Suppose That You and a Friend Decide to Turn Your

question 22

Essay

Suppose that you and a friend decide to turn your favorite sports activity--inline skating--into a business.You plan to design a line of fashionable clothing that integrates elbow and knee pads.In launching your business,you complete all the activities listed below (though not necessarily in this order).For each listed activity,identify the step in the strategic marketing planning process it represents.
a.You track sales and profits,and discover that pants are selling better than shirts,apparently because the shirts are too expensive.You will look for a lower-cost supplier for shirts,or consider dropping your prices if you can afford to do so.
b.You realize that your experience as skaters is a plus; however,your lack of experience in selling clothing could hurt you.You find out that a skateboard shop in town wants to branch out into inline skating; however,you also find out that Nike is thinking about expanding its product line to include special inline skating clothes.
c.You decide that you will target college students who enjoy inline skating,and will aim to establish yourself as a company that offers trendy clothes for the student budget.
d.You decide that your business focus will be to offer fashionable yet durable clothing for inline skaters,with built-in protection for knees and elbows.
e.You offer clothing that college students would want to wear,price it for a student budget,sell it online and in sports stores near college campuses,and promote your products on Facebook.

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Definitions:

Decentralized Business Organization

An organizational structure where decision-making and operational responsibilities are distributed among various departments or units rather than centralized in a single location or group.

Direct Operating Expenses

Costs that are directly associated with the operation of a business, such as wages and materials, but excluding overhead and capital costs.

Department

A division or unit within a larger organization, focused on a specific area of work or function.

Vice President of Production

A senior executive responsible for overseeing and managing all production-related aspects of a company, including manufacturing processes, production efficiency, and product quality.