Opportunity
Sportswear is a business that is growing rapidly in the United Arab Emirates. However, the researcher noticed that most of these stores often focus on sportswear for men. It was also evident that fishing as a sporting activity is also becoming popular, but the local retailers are yet to stock the necessary fishing gear needed by the locals. As such, the identified business idea is to start a small business that will primarily focus on offering fishing gear and equipment specifically for women and young girls. The demand for this market is growing, but the local firms have ignored this segment.
Business Model
When planning to start a business venture, Karami argues that it is important to identify an appropriate business model that would help in achieving the desired goals based on the current market forces (43). In this case, the planned venture will use the model of a distributor. As a new venture, this firm cannot afford to manufacture fishing gear and sportswear for women that are in great demand in the United Arab Emirates market. As such, it will work closely with some of the leading global manufacturers of these products, such as Nike, Adidas, and Puma. It will purchase the products from these manufacturers in bulk and sell them in small units to local customers.
Business Mission and Vision
The mission and vision of a firm define the primary goal of an institution and the manner in which it plans to achieve it. As a new shop in this market, the following mission statement will define its operations.
- We empower women in the United Arab Emirates by making it easy for them to engage actively in various sporting activities.
As shown in the mission statement above, we focus on creating an environment where women can actively engage in different sporting activities in the country. Fishing is one of the sports gaining popularity among women. We believe that by making these sports gear available for women, they will be motivated to engage in sports. The following is the vision statement that defines the desired position of this company.
- To become the leading distributor of fishing gear and equipment for women and young girls in the United Arab Emirates.
SWOT Analysis
When analyzing the capacity of a firm to achieve success in the local market, a SWOT analysis is a critical tool, as Karami observes (86). The main strength of this company is its flexibility. The new enterprise that is just starting its operations can easily adjust in line with changing market forces. It can introduce new marketing strategies that meet customers’ expectations in the most effective way possible. However, its weakness is that the brand is not known in the local market. This firm also lacks the financial capacity that some of its main market rivals have because of several years of operation. The growing population in the UAE is a huge market opportunity that can enable the firm to achieve success. The biggest threats that it will have to encounter are stiff competition and changing trends in the market.
Competitive Strategy
The management of this new firm will need a competitive strategy that it can use to achieve a competitive advantage over its rivals in the market. The proposed competitive strategy that the firm will use is niching. The research has identified a market segment, fishing gear and sportswear for women and young girls, not effectively covered by market rivals. Focusing on this segment will enable the company to achieve rapid growth in the market. The company will offer quality products that would meet and exceed the expectations of customers in the market.
Feasibility Analysis
The management of this new company will need to conduct a feasibility analysis to determine the relevance of this new firm. As Daleure states, it is important to ensure that a given business venture is profitable and sustainable before investing resources in it (27). It is projected that about AED 450,000 will be needed to start this project. The graph below shows the projected sales and profitability for the company in the first five years of operations.
It is expected that this company will break even by mid of the fourth year when all the resources invested in it shall have been recovered in terms of its profits. The business will be self-sustaining in the second year of operations. The projected sales show that although this firm may face constraints in its initial years of operation, it has the potential to achieve success in the United Arab Emirates. As the brand gets stronger and the number of women engaging in active sports increases, the stores are expected to grow larger.
The fact that it is designed exclusively for women, the retail store is in line with the cultural values of this society that prohibits women from exposing their nakedness to men who are not their spouses. In these shops, women would be able to try new clothes without the fear of men walking around. They will feel more comfortable making their purchases from these stores.
Capacity Planning and its Applications
The management of this new company should conduct capacity planning to know what the company can in its initial stages of operation. The primary goal at this stage would be to determine the number of shops that this company should open, the appropriate number of employees that should be hired, and the stock that the company should have. As Wapshott and Mallett explain, it is important to void overambitious plans when starting a new business venture (47). Such mistakes could lead to cases where operational capital is lost, and activities at the new firm paralyzed soon after starting the business. If the owner cannot inject new capital, such a firm would close its operations after a short period.
Key and Support Processes
According to Longenecker et al., understanding key processes in a new business venture is critical in enhancing a new firm’s success in the market (65). In this case, the key process will be to make available sportswear and fishing gear designed for women and young girls at strategically located shops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The firm will mainly use social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and YouTube) to promote these products. The media was chosen because of their popularity among the targeted group of customers. They also offer a quick and effective way of passing an important message to a given audience.
Mass media will be used selectively and less frequently, giving preferences to television commercials. The retail stores will have an appealing display to promote impulse buying among customers. The support process that the management will consider is online buying. The merchandise that the company will be selling will be made available through the company’s website. Customers will have the opportunity to view these products, select what they need, and make payments on the online platform. The online sale is meant to support the brick-and-mortar business model.
Employment Strategy
The management of this new business venture will have to think through carefully when employing workers at the retail stores. The city of Dubai is one of the most culturally diverse metropolitans in the world (Hisrich and Ramadani 78). It has attracted Europeans, Arabs, Africans, Chinese, Indians, and many other races from different parts of the world that come as tourists, businesspersons, or skilled/semi-skilled workers. When hiring retail attendants, care should be taken to ensure that this diversity is reflected in the workforce. The firm should strive to have a situation where clients would feel comfortable in the shops irrespective of their race or religion.
When it comes to gender, it would be more appropriate to have exclusively female shop assistants to help clients whenever they want to make their purchases. Given that the shop only serves women, it would be necessary to make them comfortable, especially given the cultural factors in the country. If necessary, the firm may have male security officers stationed at the entrance of the doors. Karami explains that in such cases, it may even be necessary to have female security officers just to reassure the clients that they can feel comfortable in these shops (52). Moreover, it will be a major leap towards empowering women in this country. It will assure women in various careers that they too can undertake duties that were previously dominated by men.
Works Cited
Daleure, Georgia. Emiratization in the UAE Labor Market: Opportunities and Challenges. Springer Nature, 2017.
Hisrich, Robert, and Veland Ramadani. Entrepreneurial Marketing: A Practical Managerial Approach. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018.
Karami, Azhdar. Strategy Formulation in Entrepreneurial Firms. Routledge, 2016.
Longenecker, Justin G, et al. Small Business Management: Launching & Growing Entrepreneurial Ventures. Cengage Learning, 2017.
Wapshott, Robert, and Oliver Mallett. Managing Human Resources in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Entrepreneurship and the Employment Relationship. Routledge, 2016.