Mission Statements and objectives

Mission Statements and objectives

As a business that deals with the creation of 3D-printed bicycles and carbon fiber bicycles, Maven cycles has its mission statement and objectives that guides and drives this individual business to offer the best bikes in the market. As part of its mission statement, Maven cycles has the mission of empowering every other individual to embrace fitness and enable individuals to cycle their way to their goals. It is this individual mission that sets this company apart from its competitors. The mission statement of Maven cycles speaks volume about who we are as a company and what we strive to do for our clients. The company’s co-values, as depicted by the mission and vision, are to promote fitness and encouraging clients and society members to embrace physical fitness by cycling. Maven cycles desires to meet its set mission statement by adhering to its defined objectives.

The objectives of Maven Cycles are centered on market presence, bettering its human resources, advocating for good neighborhoods, and generating profits for the company. It is the goal of this company to dominate the bicycle market by offering quality, strong, and lighter carbon fiber aerodynamic bicycles that can meet the specifications and demands of the bicycle market. The company endeavors to have one of the best human resource team that can collaborate in the creation of quality bicycles that meets the market needs of clients. Other than striving to meet the market needs of clients, the company desires to have a human resource team that can offer quality services in terms of public relations and after-sales services. The company’s objectives of quality human resources are echoed by its goals of good neighborhood and a desire to make a profit from offering quality bicycles and services.

Target Segments (Slide 3)

For its production and sales, Maven Cycles has targeted various segments of the bicycle market. Amongst the ideal bicycle clientele segment that this company has targeted are the recreational cyclist, the mountain biking segment, and the intuitive cyclist. In the recreational segment, the clients are those that cycle purely for recreation. The mountain biking segment involves clients that mostly engage themselves in camping and hiking activities. In contrast, the intuitive cyclist market segment targets clients that cycle for the thrill of speed that comes with cycling and other athletes in the field of cycling. The company has set its best foot forward in manufacturing various brands within each target market segment with the limited financial budget that it currently operates with. In the first quarter, the company introduced one brand in each category of the target market segment. For each target market segment, the company introduced the brands Solace, Marki, and Verto, respectively, in the first quarter.

The company was hesitant to produce new brands for the second quarter, but it went ahead to produce additional quantities of the Marlow brand for the mountain biking market segment. Owing to the purchase potential that all the target segments have, the company would benefit immensely from investors funds as it would make use of these funds to make better and quality models in its fourth quarter. The company’s target market for each category is a dynamic one and as such, there exist a need for better and quality bicycles to suit the need of these target market.

Past market performance (Slide 4)

From the first quarter to the third quarter, Maven cycles have fared poorly in terms of sales. This poor performance, in terms of sales, has affected the businesses past market performance significantly. This impact on the company’s market performance and the consequent poor performance in terms of sales has been facilitated by two distinct decisions that the company undertook. The first decisions included the company having to partially refund various tax and other finances that its clients paid in excess of what they had purchased. The second decision that turned out to be untimely is the decision to open up more stores in the first three-quarters of the business operation. The rebates from the first quarter to the third quarter of this company’s operations saw a significant drop in the sales of the company’s three favorite bike models. The fact that the company could refund excess income to its clientele did not function to attract a lot of the target market. According to the sales report in the first three quarters, the company managed to sell less than 100, 000 pieces of the three brands in Q3.

The company recorded a substantial amount of store expenses from its first-quarter to the third quarter of its business operation. These store expenses can be primarily attributed to the decision of opening of stores and an investment in fixed capacity. From this decision, the resultant outcomes were an affected market performance of this company. In relation to market share, Maven cycle was affected performance-wise in terms of the market share of its recreational, mountain, and speed bikes. Five of its competitors took the lead in the last three quarters in terms of market share of similar category bikes.

Past Financial performance (Slide 5)

The financial performances of Maven cycle cumulatively have increased over the last three quarters. A variety of decisions that this organization has continually undertaken have substantially enabled the organization to perform better financially. The choice of introducing new brands of bicycles such as Marlow in Q3 has had a significant impact on the organization’s sales. The increased sales from the sale of the Marlow brand substantially contributed to a better financial performance. The Marlow brand that was introduced in Q3 retailed at $ 1365 overall compared to the Solace brand, which retailed an overall revenue of $ 1100 in Q3. It is this individual decision to introduce the Marlow brand that boosted the financial performance of the organization in relation to Q1 and Q2. Had the organization have had more finances to produce or manufacture more bicycles of this brand, the sales would have been substantially higher

The other most significant decisions that lead to the stability of the company’s financial choices are the decision by the management to cut down on the company’s advertising budget. In Q2, the company’s advertising budget stood at $ 94000, which slightly decreased to $ 82000 in Q3 of the business’s operation. A reduction of the budget that this company allocated to advertising substantially led to a reduction in the overall expenses that were eating away in the company’s revenue. As such, by Q3, Maven cycles were faring well financially, as seen in the company’s cumulative financial performance and cumulative balanced scorecard.

SWOT Analysis (Slide 6)

Strength

• Strong bicycle brands
• A substantial market share in the target market

Weaknesses

• Inadequate human resource
• Poor cumulative marketing strategy

Opportunities

• Product diversification
• Growing demand for 3D-printed carbon fiber bicycles

Threats

• Robust competition
• Limited research and development experience

Maven cycles has one of the most durable bicycle brands in the market it operates. When compared to its competitors e.g., Thunder Bike and THE GOOD BIKE, Maven cycle produces some of the preferable lighter, more robust carbon fiber 3D printed cycles. The Marlow brand, which has proved to be the best selling bicycle brand, has been designed in such a way that it has super traction and is ideal for mountain climbing activities. These strong bicycles produced by Maven cycle brands augers well with the target market. Additionally, in the overall market demand for all the categories of the bicycles that this company provides, it has managed to gunner a substantial market share compared to competitors such as THE GOOD Bike. Inadequate human resources is the major weakness of Maven cycles. The company has recently started, and it has yet to gain the appropriate momentum in which it can employ a large team to work in all its departments.

Maven cycles requires to work more on its marketing strategies if it is to gain a substantial market share in relation to its competitors, the company’s market share stands at 13% which is much lower than BIK3D which is the competitor with the leading market share. The company requires appropriate funding to boost its marketing strategies and remain competitive in the market that it targets. The company’s significant opportunity lies in its product diversification. Maven cycles have a variety of bicycles that it can offer for sale to its clientele. With the appropriate resources and funding, this cycle company can diversify its brands and producing more quality brands to cater to its target market. This opportunity is echoed by the growing demand for 3D-printed carbon fiber bicycles. The stiff competition from four other established bicycle brands in its target market forms the primary threat to this company’s operations and profitability. The lack of appropriate funds to conduct adequate research and development is also a significant threat to the organization continuity and growth.

Investment plan (slide 7)

The company has rather been lagging in terms of production and losing sales because of low production volumes. The low production volumes witnessed from Q1 to Q2 has primarily been as a result of inadequate funds to cater for production and research and development. With an additional $2.5 million in equity funding, Maven cycles has the potential of taking a massive leap in both production and research and development in Q4 to Q6. First and foremost, with an additional $ 2.5 million in funding, the company shall undertake a robust research and development exercise so that it can come up with new models that would meet the market needs of the targeted market segment. This would be essential as the Solace, Markel, Verto, and Marlow brands developed in Q1 to Q3 have already dominated that target market, and competition has those cycles.

After adequate research and development have been conducted, the next step would be to increase the production capacity of the next step would be to increase the production capacity of the company. Production volume over the last three quarters has been significantly lower owing to different factors in production brought about by a deficit in funding. Boosting the production volume would include hiring more competent personnel to fill up the existing human resource gap in the organization and paying them better wages to work extra hours to meet production deadlines. Additionally, the company can invest in purchasing more 3D-printing machines and other resources required in the production of the existing models and other newer models that would be needed in the target market. To boost sales, the additional funds would come in handy as the company would also require opening more stores in different locations in the target market segment.

Marketing Strategy (Slide 8)

• The first marketing strategy shall focus on the company’s products
• The company shall utilize price as one of its marketing strategies
• The distribution of the company’s products shall form one of its marketing strategies
• The last and significant marketing strategy for Maven cycles shall be promotion.

As a company, Maven cycles shall utilize the four Ps of marketing as its primary marketing strategy. Amongst the four Ps of marketing are product, price distribution, and promotion. First and foremost, for the company’s marketing strategies to be effective, it requires putting much consideration on the products that it produces. The design, quality, and features of the company’s cycles that it shall build in Q4 to Q6 shall serve to advertise the company and what it stands for in its target market. According to the company’s strategic and tactical plan for Q4 to Q6, it is evident that price is a crucial factor in the sales of 3D-printed bicycles. As such, to boost sales, the company shall produce a quality cycle that can suit the financial needs of the target market. Additionally, Maven cycles shall undertake to list all the prices of its products in a convenient way that its clientele can view such. The company shall also offer discounts and credit terms for its bicycle in Q4 to Q6 as part of its marketing strategy.

The company’s strategy shall not be complete without it focusing on distribution as part of its marketing strategy. In Q4 to Q6, Maven cycle shall put more emphasis on the location of its stores, the geographical coverage of its stores, and the different ways that it shall be using to transport its bicycles to clients. In terms of transportation and logistics, the company shall invest in delivery vans that are branded with the company’s logo as a strategy of marketing. The most significant component of the company’s marketing strategy in Q4 to Q6 is promotion. To boost and promote the new brands that the company contemplates introducing, the company shall engage in sales promotion and personal selling, given that this is the ideal marketing strategy for its new brands.

Sales Channel strategy (Slide 9)

• Direct sales shall form the company’s significant sales strategy
• The company shall also make use of retailers to sell its new brands to the target market
• On a lighter scale, the company shall seek the use of affiliates as part of its sales strategy
• In house sales team shall form part of the company’s sales channel strategy

Maven cycle, as a 3D-printed bicycle company, plans on using various sales channel strategies to manage its brands and offer the best pricing plans in the next market for Q4 to Q6. The first method by which the company seeks to use in managing its brands and providing the best pricing plans to its clients is the use of direct sales. For the period Q4 to Q6, Maven cycle targets on developing new brands such as the Mongoose and EchoFlex for its recreation and speed category of bikes. Direct sales would be the ideal way of distributing these two models given that the direct sales team would interact one on one with clients and explain the new features of the bikes and the reason as to why the bikes are priced lower or higher. In the period Q4 to Q6, the company purposes on decreasing the average price of each of its bicycle models. As such, transporting these models to different locations might prove to be costly. It is for this reason that the company shall make use of retailers as part of its sales channel strategy. Using retailers to distribute such bicycles shall enable the company to offer the same bikes to its clients at a decreased price, given that the company will not have increased transportation costs. The same concept of saving on cost and reducing the average selling price of the company’s bicycle models in Q4 to Q6 shall be realized by using affiliates and in house sales teams as part of the company’s brand management and sales channel strategy.

Human Resource Strategy (Slide 10)

• The first human resource strategy for Maven cycles includes hiring staff members to fill up the different departments in the company
• Hiring a human resource manager and equipping the human resource department is the second human resource strategy for this company
• Setting up an organizational culture is vitally important as part of the company’s human resource strategy.
• The last human resource strategy involves setting up a budget for compensational purpose and staff motivation.

As a rapidly developing company, Maven cycle has and shall create different departments that shall require to be filled by qualified individuals in line with the company’s strategic plan for Q4 to Q6. As such, the first human resource strategy for this organization is hiring of eligible and professional employees that shall fill the existing gaps in the company’s departments and operations. The company requires the services of marketing executives, product supervisors, sales executives, research and development experts, and general staff members to work in its stores and production centers. All of these staff members shall require to be hired, and their performances appraised. For this reason, the most significant aspects of the company’s human resource strategy are to hire a human resource manager and equip the human resource department.

With all of the required staff members in their respective departments, the other significant aspect of the company’s human resource strategy for Q4 to Q6 is to formulate the organization’s culture and align the staff members with conforming to this individual, organizational culture. The company’s corporate culture will be impacted by motivating staff members to work hard and smart in meeting the company’s goals for Q4 to Q6. The company requires staff members to work extra hours to meet production deadlines and customer’s expectations. This might prove to be challenging if the company’s culture is not defined and instilled in all of the staff members. Lastly, the company requires setting up a budget for compensation purposes and staff motivation for the period Q4 to Q6 as part of its human resource strategy.

Manufacturing strategy (Slide 11)

The above information analyses and provides a summary of statistical data that portrays a range of manufacturing strategies and decisions that Maven cycles undertook from Q1 to Q3 and different manufacturing decisions that the company plans on taking from Q4 to Q6. This individual data that is drawn from the company’s tactical plan indicates the company’s actual measurement of the ratio of bicycle production that ought to be based on the target market demand. It is this individual data that shall set the foundations of other manufacturing decisions that the company might undertake in the future. The company has undertaken investment decisions in the past and different choices that were aimed at increasing the production volume in relation to product demand in the target market. In regard to manufacturing decisions, Maven cycles require to undertake decisions that enhanced the company’s fixed capacity and its production capacities, given that this organization is in its growth stage. From these statistics, the organization’s financial performance has been relatively fair, given that the company had not taken decisions to increase its financial performance. For Q1 to Q4, the company requires to undertake decisions that shall see its financial performance improve substantially. These decisions include better and efficient business planning, enhancing its production capacity, and striving to attain a more substantial portion of the target market share. The company will be in a better position of implementing and undertaking such decisions if the desired $ 2.5 million shall be granted.

Financial strategy (slide 12)

• The primary financial strategy of Maven cycles is investments
• The company also relies on individual financing to meet the business’s financial objectives
• The company shall also rely on borrowing to meet its long-term financial goals.

As a start-up business, Maven cycles have put in place a myriad of objectives and goals that it purposes on attaining. These goals that range from product development to increased sales are all dependent on finances. For the period Q1 to Q3, the company has relied primarily on individual funding to meet the objectives and goals of the business. Individual or owner funding has seen the company develop new models of bicycles that have done relatively well in the target market. Owing to the expansion need of this company in Q4 to Q6, the company requires additional funding in excess of $ 2.5 million to cater for its expansion and development goals. As such, the primary financial strategy that the company has is to rely on donor equity funding or rather investments from external angel investors who might be interested in the business plan of the organization.

For all of its research and development needs as well as other strategies aimed at boosting sales in Q4 to Q6, the company primarily depends upon funds from angel investors. For short term running of the business operation and before the company can land any form of angel investment, its financial strategy is to rely on borrowing from different financial institutions. For the period Q1 to Q3, the company was not heavily reliant on borrowing from financial institutions, given that it was still on its initial stages of growth. This might not be the case for the period Q4 to Q6 as the company requires advancing exponentially and met its long-term goals.

Anticipated Benefits (Slide 13)

• Increased sales
• A considerable market share

After having carefully implemented all the strategic actions recommended, Maven cycles stand to benefit substantially from the period Q4 to Q6. Amongst the many benefits that this organization stands to benefit, the two most significant benefits are increased sales and an increased market share in the target market segment. All the different strategies that Maven cycle has put in place are geared towards expanding the company’s sales in 3D-printed cycles in the period Q4 to Q6. The company has been fairing considerably low in Q1 to Q3 because the management had not implemented the strategic actions that it requires implementing in the rest of the business quarter. Such a decisive action as requesting for equity funding are purposed to boost production and sales volume. If the company is successful in getting the desired funding for the period Q4 to Q6, it can anticipate achieving its target of increasing sales.

After Maven cycles have implemented all of its strategic actions, it can anticipate garnering a significant market share in the targeted bicycle market. Due to a deficit in funding and the lack of implementing some of the proposed strategic actions in Q1 to Q3, the business has been faring poorly in terms of dominance in market share. In all of the categories and brands of its bicycles, the company has been holding the second last position, a factor that has negatively impacted the company. With the successful implementation of all the proposed strategic actions, Maven cycles can anticipate to gunner a considerably more significant market share or become the leading company in terms of market share amongst its competitors.

Actionable Steps (Slide 14)

• Offer bicycles at a promotional price
• Hire distribution vans
• Create a smart business plan
• Better the company’s borrowing portfolio

Maven cycles can use several actionable steps to attain the various strategies it has set for itself towards increasing its marketing strategies and its financial strategies, respectively. In its marketing strategies, the company had proposed conducting promotions for its new bicycle brands as well as use company-based distribution vans. For these strategies to be successful, the company can take the actionable steps of offering their new bicycle brands at a promotional price and hiring distribution vans for the distribution work. A vast majority of clients prefer a reduction in price than any other form of promotional strategy. The company can sell more of its bikes by offering more of its bicycles at a promotional price. The same applies to hiring vans to distribute the company’s products rather than purchasing these vans.

For the financial strategy, Maven cycles had opted to seek angel investors to fund the $ 2.5 million required. Additionally, the company had also preferred to borrow funds to meet its short term financial goals. To achieve such strategic plans, the organization can create a smart business plan that angel investors can fund and slowly better the company’s borrowing portfolio. These two actionable plans can significantly help Maven cycles achieve its more significant financial strategies if they are carefully implemented.