Talent and Potential

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Competitor Overview

Success of a new business partly depends on the numbers and the strengths of competitors. Before starting this new business, in planning stage, we have researched on the competitors of our future business "Entra". Through research, we have identified three types of competitors and they are discussed briefly in the following-

- Direct Competitors: Direct competitors are those who act directly as a substitute of the services we provide to our customers. As the sector of entrepreneurial training for the future IT entrepreneurs is still new, very few direct competitors are there in the industry. Among them, StartupBD is such a firm which trains future entrepreneurs for help them succeeded. They also provide consulting, networking for the new entrepreneurs. Few other firms are also there who provide similar types of services. But the service we provide is differentiated from others as we are skilled in IT training. However, some firms like Bhuyia Academy, Systech Computers are there who provide only IT training and don't focus on entrepreneurial skills. That's why the service we are going to provide is unique and we think that these competitors won’t affect our business severely.

- Indirect Competitors: Lots of firms are there who can act as indirect competitors of ours. Career training firms like bdjobs.com, prothom-alojobs.com, and a1jobs24.com are some of these. These firms provide only short-time training for career and business development. However, our service is differentiated from these ones as we provide long time IT training with entrepreneurial training. Educational institutes like universities, vocational training institutes etc are also our indirect customers as they educate people regarding IT knowledge and entrepreneurship knowledge. However, we are different from them as we provide career oriented specific training on IT. Our unique strength is the service of helping the future entrepreneurs acting as a intermediary for them for collecting startup capital. As our service is unique, we believe that these indirect competitors won’t be able to affect the success of our business.

- Future Competitors: We are operating in an open market. That's why new businesses can definitely start and become our competitor. However, we think that it will be hard for new entrants becoming our competitors as we are skilled in IT training, networking and fund managing for the new entrepreneurs. When new entrants will come, by that time, we will acquire more experiences and it will act as our competitive advantage. So, currently, we don't think that new entrants can easily become our competitor. However, we will take measures to protect our intellectual property by patent and copyright.

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Porter's five forces is a analytical tool to determine the intensity of competition in a market and the attractiveness of a market to do business profitably. We have used Porter's five forces analysis to measure the competition and attractiveness of the market and found that the business is feasible and potentially profitable. Our analysis using Porter's five forces is discussed briefly in the following.

Bargaining Power of the Suppliers: As we are doing service based business, we don't have traditional suppliers like retailers. In our business, supply means the availability of service of our trainers, councilors and other employees. The availability of good trainers of IT and business is adequate in our country. If we can give standard salary, there will not be any shortages of trainers and employees. That's why we are saying the bargaining power of the employees is very low.

Bargaining power of the Customers: In this entrepreneurial training in IT sector, there are only few options available the customers. The customers who want entrepreneurial training in IT sector can make few choices among the alternatives. Because of the scarcity of competitors in the industry, we are having a competitive advantage and the power of bargaining is in our bag. That's why we are saying that the bargaining power of customers is low.

Intensity of Competition among the Competitors: In the industry of entrepreneurial training in IT sector, the number of competitors is very low. There are only two or three competitors and all of them are different in their different in their services. That why the intensity of competition among the competitors is low. That's why the market seems lucrative to us.

Threat of new entrants: In this industry of entrepreneurial training in IT sector, it's perhaps easy for the new entrepreneurs to enter this industry. But, it will be hard for them to provide all the services we are planning to provide as our service is so sophisticated and diverse in nature. By the time new entrants will come, we will gather experience and this experience will work as a competitive advantage for us. However, many of our intellectual properties will be covered with copyright, patent and trademark. That’s why we are saying the threat of new entrants is moderate.

After all, the Porter’s Five Forces analysis is saying that the bargaining power of the suppliers is low, bargaining power of customers is also low, intensity of competition among the competitors is low and the threat of new entrants is moderate. This information indicates that the industry is lucrative for doing business and it shows that the probability of success of our business is quite high.

Ownership

In terms of ownership, we have discussed among the group members after individual research, and came with the conclusion that the ownership type of this business is going to be Sole Proprietorship. The reasons behind selecting sole proprietorship as the ownership are discussed below:

- In terms of sole proprietorship, it’s easy and takes less time to take decisions regarding business policy. In today’s world, business environment is always changing. And in a growing economy like Bangladesh, the changes are quite fast. Quick adaptation capability in changing business environment is a must needed characteristic for every successful business. So, we think, for taking quick decision in adapting the change, sole proprietorship is the best choice.

- In case of sole proprietorship, a nice advantage is single taxation. To get rid of double taxation, we think that sole proprietorship is the best option.

- In sole proprietorship, the liability of the decisions lies on only one person. That’s why there are no possibilities of disputes regarding devising business plans and policies with anyone. This