Analysis of Talon Outdoor: Small Business Organisation Performance

This report provides a detailed analysis of Talon Outdoor, a small business operating in the media and communication sector. It begins with an introduction to Talon Outdoor, highlighting its strengths such as innovation, strong employee base, and financial success, while also identifying weaknesses like limited geographical presence and competition. The report then examines the company's performance using comparative factors, key performance indicators (KPIs), and a balance scorecard. It includes a cash flow analysis and a balance scorecard to assess financial health, customer satisfaction, internal processes, and innovation. The study also recommends actions to address weaknesses, such as expanding operations, adapting leadership styles, and monitoring market trends. Furthermore, it reviews methods to strengthen and maintain performance, including stakeholder management, strategic planning, and financial management. The report concludes with insights into managing the proposed changes and monitoring improvements over time, offering a comprehensive overview of Talon Outdoor's business operations and potential for growth.

Running head: SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATION
Unit 33: Small Business Organisation
Student’s name:
Name of the university:
Author’s name:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Providing a profile of Talon Outdoor, a small business organisation, through recognising its
strengths and weaknesses................................................................................................................2
1.2 Carrying out of supporting analysis using comparative factors of performance of the small
business............................................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Recommending appropriate actions with justification to get rid of the weaknesses.................7
2.2 Reviewing the methods in which performance could be strengthened and maintained............9
2.3 Recommending justification in new areas in which the small business can expand...............10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................11
3.1 Producing a review of existing business goals, objectives and plans......................................11
3.2 Revising business plans in order to incorporate proper changes.............................................13
3.3 Preparing a valid action plan in order to implement the proposed alterations........................14
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Influence of the proposed changes that would be on the small business and its employees...15
4.2 Planning of the changes procedure to be managed in the business.........................................16
4.3 Monitoring improvements of business performance over a given timescale..........................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
Reference List................................................................................................................................20

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Introduction
This study sheds light on various aspects of a small business enterprise and main focus of
this study will be on process involved in the change management that can review and improve
the situation and performance of small business. The scope and criterion of small business can
differ with the country, however, in the UK; small business enterprise has to have less than 250
employees. During 2013-2014, the central government of the UK spent £11.4 billion on the
small business enterprise in order to improve the condition of them. The main aim of this study is
to highlight the various aspects of small business development. In order to continue this study, I
have chosen Talon Outdoor, a small business organisation that works in media and
communication sector. The organisation has made a short-term contract to report about the
development of this small business.
Task 1
1.1 Providing a profile of Talon Outdoor, a small business organisation, through
recognising its strengths and weaknesses
Talon Outdoor is an out-of-home media agency and Richard Simkins is the Innovation
Head of the organisation. Talon Outdoor loves innovation in work and the organisation devises
new and original ways to present advertising (Talonoutdoor.com 2017). This organisation has
clients in the UK based and the global sector as well. Talon Outdoor was established in the year
of 2007 and CEO of the organisation is Eric Newnham. Talon Outdoor has its expertise in
planning, account management, strategy, insight, investment management and innovation.
Currently, Talon Outdoor has 85 employees and two-thirds of the employees are aged fewer than

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34. The male and female ratio of the employees is 35:65 and it has its office in London. The
main interesting part of this job is that the job role changes to the employees when the
technology changes along with the social changes. The CEO of the small business has to work
various types of works and the staffs of the business are focused. Employees of the small
business are dedicated towards the development and learning. The organisation provides early
leaves on Fridays and this small business provides flexible working in order to make a work-life
balance for the employees. Talon Outdoor raised £68,000 for the business and the current
revenue of the organisation £157 million.
Strengths
 Talon Outdoor has high commercial success in the innovation of the business and meets
its revenue.
 Talon Outdoor has strong employees based as the most of the employees here are
satisfied with their works and they are skilled, aimed and enthusiast people.
 This small business can raise investment and capital from the market in order to carry out
their projects and business objectives.
 Innovation is their strengths and they take help of the latest technologies. Talon Outdoor
provides best customer services. The company management has belief in their works and
this tends to make trust and credibility in their output.
 This company has the democratic approach of leadership from the CEO and business
head. They make a committee in order to take any decision. As they are in a media
agency, the company is highly targeted to reach the selected audiences through their
works.

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Weaknesses
 Talon Outdoor has only one office in London, the firm is operating on the narrow level as
this has no other office in anywhere.
 Top management is too friendly with the employees and they have a little control over its
employees.
 The organisation has no control over the readers’ or audiences’ perception of the
advertisements. The customers’ of this business are limited and they are just the famous
organisations in the market.
 In the UK, there are several media agencies that work in this out-of-home media
communication. Therefore, tough competition in the market has its weakness.
 The management of the business has lacked in the high in-depth analysis that sometimes
requires in the lean season of the business.
1.2 Carrying out of supporting analysis using comparative factors of performance of the
small business
In the last few years, the business growth of this small business is outstanding and it was
ranked as a 6th best small business in Sunday Times in the whole of the UK. The performance of
the business has been better than most of the media agencies in the UK. As there are many other
media agencies in the UK, customer satisfaction and innovation have been the best for the
organisation. Talon Outdoor has been facing the continuous competition from the existing
companies in the UK. In the UK, the cost of the media communication has been going through a
change. The media-communication sector is an attractive segment and it does not attach with the
capital investment with open-wide opportunity. In this industry, the threat of new entrant is

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moderate and technology has been changing in this sector rapidly with the advancement of
digital innovation. The performance measurement of the business can be understood with the
Key Performance Indicator without KPI, it would get difficult to realise the business goals and
development of small business performance (Longenecker et al. 2013). In order to develop the
KPI, Talon Outdoor keeps account of the daily number of orders and daily volume of the orders.
Moreover, the CEO tries to keep the account with calculating the time required to complete a
quote and the CEO also keep track of the actual date of shipping. As suggested by Schaper et al.
(2014), a small business can develop a customer satisfaction scorecard to check the customers'
feedback. This process is easy after the order is completed, the customers can provide a rating to
the organisation. Talon Outdoor calculates the percentage of business with existing customers
and the process of being maintained that monthly basis.
In addition, cash flow is another measurement to analyse the performance of the
business. Evaluating the financial activities through small business’ income and business
expenses can help in effective budget maintenance.
Sales receipts £50,00,000
Payments for products £25,00,000
Payment for operations £20,00,000
Interest payment £1,00,000
Taxes £2,27,500
Net cash flow from Operating activities £3,27,500
Investing activities
Purchase of new fixed assets £21,00,000

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Interest received £50,000
Net cash flow from investing activities £20,50,000
Financing activities
Short-term debt £7,00,000
Long-term debt £11,00,000
Net cash flow from financing activities £19,00,000
Net increase or decrease in cash £6,22,500
Cash at the beginning of the year £1,00,000
Cash at the end of the year £7,22,500
Table 1: Cash flow of the small business
(Source: Self-develop)
Balance scorecard comprises four indicators of the performance through a small
business can measure the performance, financial, customer, internal process and innovative and
learning aspects (Hatten 2015).
Financial indicators High profitability and liquidity ratio that shows
that the small business has strong financial
hold
Customer indicators The customer base is limited; however, these
clients of the small business are famous and
large organisations.
The organisation meets the target on time and
it has reliable position in market with high

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customer satisfaction service
Internal process Efficient working process
Staff turnover rate is low of the small business
and the ratio of male and female ratio shows
female employees are larger in numbers.
The organisation follows democratic leadership
style
Innovation and learning aspects Talon Outdoor follows innovation
They use latest technologies
They use employees’ development
programmes
Table 2: Balance scorecard of small business
(Source: Self-develop)
Task 2
2.1 Recommending appropriate actions with justification to get rid of the weaknesses
Talon Outdoor has been in the market since 2007 and it is a fast growing company.
However, they need investment from the market in order to expand its operation. However, it has
its weaknesses mainly on the customers' or audiences' perceptions. The competition is another
weakness of the organisation as there are many other media agencies are there.
Extension of the organisation:

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Talon Outdoor operates mainly in the London and other UK based cities. However, it has
only one office in London and the authority has to take initiatives to open a few offices apart
from London in order to increase the client base. The company can focus on expanding the client
base by offering the services to the global market also. This small business focuses only large
organisation, however, they can focus small organisations as clients to increase the market share.
Changing of the leadership styles:
The employees of the organisations are skilled and enthusiast. However, leaders need to
control the employees as flexibility can create laziness among employees. The CEO and
Business Head follow democratic leadership styles, however, they can follow authoritative
leadership style to guide the employees and bring the best from them. As authoritarian leadership
helps to control the employees and it makes the organisation depends on leaders to take a
decision (Storey 2016). In order to teach the employees about new technologies and make them
experienced, authoritarian leadership will work.
Follow the trends of the market:
This small business faces issue as the taste of the audiences' changes with the time as it
works on media and communication. They make hoardings and out-of-home advertisements.
They need to be aware of the market trend and advertisement innovation can work for the
organisation to flourish. Market research and audiences' perception research are necessary for
Talon Outdoor in order to make a strong foothold in the market.
Overshadow the competitors:

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Talon Outdoor needs to know the competitors first and their USP (Unique Selling
Proposition). They can do marketing to reach to the clients and update the brand image. Strong
image and strong contents on advertisements with latest technologies can help this small
business to overshadow the competitors. It is also needed to reach the clients on time before the
clients can choose another company for advertising. Strong innovative advertisements campaign
ideas can help this small business to grab more clients (Curran and Storey 2016). In this respect,
managing finance within the organisation is needed that can help a firm to manage resources.
2.2 Reviewing the methods in which performance could be strengthened and maintained
Talon Outdoor has a strong hold in the market; however, it has its weaknesses and
strengths. Existing performance of the business is doing better and it has revenue of 156 million
pounds. Employees' retention is strong and they have motivated also.
Managerial concern to maintain strong relationship with stakeholders
Small business needs to make an effective stakeholder relationship in order to improve
the operation and performance. The stakeholders of Talon Outdoor are the clients, employees,
suppliers and technological agencies. It would enhance the productivity of the organisation and
the communication process of the organisation would be enhanced. Effective mechanism with
the stakeholders can lead to the higher sales and good performance in the future.
Strategic planning to review the performance of the employees
Talon Outdoor has 85 employees at present and they are skilled and innovative.
Moreover, the perfect human resource management strategy can help them to grow and
experience. The CEO of the organisation needs to identify the gap between the set target and the

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actual results of the performance. The employees are skilled; however, they need special training
to gather the experience.
New opportunity and development for human resources
In order to make strengthened of the performance of the organisation and employees,
retaining the existing skilled employees are needed. Managing human resource is the important
and democratic approach of the leaders can lead the organisation to have best employees (Wellin
2016). The management of Talon Outdoor needs to review the existing performance of the
employees by reviewing the annual reports and financial statements.
 Appropriate recording of tasks doing of the employees is needed
 Regular monitoring process is needed by management
 Focus on development opportunity and strategic planning
 Maintain client relationship
 Recognising the different ways of maintaining effective share of market position
 Provide training to the employees
Technology and innovation
Talon Outdoor has always followed the technique of innovation and technology to set the
new trend. Moreover, retain and enhance the existing performance, innovation and best
technologies will be helpful. In case, the employees face any issues, they can opt to take help
from the management. Technology and innovation can be improved by providing better training
to the employees.

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2.3 Recommending justification in new areas in which the small business can expand
There is scope for the expansion of business for Talon Outdoor and new opportunities for
business can bring the extra profit for the business. As it is a small organisation, expansion f the
business can bring the extra revenue and the business will need extra employees to work in the
fields. Talon Outdoor is in out-of-home media advertising service Providers Company. Talon
Outdoor has exception growth plan and the organisation wants to provide exceptional client
services, strategic expertise and independent services.
Talon Outdoor organisation can expand its business to PR (Public Relation) services. Talon
Outdoor needs to promote a company or an individual through editorial coverage and it is
opposed to as out-of-home advertising. Expansion in PR needs creativity from the employees
and these kinds of works will be published in websites, magazines and newspapers. However, as
stated by Carraher and Paridon (2015), advertising and PR media do the same kinds of jobs to
promote the clients, however, the paths are different. In expanding the business in PR, Talon
Outdoor needs to write a press release, speech writing of clients, write pitches and create special
events.
Talon Outdoor can expand the business in market research as well as the market analysts
do. Doing market research for any client needs market information, reviews, surveys, and
making a link with marketers, consumers and public. In market research, the employees of Talon
Outdoor need to understand the behaviour and perception of the customers through campaigns
and calls. Talon Outdoor can use Evaluating Results in Integrated Campaigns (ERIC) system to
focus on customers' perception with using the technologies.