Case Study 1

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Question 1 How have the personality and goals of the owner of Tiny Tots Toymakers affected the way in which the firm has developed? The owner seems to have all the characteristics of an entrepreneur. According to Kelly (2016, p. 115) they are vision, self-reliance, energy, confidence, tolerance of uncertainty, and tolerance of failure. However, he failed to look at other perspectives. There are two vital things needed for a firm to succeed: innovation and marketing. He did the innovation part well as he was always trying to find new ways to improve his products even more. That was his main goal and what he mostly focused on. Unfortunately, he barely spent any money on marketing which greatly limited his opportunity to expand further. In addition, it also restricted the number of costumers and the connections he could gain as it depended more on external factors than anything else especially in the first few years in business. This was due to the fact the he saw himself as more of a technician or producer than a business man. This closed-mindedness significantly altered the course of the firm's development. As a consequence, he created more of an engineering company instead of an engineering marketing company, which made his company more unstable. Question 2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of Tiny Tots Toymakers as a business? The strengths are that all products are extremely high quality and made from the finest materials possible. This is a very ethical strategic plan which actively focuses on social responsibility. It is also demonstrating the ambitious goals Tiny Toys Toymakers has. The past experience the owner has in working with wooden toys gave him and additional advantage when starting his own business. Another strength is his family which helps him manage the company. He experiences a lack of competition owing to the fact that he is in a market niche which offers him a lot of potential. In addition, he has the possibility to explore other countries in order to increase their costumer base. The weaknesses are lack of funding, since he did not make a business plan the owner depends on his own personal resources. His lack of marketing experience and business skills also threaten the safety of the company. Competition from any big company would force him to exit the market. His time management skills also put a strain on the company since there is much work to be done and not enough time. Another weakness the business might face is clients losing interest and moving on to other toys.
Question 3 Recommend some actions which you might take to improve the sales and marketing of this business, especially exports and international sales. New Zealand is a relatively small country with only four million inhabitants, so it is better to not solely depend on it as the economy is quite small compared to other countries so there is more risk of failure involved. Hence, this is why it is more attractive to export as it improves profit levels and diversifies the business. As stated by Kelly (2016, p. 122) the major strategies for business success over the long term are gaining experience, learning from others, educating yourself, accessing SBA resources and developing a business plan. To improve international sales, I would first develop a business plan so that I would be able to receive outside funds. I would also research which countries would be best to export to and which of my products would have the highest appeal for them depending on the social and cultural differences. Another thing I would do is check for favorable exchange rates since the New Zealand dollar value has fluctuated negatively affecting exports. I might even form a joint venture with a company with influence in that market to enter it more easily. Question 4 How international a company is Tiny Tots Toymakers? There are currently four international business strategies: global strategy, transnational strategy, international strategy, and multidomestic strategy. An international company involves aspects such as low pressure to not increase cost and low pressure for localization, an example of this would be swatch. Swatch is a firm which creates watches which are quite expensive, and they are not modified at all for local standards. This does not seem to be the case with Tiny Toys Toymakers because their toys are not that expensive and if they were, they would run out of business. However, they do have low pressure for localization as they offer the same products to all customers. This means that it is more of a global company, since they reduce costs as much as possible and provide a specific product worldwide. An example of a global is BP, which is a British oil and gas company.
Question 5 If this was your business what plans might you make for the future? I would make sure that my business plan responds to any possible situation and satisfies my goals. For example, it is still not certain who will take over the business in the event of the owner's death. I would make sure to write a will, so ownership goes to a particular person instead of the state. Since they are facing issues with time management hiring more skilled employees in the long run would be a beneficial idea. If that is not an option restructuring some of the roles of the employees could help. In addition, I would analyze the business as a whole to come up with accurate figures in order to calculate the exact amount of profit made. It is vital to do so because in this manner you can determine your progress levels. As well as identifying were to cut costs to increase efficiency. Since any big competing companies are a huge threat, I would try to diversify the products so as to protect the company as much as possible. This would all ideally happen during a specific set time period.
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