Planning for Growth Report: Southern Business Technology Analysis

This report examines the growth strategies of Southern Business Technology (SBT), a telecommunications company operating in the UK. It begins by identifying key considerations for growth options and then delves into different sources of funding available to businesses, including bank loans, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, and angel investors, analyzing their implications for SBT. The report also touches upon the creation of a business plan and assesses SBT's existing strategies. Finally, it explores various exit strategies, such as voluntary winding up and mergers and acquisitions, that SBT might consider. The report utilizes relevant business concepts and provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in the UK market, offering valuable insights into business development and strategic planning.

Planning for Growth

INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
Identifying key consideration for growth options....................................................................................3
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................3
Different sources of funds and their implication to business...................................................................3
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................7
Creating business plan.............................................................................................................................7
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................................7
Existing Strategy.....................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................10
REFERNCES...........................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Every business requires a productive and attractive planning which lead them to
accomplish their organization goal in an effective and efficient manner. In current scenario of
competitive marketplace, it has been viewed that small and medium size business plays a vital
role in the growth of country’s economy as it provide enormous platform for employment,
growth and innovation which enable firm to improve their overall performance. However, in
order to achieve the same, an attractive or challenging planning state is required which helps
them to expand their market share or size within prescribed time limit in a better way. For this
report, Southern Business Technology is considered which one of the leading company in
Telecommunication industry is and it is commenced in the year of 1965. It produces
communication system like telephone, mobile services superfast internet, SIP ad many more and
serves across UK. This study includes examining key element for evaluating company’s growth
opportunities as well as apply Ansoff Matrix to identify the potentiality of firm to enhance their
market share. Moreover, analyzing various sources of funds to acquiring the best positioning
among industry, develop a strategic plan and assess various ways in which small business owner
can exist or succession option is also mentioned here.
TASK 1
Identifying key consideration for growth options
TASK 2
Different sources of funds and their implication to business
One of the biggest challenges for entrepreur and small business owners is finding the funds
necessary to launch and eventually grow their business in an attractive way. However, financing
is needed to start a business and ramp it up to profitability as the financial need of company
varies according to the type and size of business and an organization cannot function without
containing enough amount of funds as well as to attain sustainable profitability ratio. According
to the current scenario of UK market, SMEs is rapidly growing and it plays a crucial role in an
enhancement of nation economy (Wu, 2015). Moreover, Southern Business Technology is one of
the boosting company among UK marketplace which requires a best sources of funding their

operation and also to obtain profit maximization within prescribed time limit without any
hindrances. Some of the various ways which Southern Business Technology can apply into their
business operation are discussed below:
Bank Loan: Under this, it is considered as one of the most common form of loan capital
for a business as it provides medium or long term finance. Along with this, bank will usually
require that the enterprise provide some security for loan, although in the case of startup or small
business often comes in the form of personal guarantee provided by entrepreneur. Moreover, it is
mainly good for financing investment in fixed assets such as plant and machinery, land and
building and also they charge at lower rate of interest that a bank overdraft. However, some of
the pros and cons of bank loan which impact company proficiency and that is explained below:
Benefits Drawbacks
 The primal advantage which bank loan
render is that its flexibility nature as it
permit lender to pay their borrowed
amount in installment which helps
them to escape from arising overdraft
issue.
 In terms of interest rate, bank loans
are usually the cheapest option verses
overdraft and credit cards which help
users to save their money effectively
and efficiently.
 The major disadvantage is that
irregular payments amount because if
a company get a bank loan with a
variable interest rate, it changes
cording to market condition which
makes them more difficult to
determine the exact amount of future
payments.
 It generate repayment burden as the
loan borrowers must make periodic
payments, if in case they got fails then
they face the prospect of having their
assets seized.
Crowd funding: It is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts
of money from a large number of people typically via the internet. Along with this, it makes use
of easy accessibility of vast networks of population through social media and crowd funding
websites to bring investors and entrepreur together. Furthermore, some of the advantages and
disadvantages which is given below:

Strength Weakness
 It is regarded as one of the fast way to
raise finance with no upfront fees
which help business to pitch project
through online platform can be
valuable form of marketing and result
in media attention.
 Under this, investors can track
progress which assist firm to promote
brand through their network.
 It will not necessarily be an easier
process to go through compared to be
the more traditional ways of raising
finance i.e. not all projects that apply
to crowd funding platforms get onto
them.
 If organization fails to protect their
business idea with patent or copyright
in that case anyone can view firm
profile on a crowd funding site as well
as can steal the entire concept.
Peer to peer lending: Under this, it enable individuals to obtain loans directly from other
personalities, cutting out financial institution as the middleman. In other words, it is a form of
direct lending of money to individuals or businesses without an official financial institution
participating as an intermediary in the deal. Along with this, websites that facilitate peer to peer
lending have greatly increased its adoption as an alternative method of financing. However, it
connects borrowers directly to investors as the site sets the rates or terms and enables the
transaction (Sarver, 2015). Furthermore, most sites have a wide range of interest rates based on
creditworthiness of the applicant. Moreover, there are some of the positive and negative effect
are given below:
Advantages Disadvantages
 It give higher returns to the investors
as P2P lending generally provides
higher returns to the investors relative
to other type of investments.
 Peer to peer lending loans usually
come with lower interest rates because
of greater competition between
 Peer to peer loans are exposed to high
credit risks. Many borrowers who
apply P2P loans possess low credit
ratings that do not allow them
obtaining a conventional loan from
bank. Therefore, a lender should be
aware of default probability of their

lenders and lower origination fees. counterparty.
 The government does not provide
insurance or any form of protection to
lender in case of borrowers’ default.
Angel Investor: It is typically an individual or a high worth personal investor who
provides funding or financial support for startup or small business in lieu of a stake in ownership
in company. Along with this, the persons will be usually among family or relatives of
entrepreneur. Apart from investing money, angel investors share their knowledge at critical
stages. Moreover, they provide loans on relatively easier interest rate, unlike venture capital as
well as they look for defined exist strategy or acquisition or initial public offering for the
development of company productivity. An angel investor is a form of equity financing which
looks for a return of 25 percent or more. Additionally, it fills the gap between small scale
financing provided by family and friends and venture capitalists. Some of the benefits and
drawbacks of angel finance which is given below:
Benefits Disadvantages
 One of the big advantage from angel
investment is that it is less risky than
debt financing. Unlike a loan, invested
capital does not have to be paid back
in the event of business failure.
 It understands company and take a
long term view which enable them to
looking for a personal opportunity as
well as an investment.
 The primary drawback of using this
method reflect in the loss of complete
control as part owner as they say how
the business is run and will also
receive a portion of profit during
selling the company operation.
 With debt financing, the lending
institution has no control over the
operations of company and takes no
share of profit.
Therefore, the above discussed various sources of finances enable Southern Business
Technology to acquire best positioning within competitive marketplace. However, crowd
funding is more suitable for Southern Business Technology as it very cheap and effective with

various benefits that leads them to maintain their financial position among industry as well as
provide positive perceptive over public that improves the overall performance and helps them to
gain competitive advantage (Ivanov, 2019).
TASK 3
Creating business plan
TASK 4
Existing Strategy
Each and every organization undergoes with positive and negative effect which directly
impact over their profitability and productivity ratio. In some cases, owners holds back with the
situation and on the other hand few tries to exit with business operation or function which
defines their failure and success. Moreover, to gain competitive advantage overcoming or facing
the risk factor lead an organization to achieve increased level of customer satisfaction as well as
enlarge their market share in a productive style. In regard of Southern Business Technology,
there are several method or exit an industry which shows their potentiality or capability in
managing their business operation and function. Thus some of the ways of exiting strategy are as
follows:
Voluntary winding up: The winding up process brigs an end to a company because its
overall purpose is to allow for an orderly winding down of a company, the realization of its
assets, the distribution of its assets to any creditors and any excess to be returned to shareholders.
However, their process is classified into categories i.e. voluntary and compulsory winding up.
The major difference between among them are voluntary winding up does not involve the court
process and is largely initiated by shareholders. On the other hand, compulsory winding
procedure require court intervention in order to shutting or closing out the company completely.
However, some of the benefit and drawbacks of voluntary winding up are given below:
Advantages Disadvantages
 Under this, it generate outstanding
debts written off. However, an
organization being unable to repay
 It assess accusation of wrongful
trading if an organization get caught in
trading during their insolvency nature.

existing debts with no way of turning
the company around is a stressful
situation. Along with this, if company
is in insolvent it does not permit to
continue with trade which offer them
an escape route from this no win
situation.
The punishment includes a ban from
acting as a director for up to 15 years
and in serious cases prosecution
through courts and a prison sentence
may ensue.
 There will be no remaining assets with
which to start a new business. All
existing assets will be sold off in order
to provide a dividend to creditors
where possible and for the insolvency
consultant to collect their fee.
Merger and Acquisition: These both element are defined as a combination of companies
as when two firm joint together in order to form one, it is termed as merger of an organization.
On the other hand, acquisition are one when enterprise is taken over by company. However, in
context of merging two organization combines together to create as one association and in this
companies end to exist and new firm is formed (Raymond and Adigwe, 2015). At the same time,
in case of acquisition, the acquiring establishment takes over majority stake in the acquired
enterprise and the company which is going to acquiring continues to be in existence. In merger,
companies are joint together which are in same size on the other hand in case of acquisition
larger firm take over smaller companies. Furthermore, there are various advantages and
disadvantages which is described below:
Pros Cons
 To become competitive, firms have to
be compelled to be peak of
technological developments and their
dealing application. By merger and
acquisition of a small business with
unique technologies, a large
 Merging two organizations that are
doing similar activities or functions
may mean duplication and over
capability within the company that
may lead to retrenchment.
 Increase in costs might results if the

enterprises will retain or grow a
competitive edge.
 Economies of scale is formed by
sharing the resources and services
which is feasible both the parties as it
raised their buying power and longer
production runs.
right management of modification and
also the implementation of merger and
acquisition dealing are delayed.
Integration: When two business are brought together through a merger or takeover, it is
possible to define the nature and type of integration based on the activities of each firm and
where they operate in supply chain of an industry. Moreover, there are various types of
integration like horizontal, vertical, forward and backward which directly influence their
productivity and profitability ratio. Furthermore, business integration is a strategy whose goal is
to synchronize information technology and business cultures or objectives and align those
advancements with company strategy and goals. Therefore, there are positive and negative
impact of integration which is explained below:
Benefits Drawbacks
 It creates predictability because more
information is available to
organization as it is more access to
production inputs. Retail channels
produce real time information that is
not filtered by third parties.
 It increases a brand‘s local market
share because it enable an
organization to control more of its
supply chain which leverage their
specific benefits that a local
demographic may need.
The most shortcoming of integration is that it
reduces flexibility because brands that work
with several vendors or contractors have
certain flexibility that integration does not
provide and also it render only few choices
with their supply chain. At the same time, the
business that uses third parties can make
changes whenever they wish without
maintenance costs within their infrastructure.

However, from the preceding discussed method merger and acquisition is viewed as more
productive and effective for Southern Business Technology which enable them to attain
increased level of volume of sales as well as can gain competitive advantage with the
adaptability of innovation or advancement.
CONCLUSION
It has concluded from the discussed report that planning is vitally important to success as
t in helps in identifying goals, offer directions, uncovers the problems or threats, add
professionalism, gives clear perception in order to acquire best positioning among competitive
marketplace. Along with this, there are several key factors which plays as a guidance for every
organization while determining growth opportunities. Along with this, Ansoff Matrix is regarded
as a useful element as it is a communication tool which helps company to analyze possible
growth and development in a productive style. Moreover, in order to capture the best positioning
within industry various sources of funding like bank loan, peer to peer lending and many more
enable them to accomplish their business objective in an appropriate manner without any
hindrances. In addition, developing business plan allow company to enlarge their market share
and size as well as improves the overall performance of company.

REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Wu, F., 2015. Planning for growth: Urban and regional planning in China. Routledge.
Sarver, D. M., 2015. Interactions of hard tissues, soft tissues, and growth over time, and their
impact on orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. American Journal of Orthodontics and
Dentofacial Orthopedics. 148(3). pp.380-386.
Ivanov, S. I., 2019. Analysis of the Relation between Corporate Sales and Earnings. Journal of
Accounting and Finance. 19(2).
Raymond, A. E. and Adigwe, P. K., 2015. The Credit Management on Liquidity and Profitability
Positions of a Manufacturing Company in Nigeria. European Journal of Research and
Reflection in Management Sciences Vol, 3(3).