Company Background
Fran’s Flower was founded by a business minded Fran, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in art in 2008. Fran combined her knowledge and the love of flowers to bring something new and that is the flower business.
Internal Strengths and Weakness
The greatest strength from the case is the love, and knowledge Fran has for flowers. Another internal strength is the positioning of the business. Fran’s Flowers are positioned in a strip mall offering a huge volume of walk-in clients. However, even though Fran is a skilled arranger, she has been forced to hire some unskilled personnel, something she feels will weaken her reputation and relations with the clients.
External threats and opportunities
The demands from the suppliers that she buys the flowers on contract rather than bulk are posing a bigger external threat to Fran’s business. On the positive side, most of the clients are liking the flowers very much that they are urging Fran to have even more operations.
Identification and analysis of core issues
Fran’s Flowers is a young business which demands plenty of attention from Fran. As it turns out, Fran has a higher anticipation that customers like her products. However, she faces plenty of challenges ranging from the irregular flow of customers to customer’s dissatisfaction. Additionally, Fran have some personal issues and poor personnel relations.
Identification and Analysis of solution
Fran lacks the proper understanding of the market and customer relations. She needs to conduct extensive research on the customers’ needs and how to relate with her staff.
Identification and analysis of the action plan
Fran requires skilled personnel to help her arrange the flowers. In addition to Molly, it will be beneficial if she added at least two more flower arrangement specialists and delivery personnel to assist handle the customer traffic.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Fran first concentrate on one store instead of expanding to other parts of the city. Additionally, just like the suppliers have proposed, it will offer Fran a great deal if she purchased the flowers on a contract rather than on bulk spot.
