Assignment: Business Plan Portfolio

Portfolio Overview

In this activity, you will explore the major principles of business by developing a business plan.

Portfolio Goal

Complete a business plan.

Portfolio Details

Consider the following scenario:

You have been working as an assistant manager in Mimi and Jasmine's (M&J) warehouse. M&J is an innovative cosmetics company that was started several years ago by two women. Because fulfilling small orders is not what you envision for your career, you have begun to study business. You have recently learned that the owners of M&J are interested in selling the business. You are interested in buying the company, so based on the advice of a small business consultant at the local chamber of commerce, you decide to put together a business plan to secure a loan.

Complete the following:

1. M&J is a somewhat informal organization in which a number of friends and family members pitch in to do whatever it takes to make the business successful. Overall, this has worked well, but you know that sometimes there is some serious miscommunication resulting from the lack of clear authority. The lines between the marketing, shipping, finance, main office, and sales departments are fuzzy at best. There are people working in multiple departments who have no clear accountability to any one manager. In your response, address the following:

• First, examine how businesses can be organized and structured in general.

• Next, provide a specific plan for M&J that reflects your understanding of management and the most appropriate structure for M&J as a small business with 23 employees.

2. M&J does not have a formal management approach to managing the employees. Some low-level employees are paid more than higher-level employees because they have been with the company longer; others are given extra time off without any explanation. Employees who are not managers often direct other employees but won't deal with conflicts because they say it isn't their job. Some employees are clearly not motivated to do what needs to be done to make M&J as successful as it could be. In your response, address the following:

• First, analyze the various functions of and approaches to management in general.

• Next, provide recommendations on how M&J could formalize the management structure to better manage and motivate its employees.

3. M&J has been successful so far because of word-of-mouth advertising. This method has allowed the company to capture a substantial share of the local market of 18- to 28-year-old women, but the company is having trouble expanding into new markets.

• In your response, first analyze the general marketing processes, forces, and issues faced by a business enterprise.

• Next, apply these principles to developing a marketing strategy for M&J, which is a regional company making $2-3 million in annual sales.

The main objective is to increase both the geographic and the demographic penetration of the company in an incremental way.

• Be sure to address the elements of marketing, market research, and consumer buying behavior as they might apply to a small, growing business like M&J.

• In addition, develop general guidelines for product pricing and distribution, given your target markets.

4. M&J was started by two entrepreneurs who had a passion for cosmetics and a dream of making the best all-natural products available to their customers. Mimi and Jasmine did not have a business plan when they started the company, and the company has grown organically without a formal plan in place. Your task in this final section of the business plan is to put together a summary of all the elements of a business plan and identify the potential risks. In your response, address the following:

• First, provide an overview of your business plan, incorporating sound business concepts, systems, and strategies you have learned in this course.

• Second, summarize all the components and steps you have proposed in previous sections of your plan.

• Next, identify the risks associated with these elements of your plan.

• Finally, clearly define risk management and how you propose to implement this process at M&J to protect the bank's investment.

Write the report.

In a four- to six-page (1,000- to 1,500-word) document, provide answers to the scenarios presented above. Format your document in the following manner:

• All material should be contained in one document.

• Put the content in the order presented above and try to build upon the concepts you identified in previous sections of the report.

• At the end of the report, cite the sources you used to complete it.

Remember, it is important not only that you identify the major principles of business, but also that you show how you would use this material to help you run M&J most effectively. Follow these guidelines in writing your responses to the scenario:

• Use clear, concise sentences.
• Use clear and relatable real-world examples to help explain concepts.
• Use language appropriate for a new businessperson with no experience in this particular field.
• Share your enthusiasm for and interest in the subject matter.
• Relate the material to your personal experiences whenever possible.
• Read the report aloud to yourself before finalizing it.