USP.
Porter five force model- This model is used to evaluate and analyse the competition in market. It
determines industry strength and weakness. With that the strategy is developed. So, it is as below
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Threat of substitute- this means threat of substitute of product and service. Thus, here threat of
substitute is high in this as there are various types of substitutes available. So, power of threat of
substitute is high in this.
Competitive rivalry- it refers to competition in industry. Thus, there is intense competition in
industry as there are many retail stores already operating in London. So, power of competitive
rivalry is high in this (McCardell, 2018).
Threat of new entrant- This means the level of new entrants entering in industry. The entry and
exit barriers are easy and simple in retail sector. Therefore, new business can easily enter in this
segment.
Power of buyers- it means if there are more buyers than they are having low power to drive
prices and if customer base is low then power is high to drive prices. In this there are more
buyers so power of bargain is more.
Power of suppliers - it means if there are more suppliers than they are having low power to drive
prices and if few suppliers then power is high to drive prices. In this there are more suppliers
which provide services to customers. Thus, the power of suppliers is more.
Operations plan
It is crucial for the chosen company as they must be able to divide the activities as per the
performance levels. It further could help in preparation of an operational plan so that the projects
and tasks can be smoothly executed (SAMKOVÁ, 2018). In this, the departments must be given
a specific list of instructions’ so that the people could be allotted duties and responsibilities. The
IT team can maintain the technical aspects such as website, application and related features. Next
is the Marketing department that must focus to do branding in a positive direction so that clients
can stay loyal. One of the important departments is HR who must hire skilled employees so that
the training is given effectively and the Finance team can also optimise the make the transactions
based calculations on a daily basis. The budget must be set to fulfil the requirements’ and get the
allocation.
Risk and contingency plan
There may occur various types of risk in new business venture. The risk may impact highly
on it growth and operations. Thus, there is need to find out what type of risk may occur and on
basis of that measure is taken. Hence, the risks are defined as below :
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Area Risk Degree of risk Mitigation strategies
Financial risk: there
may be lack of funds or
capital to run business
operations
Bad depth investment High In his credit insurance
can be taken in order
to protect bad depth
investment
Technological risk:
There may occur
technical errors in
business website
Failure of website to load Low There is need to
maintain website by
finding out errors and
updating it.
Hardware
malfunctioning in which
system can stop
functioning properly
(Tamarit Marzo, 2020)
Moderate All the hardware’s
and other systems
should be tested and
checked. Also, there
is need of back up of
system failure.
Health and safety risk -
Staff can get sick due to
covid 19
The staff while
delivering products or
selling it may suffer from
covid 19.
High By providing them
PPE kits, face shield,
gloves, etc.
Economical risk- due to
Brexit F&J may not be
able to sustain in
market for long term.
The brexit can highly
impact on F&J
operations and growth.
They need to work as per
UK laws and policies
High This can be mitigated
by forming flexible
laws and policies.
There is also need to prepare a risk contingency plan to ensure that measures are properly
taken to mitigate risks. Thus, the plan is defined as :
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Sales and marketing strategy
There is need to develop an effective marketing strategy so that Galaxy retail can promote
their products in market. So, for that it requires to follow marketing mix which is specified as:
Marketing strategy
Marketing is one of the important elements while selling a product by a company and it
focuses on the brand awareness and overall branding of the products (Wańkowicz, 2019). It will
further assist in making the sales and lead to sales generation for the company. Here the
marketing mix can be implemented as the tool to promote the products of a firm by fixing a
target audience, location and cost. It consists of different elements that helps in the brand
promotion and generate sales for the chosen company.
Product is defined as the physical merchandise that represents the brand of a company and
reflects upon the quality. It is mostly given to customers and in context to galaxy retail; it
involves grocery and items related to the retail sector that help in fulfilling the needs or
requirements’.
Pricing is another element that helps in making a strategic input for sales or marketing. It refers
as the product’s value in terms of the quality, raw materials’, and overall packaging. If low price
is kept then it might influence the profit rate and if high price then the customers might find a
replacement. In context to galaxy retail, the market price is considered so that the selling is done
the basis of maximum retail price. However, initially the discounted pricing can be adopted.
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Risk Action taken
Financial risk By preparing budget and calculating
and profit and loss and then finding
capital and funds required.
Technological risk This can be minimized by testing
software and keeping back up of
hardware system.
Health and safety risk Here, changes can be made in health
and safety guidelines and continuous
monitoring it.

Place is defined as the physical space in terms of stores, or distribution channels to dispatch
products. It is important to make the deliveries on time without any damage. For galaxy retail,
the aim is to perform the selling via digital or online platforms and it must reach the customer on
time so that the business operations can run smoothly.
Promotion is the major aspect of sales and marketing that can build the awareness about the
brand and display a good image in the markets while promoting (Abdullah, 2020). For galaxy
retail, both traditional method and online modes will be adopted to do marketing of their
products so that the entire population will be reach.
Finance and funding plan
There is requirement of capital and funds in order to start a business. On basis of funds
budget is prepared and resources are allocated. Besides it, expenses and revenue is also estimated
for business. Hence, the budget is described as:
Cash flow Analysis
Januar
y
Februar
y
Marc
h April May June July
Cash at
Start of
Month
8,000 12,000 9,000 15,00
0
13,00
0
17,00
0
10,50
0
Cash Coming In
Services
(75%) 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500 3,500
Cash Sales 2,500 4,000 7,000 10,00
0
12,00
0
10,00
0
13,00
0
Loans 9,000 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Cash
In 18,500 11,000 14,00
0
17,00
0
19,00
0
16,50
0
19,50
0
Cash Going Out
fixed
Expenses 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000
Rent 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Salaries to
employees 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
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Insurance 1,500 0 0 0 0 0 0
Advertising 150 180 200 150 160 140 120
Accounting 120 120 120 120 120 120 120
Miscellaneo
us 0 0 0 0 500 0 0
Loan
payments 150 150 150 150 150 150 150
Total Cash
Out 11,955 10,485 10,50
5
10,45
5
10,96
5
10,44
5
10,42
5
Cash at End
of Month 6,545 515 3,495 6,545 8,035 6,055 9,075
Expected balance sheet at the end of year:
Balance sheet
Particular Amount Amount
Assets
Shop fitting 15000
bank 5000
cash 9000
debtors 11000
CL stock 9000
Total assets 49000
Liabilities
Creditors 11000
Capital 25000
Less: Drawing 5000
Add: net profit 18000 38000
Total liabilities and
equity 49000
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Management team
In new venture there is need to management team which perform various operations and
tasks. There are different functions that is performed. So, all staff perform varied roles on basis
of their skills. I know that I am having ability to manage this venture. This is because I am
having in depth knowledge of entrepreneurship and how business is managed. In addition to that,
I possess leadership skills as well by which I am able to take effective decisions. I am also
having long term vision of working in retail sector. I can lead others in right direction as in my
previous job role I have done this. I also possess relevant entrepreneur skills which will help me
to run and manage the new venture. I know how to tackle problems and take decisions. As my
father is businessman so I take advice from him as well. Thus, I can led Galaxy retail in proper
way.
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