Research Proposal: Harry Auto Garage, [University Name] - Analysis

This research proposal focuses on analyzing the growth opportunities for Harry Auto Garage, a small automobile mechanical shop in East Sydney. The study aims to identify factors affecting the business's growth, explore opportunities, assess threats, and recommend cost-effective strategies to increase profitability. A SWOT and PESTLE analysis were conducted to evaluate the internal and external business environments, respectively. The research will utilize both primary data collected through interviews and secondary data from industry publications. The methodology includes a 12-week schedule, covering research framework design, data collection, analysis, and report presentation. The expected outcome is to provide the garage owner with actionable insights to make informed investment decisions and achieve sustainable business growth, especially focusing on improving marketing techniques and addressing competitive pressures. The project considers both internal stakeholders (owner and employees) and external stakeholders (customers, bank, and municipality).

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Lack of marketing techniques hampering the growth of the Harry Auto garage in a competitive
market
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Executive summary
The research proposal explains the purpose and process of a study to be conducted on a small
garage business located in the East Sydney region. Harry Auto Garage was established 2 years
ago and has only 3 employees including the owner himself. It has no website but has become
popular among the local cab drivers through word-of-mouth publicity. It provides services at a
cheaper cost but it could not capture the market of local residents. The shop does not have much
business growth and hence, this study will be conducted to evaluate the growth opportunities for
the business. The objectives of the study are to explore the factors that affect the growth of the
business of the auto garage, to examine the factors, which could utilize the growth opportunities
for the garage in the maximum manner, to analyze the threat situations and to recommend ways
to increase its profit by exploring the opportunities and addressing the threats in constructive
manner. Situation analyses have been performed to assess the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and growth of the garage and also to evaluate the external business environment
and based on that, the research objectives were framed. Both the primary and secondary data will
be collected and qualitative method will be used for analysis process. The outcome of the project
is expected to help the garage to grow the business in a cost efficient way.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Situation analysis.........................................................................................................................3
2.1 SWOT analysis......................................................................................................................3
2.2 PESTLE analysis...................................................................................................................5
3. Purpose of the Research Project..................................................................................................7
3.1 Research objectives...............................................................................................................8
4. Research methodology.................................................................................................................8
5. Key stakeholders..........................................................................................................................9
6. Schedule.......................................................................................................................................9
7. Summary....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction
Harry Auto Garage is a small automobile mechanical shop located in the East Sydney,
Australia and established only 2 years back. It is a small local garage business that has only 3
employees. It does not have any other branch or any website. It also does not invest on extensive
marketing techniques to attract more customers. Although the shop is quite popular among the
local cab drivers and hence, the employees stay quite busy, yet, the profits of the shop are not
growing much as expected. This research proposal aims to conduct a study on developing a small
business like a local garage shop. The expected outcome of this study will comprise of the
analysis of the situations of the Harry Auto Garage and suggestions on how to improve the
factors to ensure the growth of the business.
2. Situation analysis
2.1 SWOT analysis
To make the stakeholders familiarize about the business situation and identifying the
problems and opportunities of the garage, a SWOT analysis was performed. This analysis is used
for evaluating the internal environment of a business that addresses the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the business (Bull et al. 2016).

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Figure 1: SWOT analysis for Harry Auto Garage
(Source: Author)
From the above internal situation analysis, it can be said that, the auto garage has an
efficient and talented workforce, who provide quality service at a comparatively lower cost.
They also maintain timely delivery of the services, which is a strength factor for the garage.
Thus, within two years of establishment, Harry Auto Garage has become quite popular in the
region. However, the shop incurred a large set up cost as the machineries and equipments are
quite expensive. Thus, it has a high liability to repay the loan taken from the bank. To avoid the
huge marketing costs, it does not opt for any marketing technique, apart from putting up
Strengths
Efficient workforce
High quality equipment
Timely delivery
Weaknesses
No marketing
technqiues are applied
to save cost
Large start up cost
High liability
No website
Opportunities
No competitor within 10
kilometers
Increase in the number
of cars owned by local
residents
Popular among the
customers
Threats
Market entry barriers
are low, hence
competition can increase
Lower price for service
affecting business
growth

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handwritten placards with the name of the shop and phone number and placing those near the
blocks. It also does not have any website, which could be beneficial to attract more customers
through digital marketing. These are some weaknesses of the business.
The business has some opportunities to grow as there are no competitors within 10
kilometers. The number of cars owned by the local residents is increasing, which can be
beneficial for the shop if the target market can be tapped properly. On the other hand, the low
market entry barrier is a threat for the business as the number of competitor can increase
anytime. Moreover, the service price is quite less for Harry Auto Garage, which affects its
revenue. This makes repayment of the loans delayed. Thus, it is a threat for the business as its
growth is getting hampered.
2.2 PESTLE analysis
PESTLE analysis will be performed to analyze the external business environment of
Harry Auto Garage. These factors are exogenous factors which cannot be controlled by the auto
garage and these factors affect the business performance. Hence, for understanding the business
environment, the external environment must also be analyzed.
Political The east Sydney region has a stable political situation and has no turmoil in
the political aspect. The liberal-capitalist democracy in all the regions has
enabled a favorable business situation for small and large businesses
(MacDonald 2018). The tax compliances are also favorable for small
businesses.
Economic Australia is an economically developed country, which is dominated by the
service sector. All the surrounding areas of Sydney are also economically

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developed as Sydney is the business and financial capital of Australia. East
Sydney region has access to world class infrastructure and communication
and thus, it is favorable for business growth. There is rise in business
investment and disposable household income, low unemployment and
moderate inflation resulting in supportive business growth condition (Baker
and Ruming 2015).
Social The population in Sydney is increasing rapidly. Along with the citizens, there
is a rise in the migrated population, that is, skilled workers and students from
different countries of the world. With increased income status, the lifestyle is
changing and people are purchasing advanced equipment for achieving more
convenience in life (Jain et al. 2017). Thus, number of cars per household is
increasing, which is favorable for the garage industries.
Technological The country encourages high R&D in technological advancement. In the auto
garage industry also, highly advanced equipment are used for all types of
servicing, such as, car wash, battery servicing, tire servicing, engine
maintenance, change of engine oil etc. (Edunyah 2015). The garages that can
provide faster service by applying advanced servicing technology improve
the level of customer satisfaction. Thus, to compete in the market, advanced
technology should be used.
Legal There are strict regulations about doing business in Australia which should
be followed by businesses of all sizes. The tax regulations have different
slabs for different size of the businesses, which is favorable. The business
laws are flexible for setting the start ups.

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Environmental The Australian government encourages and promotes sustainability measures
and all the businesses are required to abide by the environment protection
laws. This is a step towards achieving sustainability for the future generation.
The firms are encouraged to follow the environmental regulations and green
technologies as much possible to reduce carbon footprint.
Table 1: PESTLE analysis for Harry Auto Garage
(Source: Author)
Thus, from the external environment analysis for Harry Auto Garage, it can be said that
favorable business and tax laws are beneficial for a small entrepreneurship, like a small auto
garage in the East Sydney region. The growth opportunities have emerged from rise in
population, along with economic growth in the country, rise in disposable income of people,
change in lifestyle and preference for convenience, which can be attributed to the rise in the
number of cars per household in almost all the regions in the nation. Harry Auto Garage can take
up this opportunity to grow its business; however, it should also maintain the federal laws for
business, taxation, and environment protection. Thus, it can be said that the auto garage has a
favorable business condition.
3. Purpose of the Research Project
This research study is necessary to evaluate the opportunities of the company and make
recommendations on how to increase the revenue as well as ensure business growth without
investing more money. Being a small business, the garage has less capital to make further
investment at a large scale. Thus, through this study, cost effective measures will be suggested to
achieve sustainable growth of the business. Once the research is made, based on the findings, the

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shop owner can make decisions regarding modifying his investment portfolio. In other words,
the owner can shift his investments from the unprofitable factors to the profitable ones on the
basis of the research outcome.
3.1 Research objectives
 To explore the factors affecting the growth of the garage business
 To investigate the factors that can utilize the opportunities for the auto garage for
achieving business growth
 To evaluate the threat factors that can hamper the business performance and growth of
the auto garage
 To recommend ways to improve the profitability of the business in a cost effective
manner
4. Research methodology
Research methodology refers to the strategies and steps taken to conduct the study and
address the research objectives in the most logical and unambiguous manner (Kumar 2019). It
mainly comprises of the process of data collection and analysis. In this study on the development
of Harry Auto Garage, both the primary and secondary data will be collected. Primary data will
be collected through an interview process. The sample size is 3 as the garage has only 3
employees. 5-6 open ended questions will be asked to get an insight about the growth factors and
challenges of the business. Secondary data on the local garage or automobile repair industry of
Sydney will be collected from various secondary sources, such as, newspaper articles, industry
publications etc. to get an overview of the market and the elements that should be addressed to
ensure business growth.

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Qualitative data analysis process will be applied to analyze the interview responses and
the secondary data. As non-numeric data will be collected, quantitative analysis process will not
be suitable to analyze the information (Quinlan et al. 2019).
5. Key stakeholders
There are internal and external stakeholders of the business. The stakeholders of Harry
Auto Garage comprise of 3 internal stakeholders, the owner and the two employees, and external
stakeholders, that is, the customers, who are mostly the cab drivers of the East Sydney region.
The investment in the shop was done by the owner, Harry himself and by taking loans from
bank. Thus, the money lender, that is, the bank that has lent money for starting up the business, is
an external stakeholder. The municipality of Sydney is another external stakeholder that collects
the taxes from the garage business. However, for the study, the internal stakeholders and the
bank that has lent money are most important.
6. Schedule
Week
Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Strategy making
Research framework
design
Interview question design
Primary data collection
Conducting interview
Secondary data collection
Data analysis
Presenting the findings
and discussion
Providing the conclusion
Report presentation

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Table 2: Timeline for the research project
(Created by author)
The timeline presents an overview of the tasks to be undertaken and an estimated
schedule for completion of the project. The project is divided in to 12 weeks. In the first week
the research strategy will be finalized and in the first 1 and 2 weeks, the research framework will
be designed. In this stage, the strategies and plans for data collection and analysis will be chalked
out. The interview questions will be designed in the 3rd and 4th week with the knowledge
gathered from past literatures. The primary data collection through interview will be done on the
5th week. Secondary data collection will be time consuming as that would require in accessing
various secondary sources, such as, journal articles, news articles, and government and industry
reports relevant to the research topic. In the 9th and 10th eek, the data analysis will be conducted.
In the 11th and 12th week, the findings will be presented, conclusion and recommendations will be
provided and the final report will be submitted in the 12th week.
7. Summary
From the above research proposal, it can be said that being a small auto garage business,
Harry Auto Garage lacks a large amount of capital to invest in marketing techniques or
employing more number of people to make the business grow. Its customer profile consists of
the local cab drivers and the shop is popular among them. However, the business needs to grow
and increase its revenue and profits to sustain in the market. This study will collect both primary
and secondary qualitative data through interview process and from secondary sources
respectively and qualitative analysis process will be used for analysis. The outcome is expected
to help the garage to develop and grow the business in a cost effective manner.

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References
Baker, T. and Ruming, K., 2015. Making ‘Global Sydney’: Spatial imaginaries, worlding and
strategic plans. International journal of urban and regional research, 39(1), pp.62-78.
Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C.,
Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services
framework. Ecosystem services, 17, pp.99-111.
Edunyah, I., 2015. Technology and Modern Automobile Industry-Challenges and Opportunities
for Roadside Mechanics in Ghana.(TarkwaNsueam Municipality). International Journal of
Scientific Research and Innovative Technology, 2(6), pp.58-63.
Jain, S., Ronald, N., Thompson, R. and Winter, S., 2017. Predicting susceptibility to use demand
responsive transport using demographic and trip characteristics of the population. Travel
Behaviour and Society, 6, pp.44-56.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
MacDonald, H., 2018. Has planning been de‐democratised in Sydney?. Geographical
research, 56(2), pp.230-240.
Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2019. Business research methods. South Western
Cengage.

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