Business Growth Plan

Abstract
Phoebe has been operating a sandwich stop over the past five years. An opportunity has presented itself where the business can grow. The growth, therefore, involves her moving to a permanent location in the mall and where she will have a large pool of new customers. As such she has to devise ways of ensuring that she achieves the needed growth. The business, therefore, needs to have a growth strategy that will propel her to success. Moreover, she has to come up with her best organizational structure that will make it effective to manage the business. The staffing needs of the business have to be adequate to stimulate the growth. Phoebe has to address the new challenges that she will face having expanded the business. The new ethical issues and responsibilities will have to be efficiently managed. This paper tries to explore the various options or alternatives that Phoebe has and seeks to choose the best strategy for her business. It’s only through proper implementation of the plan that the business can succeed.
Introduction
Phoebe has been operating a sandwich stop, and to date, the shop has been successful owing to her hard work and good customer relation. She operates a mobile food trailer which has been in existence for more than five years now. Apart from selling sandwiches, she also sales other forms of lunch items. Any business if properly managed is a going concern. Phoebe after the five years with much success from her small enterprise envisions the need for growth.

The growth, therefore, needs to have a proper plan basing of the growth strategy, its financing, the required human resource and how to effectively manage such growth potential. An opportunity has indeed presented itself where she can operate from a permanent establishment near a mall and suburbs. The business opportunity presents the future growth that she has always wanted as the location of the place promises to attract a large pool of customers from the area while at the same time keep a hold of her existing customers. This paper, therefore, looks at the plan that Phoebe has to implement to achieve better growth and maximize productivity.
The Growth strategy
Before developing the business growth strategy, she will have to come up with a clear plan and outlook on how she will achieve the growth strategy. This involves a careful analysis of the business value proposition regarding what makes her business credible and what exactly makes her business to be distinct from the rest of the other businesses. Moreover, the strategy should be done basing on the thorough identification of the business’s ideal customers in terms of the determination on who exactly are being targeted and how she will stimulate growth. Moreover, before implementing the strategy, Phoebe has to determine her key indicators of growth. It’s only through these indicators that she can establish if the business growth strategy is a success. Lastly, before deciding on the chosen strategy, Phoebe has to be clear about her revenue streams. If she wants growth, then she can look at her current revenue stream and look for any changes that can increase the current revenue stream to ensure maximization of profits.
One of the strategies Phoebe can use includes leveraging partnerships. In this case, the area where she wants to venture into has probably the highest level of competition. She has to look at something that makes her food better than the rest of the main competitors. If there exists a bigger competitor that will make her not to compete fairly, then establishing a partnership with them will be a good strategy. As a result, she will have a huge capital inflow and at the same time keep her name or have joint names with the competitor.
Another growth strategy for the business will be to acquire the existing smaller businesses that have existed in the mall. Having access to loans from the financial institutions will give her the edge over the smaller businesses and with the cash she can acquire the small competing businesses or even agree to merge with the smaller businesses to ensure that she has a competitive edge over the other competing food establishments.
Moreover, the growth strategy should have the arch of diversification. Phoebe will only grow if she diversifies her business into the preparation of other food items that are not related to sandwiches. Also, the diversification should not be centered on providing only items that are consumed at lunch hours. She has to be all inclusive in that; her menu should include serving customers at the morning hours and in the evenings. In the long term, there should be a growth strategy of making the business a 24- hour operating Franchise that targets customers working at all day hours.
The growth should also have a marketing aspect in it where there should be the development of market penetration strategies to attract other customers. The market penetration should involve Phoebe positioning herself as the center of quality foods in the mall and through effective advertising around the mall like small promotions where she can allow people to have a taste of their foods, through lowering prices in their initial stages of opening the business. This will help attract a larger pool of new customers.
There is also the competitive strategy where the strategy developed will involve positioning the business at the top of the competition in the mall. The strategy, therefore, involves maintaining a competitive edge over her rivals in the area through the offering of better quality service, better food quality and having a good customer relation which the other competitors cannot achieve in the near run.
The Business form
Phoebe’s business growth plan can be accomplished through two business forms. First, she can continue being a sole proprietor where she will manage and own the venture by herself. Through this kind of ownership, she will plan the business according to how she sees it be effective and at the same time make the business more efficient. Phoebe can also try partnering with another investor or food outlet. Partnering will guarantee her of adequate capital and management skills for the success of the business. The best choice for Phoebe will be to go for a sole proprietorship. This is because she already can have access to a bank loan to finance her business. Also, she has been successful on her own over the past five years.
Financing assistance
Phoebe’s business appears to be a going concern and having a bright line of opportunities. As such, she can have access to large sources of capital or financing. One of the main sources for investment will be through the bank where she can have access to loans so as to grow her business. Since she has a good history in terms of cash inflow and outflow, it is highly likely that she will be granted loans by the bank. Moreover, she can use her capital if she saved some to finance her business. This will make her avoid seeking huge loans from the financial institutions. Moreover, there are also family and friends who can aid her in accessing funds. Phoebe can also approach venture capitalists who will invest in the business. The use of trade credit can also be an effective tool in that she can seek supplies and deliveries on credit hence make future payment. The best alternative for her business is through the use of banks to get the necessary loans to kick-start the business (“Sources of Small Business Financing – FindLaw,” 2016).
Organizational structure and staffing needs
The business will work well under a vertical organizational structure. Through this structure coordination of the daily work and routines will be effectively managed and that there will be sufficient consultation and advice between Phoebe and the rest of the workers. The vertical structure will create a close working relation between the staff members and have a clear line of authority. To achieve this, effective training and drills on how to operate the business will have to be carried out before starting the business operations. Phoebe should seek the assistance of specialist and consultants to effectively advise and train the staff members (Bianca, 2016). Moreover, the business will have to increase the number of employees due to the expansion. Phoebe should keep in focus the remuneration of the employees, their orientation in terms of customer approach and relations and how exactly the staff needs to dress during the working hours.
Customers and promotion
Phoebe has to ensure that she keeps hold of her current customers while at the same time attract new customers. Keeping hold of the existing customers involves making sure that she informs them that she is moving to the new mall and that she will keep on delivering the quality food that she always serves. Moreover, she has to provide the foods at affordable prices to keep hold of the existing customers. Through promotion and advertising like through printing of print outs to advertise the opening of the new venture, the business will attract new customers faster. Moreover, the existing customers will be good partners in ensuring that new customers are available. The promotion of the business should involve inviting the public to have a taste of what the business is offering so as to attract them.
Ethical issues and social responsibility
The business will be affected by new ethical issues, and social responsibility in many aspects like through the customers, the public, the suppliers, and employees. It will be the role of the Phoebe to ensure that it provides quality foods at affordable prices. Phoebe has to make sure that due to the growth all employees are satisfactorily remunerated for their work. Moreover, she has to ensure the environment is clean from the area of her operation. Lastly, she has to ensure that new suppliers are paid in time when they make deliveries.
Summary
Phoebe’s small business has got the opportunity to expand through the opportunity of getting new customers. The expansion in a more populated area will ensure that she grows faster. The business has a growth strategy that covers a wide range of areas. Before the commencement of the business, she has to come up with a clear growth strategy like through diversification and have an outlook on the staff needs and the way she will attract new customers and keep hold of the existing ones. Maintaining her form of business as a sole proprietor and ensuring she has good ethical and social responsibility standards will propel the business growth. The steps shown above will be a good plan for the implementation of the business and make it more of a going concern in the future since she has the opportunity to get the necessary finances for her business.
References
Bianca, A. (2016). Vertical Organization Structure. Yourbusiness.azcentral.com. Retrieved 9 December 2016, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/vertical-organization-structure-1469.html
Sources of Small Business Financing – FindLaw. (2016). Findlaw. Retrieved 9 December 2016, from http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/starting-a-business/sources-of-small-business-financing.html