INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS

Charity drive event

GROUP MEMBERS

JUSTIN CHONG 0322845

LEON LIM 0322180

OW XUN CONG 0321997

TEOH JUN XIANG 0320099

TEAM STEAMILICIOUS

LECTURER : TAY SHIR MEN

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS [BUS30104]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No. Title Page Number1. Executive Summary 1

2. Objectives 2 - 3

3. Target Market 4

4. Competition Analysis 5 - 6

5. Product and Packaging 7 - 10

6. Pricing 11 - 12

7. Promotion 13 - 14

8. Sponsors 15 - 16

9. Distribution 17

10. Green Measures 18

11. Human Resource Planning 19 - 20

12. Evaluation of Results 21

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

For the final project of the Introduction to Business module, students were required to form groups of 4 members and organize a charity drive event to raise funds for charity organizations by running a mock business. Students were expected to earn a profit of RM2300 in the course of 4 days through sales of products and services as well as through sponsorships or donations.

After forming a group, we decided to raise funds by selling steamed products, such as fish balls, siu mai, sausages, sweet corn and drinks such as tongshui. Steamed products were chosen to be sold because it is a form of healthy snack as the products were steamed rather than fried. Moreover, the steamed products we sell are easily recognizable by the local population, which are mainly students with cravings for small snacks. Besides, our charity drive event coincidentally falls on the rainy season, and selling hot steamed food will prove a high chance of success.

Our business was promoted through social media such as Facebook and also through face to face communication. Most of our products were sponsored by generous sponsors such as Nelson’s Franchise, Farm’s Best Berhad as well as friends and relatives of the group members. In the period of five days, our group set up our booth at the hallway of level 2 on Monday and in front of the Student Life Centre from Tuesday to Friday. A total profit of RM2567.38 was raised by our team, Steamilicious, and all profits gained will be donated the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia. The charity organization was chosen because they are a very reputable international charity organization which aims to provide aid and care to those who are in need. Moreover, the charity organization is well structured and organized and they are proven to be very effective on their charity missions. As such, the charity organization was able to give our group confidence to donate our profits to them.

OBJECTIVESa. Donation to Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia

Details of the charity organization to receive the profits from our charity drive event :

Charity organization of choice: Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia Address: 359, Jalan Kepong, 52000 Kuala Lumpur. Phone number: +603-6256-3800

The reason we decided to donate all of our business profits to the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia is because this foundation is a well-recognized international charity organization that provides aid and care to the people in need. Moreover, the charity organization is well structured and organized and they are proven to be very effective to provide assistance during time of difficulties such as natural disasters.

b. Professional and personal objectives

Professional objectives:

i. A target donation of RM2300ii. A sales profit of RM2300 or above

iii. Targeted sale of products per day: 3 packets of Whole Kernel corn (6kg in total) 2 boxes of siu mai (100 in total) 1 packet of fish balls (100 in total) 50 containers of tong shui 10 packages of sausages (Both Cheese Cocktail & Quality Country)

Logo of Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia

Personal Objectives:

i. To produce and execute a substantial business proposal and planii. To obtain business skills (e.g. marketing techniques/ accounting skills/ production methods/

planning strategies)iii. To gain new experiences and to enjoy the processiv. To raise funds for a good cause through our own efforts

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrsZPnScbIg&feature=youtu.be

Target marketa. Customers and their backgrounds

Our primary customers for this particular assignment were Taylors University Lakeside Campus students. This is because the students account for the majority of the population of TULC and gaining their support would prove a high chance of success. As TULC is a private institution, we felt that the majority of students studying here will be from the middle to upper income classes, and thus would be willing to buy our products. These students would also be highly interested in purchasing hot, steamed products as the weather conditions during that particular week was cold and chilling.

Our secondary customers would be the staffs of TULC, which would include the lecturers as well as the school administrators. The staff of TULC are working class people and they would most likely have higher purchasing power compared to university students. As such, they are more likely to support our business and it is very crucial for us to gain their support.

b. Customer’s wants and needs

As our charity drive event was held on a week that was considerably colder than usual due to the monsoon season, our team decided to take advantage of this weather condition by selling hot snacks to our customers to cater their needs of consuming warm food in cold conditions. As such, steamed products such as sausages, siu mai, fish balls and corn in cup were sold as they are able to fulfil the needs of our customers.

Secondly, our potential customers would desire delicious yet cheap food products. As the food sold in TULC is definitely more expensive compared to other places, the customers would prefer to purchase food that are of reasonable price and are able to fill their stomachs. By selling all of our snacks at RM4 or below, we attracted plenty of customers to purchase at our stall compared to the others as our products were one of the cheapest during the charity drive.

c. Customer’s spending power

Our primary customer’s (the students) spending power is highly dependent on their parents’ income as they are still studying and do not generate their own income. However, as they are students of TULC, the vast majority of these students would most probably come from a middle to upper income families (household income >RM4000). By providing products that were sold at a low price, we managed to attract many of the students who come from these backgrounds to purchase at our stall.

Our secondary customer’s (the staff) spending power is higher compared to the students as they are earning their own income. As such they will be more willing to purchase from our stall as compared to the students.

COMPETITION ANALYSIS

Throughout the entire charity drive event, we discovered that there were two main competitors to our business, namely Mike’s group and Premdyl’s group, both of which were located beside our stall and in front of our stall and also sold food products which were very much similar to ours.

A Full Analysis of Our 2 Main Competitors:

Groups Premdyl’s Group Mike’s Group

Products Face masks, lok lok (food on sticks), pasta, and mushroom soup

Curry fish balls and shawarma

Strengths Variety of products to cater to customers of different interests

Shawarma, a unique food which has not been sold by the other groups were sold by Mike’s group

Fishballs that have an additional taste of curry, is able to add variety to the food compared to the fishballs sold in our stall, which were of plain taste

Premdyl’s Group Mike’s Group

Vulnerabilities Weak promotion of business

Inconsistent product prices

Lack of variety of products sold Insufficient amount of products

(shawarma) sold per day

Hot selling products Face masks Curry fish balls

Why would/ do their customers buy from them?

Most of the customers of Premdyl’s group are actually close friends. As such they gave huge amount of support to their group during the entire event.

Shawarma, a unique food which was solely available in their stall was sold. As such, customers were attracted to purchase and try the unique food.

PRODUCT AND PACKAGING

a. Products

i. Corn in cup

Description: Whole corn kernel are steamed in a wok using boiling water and then they are mixed with margarine and salt. Later, they will be filled into a polystyrene cup till it is completely filled to be served hot to the customers.

Features: The corn in cup contains the buttery taste of margarine as well as salt. These necessary ingredients enhance and bring out the taste of the steamed corn to satisfy the taste buds of customers.

Benefits: As corn in cup is not sold in the campus, customers who love the product could buy it from us in a period of 4 days. As such, our products actually satisfy the needs of our customers, especially for those who live in hostels. Moreover, as the cups are completely filled, consumers can be full with the consumption of just one cup.

ii. Steamed quality country sausages and cheese cocktails

Description: Both quality country sausages and cheese cocktails were steamed in a steamer for 15 minutes and then they were inserted into a polystyrene cup to be served hot to customers.

Features: Cheese cocktails are short sausages with cheese added inside the sausages. The cheese attracts customers to buy the products as the taste of the hot cheese enhances the taste of the sausage’s meat. Moreover, as the food is served hot, the cheese will spurt out of the sausages if the consumer bites the sausages.

Benefit: As the cheese cocktails are small, they are portable and they can also act as small snacks or dishes in between or after meals. The long quality country sausages on the other hand can be a filling food. Customers can be full with only the consumption of just two sausages, allowing it to be a choice of food during meal times.

Freshly steamed Whole Kernel Corn

iii. Steamed fish balls

Description: Mushroom brand fish balls are steamed using a steamer for 15 minutes and they were packaged using a polystyrene cup to be served hot to customers.

Benefit: Being relatively large in size, the fish balls can be a satisfying snack as customers are able to consume large amounts of food with limited cost. Moreover, as the fish balls are steamed, they are a healthy form of snacks.

Steamed Cheese Cocktails Packaging of Steamed Cheese Cocktails

Steamed Quality Country Sausages Packaging of Steamed Quality Country Sausages

iv. Steamed siu mai

Description: Handmade siu mai, a traditional Chinese dumpling is steamed using a steamer for 15 minutes and then they are served hot to customers. As the siu mai is prepared using pork meat, the food is considered non-halal and they were not sold to Muslims.

Feature: As the siu mai contains pork meat, the food is scrumptious and has an attractive smell due to the cooked marinated meat. Such a dish is filling as the siu mai contains a lot of meat to be eaten.

Benefits: As the siu mai is a traditional Chinese dish that is available in local coffee shops or restaurants, Chinese of all backgrounds love the taste of the small delicacy. As the food is unavailable in campus, selling it satisfies the needs of the customers who crave its taste. In addition to that, as our business starts at 8 in the morning, the food acts as a perfect choice for breakfast.

v.

Tongshui (Chinese sweet drink)

Description: Homemade tongshui is prepared using traditional Chinese herbs and ingredients such as longan, white fungus (xue er) and also lotus seeds.

Features: Prepared using a variety of ingredients, the sweet drink can not only be drank, but it also allows the consumers to consume the ingredients present in the drink. White fungus and also lotus seeds are crunchy and filling. The longan is mildly sweet and big in size and it complements the swet drink as it is considered the main ingredient for Chinese sweet drinks.

Benefit: Prepared using Chinese herbs, the sweet drink is considered a healthy form of dessert. Moreover, as the drink is averagely sweet, it is a suitable choice of dessert for consumers who are health conscious.

Freshly Steamed Siu Mai Packaging of Steamed Siu Mai

b. Packaging

The food were packaged into polystyrene cups once the customers purchase any one of them. The polystyrene cups were used to package the food as they were of low cost and most importantly, it maintains the temperature of the steamed food. Sate sticks were provided for products such as steamed fishballs, steamed quality country sausages and steamed cheese cocktails to provide convenience for the customers to consume the products.

As for corn in cup, the well prepared corn were scooped into a polystyrene cup and a green spoon was provided to allow the customers to consume the food easily.

For the Chinese sweet drink, the drink was scooped into a plastic container and was covered using a lid. The transparent plastic container allows potential customers to view the ingredients present and it is a good form of advertisement. More importantly, the containers were sealed tight and can be brought along to anywhere we go without the fear of spilling the drink. A white plastic spoon is provided alongside the packaged drink.

Roles of packaging in terms of attraction

In terms of attraction, the polystyrene cups do not attract the customers to purchase the products as the products were not packaged and displayed publically on the booth. The products themselves, especially the aroma of the food is the actual factor that attracts customers. As mentioned before, the transparent plastic container used to package the tongshui is ideal in attracting the customers as it allows them to view the ingredients present inside, thus increasing the confidence of the customers to purchase the product.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KccM9fHCNPE&feature=youtu.be

PRICING

As most of the products were sponsored by generous sponsors, most of the products are of no cost at all. However, the corn in cup and siu mai are exceptions to this statement. The unit selling price of the products are counted in terms of cups.

Products Cost Price Per Unit (RM) Selling Price Per Cup (RM)

Chinese Sweet Drinks were Packaged into Plastic Containers

Siu mai 0.60 3.00Quality country sausages 0.00 3.00

Cheese cocktails 0.00 3.00Tongshui 0.00 4.00

4 siu mai were packaged into a single cup to be sold. The cost price of a siu mai is RM 0.60. 2 quality country sausages were packaged into a single cup to be sold. The products were

sponsored by Farm’s Best Berhad. 3 cheese cocktails were packaged into a single cup to be sold. The products were sponsored by

Farm’s Best Berhad. Tongshui is served in a plastic container and the product is sponsored by Jun Xiang’s mother.

Products Cost Price Per Kilogram (RM) Selling Price Per CupCorn in cup (14 kg) 0.00 4.00Coen in cup (6kg) 7.50 4.00

Corn in cup is served in a single cup. 14 kg of the product is sponsored by Nelson’s Franchise Company and 6 kg of the product was purchased by our group for RM 7.50 for each kg. 7 cups of corn in cup can be prepared from 1 kg of whole kernel corn.

The products sold were attractive as the price of products were cheap and customers can pay less to obtain more. As such, the low prices were the factor that attracts the customers. Secondly, quality and taste of the products were a major factor that determined the success of our business. Customers who were satisfied with the quality and taste of the food sold introduce it to their friends via word of mouth and this is turn promoted our business.

Generally, the considerations made when deciding on the price of the products are the market price of the products as well as the effect of the price of the products on the customers’ emotions. For example, the selling price for each piece of siu mai is RM 1. This decision was made as the selling price of siu mai in local coffee shops are also the same. Selling the product with a higher price will prevent customers from purchasing the products. The same thing goes with the other products as well.

Although the products sold were popular and attractive, the price remains the same for the entire charity drive event to avoid confusion of loyal customers and also to avoid mistakes and difficulties which may arise when completing the income statement. The sausages experience a change in selling price on the very last day of the charity drive event. Although our group achieved the minimum requirement set the day before, the group members decided to reduce the selling price of the product to reduce the amount of stocks we had in hand. Initially, RM 2 was charged for each cup of quality country sausages and cheese cocktails and the price was reduced again to RM 1.

The tongshui was the least attractive product compared to the rest. This was because many of the younger generation have not seen or tasted such a traditional form of dessert. Lack of

exposure as well as strong preferences for newer and modern forms of desserts, such as ice cream and canned drinks caused the drink to experience low sales. As such, reduction in terms of price was implemented at the end of the days. For example, on Wednesday, there were only two containers of tongshui left and they were not sold for a long period of time. As such, when a potential customer showed up, the price of the tongshui was reduced to RM 5 for two containers. The reduction of price was inconsistent for each days as the decision made was dependent of the different situations.

PROMOTIONA detailed plan of the promotional strategies and tools we used:

a) Main Marketing Message

Our main marketing message was “Steamilicious – Steamingly delicious”. This slogan was incorporated as it relates back to our products which were completely steamed and served hot. The

massage clearly states our products as well as our desire to serve hot and palatable products. Moreover, we wanted the people in campus to easily notice our hot and steamed snacks on cold days.

b. Main tools of promotion

Our primary and most important tool of product communication is through face to face communication. We spread word of our business by constantly shouting out our slogan as well as our products to attract customers who were walking along the walkway in front of SLC. Thanks to our broad contact list, we were able to inform vast amounts of people to notice our stall and buy our products in a short amount of time. When people liked our food, they tend to help us advertise our products to their peers, giving us another way of spreading word to people around campus.

Our secondary tool of promoting was through social media. We created a Facebook page as well as changed our profile pictures to help create awareness of our stall to our peers. For our Facebook page, we designed a poster that was filled with bright colours to attract the customers attention. Moreover, the details regarding our stall was updated periodically to ensure that customers know what we were selling every day.

In conclusion, we believe that this approach of promotion is suitable as it works well for our product. By promoting through word of mouths as well as social media, we managed to create a strong impression of our products on our customers.

Steamilicious’ facebook page, with the team logo as well as the team slogan.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1poaN3oQo8&feature=youtu.be

SPONSORS

We have approached almost any entity on acquiring our sponsorships, ranging from close

friends, family members and friends of family members to large corporations locally and

internationally. The individuals we have approached are firstly our parents, then relatives then

branching out to friends of our parents. While on the other hand, the corporations we first

approached were the ones that are related to our business, those that have similar products, in

example: Ayamas, Farm’s Best, Nelson’s, Nestle, Yeos and many more. Later on we decided to

contact businesses big and small to acquire our sponsorships, for example: Gardenia, Mentholathum

and Ibumie.

We target entities with the likes of Ayamas, Nelson’s and Farm’s Best because our business

is selling steamed food, these corporations are delved mainly into the food and beverage industry,

so they could easily connect to us on their business aims. Moreover, they could be potential

suppliers of our products. On the other hand, we also implored to acquire donations from some

individuals that are financially generous. These individuals are kind hearted and they are genuinely

motivated to support our cause to raise funds to be donated to the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi

Foundation Malaysia, which is a charity organization well – known for their crisp action and good

structure.

The corporations Nelson’s and Farm’s Best, which we have successfully acquired

sponsorships from, have sponsored us in terms of products. Nelson’s, a snack food company, well –

known for pioneering the corn in cup in Malaysia, have sponsored us 14kg of their high quality

Whole Kernel corns. While Farm’s Best, a food company, have given us 4 cartons of their premium

sausages. The generous individuals on the other hand have supported our cause of providing

financial support to the needy through a charity organization by donating to us an accumulated sum

of RM1200. Mr. Goh Kok Beng, who have donated RM 500, Mr. Yoong Kah Yin, who have donated

RM 300, Mr Johann Cheah Yun Cheng, who have donated RM 300 and Mr Lim Chiam Teck, who have

donated RM 100.

We approached our sponsors mainly through phone calls to briefly explain about our

business summary and cause, later on the entities we have contacted will then negotiate with us via

email on whether the potential sponsorships work out or not.

Logo of Nelson’s Franchise Group

DistributionWe bring a calculated portion of our products which the number is in relation to our

proposed target every day to campus. But as the products require refrigeration to maintain its

freshness and quality, we bought plenty of ice and kept the products and the ice in multiple

polystyrene boxes to be transported to campus. The products will remain refrigerated in the

polystyrene boxes throughout the course of the day until we retrieve it for selling.

The products are delivered almost immediately to the customers. Our mode of strategy is

that we have multiple steamers that are big enough to simultaneously steam a large amount of

steamed food. We ensured the steamers were always filled with products and always heated so we

can cater to even an occasional large influx of customers. However, when the corn in cup and the siu

mai, our deemed bestsellers, sell out quickly and customers have to wait for a new batch to cook up,

we ensured that the customers receive their products instantly when it is cooked by having a good

distributeion flow.

We reached an approximate 125 people per day through face-to-face communication and

mass communication, the number of sales person we have was 4, all of our group members

participated in the promotion of our products.

The customers are freely able to order our products online, but due the fact that our

location was strategic and the customers preferred to engage with us face to face, we had no

precedent case of customers ordering through other channels.

GREEN MEASURESOur products were prepared in an environmentally friendly manner. We opted to use the

steam cook method instead of the frying method because it requires no amount of gas, and does not

produce harmful emissions. The product itself is healthier compared to the same food when fried.

The product packaging is less environmental friendly as we opted to use polystyrene cups,

plastic spoons and plastic containers. The reason behind this choice was that we wanted to ensure

our food was steaming hot when we serve our customers. The polystyrene cups provided sufficient

amount of heat insulation so that our customers will be able to hold the cup to enjoy the food while

it is hot without having their hands burned.

The carbon footprint during our distribution stage was low as we were selling our products

by having our sales persons draw people to our stall. This was because the equipment we used did

not emit carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere.

The product’s waste were relatively high. Although the polystyrene cups could be reused

when a customer comes back for another product, most of the customers did not reuse the

polystyrene cups or containers and they were disposed after the customers consume the products.

As such, this situation taught us to be more concerned of the environmental problems as the

polystyrene cups are non-degradable.

Justin cooking up the corn and distributing it to the customers in a friendly manner.

Our group members having face to face communication with our customers. The steamers are clearly visible on the booth.

The steamers we used were of high quality and therefore, the electricity consumed by our

group were hugely conserved. The amount of water used was minimal as the steamers have large

compartments to store large volumes of water to steam the products for long periods of time. As

such, the consumption of water was relatively low as well.

Human Resource PlanningTeam Organizational Chart and job delegation Chart:

As the charity drive will be going on for 4 days straight, we made earlier preparations a month before the charity drive event. We delegated each task according to each and everyone’s abilities so that the team members can carry out their task productively to maintain maximum efficiency during the charity drive event.

The team includes:

Director(Teoh Jun Xiang)

Sales and Marketing Team(Ow Xun Cong)(Lim woo Leon)

Account and Finance Team

(Lim Woo Leon)

Production Team(Justin Chong)

(Teoh Jun Xiang)

Sponsorship Team

(Teoh Jun Xiang)(Ow Xun Cong)(Lim Woo Leon)

i. Director

Our leader, Teoh Jun Xiang, delegated the tasks accordingly and fairly to ensure that the business ran smoothly throughout the week.

ii. Sales and Marketing team

The charity drive event is a short term event that only lasted for 4 days and publicity is not widely spread. Therefore, the team devised a plan to promote the event and also our booth to the students, staffs and lecturers through social medias, such as Facebook a week before the event. An update would be done each day through photos and reviews from regular customers to promote our products to new customers.

iii. Account and Finance Team

Lim Woo Leon, the group accountant, collected all receipts and cheques from sales and donors to be calculated in the income statement at the end of the charity drive. The cost of goods were also controlled according to the target profit of the team. Daily profits were calculated and analysed to determine the number of goods that shall be sold the following day.

iV. Production Team

As the shelf lives of our products sold are short, the production team led by Teoh Jun Xiang and Justin Chong produced the products daily. Justin Chong managed the corn in cup section, where he had to produce new batch of sweet corns consistently throughout the day. Teoh Jun Xiand, however, managed the other products by serving the food in polystyrene cups to be served to customers.

V. Sponsorship Team

Sponsorships were crucial to our profits and losses, and therefore the sponsorship team in an organization is highly valued. Led by Teoh Jun Xiang, Ow Xun Cong and Lim Woo Leon, they utilised telemarketing or cold calls to acquire potential sponsorships from companies that would potentially sponsor us in terms of cash or products.

Evaluation of resultsAt the end of the event, the results of our earnings were tabulated in a table below:

Income Statement - Charity Drive Event

RevenueSales RM 2,495.50Less: Cost of Goods Sold RM 570Gross Profit RM 1,925.50Add: Donation RM 1,222Adjusted Gross Profit RM 3,147.50

Less: Operating ExpensesTyphoid Injection RM 280Transportation RM 140Miscellaneous RM 59.94Total Operating Expenses RM 479.94

Net Profit RM 2,667.38

The entire project was a success as we have exceeded our targeted profits and was able to pay back all our costs and fees. One of the problems that we addressed was publicity as our targeted audience was not as much as we expected and not many knew about our booth. In terms of human resource, a four men business organization is quite a challenge for our business. More manpower were required to run the entire business.

The things that we did right include the weather analysis during the period where it will rain due to the year-end monsoon season. Therefore, we selected warm products to fulfil the needs of customers during that period of time. Another great strategy used is the choice of products sold as we all knew that maximising the choice of products will increase the selling power of a business. This was proven when customers bought a variety of products during the charity drive event and they were not disappointed by the variety of warm products sold. In terms of sponsorship we managed to find a few main sponsors to aid our business and this was not done easily as many sponsors will turn down our request as it was near the end of the year where they have to accommodate to their tight budget constrain.

If this event were to be run again, we would perhaps gone to different locations to sell our products to optimise our profits faster than usual. We would also increase our publicity by promoting in advance through many other social medias available, such as Instagram and Twitter to reach a wider amount of audiences in a short amount of time.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK3mAZTO_SI&feature=youtu.be

Appendices

a. The official receipts for our vaccinations

b. The receipt books as well as a sample of the receipts we wrote

c. The sponsorship letters we have given out to different parties.

d. The cheques we have received from generous donators.

e. A collection of receipts from the items that we have bought.

f. Collection of receipts received from Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia

Receipt Given to Our Group

g. Pictures Taken During Visit to Charity Organization

Entrance of Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia’s Building