Environment Scan
Assessment of resources
Team Member One has a handy-man organization that uses a mentor, already experienced in the handyman business, as a resource. By shadowing this mentor, Team Member One will gain a wealth of knowledge and capitalize on years of experience. The team member also has access to military personnel on a government installation. Theses prior relationships with military personnel also aid in growth of his business.
Team Member Two also works on a military installation. This team member's tutoring business benefits from the number of soldiers who require tutoring for military tests that they take to advance their careers.
Team Member Three's main resource is creativity. Sendoutcards is a new company that needs customers. The quality of the product is an asset, but the Team Member will also need to cultivate marketing skills in order to build the market.
Competitive position
Team Member One can offer lower prices in order to compete. His expenses are lower because he does not have advertising, unlike his competitors.
Tamara's Tutorials will compete on the basis of high quality service. Using a website as a promotional tool, Tamara's Tutorials can build a business based on word of mouth from satisfied customers, because the target market is a relatively tight-knit military community.
Sendoutcards has quality of product as a source of competitive advantage. The challenge is to communicate this advantage to the target market. The competitive weakness for Sendoutcards is a lack of exposure among potential customers.
Organizational Structure
Team Member One has a simple organizational structure as a sole proprietorship with a mentor/apprentice structure. This limits the amount of work that can be done, which in turn could lead to a loss of customers who have time-sensitive issues.
Team Member Two's vision is to hire, train and manage personnel to tutor the classes. This allows for an organizational structure based on multiple offices, and a business that is fully scalable to bases around the country.
Team Member Three will eventually have a corporation structure with operating divisions, but right now is a small company with the proprietor doing all of the work.
