Enterprise & Marketing - Progress Ahead Project

This project comprehensively outlines the journey of conceptualizing, researching, designing, and proposing a business plan for a new hat product, specifically a red leather cowboy-style hat.

It begins with an exploration of market segmentation principles to define potential customer profiles. This includes an initial analysis of various existing hat types (like sunhats, beanies, festival hats), their typical wearers, materials, and sales outlets. Techniques for customer profiling, considering demographics (age, gender, income) and psychographics (lifestyle), are discussed as a foundation for understanding the target market.

The core of the project then shifts to primary market research. A detailed questionnaire was designed and deployed to gather specific customer preferences. This survey aimed to identify the target age range, gender, preferred purchase locations (online vs. physical shop), price sensitivity, material preferences (leather, felt, straw), color choices, frequency of purchase, and primary reasons for wearing a hat (e.g., sunshade, fashion). The collected data, involving 30 respondents, was meticulously analyzed and presented graphically to identify key trends.

Based on these survey insights, two initial hat design concepts were developed: one black leather hat and one red leather hat. The project documents the customer feedback process, including a self-assessment and further targeted questions to refine the final design. This led to the selection of the red leather hat with yellow accents (logo and ribbons), after considering and rejecting suggestions for patterns to ensure broader appeal across genders and avoid a childish look. Research into competitor products was also conducted to understand existing market offerings, materials used by competitors (often cotton or ribbon), and their pricing strategies.

The final stage culminates in a detailed business proposal. This includes a clear specification of the chosen hat design, a breakdown of production costs (material cost per hat estimated at £5.70), and a pricing strategy. Psychological pricing (£14.99) was selected after considering survey responses on willingness-to-pay and undercutting competitor prices. A break-even analysis was performed (calculating the need to sell approximately 732 hats, or around 2.6-6 hats per hour depending on the plan, to cover fixed costs of £6800). Profit projections are calculated for different sales volumes, including a "Plan A" (selling at £15) and a "Plan B" (a lower price point of £9.99 if initial sales are slow). The proposal also addresses potential business risks (material quality, sales volume, competition, VAT changes) and outlines sales channel priorities, with a strong emphasis on online sales based on customer survey feedback.

Overall, the project demonstrates a methodical approach, moving from broad market understanding and detailed customer research to a tangible product design and a financially considered business plan, aiming to launch a fashionable and profitable hat targeted primarily at a younger demographic (10-20 years) for summer wear.