FAMEIDEALS

        Among the factors that occasionally contribute to the failure of most small scale business enterprises, business plan is rated higher (NDE 1978).


     This is because most of the business owners workout the activities of their enterprises off- head instead of preparing a business plan. Like a building plan for a house, which explans how the house should look like when completed. Stoner and Freeman (1992), defined business plan as a formal document containing a mission statement, description of the firms goods and services, a market analysis, financial projections, a description of management strategies for attaining goals. Further, Kathryn and David (1998) argued that a well prepared business plan can take 200 to the complexity of the business contemplated, the strength of the competition, the number of factors more considered. However, experience and successful entrepreneurs make use of business plan in the working of their business and also to raise the necessary capital required to start the business on a very goo foundation.




   Nevertheless, a well prepared business plan should be able to describe on paper where the business is going. What the business has to do to get to where it is going and how the business will look like when it get there

Business is an economic activity which is related and continuous and regular production of goods and services for satisfying human wants (Wilkinson, 1994). Human beings need food, clothes, shelter among other things.



 They All do have many household requirements to be stusfy in their daily lives. They meet these requirements from the retailer. Whereas the retailer gets from the wholesaler, the wholesaler in turn gets from the mnufcturer. In this regard the retailer, wholesaler and the manufacturer are doing business and therefore they are referred to as business men.




 Newell(2002) defines business as a form of activity conducted with an objective of earning profits for the benefit of those on whose behalf activity is conducted.



 David (2009) sees business as a regular production or purchase and sale of goods undertaken with the objective of earning profit and acquiring wealth through the satisfaction of hymn want.

On this part Berle and means (2003) viewed business as human activity directed producing or acquiring wealth through buying and selling of goods.

From the foregoing definition of business, we can draw the conclusion that business enterprises covers the continuous production and distribution of goods and services with the aim of profit under uncertain market conditions.

   Product quality is often measured in terms of purity and grade of material used in technical perfection of design and exciting stands.



Kolter (1998),  define product quality as the degree of excellence a product possess with regard to physical properties. ( such as the prestige of the brand name) It may be high,  low,  medium, good,  bad, fair, excellent, first-class etc.

The quality of product or degree of excellence varies greatly for virtually all customers and industrial goods. The very reason for the wide variation in product quality is that consumer differ greatly in their purchasing power.

 While we occasionally do find customers with high income who purchase products that are low in quality ( the upper income family buys used tyre, used furniture, used shoes etc)  a correlation does exist between purchasing power and the quality of products bought.

A new start up while attractive also , it has a greater chance of failure. thus a new startup business is far more likely to fail than an existing business, business with a successful history. the reason for failure in most cases is the inability of the owners of news startups to manage the following challenges very well.
  


1. PROBLEMS OF CASH FLOW AND GROSS UNDER FINANCING 
The new start ups in most cases has little for the waiting out the start up period and all of the expenses of getting a new business off the ground 
thus lack of cash flow and gross under financing is a major challenge to be faced by a new business at this pint in time




2. COST OF EARLY PUBLICITY
A new startup will need great deal of publicity to attract customers to the business as the location ,the name of what you are doing is not known when you first open your doors. a new company that have never existed before will need to spend money on TV, Radio and newspaper advertisements to attract new customers to the Establishment 


3. COST OF REPEATED ADVERTISEMENTS
The owners of new startups ill have to repeat the advertisements in order to get their message across so that the customers will give them a trial . in some cases this advertisement expenses could be considered part of the initial cost of the business.this type of advertisement is far different from what obtains from an existing company , thus with an existing business you might want to know the public that new management has taken over the existing business



4. START UP TIME AND DEVELOPMENT OF GOOD STAFF 
A new startup business needs to find an employee and takes time to develop a good staff  this adds another critical challenges to start up time of the first year or so. a new owner cannot do everything by himself or herself, if the business is new to the new owner as far as experience, the startup time will also require a very quick learning curve. many owners of new startups are fearful they might fail at running a business so they try take the less expensive way to try managing a company 


5. FEW CUSTOMER BASE
A new startup have very few customer when the doors are first opened. this problem needs to be addressed. A new start up has no base nd needs to grow one as quickly as possible.

The following are some of the merits of sole proprietorship business 

1. DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY
The sole proprietors efforts are rewarded by his his personal profits and his ,mistakes by losses

2. CLOSE SUPERVISION
The sole proprietorship organization is small, he can supervise his staff, if any, personally

3. FLEXIBILITY
 Being his own master and having only the simplest organization, he can change the whole policy of his business in  very short time. He can make quick decisions.

4. FREEDOM FROM REGULATION
Apart from the normal regular responsibilities incurred by anyone who trains or employ staff, the only special duty required of sole proprietor is compliance with registration of business name Act, 
1961

5.PERSONAL CONTRACT
He is close to both clients and employees. He can offer personal service to customers and legal deals with employee's problems on a ''man to man'' basis 

MERITS OF SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP 
Some of the demerits of sole proprietorship form of business are as follows 

1. Unlimited liability
His  liabiity to meet meet the claims  of his creditors is competey unlimited. if his business fails; his own possessions and wealth can be call upon to meet his business debts. 

2. SMALL INITIAL CAPITAL 
The sum total available to start a one-man business may be too small to equip it properly 

3. INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGR OF THE BUSINESS
They are mant aspects in running a business effectively. Publishing, selling, display and amny other things must be handled by a sole proprietor and he is unlikely to be equally good at them all 

4. DIFFICUTY IN EXPANSION
Even a succesfu soe propritor is ikey to find it difficut to obtain extra finance  necessary for expansion.

5. END WITH YOUR DEATH 
The death of the sole proprietor will equally mean the end of business

DEFINITION
Sole proprietorship business signifies exclusive ownership of small  business enterpeise. In other words, sole proprietorship decribe that business which is owned by one individual a man or woman. this form of business usually attracts many people who are tired of working for government or for someone else and are also eager to be independent.



 They use their little savings  to start business as sole proprietors. With this kind of busineess you need to take several legal action. There are no serious organization expenses; no formal requirement for publicity. Any person who engages in business activities - buys, sells or provide a service under his own name is the proprietor of the business. It may be part-time or full-time

Business organizations  have complex relationships with many stakeholders in the society. 

An important of of business manager's role to identify afitrm relevant stakeholders and identify and understand the nature of their interests, power and alaince with one another.bulding positive and manually beneficial relationships across organizational bounderies can help enhance a company's reputation and adress critical social and technical challenges. 

In a world of fast-paced globalization, shifting public expectations and government policies, growing ecological concerns, and new technologies, managers face difficult challenge of achieving economic results while simulteneously creating value for all diverse stakeholders 
society, in its broadest sense, refers to human beings and to social structure they collectively create in more specific sense, the term is used to refer to segments of human kind, such as members of a particular community, nation, or interest group. 

As a set of organizations created by humans, business is basically a part of society. At the sane time it is also a distinct entity, separated from the rest of society clear boundaries. The term stakeholders refers to persons and groups that affect, or are affected by, an organization's decisions, policies and operations. 

The world stake, in this context, men and interest in - or claim on a business enterprise. Those with a stake in the firms action includes such diverse groups as customers'trade associations employees stakeholders, the media, government and professional social and environmen activists, and non-governmental organization

The following are the expectations of what society and business need from each other

(i)  Supplying goods and services that society cannot, or do not want to, produce themselves

(ii)  Creating jobs for customers, supplies, distributors and coworkers

(iii)  Making money to support themselves and their families, pay taxes and use they wages to buy goods and services

(iv)  Continually developing new goods, services and processes

(v)  Investing in new technologies and in the skills of employees

(vi)  Building up and spreading international standards e.g for environmental practices

(vii) Spreading ''good practice'' in different areas, such as the environment and workplace safety.

(viii)  Offer good and services that are of high quality

(ix)  Sell such goods and services that are of fair and reasonable prices and

(x)  show courtesy and fairness to their customers.

business plays a vita role in the life and cultures of a country. it provides just anything the consumers want o need, including basic necessities such as food and housing, luxuries such as televisions and even personal services such as caring for customers and finding companionship.
business enterprises in Nigeria started in the earnest when major British firms amalgamated to form the united African community(UAC).



      This amalgamation helped in laying the foundation stone of the Nigerian business enterprise systems. these companies according to effiong (1985) and john Holt company, Peterson zochonis and company (PZ) G.B ollivant, union trading company (UTC) K. chellarams and sons and miller brothers,which with F.A Swanzy a third party cooperation known as the African association and a number of other smaller firms combined in 1919 to form African and eastern trade corporation (A & ETC) LIMITED. thus bringing into being the united African company (UAC) as we know today it follow from here that the European merchant houses provided vital institutional links with oversees market and manufacturing centers, and thus initiated a role which oversees market and manufacturing centers, and thus initiated a role which will continue to be a reference point for the Nigerian business enterprise system

Marketing research involves conducting investigation to support marketing activities and the statistical interpretation of data into information. this information. 

This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities. Gauge the nature of marketing environment and attain information from suppliers. marketing researches use statistical methods such as hypothesis tests chi-squared tests linear regression , correlations, frequency distributions, poison distributions, binomial distributions etc.


to interpret their findings and convert data into information. The task of marketing research is to provide management with relevant , accurate reliable valid and current information. a distinction should be made between marketing research and marketing research. 

market research pertains to research in a given market.as an example' a firm may conduct research in a target market, after selecting a suitable market segment.
 in contrast, marketing research is fundamentally about the acquisition and analysis of information required for the making of marketing decisions 
The two basic areas in which information required for marketing decisions is sought are ;(existing and potential) and marketing tactics and methods. The research process spans a number of stages including the following steps.

a. definition of problem and specification of information to be sought

b. Design of study/ development of a research plan / project with particular reference to data collection methods ( surveys etc)instrumentation (questionnaires) and sample design (of target population)

c.fieldwork (utilizing the questionnaires, structured interview etc) collecting and interpreting of data 

d. Data analysis and interpretation ( using statistical and or techniques)

e. presentation/dissemination of information formally inform of a report

Small business operate in an environment which changes are inevitable factors. technological changes, fluctuation in prices of raw materials, changing government policies and regulations changes in consumer taste and preference among other things are inevitable factors that have been shaping and reshaping business activities in Nigeria. they are thus unpredictable however in view of their unpredictability, it has become more necessary for the small entrepreneurs to determine their business goals carefully, and then construct plans for attaining these goals no matter what the changing environment will be

PLANNING DEFINED
Planning is simply the thinking that takes place prior to action or decisions its central is with the future and the future is nothing but the summation of our decisions. thus planning can be described as an anticipatory decision making.


 planning is done to decide what to do and how to do it prior to taking action. ultimately planing is considered of key elements of thoughts and communication designed to give meaning to the present by focusing on the importance of change and the utilization of resources. In planning the entrepreneur consider goals to be attained in the future and how to present limitations to achieving such goals may be reduced or removed. he designed actions and program's for progressing toward selecting goals and for determining desired changes in policies practices or current goals.

The common saying  ''if you fail to plan you are planning to fail'' or ''the business that does not plan is om the road to extinct of instinct''suggests that, planners, planning or entrepreneurs who plans must take provisions for a network of channels for feedback, analysis of progress and control measures to safeguard the objective of the organization. In fact it is worth saying at this point that the compute software maker e.g etisalat, glo, mtn, airtel etc plan before bringing their products to the market or else their failure to plan will amount to fall in selling their products to the consuming public

In the same parlance,small business entrepreneurs will end up with all their capital outlay lost if they fail to plan before embarking on any viable business venture

Planning will have no future if it ends in the dustbin of the entrepreneur without making plan for the business enterprise towards obtaining and attaining it goals. However, we can go on and on if we insist in discussing planning in most in small business enterprises for conceitous business success.

Many studies support the idea that the organization who plans before starting a project or a business venture, retail business e.g road side mechanic, barbing, hairdressing retail business auto-wash, beauty salon, tailoring, ad-infinitum are more effective than those who do not plan.
The planning functions have several important goals and chiefly among these goals are discussed as follows;

1. changes in technological environment
Technological changes are so rapid that we cannot predict the interval at which these changes are taking place. production plans have continue to undergo changes as a result of this, there is improvement in the quality of output, thus it has become necessary for small business enterprise owners to plan for possible changes in technology as customers will always demand for technological advanced products to replace the older ones that have become technically obsolete 

2. changes in economic environment
The general state of Nigerian economy can be best described as unstable. The national economic policies relating to small and medium scale enterprises, tax rate, inflation and other special concessions to small scale business enterprises most develop a comprehensive plan to out do the unexpected changes arising from the economic environment.

3. changes in financial environment
The financial environment is made up of financial institutions that we usually run to whenever our business require ore capital or whenever we want to finance the acquisition of more business items this environment cannot be said to be always static as to be rest assure of our financial needs. In this view, it logically follows that alternative sources of business finance should be sought for. This can only be possible through planning....

4.changes in the need of the society
As earlier said business makes demand on society and society make demands on business. At this instances it logically follows that, the business exists because of the existence of the society and vice versa' But society's attitudes towards the business is what matters. Attitude of the society to the business is unpredictable as lifestyle, belief pattern etc are not the same and may change at any time, particularly when the activities of the business did not favor them. Planning will ensure positive attitude of the society members towards the business enterprise.

A society is prosperous only if the degree to which it rewards and encourage entrepreneurial activities because it is entrepreneurs and their activities that are critical determinants of the level of success, prosperity growth and opportunity in the economy.
The most dynamic societies in the world are the ones that have the most entrepreneurs, plus the economic and legal structure to encourage and motivate entrepreneurs to greater activities. Thus entrepreneurs perform the following functions

Identifying entrepreneurial opportunity

There are many opportunities in the world of business. These opportunities are based on human needs as food, fashion, education etc. which are constantly changing. these opportunities are not realized by common man, but an entrepreneur senses the opportunities faster than others do. An entrepreneur therefore, has to keep his eyes and ears open and require imagination, creativeness, innovation and informativeness.

Turning ideas and dreams into viable business 

An entrepreneur should be capable of turning his ideas and good dreams into reality. He collects information regarding his ideas products,practices, to suit the demand in the market. Further steps are taken to achieve the goals in the light of information collected.

Resourcing for the needed business resources

The entrepreneur needs various resources in terms if money, machine, material and men to running the Enterprise successfully. An essential function of an entrepreneur is to ensure the availability of these resources.

Setting up of the enterprise

For setting up an Enterprise, the entrepreneur may need to fulfill some legal formalities. He also tries to find out a suitable location, design and premises, install machinery and do many other things.

Managing the enterprise

One of the important function of entrepreneur is to run the enterprise. he has to manage the finance, resources, material and organize production of goods and services. He has to market each product and service, after ensuring appropriate returns also known as profit of the investment. only a properly managed organization yields positive results.

Exploration of avenues foe growth and development of the business

Once the enterprise achieve its desired results, the entrepreneur has explore another higher goal for its proper growth and development.He decided the scale of business in accordance with the provision of capital and other business resources.