Philosophy T progress and its future
Propositions are made, thoughts get organized and plans are put in place but the greatest achievement for an entrepreneur is starting a business. However, the main task remains on maintaining the business and setting potential that will propel the business for its future welfare (Mellor & Coulton, 2009). This is a general rule for all the businesses and therefore Philosophy T-shirts clothing initiative is not exceptional. It is normal for new small businesses to face challenges that come about due to the stiff competition, lack of finances, management problems and much more. Unlike most small businesses, Philosophy T had prefigured most of these challenges which might have been a threat to its success. Narrowing down the focus into the local New Zealand market, Philosophy T has made it. The business has done very well beyond our expectations. The speculation that new businesses can rarely survive was disapproved by the way Philosophy T was able to lay its foundation. The business having been laid down by fresh and innovative minds is worth recognition in the New Zealand market.
New Zealand market has been globally known for being one of the most diverse and competitive clothing market in the country (Tabuchi, 2016). This gives a clue of how stiff the competition Philosophy T-shirts business faces in the clothing market. However, this issue of competition has been taken care of by the quality and unique brands of t-shirts that have been designed using philosophical quotes. Rarely can you find such unique t-shirts in the New Zealand market and so customers have found pleasure in buying our products. In this era, people have appreciated uniqueness in dressing (Mellor & Coulton, 2009). I really salute the class for having been so creative to use the hybrid focus-differentiation strategy. This strategy has really boosted the Philosophy T to be in the front line with its competitors. The strategy has given the business a competitive advantage by making the products affordable.
Most newly established clothing businesses have a challenge of balancing quality and growth of their business. At some point businesspersons are subjected to self sacrifice in maintaining the business. This is because quality clothes require higher capital which might lack in most small businesses. However this is not the case with the Philosophy T because our up keep is not entirely dependent on the income we earn from selling the t-shirts. We are also not customer dependent for our survival since this is a collective project initiative. Theoretically, it is very simple to implement plans that have been put in place by businesses. However it has proven hard for most partnerships, co-operations and big companies to implement what has been planned (Mellor & Coulton, 2009). Though Philosophy T has had a taste of this challenge, it was able to handle it beforehand by organizing a strong technical and management team of members with diverse skills. For instance, the implementation of the online selling and marketing is collectively handled by the marketers and the web designers. It is very atypical to find a business with such kind of diverse human resource and therefore Philosophy T is advantaged. In addition, no funds are required to pay the human workforce and so we have the potential of investing 100% of all the income that is collected.
Business is learning (Mellor & Coulton, 2009). A new challenge has to be met each day and how to solve it is what makes the difference. Philosophy T has an extra agenda behind the selling of the t-shirts which is learning. Both internal and external challenges that are facing Philosophy T can be best learnt by the students. This means that Philosophy T has everything it takes for a business to succeed and the progress so far has proven that.
Ideally, no business operates in a vacuum. All businesses are prone to internal as well as external forces. Despite Philosophy T having made a remarkable progress, we cannot escape from the fact that we are facing few internal and external challenges. Some of them include lack of skills and technical expertise to make the t-shirts, less satisfying customer services and a limited variety of t-shirts from which customers can choose from. Other challenges are within the management, the human resource availability among other challenges. I would like to address the top three challenges that are facing the Philosophy T. First the business has not sold enough number of t-shirts as the planning strategy had targeted. From the recent sales data, only 25 out of 120 t-shirts have been sold. This is less than a quarter of the printed t-shirts that is sold so far. This is indeed a threat to the progress of the business and so urgent measures are required to snatch the business from drowning. Selling a small number of t-shirts has resulted from other internal and external factors and therefore unravelling this challenge shall automatically create a platform from which other challenges can be solved. The other major threat to the success of Philosophy T is the lack of marketing plan of the t-shirts on the social media. Finding customers in the New Zealand market is cumbersome. In addition, the focus target in our market is our friends, family members, and the social society at large. Failing to utilize the social network to its full capacity has brought down the business performance. This reluctance has come about due to internal challenges such as limited payment options and the resigning of the IT person. How can such a business run suitably without an IT person, a well developed website for the business and without online marketing in the social media? The Philosophy T has a heavy task indeed.
The other key problem is lack of autonomy. The business is under the influence of so many forces such as the school management and the government. Philosophy T is subjected to meeting the requirements of the New Zealand market as well as the requirements of the university. First, the PayPal mode of payment which is the most popular and efficient mode has been constrained by the university. This has been a hindrance to the rapid growth of the business because other modes of payments are not known by most customers (Tabuchi, 2016). Philosophy T is also limited to operate within the scheduled time by the university. The timeframe for the project was extended causing the selling of the t-shirts to fluctuate. Externally, Philosophy T has to adhere to the rules and regulations of the state of New Zealand. Right from the registration of the business, paying of the taxes and the entire operations must be with respect to the New Zealand business rules.
As the management consultant of this class, I would like to discuss solutions concerning the challenges that are facing the Philosophy T. My approach of solving problems is rather creative and innovative in nature. My thoughts are in line with Edward DeBono who suggests that creativity is the best problem solver (Carmeli, Gelbard & Reiter-Palmon, 2013). This tool of creative problem solving demands one to one to think “outside the box.” By exercising new strategies, the normal routines and the existing problem solving templates are also eliminated. For this reason, my view on solving most of these problems will be based on continuous innovation and creativity. This however demands use of infinite efforts in upholding the creativity strategy.
In the case of increasing the number of t-shirts sold, different sectors should be screened. First, we should know that people habitually buy the profits of the products rather than the product itself. The comments and suggestions made by the clients should therefore become the reference point from which the business is operated. From the feedback reports of the last sales, customers spotted out that they would prefer variety of choice from which they can choose from. The class should therefore maximize that chance by making every kind of t-shirt with different quotes and pictures available in the market. The strategy that is going on about printing a t-shirt for specific orders should be upheld and be financially supported. On the same knot, the students should undergo a proper negotiations training that will equip them with qualities like patience in dealing with customers, preparedness and proper treatment of the customers (Tam P, 2005). This will help the business to develop a mutual business relationship. The number of t-shirts sold can also be boosted by bring the prices relatively down to cater for the price sensitive customers. The current price of $30 per t-shirt is reasonable although it is high enough to allow bargaining allowance for the customers.
Online marketing is one of the strongholds of a business and therefore it should not be neglected. Monumental plans should be done and implemented with an immediate effect. The students should not feel weighed down by the cost of marketing the t-shirts because nothing comes at ease (Mina, 2009). The social media is a potential market for t-shirts considering the target is majorly the young generation. Once accounts and pages are established, the other work of making follow-up and maintenance can be done. The best way that I would recommend this class to embrace is by keeping touch with the existing customers (Kumar, Bezawada, Rishika, Janakiraman & Kannan, 2016). This can be done by offering them discounts once they make their second and third purchase. The customers can also get rewards for directing their friends in to the market and such will bring more customers. Online marketing through the social media is not easy and so proper planning should be done under a systematic approach. The issue of mode of payment can be addressed through the social media and all the modes can be useful despite them being unfamiliar (Kumar, Bezawada, Rishika, Janakiraman & Kannan, 2016).
Philosophy T limited boundaries and lack of autonomy can have a remedy. The staff should plan all the activities such that they don’t coincide and interrupt any of the school programs. The class can as well make a maximum utilization of the few resources that have been provided by the school management. The business has also been dependent on the IT expert whereby his absence has become a tragedy to the progress of the business. This kind of dependence can be minimized by training the some of the students the technical skills so that they can have a reliable base on program and design. They can as well hire a professional IT expert who can handle the sector more appropriately.
The other external limits regarding the legislation and conduct of the business are under the influence of the government of New Zealand. To some extent, the regulations are in favour of the business while others are not. For instance the competition rules under the regulatory environment restrict unfair competition. The Commerce Act 1986 has promoted healthy competition in the New Zealand market by prohibiting unfair competition (Thornton, 2011). The Sale of Goods Act 1908 provides a list of rights and obligations that safeguard people’s goods and services. These regulations have favoured young businesses like Philosophy T from exploitation from the larger businesses. The staff members of this business should then make maximum utilization of these opportunities as they also work on implementing their duty towards the state of New Zealand (Thornton, 2011).
Conclusion
Philosophy T has fought a good battle in coming up with a very brilliant idea of the philosophical t-shirts. The initiative has significantly implemented the business cycle of business that is setting a strategy, executing it and finally realizing success. The few limitations are just a stepping stone that keep the class on toes so that they can notice their progress. In conjunction with making a positive progress, the business is viable and it has all the capacity to move to another level. The class should personalize the business and do their best to ensure that the recommendations that have been discussed are followed to the later for success to be realized. I would once again emphasis on the use of creative problem solving tool such that new and unique ideas can be drawn. The business should also free itself from being dependent on the school by building a fir ground from which the business is run.
References
Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2013). Leadership, Creative Problem-Solving Capacity, and Creative Performance: The Importance of Knowledge Sharing. Human Resource Management, 52(1), 95-121. doi:10.1002/hrm.21514
Mina, E. (2009). 101 Boardroom Problems and How to Solve Them. New York: AMACOM.
Mellor, R. B., & Coulton, G. R. (2009). Entrepreneurship for Everyone : A Student Textbook. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R., & Kannan, P. K. (2016). From Social to Sale: The Effects of Firm-Generated Content in Social Media on Customer Behavior. Journal Of Marketing, 80(1), 7-25. doi:10.1509/jm.14.0249
Thornton, G. (2011). Doing Business in New Zealand. Retrieved April 15, 2016 from http://www.grantthornton.co.nz/Assets/documents/pubSeminars/doing-business-in-new-zealand.pdf
Tabuchi H., (2016) Products and Competition Stretch Market for ‘Athleisure’ Clothing
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/business/products-and-competition-stretch-market-for-athleisure-clothing.html
Tam P., (2005) Accident or Design, Selling T-Shirts Is Big Business on Web The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111515644807923708
