Personal Business Plan for Company Sierra
Mission Statement: Company Sierra aims to assist in producing, advertising, and promoting up-and-coming artists in order for them to get the platform they deserve in the music industry.
Business Environment
Company Sierra will be competing in the entertainment, more specifically the music, industry. Companies like my own are very important in today's society because more and more people are creating, and they want their work to be heard by large audiences. Consumers are equally as important because they are constantly demanding new and exciting music. When consumers find an artist they really enjoy, they will continue to support that artist's work, creating a repeat customer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around one million jobs become available in the leisure and hospitality industry every ten years (2017). Company Sierra will by no means have an absolute advantage in this industry, but neither does any other company already competing for business. Company Sierra will have a greater focus on digital products rather than physical products because the majority of people get their music online. We will still have physical products, such as CDs and records, and in order to produce these products, we will outsource the work to an outside manufacturer because our main objective will be to make and produce music. Culture will be an important aspect to take into consideration when deciding what kinds of music to produce and what kinds of people to take on as clients.
Entrepreneurship and Strategy
Becoming an established record label will be extremely difficult because of the number of labels who have already established themselves with major artists. In order to break into the scene and be successful, Company Sierra will need to network with established labels. It needs to find promising artists to lead the company to success. Company Sierra will be a small business because it is independently owned and operated, organized for profit, and not dominant in its field. Starting out, Company Sierra will have fewer than 1,000 employees, which is another quality of a small business, according to the Small Business Administration. Company Sierra's main goal is to provide the service of creating and producing music, so it is considered a service-producing sector.
Management
In order to effectively manage Company Sierra, I will begin to perform feedback analysis to identify my own strengths and weaknesses, like Peter Drucker discussed in his article "Managing Oneself (2005)." Based on the results of the feedback analysis, I will know what tasks I excel at, what needs work, and what should be assigned to another person who is more appropriate to perform the task. Feedback analysis will help with the company's SWOT analysis because it already determines the strengths and weaknesses. The only thing left after that would be opportunities and threats. This will make communication with coworkers much more efficient because assigning tasks will not be difficult. Company Sierra plans to set goals to acquire a set number of clients every year. Employees will be motivated to find new clients because it will create new, unique work for them to do.
Drucker, P. F. (2005). Managing Oneself. Harvard Business Review, 83(1), 100–109. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.chatham.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=15524519&site=eds-live&scope=site
Marketing
Company Sierra will use a tool called the marketing mix to promote the products. The products will be CDs, digital music downloads, and records. The products will have to be priced similarly to other products that are already out in order to compete. The products will be distributed online and in stores that sell CDs or records, such as Target, Walmart, and music stores. The products will be promoted on social media by the record label and the artist releasing the music. iTunes and advertisements in stores will also be used to promote the products. A generic branding strategy will be used to promote the products. The record label will be mentioned on the product, but that is not the focus of the product. The artist and the music will be the focus of the product. Company Sierra will still have a brand even though that isn't the focus of the consumer. They need to promote themselves to new artists to hire as clients.
Accounting and Finance
Company Sierra's assets will be the building, equipment, and inventory. The total assets will add up to around $200,000. Loans will need to be taken out of banks in order to finance operations. Some will need to be paid off sooner than others. The loans that need paid off this year are current liabilities, and the loans that have a few years to be paid off are long-term liabilities. The total liabilities will equal the total assets of $200,000.
Information Systems and Operations
Company Sierra will need to use data to collect information on genres of music that are popular and which artists are becoming successful, so they can focus their energy into the most promising artists. An information system will be necessary for the chief information officer to carry out this task. An enterprise resource system will also be necessary for all the different business sections to communicate and share important information.
