Business Plan for Startup SME Company

Business Plan for Startup SME Company Business Plan for QW Consultancy Situation Analysis SME and Start Up Companies Operating from Cambridge UK and  Relational Competitor Analysis between QW Consultancy and Potential Competitors in Cambridge The situation analysis will primarily address the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats this new company could face in the transition from a theoretical construct to being a viable operative capable of mounting credible competition with other companies willing to offer similar consultancy services, or similar services within the generic and holistic framework of complete corporate consultancy services. The focus will be a relational comparison between Cambridge, UK, where the new company will be based and the rest of the UK, the EU and the international community. This analysis will be devoted to the analysis of these strengths, weaknesses; opportunities and threats (the classic SWOT analysis formulation) specifically within this geographical context. In a lot of ways the vulnerability of SMEs and Start-Up companies is a major strength and opportunity for QW, as the service that QW wish to provide will specifically target small businesses in order to give them consultancy advice in relation to the issues which will be relevant in terms of initial start up processes. Therefore a more complete understanding of the business, economic and social environment that small businesses typically operate in, in regional towns like Cambridge is paramount in building the business acumen necessary to mount and sustain an effective business operation. As Reid (1995) explains: ‘The typical firm†¦.is surrounded by some rivals with regional markets (25 per cent) and others with no more than local markets (20 per cent). A few (2 per cent) operate internationally. The typical firm†¦.can readily distinguish major from minor competitors and has about three of each. Its principal product is a mildly differentiated commodity which it would characterize as ‘similar’ to that of its rivals. Its customers vary in the extent to which they are well-informed. The typical customer is well-informed, and has a least some familiarity with the technical features of the products, and some experience, directly or indirectly, of consuming them†¦.[1]’. It is clear therefore, that QW will rely heavily upon the local economy in Cambridge, a relatively moderately populated location (the population of Cambridge as counted in the last census is represented in diagrammatic form[2] in the schedule attached[3]). Accordingly the success of QW is likely to mainly be contingent upon local factors, which in turn will be heavily affected by local competitors. Also, particularly in light of Reid’s analysis above, QW needs to understand that although it is a novel concept for a consultancy firm to provide consultancy services specifically to the small business sector, and although, according to the business plan it is anticipated that this will fill a gap in the market, QW must not over estimate the uniqueness of their idea. Their idea essentially involves a singular focus on the SME and start-up business sectors in terms of delivering consultancy services. However, if one examines Diagram One ((which gives a breakdown of the main companie s that offers similar consultancy services in Cambridge, UK, and therefore represents the potential main competitors which QW would encounter if they set up in Cambridge, UK) and which the writer has attached in the Diagrams Section, at the end of this document), it is integral to note that a significant percentage of the largest companies offering consultancy services in Cambridge target the same publics that QW propose to i.e. the start-up business sector and the SME sector. Also, it is important for QW to be aware that these competitors, (while they have got a range of services, only one element of which is usually targeted at the start-up and SME sector), still represent a major threat to the economic success of QW. Indeed, this situation will be a major threat to (and weakness of) QW along with the usual threats faced by fledgling companies. Anderson et al. (1993) give us an insight into these more generic threats: ‘Typically†¦business is forced to operate in market niches.These niches are often market segments which are relatively small in size and may be lacking in adequate growth or profitability opportunities, unless skilfully exploited. Limited physical, financial and human resources, a lack of industrial experience and of business acumen on the part of owner-managers†¦.are frequently to blame for poor exploitation of these fragile niches. Nevertheless, if a†¦(business)†¦.is to grow and prosper, rather than simply to survive, over a non-trivial period of time (say more than three years), it must properly identify, develop and implement the requisite business strategy†¦[4]’. Therefore specifically in terms of Cambridge, UK, QW should consider setting up a presence alongside their competitors, with a strong focus on what makes their service unique (including exclusive pricing policies). As these SME and start up company specific services, and similar ones are offered by their main competitors such as Ernst and Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Oakland, and because consultancy itself is such a fluid concept which is often misinterpreted or misunderstood by the end user of the service, QW need to keep two things in mind. Firstly, their planned marketing efforts should be targeted to establish their presence alongside that of their competitors, which will help to differentiate the service QW have to offer. Therefore, QW may wish to consider advertising in the Yellow Pages. Secondly, QW should consider using the voluntary and government sponsored sector within Cambridge to assist them to advertise their service. Therefore, they should potentially consider doing leaflet drops with agencies such as the East of England Regional Development Centre which is responsible for offering assistance to SMEs and Start-Up companies in Cambridge. Also, a similar initiative could be targeted at the St Johns Innovation Centre, in Cambridge which has a similar function. In this way, QW may be able to take advantage of inexpensive advertising for their new company and they will get a high level of exposure to desired publics. QW may also wish to set up a website, as many of their competitors listed in Diagram One have. Also, in terms of safeguarding the unique idea that their proposed company is based upon, QW may wish to consider registering this in order to secure intellectual property rights in their concept, as is their right in light of the developments the law has made in terms of offering intellectual property security. Pietrobelli, C. and Sverrisson, A. (2003) have pointed to the importance of taking such measures and they have also outlined the reasons why a company or product is vulnerable in the absence of such measures: ‘†¦the increase in research and development (RD) costs, the shortening of the life-cycle of products, difficulties of appropriating RD results, particularly in the field of easy-to-copy new technologies (such as computer programs), and the shift toward a global, knowledge-based economy, prompted a far-reaching reform of the intellectual property system (Correa 1994; David 1993)†¦..[5]’. In conclusion therefore, this document has looked at the position of QW in light of their business plan proposals. The piece has been demographically and geographically evaluated with reference to QW’s intentions to locate in Cambridge. Accordingly, the piece has looked at the competitors QW would be likely to encounter in this location and has examined how related factors may impact upon the likely success of QW. An analysis of the generic threats a business may face was looked at as a prelude to the more detailed study of how QW may operate within Cambridge, UK. Bibliography Books Anderson, M., Jacobsen, L. and Reid, G. (1993). Profiles in Small Business: A Competitive Strategy Approach. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Pietrobelli, C. and Sverrisson, A. (2003) Linking Local and Global Economies: The Ties That Bind. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Reid, G. (1995) Small Business Enterprise: An Economic Analysis. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/12ub.asp >>. DIAGRAMS SCHEDULE DIAGRAM ONE QW’S MAIN COMPETITORS OPERATING IN CAMBRIDGE WHAT SERVICES DO THEY OFFER? Apto Consulting Limited Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. Axiom-e Consultancy Financial Management Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. Cambridge Enterprise Business Advice and mentoring for SMEs Funding Advice Financial Planning Cambridge Enterprise Technology Club Networking forum Cambridge Hi-Tech Association of Small Enterprises (CHASE) Networking Group for Entrepreneurs and SMEs Cambridge Strategic Management Research and other Consultancy Manufacturing and Service advice Training Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. Ernst Young Audits and assurance consultancy, Taxation, Business and financial services. Business expansion consultancy Oakland Technical and Market Research Strategic Consultancy Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. Peters Elworthy Moore Auditing and Accounting Tax Consultancy, Business Recovery, IT, Human Resources Recruitment. Price Bailey Forensic Accountancy Taxation Audit and Accounting Services Business Consultancy and Change Management, Financial Planning, PricewaterhouseCoopers Assurance and Regulatory Consultancy Tax services and Actuarial services Risk Management Business Recovery Rapier Management Consultants Corporate Strategy Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. RWA Accountants Tax planning Ecommerce Consultancy Strategic and Business Planning Consultancy Performance Improvement Decision Support Services. Shelford Business Consultants Ltd Business Consultancy Services, Audit and Accounting Services Business Consultancy and Change Management, Financial Planning, DIAGRAM TWO Cambridge The percentages on the pyramid represent the percentage of all males (to the left) and the percentage of all females (to the right) that are in that age group. Age Range Total Males Females 0 – 4 5123 2599 2524 5 – 9 4799 2504 2295 10 – 14 5080 2650 2430 15 – 19 8807 4395 4412 20 – 24 16892 8705 8187 25 – 29 10853 5889 4964 30 – 34 8931 4653 4278 35 – 39 7534 3966 3568 40 – 44 6141 3098 3043 45 – 49 5843 2876 2967 50 – 54 5726 2820 2906 55 – 59 4798 2314 2484 60 – 64 3975 1944 2031 65 – 69 3489 1640 1849 70 – 74 3376 1575 1801 75 – 79 3064 1273 1791 80 – 84 2259 826 1433 85 – 89 1464 431 1033 90 and over 709 158 551 Totals 108863 54316 54547 This page printed from National Statistics Website. Crown Copyright applies unless otherwise stated. 1 Footnotes [1] P52. Reid, G. (1995) Small Business Enterprise: An Economic Analysis. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. [2] Available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/12ub.asp >>. [3] This diagram also denotes how many adults this population contains. [4] P121. Anderson, M., Jacobsen, L. and Reid, G. (1993). Profiles in Small Business: A Competitive Strategy Approach. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. [5] P220. Pietrobelli, C. and Sverrisson, A. (2003) Linking Local and Global Economies: The Ties That Bind. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York.

Emotional relationship Essay

In this essay I will be looking at two theories of attachment, â€Å"an intense emotional relationship†¦ enduring over time and in which prolonged separation†¦ is accompanied by stress and sorrow† (Kagan et al 1982). I will also attempt to evaluate the statement from Bowlby ’58, where he says that â€Å"Mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as are vitamins and protein for physical health†. The two attachment theories I will be looking at are Bowlby’s 1953 Monotrophy Theory and Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory. Bowlby initially argued that attachment is an adaptive behaviour due to the human instinct to survive. Infants are born with a predisposition to survive and therefore have to form an attachment in order to gain food, warmth and protection etc. In order for this interaction to take place, the infant is born with Innate Social Releasers that prompt care-giving from the parent through releasers such as crying and cooing etc. Infants also need to form attachments in order to have a â€Å"secure base† from which to explore the world around them. This can be seen in securely attached infants, who are happy to explore an unfamiliar room, as long as the person with whom they have their â€Å"primary bond† is present (Strange Situation- Ainsworth and Bell 1970). Bowlby described this primary bond as â€Å"Monotrophy†, meaning turning towards one person. He recognised that this bond doesn’t always form with the biological mother, just the primary care giver. Adults also have a predisposition to care and be responsive to their offspring, as the survival of the infant into adulthood ensures the continuation of their genetic line. Therefore the have an innate response to the infants’ social releasers. Bowlby suggested that infants have a Critical Period, up to 2 1/2 years, for attachments to form. If attachments were not made by this age, it would not be possible for the child to form any attachment and the child would suffer long-term, permanent emotional damage, particularly in the formation of lasting adult relationships. This is due to the â€Å"Internal Working Model† according to Bowlby and later by Bretherton and Waters (1985) who said that â€Å"secure children have developed a positive working model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having a sensitive, emotionally responsive and supportive primary care-giver†. It is therefore said that avoidant children have a rejecting, unresponsive caregiver, resulting in a negative working model of themselves. He also developed the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, where he claimed that infants who were unable to develop attachments would grow up having problems with relationships and have a higher chance of behavioural disorders. This hypothesis was supported by other psychologists such as Spitz and Wolf (1946) and Robertson and Robertson (1971). An alternative theory of attachment is the Psychosexual theory put forward by Freud. He said there are five stages of development a child goes through: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. The stage that deals with attachment is the oral stage, which occurs from birth to about 18 months. Freud thought that during this time the infant is driven by the â€Å"Pleasure Principle†. This is caused by the development of the â€Å"Id†, the first component of the personality to develop. The â€Å"Id† demands instant gratification and in the oral stage, gratification comes through the mouth. The drive for oral satisfaction is vital at this age as the attention is focused on food and thus, survival. There are three parts to this stage of development: the drive for oral gratification that results in an uncomfortable feeling, so the infant cries. He is then fed, and the drive is reduced and the uncomfortable feeling, hunger, is gone. This is experienced as pleasure. Therefore the attachment is made with the person who offers the gratification and pleasure. Although at first glance, the two theories are very different, when analysed, similarities can be drawn. They both suggest stages the infant must go through in order to develop into a stable adult. Bowlby says that no infantile attachment leads to problems in adult relationships and Freud says that an unsuccessful transition through any of the five stages will result in regression in later life, for example a child with an oral fixation will suck his thumb, chew pen tops and in later life smoke. Both of these points are true to a certain degree, as there as been countless studies about children who have had maternal deprivation in early infancy and grown up into maladjusted adults. However it is difficult to be able to pinpoint exactly what is the cause of an adults’ maladjusted behaviour as there may be numerous reasons, which cannot be reduced to maternal deprivation alone. One major difference between these theories is that while Bowlby recognises that the primary bond doesn’t have to be with the mother, Freuds’ theory is dependant on the mother or wet nurse. This could lead to implications when trying to apply Freud’s theory today, as many infants are not breast-fed at all. Bowlby’s theory was very well received in the UK when it was published, as it came just after the second world war, when women were being encouraged to go back to the home and their children, so the men could return to the jobs in the factories etc. His theory gave the government something by which to almost force the women home, as the threat of a maladjusted child, due to your absence, was more than most women wanted to deal with. It was also one of the most important and influential pieces of psychological work of that century.

Is greater life expectancy always desirable? Essay

The quest for the elixir of life has been going on throughout history. In every civilisation, there are myths which depict heroes and heroines who live long lives, some even forever. There is also recorded history of men and women, called alchemists, who experimented to discover means by which people could live forever; or at least for very long times. Mod ¬em medicine too aims to prolong lives – often even of very sick per ¬sons with no hope of recovery from their ailments. In fact, one of the signs of a progressive nation is when its statistics show that its popula ¬tions has a high life expectancy; that is that they can live longer than their forefathers. The longer the life expectancy of a nation; the better that nation. All these show that it is in the human consciousness to want to live for a long period of time. The question now is whether this is always desirable. Seen in the light of the individual, longer life expectancy certainly seems desirable. Almost everyone would like to live and enjoy life longer. Hu ¬mans have generally shown a reluctance to die and leave this beautiful world and their loved ones. This is in the survival spirit with which every person seems to be born. Almost all of us want to prolong our lives and live as long as we can. However, there is a condition to this. We also want to live well. If we are in dire economic consequences or incurably ill or in great suffering, we would not want to live too long, as doing so will prolong the difficulty and pain. If with greater life expectancy comes greater health, it would be a good thing. Suppose a person can be made healthy till the day he dies, then he will not be dependent on anyone and greater life expectancy would be most welcome. Usually, we say that life expectancy has increased, in a society, with reference to statistics. These are likely to be simple and just show that over a number of years, people are now living longer. There is usually no reflection about the quality of life that has been lived by the people who now live longer. The statistics show an average without saying which of the people who have lived longer have lived disease-free lives and which have lived lives of comfort and happiness. It is possible that some of the people who have lived longer lives have actually lived miserably in retirement homes where the doctors have tried their best to make sure that the retirees  live as long as possible. If by longer life expectation we mean that people live longer, but with no improvement in the quality of their lives, then it would be much better if we do not have a longer life expectancy. In such cases, longer life expectancy would be undesirable. It would be better to live shorter but happier l ives than have one’s life prolonged, to suffer and die slow, lingering and painful deaths. Another consideration about greater life expectancy is about the effect it would have on society. Unless longer life expectancy also brings about with it greater health, there is going to be chaos. If people live longer, it could mean that it would take them longer to live out their old age. This means dependence on the younger population. The younger and health ¬ier generation, or indirectly the state, has to support the older. In fact, there have been forecasts that as time goes on there will be more old people in proportion to the younger. If this is a consequence of greater life expectancy, it will place a strain on the younger people as they would have to look after their parents and grandparents while they themselves struggle to make a living. The final thing to consider is whether there will be overpopulation if there is greater life expectancy. It is easy to see that the earth’s resourc ¬es are not limitless. There may come a time when there are too many people in the world to be able to survive. On the other hand we cannot rule out the possibility of earth colonies on the moon and perhaps even other planets. This seems to be a possibility in a century. In conclusion, though it is apparent that greater life expectancy is a good thing, there are certain conditions that should go with it. The most important thing is the ability of the people to live longer lives indepen ¬dently. There is also the consideration of the earth being able to support the larger number of people living on it. References Coale, A.J. 2003. â€Å"Increases in expectation of life and population growth.† Population and Development Review, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 113-20. Riley, J.C. 2001. Rising Life Expectancy: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.. White, K.M. 2002. â€Å"Longevity advances in high-income countries, 1955-96.† Population and Development Review, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 59-76. Wilmoth, J.R. 1998. â€Å"The future of human longevity: A demographer’s perspective.† Science, No. 280, pp. 395-97.

French Revolution and Napoleonic Era Worksheet - 1775 Words

University of Phoenix Material French Revolution and Napoleonic Era Worksheet 1. Essay Explain, in 1,050 to 1,400 words, how the following ideas and ideals influenced the events and motivated the participants in the French Revolution: Liberty Equality Brotherhood Hubris Fiscal irresponsibility Democracy Technology The French Revolution was a quest for liberty, and centered on people who wanted their freedom. They wanted to be treated as equal participants in the community, not as slaves for the royals or nobles. The peasants who represents more than 90% of France’s population, were working for their own families and everyone else as they paid much more in taxes. Brotherhood was the way of everyone coming together†¦show more content†¦Brotherhood was not only sticking by each other in your community but brotherhood within the church system. Christian brotherhood was part of the fraternity, one was identified by the social and religious links based on their Christian brotherhood. The second sense of the fraternity was if one were to follow the path of liberty and equality as a free pact. Brotherhood was a way of life for people during the revolution it was how they were able to find a moment of peace in all the bad around them. To act toward someone with the spirit of bro therhood is to accept them as they are, and treat them as you would want to be treated. Even if the government was not doing this, the peasants and the lower class people knew that to survive they needed each other. One person alone would die, but with people to help them along their struggle they will survive. Hubris was a big conflict in the French Revolution, between humility and the intoxication of power napoleon was his hands full of dangerous hubris. This is a natural human trait that can be negative if an individual was unstable at balancing humility and power while using his leadership skills for the good of others. Hubris in history were mostly a negative, significant opportunities that fell short and completely collapsed. The consequence for hubris to occur, is when a leader gains the flaw of hubris,Show MoreRelatedNapoleon timeline Essay1026 Words   |  5 PagesFrench Revolution and Napoleonic Era Worksheet HIS/114 Version 3 1 University of Phoenix Material French Revolution and Napoleonic Era Worksheet 1. Essay Explain, in 1,050 to 1,400 words, how the following ideas and ideals influenced the events and motivated the participants in the French Revolution: †¢ Liberty †¢ Equality †¢ Brotherhood †¢ Hubris †¢ Fiscal irresponsibility †¢ Democracy †¢ Technology †¢ The French Revolution took place between 1789-1799. This war helped