Background of Trimline Group of Industries
The following report is prepared to provide an entrepreneurship plan for Trimline group of industries while their expansion in the foreign countries (trimline.co.uk 2018). The report has designed the entrepreneurship pathways where the strategies are framed in an effective manner to provide the best services to the customers in refurbishment and designing of the marine interiors. The management of the said organization has decided to expand internationally which will provide them with lots of scope to earn more profitability. The growth strategies of the organization will depend on the effectiveness of a robust international strategy.
Trimline is a marine interiors company which is in operations for the last 50 years and is a wide range of experience in designing interiors of ships, yachts, private boats and other such marine transportation medium. The company is one of the leading industries in United Kingdom in the following sector for the last five decades (trimline.co.uk 2018). The management of the organization has decided in expansion of the business in international waters to be one of the largest companies in marine interior designing in the world and also to increase its revenue. The management of the company must have a proper knowledge of the market scenario of the host country to make sure that the company has the adequate knowledge of the market conditions. This will help the company to structure the strategies in an effective manner to gain a competitive advantage. The company must also apply different technological innovations to attract a large number of clients. Therefore the management of the company must focus on the research and development process to be unique from the other similar companies operating in the market. However the major issue lies in the allocation of funds for the process as the research and development. Budget is one of the major issues that create problems for the company. Therefore funds need to be gathered gradually to establish the R&D facility. The company has to also take care of the market responsiveness and the constant update on the technological advancements. The implementation of different technologies on a timely basis can make them superior to the other companies (Yu and Lee 2017). As of now the management of the mentioned company also fails to market itself in the international markets which are not at all acceptable as the company aims to be one of the top industries in the designing sector of marine transportation. Thus a robust and dynamic marketing strategy needs to be implemented by the organization to make it one of the best in the business. Apart from this the customers of the company must also be convinced by fulfilling their needs and demands. Therefore proper marketing techniques are the key to the success of the company in international waters.
Growth Strategies for Trimline Group in International Markets
However the biggest problem faced by Trimline is the share of profit in the market place. The company has failed to increase their profit margin over the years and has fallen behind to even new companies in the block. Apart from this the management of the organization has also failed to diversify their business which helps in creation of an extra source of revenue. Such extra source of revenue can be helpful in the long run as because it can provide the management with enough money to invest on research and development process easily. The company must also prepare itself to be fit enough to meet the demands of the market in peak seasons. The success of the company will depend on its capability to deliver proper products at the proper time.
Porter’s five forces is one of the most important considerations for the company in the view of its decision to expand its operations internationally. The following marketing tool includes different dynamics like the competition in the market, power of the customers, bargaining power of the suppliers as well as the customers, threat posed by new entrants and the threat of substitute products. The analysis of the following forces in the market will be helpful for the organization to consider their decision on entering new markets internationally. The goal of the company is to introduce different ideas on how both the clients and the company can help maintain a healthy industry. First and foremost the management of the company needs to identify the potential clients of the business and also the local support.
- Clients-The potential clients must be identified by the management of the country as because the clients need to be satisfied by the organization to maintain a healthy design culture. The Asian clients are quite different in their approach, needs and choices and thus a proper and trusted channel must be used to reach these clients.
- Local Support-Apart from the client identification the management of the Company must also identify and select the local support base that will be employed to help them expand in the host country.
The management of the mentioned company must choose countries which provide a high competition for market entry. The emerging Asian markets can be the best example of such markets. A small number of entrants in the market ensure the possibility of greater profit. This in turn helps to ensure sustainability in the business and provide the best solutions for the industry. The barriers to the entry in the market are probably the weakest point for the interior designing of the company. Barriers to entry will be created by four major factors which includes the likes of;
- Legal Barriers that includes laws, rules, regulations, certificates and licenses that are either to be adhered by or obtained in the host countries
- Incumbents that hold the pole position in the market of the host country can use price cutting techniques to drive out new entrants from the market. This will create huge problems for the company to gain a smooth entry into the market
- High costs are related while starting the business operations of the country. If the designing is done or order has been taken for a big work it will be impossible for the company to replace or cancel it because of the huge cost involved. This has recently happened in one of the European countries where the company cancelled the order at the last moment which led to a huge loss for the organization.
- Incumbents have a strong competitive advantage in the market and thus gaining the trust of their customers will be an arduous task for the organization.
Therefore the best way forward after entering the foreign market is to create a healthy relationship with the customers and maintain the best possible quality for serving the customers in the host country.
- Bargaining power of customers-The less the control of buyers over the prices of the materials the better for the company. This can lead to the loss of power from the hands of the customer but on the other hand the tough competition in the market will force the companies to innovate and design the best products to stay in the competition which will be ultimately beneficial for the consumers. As the products of the industry are differentiated from the other products in the market there are a selected number of buyers who actually opts for their services. The clients are the one who helps the industry as without them the company would have to shut down its operations.
- Bargaining power of suppliers- The more the control of the company over their suppliers the better. It is recommended for the company to not invest in a particular technology for a large period of time as such an activity can be of high risk and can harm the goals of the company to stay in the market for a long period of time. The market in Asia has less number of suppliers and thus they do will not exert high bargaining pressure over the management of the company. It is important for the organization to study the market behaviors of the Asian suppliers. The Asian suppliers respect their culture too much and thus the management of the company must be accustomed to the cultural conceptions of these countries to establish themselves in the following markets. The Management of the company must employ locals in their business to make sure that they do not face any cultural shock which in turn can damage the business opportunities.
- Threat posed by new entrants in the market- The entry of the new companies in the market provides huge challenge for the incumbents in the industry. This is because the new entrants often bring with them the best technologies and the best innovative techniques that help them to acquire the potential customers of the market. This makes the existing companies more vulnerable as they tend to lose their market shares which may result into huge losses for the Company. The management of the mentioned company has to address the changes in the market conditions and must innovate new technologies every now and then to keep a stronghold in the competitive market.
- Threat posed by substitute products in the market-It is really easy to choose between designing companies like the one mentioned here as because there are a selected few companies that deals with the refurbishing and designing of the marine modes of transportation. However choosing companies have now became much easier as because many of the companies specialize in technology, technique to implement the project, target audience of the organization. And style followed by the organization.
- Competition among the existing companies-The presence of a robust and dynamic industry leads to less competition in the market and leads to the formation of a new brand of loyal customers for the organization. The task of the management of the organization is to innovate new products that satisfy the wants of the customers and also stay competitive in the market. It is important for Trimline to offer the highest quality of standards for the Asian Market. It can also try their luck in military warships as because the military market has been on a rise in Asian countries like India and China. The mentioned interior designing company must make sure to provide the best quality products to maintain a competitive edge over the minimum number of competitors in the industry (Ross 2017).
Trimline is one of the leading companies of the market that provides services towards the refurbishment and maintenance of the shipping interior. The service provided by the following organization has helped it to earn a loyal set of customers. The company has ensured the delivery of the services on time which has also helped in the preparation of a proper budget. Business models have been an integral part of the economic and trading behavior for a long time from now. The advent of modern technologies has helped in the advancement of the business models. The success of the business organizations depends on the organizational design and change in the business models according to the demand of the shipping companies (Österman Praetorius and Hult 2017). This may start from the micro level of the business to the macro level of the host countries and the economic zones. Therefore the management of Trimline must concentrate on formulating a proper and efficient business model to gain momentum in new markets of Asia. The business model is generally created by three different steps namely;
- Value Creation-Value creation is one of the most basic elements of the formulation of business model as because it clearly recognizes why and for whom the value is being created. The absence of any value to the products and services of the company will lead to failure of the organization in the market. The main value that is delivered by the company comes with the refurbishment and designing skills of the organization.
- Business System- The creation of value is utmost important for the management of the company to gain success in the Asian markets. The cost of incorporating an effective business system must be lower than that of the annual revenues of the Organization.
- Value Capture-The following provides the reasoning behind the creation of the value for the products and services of the organization.
- Business Ecosystems-The recent developments in the area of the business ecosystems suggests that while the business model frameworks are not suitable for the present set of challenges faced by the organization. etitive Capabilities
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
As mentioned earlier Trimline is one of the leading shipping interior designing organizations based in UK. The industry has been in service for the last 50 years and has constantly served its customers which paved the way for a personal relationship with the clients of the organization (Omorede and Axelsson 2018). Trimline if makes an entry into the Asian markets can be a revolution itself as because no such companies offer such unique product and services in Asia. According to, Kang et al. (2017) the clients of Asia usually depend on European markets to refurbish the ships which incur a huge amount of money. The start of operations by the mentioned company in Asia will help in the reduction of operational costs for the organization. Thus the management of the organization must review the above report to get an idea of the technical feasibility, business viability and stakeholder desirability of the organization (Murto Person and Ahola 2014).
The implementation of the main strategic ideas of the management is crucial to the success of the business environment. The implementation of the business plan, campaign, or project is dependent on the tactics, tools and strategies of the organization. The plan provided in the following chapter is quite viable and compatible for the business organization. The uniqueness of the following business along with the service it provides to the companies has been the best in the business and helps to manage the business efficiently (Mohammed and Obeleagu-Nzelibe 2014). The management of the company must implement the entrepreneur strategy to spread its business in the emerging Asian markets. The Asian markets will offer huge scope and profit to the mentioned company as because the services offered by Trimline are totally absent in these parts of the world. Therefore the main entrepreneur focus of the company in Asia will be at;
- Conducting a market research to gain the idea of the future scope of the market
- The implication of the future strategy of the business should be discussed with the stakeholders for their interests
- The focus of the management must be on business viability, technical feasibility and desirability of the stakeholders and the concerned persons to start their operations in the Asian markets
Entrepreneurship is the act of the different economies in the present world. Most of the innovations are drawn and implemented by the entrepreneurs. The role of the mentioned people has thus been expanded and each and every such action of the entrepreneurs is not only for self fulfillment but also for solving the different problems that lies in the society. The study of the case of Trimline and its entrepreneur options to establish their operations in Asia has been a great learning experience for me as I have similar entrepreneurial thoughts in my mind. I have thought about the different innovations that have changed the world. The strategy formulated by the management of Trimline will be extremely helpful for me to implement my entrepreneurial thoughts practically. As an entrepreneur I am innovative and I am also able to innovate new ideas for the expansion of my business as well as enrich my personal experience.
Business Model for Trimline Group of Industries
The above said case of Trimline highlights the immense success that the company has achieved over the years along with the entrepreneurial ideas of the management to establish their business in Asia. A thorough and compact analysis of the Entreprenurial skills of the mentioned business organization is really helpful for my development as a skilled entrepreneur. The first and foremost element of the entrepreneurial skill must be to create value for the business products and services. The values and services of my business will be essential for the creation of a reputation and also the growth of my business. I will have to identify the value of the product by terming the uniqueness of the product and comparing them with the other similar kinds of products in the market. Another most important consideration on the success of my business will be the creation of the business system. I am responsible for creating a proper and effective system for the business which will help the organization. A number of different challenges will be faced by me while implementing these policies.
The business idea that I have in mind is a start up online retailing. The idea struck me as I am a regular shopper from the different types of online market sites. I felt that I can start up a start up business with the same idea as the development of Information Technology and the ease of access for the customers will help my business to grow in stature. The case of Trimline will again help me to bring uniqueness to the product and concentrate more on market research and development process to achieve great success in the coming years. Similar to the likes of Trimline I can focus more on the emerging markets which will help me to avoid unnecessary competition from the beginning.
I will have to take a number of personality tests for the success of the entrepreneur. This will help me to increase my confidence and help me to increase my personal capacity to deliver the best for the organization. These personality tests included the Da-Vinci type test and Bill Wagner’s Personality test. I will also undergo the HBDI personal test to measure whether I have a conceptual or practical frame of mind. Thus the following chapter has defined the ways by which entrepreneurial skills of Trimline can act as the perfect guidelines to the creation of entrepreneurship capabilities in a person.
Implementation of Entrepreneurship Plan for Trimline Group of Industries
References and Bibliography
Ahola, M. and Mugge, R., 2017. Safety in passenger ships: The influence of environmental design characteristics on people’s perception of safety. Applied ergonomics, 59, pp.143-152.
Ahola, M.K., Salovuori, H. and Lehtonen, M.J., 2015. Exploring Cruise Experience Through Actor-Networks of the Cruise Ship Environment. International Journal of Marine Design, 157(C1), pp.1-12.
Brooker, G., 2017. Adaptation Strategies for Interior Architecture and Design (Vol. 69). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Covin, J.G. and Miller, D., 2014. International entrepreneurial orientation: Conceptual considerations, research themes, measurement issues, and future research directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(1), pp.11-44.
DeGeest, D.S., Seibert, S. and O’Boyle, E.H., 2014, January. General Mental Ability and Entrepreneurial Behavior and Performance: A Meta-Analytic Review. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2014, No. 1, p. 11369). Academy of Management.
Gross, B., Werner, H.G. and Paruchuri, S., Johnson Controls GmbH, 2017. Reinforced structural element made of plastic, in particular in the vehicle interior design field. U.S. Patent 9,849,636.
Hartsfield, S., Johansen, D. and Knight, G., 2017. Entrepreneurial orientation, strategy, and marketing capabilities in the performance of born global firms. International Business: Research, Teaching, and Practice, 2(1), pp.12-38.
Haskins, G., 2018. Entrepreneurial Learning: Knowledge, Skills, Behaviours and Attitudes-An Introduction. In Entrepreneurial Learning City Regions (pp. 95-99). Springer, Cham.
Ibrahim, N. and Mas’ud, A., 2016. Moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between entrepreneurial skills, environmental factors and entrepreneurial intention: A PLS approach. Management Science Letters, 6(3), pp.225-236.
Iza, A., 2016. Entrepreneurial skills, technological progress and ?rm growth (No. 9469). EcoMod.
Jansson, K., 2016, October. Circular Economy in Shipbuilding and Marine Networks–A Focus on Remanufacturing in Ship Repair. In Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises (pp. 661-671). Springer, Cham.
Kang, H.J., Choi, J., Lee, D. and Park, B.J., 2017. A framework for using computational fire simulations in the early phases of ship design. Ocean Engineering, 129, pp.335-342.
Lobo, C.A., Costa-Lobo, C. and Ferreira, A.T., 2016. Entrepreneurial skills, the theory of networks and internationalization: A theorical approach.
Mohammed, U.D. and Obeleagu-Nzelibe, C.G., 2014, January. Entrepreneurial skills and profitability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Resource acquisition strategies for new ventures in Nigeria. In Proceedings of 25th International Business Research Conference (Vol. 64, No. 16, pp. 1-21).
Murto, P., Person, O. and Ahola, M., 2014. Shaping the face of environmentally sustainable products: Image boards and early consumer involvement in ship interior design. Journal of cleaner production, 75, pp.86-95.
Omorede, A. and Axelsson, K., 2018. Migrant Entrepreneurs and Their Spark for Entrepreneurial Exploration. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Law and Political Sciences, 5(8).
Österman, C., Praetorius, G. and Hult, C., 2017. Work environment challenges and participatory workplace interventions on passenger ships. In 49th Nordic Ergonomics Society (NES) Conference Joy at Work (pp. 452-459).
Ross, J.M., 2017. Human factors for naval marine vehicle design and operation. CRC Press.
Trimline.co.uk. (2018). Trimline | Home. [online] Available at: https://www.trimline.co.uk [Accessed 10 Apr. 2018].
Yu, J.W. and Lee, Y.G., 2017. Hull form design for the fore-body of medium-sized passenger ship with gooseneck bulb. International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, 9(5), pp.577-587.