Introduction:
Hello everyone, my name is Naomie Thamuk, and I am 26 years old. I was born and raised in Congo-Kinshasa and moved to Maryland, USA, for my university studies, where I am currently completing my MBA program. Something unique about my background is that I am fluent in four languages: French, English, Lingala, and Swahili. Through determination and resilience, I will be able to complete this final course which will finish off a life goal that began many years ago - becoming highly educated with knowledge useful in business management.
Expectations:
I expect this course to provide me with the knowledge and skills needed to develop a comprehensive business plan, including market research, financial analysis, and strategic planning. I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the various components that make up a successful business venture and how to apply them in real-world situations.
Company Description:
The company I have chosen is C&G's spices, a startup that produces and sells dried powder spices and mixtures for various dishes, including chicken, beef, fish, and other seasonings such as pepper, onion, and garlic. The company name, C&G, stands for "Chopped and Ground," which reflects the way the spices are processed before being sold.
Product:
The company's primary product is dried powder spices and mixtures for cooking. These will include various flavors such as barbecue, garlic and herb, Cajun, and curry. The company will also offer dried powder pepper, onion, and garlic for use as seasonings.
Mission Statement:
"Our mission at C&G's spices is to provide our customers with high-quality, flavorful, and affordable dried powder spices and mixtures. We strive to make cooking an enjoyable experience by offering a variety of flavors and options that cater to a diverse range of taste preferences. Our commitment to using only the freshest ingredients and sustainable production practices ensures that our products are not only delicious but also healthy and environmentally responsible."
Student answer to week 1 discussion:
It is nice to meet you, and congratulations on making it this far in your educational journey. Knowing how to speak four different languages is unique to your background. I keep saying I want to learn another language but never dedicate the time to start that process. I'm very intrigued to see this startup company come to fruition within our 11-week journey in this course because I love spices in different dishes, being from the Caribbean. I love your company name, but one tip I would give would be to provide your company name first and not include it with the company description. With your mission statement, what do you think will make your company more unique and stand out from the rest of your competitors?
Professor answer to week 1:
Naomie,
Welcome to the class! Congratulations on reaching this milestone. Thank you for your response. Good start!
Explain the significance of the company name: what it means, why you chose this name, and why you think it is a good name for the business. You are missing why you think it is a good name for the business.
The mission statement needs adjustments. It should not sound like a slogan. The mission should include these 3 components: what you do, what makes you unique, and your core values. See the example below.
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"The mission of Trader Joe's is to give our customers the best food and beverage values that they can find anywhere and to provide them with the information required to make informed buying decisions. We provide these with a dedication to the highest quality of customer satisfaction delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, fun, individual pride, and company spirit."
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This example illustrates the 3 components needed for an effective mission:
1.
what the company does: "to give our customers .... food, and beverage"
2.
how you stand out:" the best .....values that they can find anywhere and to provide them with the information required to make informed buying decisions"
3.
the core values (what you believe in, how you plan to run your business)-"We provide these with a dedication to thehighest quality of customer satisfactiondelivered with a sense ofwarmth, friendliness, fun, individual pride, and company spirit."
Examples of Core values
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https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/company-values?gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr40-XtSOCgbGJVdIapO_l59cbatrCOIoF2RJUUXzld7RZj3373PEN9lhoCxjEQAvD_BwE&aceid=&gclsrc=aw.dsLinks to an external site.
link:https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/company-values?gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr40-XtSOCgbGJVdIapO_l59cbatrCOIoF2RJUUXzld7RZj3373PEN9lhoCxjEQAvD_BwE&aceid=&gclsrc=aw.ds
Keep in mind (per the guidelines) :
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You must start the business in April 2023
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You must reach sales of over1million by the end of the second year.
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Your business should operate in an area of 100 miles radius from your home address. You can operate online.
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You are writing the business plan with the purpose of raising funds from the investors.
Youcan proceedwith this company but make sure you follow the guidelines provided in the discussions and assignments (the guidelines). You will focus on this company in all the assignments and discussions in this course.
Note:
Use subheadings to organize your response, just as outlined in the discussion. A business plan is a very organized document. The headings should be : Company Name, Company Description, Mission Statement.
You can post an update by the deadline.
Keep up the good work!
Dr. Bassett
For this week's discussion, please respond to the following:
- Complete the
SWOT Matrix [DOCX]
Download SWOT Matrix [DOCX]
to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company (as approved by the instructor) you described in the Week 1 discussion.
- Your selected company may be a startup company of your choosing, or it may be based on the snack food company scenario provided to you.
- Include four items in each category.
- As you complete each quadrant of the SWOT Matrix, consider these questions:
Strengths.
- What are your selected company's likely strengths?
- Is your product or service in a growing industry and does it lack an entrenched competitor?
- Are you in a niche market with great potential?
- What strengths do you and other team members bring to the company?
Weaknesses.
- What are your chosen company's likely weaknesses?
- How entrenched is the competition in your industry segment?
- Is your management team inexperienced?
- How challenging will it be to produce the product or offer the service and maintain quality?
Opportunities.
- What are your company's opportunities?
- Does your segment have more demand than supply?
- Have larger corporations stopped serving smaller or niche markets that you could enter?
- Is a new market emerging because of demographics, immigration, changing tastes, et cetera?
Threats.
- What are your company's threats?
- Does a clear market leader exist that will be hard and expensive to displace?
- Are downward-pricing pressures in the segment making profit margins slim?
- Are there few or no barriers to entry for new competitors?
- You will revise this week's discussion post as part of your on the Week 3 assignment, Company Description and SWOT Matrix.
- Complete the SWOT matrix in Word and then copy from there and paste it into the discussion window.
- DO NOTattach the Word document to the discussion window.
- Include your company name and a brief description of what business you are in, as well as the product(s) and service(s) you offer for sale. Provide this information in your response for this week to remind everyone about your business (no more than 3-4 sentences). Save this description to include in all your weekly discussion responses in this class.
- A substantive comment is at least 4-6 substantive sentences in length, sharing examples, your perspective, resources, your experience, making connections, asking questions, etc.