Location Of The Propose Business

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Figure 2.1

Faster Than You Sdn Bhd (F.T.Y Sdn Bhd) is our company name. A logo is a meaningful symbol that represents or identifies a company or product. The logo ‘F.T.Y’ which is shown in Figure 2.1 is our company logo. We have design this logo with a concept of customer value creation where we aim to create a high customer value for our product and always try our best to fulfill our customer requirement.

‘Faster Than You’ with the message ‘Always Ahead’ shows that our company is always ahead from our competitor in term of production, product quality, and customer service. The background of a simple earth sign represents all kind of technology about mouse device that our company able to our value customer .Italic font of the words represents the efficiency of our company on delivery our products to customer on time or even faster. It also shows that our company will come out with innovative product more rapidly. Our company is always working hard to come out with a more advance and higher quality product that able to fulfill our customers’ demands.

Blue and red are used to colour up the company logo. Blue brings the meaning of perspective where F.T.Y Sdn Bhd has the vision of always ahead from others. Therefore, we have decided to use red for our logo main colour. Red is a sharp colour. It will be able to attract attentions from the public. Red colour often link to fire. It will be able to represent our great fighting spirit and the strong passion of our company in the technology industry. Red also signifies the pioneering spirit and leadership. It will show our ambition and determination to become the pioneer of the technology industry.

Location of the propose business:

F.T.Y SDN. BHD.

258-259 JALAN KIP 4,

KIP INDUSTRIAL PARK,

52000 KUALA LUMPUR

WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN,

MALAYSIA.

F.T.Y Sdn. Bhd. located in KIP Industrial Park which highly accessible. Besides, it is an industrial park where manufacturers and operation businesses are operated on that area. KIP Park is a considerable area for factories, manufacturing business because there are no restriction such as communication, manufacturing or electronic businesses. As F.T.Y Sdn Bhd will be starting with a small manufacturing factory unit, KIP Park will be the perfect spot for the company.

2.1.2 Nature of business/ Products or services offer

FTY Sdn Bhd. is a new established company. We are a technology oriented company that is aiming to provide highest quality and most innovative technology. Our company is offering a product called the Tech-Glove. It is a wireless operated motion sensor glove device. Its main function is to control the computer or internet television. It serves as a functional air mouse that is control by hand movement. It can be operated without any surface unlike the mouse which needs a surface to operate. It enable us to control the computer anywhere and we can move all around the room, stay right at the desk or sit back and relax on the couch. The Tech- Glove is a plug and play device with no worries about the software setup. In order for it to operate, just simply plug in the USB dongle and turn on the glove. It works across a wide variety of platforms like Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.

2.1.3 Company missions and objectives

Our company’s mission is to have the latest technology on mouse devices industry and provide the most innovative product that will be able to provide convenient to our life and allow people to reach their full demand and potential.

Company objective

Provide innovative user friendly interface product.

Build a linkage between people and innovative world.

2.2 The Opportunity

2.2.1 Problem to solve or need to be filled

In this science and technology world, people need computer assistance for their daily life. Due to the heavy reliability on computer in their works and activities, most of the people actually spend most of their time on computer for various activities such as office work, internet, entertainment and other factors. According to Hassan, M. A., Samah, B. A., Shaffril, H. M., & D’Silva, J. L. (2011), the usage of internet among Malaysians is 2 hours and 47 minutes per day. Thus, a longer time usage for computer equipment such as mouse will cause the users to have a Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) on the hand and wrist.

Repetitive Stress Injury is a hidden long-term damage which may not even be aware by the entire computer user. Computer users always carry out their daily task over their desktop with mouse. Over a longer period, this will cause the users suffering from the injury. If RSI go further serious, it will lead to nerve entrapments, tendon problems and muscle strain on the hand and wrist (Sambyal & Kleiner, 2000).

This serious issue not only aroused from the blue-collar workers, but also kid and youth today. Nowadays, kid and youth often interact with the computer for school assignment, entertainment, information searching. They are having a longer exposure time in front of their desk. Thus, the chances of having RSI are high in this particular category too.

2.2.2 How the proposed business solves the problem or fills the need

To overcome this concerned issue, precaution need to prepare before suffering from RSI. Our company is offering a new product called Tech Glove. It is a wireless operated motion sensor glove device. It is the substitution for the common traditional mouse such as mechanical mouse, optical mouse and laser mouse. All of these mice need a surface or platform on the desk for operating and further will lead to the Repetitive Stress Injury. Tech Glove is serve as an air mouse which it can operates without any surface or platform. Users just have to wear the glove instead of using a mouse on a desk. So, user can operate and control the computer with gesture control without platform. This can help to solve the RSI issue that aroused for the computer users. Users can interact and have a longer time with computer for their daily task and job.

2.3 Competitive Advantages

2.3.1 Business Model

Core Strategy

The proposed business core strategy was the product differentiation strategy. FTY aims to provide something new and special to the customers. Not the old style of product again, but a brand new, innovative and even better product that could match their demand in terms of the colour, quality, size and even the design of their favorites.

As FTY is the first company who sells the new Tech Glove, there are no direct competition in the market. FTY tend to make the world a better place by having the consumers to change from using the old "mouse" to use the Tech Glove. This changes may enable the customers to have a better experience and could allow the customers to move around rather than just sticking their hands on the mouse.

Customer Interface

Website (www.fasterthanyou.com.my), one of the best way has been adopted by FTY to communicate with their customers. The website enables the customers to browse through the products and services online, customers can even place their order by just a few steps. After the online payment has been confirmed, the product will automatically delivered to the address provided. Besides, the website also provide information such as the company's background, objectives, mission and vision, and all other relevant information to the customers to have a better view on the company.

FTY also uses the social network such as Facebook, Instragram and Youtube to build rapport with the customers. These kind of social networks will be used to update the public about the company's recent activity and promotion deals. Besides that, E-mail notification will be send to those who had subscribed to us too. In addition, customers can comment on the company's page to express their feelings and experience towards the product, and FTY will try to respond to it in a very short time.

Apart from that, FTY also set up a hotline service for the customers. For those customers who seek for immediate response, they may use the hotline number to contact with the company's personnel.

Supply to Order Method

FTY uses the supply to order method to control its inventories. As the Tech Glove was a new product, the demand for the product will probably be low. To prevent a huge inventory cost, FTY uses this method to control the stock. Only a certain amount of the product will be produced to supply to some of the retailer and to keep, FTY will only produce more when there is demand. By using this method, FTY can spent more on other department rather than the huge production and inventory cost too.

For the customers who order online, a few days are needed for us to produce the product and to deliver the product to them. After the payment has been confirmed, then only FTY will start to tailor the product if there aren't any available stock.

Partnership Network

When doing businesses, you can be successful without the help of others. Therefore, FTY had look for some company for partnership. FTY had chosen PayPal, eBay, Amazon and FedEx as our partners. PayPal was chosen to ensure the information of the customers can be kept safely when they process to their payments, while eBay and Amazon was another place for the company to sell our product to the international market. Lastly, FedEx serves as an logistic service provider for the company as they will help us to ship the product to the customers.

2.3.2 How the business will create sustainable competitive advantages

Total Quality Management

FTY Sdn. Bhd. seeks to improve the quality and performance of the product and services so that it could match or even exceed customer's satisfaction. For every aspect of the product, from the moment it is a raw material until the moment it became a finished good, we tend to provide the best quality to our customers. To make sure the quality of the product and services, we will hire only those who have high discipline and passionate towards serving customer. Even when the product is being sold, we still provide a one year warranty to the customer as we want our customers to have the best sensation and experience of using our product.

Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive Innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and a value network, and at the same time disrupt or replace an existing market and value network. As the technology are getting more and more advance, people need to change their life style, we tend to improve our product and service in a way that the customers did not expect and we will be the reason why they need to follow the trend of having a better and modern life. Brainstorming session will be organized every two weeks for all the staff to gather and generate new product idea that have the potential to substitute an existing product or services. Market analysis and survey will also be conducted to have a better understanding of the current market needs and we will be able to analyze future needs of the market in order to become pioneer.

Continuous Innovation

Besides Disruptive Innovation, FTY Sdn. Bhd. also practices the Continuous Innovation. Continuous Innovation is an approach of continuous upgrade or enhancement of technologies or product. FTY Sdn. Bhd. tends to create customer values and great products that is suitable and useful for the customers as creation of value for the customers is our priority. Feedback from staff and customers will be collected and analyze to find out the problem of the existing product and improvement will be made to the product. We want our customers to have better experience in using our product and keep on improving it. This approach is always practiced by those "big companies" as they aren't afraid to cannibalize their own product and they tend to create something better for their customers.

Excellent Customer Service

FTY doesn't only care for itself. FTY have better customer service comparing with its competitors. From the production of the product to after the customer purchase the product, FTY aims to provide the best service ever. In the internet, full description of product of every product will be stated clearly. Besides, tips for maintaining the product in a good condition will often be uploaded to the website to share with the public too. Moreover, customer's feedback and comment are very important to us as we appreciate our customers. Therefore, Customer's E-mail, feedback and phone call will be response immediately to show our appreciations.

2.4 Current Status and Requirement

Table 2.4 Business Milestones

No

Activities

Duration (Days)

Starting date

Ending date

1

Receive funding

30

1-6-2013

30-6-2013

2

Registration of company’s name trademark and product patent

30

1-6-2013

30-6-2013

3

Search skill technical professional and R&D teams

31

1-7-2013

31-7-2013

4

Search, negotiate and buying land for building construction

7

1-7-2013

7-7-2013

5

Construction of manufactory premises

25

8-7-2013

1-8-2013

6

Set company regulation, policies & procedures

5

2-8-2013

6-8-2013

7

Search, negotiate, signing supplier’s agreement and purchase of raw material.

7

7-8-2013

13-8-2013

8

Purchasing of machinery and equipment

9

14-8-2013

22-8-2013

9

Jobs vacancy advertisement, recruitment and training of employees

14

23-8-2013

5-9-2013

10

Manufacture composite

7

6-9-2013

12-9-2013

11

Advertising and promotion

9

13-9-2013

21-9-2013

12

Commencement of business operation

-

22-9-2013

-

3.0 Industry analysis

3.1 Industry Description

3.1.1 Industry Trends

The hardware mouse has been invented ever since computer is created and introduced to the world. The technology all over the world is changing rapidly, also getting more and more advance today. Not only that, technology has also brought benefits and provides solutions for various types of problem faced by the members of the society, so does the hardware, mouse. Douglas Engelbart was the one who created the first mouse. It was made from a wooden block together with geer wheels and a shiny, candy-like red light button which is to be pushed. Through histories, many new ideas popped out and involved in the mouse revolution. In the year 1968, Engelbart has improve his firstly created mouse and came out with a three-button mouse.

In the mouse industry, mouse device structure has been improved from a simple wired mouse to portable wireless mouse. With the influence of fashion, shapes and designs of the mice also have many changes as well, from the Jane mouse of the 80s to various types of design of mice such as mice that are able to glow in the dark.

However, wireless mouse may still bring negative effects to the mouse users, for example, illness caused such as mouse elbow. This shows that the mouse industry has a wide space for the mouse creators to investigate and improve the mouse to prevent and avoid more negative effect caused for long time using mouse. As people nowadays are seeking for healthy lifestyle including mouse users in the mouse industry; therefore, our company management team has come out with new idea based on this issue to expand the trend in the mouse industry. Now, with the help of the advance technology, our company has invented a mouse glove, named Tech-Glove to help the people to prevent the side effect of using mouse for a long period.

3.1.2 Industry Size

The size of computer user in Malaysia is increasing due to the technology is getting advance. More and more social networking is coming out so that most people are using computer to communicate to each other, such as Facebook, Twitter, Messenger and others. This may lead to people using computer often. By using computer, they must use pointer such as mouse to click what they wish or want to.

Untitled.jpg

Diagram 3.1: Total population of Malaysia in year 1980, 1991, 2000, 2010

Chart 3.1 shows that the population of Malaysia from year 1980 to 2010. It has clearly show there is increasing in the population. In the year 1980 the population of Malaysia is low, it is about 13.7 million, but in 2010 it increase to 28.3 million. This can prove that the population of Malaysia is getting more.

Internet is one of the activities for computer users, this shows that they used their pointer every time they online or doing their work. Due to the usage of the internet increase the usage for the pointer will increase automatically.

According to the research that shows in data below, Facebook user is more than 12 million in Malaysia. By looking on this table we can see that the user for using the percentage of social network remain at 48.80 %. This means that the Facebook is still a stable social network.

Facebook statistic for this few month and week in Malaysia:

Time

Users

Change

+%

Percentage (%)

Last Week

12 766 520

+53 200

+ 0.42 %

48.80 %

Last 2 Week

12 766 520

+204 620

+ 1.63 %

48.80 %

Last Month

12 766 520

+283 940

+ 2.27 %

48.80 %

Last 3 Month

12 766 520

+ 607 260

+4.99 %

48.80%

Last 6 Month

12 766 520

+496 940

+ 4.06 %

48.80%

Source: Social bakers, Facebook statistics by Country

3.1.3 Industry attractiveness

The industry attractiveness of FTY, Tech-Glove is analyzed and determined by using Porter’s five forces, which include threats of new entrants, bargaining power of supplier, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes and competitive rivalry within the current industry. It is a simple but powerful model to determine the competition level and industry attractiveness within the industry.

Forces

Market Attractiveness

Low

Medium

High

Threats of new entrant

√

Bargaining power of supplier

√

Bargaining power of buyer

√

Threat of substitute

√

Competitive rivalry

√

Table 3.1: Porter Five Forces

3.1.3.1 Threats of new entrants

In the computer hardware industry, there are a lot of competitors which selling the mouse product. Most of them such as Razer, Logitech, Microsoft and SteekSeries existed within the industry for a long period that with strong competitive advantages. That causes the threat of new entrants is considerably high in the industry. But with the high technology of our product, it makes other competitors difficult to imitate and copy our product. Thus, we need to establish ourselves as the market leader in the industry to target more potential group of customers.

3.1.3.2 Bargaining power of supplier

FTY needs a lot of raw material for manufacturing finish product. It is important for us to build a good communication with suppliers in order to maintain the long term business The bargaining power of supplier is low as there are quite number of suppliers in the industry. Thus, we can choose the raw materials from various suppliers to get the best quality but with cheaper price offered. Quotation and survey are needed to look out for the best deal offered.

3.1.3.3 Bargaining power of buyer

Customers or buyers can be considered to have moderate bargaining power of buyer over our business. This computer hardware industry is competitive and there are a lot of small standalone computer shops and retailers that provide mouse hardware. However, we still able to attract more customers by offering uniqueness feature and technology advancement product. With the uniqueness feature, customer feel satisfy and worthwhile when for purchasing our product.

3.1.3.4 Threat of substitute

Threats of substitute are high in this area. As mention in bargaining power of buyer, there are lot of standalone computer shops and retailers that selling mouse hardware. So, customer can easily find new alternative and switch to wireless mouse or optical mouse instead of Tech-Glove. This cause potential customer can have many choices to choose for the computer usage. To reduce this threat, FTY can continue develop and improve the feature of product offered to suit the preference of different group of potential customers.

3.1.3.5 Competitive rivalry

The competitive rivalry in the mouse hardware industry is high, as many major firm already there in the market to offer the mouse product. However, we still manage to gain competitive advantage as we offer the mouse that work in air without any surface or platform on it. That the special and unique feature that we provide to the customer. Customer will be more comfortable and enjoy freedom movement by using Tech-Glove compare to those optical or wireless mice which limit their movement from their working desk.

3.1.4 Profit potential

We focus on the profit potential of the industry. We have target potential customer group which they depends on the uses of computer. In this new era, the number of computer users has continuous increasing. This is due to the use of computer in daily life which include many sectors, such as office use, entertainment, utility, education. With the increasing amount of users, it will increase the demand of mouse hardware in the market which mouse is the one of the main accessories of computer.

Besides of the increasing amount of computer user, people nowadays concern about healthy lifestyle. The use of mouse for a long period will cause the Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) which is a hidden long-term damage on the hand and wrist. These people will concern about these healthy issues when they use mouse on daily basis and having a longer time in front of their desktop. It will cause them suffering from the injury. With the help of the Tech-Glove, the chances of having Repetitive Stress Injury can be reduced although computer user.

Moreover, people seeking for higher standard and better quality of living lifestyle with the advancement of technology. They are seeking for convenient and comfortable in every aspect in their daily life. Tech-Glove enable them to use apply the mouse in the air without apply on the surface on a desk or platform. These allow the user to move all around the room when they use computer. Users can just sit, relax or even lay on the chair while operating the computer with the assist of Tech-Glove.

With the increase of computer users, concerned for healthy and better quality lifestyle people, it is a potential profit for FTY. FTY enable them to have a healthier and better lifestyle. So, it is an opportunity for FTY business to expand and grow in order to attract more customers.

3.2 Target Market

Technology industry has never grow as rapid as this era, numbers of computer users, internet users, computer peripheral etc. that are related to technology are increasing in an incredible rate. As our product main target market focuses on every computer user. Our product is under computer peripheral category, it need a computer to operate with it so this is the reason that our target market is computer user. Besides that, we target every computer users because our product is user friendly, it is able to operate in most computer platform. It is a market that has very high potential. We expect our product to be very prosperous and will be able to expand globally after 10 years of operation or earlier. We will focus on both Business-to-business (B2B) and Business-to-consumer (B2C) markets to strengthen our market position in the industry.

3.2.1 Business-to-business markets (B2B)

Our product is a type of computer peripheral. It is important to have a wide distribution channel. We will be targeting B2B markets which will help us to distribute our products nationwide with a lower cost as we do not need to setup too many stores. We will distribute to sole distributors and retailers. They are the ones that are spreaded widely among the country and the ones that will buy in large quantity. We will provide volume discount or trade discount, depends on the situation.

3.2.2 Business-to-consumer markets (B2C)

We are also targeting the B2C markets. Consumer is still our products main end user. To capture the market faster and let the consumer has better understanding with our product we will still sell our products directly to the consumer. We will use direct channel like the computer fairs, online purchasing etc. This channel will provide consumer a better understanding on our product as we will make explanation We will provide customization service on the design of the gloves of the their own to match their style.

3.2.3 Global market

As mentioned above, our company will expand to the internation market after 10 years of operation or maybe faster. We will be doing exporting of our product to other countries markets. Exporting will enable international sales grows faster and eventually will be able to setup marketing and production operation in different foreign markets. We will establish sales office in different foreign market to understand the local market and ensure to foreign agents will be able to deliver best interest to us.

3.3 Competitive Position Within Target Market

Name

FTY

Razer

G-SHARK

Microsoft

Product Feature

Tech- Glove

Gaming Mouse/ Laser Mouse/ Wireless Mouse

Optical Mouse/ Laser Mouse/ Wireless Mouse

Wireless Mouse/ Tilt Wheel Mouse/ Presentation Controls Mouse

Price Range

Rm150 - Rm250

Rm159 - Rm459

Rm19.90 - Rm59.90

Rm20 - Rm280

Variety

Narrow

Broad

Moderate

Broad

Brand-name recognition

Weak

Strong

Weak

Strong

Online Purchase

Yes (Customers can order their product online and the product will be deliver to them)

Yes

No

No

Quality of Product

High

High

Normal

High

Unique/ differentiate product

Unique (Tech Glove that is totally new to the market)

High

Normal

High

Extra Customer Service

Membership

Membership

None

None

Customization

Yes (Customers can select the colour, the settings and the place of their button)

No

No

No

Delivery Service

Delivery with fixed charges

Delivery with distant charges

No

No

Warranty

3 Years

6 month - 2 Years

1 Year

2 month - 5 years

Table 3.2: Competitive Analysis Grid for FTY Sdn. Bhd.

By analyzing the competitor, it actually helps us to have a better understanding of our competitor's strength and weaknesses, thus it will enable us to choose the correct strategy so that we could obtain competitive advantage in the market. Table 3.2 illustrates three main competitors of FTY.

FTY's main product which is the Tech-Glove is a new product in the market. Therefore, there wasn't any direct competition for FTY yet, however there are few organizations who sell the substitute product for Tech-Glove which is the computer mouse. Another three competitor of FTY would be Razer, G-Shark and Microsoft.

The price range of FTY was around Rm150 to Rm250, however the variety of the product is low as it is a new product. As FTY is a new company, therefore it has only a low brand name cognition. The quality of the product is high and it is unique when comparing with other competitors in terms of the product differentiation. Besides, FTY also provide online purchasing service to the consumers, in addition, FTY also update their members by using e-mail so that they know about the new products and promotion deals. Lastly, FTY provide a special service which is allow the customers to customize their product and this can be a competitive advantages for the company.

Meanwhile, the price range of Razer product was much more higher which is Rm159 to Rm459. The product range of Razer was much more broader and it has a strong brand name cognition. Razer's product quality was high and it has many kinds of other product too. Apart from that, Razer also provide online purchasing service to their customers and update their members with e-mail too. When delivering the product to the customers, Razer will also charge the customers for the distance fee.

G-Shark provides product like optical mouse, laser mouse and wireless mouse. Its price range is much more cheaper when comparing it with the others. However, its product range was just average and it doesn't have a strong brand name cognition. The quality of G-Shark product was just normal compare to the others. As G-Shark's product price is low, they tend to aim those customers that are price-sensitive and the warranty of G-Shark for their product is just 1 year.

Microsoft has a broad range of product and their price range starts from Rm20 to Rm280. Microsoft has a strong brand name cognition and the quality of their product is high as well. However, Microsoft didn't provide any online purchase service and their customer service has been limited as well. Microsoft didn't allow their customers to customize their product and if the consumers want to purchase their product, they can only go to the retail shop to look for them. Microsoft also provide a 2 to 5 year warranty to their product to attract the customers too.

4.0 Marketing Plan

4.1 Product Feasibility Analysis

4.1.1 Full Description of the Product or Services Offer

The main product sold by our company is an electronic glove called Tech-Glove. It is a glove that can be worn on hand and function as a mouse device to control the cursor that appears on various types of screens. Tech-Glove comes with wireless operated motion sensor. The main function of Tech-Glove is to control the computer or internet television.

Customer needed to charge the Tech-Glove after they get it. To use the Tech-Glove, users need to wear the Tech-Glove on to users hand, plug in the wireless USB module into any USB port on the computer. Next, turn on the Tech-Glove with push the button on top of the Tech-Glove. The USB will pick up the Tech-Glove signal and you can now move the cursor.

The cursor is control by move the hand with the glove. There are few buttons on the Tech-Glove, include Left Click, Right Click and Pause Button. Left Click and Right Click is just like the function of a normal mouse, but the Pause Button is to Pause the movement of the cursor.

4.2 Pricing Strategy

Pricing is one of the most important issue for every company as it involves evaluating the price that we'll charge for the product and how that price fits with our entire marketing plan. Unlike the others, pricing provides a subtler cue about our company, attracting a particular demographic or making a statement about our product's value.

The price strategy that we will use is Price Skimming Strategy. As the Tech-Glove is still a new product to the market, we will have substantial competitive advantage which allows us to gain a higher profit before other competitor comes in to the market. A relatively high price will be set at first and it will be lower down over time, this pricing strategy was chosen as we know that the life cycle for such high-technology product wouldn't be long. In the future, there might be other products that might affect the sales of Tech-Glove.

However, even though the price of the Tech-Glove will significantly lower down over time, it will still have its limit. The high price provides a signals to consumers that the product is high in quality and we tend to let the consumers to perceive Tech-Glove as an luxury product. The price of Tech-Glove will still be able to cover the production cost and still earns a profit. With such strategy, we tend to create the long-term effect, which is generating consumer brand loyalty and creating brand image.

4.3 Channel of Distribution

Channel of distribution plays an important role. There are indirect and direct channel in distribution method. We will use both direct and indirect channel. Choosing a suitable distribution channel will increase the efficacy and effectiveness in delivering our products and services to our customers. For indirect channel, we will use selective distribution which we will choose only several selected outlets to sell our product in a geographical area. We choose this method so that we will be able to control not only the quality of the products but also the quality of the service that are going to be selling our products. Choosing well reputation stores will not only ensure the service deliver to customer, it will also help us to build our brand name. Customer will find it easy to find us or contact us if they have any feedback or faulty with our product as we got response to their problems as soon as possible.

Retail Stores

End User

Manufacturer

(Our Company)

For direct channel, we will use e-commerce method where we can communicate directly with our customer. With the increasing use of online shopping, customer will be able to get our customer directly from us. The added benefit is that customer will be able to customize the glove design. Setting up an e-commerce channel is one of the best direct channels as it is low operational cost and provides more reach to the customers because Internet has no geographical limitations (Baourakis, Kourgiantakis & Migdalas, 2002). Another advantage that an online store is 24/7 operating which means it opens all the time. An always open store is convenient in customer’s point of view because they able to buy it anytime they want. Moreover, customer will able to obtain more information about our product and its specification. A direct channel will definitely enable us to provide better service and increase customer loyalty (Klein and Quelch, 1996). It enables us to interact better with the customers with a better customer relationship management. We are will also open a physical concept store when times goes by as we will have more and more product in the future. Customer will able to experience our product fully and will be understand the advantage of purchasing our product. Customer will also able to get on the spot advice on their needs in the concept store.

4.4 Promotion and Advertising

Advertising and promotion is an important tool to let the public get awareness from the public and increase sales during the process. Appropriate advertising and promotion will gain public conscious to our brand and public will have more tendency to all other products and services that we are offering.

4.4.1 Promotional Strategy

Although we have a variety of media that will help us to advertise our brand and product, we still need promotional strategy in order to capture their attention and create awareness effectively and efficiently.

4.4.1.1 Price Discount

Most of the people are price sensitive. We can use price discount to gain their attention. We are confident price discount will motivate customer to buy and use our product.

4.4.1.2 Fair and Exhibition

Joining events like fair and exhibition will also help us to promote out product. We plan to join events like PIKOM pc fair which has big crowd to gain attention and promote our product easily. We can use price discount in the fair to maximize the promotional effect.

4.4.1.3 Media Release

Media release of our new product will help us gain interest from newspaper and magazines reporters. We will setup a media release and launch our product. Media release is an effective way to deliver information about our product to the media like newspaper, magazines and the television. We are also able to get reporters from the newspapers and magazines to give us a good review about our product which will help us to boost the positive impression of public towards our brand and product.

4.4.2 Advertising Strategy

4.4.2.1 Non-Electronic Advertising

4.4.2.1.1 Promotional Flyers

We will use promotional flyers to gain public attention. Flyer distribution helps us introduce our product widely and rapidly. We can distribute the flyer out with many ways. For example, we can distribute the flyers to customer that walk in to stores that are selling our product, insert a flyer in bag during their check-out, hand out the flyers at the related fairs and exhibition and we also can include it with our shipped merchandise when customer ordered it online from us.

We will design the flyer to be attractive and eye catching so they will be curious about our product and brand instead of including all product information in the flyers. Customers gain curiosity and will surf our homepage or even will walk-in to stores to know more about our product.

4.4.2.1.2 Newspapers, Magazines and Banners

We will also use newspapers, magazines and banners to advertise our brand. These media can be found anyway and able to gain public attention easier. People that are in contact with these media will not only know our brand but they may also help us spread the content of the advertisement to their families and friends. Printed media is cheaper if it is compared to advertise on television.

4.4.2.1.3 Electronic Advertising

Electronic advertising enable us to communicate with audiences from different demography segment.

4.4.2.1.4 Television

Nowadays, almost every house owns a television set or some maybe more. By advertising on the TV, our brand and product will be introduced to every house.

4.4.2.1.5 Internet

Advertising on the internet is gaining popularity. The reason is it able to advertise and create awareness easily and most importantly low cost. Besides that, it has the widest audience of all which is the whole world. Advertisements through internet enable us to reach any corner in the world.

6.0 MANAGEMENT TEAM

Figure 6.1: Structure of Management Team

6.1 Management Team

We have a management team of 5 members who are from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) with a degree in Business Administration major in Entrepreneurship. Each of the team members is assigned to his or her position based on their knowledge, enthusiasm, professional skills as well as their experiences. As from the same university, we have built a strong relationship and teamwork among members. This could help us to have better teamwork and too ensure the business operation of our company is smooth and under controllable manner. With this, we believe that we could able to lead our company to achieve our goal more efficiently.

Managing Director

How Chong Kuan is appointed as the Managing Director of Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ). Currently, he is an undergraduate student which is currently pursuing Bachelor of Business Adminsitration (Hons) Entrepreneurship in University Tunku Abdul Rahman. He is planning to get a Master in Business Administration in the future too. Before that, he has been working in Coway Basic. He practically learns everything from warehousing, marketing to sales in the company. He also able to learn some leadership skills, human managing skills and other required skills from the the Managing Director of Coway Basic. He is an all-rounder that knows something in every field. His working experience with Coway Basic had sparks his interest in starting his own business. He also has already attended some soft skills programs in UTAR.

Operation Manager

Lum Wai Seong is the Operation Manager of Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ). Lum Wai Seong, an undergraduate student who are still pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Entrepreneurship in University Tunku Abdul Rahman(UTAR). He has been working in Bison Store which is the local leader in press retail business. He clearly understands about how a retail business is running in daily operation. He handled the entire food category in order to deal with suppliers and outlet staffs. He managed to cope with the uncertainty and dilemma during the complicated process of the supply chain management. He able to maximize staff utilization, track and measure staff performance and generates a positive learning environment.

Marketing Manager

Lee Chee Khin assigned as the Sales and Marketing Manager of Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ). Currently, he is an undergraduate student who are still pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Entrepreneurship in University Tunku Abdul Rahman(UTAR) has good interpersonal skills and strong leadership skills as he participate in many grand events before. He was once a bartender at Shayo De Vin, the working experience there allows him to meet with different kinds of people and he is capable of dealing with them. In addition, he attended soft-skill talks that organized by UTAR, for example, Power Selling using NLP strategies, Thinking Out of the Box and Group Oral Communication Skills, therefore, he can always think out of many crazy ideas that is outstanding and with these skills, he is good at creating good relationships with other people. Furthermore, he has his own family business with the guidance of his father, therefore, he is definitely eligible to hold the position.

Administrative Manager

Diong Yi-Yin assigned as the Administrative Manager of Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ). She is an undergraduate student from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) pursuing a degree degree in Business Administration major in Entrepreneurship. She worked as a sales assistant in a bakery shop named Sweety Bakery Shop from March to May 2009. She had experiences on activities such as stock control and management, receiving orders, stocking shelves with merchandise. Not only that, she has also have the knowledge on how to manage received delivered stocks and arrange them accordingly on the racks, also keep up to date with special promotions and putting up displays at the shop entrance. From these experiences, she is able to handle administrative tasks in our company well and suitable for the administrative manager position.

Finance Manager

Tan Xueli is appointed as the Finance Manager of Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ). She is an undergraduate student from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) pursuing a degree in Business Administration major in Entrepreneurship. She has been working in Tian Siang Auto (Manjung) Sdn. Bhd. it is a Honda Dealer. She learnt some knowledge in the company such as, how product knowledge important in doing a business, finance management, some knowledge on account, how to communicate with customer and emotional intelligence. She was a bartender in Devsion Café. From the job, she learnt to calculate the cost of a product and others. Besides, she have attended some soft skill and have participate some event in UTAR. From the experience and knowledge she gain, she able to manage the finance of the company.

6.2 Board of Advisers

6.3 Key Professional Service Provider

7.0 COMPANY STRUCTURE, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND OWNERSHIP

7.1 Organizational Structure

Figure 7.1: Organizational chart

Faster Than You Sdn Bhd ( F.T.Y Sdn Bhd ) uses flatter structure in the daily operation. Other than flatter structure, F.T.Y Sdn Bhd also uses decentralized decision authority, informal communication, and less rules. This can result shorter time length for decision making where every member in the organization has equal priority to voice out their opinion upon decision making. The organization consists of four main functional departments which are Operation Department, Sales and Marketing Department, Human Resource and Administrative Department and Finance Department.

Mr. How Chong Kuan is the Managing Director of F.T.Y Sdn Bhd. He has the overall responsibility on setting a direction for the organization on current and future. The mission and vision comes from this position. He is also responsible on setting goals and having good leadership on the organization where he guides every member of the organization to achieve every goal he set for them.

Mr. Lum Wai Seong, the operation manager of Operation Department in the F.T.Y Sdn Bhd, takes charge to ensure the daily operation of the company runs as scheduled. Operation manager is also responsible on ensuring the smooth and effective operation in the company operation, control and lead employee in operation line. Mr. Lum plays an important role in the company. Instead of being careful on activities such as leading, checking and controlling, he also need to be patient to tell employee the problem or mistake they face and guide them to work together to search for the best solution for each problem.

In the Sales and Marketing Department of F.T.Y Sdn Bhd, Mr. Lee Chee Khin leads the department and takes in charge on seeking new opportunity in the related or possible market and identifying targeted customers’ needs and wants. This may help the company to generate new business idea to fulfill the customer demands. Besides, he also need to populate the company’s product in the market to let more customers know about its existence in several ways such as, having promotions, setting up campaigns, advertising, road show and more. Sales and Marketing department is also the main key that decides whether the Public Relation within the company and targeted market consumers is healthy. The members of this department are also responsible to build a good relationship between the company and customers.

Administrative Manager of F.T.Y Sdn Bhd, Ms. Diong Yi-Yin is responsible on managing employees’ documents in the company. Leading the Human Resource and Administrative Department, she needs to confirm that every employee in each department operates well and follows the rules and regulation set by the top level management and government. Human Resource is also under her control. Her duty is to manage activities that related to employees within the company, such as, having interview, processing employee offer letters, arranging employee to the department based on their talent, knowledge and skill, etc.

Finance Manager of F.T.Y Sdn Bhd is Ms. Tan XueLi who leads the Financial Department is responsible on managing the company administrative activities based on financial and accounting management. She in charge to analyze, control, record and calculate the fund in the company, such as, inflow and outflow of capital, account of the company, share and all the transaction. Employees’ allowances, claims and other related financial activities are also under the management of this department.

7.2 Legal Structure

7.2.1 Legal Form of Organization

FTY Sdn Bhd is going to be formed by five initial investors who are How Chong Kuan, Diong Yi-Yin, Lee Chee Khin, Lum Wai Seong and Tan XueLi. FTY Sdn Bhd is a legal form of Limited Company (Sendirian Berhad) under Companies Act, 1965. (Refer to appendix) We registered our company with the Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM). In general, all of the shareholders are entitled with the equal right and power to share the business profits, assets and liabilities. So, all the shareholders have the equal voting power in the decision making and shareholders are not liable for the company’s liabilities which beyond the capital investment.

7.2.2 Ownership Structure of the Business

NAME

SHARES

CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION

How Chong Kuan

20%

MYR 100,000

Diong Yi-Yin

20%

MYR 100,000

Lee Chee Khin

20%

MYR 100,000

Lum Wai Seong

20%

MYR 100,000

Tan XueLi

20%

MYR 100,000

Total

100%

MYR 500,000

7.3 Intellectual Property

7.3.1 Trademark

Figure 7.1: F.T.Y Sdn Bhd Logo

A trademark is a special sign to and legal registration to differentiate its products and or services from others which included the logos, names, letters, numbers or any words in any form or any design. It is important for a company to register for a legal trademark to protect its nature and context of the business.

Our company’s name and logo are registered under Malaysia Trade Mark Act, 1976 in order to protect and secure our brand name. This will help us to prevent and avoid the imitation by others. The registration will be valid for the ten years period from the date of commencement and we will keep renewing for the next ten years. (Refer to Appendix)

We have created an outstanding logo for our company and our business identity. A special logo has a great impact on a business in order to strengthen its brand name especially for the future potential growth and expanding.

9.0 CRITICAL RISK FACTORS

9.1 Management Risk

Management risk is being define as the chances that the company managers will put their own interests ahead of the interest of the company and shareholders. For the organization, the goal would be maximizing profit. However, for other shareholders, what they tend to achieve might not be the same with the organization goal and when some action are taken, it might damage the benefit of the organization. For F.T.Y, this kind of risk might be occur too. As the management team are still new and doesn't have any experience in this industry, they are vulnerable to be cheated by unethical business person to causing losses and damage to the organization. Besides, another risk that may occur will be the conflict between the management team. During meeting, as each person have their own personal view, when someone's idea are being banned, they might feel uncomfortable and it will then inflict an argument against each other.

9.2 Marketing Risk

Marketing is the part of the business that transforms production activities into financial returns. However, there are many unanticipated forces that would made a change to our marketing plan, such forces like marketing trends, government actions, and disaster can lead to the uncertainty of cost, prices and demand of the market and, therefore, cause marketing risk. For every organization, marketing risk is always one of the most crucial risks that can't be avoided. It same goes to F.T.Y, to launch a new product, it definitely is risky. Although there is no direct competition in the market, however there are still some products that can become a substitute of Tech-Glove, such as computer mouse.

In addition, as a new entrant in the industry, the obstacles are definitely to be low brand awareness, low acceptance of new product, and lack of knowledge about the new product. Furthermore, as the price of the product is higher than other substitute product, consumers may not have the bravery to try out new things. They afraid that they would waste their money buying the Tech-Glove as F.T.Y doesn't have enough credibility to calm them down.

Besides that, it is important also to have the power to sustain in the long run. When F.T.Y starts to earn profit, there might be competitor who enter the market. F.T.Y will lose some of the market share and in the long run, the competitor might even overtake F.T.Y and cause the business to fail.

9.3 Operational Risk

Operational risk is the probability of loss occurring from the internal inadequacies of a firm or a breakdown in its controls, operations, or procedures. Operational risk will change from industry to industry, and is an important consideration to make when looking at potential investment decisions. Industries with lower human interaction are likely to have lower operational risk. However, F.T.Y required quite a number of worker in order to complete the manufacturing process, therefore during the production, some workers might make a mistake and lower down the quality of the product. The increase of the numbers of worker will significantly increase the chances of the operational risk too.

Furthermore, as F.T.Y offer online order service too, the customers will have to do the payment online too. Therefore, the information and the credit card number of the customer will automatically be stored in the database of the company, F.T.Y have to make sure that those data are safe and unreachable by other outsiders. If the data are being leaked out, F.T.Y might not be able to deliver the product to the respective buyers. F.T.Y might also be sued for disclosing customer's important information, thus making the reputation of F.T.Y to went bad.

Another risk that might occur would be the duration of time for the customers to get their product. As F.T.Y doesn't have its own logistic team to deliver the product, from the beginning of the production time and delivering time, the customer may have to wait for some time in order to get their product. Customers might lose their interest to do online ordering again and it might affect the sales of the company.

Another risk that might be happening will be related to the supplier. As our major supplier was from other country, if there was any accident that the supplier didn't supply to us or they can't provide the raw material to us on time, the production process may be delayed and will damage the company's reputation.

9.4 Financial Risk

Financial risks are stated as the cash flow of an issuer will not be adequate to meet its financial obligations. When the probability of the actual return is less than the expected return, there are financial risks. The financial risk that F.T.Y might face would be the cost of the raw material. As F.T.Y import its raw material from oversea, instability of foreign currencies would definitely be the financial risk that F.T.Y should worry about. F.T.Y import their raw materials from China, if the currency of China grows up, it means that the cost of producing per unit of product might increase too. Thus, this could decrease the revenue and profit of the organization.

Besides that, economy recession would also be another financial risk of the organization. As Tech-Glove is much more expensive than the substitute product, during an economy recession, people tend to become more price sensitive. The sales of Tech-Glove will be affected and it will cost a loss to the organization.

9.5 Contingency Plan

Management Risk

Conflict is common in every organization and no organization could avoid it. Some organization even thinks that the organization will be better if there are conflicts as everyone voice out their own opinion. When there is any dispute between the management team, a voting session will be held to decide the answer so that it will be fair and there will be no bias in the board. In addition, we will also invite some professional consultants to help us with it if the problem can't be solved immediately. Meetings and team-building activity will be formed frequently in order to enhance the relationship between the shareholders. With the strong relationship of the shareholders, shareholders may understands each other more therefore it may highly reduce the possibility of management risk to happen.

Marketing Risk

When comes to marketing risk, the sales and marketing manager must be very aware of the changes in the market, including the trend, competitor, government actions and other things that may be relevant. Immediate action must be taken to counter the changes so that the minimum loss can be achieved and a new strategy can be formed. New market analysis should be formed immediately and promotions and discounts may be held in order to cope up with the changes of the market place. Apart from that, relationship with other parties such as government forces, suppliers, customers and maybe competitor should be strengthen too so that more information can be gathered and actions might be taken before the changes happen too. In addition, if the competitor released a new product, we might also analyze the new product and come out with a better product than could compete or win the competitor in the market place.

Operating Risk

Employee will be interviewed before they could went to work so that employees with the correct skill will be placed at the right position. The organization will also provide a good atmosphere for the employees so that they will feel good and significantly increases their job performances. Training will be provided to the employees to train them to become a self-motivated and responsible person.

As for the privacy of the customers, firewalls and antivirus will be installed to protect the data. Passwords and other security method will also be used for the safety of the customer's privacy too. In addition, all the data will be stored in a main server to prevent loss of data.

Terms and condition will be applied to notify the customers that they need to wait for their products. Tracking number of the product will be delivered by e-mail and the customers may ask their inquiries through E-mail or phone too. In case they need the product to be delivered quickly, extra charges will be applied to them too.

When dealing with the supplier, F.T.Y will not fully depend on the foreign supplier, F.T.Y will still keep contact with some local supplier and will constantly purchase some from the local supplier to control the bargaining power.

Financial Risk

In order to reduce the probability of the financial risk, F.T.Y will try to increase their bargain power with suppliers by looking for other suppliers. F.T.Y will have more choices and could buy from the supplier that provides the best price. Apart from that, another method would be the shareholder will either borrow a loan from the bank or inject more capital into the business. In addition, meeting will be held frequently to make sure that the cash flow was being used in the correct way.