The Operation, Technology, and Management Plan

A solid strategy that outlines what the owner hopes to accomplish and provides a straightforward path for getting there is required for any company to become good and profitable. Designing a schedule is extremely beneficial because it allows one to detail the activities and proposals that are relevant in the sector while also improving the ranking of goals. A strategy will also describe how the business’s progress would look, prompting us to start evaluating it. The ‘Life is Healthy’ will involve lemon juice retailing so it will major in the areas of inventory management and distribution of the products (Zheng & Kaiser, 2008). The rate of lemon juice consumption has been going up so it is expected to be a profitable venture. Being a start-up business that has never been in operation, there is just the presence of the product’s recipe but no significant amount of sales.

The parameters that we will need to work on immediately to enhance the success of my company include the following.

a) Size of the business. We aim at growing the business to a net worth of around 2 million dollars in the next five years. This aim means that the number of people who will be associated with my business either as employees, suppliers or buyers will be many.

b) Size of the market. We will start selling and marketing the product around where the company is located.

c) Capital. My sources of funding will be composed of my savings, support from friends and family as well as obtaining funds from outside investors. The investors may buy the shares of the company, and in the process, we will collect the required funds for a startup.

d) Employees. With time, we are aiming to increase the number of workers until the required number to be able to come up with an organizational employee hierarchy.

e) Own salary. We will wait for some length of time, like eight months to start making withdrawals for self-use. We believe that the withdrawals should be made when the business has started to stabilize. This idea means that we will have to live within the budget of our savings.

Operations key aspects

The business will be operating all its activities in a small office that will be enough for the start-up team. One of the available rooms of the house shall be used for storing the suppliers, inventories, and products, while the other will be used as a kitchen for the lemon juice blending as well as packaging. The storage room for the ready to drink beverage will be kept at appropriate temperatures to preserve the drink. There will be a need for expansion in the future since the business is expected to expand. The equipment needed includes blenders, tanks for keeping the produced juice, packaging material and refrigerators.

Time and cost efficiencies

Once the drink is blended and packaged well, it will be kept at the cool temperature for some weeks. The product will then be shipped out, and there will be a need for it to be refrigerated for some hours before selling. The start-up will be characterized by intensive manual labour because of the brewing and packaging the lemon juice into individual packages for retail.

Competitive Advantage

The fact that the product is produced and packaged locally with packaging material that is environmentally friendly supports the mission of environmental conservation. The product is also a premium drink that has a high concentration of quality citrus fruits and other ingredients present in the mixture. Also, using our buildings initially will help in lowering the operating costs.

Problems to address

Distribution will be a challenging task hence there will be a need for larger equipment and space. A truck that will help in transporting the drinks to retailers will be a good investment.

Research and development

We will have a continuous research on any current trend in the NAB industry and develop or implement the changes that will enhance the growth of the company. Right now, we are aiming at acquiring a beverage filling machine to help in packaging and reduce the manual labour involved in the production.

Technology Plan

The technology plan is meant to help in prioritizing and allocating the available resources properly to see to it that the goals of the business are achieved on time and within the budget. It enhances the transparency as far as the goals are concerned and are helpful for both the managers and employees. It gives the details about the level the business is in now and where it aims to reach in the future regarding technology and infrastructure. The mission of the company is to increase the revenue, in the long run. Thus the equipment used should be more efficient and effective to enhance faster production.

Summary of technology goals

Goals of the business

Technological goals related

Improve customer service by enhancing the ease for all the employees to address the orders of the customers swiftly

Upgrade the database systems of the firm so as to enhance an integrated management system across all the areas

Improve the loyalty of the customers as well as attract the potential ones

Create a periodical newsletter that inform the customers and potential customers about our product

Produce the best and quality product

Use the current forms of technology to ensure a fine blending.

The need for a website

For our business to succeed there is a need to create a website that will help in marketing the product. There is also need to know the kind of mobile strategy to adopt the kind of database to use and how to build the technology in general. All these questions are answered sufficiently by a technology plan.

Internet use

We are going to introduce an efficient network in our firm to ensure that confidentiality is maintained within the business and also ensure that all the information is secured. We will use the internet to enhance the network connectivity within our company to enhance the sharing of the information and operations among the managers and employees. The internet is also a powerful tool for communication, either horizontally or vertically. Also, the employees will be able to access newsfeed, business standards, manuals, company’s policies and even training.

Summary of technology assets

Item

Description

Replacement

Internet connection

Dedicated connection that is shared over the local area networks through all the various room.

Ongoing cost.

LAN

Local area network in place to be used by all the computers. There is also a peer to peer network within all the rooms.

Replaced when needed but consideration for wireless connection in the near future.

Desktop computers

At least four desktop computers running in the Windows system. 2 already available, the other 2 to be purchased soon.

Consider Buying Linux computers this time round.

Laptop Computer

Only one which is shared by all the staff.

To be replaced when need be.

Servers

N/A

N/A

Printers

A black and white laser printer used by all the four desktop computers.

When there is a need.

Technology Budget

Item

Operating Budget

Subtotal

Wireless rooter

57000

57000

Computer related expenses

58300

58300

Website expenses

58000

58000

Office supplies

50000

50000

Infrastructure and support

40000

40000

Sub total

263300

263300

Cost minimization

With the internet, all the users can get information very easily and with fewer costs compared to the used of physical forms of communication. We will focus on ensuring that new technology and innovations are adopted well through taking all the required steps to ensure that the procedure is cost-effective.

Management plan

The business is privately owned and is mainly for profit. Since it is a very small firm, it has no board members. Its management will be composed of managers, employees and support staff. The manager is the person responsible for the overall management of the business. He will foresee all the operations and ensure that every department is running well. There is the human resource manager who will be responsible for recruiting experienced individuals who are well fit for specified jobs. The support staff will be composed of two individuals who are there to enhance the security of the offices and the products. They must be skilled, have enough experience, willing and well fit for the job. Their job of ensuring that the products, equipment as well as the people are safe will enhance the success of the company since it will not incur losses in the form of theft.

The employees are the ones who manage the daily activities of production so they can as well be referred to as managers. They involve skilled juice makers who know how to mix the contents used well and lead to the best product. Individuals who have at least one year experience are preferable in this sector. We will also have accountants whose main job is to ensure that all the financial records show a true and fair view of the financial position of the business. The procurement will be responsible for taking the orders and ensuring that the stock is well balanced. Both these individuals need to be skilled, have good conduct and experience in their areas of expertise.

We will ensure that all the personnel hired within the business have at least some skills in finance, motivation and business proficiency. Having a skilled team is a good step towards success. All the individuals who will be hired including the managers will have to undergo some training, and the best performers will always be rewarded.

We will also hire some outside consultants and advisors like auditors to help in the running and management of the business. Also, we will need a health advisor to advise us on whether what we are producing is highly flavoured, nutritious and healthy for human consumption.

Management team’s abilities

We will ensure that our team has a diverse array of skills and the presence of a coordinated democratic structure they can team up to produce good results. With this team on board, we are assured that the business will be very profitable within the next two years. The management will ensure the best is produced since most people are shifting to the use of lemon juice.

Relationships among the staff

The interactions between the owner/management and employees and between the various levels of management are the key to the management operations of our business. We will make all the responsibilities and role clear to every individual to enhance a smooth running of the business.

Rationale for the functional level strategies

Under this, we will have the marketing strategies that include pricing, distribution and promotion strategies. We have already set a price that is affordable for customers and will sell it for some period. We will mainly use advertisement and sales promotion to promote our product. For the case of distribution, we will sell directly by use of sales agents and retailers.

Reference

Zheng, Y., & Kaiser, H. M. (2008). Advertising and US nonalcoholic beverage demand. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 37(2), 147-159.