The local area I have chosen to investigate whether or not it needs a new business is Crew Green. This project requires me to produce an imaginary business. To do this I must research into all aspects of a business, using books, people, and previous knowledge. To help me do this I will use my knowledge of business studies and help of texts and other sources as I proceed during the project. I will also draw up some points I must use so that I cover all the points that will make my business successful. Missing shops in the area of “Crew Green” There are no shops in the area of Crew Green so any shops that could be placed.

As there are no shops in Crew Green any shops of the services could be placed in Crew Green although some would need bigger premises than others but this is understandable. I will try to find if there is any secondary research I could do into the matter of which I am investigating but I expect that I will have do my own primary research as this is not a common thing to do and any other businesses although might of done this were not probably going to have published it.

Primary Research This is where I collect my data for the purpose of knowing what businesses people want and what other business are around the area I am investigating, this will involve going out and carrying out questionnaires, and interviews. This method of research is expensive and time consuming. There are different primary research methods these are: questionnaires, interviews and surveys etc I will use most if not all of these methods.

I will use the questionnaire to find out specific information that I need to find out e. g.local business that already exist and what people want in the area that is not already there I will use interview to ask already established businesses what the trade is like and also ask actual people what they would like to see happen in the area of Crew Green.

The survey will probably be for already established businesses and any other queries I have. I have decided to primary research because it will give me the concise answer I need without having to do any real secondary research all the information I want to get can be gathered by these methods and I have found them best.

Secondary research This is research that has been done previously for the same reason I am doing or has been done to ask other questions that maybe I could use as they have some relevance it is also available for anyone to use. This type of research comes in two forms external and internal. Internal sources This is information that has already been collected by another business and I could use it to find out facts about other up and trading florists, it is available for other people to use.

As the information has already been collected, it is easy and cheap to use and it the best way of getting easy quick answers to questions posed by what the course work is about. In relation to my question I have no use for this type of research but it I could use it for things like External sources This is when the information is gathered outside the business. There are many sources, but they vary according to what you are researching e. g. government statistics. This data has not been gathered for any specific purpose, so it is very general.

This would not help me in my quest for results about florists as it is too general and I would not be able to use it for any constructive use. External sources are: trade associations, specialist magazines, trade reports, newspapers, government reports, media reports etc This method of research is very cheap, but as it does have limitations and is not always the best and most relevant way of getting answers to questions, but even if the research had been carried out it may not of provided me with specific enough detail and answer relevant to what I am asking.

Although because of the nature of what I am investigating it will never appear were would you expect within the village the shop could be placed? (Where they think the shop should be placed) Next to the old pizza shop: In the old Pizza Shop: Build a brand new shop: How far would you be willing to travel to get to the new service? (How far people would go and what competition is in that area) 100meters: 500meters: 1 mile: 2 miles: 3miles: 3+miles: You may know the area better than me, so what other services are around that are similar to the one you mentioned?

(What other businesses of the same type they mentioned are around) None: A few: Some: Many: VIEW RESULTS SHEETS The results that I got from my questionnaire helped me to decide what type of business the 20 people I interviewed wanted where they wanted to be placed and also how far the were willing to travel to get to it. Question 1: the first question tells me weather or not the people I am interviewing are in Crewgreen 17 of them were and 3 were not, the 17 people that I did interview were the people in my opinion gave me the best answers but I did take into consideration the other 3 people’s answers

Question2: The 20 people that I did ask told me their nearest service the shop the hairdressers and the newsagents were given to me by the people who mostly lived near Crewgreen or in it the other 3 people gave me “other” results which were services which I did not have a list of. Question3: This question gave me the business which I was to set up the people that I interviewed told me that they wanted a florist which in question 2 only had 2 people saying that this was their nearest local service so a florist is the business I am going to have to set up.

Question4: This question is just as important to me as question 3 this told me where the people wanted it to be I gave them 3 choices as these were the only 3 choices available to me and them they chose to have the new business placed in the site next to the old pizza shop (which had previously failed as a business) Question5: This question told me what my competition would be as if people were willing to travel say 6 miles they would be in the range of maybe another florist but if it was only 2/3 miles then I would most likely get their custom

Quesation6: This question told me what other services are similar to the one they mentioned in question2 e. g. if they said chip shop a pizza parlor would be a similar service so this would again tell me what else my completion would be but as only 2 people said florists this ment that only two people can say that there is a service similar to this e. g. flower arranger. List of local competitors that sell flowers in the area 8 miles. The Flower Cabin (7. 8 miles) The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury

Shropshire, SY3 8XQ 01743 352588 Vicki’s Flower Shop (6. 5 miles) 3 Station Road, Minsterly, Shrewsbury Shropshire SY5 0BG 01743 791860 Both of these premises are with in the 8-mile local radius that I have set. I do not think that the other flower shops around will affect my business as they are so far away maybe only 7/8 miles but that in my personal opinion is to far to go for a LOCAL flower shop I consider LOCAL as been about 5 or 10 minutes down the road and even a small walk away so no I don’t think they will affect my business.

My opinion can be backed up through my results 90% of people agreed with me said that even 3+ miles is to far to travel to get flowers and where my flower shop would be situated is just the correct distance. I know from my own experience that Vicki’s flower shop is one big business and that she also runs the flower shop at The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital this is in my opinion a good thing for me as she owns both and will save me time on asking her questions about how she runs them etc.

Crew Green is located approximately 10 miles from Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Welshpool it lies about 2. 5 miles from the English boarder its has the back drop off briden hills and is a popular place for walkers and alike. Crewgreen is a “passer by” village is sits on the B4393, which is main road and short cut from Shrewsbury to Oswestry and Welshpool, and vice versa it is about . 5 of a mile long and has a few large housing estates on it.

The ideal location for my flower shop would be to in a good visible position where people can see it from the road while traveling in the car and can be accessed by every type of person including disabled people this will improve my access to people and opening my self up to a wide variety of people. The actual shop is 40 foot long and 20 foot wide the car parking in front of it is 45 wide and 50 long. The shop has been used previously to many things this includes a pizza shop a chip shop and a newsagents from these previous shops there has been certain things that has been left behind and certain things that needs doing to the shop.

The actual location in Crew Green would be the only place where it could be positioned this would be on the side of the road with parking already there to see the position of it see the red dot . It has adequate parking with two plots to it one is large than the other the larger of the two would be too larger for a flower shop so I would use the smaller one as I have had previous experience of standing in both with nothing in them.

There are no changes I would need to make to the location or building as they are both adequate and can hold everything I need. My purposed position is right opposite a housing development and currently there are new houses been built next to it this would give me a brilliant starting market and a high first month income as people would like to put fresh flowers in the house and put new shrubs in the gardens.

The village also has a bus stop about 100 yards away from my business and a pub only a few yards up the road it also has a primary school which almost all pupil are from Crewgreen. The pub will have no affect on my business because people coming to and from the pub will not be interested in flowers if their intention is to go to the pub the bus stop may give me some passing by trade SEE PHOTOGRAPHS As in any business you can become a sole trader, go into a partnership or become a limited company Sole trader

Advantages the main advantage of been a sole trader are that: you need nothing at all to start trading except the trade you use (costumers), they are very easy to set up you are your own boss and also most importantly decide where the profit goes an d how it is spent . The disadvantages of been a sole trader are that I would have to work long hours with little holidays. I see the main disadvantage of been a sole trader is that if I was taken to court and was asked to pay a big fine I would have to pay it not only from the business assets but from my own this could see me becoming bankrupt.

Partnership Advantages of becoming a partnership is that: you can have up to 20 people with in the a partnership which mean you have more ideas and have less work each to do and also have more money to invest in the company when starting reduce bank loans etc. The disadvantages of this method of trading is pretty much the same as a sole trader i. e. unlimited liability and it is unincorporated but it also mean that because there is more than one boss the people in the partnership may disagree on something and may have different views on things o it can become complicated. Limited Company

The advantage of been a limited company is that you can go into two sectors either a public sector or a private sector they both have advantages and disadvantages a limited company as a whole has the advantage of having a separate legal identity (which mean the company is sued lets say if there was a problem not the individuals who run it), it also can spilt it self itself in to shares also if a member of the share holders dies you can carry on trading and the biggest advantage been that is has limited liability (which means it only looses the money which people have put into the business even though the debts maybe over the amount entered).

The disadvantages of this type of this method of trading is that it is a lot more expensive to set up because of all the legal paper work that has to go start trading also although it isn’t a major thing the company has to show its yearly paper work each year for the public and government. From what I already know I have decided to make my business a sole trader business as these are the easiest to set up. Also in a sole trader business I will get to keep all of the profits although some with go for other things e. g. fixed assets and external costs.

Also as I am a sole trader business there are fewer regulations that I have to comply with. As a sole trader I do not have to make my business accounts available to any one except the Inland Revenue. This is useful as it saves me time, and it keeps my business dealings secret to the public. Also I am my own boss and choose my own working hours and can decide what I keep each month and decide what needs to be seen to, pressure of running although might be higher as I have to do everything I have the lower pressure because I am my own boss as I have said and can sort things out as and when I decide to.

Been a small firm I have my advantage over been a larger firm e. g. been in a partnership these are simple: I have more communication with the customer so I know what they want and can build up a friendship with then leading to loyal customers. Another is that been small I have lower fixed costs which means I can be more flexible with my prices. I have decided on the name “Flowery Florists” this is because I am selling flowers and I am a florists it is a simple name but I think that it is catchy and would catch peoples attention

What is the aim of “Flowery Florists”? The aim of “Flowery Florists” is primarily to survive short term and to be able to compete with other flower companies in the local area although there is none apart form a lady who sells dried flowers about 2 miles away in her home. Also to brake even, but provide a high quality service to the public. Then it is to make a profit. For the first year the aim of my business will also be to become a well-established business, and to remain open (not be forced to close due to lack of business or trade).

Sources of finance Buying/ renting: for buying or renting my purposed location of around i?? 120000. It would make sense to take out a bank loan or even a mortgage to repay the bank in small affordable installments I might even take out a loan of i?? 130000 this extra i?? 10000 would be used to buy all my equipment needed to start off the business and to pay off my first month or two bills e. g. electricity. I have found out that I can borrow i?? 130000 at 14. 9% APR (variable) over ten years paying back an amount of i?? 1244.

75 a month back this is a lot of money for a small company who especially in its first few months would not be able to repay this amount. I have chosen to go with a mortgage, which is a longer-term finance (20+ years). A bank would not lend me a mortgage for any length of time for my business, this would be because I have no assets and if I fall behind in my repayments I have no way of repaying the bank back with out loaning yet more money. My only way of realistically owning this property is to start of by renting it for a short period of time e.

g. a year and then see what money and how well the business is doing. To rent this property it would be i?? 500 a month this would be paid every calendar month this amount of money I could afford probably because it is a nice amount that I think the business could make. I have found out that I need to pay Business rates on the property these are rates in which I pay for the land I sit on. Where I am situated out of the town I will pay low business rates, as the local council does not see my purposed business as having high ratable values.