Section 3 - Industrial Overview
Introduction: In order for readers to understand your business plan, they need to understand your industry. The purpose of this section is to describe the industry that your business will be operating in. In this section we will ask you to discuss:
1. The overall size of your industry.
2. Key product and market segments
3. Customer buying criteria and processes
4. The types of businesses in the industry
5. Key industry trends
6. The outlook for your industry.
TOPICS:
1. Market Research:
Instruction: When writing a business plan, it is important to have a good understanding of the industry in which you will operate. Discuss what research you did to write your business plan. For example, have you surveyed current and potential customers, reviewed research reports and statistics prepared by others, read magazine and newspaper articles, or spoken to people particularly knowledgeable about the industry?
Sample Answer:
To fully understand the market we are targeting we talked to local sales leaders and others. In addition, we read local newspaper and journal articles, and collected industry statistics from Shirt Industry.
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2. Size of the Industry:
Instruction:How big is the industry your business will operate in? Size can be defined in many ways including sales, the number of units sold, number of producers, and/or total employment. Be sure to highlight any statistics you have on how fast the industry is growing and discuss the size of the industry in the particular area that will be served by your business.
Sample Answer:
There are many shirt manufacturing units; there are 14- shirt manufacturers in Pune alone. While there is some overlap in the types of shirts provided, most firms have developed their own market niches. Firms tend to become well known and recognized for their products.
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3. Key Product Segments:
Instruction: Industries can be divided into a number of product segments. For example, product segments within the automobile industry includes cars, trucks, vans, and recreational vehicles. Divide your industry into key product segments, highlighting the size and characteristics of the segments your business will compete in.
Sample Answer:
Shirt manufacturing is a very diverse industry. There are hundreds of different types of shirts that several companies provide in this industry.
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4. Key Market Segments:
Instruction: Market segments can also divide industries. Who do the businesses within your industry sell products and/or services to? Divide the market into customer groups, highlighting the size and characteristics of those groups. For example, markets can be grouped by type of customer, geography, or other characteristics. Segment the markets on the basis that makes the most sense for your business.
Sample Answer:
Key market segments vary by specialty. The key markets for shirts are casual as well as formal wear and festival use. The total size of these markets is unknown because they are continually changing and there are no provincial or federal tracking mechanisms in place to accurately determine how much these market segments spend on shirts annually.
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5. Purchase Process and Buying Criteria:
Instruction: It is important to know how and why customers purchase products like yours. For example, how important are price, quality, warranties and/or service support important in customer buying decisions? Briefly discuss how the purchase process and buying criteria may vary by each of the market segments or product segments.
Sample Answer:
The buying process for shirts is simple and straightforward but varies by type of client, reason for purchase and occasion.
1. Shirts for Regular use.As the basic necessacity regular wear shirts are always in demand .
2. Festival Shirts.India being a diverse nation has many festivals. Festival attire have their own place in the celebration of these festivals be it Diwali or Christmas. The shirts which come in silk fabric are in high demand.
3. Other purchases.Other purchases include shirts used in weddings , party or for luxurious use.
Shirts in other fabrics like khadi , khadi silk, 100% combed cotton fabric are also in great demand. Business plan services are usually purchased by start up businesses or by small and medium sized businesses requiring financing, commercializing a new product, or entering new markets. These businesses seek business planning assistance from their lending institutions, industry and business associations, or directly from consulting firms.
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6. Description of Industry Participants:
Instruction: Describe, in general terms, the types of businesses that compete in your industry. For example, where are they located, how broad are their product and service lines, how large are they, and how do they distribute their products?
Sample Answer:
Shirt Manufacturing firms are divided into large firms with more than 100 employees, medium sized firms with 20 to 100 employees and small firms with less than 20 employees. Small firms typically have less than 10 employees.
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7. Key Industry Trends:
Instruction: The only thing that is constant in business is change. What are the key trends in your industry? These trends could include changes in technology, products, markets, regulations, or economic conditions. What trends will affect the supply of, or demand for, your products/services? Highlight the factors and trends that could have the largest impact on your business.
Sample Answer:
The Shirt Manufacturing industry is growing for two key reasons. One is that demand for trendy as well as formal wear shirts is increasing.Demand from overseas clients is also making this business a good opportunity to spread market boundaries.
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8. Industry Outlook:
Instruction: For your industry, discuss what types of products have the greatest opportunities for growth over the next three to five years and why? What products or product groups are expected to see a decline in sales?
Sample Answer:
With the continued changes in the fashion industry, the demand for Good Quality shirts will grow. More and more people will use quality shirts. This trend will remain even if normal casual shirts are available .As working women of today have become more cautious of what they are wearing , there is greatest opportunities the government has recognized this sector as special industry and has offered subside for this industry. The number of business starts has increased the demand is being proportionately increasing.
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