Development of A Business Plan

Executive Summary For Dexter's Chocolates

Dexter's Chocolates offer superior and premium quality of chocolate products for its customers. The firm is planning to help raise the health standards of its buyers by providing them sugar and gluten-free offerings which would help them in staying fit and adopt a healthy lifestyle. The organisation would operate under confectionery industry and is planning to provide offerings with a perfect blend of health and taste.

Vision, Mission And Objectives

Dexter's Chocolates'Vision

With its superior quality products, vision of this company is to work in ways which help people enjoy the very taste of eating chocolates without having any negative effects on their body (Burns & Dewhurst, 2016). The organisation wishes to create a healthy culture by transforming the shape of confectionery industry.

Dexter's Chocolates'Mission

The mission of this firm is to provide exquisite taste to people by offering them a range of healthy sugar-free and gluten-free chocolates and energy bars that help in fulfilling their nutrition needs and enhance their chocolate consuming experience.

Dexter's Chocolates Objectives

It is crucial to set out objectives which could serve as targets for the company to achieve for which it would be developing its strategies. These objectives are:

• The firm aims at making a customer base of at least 1500 customers by the end of one year of its inception.
• Another objective of this firm is to acquire 1% of market share of the whole confectionery industry within the UK within 1.5 years of its establishment.

Industrial Analysis

This covers all the factors which are required by a business to analyse in order to gain an insight of the whole industry (Burns, 2016). It includes aspects related to customers, competitors as well as market segmentation. Industrial Analysis of Dexter's Chocolates is mentioned below:

Future Outlooks and Trends

Globally, there is a high inclination of general public towards living a healthy lifestyle. They are aligning their lifestyles towards fitness and consuming food products that are quite healthy. In addition, it is likely that they would criticize any offering which is high on elements that could negatively affect their health. At the global level, sugar free segment is estimated to reach US$ 3.05 Billion before 2024 (Sugar Free Chocolate Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2018 – 2023,2019.). The sole reason is that countries like the UK and the US are taking initiative to encourage their citizens in adopting effective and healthy lifestyles. Thus, such future trends would support Dexter's Chocolates in gaining opportunities to capture a wider market in the future.

Competitor Analysis

Within the confectionery industry in the UK, there are various firms which produce organic chocolates and could be a competition to Dexter's Chocolates. One such company is Biona Organic, which is one of the most trusted organic companies in the UK dealing in healthy confectioneries. The firm has more than 350 organic products to offer to its customers. Moreover, the firm has more than 35 years of experience and it serves in more than 30 countries globally (Biona- About Us,2019). The sales strategy of this firm is to communicate to people about how adoption its product would be helping them in achieving a healthier future.

Another competition for Dexter's Chocolates is Pacari, which is an organisation dealing in premium quality dark chocolate. It adopts manufacturing equipments and processes which are both ethical as well as sustainable. The company has almost 250 international chocolate awards for its utmost dedication of using techniques and ingredients which are certified as 100% organic (Pacari- About Us,2019). Its sales strategy is that it provides the customers with monthly offers and personalised services which help it in regaining their buyers.

Market Segmentation

For effective sales strategy, it is imperative that market segments are effectively determined which would help Dexter's Chocolates identify its target market. Market Segmentation is a process which would divide the overall market in various groups or segments based on different characteristics. Market segments for Dexter's Chocolates are mentioned below:

• Geographical:This aspect divides the overall market on the basis of their geographical location. The firm is willing to manufacture and distribute its products in the United Kingdom.
• Demographical:The market under this is divided on the basis of demo-graphs. It includes age, gender, income groups, occupation, etc. For Dexter's Chocolates, the market would be divided into general consumers, aged between 15-60, under any occupation and with income more than £100, belonging to business class environment.
• Behavioural:Customer behaviour is the central point of this segment. The organisation would be opting customers who are willing to spend a healthy lifestyle as well as are fond of eating chocolates (Lee and et. al., 2015).

Internal Analysis

SWOT Analysis

It is crucial for any organisation to analyse all of its internal weaknesses and strengths in ways which is crucial for attaining external opportunities and minimisation of threats. SWOT analysis for Dexter's Chocolates is mentioned below:

Business Venture

Products and Services

Dexter's Chocolates would be dealing in a variety of sugar-free and gluten-free chocolate products and a range of energy bars for better health of customers without even giving up the taste.

Size of the Business

The firm would be operating in small scale, and hence, it would be having a handful of employees (Hayter, Lubynsky & Maroulis, 2017). Apart from the owner, the firm will be having 2 partners which would be helping the entrepreneur in carrying out all the functional and operational activities. The company would be employing 10 other employees which will be responsible for producing the products and carrying out after sales and accounting services.

Background of Entrepreneur

The entrepreneur of Dexter's Chocolates belongs to a very educated background. He has just completed his education this company would be his first business venture. Due to this reason, he is interested in earning more financial gain to develop a strong image of himself within the market. With this organisation, the entrepreneur is planning to establish himself as an effective businessman and has a vision to support the people and community with his premium quality chocolate products.

Business Location

The agenda of Dexter's Chocolates is to serve as many customers as possible. For this reason, the entrepreneur and his partners is planning to set up the company in London, United Kingdom. Along with this, success of a venture also depends on its area within the country. Thus, it is planned to be set up near Trafalgar Square where it could gain popularity among local people as well as tourists.

Physical Facilities And Operations

Description and Costs

The physical facilities for Dexter's Chocolate include:

• Ingredient Bins:These bins have the purpose of storing dry elements such as flour, sugar-free powders, etc. The company would require almost £50 to buy 2-3 bins for the business.
• Work Tables:These tables are made from either stainless steel or hardwood which could be used by employees to craft chocolate products. Almost £2000 would be required by the firm to set up work tables for the staff to work upon.
• Double Boilers:It could be used effectively by the firm to temper all the chocolate through gentle heat as per the requirements. It is required, that company invests at least £150 to buy effective boilers for everyday use.
• Commercial Mixers:Such facilities could be utilised to combine and blend quantities in large quantities. At least £5000 are needed to buy effective quality mixers for the company.
• Pan Racks:Assembling of the final chocolate product is done using Pan Racks. It helps in giving hardness to chocolates before displaying them to the customers. Dexter's Chocolates need investment of around £100 to buy pan racks required for its operations.

Marketing Plan

Target Market

After segmentation, Dexter's Chocolates is required to determine its target market on which it would effectively channelise its efforts and strategies. The target market for this firm would be general population from the urban areas of the UK, aged between 15-60 with income level more than £100 and habitual of living a healthy lifestyle.

Marketing Mix

These elements are those within the market which aids a company in its strategy making. Marketing Mix of Dexter's Chocolates is mentioned below:

• Product:This element is centralised around the product strategy of the firm. This company would be producing effective quality products which are healthy and possess taste according to market preference.
• Price:Since the company is planning to launch sugar and gluten-free chocolates, it would be adopting Price Skimming strategy to set the prices of its products.
• Place:Mostly, the firm would be operating its offline store, however, since it wants to gain popularity, it would be tying up with food delivery companies to set itself up in online market as well.
• Promotion:Dexter's Chocolates will be adopting social media and print advertisements as methods to promote its offerings to its potential customers in the UK.

Organizational Plan

Ownership/Legal Structure

The firm will be operating in partnership as 3 individuals, including entrepreneur would be effectively partnering up for this venture. Its legal structure would consist of forming of partnership agreements, deciding upon the role, share and responsibilities of each partner within the firm. Moreover, tax structure would also be the ones followed in partnership where taxes on profits would be paid via personal IT accounts of each partner (The Small Business Partnership: General and Limited Partnerships,2019).

Management Team Description

The management team for Dexter's Chocolates would include:

• Partners:The organisation would be having 3 partners who will be managing and supervising all the operations of the company. Along with this, they will be handling all the resources, financial flow for carrying operations and risk handling.
• Employees:8 employees will be managing the production and display of chocolates and will be responsible for its quality and healthy nature.
• Accounting and After-sales Personnel:Two personnels will be handling the accounting and front-desk services. Moreover, this employee would also be handling after-sales services.

Licensing and Insurance

The licensing and insurance required by Dexter's Chocolates are mentioned below:

• The company would require Business Licenseobtained by the local government.
• Partners in the firm also require to acquire Health Code Permit toensure that local health standards are being met.

As for insurance, the company would need General Liability Insurance, for damages and litigation expenses and Worker's Compensation Insuranceto ensure safety of the workforce (ow to Open a Chocolate Shop,2018).

Risk Assessment

It is imperative for a firm to analyse and minimise risks to help running the business smoothly. Risk assessment of this company is discussed as under:

Weaknesses

It includes lesser amount of financial as well as human resource to help manage the business in a better way. This would lower the speed it requires for the company to manufacture and distribute a significant amount of chocolate products.

Threats

Existing competition as well as Brexit are current threats for the company. Both of these factors are serious threats to the company as they require it to modify its operations and product quality in ways appropriate to the situation.

Contingency Plans

To eradicate weaknesses and minimise threats, Dexter's Chocolates must adopt policies that are flexible to help it sail through political instability like Brexit. In addition, the product and pricing strategy must be competent enough for the firm to acquire more resources (material as well as human) quickly (Frøen and et. al., 2016). For this, firm must focus on providing diverse products at effective pricing.

Financial Analysis

Feasibility Analysis

The business idea for Dexter's Chocolates is quite feasible to the partners and could be given into practice. This is because technologically, the equipments and technology used is competent enough to produce effective products (Brinckmann & Kim, 2015). Moreover, it is legally feasible too as the business is in alignment with all the legal standards and effective as per the ethical framework.

Start-up Costs

The start up cost for the company is £20,000 which covers each setting up the infrastructure, buying equipments, hiring employees, carrying distribution and promotional services etc.

Cash Flow Forecasts

Funding Sources and Application

The primary source of funding for Dexter's Chocolates would be personal capital from the partners. Another source of funds would be Bank Loans and Government Grants which would allow the company to be set up effectively and acquire appropriate and ample financial resources required to operate and run the organisation smoothly.

Conclusion

Thus, it is concluded that development of a business plan requires the firm to effectively set up a structure which could help in setting up organisation appropriately. Industrial analysis and SWOT aids in analysing and evaluating external and internal competence of a firm. Lastly, it is essential to effectively make a marketing and organisational plan along with risk and financial analysis for making a systematic business plan for a company.

You may also like to read: 

• Innovation And Commercialization
• Impact of Innovation in Business Success
• Managing Financial Resources and Decisions
• Business Environment
• Small Business Environment

References

Books and Journals

• Brinckmann, J., & Kim, S. M. (2015). Why we plan: The impact of nascent entrepreneurs' cognitive characteristics and human capital on business planning. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 9(2). 153-166.
• Burns, P. (2016). Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
• Burns, P., & Dewhurst, J. (Eds.). (2016). Small business and entrepreneurship. Macmillan International Higher Education.
• Frøen, J. F., and et. al. (2016). Stillbirths: progress and unfinished business. The Lancet. 387(10018). 574-586.
• Hayter, C. S., Lubynsky, R., & Maroulis, S. (2017). Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 42(6). 1237-1254.
• Lee, Y. K., and et. al. (2015). Market orientation and business performance: Evidence from franchising industry.International Journal of Hospitality Management. 44.28-37.
• McKeever, M. (2016). How to write a business plan. Nolo.
• Ojala, A. (2016). Business models and opportunity creation: How IT entrepreneurs create and develop business models under uncertainty. Information Systems Journal. 26(5). 451-476.

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