Report to business owner.pdf

8/10/2019 Report to business owner.pdf

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Proposal and

Marketing Report

for Way Out Bikes


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Contents

Way Out Bikes Mission Statement

Assessment Question pg 3

Introduction

Appropriate Stakeholders pg 4

Preliminary Investigation

Description of the Investigation pg5

Gap Analysis

20 Questions that were asked to the Owner

20 Assumption Answers from the Owner pg 6

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Comparison of Operational Practices pg 7

Conclusion pg 11

Citations and References pg 9


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Introduction

The following document/report lists the appropriate stakeholders at WAY OUTBIKES (WOBs). It has a write up on our findings outlining our preliminaryinvestigation, a description of thisand a GAP analysisfor the owner of Way OutBikes. It also includes the 20 hypothetical questionsthat were asked to the owneras well as, their responses. This document/report also includes some ITStrengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats(SWOT) that were addressedin this assessment and Comparisons of Operational Practices.

Appropriate Stakeholders

The following information is a list of the appropriate stakeholders of Way Out Bikes.

Owner/ManagementThe owner/management isresponsible for the:profitability,longevity, market share, marketstanding, succession planning,raising capital, growth, social

goals.

Investors/Board ofDirectorsThe investors/board of directorsare responsible for the: Returnon investments and income.

SuppliersThe suppliersare responsiblefor the:products andservices usedin the endproduct for the

customer/s andequitablebusinessopportunities.

Employee/sThe employeesare responsiblefor the: Rates ofpay,job security,compensation,respect, truthfulcommunication

CustomersValue, quality,customer careand ethicalproducts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_securityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_securityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_securityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_security


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Preliminary Investigation

At the beginning of this Preliminary Investigation we were informed that Way OutBikes wanted to acquire an information system for their business. Along with

acquireing an information system for the business, the company prides itself onits dedication of specializing in helping customers select exactly the right bicyclefor their needs and lifestyle. Together with priding itself on dedication ofspecializing in customer help, discovered was that WOBs cannot compete onprice with mass merchandisers. However, they are striving to offer theircustomers something more priceless, value and expertise. This list was what wasassessed in the Preliminary Investigation.

Description of the Investigation

A brief description of the investigation; First, there was the issue of addressingWay Out Bikes information system. Information systems generally consist ofhardware, software of a companys computer systems and computer tangibleresources, which is what we are focusing on. The investigation involved asking

the owner a number of questions and then making assumptions on the ownersanswers. This was to help with further understand WOBs financial and emotionalposition. Along with finding out the financial and emotional position of WOBs,carried out also was a SWOT analysis. This analysis involved discovering thestrengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of/for the company. Carryingout these proceedings/investigation will help with further understanding Way OutBikes company position.


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Gap Analysis

Online Accounting Software for WOBsSample 1:https://www.xero.com/au/or Xero

Review of Xero account software system:

Price- 30 Day Free Trial

After the trial period you can opt for the $25 a month Starter Plan, which providescompanies with the option of;

Yes

Users:Unlimited Employees paid/month: 1 for free File storage:1 GB Bank feeds:Yes Bank transactions reconciled:

20/month Invoices:5/month

Bills:5/month

No

X Auto superannuationX Multi-currency
https://www.xero.com/au/https://www.xero.com/au/https://www.xero.com/au/https://www.xero.com/au/


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Another option, which is the most popular

plan, is the Standard Plan. This is only$50 a month and provides users with:

Yes

Users:Unlimited Employees paid/month: 5 for free File storage:5 GB Bank feeds:Yes Bank transactions reconciled: Yes Invoices:Yes Bills:Yes

No

X Auto superannuation

X Multi-currency


The final and most expensiveoption is to use the Premium 50 Plan - $80 a month. This plan provides customerswith all the extra features, plus up to 50 employees paid/month and 50 GB of data.

Yes

Users:Unlimited


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Employees paid/month: 50 for free File storage:50 GB Bank feeds:Yes Bank transactions reconciled: Yes Invoices:Yes Bills:Yes

Auto superannuation: Yes Multi-currency: Yes

Online Accounting Software for WOBsSample 2:http://www.saasu.com/ or SAASU

Review of SAASU account software system:


After the trial period you can opt for the $15 the Small Plan, which provides companieswith the option of;

YES

Invoicing:Create transactions at any stage of the sales cycle Transactions: 1,000 transactions a year Banking: Monitor bank accounts with management tools Bank feeds: 3 bank feeds Inventory:Manage inventory, purchasing and supply-chains Add-ons:Choose from over 50 specialist products


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Jump: Find anything using this search program Reports:View any report and see the results in seconds Contacts:Program Saasu to develop partnerships with customers Forecaster: Intuitive cash flow forecasting, for the next 30 days Payroll: Handles payroll processing

NO

X Multi-currency:Manages multi-currency exchangeX Advanced Inventory:Manage inventory, purchasing and supply-chainsX Consolidated P&L:Provide a P&L statement summaryX KPI report builder:Provides KPI reports



After the trial period you can opt for the $40 the Medium Plan, which providescompanies with the option of;

YES

Invoicing:Create transactions at any stage of the sales cycle Transactions: 20,000 transactions a year Banking: Monitor bank accounts with management tools Bank feeds: 5 bank feeds Employees: 20 employees


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Multi-currency:Manages multi-currency exchange Inventory:Manage inventory, purchasing and supply-chains Add-ons:Choose from over 50 specialist products Jump: Find anything using this search program Reports:View any report and see the results in seconds Contacts:Program Saasu to develop partnerships with customers

Forecaster: Intuitive cash flow forecasting, for the next 30 days Payroll: Handles payroll processing

NO

X Advanced Inventory:Manage inventory, purchasing and supply-chainsX Consolidated P&L:Provide a P&L statement summaryX KPI report builder:Provides KPI reports




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After the trial period you can opt for the $180 the X-Large Plan, which providescompanies with the option of;

Invoicing:Create transactions at any stage of the sales cycle Transactions: 100,000 transactions a year Banking: Monitor bank accounts with management tools

Bank feeds: 20 bank feeds Employees: 100 employees Multi-currency:Manages multi-currency exchange Advanced Inventory:Manage inventory, purchasing and supply-chains Consolidated P&L:Provide a P&L statement summary KPI report builder:Provides KPI reports Add-ons:Choose from over 50 specialist products Jump: Find anything using this search program Reports:View any report and see the results in seconds Contacts:Program Saasu to develop partnerships with customers Forecaster: Intuitive cash flow forecasting, for the next 30 days Payroll: Handles payroll processing

Summary of the software systems

Xero offers a long-term cheaper accounting system than the SAASU system.However, SAASU provides more accounting option to business owners,especially the X-Large Plan. As you would have discovered from the list above,both programs are designed for small to medium businesses, which means they

will both do the job adequately for Way Out Bikes. Consequently, the decision ofwhich program to go with will rest with whether you want more features for ahigher price (SAASU) or less features for a lower price (Xero)?

10/20 Questions that were asked to the

Owner

To let the reader of this report know what was said in the questions to theowner section, selected is a number of questions that were asked,(Hypothetically) to the owner of WOBs.


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Q1 - What resources are contributors for the organisation/Way Out Bikesproduction process?

Q2 What knowledge and skills do your employees have that can be seen asexceptional, expensive to imitate/replace and incapable of being substituted?

Q3 What is the organisations core competencies/values?

Q4

Could the organisation outperform its competitors in key performanceareas?

Q5 Could the organisation go one better than its competitors in keyperformance areas, such as offering the option to also service/repair bikes ofcustomers for a free or a lower cost than they would for a normal person whois getting their bike repaired?

Q7 Is this company ready to adjust to future trends that may occur in its

lifetime? If Yes, how?

Q8 Would the company be interested in developing an electronic programwhere people can enter their personal information into it and the programcomes up with a match of what bike would best suit them?

Q9Do you know what your competitors capabilities are compared to your?

Q10 Do you know of any important feature that exist within this industry?

Q11 Do you know what strategy your competitor is doing to gather buyers?


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Q8Possible assumption could be; Yes and we would be open to many other newand innovative ideas that would lead to the long term success of the

company.

Q9Possible assumption could be; Yes they can offer cheaper prices on theirbikes.

Q10Possible assumption could be; Yes, everyone that comes and buys a bike isgenuinely concerned about their health and wellbeing and feel that this will

help improve their way of life.

Q11Possible assumption could be: Yes, they are using the strategy of selling theirproducts for a cheaper price than Way Out Bikes.

10/20 Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

Analysiss

The following is a list of 10 SWOT analysis for Way Out Bikes.

Q1 - What resources are contributors for the organisation/Way OutBikes production process?

Possible assumption could be; Capital equipment, skills of individualemployees, patents, finances, talented managers.

First SWOT Analys is: The Strengthof this assumption is that it focuses oncontributors of the organisation, such as skills of individual employees or


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talented managers. The Weaknessin this assumption is that it is restricted toonly resources from contributors. The Oppor tuni ty here is that it could bemade open to more contributors. The Threat is that if open to morecontributors it may weaken the resources for the organisation.

Q2 What knowledge and skills do your employees have that can beseen as exceptional, expensive to imitate/replace and incapable of beingsubstituted?

Possible assumption could be: they have experience working in achildcare centre which could help with attending to children, or theyhave an expertise with select exactly the right bike for the right client.

Second SWOT Analys is: The Strength is that an employee could be moreexperienced in a particular field, thus more helpful. The Weaknessis that thisemployee or expert could expect a higher pay because they are morequalified. The Oppor tuni ty is that the employee or expert could deliver ahigher level of customer service, which could convert to more sales. TheThreat is that if not appreciated properly another organisation may want themto work for them, which may lead to them leaving.

Q3 What is the organisations core competencies/values?

Possible assumption could be: that we seek to provide customers withvalue for money and deliver expertise advice in the field of bikes andbike ware.

Third SWOT Analysis: The Strength is that the company providescustomers with value for money and expert advice on bikes and bike ware.The Weakness in this situation is that other companies could undercut thecompany on their prices. The Oppor tuni ty is that the company could try andintroduce something else to offer, such as organising regular cycling tours.The Treat is that the other bike companies could try offering the same serviceof organising regular cycling tours.

Q4 Could the organisation outperform its competitors in keyperformance areas?

Possible assumption could be; Yes, as we will struggle to outperformthem in the short term financially lower costs on merchandise, but wecan outperform them in our knowledge of bikes and bike ware.

Fourth SWOT Analysis: The Strength is that the company is striving tooutperform their competition by their knowledge on bikes and bike wares. TheWeaknessin that the company cannot successfully compete with lower costs


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on merchandise. The Oppor tuni tyis that they could find distributors that offerlower prices on their merchandise. The Threat here is that you could

jeopardise the quality of product by sorting for a cheaper option of bikes orbike wares.

Q5 Could the organisation go one better than its competitors in keyperformance areas, such as offering the option to also service/repairbikes of customers for a free or a lower cost than they would for a normalperson who is getting their bike repaired?

Possible assumption could be; Yes, if the person purchases the bikefrom them they could do that for a certain duration of time?

Fif th SWOT Analysis: The Strength under this circumstance is that thecompany is trying to outperform their competitors in services, such as free orat a lower rate bike repairs, which could convert to more sales. TheWeakness in this case is that offering a free or at a lower rate could not coverthe cost of labor. The Oppor tuni ty here could be to offer a one off free or at alower rate bike repair for their first bike service, if the buy a bike from theirshop. Then after giving that option charge them the standard rate for a bikeservice. The Threat here is that other companies could offer the sameoption/service to their customers.

Q6 Do you know what drives the competitor to provide customers withlower priced bike ware?

Possible assumption could be; Is that they can purchase more stock, as

they are turning over more stock, because they can sell their product at alower price. Thus making more money/profit in the long term, which isthe ultimate goal. This is what could drive the competitors to providelower prices to customers.

Sixth SWOT Analysis: The Strength in this assumption is that thecompetitor can make more money in the long term if they sell their products ata cheaper price, which they can do because they are selling large amounts ofthis product. The Weakness is that there is a risk of not selling all their stock,which can happen if this field/hobby becomes ostracized. The Oppor tuni tyhere is that if Way Out Bikes can find a way on how to meet this demand,

while still living within their means, they could possibly out do theircompetition and become the leading company on the sales of bike ware andbike related technology. The Threat for the opposing company is that if WayOut Bikes can meet the quantity of sales and still charge the same amountthey are currently offering they would make more money in the short and longterm.


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Q7 Is this company ready to adjust to future trends that may occur inits lifetime? If Yes, how?

Possible assumption could be; Yes , it is ready to adjust to future trendsthat may occur in its lifetime. How we will do this is by obtaining up todate information/statistics about the organisations strengths,

weaknesses and performances. Obtaining this information will highlightthe critical issues that the organisation faces and what its strategic planmust address.

Seventh SWOT Analys is:The Strengthin this assumption is that it is readyto adjust to future trends that may occur in its lifetime. The Weakness is thatthey do not specify if this adjustment will be strait away or over a duration oftime. The Oppor tuni ty here is that they can find a way to quickly adjust tofuture trends, thus making them competitive and always up with the latesttechnology. The Threat is that they/ Way Out Bikes may not adjust quicklyand competition will take future sales from them, because they are not up withthe latest trends.

Q8 Would the company be interested in developing an electronicprogram where people can enter their personal information into it andthe program comes up with a match of what bike would best suit them?

Possible assumption could be; Yes and we would be open to many othernew and innovative ideas that would lead to the long term success of thecompany.

Eighth SWOT Analysis:The Strengthis that the company is open to manynew and innovative ideas that would lead to long term success. TheWeakness is they may get court up in bad innovative ideas that dont lead tolong term success for the company. The Oppor tuni ty here is that thecompany can become very successful if they choose the right new andinnovative ideas for the company. The Threat is other companies could takethe same approach and they do not choose the wrong ideas and we/Way OutBikes do and we loose time and money and they do not.

Q9 Do you know what your competitors capabilities are compared toyour?

Possible assumption could be; Yes they can offer cheaper prices on theirbikes.

Ninth SWOT Analysis:The Strength is that Way Out Bikes know what thecompetitors capabilities are compared to ours. The Weakness is that we/WayOut Bikes cannot compete with their cheaper prices. The Oppor tuni ty couldbe to offer them something extra that isnt costly to the company, such as


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tailor making a bike program that is suitable for the individual. The Threat isthat other companies could provide the same service and then you do nothave anything special to offer customers.

Q10 Do you know of any important feature that exist within thisindustry?

Possible assumption could be; Yes, everyone that comes and buys a bikeis genuinely concerned about their health and wellbeing and feel thatthis will help improve their way of life.

Tenth SWOT Analys is: The Strength is that Way Out Bikes (WOB) knowsome important features that exist within the bike ware industry. TheWeakness hereis that they do not mention other important features forexample, they dont say that knowing some basic road rules is an importantfeature within this industry. The Oppor tuni ty for WOB could be to make up abook with important facts about cycling. The Threat is people may not read itand may get hurt from not knowing some basic road rules.

Comparison of Operational Practices

Comparing WOBs to other competitors -

WOBs offers expertise in the field of bikes and bike ware

WOBs cannot compete with bike prices, but can offer priceless

knowledge on bikes to their customers

WOBs will maintain a principle of providing customers with the

lowest prices they can possibly deliver

WOBs always strives to provide their customers with quality

service

Their staff are multi-skilled and can assist in numerous departments

WOBs strives to provide their customers with fast and polite

service

They are always looking for ways in order to be up to date with the

latest trends and technology


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Conclusion

The document/report listed the appropriate stakeholders at WAY OUT BIKES(WOBs), for example the stakeholders included people such as employers andemployees. However, it was not limited to just employers and employees itextends to other stakeholders such, the owner and customers. Along with listingthe appropriate stakeholders at WOBs,it critiqued the preliminary investigation.This involved acquire an information system for their business. After thepreliminary investigation a description of this was given. Next discussed was theGAP analysis for the owner of Way Out Bikes, this involved two companies thefirst, was Xero and the second, SAASU. The both of these software accountingprograms had their pros & cons, for example Xero offered a long-term cheaperprice to install and maintain. Whereas, SAASU offered a product that had moreaccounting tools to use. Followed by the accounting software analysis, was the10/20 hypothetical questions that were asked to the owner as well as, theirresponses.Some of the questions asked were What resources are contributorsfor the organisation/Way Out Bikes production process? As well as, Whatknowledge and skills do your employees have that can be seen asexceptional, expensive to imitate/replace and incapable of being substituted?

And finally, Do you know what strategy your competitor is doing to gatherbuyers? This document/report also includes some IT Strengths, Weaknesses,Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). For example, the SWOT analysis responseto question 1 was the Strength was that it focused on contributors of theorganisation. The Weakness for this assumption was that it is restricted to only

resources from contributors. The Opportunity for this assumption is that it couldbe made available to more contributors. Finally, the Threat is that if open to morecontributors it may weaken the resources for the organisation. As a conclusionthe report finished with looked at Comparisons of Operational Practices. Onecomparison used from WOBs was their expertise in the field of bikes and bikeware to other companies.


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Citations and References

Report to business owner.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Report to business owner.pdf