Developing business plan of a small family-owned business
Ruuska, Topi Armas (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053119134
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053119134
Tiivistelmä
The idea for this thesis project started in early 2024 when the company I am a co-owner in needed an update to its business model. This idea came from my initiative but there also were others involved who thought codirectionally. The company is a small family-owned business and mainly offers warehouse space customized to customers’ needs. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent Russo-Ukrainian war affected the region, we are operating in, greatly. From this rising uncertainty rose a need for developing the business. The goal was to end up with multiple suggestions for developing a business model using theories of business management. These suggestions should be actionable and practical. These suggestions could be then put into practice.
Theoretical framework is based on the Business Model Generation book by Osterwalder & Pigneur and the suggestions it gives. Business Model Canvas is in the middle of everything from analyzing the current state of the business to generating the change suggestions. SWOT analysis is also used to analyze the current state of the company and what kind of opportunities and threats the company is facing. The new business model suggestions are implemented on top of the current canvas. The evaluation and data collecting phase was done by using documents such as company’s financial statements (latest and previous), opinions from professionals and evaluating the possibilities on sight.
The result was three distinctive suggestions which were all implementable alone or even all together simultaneously. The suggestions focused on diversifying the customer segments to be able to seek opportunities outside of the existing segments. These diversifications would be focused on seeking strategic alliances and customers from a different industry and/or from a different region. Another suggestion, which was already briefly discussed before the beginning of this project, was to add a new key resource as a form of either temporary project manager or full-time chief executive officer. All the suggestions need further discussion with the whole board and decisions about the future are planned to be made later in the summer 2024.
Theoretical framework is based on the Business Model Generation book by Osterwalder & Pigneur and the suggestions it gives. Business Model Canvas is in the middle of everything from analyzing the current state of the business to generating the change suggestions. SWOT analysis is also used to analyze the current state of the company and what kind of opportunities and threats the company is facing. The new business model suggestions are implemented on top of the current canvas. The evaluation and data collecting phase was done by using documents such as company’s financial statements (latest and previous), opinions from professionals and evaluating the possibilities on sight.
The result was three distinctive suggestions which were all implementable alone or even all together simultaneously. The suggestions focused on diversifying the customer segments to be able to seek opportunities outside of the existing segments. These diversifications would be focused on seeking strategic alliances and customers from a different industry and/or from a different region. Another suggestion, which was already briefly discussed before the beginning of this project, was to add a new key resource as a form of either temporary project manager or full-time chief executive officer. All the suggestions need further discussion with the whole board and decisions about the future are planned to be made later in the summer 2024.