Planning and Launching a Venture: Unicorn Ltd Business Report

This report, based on a student assignment, delves into the intricacies of planning a new business venture, using Unicorn Ltd, a grocery store, as a case study. It begins with an analysis of different business types, their risks, benefits, and limitations, followed by an examination of various financing sources, including savings, loans, and private equity. The report then explores legal considerations such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Contract (Right of Third Party) Act 1990, and employment law. Market conditions are analyzed using a PEST analysis, and the report identifies gaps in the market, analyzes target markets, and develops a business plan, including mission, vision, aims, and objectives. The report also addresses business structures, financial forecasts, and responses to unmet targets, culminating in a pitch for funding and supporting documentation. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the key elements required for successful business planning and venture launch, offering insights into market analysis, financial strategies, and legal compliance.

Planning a New Business Venture
A guide to forming a new venture.
3/1/2019
LSIB
By Joanna Finnis

Planning a New Business Venture
Contents
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Analysis of different types of business concerns based on
their risks, benefits and limitations.
1.2 Analyse sources of finance for different business concerns
1.3 Legal considerations regarding planning of a business
venture
2.1 Analyse market conditions that impact on setting up a new
business venture
2.2 Analyse gaps in the market for potential products
2.3 Analyse target markets for a business venture.
3.1 Develop the mission, vision, aims and objectives of the
business.
3.2 Interpret external factors to justify need for your business
product.3.3 Specify the business product to meet needs.
3.4 Propose business structures and systems that will deliver
business aims and objectives.
3.5 Produce business planning forecasts based on targets
3.6 Identify business responses if targets not met.
4.1 Pitch for funding for a business proposal
4.2 Present documentation to support your pitch.
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
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Planning a New Business Venture
INTRODUCTION
Planning is a quite important process which affects the overall
functionality of a business concern. Business ventures normally
get initiated at a quite smaller scale. Many a time’s money or
capital can be invested by more than one individual or groups.
The main aim of people who invest in funds is mainly earning
higher profits. Business ventures in competitive market get
initiated due to demands of the market or the lack of supply.
This report has been framed on Unicorn which is a small scale
business concern located in Manchester, UK. It is basically a
grocery store that deals in organic food products at fair prices.
This report looks at various topics such as different types of
business concerns along with their risks and benefits. Also this
report focuses on various factors that drive market potential
along with skills that help in developing business cases. Lastly
this report mentions details regarding pitching of a business
proposal.
1.1 Analysis of different types of business concerns based
on their risks, benefits and limitations.
Case Scenario: This report has been framed base on a
supermarket chain store of the UK named as Unicorn
groceries. This organisation was basically chosen so as to
evaluate the impact any new development idea or plan has
on small and medium sized business concerns.
Business concerns can be of various types depending on their
size scale and area of operations as well. These business
concerns can further be divided into 5 broad categories:
Type of
business
Risks Benefits Limitations
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concern
Sole
Proprietorship
Personal assets of
individual are
considered as
assets of business
It is owned by one
person hence
decision making
becomes quite easy.
Raising higher
amount of funds
is quite difficult.
Partnership Each partner is
jointly and severally
liable for another.
Higher amount of
profits can be
generated as
compared to sole
proprietorship.
Decision making
is a complicated
process
Company There are a number
of risks in
companies such as
strategic,
regulatory and
financial risks
(Honig and Hopp,
2016).
It is a separate legal
entity.
Business decision
making happens
to be a quite
complex process
as number of
people increases.
1.2 Analyse sources of finance for different business
concerns.
Finance acts as the lifeblood for every business entity. The
amount of funds required by a business concern may differ
depending upon the size and scale. Sources of finance which
are used by business concerns have further been stated as
under:
Savings: It is an amount that remains unspent with
a person or anything that an individual has not
utilised. It is generally calculated by subtracting
expenses from net income received. This amount can
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Planning a New Business Venture
be used by entrepreneurs as capital in their business
concerns.
Loans: A loan refers to a refundable amount that is
lent to anyone in return for a minimal rate of interest.
In the present context, owners and managers of
Unicorn prefer taking out a long-term loan from a
bank as it is a safe and secure method of funding.
Profits: Profits is something a business earns in
respect of goods and services rendered. The profit of
a firm is calculated by subtracting the amount spent
from the amount gained.
Private Equity: Private equity refers to a class that
comprises of alternate investment options. Capital or
funds in this category are not listed on a stock
exchange. It comprises of funds and investors who
have a mind-set regarding directly investing in
private business entities.
In the context of Unicorn, groceries owners and managers
have chosen bank loans to be a successful option for
availing funds.
1.3 Legal considerations regarding planning of a
business venture.
Planning a successful business venture is a complex process
and involves a number of steps and techniques. It is basically a
process which deals with activities and processes that help in
achieving desired goals or objectives. There are a number of
legal constraints that each organisation is required to follow
while undertaking its business operations.
Health and safety at work act 1974: “(HASAWA) lays
down wide-ranging duties on employers. Employers must
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Planning a New Business Venture
protect the 'health, safety and welfare' at work of all
their employees, as well as others on their premises,
including temps, casual workers, the self-employed”
www.worksmart.org.uk/health-advice/health-and-safety/e
mployer-duties/what-health-and-safety-work-act
This act clearly defines the duties of the employers,
employees and all other relevant person’s that exist at a
workplace. The main aim of this act is to maintain a safe
and secure working environment in the workplace and
ensure the health of their employees. This helps in
developing a sense of security in employees.
Contract (right of third party) act 1990: Contract act
in UK was proposed in the year 1990. “The Contracts
(Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (Third Party Rights Act
1999) can be used to give a non-party to a contract a right
to enforce some terms of the contract”.
www.uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com.
It is basically a body of rules and laws that is meant for
regulating or controlling various contracts and contractual
agreements in the UK. The main aim of this act is to
maintain effectiveness in contractual agreements and
business practices along with protecting the rights of
buyers as well as sellers.
Employment law: As per this act employees are entitled
to certain legal rights such as receiving a week's notice
each year along with minimum wages of around 7.50
pounds per hour as well as maximum average working
week of around 48 hours. All these rights help in raising
confidence and motivation of employees and develop a
sense of belongingness in them.
2.1 Analyse market conditions that impact on setting up
a new business venture.
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Planning a New Business Venture
For effectively analysing the market conditions that have
an impact on business venture can be ascertained by
conducting a PEST analysis of the market.
Political: This factor deals with political condition of a
business environment. Various rules and policies of the UK
can affect the business. In present context it has been
observed that managers of Unicorn Groceries will have to
effectively go through political conditions of a country
before planning any new ideas. It can be said that the
political intervention in businesses in the UK and the city
of Manchester is minimal. Hence, there would not be any
significant impact of political factors on the organization.
Economic: It includes various economic factors such as
the current state of the economy of that country,
exchange and inflation rates and the disposable income of
customers. In relation to Unicorn Groceries, it has been
observed that managers will have to consider certain
economic elements so that they can decide which policies
can be adapted in their organisation.
Social: Various elements in context of social factors are
level of health, educational backgrounds, growth rate of
population, religious and social beliefs of people etc.
Managers of Unicorn groceries will need to examine
cultural and social elements before adopting any changes
in their production processes or products they sell.
Technological: Technological factors as the name says
refers to advancements or innovations in technology. For
example whenever a business wishes to adopt a new
technology they need to first check whether it will be
successful or not. Managers of Unicorn will have to
evaluate various tools and techniques before choosing any
one best method. This will be helpful as it will provide a
competitive advantage to their company.
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2.2 Summary of the results
The PEST analysis had pointed towards some important considerations that the Unicorn Groceries
would have to maintain. In regards to the political factors there are nit many hindrances that can
affect the operations of the company. The economic elements to be considered are the taxation
aspects affecting the retail businesses across the UK. The socio-cultural aspects that would affect the
organization are the growing trend for quality product consumption among the people. The next
most important aspect are the technological factors that affect the organization. The latest in
technology have to used that can help customers get the exact commodities that they would like to
have.
Another important variable in this context is the competitor
analysis. It is basically a tool which states the strategies and
policies considered by the competitors or their method of doing
business operations. It is basically an in depth analysis of a
competitors state. As a result, the managers of Unicorn have
chosen Porter's Five force model.
2.3 Analyse gaps in the market for potential products.
Case Scenario: This report has been framed base on a
supermarket chain store of UK named as Unicorn groceries.
This organisation was basically chosen so as to evaluate the
impact any new development idea or plan has on small and
medium sized business concerns.
Gap analysis is an important tool which examines differences in
performance of business along with software applications. It
helps in determining whether goals and objectives of a
business are being met or not. It is an essential tool that helps
in comparing present and standard performance. Gap analysis
in context of Unicorn was considered so as to achieve the
following benefits.
 Finding the scope of development by launching or
innovating new products and services.
 Gap analysis also benefits in finding new and
emerging trends that are present in current market.
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By conducting a gap analysis business owners come to known
about current market scenario and trends. Also it helps in
examining what technology or tools will be beneficial for growth
and development of a business. It is basically a 3 step process
which includes analyse the current state of a business along
with identifying the ideal future state. Last step in gap analysis
process is to find effective tools and techniques that help in
bridging the gap.
2.4 Gap Analysis of Unicorn
Current state Future state Gap
description
Next step
The target
mission and
vision
statement for
the company
are set to
tackle the
current
challenges in
the retail
grocery
markets of
the UK. The
processes
that the
company
would like to
improve are
the supply
line for the
organic food
products.
Additionally,
the
organization
would like to
improve its
product
offerings.
In the future
the company
would like to
target the
growing
number of
health
conscious
people across
the UK. The
company
would like to
increase sales
by 150% in
four years’
time. The
company
would like to
improve their
product
offerings by
100%.
There is a gap
that exist in
the current
supply line
that need to
be addressed
to achieve the
future targets.
The gap that
has been
identified is
the number of
effective
suppliers. The
current
suppliers are
not many and
do not have
the necessary
potential to
improve the
supply rate.
Hence, new
suppliers
would be
required.
New suppliers
are required.
More
essential
interactions
with the farm
communities
are required.
There should
be more
effective
interactions
and business
relationship
development
with the
organic
farmers.
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Planning a New Business Venture
2.4 Analyse target markets for a business venture.
Target market is an important key word which states or defines
a specific and defined customer segment within the serviceable
market of business. Defining a target market helps a business
concern in providing an easy decision regarding market
position (Cosenz, 2017). By adopting
this approach small scale business concern such as Unicorn
gain an advantage in competing with large scale business
concerns. Defining a target market is a quite complex process
and infuses a number of steps such as segmenting the market,
identifying USP, analysing or examining customer base along
with analysis of competitor's customer base as well. Also there
are a number of factors that affect analysis of target market.
These factors have further been stated as under:
Socio economic: Factors that are used to examine
situations or trends that are prevailing in a society are
referred to as socio economic factors. All these factors are
quite interrelated to each other. For example; Income of
an individual determines his spending power.
Age: Age is another key factor that affects target market.
For example business concerns that deal in manufacturing
toys will target customers within a group of 0-10 years.
Gender: Another significant factor in this context is
gender. It examines whether a business concern targets
male population more or female population. For example,
cosmetic brands such as Maybelline, L’Oreal attract the
female crowd more as compared to the male crowd.
Hence, it can be said that the most important factors that
have been identified for the target market are income, age
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Planning a New Business Venture
and gender. In this case the socio-economic background of
the people need to be middle to upper middle income group.
The age that has been considered to be effective in terms of
the target market of the organization is between 25 to 40
years of age. The gender in this case that would be given
more preference are female. The female customer base are
more likely to take interest in organic food products. Thus, it
would be fair if the company creates the market strategies
considering these factors.
3.1 Develop the mission, vision, aims and objectives of
the business.
Case Scenario: This report has been framed base on a
supermarket chain store of UK named as Unicorn groceries.
This organisation was basically chosen so as to evaluate the
impact any new development idea or plan has on small and
medium sized business concerns.
In present context Unicorn is a small scale business concern in
UK which operates in grocery or retail sector (Burns, 2017).
Various key terms such as aims, objectives, vision, mission has
been mentioned as under:
Vision: Vision of Unicorn grocery is “To enhance their
customer base by providing excellent quality goods and
services.”
Mission: Mission of Unicorn Groceries is “To maintain a
stable brand image in competitive market against its rival
firms.”
Aims: In this context main aim of Unicorn Groceries is “To
be a leader in retail sector in context of small and medium
firms in UK.”
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Objectives: Objective is something that a company
wishes to achieve within a specified time frame. In context
of Unicorn its objectives is to increase its sales by 20% in
2 months (Rakićević, Omerbegović-Bijelović and Lečić-
Cvetković, 2016).
The mission vision and values were developed considering the
value of work that the organization wanted to partake in the
future. The mission has been developed keeping in mind the
future prospects of healthy organic food considering the
changes in the mind of the UK publics. Excellent quality food is
something people are more inclined towards buying in the
midst of the low quality products that are chemically enhanced.
Thus, the value of the product would be determined by the
future market trends. The objectives encompass all the major
achievements that the organization would like to make in the
near and distant future. This brings forward the most important
things that the company would like to achieve in course of
better development and growth.
3.2 Interpret external factors to justify need for your
business product.
Factors that are present outside the controlling of a business
environment are referred to as external factors. External
factors are generally examined or evaluated by conducting a
PEST analysis which has further been stated as under:
Political factors: In context of UK political factor plays a
quite significant part as political stability happens to be a
power or strength of a country. In context of Unicorn
entrepreneurs will need to assess political factors so as to
achieve benefits from political conditions.
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