Description of the Organization
Olive Construction Company was founded in 2019 to tap into the booming construction industry in Miami Dade County. The firm specializes in the supply of construction materials sourced both locally and internationally. It has 16 employees working on a full-time basis and another 8 working on a part-time basis. In 2021, the company’s budget was $500,000. The mission of the company is to provide quality construction materials for clients in the construction industry. The company understand the level of competition in the industry. As such, it is keen on using unique strategies to acquire and retain its customers in the market (Prabhu, 2020). Besides selling the construction materials, Olive Construction Company also offers free professional guidance to the clients to help them achieve the best quality at the lowest cost possible in their construction project. It also updates clients on the new standards, policies, and regulations in the industry. The goal is to simplify the work of these clients. In this paper, the goal is to create a development plan as it seeks to achieve growth in the market.
Though-Process for Using the Plan
This one-year development plant is meant to help this firm to achieve specific targets in its effort to become one of the leading suppliers of construction materials in the region. This plan identifies specific activities, a timeline, resources, estimated income, and risks that have to be managed to ensure that the target is met. The management has set a modest goal of making a net profit of $200,000 during the next fiscal year. The industry was significantly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has started making recovery.
The Development Plan
Financial Goal
Olive Construction Company’s operations were significantly affected when the country was put under lockdown because of the COVID-19 measures a few months after it launched its operations. However, the economy is making a good recovery and the team is committed to ensuring that it achieves success. In this initiative, the management has set a financial goal that should be realized during the next fiscal year. The goal is to make a net profit of $200,000. The modest goal is achievable based on the current year’s financial progress the firm has made.
Activity Description
The intended activity is to have an aggressive promotional campaign within the targeted market to help improve sales. Currently, the firm offers quality products at competitive prices. However, the company is rarely known in the region. It is yet to make a mark in this highly competitive market. The goal is to increase sales of the company by 95% in the next fiscal year. A team of staff members will be trained and facilitated to take part in the promotional campaign. They will use social media to help them achieve their targets.
Timeline
Specific activities will have to be undertaken to ensure that the intended goal is achieved. As shown in table 1 below, the first activity will be to recruit staff. The management will need to develop a small team of employees who will be directly involved in the promotion of products and brand of the company in the targeted region. The second activity will be to train the selected staff on what they are expected to do. They will then be facilitated with the necessary resources to accomplish their duties. The major activity after facilitation will be the actual promotional campaign. They will reach out to potential customers using various strategies and convince them to purchase products from this firm. A different team in the sales department will be responsible for monitoring the sales during the period. The last activity will be to evaluate the progress made in terms of the popularity of the brand in the region and sales made.
Table 1: Timeline of Activities
Accountability
There should be accountability for all the team members who will be involved in this development plan. First, there will be financial accountability for those who will be allocated money to facilitate the promotional campaigns. They must explain how every dollar given to them was spent during the period. The team will also need to account for the time spent during the period. When employees are involved in promotional campaign activities, they may need to work away from the constant supervision of superiors (Heldman, 2021). To ensure that these workers do not spend time on personal activities, there must be a daily account of what they did to ensure that they meet specific targets.
Staff Needed
As explained above, the development plan will require the management to select a team of employees who will be involved in promotional activities. The needed staff will be involved in reaching out to potential customers and convincing them about the superiority of products the company offers. As such, it will be necessary to have marketing officers with experience in the real estate industry. Some form of training will be necessary to ensure that these workers have the right information that customers need (Prabhu, 2020). The sales department will also need to be expanded in anticipation of increased sales.
Soft Costs
It is necessary to differentiate between soft and hard costs when undertaking such a project. Soft costs are the indirect costs that the company will incur during the project (Iqbal, 2020). In this case, the soft costs are those that will arise from the increased sales caused by the increasing popularity of the firm’s products and brand. They will include the additional transport costs, warehousing costs, and the cost of purchasing additional inventory for the company.
Firm Costs
The firm or hard costs are those that will be spent directly on the promotional campaign activities. In this project, hard costs will include the cost of promoting the company’s brand on social media platforms. The company intends to use Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter as the right platforms to promote its brand and products. There will be transport costs for employees who will need to physically interact with customers. The allowance that will be given to the employees engaged in the project will also form part of the firm costs.
Estimated Income
The massive promotional campaign that the company intends to initiate will improve sales. It is expected that the firm’s sales will increase significantly during the period. The revenues of the firm come directly from sales made. If the target of a 95% increase in sales is achieved, then the firm’s estimated sales income will be $2,500,000. Heldman (2021) observes that successful companies such as Amazon.com have learned the strategy of significantly lowering the price as a way of increasing sales and eliminating competition. This firm will use the same strategy. It will price its products competitively. It is expected that out of a sales revenue of $2,500,000 that is expected within the period, the net profit will only be $200,000. The firm will not emphasize profits, but instead, the focus will be on market growth.
Evaluation
The management will be fully responsible for the evaluation of activities that will be conducted in the project. As a small firm, it is possible to evaluate the performance of every employee in the project. The evaluation will focus on the impact that the campaign has had on the overall sales of the firm. Each employee will be assigned the role of bringing to the firm a specific number of clients. Those who meet or exceed the target will receive the bonus set by the company.
Risk Management
It is important to note that the company may face some risks during the period. One of the potential risks may be the possibility of competitors responding to the threat by lowering their prices (Hubbard, 2019). This company does not intend to engage in such price wars. Instead, it will improve on the quality of its products. Another major risk is pilferage and theft by staff members. Maintaining high levels of accountability will help neutralize such threats. New government policies at the federal, state, or county level may also affect the normal operations of the firm. The management is prepared to deal with such threats.
References
Heldman, K. PMP project management professional exam study guide: 2021 exam update. Sybex.
Hubbard, D. (2019). Failure of risk management: Why it’s broken and how to fix it, second edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Iqbal, A. (2020). Project management multiple choice questions and answers (MCQs): Quizzes & practice tests with answer key. Bushra Arshad.
Prabhu, L. (2020). Project management: Fundamental principles of project management. Nestfame Creations Pvt Ltd.