L.K. Nathans
Do you want to write an effective mitumba business plan? This article will show you exactly the secret tactics successful business people use to write their business plans.
Read up to the end to understand the exact requirements you need in order to build a mitumba business empire in Kenya.
The success of any business is tied to how well the initial planning is made. The move to enter into business cannot be random or impulsive. Careful planning and deliberations has to be made in order to ensure that it makes the expected profits and achieve its goals.
A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start a mitumba business in Kenya. You need to have a clear understanding of the market, your prospective customers, your competition, marketing strategies and where you plan to get the funds to keep your business afloat.
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What is a Mitumba Business Plan?
In layman’s language, this is like the roadmap that details the goals and plans for your mitumba business and how you plan to achieve those goals.
A well thought out mitumba business plan enables you to look at the business with a fresh eye and be able to decide if it is actionable.Remember the goal of any business is to make profits.
A business plan is the strategy you put in place to ensure that you have a profitable business. It is the document that will guide your mitumba business to profitability and prevent you from accumulating loses and running out of business even before you start.
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Writing an Effective Mitumba Business Plan
Before you start writing your mitumba business plan, there is one thing you need to keep in mind – it doesn’t have to be perfect. This is like a living document, it is never finished.
Businesses evolve and change from time to time and so does your business plan. It has to be flexible and adapt according to the emerging needs of your business and customers. It helps to appreciate the fact that you are bound to make mistakes and instant success is not guaranteed.
A mitumba business plan specifically outlines the information regarding your business. This include market and customer analysis, the products you intend to sell, marketing strategy and pertinent financial information.
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1. Market analysis
Market analysis is the process of studying and analyzing your market of interest; in this case the mitumba industry. This analysis is crucial in building a coherent understanding of your business in order to make it profitable and sustainable.
How to do market analysis
- Investigate and clearly understand the segment of mitumba business you are targeting. That is:
- What types of mitumba clothes you intent to sell and to who?
- What are the latest and best-selling clothes in that particular segment
- Who is selling the same clothes or targeting the same customers as you? Do they pose any serious competition? 2. Understand your competition and turn their weaknesses into your strength. For example if they are only selling offline and do not have any online presence, you should take your business online to reach a wide customer base and have a competitive edge.3. Identify the best bale suppliers that will make your mitumba business a success and not drag it behind.
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3. Products
Before starting a mitumba business, you need to understand exactly what type of second-hand clothes you will be selling. This is something that should clearly be stated and described in your mitumba business plan.
You have to know the kind of people who will be interested in the clothes you choose to sell and where they are located. Take your mitumba business to your customers. Although selling all types of clothes may seem profitable, sometimes it is not. Customers love specificity. You have to give them something they will know you for – they can’t know you for everything.
It is like building a brand. It is hard to brand your business as being credible and dependable if you are trying to put your hands on everything. Decide on single products such as T-shirts or clothes that interest a particular group such as kid’s clothes, ladies dresses etc.
If you want to sell everything, you should make it different business and find other people to manage them for your.For example you can set up different stalls for T-shirts, ladies’ dresses and kids clothing.This will require more funds and a lot more commitment from you. If need be, you can find a partner to work with to lessen the pressure on your part.
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Find a Good Supplier
One of the things you need to make clear in your mitumba business plan is which supplier you will be working with. This is especially true if you are going to buy the clothes in bales instead of randomly selecting them. The mitumba supplier can build or kill your business.
The one you settle on has to be reliable, affordable and time conscious.Read on How to Start a Highly Profitable Mitumba Business in Kenya to identify some of the best mitumba suppliers and the different types of mitumba bales.
Set Your Prices
Indicate in your mitumba business plan the price range of the different categories of clothes your decide to sell. Don’t price your clothes too high or too low if you wish to get and keep customers. Look at how much most of your competitors are selling their clothes and set your prices within that range.
4. Mitumba Business Marketing strategy
The marketing strategy basically entails the means you intend to use in order to reach the potential customer and sell your clothes. This is probably the most important section of your mitumba business plan.There are two ways you can use to sell your mitumba clothes:
How to sell mitumba online
The modern consumer market is moving online and it is only right that your mitumba business goes there.Setting up a simple E-commerce shop for your clothes is now very easy using such CMS like WordPress. You can set up your online store in minutes, post your product pictures, promote and start driving customers to your website
.Alternatively, you can sell on social media such Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook in particular is very convenient as it allows you to create a page that has the functionalities of an online store.
People can order directly from your Facebook page even if you don’t have a website. Instagram is also gradually making it easier for people to sell their products especially fashion items related to what they are wearing in the pictures they post.
You can also sell through already established online retailers such as Jumia and Kilimall. If you choose to go this path you must understand that the retailers will take a cut of your profits for selling on their site.
This may be hurting to your business but it is the best way to go especially when you don’t have your own established customer base.
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5. Financial section
Your mitumba business plan should have a financial section which usually performs two-fold functions. First of all, you need to consider whether seeking the financial help of an investor or getting a partner is necessary. The second function is to determine how much your will be contributing to the business from your own pockets.
There are six items that should be taken into consideration in the financial part of a mitumba business plan. They include:
- Sales Forecast
Sales forecasting is the process of gauging future sells in order to make more informed business decisions. You should be able to make an educated guess of how much sales you can make in a given month or year.
- Create an expenses budget
Estimate how much you are going to spend in order to make the sales that you have predicted. Calculate both the fixed costs and the variable costs.
- Cash-flow statement
Cash-flow is the total amount of money that goes in and out of your mitumba business every month. It is very crucial in monitoring your cash reserves and knowing exactly where in the business your money is going.
- Income projections
A projection statement enables you to plan ahead in terms of finance and make long-term plans for your mitumba business. They give an estimate of the financial results you anticipate to see in future. That is, the profits and losses you except your business to make in future.
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- Assets and liabilities
In simple terms, your assets are the things in your business that make you money while liabilities are those that make your spend money. Assets put money in your bank, liabilities take money from your bank. Assets and liabilities should clearly be identified in your mitumba business plan so that you know what is hurting or bringing profits to your business.
- Break-even analysis
The last step of the financial section of your mitumba business plan is setting up your breakeven analysis. When the amount you spend on your business is equal to the sales volume, the business is said to be in a break-even point. The business can only be practicable when the amount you make is more than what you spent.
Conclusion
Although many people starting a mitumba business do not think a business plan is essential, it is a crucial document to have if you hope to beat your competition and make significant profits. Follow the above steps to write an effective mitumba business plan that will get you ahead of the pack and see your business flourish.
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