Area:

PIA road, near Wapda town round about is an area where there is a lot of opportunity for new
businesses, specially established brands. This area consist total of 8 retailers which include
stores like Victoria fabrics, Bareeze, Leisure Club, Sony, Brighto paints, 2 fueling stations
and 3 local carpenter and hardware stores. Just after the road ends there are different other
local retailers once you turn on the other side offering sports goods, ceramic, sanitary and
wooden goods and services. At the opposite side of the road there are local stores and brands
naming Shirt and Tie shop, Bata, Service, Baby & Baba, Stylo, Hush puppies, a local
boutique rest are again DVD stores including Shehzad, Shahzaib, one Departmental Store,
Restaurant and shops providing hardware and sanitary goods and services.

Victoria fabrics deals in unstitched fabrics mostly for women which includes, fabrics from
Al-karam, Gul Ahmed, and their own fabrics named as Victoria fabrics.

Bareeze again deals in unstitched fabrics for women and its variety ranges from formal to
casuals. This outlet also consists of children variety of clothes and toys. This corner is named
as Minnie Minors.

Leisure club deals in stitched clothing for women, men and children and accessories for
women.

The location in this area that we have chosen for our business is a hall situated between
Raiwind plaza and Bareeze. The size of this hall is 10 marlas and it needs renovation.

Business:

Our business will be a franchise of brand name Maria B, which is already an established
brand with high brand equity. Products that are offered by this brand are stitched formal,
casual, semi formal and bridal wear. Moreover, it also offers designed unstitched lawn. Our
business will be as a franchisee of this brand. As the name is already established it will take
fewer efforts in promotions and in value creation. Besides this, our outlet will provide
designer consultancy in terms of helping out customers to choose accessories and clothing to
what would suit them best and we will also offer bridal package which would include
discounted rates for customers who are buying bridal wear. This package would include semi
formals, formals and accessories to suit them best and this will be one of our competitive
edge. Our retail outlet will work according to the defined business standards of the parent
chain (franchisor). Maria B is a high street fashion brand and is a member of Pakistan
Fashion Designing Council and ranked amongst the top ten fashion brands in Pakistan.
Currently, it has only 2 retail outlets in Lahore, situated in Defence and one in Gulberg. Its
specialty is bridal wear. The designer who will be available at our store will be of our own
choice, who will help us add value to our offerings. Our product offerings will be the same as
of Maria B. Including:

 M. Girl: accessories (bags, shoes, tops, scarfs etc.).

 Bridals.

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  Lawn which is tagged as D 2001, 2002, ….2010).
 Formal wear (FX).
 Semi formal (SF).
 Day wear (Mafia).

Entering the Market???

Success of a franchisor is the success of the franchise. As we are getting a franchise of a well
established reputable brand with strong positioning so we do not need to enter the market, we
will be taking a step ahead as the brand is already known by the target market. This market
covers the consumers living in areas of Valencia, Wapda town, PIA society, Johar town,
PCSIR, Punjab Society, architect society and various others like EME who are not having
easy access to this brand as they have to travel miles to reach it, and this franchise will create
ease of access to these customers.

Business Model?

We will follow the defined business model by the franchisor which is they have their own
distribution system, retail management system called as candela, distribution to every outlet
is done twice weekly, from the ware house situated at 5kms Pind fatih, raiwind road Lahore,
the offering by the business is quality designer wear. The policy for the franchise is to split
the total sales of the month in the ratio of 60, 40 in which 60% goes to the company and 40%
to the franchisee and in this 40 % franchisee has to take care of the expenses made by the
business. Whereas, the products of M. Girl is to be separately considered for the profit and
the franchisee cannot pay for the expenses from it. Maria B has not focused on promotions
and we will make sure that we display street sign flexes in the above mentioned areas.
Auditors from the company are sent monthly, to check in the available inventory and
products sold through the mentioned list of the products from the software which is replicated
from the head office in to the franchise. In case of loss or missing products the amount of the
total loss is to be paid by the people in the outlet as follows:

Franchisor has to pay 20% of it as he is not always available at the store.

Manager has to pay 50% as he is responsible for the store.

Store keeper has to pay10% as he is directly dealing with the inventory.

And sales people have to pay 20% of the loss.

The return and exchange policy is again made by the organization which states that, every
product is non-refundable. In case of damaged or defected product is brought back by the
customers within 10 days along with the receipt it can be exchanged staying in the same
financial limit. Maria B introduces 10-15 new designs monthly for its Fx, Sf, Mafia, and Fx
range. Whereas, unstitched lawn is done once a year. If the franchisee needs to place an order
before the end of the month he has to mail the National sales coordinator or Assistant sales

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coordinator for it. Our business model will only be differentiated with the addition of
designer on the floor who will be the manager of the store as well. Our target market consists
of residents of Valencia, Wapda town and societies nearby and it is segmented for people
who wear designer and trendy clothes. In this area we have indirect competitors who are
dealing with same kind of product range in terms of providing fabrics and accessories but this
competition will get us more customers. The price range of our designer stitched garments
will pay off better than that of the unstitched fabrics, as mostly customers look for daily
wears in which Maria B sells the most and we can also offer discounts to regular customers
up to 10%. Moreover, we will be saving the time of customers who have to take an hour to
drive off to our Gulberg and Defense branch.

Strengths:

 The sales people that we have, includes a designer.

 First mover in the area.
 Established brand name.

Weaknesses:

 Direct competitors are not present which confuses the customer.

 We are bound to follow the existing strategies.
 No growth opportunities (less profit margin).

Opportunities:

 Growing population.
 Understored area.
 Preference of branded and designer over local.

Threats:

 Security, natural disasters.

 Increased taxes.
 If the franchisor changes its policy.

Target market?

Our target market, are the residents of areas nearby as the people living or moving in these
areas are people with high income level and they prefer this area because of the less
population and pollution. Our target market is segmented as women who like trendy clothes.

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 Retail Mix
Merchandise:

Our merchandise will include readymade designer garments and short range of unstitched
lawn. The products are listed below:

 M. Girl: accessories (bags, shoes, tops, scarfs etc.).

 Bridals. 10designs/month
 Lawn which is tagged as D 2001, 2002, ..2010).10 designs/year
 Formal wear (FX).10 designs/month
 Semi formal (SF).8-10 designs/month
 Day wear (Mafia).15 designs/month

This merchandise will be given to our store by the franchisor on monthly basis.

Sizes which are offered are listed below:

Vitals Large Medium Small Xsmall

Length 42.5 `42 41 40

Shoulders 15.5 15 14.5 13.5

Sleeve length 23 22 21.5 20

Chest 41 38 36 34

Waist 39 34 30 27

Hips 47 41.5 37 36

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Pricing:

The prices are set by the franchisor, and the franchisee is allowed to offer upto 10% discount
to the customers.

Product Price range

(Fx) bridal and semi bridal 20000 and above

Mafia (casual) 3500-4500

Semi formal (SF) 8000-18000

Lawn 1800-3000

Advertising and Promotion:

Maria B does not encourage advertisement and promotions, but as a franchisee in a new area
we will be using street sign flexes to create awareness and hype mentioning designer
consultancy and our opening in the targeted areas. Moreover, in the existing outlets there will
be posters confirming our opening in a new area and at the time of opening we will be
inviting Maria Butt herself and top students of PSFD as she herself belongs to the same
college. Word of mouth will be our ideal promotional tool.

Customer services & Selling:

We will be friendly and advocate best service with the help of the designer on the floor to
help people consider best options for them. This will not only make them confident about
their choice but will reduce the risk of cognitive dissonance. The rest of the sales people will
be females and friendly and sophisticated in nature to make customer come at ease.
Catalogues will be given to the customers if they want to go home and decide on what to buy
and try.

Store layout and design:

Store will be designed keeping in mind the squared shape of the available space, there are
certain requirements of Maria B for franchising that is it should be spacious and ambiance
should be exquisite and elegant. For that we will be choosing grey color scheme and spiral
racks will be used along with the 2 armed racks with wheels for better display there will be 2

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trial rooms at the end of the store one on the left and other on the right hand side. The counter
will be place at the end for the convenience of the customer to move in the outlet. 2
Manikins’ will be placed just near the glass door at the beginning; the entrance of the store
will be from the center. And 2 manikins will be placed on the ride side of the entrance. On
the left the part will be of M.Girl so that the customer doesn’t mix up with the clothes and
accessories. The lights will be exclusively covering the clothes and rest of the store will be
covered with dim light. Racks will be placed in such a manner with the wall that the light
shades it right. Latest English tracks mostly soft music with the scent of natural lilies and
roses will form the aroma of the outlet. Moreover, there will be posters on top of the rack for
the latest collection on the brand.

Designer consultancy:

There will be a designer on the floor providing assistance to the customers for better choice
and the lawn that they select or fabric that they bring can be stitched and designed by him.
Moreover, the customer who decides to buy a bridal suit will be given a bridal package
including semi formal and formal range of clothes with accessories to with discounted rates.

Human Resource Plan:

Outlet will require:

Mentioned in descending order:

 Designer (who will be our manager).responsible for cash, and closing.

 Floor manager. Looks after store in absence of the manager.
 4 girls. 2 for Maria b and 2 for M. Girl
 1 sweeper.
 1 store keeper.
 1 guard.

Financial plan:

Cost in PKR
Rent 1,25000
Salaries 85,000
Generator 50,000
Utility bills 43,000
Renovation 400,000

Total expense: 703000.

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