ENTR311 Business Plan Foundations

Overview of the Company

The idea has been developed to start a trucking and shipping company in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, United States. The company will operate its business with the name Carolina Thoroughbred & Sons LLC. The company will engage itself in freight hauling of products such as fresh produce, dry bulk, refrigerated food, beverages, meat, paper products and general freight. The company would focus on providing transportation services to its customers. The head office of the company would be situated in 422 E 17^th street, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States. It will function as a limited liability company. The demand for trucking and transportation service is rising due to the increased number of small-scale business in United States.

Over the Road trucking solutions provided by the company would comprise of several network of terminals. The company will provide safe hauling services whether it is for a shorter or longer distance.

Vision Statement

Vision statement refers to the long-term aim and objectives of the firm. It helps the organization to take business decisions which aligns with the predetermined goals and objectives of the firm (Kirkpatrick 2017). The vision statement of Carolina Thoroughbred & Sons LLC is presented below:

“To provide reliable and safe logistic services in order to create values for customers, shareholders, and employees. We are focused on establishing long-term relationship with the customers by considering them as partners and ensuring safety in every delivery that we undertake”.

Mission Statement 

A mission statement reflects the reason for the existence of the business in the simplest and most succinct manner by describing how the company is delivering value to its customers (Rossmann 2019). The mission statement of the company is as follows –

“We are committed to providing high quality of safety and services to the customers in the trucking industry within and outside North California”.

Objectives of the Company 

First two years,

• To attract customers from different channels, both online and offline.
• To spend around $30000 annually on advertising (including social media platform).
• To achieve net margin of 15% by the end of first two years.
• To hire and employ skilled drivers.
• To acquire funds for purchasing additional trucks for increasing the area of operations.

3 - 5 years

• To increase the sales revenue by 30% every year.
• To carry out research for expanding area of operations in other markets.
• To reduce direct expenses by 10%.
• To enter into a new market by the end of 5^th
• To enter into partnerships with existing manufacturers.

Figure 1 Projected Net Sales Revenue

Industry Analysis

Trucking industry in the United States is considered as the lifeblood of country’s economy. It basically refers to the use of road transports for moving goods from one place to another. The vehicles used in the trucking industry includes trailers, semi-trailers, light and heavy trucks. Most commonly used transportation services include movement of goods from manufacturers to retail distribution centers. In addition, over the road transportations is used for transporting building materials and waste in the construction industry. Almost every good consumed within US is put on a truck at some point of time.

The trucking industry had covered 72.5 percent of al freights transported during the year 2019 in the United States with an estimate of around 11.84 billion tons. In 2019, the industry has generated revenue of $791.7 billion which represents 80.4 percent of the country’s freight bill (American Trucking Associations 2021). The number of truck drivers employed during 2019 was 947,000 in United States. However, the industry requires much more drivers (Statista 2021). The country faces truck driver shortage throughout the year which increases the driver costs within the industry. The total operating revenue of the industry within US was 419.2 billion USD. The trucking industry in US is categorized into three main sectors, viz, couriers, less-than-truckload and full truckload. The average costs per mile of driver benefits was $0.53 in 2019.

Figure 2: Value added by trucking industry                           

Source: Statista.com

Target Market

The target market refers to the market in which the business seeks to attract and influence its potential customers. It is important for the entrepreneurs to identify and attract the potential customers. Strategic focus on a particular group of customers would be more beneficial rather than trying to attract large group of customers (Camilleri 2018). Market segmentation enables a firm to identify the potential customers and focus on attracting that particular group of customers. Total customer market is segregated on the basis of certain characteristics such as age, sex, region, behavior, income, education, life style and so on (Mosaddegh et al. 2021).

The target customers of the company include small businesses, manufacturers and producers of food products within the boundaries of North Carolina. The company would focus on entrepreneurs and business owners belonging to the age group 20 to 60 years engaged in producing and manufacturing food and other durable items. the company would ensure that the products of its customers are transported safely from one place to another (say, place of manufacturing to place of retailing).

The company will cover both short and long-distance transportation services in the United States of America. However, the list of people and organizations to whom we are going to provide services include:

• Manufacturers
• Small Business owners
• Household
• Construction companies
• Merchants such as wholesalers, traders, dealers, and suppliers.

Competitor Analysis

Competitors are essential for the success of the business. It forces the entities to find ways for increasing revenue and reducing costs in order to be in competitive advantageous position. Also, in such a competitive environment, the customers get the products or services at the best possible prices. It also encourages entrepreneurs to introduce innovation in the business. Carolina Thoroughbred & Sons LLC would have to face tremendous competition from existing trucking company. The potential competitors of the company are presented below:

Competitor Profile 1

Competitor Profile 2

Marketing Mix

Marketing strategy refers to the process which helps the entity to utilize the available resources in an efficient manner to increase sales and achieve competitive advantage. Marketing Mix is an important tool of marketing strategy that basically comprises of Product, Price, Place and promotion. The 4Ps of marketing mix for CTB & Sons LLC are explained in detailed below:

Product

It refers to the goods or services provided by the company in order to satisfy the needs of group of customers. CTB & Sons LLC would provide transportation services to manufacturers or producers. It will ensure safety and timely delivery of goods produced by its customers.  The company is set up under a trucking industry offering quality transportation services to its customers.

Place 

It refers to the point of sale for the business. The main characteristics of ‘place’ strategy is that the consumers should be able to purchase a product or avail services in the easiest manner. CTB & Sons LLC would accept orders through online as well as offline mode. The company would focus on developing official website of the company with the help of which its customers could place an order. Also, the company is looking forward to develop a mobile application which would allow its customers to obtain information regarding the services offered by the company. The company will operate its business in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.

Price

Price is one of the most important factors for success of the business. It is a value that is put for a product or service. However, it is determined after considering several factors such as cost poof production, target customers, demand and supply of the product along with other indirect factors. Pricing strategy for the product often enhance and differentiate it from those of competitors.

The company would adopt competitive pricing strategy for its services. the price per mile would be kept slightly low as compared to that of its competitors. Initially, it is important for the business to acquire large number of customers. Thus, the company will charge $6 per mile from its customers.

Promotion

Promotional technique is essential for the business as it focuses on attracting and influencing customers to purchase the product or avail the services offered by the company. The company would use Dat.com for marketing its product. It is one of the most widely used platform by carriers. The promotional strategy to be adopted by Carolina Thoroughbred & Sons LLC are discussed in brief below:

E-mail marketing: It refers to the use of electronic mail for reaching and influencing potential customers for availing transportation services offered by the company. The company would contact several producers and manufacturers in North Carolina informing them about the transportation services provided by the company.

Social media marketing: The use of social media platform is increasing day by day. Social media such as Facebook and Instagram is being extensively used by entrepreneurs for attracting and influencing customers. The company would create a Facebook and Instagram page for attracting and influencing manufacturers and producers.

Traditional Marketing: It involves use of newspapers and advertising technique to inform the potential customers about the offering made by the company. The company would spend significant amount of money on advertising campaign.

The company would make use of DAT platform for knowing the carrier payments rates on different lanes and deliver the goods and services of its customers at the prevailing rates to its customers.

References

Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning. In Travel marketing, tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83). Springer, Cham.

Current Freight Rates - June 2021 | TCI Business Capital (2021). Available at: https://www.tcicapital.com/tci-insights/current-freight-trends/ (Accessed: 29 June 2021).

Kirkpatrick, S.A., 2017. Toward a grounded theory: A qualitative study of vision statement development. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 18(1), pp.87-101.

Mosaddegh, A., Albadvi, A., Sepehri, M.M. and Teimourpour, B., 2021. Dynamics of customer segments: A predictor of customer lifetime value. Expert Systems With Applications, 172, p.114606.

News & Insights | American Trucking Associations (2021). Available at: https://www.trucking.org/news-insights (Accessed: 28 June 2021).

Public Liability Insurance: Cost, Coverage & Quotes (2019). Available at: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/public-liability-insurance/ (Accessed: 29 June 2021).

Registration | FMCSA (2021). Available at: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration (Accessed: 29 June 2021).

Rossmann, D., 2019. Communicating Library Values, Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plans through Social Media. Library Leadership & Management, 33(3), pp.1-9.

Services, T. and Carolina, N. (2021) Truck driver salary in North Carolina ‐ CareerExplorer, Careerexplorer.com. Available at: https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/truck-driver/salary/north-carolina/#:~:te xt=Avg%20Salary  &text= Truck% 20drivers% 20earn%20 an %2 0averag e,and%20go%20up%20to%20%2464%2C280. (Accessed: 29 June 2021).

Topic: Trucking industry in the U.S. (2021). Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/4912/trucking-industry-in-the-us/#topicHeader__wrapper (Accessed: 28 June 2021).

Vehicle Title, Tax, Insurance & Registration Costs by State for 2021 (2020). Available at: https://www.compare.com/auto-insurance/coverage/vehicle-costs (Accessed: 29 June 2021).

Our team consists of PhD stalwarts who leave no stones unturned to deliver you perfect assignment writing services. The ghostwriters follow your university guidelines to ensure you get top-notch quality work irrespective of the topic. Our team has gone through rigorous training to meet your expectations with the utmost precision. We are familiar with all types of academic documents such as essays, academic posters, book reports, dissertations, homework, coursework and more. Whether you opt for our online exam help or assignment help, we provide individualised attention to your concern in each case.