Digital tech business
Current market needs, trends, and gaps
The current society is shifting rapidly to the reliance on technology to acquire goods and services. Therefore, to launch a new business, it is essential to incorporate trending and efficient digital technology into the enterprise. With the emergence of technology, customers are increasingly advocating for the delivery of goods and services to their precise location. Producers are consequently adapting to online distribution channels to ensure commodities arrive at customer locations within the shortest time possible. Today, however, various manufacturers use retail stores as their ideal distribution channels. These channels require that a customer visits the stores and sort out the type of commodity of their preference. However, stores do not offer variety and space for customers to sort out the exact commodity of their preference. The gap in consumer dissatisfaction associated with traditional distribution channels is solved by developing an online store. Here customers can select their choice of commodities from a wide variety, place an order, and within a short time, their goods are delivered to their doorsteps.
Introduction to Smart Enterprise Business concept
For this project, I will launch an online supermarket that will deliver goods to customers to their convenient locations at a cost. The enterprise will be dubbed Smart Enterprise. The enterprise will seek to capitalize on the widespread use of smartphones and digital devices by most customers. Traditional supermarkets must own rental units and store commodities so that customers come and buy them from their stores. However, this enterprise seeks to act as an intermediary to collect a commodity from the seller and transport it to the customer at a logical charge through improvising on advanced technology. Therefore, the business will require little capital to start, as it does not require large stores and rental units. This article analyses the nature of the business that I intend to launch by utilizing a business model canvas. The model is a strategic management tool that enables one to quickly and easily communicate a business idea by analyzing the fundamental elements required for an organization to begin its operations.
Value proposition
A value proposition is an essential concept while coming up with any business. It helps one assess the business’s needs and the problems it is likely to solve once it becomes operational. Smart market enterprises will seek to save consumers time that they spend going to stalls and shops to buy goods and ask for services. The customer can simply browse through the company’s website and choose the commodities of their preference and order them for delivery within their projected time. Customers often experience fatigue and a lot of lost time looking for specific products at a supermarket since these stores only offer self-service. Old-aged customers are often the casualties of such misfortunes, and the online shop will seek to solve these problems.
Furthermore, traditional supermarkets have a limited variety of goods. A smart market will partner with a variety of producers of competitive products to ensure customers have a wide variety of commodities. Each product will have descriptions and specifications displayed online so that a customer can comfortably weigh in their options and select a particular product that they prefer. The main motivation for solving these problems is the need to ensure customer satisfaction while making profits. The business will also attempt to achieve the sales goals and customer segments of its partners as it is located in the value chain in which one firm’s success directly affects the other.
Key activities
The major activities that will be undertaken by the firm will ensure that it achieves its value proposition. Since it is an online shop, Smart enterprise will partner with various firms and service providers to promote the sale of their commodities through its website. The manufacturer will specify the factory price for commodities. The firm will then add transportation costs to the total price of the commodity. It will then transport these products through various means to specified customer locations within the stipulated timeframe.
The enterprise’s main activity will be posting good quality pictures of commodities and tagging prices for each on social media platforms. The majority of our customers are teenagers who own smartphones. They are, therefore, more likely to spend the majority of their time browsing on social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram. By applying digital marketing strategies, we shall incorporate search engine marketing where ads of our services appear on customer searches online. Such target blogs are likely to lure customers into clicking on the ad’s URL for more information on the product. Search engine optimization will also display the most appropriate products and services to an individual customer. The pricing of quality displayed products is likely to boost customers’ curiosity and guide them into trying out the company’s app.
To identify the best distribution channels, we identify the most used social media applications. We shall then develop official pages on each social media app and post goods and services we sell on these platforms. Each commodity will have an honest content description as stipulated by the manufacturer. We will also sponsor events at universities and colleges with the aim of displaying daily deals sites to young adults in these institutions. Partnering with event organizers in these institutions at a fee will give the firm a platform to advertise its products and the deals offered by the firm. Using daily deal sites popular among campus students such as Groupon, woot, and LivingSocial is likely to promote our products and services.
We will also incorporate on-demand production marketplace services so that producers cut the cost of storage and distribution. Here, the firm partners with producers and picks goods from the manufacturer as soon as the customer orders it. We will then manage the payment, transaction, and fulfillment of the order on behalf of the producer. As a result, the producer will print stickers of our enterprise on their products as a way of advertisement.
The enterprise will also develop a web to pinpoint the location of a customer. Through the use of google maps, we shall determine the distance that should be covered by our agents to deliver the goods. We shall then calculate the appropriate delivery charges depending on the bulkiness of the commodity and customer location. The web will thus help the customer save time they would otherwise spend in stalls looking for commodities.
Key resources
To achieve these activities, our firm’s key resources will be computers. We require computers to communicate with customers and to post the goods and services being sold. To achieve this, an internet connection is crucial. All our computers should have access to the internet to ensure that our online app is up and running effectively. The app should be refreshed every two minutes and updated regularly to avail a new variety of products to customers once they are available. Since it is a digital business, computers and the internet are crucial resources that require immediate attention and capital provision.
Furthermore, we will require highly knowledgeable staff on technological advancements in business. The staff will operate computers and update goods sold by the enterprise. They will also engage customers through various platforms. These staff members will work in our customer service department. They will receive doubts and suggestions cast by customers, which will be essential in improving our service delivery and consequently developing customer trust. We shall also have a working phone number that will be connected to an automated customer service department. The line will be operational 24/7 and ensure customer complaints and requests are serviced at the quickest time possible. These models of customer service will be essential for defining our operations and help us identify opportunities for automation.
We shall also require vehicles for delivery of goods to customers at their convenient locations. We shall, however, not purchase our own vehicles. We shall develop a digital platform where cabs and motorbike owners can register as our product delivery agents. Once a customer places their order, we post the order on this app and choose the lowest bidder to deliver the commodity. Each registered delivery agent will have a code that will be used to rate their services. Customers will be asked to rate their delivery agent. This will enable the enterprise to interact more with customers and establish a common ground. No costs will be charged for these services to encourage customers to communicate more with our support team.
The initial revenue for starting the business will be through acquiring a loan from Barclays Bank. Contributions and government supplements will supplement these amounts. Online lending applications will be crucial for supporting our enterprise. Upon servicing these loans, we will plow back our profits to enhance the growth of the firm. Financial analysis will be done using web designs to ensure the proper balance of financial statements. Dividends and equity gains will also serve as crucial sources of finance to supplement our operations.
Key partners
To achieve the objectives of Smart Enterprise, our key partners will be suppliers. Since I intend to sell electronics to customers, I will partner with a local Microsoft branch to sell these commodities online on their behalf. Microsoft will then give us the exclusive right to post the description of its commodities and the price tags on our online platform. Once a customer places an order, we pick the product from Microsoft stores and deliver them to our customers’ location through our delivery agents. I will also partner with major local fashion designers and stores to display their commodities’ prices at a fee. I will partner with at least two suppliers for every commodity or service to ensure that my customers have a wide variety of commodities to choose from.
Delivery agents will also be our key partner in helping the firm achieve its value proposition. By delivering commodities to a consumer’s doorstep, delivery agents solve the company’s goal of reducing inconvenience amongst customers. We will partner with local cabs and motorbikes at consumer locations to ensure low and fixed transportation costs. Each delivery agent will be equipped with a customer location app that identifies the exact building and door number of a customer who orders a particular package. This increases the convenience of delivery, thus mitigating cases of wrong deliveries.