Small Business Enterprise

LO1 Investigating the interpretation of small business enterprises

Mentioning the structure of the company along with explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the company (AC 1.1)

Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods Ltd is a private limited organisation with chairperson named as Keith Valentine Graham. The chairperson is popularly known as Levis Roots, who was a musician by his trade. The owner started the business initially from a barbeque sauce named Levi’s Roots Reggae Reggae Sauce. The proprietor sold this sauce in the year 2006 in Notting Hill Carnival and then he took his sauce in food trade show. A BBC producer observed him and suggested him for appearing in Dragons’ Den. The business became popular and he received an order of huge amount from various other big organisations. The owner opened the first restaurant in the year 2015 in the Westfield Stafford city. The strength of the business of Levis’ Roots is a large number of people like the quality of sauce that is prepared in his restaurant. This can bring immense profitable revenue for the organisation along with increase the economy of the country (Levi Roots Official, 2017).

The weakness for the organisation is the presence of other competitors, who have more funds than this organisations and those peers can bring new innovative products that might hit the business of Levis’ roots very hard. The main objective of Levis’ Roots is that the firm wants to deliver their products far outside the country and incorporate new items into their menu so that people can get attracted towards the products of Levis’ Roots. Altman et al. (2010, p.96) stated that small sized business have the restrictions of the people of that particular place because they have to deal with numerous type of people and their demands. Levis’ Roots follows the similar issue and thus, cannot meet the demands of the people. The responsibilities of the manager of the organisation are to look after the working procedure of the employees along with providing the best support to the workers, as there is less number of employees in the firm. The manager performs the duty of managing along with motivating the workers so that they can fulfil the organisational targets. The internal and external factors affecting the Levis’ Roots are technology required for growth is not present and corruption along with competition respectively.

Comparing the performance of the organisation with another similar business organisation based on the human resources and other organisational functions (AC 1.2)
Please refer to the below screenshot and the related excel file for the above solution.

From the above screenshots, it is visible that the business of Levi Roots is quite weak compared to the local business of the geographical area. This fact is quite visible from the fact after analyzing the data of Levi Roots with that of the Premier Foods. The Gross profit ratio of Levi Roots for the year 2014 is lower than that of Premier Foods by 20% i.e. a double amount which depicts that the operational performance of this business is quite low compared to the other businesses in that area. However, however, the operating profit ratio is quite higher than that of the Premier Foods due to the reason of decrease in the operating advantage and the firm has been able to control the fixed costs. The sales for the year 2014 are also lower than that of the Premier Foods the reason being a lag in the marketing management.

Although it has also been depicted that the performance of the current year has improved as compared to the last year. The Gross Profit ratio has risen as compared to that of the previous year, which reveals that the marketing efficiency of the business has increased (Sian and Roberts, 2009, p.289). It has also been observed that the operational efficiency of the business has improved as compared to the previous year, which also depicts that the business has been able to effectively control the fixed costs of the entity.

The sales have also increased for the year 2015 and have been in parity with the industry averages. It is also to be noted that decreasing of the product prices has to lead to the increase in the sales of the company.

The number of employees of the company has also increased as compared to that of the previous year, which depicts that the Human resource Management of the entity has improved and the firm has been able to achieve the operational efficiency.

LO2 Proposing various changes in the business to improve the functions of management

• i. Recommending the some justification in order to eradicate the weaknesses of the organisation (AC 2.1)
  
  Benzing and Chu (2009, p.61) stated that weaknesses will be present in the business but the weaknesses need to be analysed for bringing new changes in the organisations so that the profit can be maintained. Levis’ Roots need to take the advice of the experts and can perform a talk over the weaknesses that they organisation has. The expert's advice can be worked upon on along with motivating the employees to work with more efficiency so that the organisation can gain profit and thus, can bring innovativeness in their products. Levis’ Roots have to come up with new business strategies for giving a tough competition to the peers. The managers of Levis’ Roots can work collectively with other employees so that customers demand can be fulfilled at a much faster rate. This will help in overcoming the weakness of the organisation regarding the manufacturing of new products for the customers. Alternative strategies can be incorporated in business if the strategy that is developed fails due to some or other reasons (Bianchi et al. 2010, p.416). Levis’ Roots need to undertake an alternative strategy of asking the help from the big organisations to fulfil the targets of the organisation. The resources need to be made available by the owner of Levis’ Roots so that the workers can manufacture good and sustainable products.
  
  The organisation can adopt the technique of outsourcing by handing over the payroll and debt collection to the other big organisation so that the employees can focus on the production part. This will bring huge benefits for Levis’ Roots and the weaknesses can overcome. Blackburn et al. (2013, p.10) opined that small sized enterprises need to be very effective in producing their products because it will help the big enterprises to invest in the business of small enterprises. Levis’ Roots need to maintain the quality of their products at any cost so that the organisation can fulfil the demands of customers and can get the funds from big organisations too (Levi Roots Official, 2017).
  
  
• ii. Analysing the different processes that will help in maintaining the organisations’ existing performances and strengths (AC 2.2)
  
  In order to hold the similar growth of the organisation, it is essential that organisational objectives be set appropriately for the expansion of the business in the respective sectors (Bridge and O'Neill, 2010, p.963). Levis’ Roots need to understand the business market properly before taking measures for the growth of the organisation. The organisation needs to analyse the performance records properly so that new changes can be taken for its benefit. The strength of the Levis’ Roots is that the quality of food delivered is unique and that is why; more people can be attracted towards Levis’ Roots by bringing innovation in the products. The organisations have to maintain good relation with the customers and the suppliers of the resources so that no issue arises regarding the products of the organisations (Choshin and Ghaffari, 2017, p.70). That is why; Levis’ Root needs to maintain the proper relationship with the suppliers of the resources along with the customers for making a brand image in the future market.
  
  It is required that the organisation need to explore the new opportunities that they can have and try to grab those. The market share of Levis’ Roots is less so it is essential that the organisation incorporate new strategies in the business for maintaining a good position in the market. Risk assessment needs to be done before incorporating any strategy in Levis roots because it will help in running the business smoothly. Clegg et al. (2017, 580) commented that for every business, it is the great requirement that expansion of the business is done within the national boundaries along with crossing the borders. Levis’ Roots have to identify the target markets for delivering their products and then start the exportation of the products further in the niche markets. New projects need to be started so that the business can be glorified in the end. Not only taking up the new project is the best answer for increasing the profit but also the cost and finance part of the projects need to analysed for better results in the new projects (Curran and Storey, 2016, p.458). The resources required for the projects need to be understood by the small firm so that those can be arranged with the stipulated time.
  
  
• iii. Suggesting the sectors where the business can be expanded providing justification to that (AC 2.3)
  
  Levis’ Roots can start can project of expanding their business in the local market along with expanding in the super markets. This needs to be evaluated properly so that no loss can obstruct the way to the success of Levis’ Roots. The personnel of the organisation and the top management need to work on their new project collectively for bringing magical results for the organisation. As per Davies and Crane (2010, p.130), the top management of the small sized enterprises need to do the auditing of the skills of the employees of the enterprise so that the employees’ efficiency can be judged and properly analysed before asking to participate in the projects. Levis’ roots need to undertake this technique so that the organisation can be benefited and the employee's skill gap can be properly understood. If the firm finds any such gap then the top management of the firm provide training to the employees so that they can perform in a far better way than before. When the employees will be accurately prepared for performing any task, then they can work with more interest in the workplace.
  
  Moreover, self-evaluation is must for better understanding about the capacity of the employees of their own. After conducting research in these areas, the small organisation has to understand properly about the cost factors and in what way it can bring profit to the organisation. If Levis’ Roots found that they have minimum funds then it is required that the organisation asks for aids from the financial institutions. The organisation needs to make sure that they can gain profit from the new project and thus, repay the amount to the financial institutions. Self and staffs development is beneficial for the organisations because it can help every employee along with the top management to perform in the better way so that the organisational goal are achieved at a rapid rate (Duncan and Natarajarathinam, 2016, p.180). Levis’ Roots need to understand the benefits of the development so that the expansion of the business can be done in an organised way.

LO3 Revising the entire objectives of the business along with incorporating numerous plans for the proposed changes

• i. Assessing the present business objectives along with the business plans (AC 3.1)
  
  The current performance of Levis’ Roots is quite good and the small sized organisation is gaining popularity in the local market. It is not the only plan of the business because the main Motto of the business is to expand further and gain huge profits. This objective of the business is required to be fulfilled rapidly so that the business can flourish in the coming years. Durkin et al. (2013, p.720) demonstrated that when the business objectives are high, then the performance circle needs to be developed more for gaining success in the business. Levis’ Roots need to make changes in the present business objectives and can incorporate the objective of expansion in the foreign markets as soon as possible. The entire business plan needs to be renovated so that Levis’ Roots can gain fruitful results. The chairpersons of the organisation have to gather more funds for the organisation and should try to increase the number of employees.
  
  This will help in reaching the organisational goals at a faster than the present business plan of the organisation. When the business objectives are renewed for the good purpose of the organisation, the impacts is left on the existing business plan of the organisation (DurmuÅŸoÄŸlu et al. 2012, p.689). The existing business plan of Levis’ Roots is to serve the local customers in a better way by delivering quality products. When the business objectives are set for meeting the demands of the customers all over the world, the business plan has to be made in a way that similar good quality need to be maintained but the numbers of customers served will be increased to millions and trillions. This will affect the entire working condition of the employees along with that the efficiency in the work of the employees will be increased more. The new structure in the organisation will be formed if the new business plan is incorporated in the business (Esteves, 2009, p.30). Levis’ Roots need to do the same for bringing a change in their business sector.
  
  
• ii. Reviewing the entire business plan and suggesting the parts where changes are required to be made (AC 3.2)
  
  The business plan of the organisations needs to be reviewed so that no flaws can remain in the business thus hampering the goals of the business firms (Franco and Haase, 2010, p.504). Levis’ Roots have various organisational functions like sales and marketing, human resources and financial functions. This efficiency of the functions needs to be judged properly so that the organisation can bring constructive outcomes in their business. If the organisation find any issues regarding the human resources or financial part then those needs to be resolved according to their requirements. The business plans are required to be used in a proper way so that the requirements can be met in a proper way. The evaluation of the business plan is required to be done so that good profit can be brought in less time, demands of the customers can be fulfilled by maintaining the proper quality of the services and ensuring long-term interests for the customers (Giaoutzi et al. 2016, p.558). After the evaluation, the changes need to incorporate as soon as possible in the plan so that Levis’ Roots can serve large numbers of customers in a proper way.
  
  The changes that are required to be done should be done within the budget of the organisation and thus, fewer funds are utilised in this case. Business forecasting is required to be done by Levis’ Roots so that good information and assistance can be given in the decision-making process. The business forecast can help in making good decisions and thus, prepare proper presentation of the business for understanding about the growth revenue of the organisation (Gronum et al. 2012, p.260). Levis’ Roots will be immensely benefited and the organisation can anticipate about their success in the foreign markets. Preparation of the business forecast needs to be done in an accurate way so that the firm can make a good market share in the upcoming financial years. Moreover, Levis’ Roots need to analyse output and manufacturing functions of the organisation finally so that the new business plan can bring productive results for the organisation.
  
  
• iii. Preparing a plan for incorporating the changes in business (AC 3.3)
  
  Implementing changes in the business are required to be properly planned so that the business can run in a smooth way (Gunasekaran et al. 2011, p.5500). Action plans help in running the business in a right way because the entire profit or loss of the business is dependent on the plans that are taken. Levis’ Roots can develop the action plan of working harder so that they can produce long-term beneficial products for achieving the goals of the organisation. The organisation can implement new technologies in their business so that the top management of the organisation can monitor the entire production process. New technology will help the chairperson of Levis’ Roots to supervise the working procedures for the better understanding of the progress that is occurring in the business. Huang et al. (2013, p.1270) opined that there is the huge need for evaluating the performance of the employees because it makes the employees work more cautiously.
  
  The top management of Levis roots needs to set the milestones regarding the organisational goals and then examine the performance of every employee, workers and staff. It is important that deadline must be set for the production work of the organisation so that the supply to the market can be done in the mentioned time (Jenkins, 2009, p.22). Similarly, the deadline needs to be set in the action plan so that no one can work reluctantly in the firm. Super markets are very big and there is a great necessity of serving the customers in the super market properly, thus Levis’ Roots have to understand the requirements of those customers. This will help in providing quality service to the customers and Levis’ Roots can gain profit in the super markets too. The action plan has to execute properly so that the firm can work on the correct track thus bringing positive results in the business sector.

LO 4 Observing the numerous changes on the business operations of the organisation

• i. Mentioning the influence of the changes upon the business and its professionals (AC 4.1)
  
  The changes have brought a great revolution in the working techniques of the employees of Levis’ Roots and the levels of business were changed entirely. Johnson (2017, p.3769) informed that when changes are done in the business patterns, then the financial functions and the human resources of the organisations changes totally. The similar thing happened with that of Levis’ Roots and the morale of the personnel of the organisation changed totally. They started to think in a more innovative way of the business and started performing the allocated jobs in the much better way. The workloads have increased upon the employees but they did not raise any complaint regarding that rather they worked with more enthusiasm. The profits were increased that is why; enlarged space for the firm is found so that the business can be enhanced more.
  
  Moreover, the manufacturing processes of the organisation were new and maintaining quality became the main agenda for the production unit. New technology was used therefore bringing a change in the working techniques of the organisation. When business plans are incorporated, the anticipation about the future problems needs to be understood by the organisations (Lappe and Dörrenbächer, 2017, p.186). The new change in the business plan helped in estimating the future risks and problems that can become a barrier in the way to the success of Levis’ Roots. Alternative measures are also incorporated in the business of Levis’ Roots so that they can remove the barriers when they obstruct the path of success of the firm. The new developed plan for the organisation has become a boon and it energised the employees also for performing better for the sake of the enterprise. 
  
  
• ii. Planning in what way the changes are managed in the business (AC 4.2) 
  
  There is need to manage and accept the changes appropriately and effectively in the modern business world in order to tackle the dynamic business environment (Mejri and Umemot, 2010). Every business has to sustain and ensure the stability under the light of environmental changes. So effective measures must be undertaken in order to ensure operational efficiency in the enterprise (Le et al. 2010, p.126)
  
  It has been observed that the business of Levi Roots has undergone changes due to the dynamic industry business environment. The business of the Food and the beverages industry is dynamic in nature since every time new products and tastes are preferred by the consumers and the tastes and preferences of the customers are changing day by day (Maier, 2016, p.147). It has to be noted that the company has a lower trend of Gross profits as compared to the industry averages. It also has a lower average as compared to the business averages of the geographical area. One of the reasons for this kind of unsatisfactory performance is the reason for not being able to cope up with the recent changes in the industry environment.
  
  It has also been seen that the marketing strategy of the company is weaker than the other competitors of the industry the reason being that the company is unable to implement the required changes into the operations of the business.
  
  Although the business is effective in the context of the Human Resource Management as the number of the employees has been increasing over the past years.
  
  The entity Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Foods Ltd. needs to implement new changes in the system of its operations. The entity is required to implement the new products into the system of operations and therefore the management's responsibility is to address all the issues of the current and the potential customers of the business (Matt and Rauch, 2013, p.147).
  
  
• iii. Explaining the enhancements in the business over the past years with the help of graphs like trend graph (AC 4.3)
  
  
  
  Please refer to the below screenshot and the related excel file for the above solution.
  
  Over the past five years, it can be said that the business has an increasing trend since 2014. It can be said that until 2014 the performance of the business has been satisfactory in the context of the food and beverages industry. It has also been analyzed that the business of the firm grew considerably until 2014. The business performance of the entity levi roots reggae reggae foods Ltd is not quite satisfactory since the financial year 2014. There is a lower sale as compared to the sales of companies in the local geographical area. It has also been seen that the firm's averages are lower as compared to the industry averages, the reason being the inability of the management to cope up with the dynamic business environment.
  
  The graph of the business trends is not quite satisfactory for the current and the potential investors. Although the firm is a Private Limited concern but still it needs investments from the loan providers in the form of loan capital. The firm needs to improve its operational performance in order to ensure the continuous supply of the loan funds into the organization.
  
  The sales of the the levi roots reggae reggae foods Ltd have a lower trend with that of the industry averages due to the inability of the operational managers to implement new changes in the products of the organization and the incapacity of the management to cope up with the dynamic business environment.
  
  Since in the dynamic business environment the customer frequently changes their tastes and preferences it is the management’s responsibility to offer new and multiple products to its current and the potential customers in order to achieve the target of sales maximization and profit maximization.

Conclusion

The business of small sized enterprise and the working techniques is understood with the help of the above-mentioned study. It is essential that small sized firms run the business in a smooth way so that economic condition of the country is improved. Moreover, employment is also properly given to the large sections of people. The study about Levis’ Roots showed how efficiently the business is being done so that the organisation can gain huge market share in the following years. New actions plans are also proposed that would assist the firm to work in an organised way and bring growth for the firm.

References

• Altman, E.I., Sabato, G. and Wilson, N., (2010). The value of non-financial information in small and medium-sized enterprise risk management. The Journal of Credit Risk, 6(2), pp.95-110.
• Benzing, C. and Chu, H.M., (2009). A comparison of the motivations of small business owners in Africa. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 16(1), pp.60-77.
• Bianchi, M., Campodall'Orto, S., Frattini, F. and Vercesi, P., (2010). Enabling open innovation in smalland mediumsized enterprises: how to find alternative applications for your technologies. R&d Management, 40(4), pp.414-431.
• Blackburn, R.A., Hart, M. and Wainwright, T., (2013). Small business performance: business, strategy and owner-manager characteristics. Journal of small business and enterprise development, 20(1), pp.8-27.
• Bridge, S. and O'Neill, K., (2012). Understanding enterprise: entrepreneurship and small business. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Choshin, M. and Ghaffari, A., (2017). An investigation of the impact of effective factors on the success of e-commerce in small-and medium-sized companies. Computers in Human Behavior, 66(8), pp.67-74.

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