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Writing your
own marketing plan
By Nilooka Dissanayake
Athwelage Sarath, our imaginary entrepreneur has been busy putting
together his marketing plan so that he can get started in time to
begin business in time for the festive season. Let us also explain
our absence over the past few weeks by saying we were helping Sarath
get his business started.
Today, we will
begin looking at Sarath's marketing plan. What Sarath has put together
is a basic structure for anyone to use as their first draft:
The Marketing Plan for Athwelage Sarath & Company
(1) Introduction
Athwelage Sarath and Co. intends to begin operations as a vegetable
and fruit wholesalers in the month of December 2002. It is registered
as a partnership with two partners:
- Athwelage
Sarath - 25 years old with experience in the vegetable trade and
has worked in the Middle East as a driver for two years.
- Athwelage
Piyaratne - is retired and has over 45 years experience in the
vegetable business as a sole proprietor.
(2) The Product
The main product will be up country and low country vegetables.
At the second stage of development, the company will also go in
for fruit, both local and imported.
(3) Consumer
Although it is difficult to find people who do not consume any vegetables,
the company will focus on the following key segments of retail customers
and purchasers.
(3.1) Retail
vegetable vendors
All the vegetables needed for the area are mainly supplied by the
retail vendors. The bulk of the sales go through the following
- The weekly
fair
- Daily fairs
of the municipal councils
- Retail vegetable
vendors
- Supermarkets
- Mobile vegetable
vendors operating in a very small scale
(3.2) Hotels
and restaurants
(3.3) Tourist hotels
(3.4) Boarding houses and canteens in the area
The company
has decided to focus only on the small vegetable vendors during
the first six months of operations. This decision has been made
on the learning points obtained by discussion with the purchasing
managers of large-scale buyers. Most of these require a business
to be registered for each year; they require that the business be
up and running before giving their custom. They also require large
volumes which a start up operation may not be able to meet to perfection
right at the start.
(4) Consumer
Needs
The company recognises that the needs of the different customer
segments vary significantly. Their purchasing patterns and payment
terms are also different.
The key focus segment, the small retailers purchase vegetables from
the Manning Market and look after their own transport. Some also
buy from the CWE outlets.
This marketing plan does not focus on the needs of the large corporate
customers. Once plans are in place to cater to the corporate segment,
a revised and detailed marketing plan will be prepared.
(5) Competition
Pettah market and CWE are the key competitors considered on a large
scale. There are only a few private operators who purchase vegetables
on a large scale and sell to the same retail vendor segment as the
company plans to serve.
The vegetable markets are undergoing changes as regional markets
such as Dambulla create market alternatives to Pettah. This has
given rise to a new type of competitors who are ready to purchase
from these regional markets and supply to small scale vendors.
Key competitors
The main competitor which is capable of providing significant
competition for the company is the Fruit & Vegetables Co (FVC),
a business started a decade ago. The founder of this business passed
away a year ago and since then, his sons are in charge of the operations.
FVC has their
own farm of 25 acres in Bandarawela and about half of their vegetable
sales volumes are met from this farm. The balance is purchased from
the Bandarawela wholesale market. Low country vegetables are purchased
through agents.
While the founder
was there, FVC was doing business both with the small retailers-our
immediate market segment-and with large corporate buyers. Of late,
FVC seems to be neglecting the needs of the small retailers and
focusing on the large purchasers. There are also plans of getting
in to export business.
Fruit is becoming
as important as vegetables in FVC's portfolio. News is afoot about
the company getting into processing fruit in a new operating unit.
That is all for this week. We will discuss the sales, advertising
and marketing plan in detail in the future. We look forward to answering
the issues you face in your planning process. You can reach us on
btimes@wijeya.lk or 074-304100.
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