pedi & paint

final assignment mgt 210

Liz Wilson and her husband and business partner Dilon Charter were young entrepreneurs. Both had recently just graduated from college in the spring of 2022 and were eager to start their own business together. Liz and Dilon grew up in northern Ontario and wanted to stay here for their careers. They truly felt that establishing their own business was the key to long term financial success and their establishment in their hometown of North Bay, Ontario.

Each Liz and Dilon focused on their individual studies to contribute to this business. Liz became an esthetician and Dilon focused on his business management course to be able to complete the bookkeeping and financial plans for the business. In addition to managing the business, he was also responsible for increasing the revenue stream for their company outside of the esthetician services.

The total start up cost for this business was $25,000. This cost comprised mainly of rent, esthetician equipment (e.g. massage tables and pedicure chairs), and esthetician supplies. Each had $5,000 to contribute to this business, with the rest coming from start up loans from family, friends and the local bank which supported entrepreneurship.

They called their business Pedi & Paint.

Description

They had the opportunity to rent a retail front on a side road, just off a main artery in the downtown core of North Bay. The retail front was in a small strip mall that also housed a small accounting office and Subway restaurant. Immediately across the street was a very well established but small bar and restaurant. While open 7 days a week, the main revenue at this restaurant came from people travelling home after work to stop by at their local bar for a drink. While there were other salons that offered the same esthetic services in the city, they were the only esthetics salon in the near vicinity.

The planned esthetic services included manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials and massage. Given that they were just starting their business, the general target was both women and men in the local area. However, over time they planned to focus on developing a social media campaign targeting specific target markets to draw people from farther away but they were still in the process of developing services to attract a specific crowd.

The retail front which would house the esthetician business had a front lobby, storage facilities, small kitchen and two salon spaces. They had to sign a 2-year lease to get a more marketable rental price on this facility.

They chose the larger salon room for the esthetician services because of the mobility required between client and esthetician. The salon room at the front of the retail space was smaller and more visible to the public walking by. As such, they felt renting out this space to a tattoo artist would be a perfect fit to help support their venture. They offered a one-year lease to the tattoo artist in case they two services business together werent seen as a natural fit between from the esthetician clients.

Expanding Business Opportunities

Dilon wanted to get started on expanding business opportunities for the business almost immediately. While they did rent to the tattoo artist to minimize their rental costs, from a long-term perspective he wasnt convinced it was a fit and wanted to start other opportunities more inline with their esthetic services.

Given that approximately 70% of their clientele was female he felt bringing in a line of purses, cosmetic jewelry, and other smaller items like matching wallets and key chains were a natural fit.

However, of the 30% of the clientele that were men, almost 100% of the male clients were interested in skin care products to help with dry skin (especially in northern Ontario winters) and other skin sensitivities like allergies. This focus on skin enhancement by the male client was equal to that of the women.

At a recent esthetician conference in Toronto (which focused on showcasing new products and services to the esthetic industry), Dilan discovered a line of skin products developed from coconut milk that targeted both men and women. Products included face washes, serums, soaps and creams in various masculine and feminine scents, and some with no scent at all. The price point was competitive to other natural products. Should Dilon bring this line into the salon, it would be the only retail environment in North Bay to carry such products. The product line made from coconut milk was simply called Refresh.

This product line was developed and manufactured in upstate New York right along the Canadian border.

To launch this line in their store, it would require the development of an e-commerce website for Pedi and Paint as part of the agreement with Refresh required that any retail outlet carrying the Refresh line of products do so with foot traffic to the salon or delivery by the salon to the local market. Any larger requirement for the Refresh line of products would go through the e-commerce site with the US head office.

Conclusion

Liz and Dilon were very excited to launch their new business. They however felt it necessary still to attain the services of a business consultant to sort through their current business situation.

Part A Complete a Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis on Pedi and Paint

Identify at least 4 strengths and weaknesses for each of the 4 key areas of business from the case written above:

Marketing

Operations

Finance & Accounting

Human Resources

The strengths and weaknesses must be conclusive. See your assignment #2 for examples of conclusive statements.

You may supply the information in a matrix format. Part A of the assignment will be no more than 2 pages long.