Handmade Knitwear Company: Environmental Analysis and Goals

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Environmental Analysis
Primary and Secondary Target Markets
Goals
Measurements
SWOT and Needs Analyses
Needs Analysis
Reference List

Introduction

As the name of the company indicates, the Handmade Knitwear will produce manufactured knit products. It is assumed that the organization will deal primarily with the production of scarves, jumpers, and dresses; however, the company will also provide clients with an opportunity to customize their orders by filling out an order form. Therefore, the organization is also going to produce socks, gloves, hats, etc. based on the requirements set by the target audience. In addition, an analysis of the customer demand will be carried out in the target market in order to identify the items that are required traditionally by the target audience.

Environmental Analysis

Competitive

The idea of handmade knitwear is not new; therefore, it is expected that the company will face rather rough competition. However, according to the preliminary analysis data, most organizations existing in the niche are sole proprietorships (Toivanen, Mellner & Wilberg, 2014); in other words, the services are provided mostly by individual entrepreneurs. Hence, as an LLC, the company is unlikely to be threatened by the existing rivals.

Economic

From the economic perspective, the company is expected to succeed in the target market, as the key factors, including inflation and currency exchange rates, seem rather favorable (Edwards, 2015).

Political

None of the existing political factors is likely to impede the promotion of knitwear in the target market.

Legal

Seeing that the organization is going to obtain a license for carrying out the key business transactions, no legal repercussions are expected. As long as the company labels the products in accordance with the Textile Products Identification Act (The Textile Products Identification Act, 2015), no issues will occur.

Technological

Timely acquisition of the necessary technology is an essential step in the promotion of the company within the target market. Specifically, the necessity to update the equipment that the staff will use for kneaded goods production will be imperative to comply with the company’s quality standards. For these purposes, a quality assurance team will be created, and regular audits will be conducted.

Sociocultural

Seeing that the company will produce not only woolen but also acrylic clothes so that the needs of all denizens of the population could be met, a conflict with the proponents of environmentalism may be expected. Indeed, according to recent studies, the introduction of acryl into the environment has a destructive effect on nature (Chen, 2014).

Primary and Secondary Target Markets

Among the primary target audience, women aged 20–40 are identified as the key customers for the company to focus on. The product promoted will include the above-mentioned knit clothes, specifically, shawls, sweaters, etc. As far as the secondary audience type is concerned, teenagers and younger children (or, to be more exact, their parents, as the latter make a choice regarding the type of clothes for their children to wear) will be targeted.

The price will be reduced slightly; in addition, a series of customer discounts will be suggested to the clients. Samples of products will be placed on the site; in addition, the site will provide an option for the customer do design a model of the product using the tools suggested (i.e., colors, shape, type of material (wool/acryl), etc. As far as the promotion is concerned, both traditional and modern media will be used. Particularly, promotion via social networks will be viewed as the most efficient method. Speaking of people, the company’s values will revolve around striving for both the customers’ and the staff’s satisfaction.

Table 1. 5Cs.

Customer	Teenagers and women aged 20–40 will be the key target audience to promote the goods to.
Company	The company will need to focus on its opportunity to target a very diverse population.
Competition	A few sole proprietorships will not impede the company’s growth.
Collaboration	Suppliers of the required tools (knitting kits) and high quality wool and acryl must be located in the area.
Context	The company is unlikely to face any political restrictions.

Table 2. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.

Key segments and their characteristics	Teenagers	Women aged 20–40
Segments attractiveness	Grow out of their clothes and, therefore, require a consistent supply thereof; Follow trends eagerly and, thus, will buy the products as long as the latter comply with the current fashion standards	Have a rather rigid set of standards for clothes; May promote the product via modern media and in conversations to their friends
Desirable positioning	Positioning through modern media; Positioning through social networks	Positioning through social networks; Positioning through advertisements in magazines

Goals

Short-Term Goals

Creating a brand that will allow the company to become memorable and integrate into the target market successfully, attracting as many customers as possible;
Locating the organizations, which will be able to provide supplies for the Handmade Knitwear;
Acquiring high-quality equipment (i.e., proper knitting tools and the required accessories), which the staff will use in order to produce high-quality clothes;
Carrying out a vast market study in order to identify the demands of the target audience, the existing supply rates, market saturation, etc.

Long-Term Goals

Integrating into the target market and becoming a leader in the niche of handmade knitwear;
Increasing annual revenue by 20% compared to the initial investment;
Merging with a company that provides the related services.

Measurements

In order to evaluate the company’s success, one will have to compare the annual revenues acquired in the first and second quarters of the firm’s activity in the market. In addition, such tools as the number of visitors per day on the company’s website will be used as a means to evaluate the progress made. However, since these are not visitors, but customers, who contribute to an increase in revenues for the company (Cyr, 2014), the comparison between the new product adoption rates on different time slots will be required as well.

SWOT and Needs Analyses

Table 3. Handmade Knitwear’s SWOT Analysis.

Strengths	Original product that stands out of the range of similar ones in the target market; Provision of opportunity for the target customers to tailor the product exactly to their needs; Relatively small amount of costs to be taken in the marketing process due to the options provided social networks; Vast opportunities for catering to the needs of all denizens of the U.S. population, including customers of all ages, ethnicities and cultures.
Weaknesses	Abundance of similar companies that offer services of lower quality and, therefore, set the customers’ expectations rather low; Lack of information on the pricing structure in the current market; Necessity to rely on the equipment that the staff has acquired to operate with; Possibility of acquiring the staff members, who do not have the required skills and, therefore, may supply the services of low quality.
Opportunities	Creating a niche in the current knitwear market and dominating it, with the further possibility for becoming a strong leader in the target market; Acquisition of an increasingly large number of customers and, therefore, further expansion into the global market; Active use of modern information technologies as the key tool for increasing awareness regarding the company’s services in the target market; Expanding into the global market with the help of a merger with a company that provides similar services.
Threats	Failure to attract clients due to the poor understanding of the needs of the target customers and the underdeveloped marketing plan; Emergence of new market entrants, which will provide similar services for a smaller price and the following need to carry out drastic price cuts; Inability to locate the distribution channel that will be cheap enough and the following loss of an impressive amount of money

Needs Analysis

Current Needs	Establishing the company in the target market as a unique service with outstanding product quality; Identifying the methods of marketing to the target population; Incorporating the latest technological advances for promoting the product to the target audience; Location of the sources for comparatively cheap and high quality raw material acquisition.
Future Needs	Altering the marketing approach for expanding into the global market; Attracting new customers and retaining new ones with the help of an original promotion campaign; Creating a new brand that will help promote the company among a wider and a more diverse audience; Developing a brand product that will make the company a household name.

Reference List

Chen, Y. J. (2014). Microbiology and nanotechnology: Focus on the negative impacts of nanomaterials on human health and environment. Sensors & Transducers, 169(4), 265–270. Web.

Cyr, D. (2014). Return visits: a review of how Web site design can engender visitor loyalty. Journal of Information Technology, 29(1), 1–26. Web.

Edwards, S. (2015). Monetary policy independence under flexible exchange rates: An illusion? Los Angeles, CA: UCLA. Web.

The Textile Products Identification Act. (2015). Federal Trade Commission. Web.

Toivanen, S., Mellner, C. & Wilberg, S. (2014). Self-employed persons in Sweden – mortality differentials by industrial sector and enterprise legal form: a five-year follow-up study. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 58(1), 21-32. Web.

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