Growth strategies for an Italian furniture importer facing decline

Strategic Management

The author of this response is asked to answer three major questions about growth strategies and profit gain/losses and the causes therein. The first question asks for three growth strategies that can be offered to Mr. Wilson. The second question asks for possible causes of the company's decline. The final question asks about recommendations to handle a downsizing.

Growth Strategies

There are several growth strategies that the author of this report can offer and all of them are based on the general approach that is undertaken by a store to stop falling sales or improve strong sales even more. The first strategy is a broad-based approach where selection and options are given to the customer in the form of a wide array of styles and/or a wide array of prices. In the case of an Italian furniture importer, the focus would probably be on selection and bargain-seeking customers aren't likely to traipse into the store all that often (GSP, 2013).

A second growth strategy is finding a niche of high-end, high profit furniture and it helps of this niche is not occupied by anyone else in the immediate area or the competition will be much thicker. Such a strategy can make the store a "go-to" place for customers seeking a certain type of good and as long as the reputation is backed up by service, then the outcomes should be good (Traxler, 2012). This touches on another growth strategy and that is a major focus on quality and outstanding customer service. Even if the goods are not the best in the business and even if the prices are not the best for the same goods as compared to other stores, people will pay more for good service because the buying experience is all the more better and any issues that do come up are easily dealt with and with no begging on the part of the customer (Liabotis, 2013).

Conclusion

In the end, the root causes for sales declines need to be figured out for any recovery to be undertaken and any costs that can reasonably be cut to make operations streamlined yet not stymied should be on the table because the business must make a profit for anything else to even be a question to be asked. Feelings can hurt but the business must survive as an entity for anything else to matter.