Business and Industry Profile
Kark Shop is a new tea shop in Muscat, Oman that is aimed at the provision of quality flavored tea to customers around Muscat and other parts of Oman. It is a Limited Liability Company managed by XYZ. XYZ is suitable as a manager of Kark Shop because he has a wide experience in the management position at successful coffee shops in other parts of the United Arab Emirates. Kark Shop has a high potential for growth considering that its management personnel has enough knowledge of tea. In addition, the company’s management team has undergone enough training in health benefits of tea, which makes the team ideal for reliable sales and marketing strategies.
Industry Analysis
Industry Background and Overview
Tea has become a very important commodity not only in the United Arab Emirates, but also to the entire world (Hazarika 285). Given the fact that tea trade is done on a direct basis, resellers of tea add some value at every stage of the trade (Nakamura 67). According to the current market analysis, the most high ranking tea consumers, as well as largest tea producers in the world are India and China. Nowadays, Dubai has been categorized among some of the fast growing areas globally, which makes it ideal market for tea.
Significant Trends
A recent market analysis on the production and sale of tea in UAE shows that there is a significant increase in the demand for tea within UAE and its neighborhood (Nakamura 67). For example, in 2008, Dubai tea imports were 148.6 million kilograms, which recorded an increase of about 4.0 million kg relative to imports in 2007. In 2009, UAE registered the highest number of sales in both coffee and tea, which amounted to about 10.435 tons.
Growth Rate
With respect to the high demand for tea witnessed in the past years, it is expected that the tea industry will tremendously grow in the following years. Over the past 10 years sales in tea have registered a percentage increase of over 100%. Trends in UAE’s tea market nowadays show a positive growth rate of about six billion kilograms by 2016.
Key Success Factors in the Industry
The high demand for tea has contributed largely to the success of the tea industry in general. Such a high demand can be attributed to the growth in individual awareness of the health benefits that are associated with tea. For this reason, Kark Shop will capitalize on its management’s experience to explore different avenues in order to satisfy the demand for tea in UAE.
Outlook for Future
According to tea market trends, the tea industry will grow tremendously in the future as many people discover the significance of tea in their body. Thus, Kark Shop will establish new market for tea in the future to cater for the growing tea demand.
Stage of Growth (Start-up, growth, maturity)
During the start-up stage, we will invest a lot of energy, money, effort, and time to ensure that we manage a stable customer base. Secondly, at the growth stage we will depend on the limited resources of the company to carry out daily activities. We hope to attain maturity after three years, during which we will have a reliable source of income, maximized revenue. At this stage, we will carry intensive marketing to remain competitive in the market.
Company Goals and Objectives
- To run a successful tea shop in Muscat, employ 2-3 employees within the first year of operation
- To achieve sales of at least $150,000 during the first year
- To achieve and maintain a gross margin of 55% on average.
Business Strategy
Desired Image and Position in Market
Kark Shop Company desires to be a market leader in the future, providing flavored tea to customers all over Muscat and other parts of Oman. As such, the company targets a market share of 10% within the first year, and hopes to attain more than 50% within its second year of operation.
Competitive Strategy
Kark Shop will apply a number of competitive strategies including focus, differentiation and cost leadership. Kark Shop will focus its efforts in the provision of flavored tea, which will enable the company craft a market segment for itself. In addition, the company will have enough capital to set the lowest prices for its tea, as a strategy to hedge out its competitors.
Company Products and Services
Description
Kark Shop will focus on the sale of flavored tea. The availability of several types of tea flavors complements the company’s experience. Our primary goal is to serve as a stopover for customers in need of all types of tea flavors, as well as new experiences.
Flavored Tea
Tea will be brewed under the best temperature condition and time to ensure that we take care of all flavors; loose, iced, as well as hot. This ensures that customers’ tastes and preferences are prioritized. Different types of tea have different benefits to the users (Pastore and Fratellone 531). The provision of flavored tea will ensure that customers’ needs for different flavors in tea are catered for. As such, the primary goal of Kark’s flavored tea is focused on ensuring the provision of great therapeutic virtues to all users, with a guarantee of no health problems to all users.
Coffee and Breakfast
Our main focus is on tea. However, we also provide our customers with coffee and breakfast for purposes of diversification.
Future products or service offerings
We are planning to include gift baskets designed for all occasions. In addition, the company plans to introduce chocolates and a variety of pastries.
Marketing Strategy
Target Market and Location
Effective marketing is very important for any company (Smith and Culkin 263). For this reason, Kark Shop will target youth aged between 25 and 60 years within Muscat.
Potential Size of the Market
In 2015, Oman’s population was 4.155 million (Drysdale 144a). This includes 1.28 million people leaving in Muscat. Out of the 1.28 million people leaving in Muscat, 22% are youth and thus, form the target market for our flavored tea.
Market’s Growth
Over the past years, there has been a high demand for flavored tea in UAE. This led to an increase in the number of tea shops specializing in the sale of flavored tea. Export Potential
By the end of the third year, we will start looking for export links, because trends show that there is a lot of demand for flavored tea outside UAE.
Competition
Kark Shop faces competition threats from several other tea shops such as the Chado Tea Lounge, which prides in more knowledgeable staff and detailed tea menus. However, at Kark Shop our menus are simple because we do not assume that all over customers are aware of the different tea flavors available.
Market Research
We recently conducted a market research to find out the state of the market for flavored tea, as well as level of competition.
Competition and Recent Changes
Most people are turning to flavored tea (Balsaraf and Chole 46). This has the implication of increased demand and establishment of numerous tea shops. For this reason, chances are high that the market for flavored tea might be saturated in the future which can have adverse effects on our business (Hazarika 286).
Sales Promotion and Distribution
We are focused on maintaining our existing customers and attract new ones through elaborate distribution channels, sales leads and referral to ensure that we remain competitive in the market.
New Products
We have established a reliable supplier to provide our company with new products whenever needed.
Works Cited
Balsaraf, Swati, and Revant Chole. ‘Tea: Its Potential Health Implications and Other Benefits’. International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological Diseases 5.2 (2015): 46. Web.
Drysdale, Alasdair. ‘Population Dynamics and Birth Spacing In Oman’. International Journal of Middle East Studies 42.01 (2010): 144a. Web.
Hazarika, Kakali. ‘Changing Market Scenario for Indian Tea’. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance (2011): 285-287. Web.
Nakamura, Yoshiyuki. ‘The Past and Future of Studies on Tea’. Genes and Environment 32.4 (2010): 67-74. Web.
Pastore, Robert L., and Patrick Fratellone. ‘Potential Health Benefits of Tea: A Narrative Review’. EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing 2.6 (2006): 531-539. Web.
Smith, David, and Nigel Culkin. ‘Making Sense of Information: A New Role for the Marketing Researcher’. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 19.4 (2001): 263-271. Web.