Made In Brunel Product Or Service

Made in Brunel is mainly organised, promoted and supported by the students of the Brunel University. (Made in Brunel, 2019; Pilgrim, 2019). The initiative is known for its range of innovative products associated with environment, commercial, manufacturing and healthcare services. (Brunel University London, 2019). This assignment provides a critical reflection about our work Birdsong Feeders with critically emphasising the creativity and innovative initiative of the Made in Brunel. Our plan for Birdsong Feeder has been designed with the aim of feeding birds from wide range of species. The feeders will be designed to store and dispense bird food and each item will be modelled on the waveform of various bird songs. The Birdsong Feeder that we designed to work independently or connect together in any order based on the need and wishes of the users. This reflection assignment discusses about key elements of the business plan along with strengths and weaknesses and my contribution in the development plan.

Brief Summary of the Key Elements of the Related Business Plan

The advent of modern technology has been remarkably influencing large opportunity for start-ups. The modern technological era has been broadening scope for the entrepreneurs to make innovative products and services and fulfil changing needs and expectations of the users (Watson et al., 1998). With this potential opportunity and scope, we have planned to make an exceptional plan for our product Birdsong Feeder through effectively using advanced technology.

Strategic Part

The vision of our business plan is to provide a long-term solution to protect birds from range of species with utilising modern technology and nurturing the environment.

In order to achieve the long-term vision, our team for the proposed Birdsong Feeder project will focus on appropriately using technology to develop the feeder and successfully market it across communities.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy of the feeder will mainly include the concept of Marketing 4Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). In product, our team will develop the Birdsong Feeder with self-operative technological aspects which and help users to feed birds from various species. The price of the feeder will be set in accordance with the value of technical aspects to be used in feeders along with various operational and management costs. The feeders will be distributed through different channels such as wholesalers and retailers. Moreover, we will also have our own distribution channel through the users can avail feeders to their location. The Birdsong Feeder will be promoted through different advertising channels, and online social media networks.

Operational Strategy

In operation, our team for the feeder project will critically emphasise Belbin’s team role approach which includes nine team roles in order to successfully achieve goals or mission of a team (Belbin, 2016). The following table discusses our team roles in line with the Belbin’s team role model.

Strengths

The vision and mission statement must have adequate clarity in order to successfully design overall operation and management practices (Cant et al., 2009), and to improve decision-making processes (Harrison, 2013). Our business plan is envisioned with developing a long-term solution to protect birds from different species using innovative feeders. The mission statement of the proposed business plan is to produce birdsong feeder in order to make communities to protect birds from different species. The vision and mission statements of our business are clear and easily communicable for our team members and the other group of stakeholders.

Product Uniqueness

If we talk about the underlying strengths, the key elements of the designed Birdsong Feeder can be duly considered. For instance, our team will be working seamlessly to increase mobility option of the feeders and to make them convenient for each user for feeding both pet and outdoor birds. Hence, the mobility function to carry and place feeder or hanging them include more convenience than conventional bird feeders in the market. Hence, uniqueness in product design can be a major strength of our business.

Weaknesses

Do not have a Realistic Time

Throughout the overall assessment of the plan, our project for developing Birdsong Feeder does not have any realistic time frame. The lack of building time frame for designing of the product and preparing layout of each operation could negatively impact the overall plan.

Short-term Plan for the Business

The business plan developed for Birdsong Feeder includes short-term goals and objectives. In short-term period, the strategic, marketing and operational plan can negatively impact on business. This is owing to the fact the short-term plan can deliver minimum or less advantage to the business. Moreover, it can increase cost of the organisation in product development along with different other resources and procurement activities.

Analysing and Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses of My Own Contribution to the Work of the Group and to the Development of the Plan

My Strategic Plan for the Proposed Business Plan

The strategy development part is one of the most effective and important process in business plan, it not only includes developing of vision and mission statement, but the strategic plan also encompasses designing of activities associated with operation and management. The strengths of the strategic plan that I have designed for the proposed plan can be categorised into three broad types.

Developing Vision and Mission Statement

The vision that I have framed for our new birdsong feeder business includes clear information the importance of our feeders to protect a large number of bird and to emphasise focus on the autonomous potential of our feeders to gather birds and feed them appropriately.

In developing mission statement or goals, I planned to set guidelines that can help our team to accomplish the vision. Hence, I have stated about different functions relating to operation and management that our proposed business will involve. In operation, I have mentioned about the process and tactics that to be used to conduct innovative feeder as per the design. Moreover, in marketing goals, I have planned tactics to be used for the development of the product, its price, promotional methods as well as distributional channels to be used.

SWOT Analysis

In SWOT analysis, determining strengths, a clear representation of the product design and its feature will critically influence the potential buyers. While talking about weaknesses, the short-term goal for the business plan as well as minimum use of additional data about the market can be a major issue for our new business. In context of opportunity, our Birdsong Feeder can play a monopolistic role in terms of feeding birds. Because, it is completely different from the other type of feeders available in the market. Moreover, its automation and wider mobility option can also help our feeder to satisfy needs and expectations of the users. The possible threats that I have identified is the aggressive market trend. The technology developed for our feeder can also be copied by other manufacturers and it can negatively impact in our business.

Summary

According to an overall assessment of our start-up for Birdsong Feeder, we have critically encompassed all key areas associated with the operation, strategic direction, marketing and various other functional segments. Moreover, the assessment also reflects key strengths and weaknesses of our business plan by entailing all key elements of the start-up. Therefore, based on a critical investigation of our start-up project, we can compare our Birdsong Feder with Made in Brunel products due to its exceptional components and vision. The products developed under Made in Brunel includes advanced technology and higher level of innovative features. And we would also like to make our Birdsong Feeder in the same product line as it critically entails innovative features with advanced technological components. In this start-up project, I was responsible to set fundamental strategic guidelines for Birdsong Feeder. Hence, I developed the vision and mission statement for the product in accordance with the fundamental features along with the changing needs and expectations of the users to protect environment and range of bird species.

References

• Belbin. (2016). Belbin® Team Role Summary Descriptions. [Online] Available from https://www.belbin.com/media/2307/belbin-team-role-summary-descriptions.pdf [Accessed December 02, 2019].
• Brunel University London. (2019). Apply Your Mind in Our London Campus Community. [Online] Available from https://www.brunel.ac.uk/ [Accessed November 27, 2019].
• Cant, M. C. et al. (2009). Marketing Management. Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd.
• Harrison, A., (2013). Business Environment in a Global Context. OUP Oxford.
• Made in Brunel. (2019). We are Made in Brunel. [Online] Available from https://www.madeinbrunel.com/news/we-are# [Accessed November 27, 2019].
• Pilgrim, T. (2019). Into the Futures: Made in Brunel 2019. [Online] Available from https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Into-the-Futures-Made-in-Brunel-2019 [Accessed November 27, 2019].
• Watson, K., Hogarth-Scott, S. & Wilson, N. (1998). Small Business Start-Ups: Success Factors and1 Support Implications. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research 4(3):217-238.