ZURAIDAH_ZAAB_00_24

7/30/2019 ZURAIDAH_ZAAB_00_24

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':crOSrAT T IDAK DIBENARKANjT H E S I S K A K t t A H G A N

E D I T H COWANU N I V E R S I T YPERTH WESTERN AUSTRAL I A

UN1VERSITI TgKN.QtOC.I-MARAKofra Kinabalu,

ZC FASHION HOUSEBUSINESS PLAN

MANAGEMENT PROJECT VIA( a : M BA 61O1

Submitted byZuraidah Zaaba (0993980)

30 Sept 2000


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AcknowledgementI will like to thankTo Almighty God for destine me to enrol and finish this MBATo my parent thank you for all the unconditional love you give m eTo all the staff of UiTM w ho indirectly assist m eTo all my friends w ho support an d motivate m eTo my entire classmate, w ho assist me in their own w ayTo Connie for her energetic touchTo Zainal for being m y good friendTo Peter for being there for me though afar; encouraging, trusting and helping me a lotespecially for the last 3 modules; and never give up on me and successfully discover m eFinally to Barry Chapman thank you very much


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Contents PageAcknowledgementExecutive Summary 1Industry 4Product 8Marketing Plan 12Operational Plan 26Management Team 29Financial Plan 33References and Bibliography 40Management ResumePersonnel, Personnel skills &Operation SkillsZC Fashion House PortfolioAppendix IAppendix IIAppendix IIIAppendix IVAppendix VAppendix VIAppendix VIIAppendix VIIIAppendix IXAppendix XAppendix XIAppendix XII


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1.0 EXECUTIVE S UMMARYZuraidah Chua (ZC) Fashion House is a small sole proprietor businessfounded by Zuraidah Zaaba. It is expected to commence in2001 (Appendix XII: Implementation Table). The idea of forming ZCFashion House as a result of the discovery that some market segments inth e fashion industry are greatly underdeveloped. Therefore, it is intendingto produce w om en ' s clothing of size 14/L and above; and fashion ofwomen age 40s' and above.

The target market are large and old women especially, their siblings an dfriends; and Women Association. ZC Fashion House business is expectedto be profitable because 20% Malaysian is obese, increase life expectancydue to health conscious, excess resources, fashion wise society and thepositive condition in Malaysia.

ZC Fashion House ready made clothes are blouses, suits, skirts and pantsand accept customised clothes. They are unique from th e competitors'because ZC Fashion House acknowledges the 4 women body shapes i.e.cone, ruler, hourglass and spoon (Jakowski, 1999) and fashion suitabilityfor th e target group. In addition, its products are of the latest fabric, patternand colour, which suit to the target group. So the products are customtailor. This is greatly ignore by the competitors i.e. lady shops and ladytailors which only sell an d know one particular body shape. Since


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competitors do not considered large and old women as their maincostumers, ZC Fashion House will anticipate th e slow retaliation from th ecompetitors.

However, before they retaliate, ZC Fashion House is preparing a strategyfor competition by marketing its products and providing services directlyto the target group. The first shop is in Wisma Muis which is surroundedby office buildings and housing area in Kota Kinabalu. This will easilypenetrate the market. ZC Fashion House selling strategy one is to employselling staff from th e target group itself. ZC Fashion House isconcentrating on non-pricing strategy i.e. quality, good design and image,good service, unique product and brand loyalty (Barrow and Brown,1997). ZC Fashion House is still consider pricing strategy important byplacing it products at odd pricing which is currently use in the market.

ZC Fashion House will advertise in the printed media, flyers andpamphlets. The advertisement is constant i.e. by reminding th e existencean d development of ZC Fashion House. It is also intended to form goodrelationship with th e society and the related individuals and industries. ZCFashion will continue to do research and train its employees in fashion,image, an d public relation, selling technique an d areas concern. ZCFashion also prepare fo r future market strategy by anticipating th e futureoutcome especially 2003 globafisation.


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In product development, ZC Fashion House designer has made customisedclothes and sketches. Since it emphasis on the quality and non pricingaspect, ZC Fashion House is innovative in the operation aspect fromprocess of designing custom tailor clothes, th e process and scheduling andresponsible in the aspect of cost of production through buying direct andin bulk help ZC Fashion House help to achieve quality product and earnprofit.

In management, the owner will be involved in all aspect of the business.Madam Chua the owner aunt will be the designer and will be assisted byone assistant; there will be 2 part time seamstresses. The owner 's parentespecially M rs Zaaba will assist in the daily running of the shop and alsoseek advise from external expertise.

ZC Fashion House financial plan elucidate how much injection capitalneeded for it to commence. In addition, based on the detailed financialprojections, if ZC Fashion House receives RM40,000 in funding plus th eowner own capital, it will operate profitably for the three-projected year(2001-2003). Table I is the summary of the projected financialinformation;


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SalesGross Pro6tNet ProfitReturn On AssetsAsset TurnoverReturn on AssetsDebt to EquityDebt to total Assets

Year 1(2001)RM201120.00

72.2%RM24854.02

0.443.6

44%0.520.51

Year 2(2002)

RM207825.6068.9%

RM 22605.010.312.9

31%0.220.21

Year 3(2003)RM245971.20

71.6%RM36623.620.503.451%No more loan payment-Table I

2.0 INDUSTRYZC Fashion House is a sole proprietor business founded by ZuraidahZaaba on the purpose that large and old w o me n fashion is greatlyunderdeveloped in Malaysia particularly Sabah.

ZC Fashion House business will start in Kota Kinabalu (KK) in 2001. ZCFashion House vision is really to specialise in this market and it wil l assistthe forgotten w o m e n to be fashion wise; beginning with Sabah market andfollow with Malaysia market.

2.1 Environmental ScanningZC F ashion House is at advantage because of the following environmentalsituation:


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Political and LegalThere is incentive fo r women to be involved in business. In Sabah, aWomen Welfare Unit under the Chief Minister Department had been set -up . There is Persatuan Usahawan Wawasan Wanita Malaysia(Wawasanita) a Women entrepreneur association which purpose is toimprove th e indigenous socio economic especially Malaysian wo m e n(Abdullah, Berita Harian: Wanita digalak dalami e-dagang, 19 Julai 2000).There is support from th e state and the federal government through formalchannel, Entrepreneur Development Ministry for instance and chargingminimum trading licence fee; in Sabah, it is RM25. In addition, th einvolvement from th e non-governmental association fo r exampleChambers of Commerce, which purpose is to help Sabah indigenous inbusiness.

EconomicsDuring th e 1997 crisis, the campaign 'Buy Malaysia Products ' w aslaunched. It is among other mechanism, which assist Malaysia to recoverfrom th e 1997 economic crisis and inevitably instil positiveness among theMalaysian tow ards local products.

SocialThe society is more educated and the standard of living has improved.Malaysia especially Sabah is developing rapidly in assimilation of


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information communication technology and electronic commerce. Thishas increased knowledge including Malaysian w om en (Ibrahim, BeritaHarian:'ICT tingkatkan Status Wanita, 18 Julai 2000). There are moreworkingwomen then before.

TechnologyDue to the technology advances, there are wide spread of fashioninformation. This allows Malaysian to be informed of the latest fashiondevelopment.

In th e 1990s fashion w as greatly influence by Kate Moss skinny bodyshape. It created fol lower from popular actresses to girls next door. Theexamples of legacy are Courtney Cox of 'Friends' sitcom, Helen Hunt'Mad About You' sitcom, Gwyneth Paltrow of'Shakespeare in Love' andsinger Christina Aguilera whose skinny apparent are watched by millionviewers (Berita Marian, 1 August 2000). A s a result, most of the ladyfashion shops in KK sell the skinny type clothes, which only could beworn by the ladies who are willing to starve in order to be fit in theseclothes (Observation July to 3 August 2000, 11.30am-5 pm).

Subsequently, Kate Moss skinny fashion suffered adverse effect w h e nsome young w om en especially teenagers w ho willing to starve to be Kate


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Moss are diagnosis as of anorexia sufferers (Berita Harian, 1 August2000).

In April 2000 there are approximately 200,000 anorexia sufferers i.e. 10w o m e n to 1 m an . Mainly, because of the teenagers w ho starved were fo rKate Moss fashion sake. Some even take drugs. According to BritainMinister of Women, Tessa Jowell most women assume that fat isunattractive which result in low self-esteem and inferiority complex(Berita Harian, 1August 2000).

In order to combat this problem, British government, pressure groups,magazine and newspaper agree not to use skinny model on the frontcovers and advertisements. Even the new pop singer Britney Spearsapparent and few international film producers request their actresses toincrease weight. (Berita Harian, 1 August 2000).

The current situation does affect Malaysia fashion w orld. Lina Teoh, MissMalaysia and also second runner up of Miss World Contest 1999 supportthis through a statement claimed that diet should be forbidden. In addition,in this millennium, many w omen bel ieve, Kate Moss is not important buthealthy body and self confident is the key for attractive apparent (BeritaHarian, 1 August 2000). Hence, this creates a new version of fashion.


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Health Issue6 objectives programme of Ministry of Health in the 7 th Malaysia planshows the seriousness of the government on the health issue. The staticcrude death rate since 1989 until 1995 that average rate was 4.6 per 1000population. (ht tp:/www.heal th.gov.my, 2 August 2000) The booming ofsupplementary health food and finally th e increase of public and privatefitness centres. Therefore, Malaysian Women is expected to live until 75(2000)(http://www.statistic.gov.my, 8.12pm, 2 August 2000).

Fabrics and Sewing MaterialsThere are plenty of textile and sewing materials sellers and distributors inMalaysia. However, the prices fo r textiles in Sabah are expensive andchoices of patterns and textiles are limited due to geographic constraint.Nevertheless, th e best alternative is to purchase in Peninsular Malaysiawhich price is reasonable and plenty of choices. It is easy to travel inMalaysia because of efficient transportation.

3.0 PRODUCTZC Fashion House at the early stage will produce ready-made blouses,short and long skirts, pants and suits for the large women of age between20s to 50s and old w o m e n of 40s' and above. The sizes available are L,XL and XXL for large w o m e n and M, L, XL for old w o me n. M size is

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available for them because the Body Masse Index will reduce as humanbeing grow older (Health Today, Jan/Feb, 2000)

ZC Fashion House clothes are unique because they are custom tailor. Theclothes are range from 4 types body shapes i.e. android (cone), gynecoid(hourglass), lymphatic (ruler) and thyroid (spoon) as shown and details inApp endix I. Usually women will fall on either android (cone) or gynecoid(hourglass) shapes (Aquino, 1997 and Jakow ski, 1999).

CompetitorsThe lady tailors only make customise clothes. This is t ime consuming andusually costumers have to buy ow n fabrics. They costs are more expensivethan th e ready-made clothes. Furthermore, some lady tailors only expert inone body shape only. This is based on the feedback interview with MrsKomilus 4.15pm, 20 September 2000 in UiTM; sh e claimed that one ofth e lady tailors in KK who made her cloth only knew Kate Moss bodyshape. She ended up abandoning the clothes.

Whereas, th e lady shops owners will purchase whatever th e currentfashion th e clothing manufacturers manufacture. They usually purchaseclothes, which, suit model body shape. If they do purchase for large andold women, the clothes will not suit to their size or body shape(observation made on 28 July 2000). Appendix II (A & B) is example of


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th e competitor ready-made clothes. If there is ready made custom tailorclothes it will be expensive (Appendix II C).

3.1 ZC Fashion House ProductsTh e cutting of the clothes will be based on the body shape coupled withemphasis on 3 rules i.e. camouflage, illusion and spotlight. This will resultthe women look beautiful and elegant despite their size and age. Thedetails of the products are in ZC Fashion House Portfolio (sample modeland sketches) and Appendix VI the process designing ready-made clothes.

3.2 Custom tailor Clothes (the details in Appendix VI; Custom Tailor:Customised Clothes)ZC Fashion House will also accept customise clothes, which are not in theready-made product line; like traditional custom and evening dresses.Therefore, this will inevitably promote ZC Fashion House and will also begood for products research.

3.3 Clothes (sample in ZC Fashion House Portfolio)ZC Fashion House's blouses fashion is focus on simplicity and elegant,which will suit from casual wear to informal occasion. The skirts andpants, wil l suit from casual to office wear. Th e suits will suit from officeto formal occasion. In addition, ZC Fashion House blouses consist of longand short sleeve and skirts have short and long to accommodate the taste

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preference and the long sleeve and skirts also adaptive to Muslim ladieswho are fashion lovers and still can abide to Islamic dressing code.

The blouses are buttoned instead of zipped. In addition, the skirts andpants' waist is made of elastic instead of interlining tape, so it is easy an dcomfortable w earing ZC Fashion House clothes the whole day.

3.4 Fabrics (sample in ZC Fashion House Portfolio)ZC will use fabrics that are suitable to the tropical climate. The fabricswill allow air to penetrate, which provide cooling effect to the body. Theyare also easy to iron and wash. The fabrics are of the latest trend becauseowner or designer will personally purchase th e fabrics in Kuala Lumpur(KL) an d Kelantan.

3.5 Colour and Pattern (sample in ZCFashion House Portfolio)The colour and trendy pattern of ZC Fashion House's clothes wil l blendwith South East Asian multi racial society colour, pattern and the latesttrend preference i.e.from soft to striking colour and nature to geometricpattern. In addition, these must suit to the sizes. Darker colour and smallerpattern will mostly suit th e large size ladies. However, there is brightercolour, which can be matched with darker skirt or pants. The old w om en ,darker colour is suitable and the fashion preference that display 'older andwiser' theme.

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3.6 ServicesZC Fashion House provide fashion and image consultant; and after saleservice to its customers like alteration. The lady tailors also provide theseservices. However, the difference is ZC Fashion House emphasis in itspeciality in the target market (large and old women) preference andfocusing on fashion suitability.

3.7 Product andService DevelopmentZC fashion House will be focusing, improving and increasing the volumeon the projected initial product line. It is because this product line isgreatly ignored by the lady shops. In addition continue improving in theservices to the customers especially in fashion suitability.

4.0 MARKETING PLAN4.1 Target Market

As m ention earlier they are:* Large Women age 20s to 50s, who live, work and visit in KK area.* Old Women of age 40s and above w ho work and live in KK.* Siblings and acqua intanc es of large and old women w ho live and

visit KK

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The Women associationThese associations' members whose age 40 and above are career andbusiness ladies and wives of public and private servant, businessmenan d politician as well . Most of them fit the target group of old w om en40s and above. They are more conscious in their apparent. In additionthis association also could form strategic alliance to market ZC fashionHouse clothes.

4.2 Market Definition and OpportunityThe Large and Old Wom en Fashion IndustryLarge size w o m e n fashion is not excessively developed especially indeveloping countries namely Malaysia. It is more of follower thaninnovative in the fashion industry. In the western countries there areentrepreneurs w ho penetrate this market namely one of American actressw ho develops her large size clothing business. This development isunderdeveloped in developing country Malaysia fo r instance. There is nointention to exploit the market of this niche populat ion. The complain was,th e clothes are not custom tailor therefore they do not fit even though thesize display L to XXL (Nelly, interviewed on 10 August 2000, 5.30pm) .

Old w om en f as h i on also experience similar problem. The worst part, theyhave to choose ready-made clothes from the young women section. Theyeither end up buying th e most plain, odd pattern and design or suffer being

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scrutinize by the public w ho assume either has no taste in fashion or notadmitt ing they are getting older (Mrs Zaaba, interviewed on 10 August7.00pm).

The best alternative is to make customised clothes from the ladies tailor.

Large Size PopulationZC Fashion House will have no problem in marketing i t product since thereis increasing large size population. Bjorntorp (1996) cited by RochePharmaceuticals (Health Today, 2000) as claiming that obesity, which isaffected by factors such as age, sex, race and economic status. Currentlyestimated at over 100 million worldwide and i t continues to rise at aremarkable rate. In Malaysia itself, nearly 20% or 4.7 million (MonthlyStatistical Expenditure, July, 2000) of its population is obese (HealthToday, Jan/Feb 2000).

In detail Abdul Kadir (1996) cited by Roche Pharmaceuticals (HealthToday, Jan/Feb 2000) elucidated that:Th e prevalence of obesity in Malaysia is estimated to be 5-8% in urban and6.5% in rural areas. A compilation of Body Mass Index (BMI) in adultMalaysians (2636 males and 2111 females) from 3 ethnic groups in urbanareas reveal 29% of males are overweight (BMI 25 to 30) and 8% obese(BMI>30) while females are 26% overweight and 8% obese In a rural area

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of Malaysia the prevalence of overweight was 24.1% and that of obesityw as 6,5% (back cover). ZC fashion House will account BMI in designing itready-made fashion.

Life ExpectancyIt is an opportunity for ZC Fashion House since life expectancy at birth fo rMalaysian female is 74,9 (1999) and 75 (2000)(http://wwwstatist ic.gov.my, 8.12pm, 2 August 2000). The population ofth e older generation in Sabah i.e.40s to 70s, increase to 1609.1 (1999) and1739.3(2000).

Th e reason is because Malaysia health programme which is part of itcountry plan and annual budget for 7th Malaysia Plan ( 7th MalaysianPlan: 1996-2000, Percetakan Nasional Berhad 1996). In addition, there arewide spread of health conscious among the Malaysian population. Thereare lot of supplementary food being sold (Health Today, Jan/Feb 2000).

Income and PerceptionThere is increasing number of workers according to age for example 45-496.1% 1996, 6.3% 1997and 7% 1999 (Yearbook Of Statistics Sabah 1999).Income per capita forecasted in 1999was RM 11,831 (Bank Negara,1999). In addition rising net Employment Provident Fund (EPF)contributions in the first 5 months of 2000, suggest a higher number of

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EPF contributors coupled with rising wages. Both factors should underpinan increase in consumer spending (New Straits Times, Business: Net EPFContributions C an Shed on Employm ents, Wages, 25 September 2000).

There are intensive promotions on saving the government especially as aresult of 1997 economic crisis. The increase of provident fund (Year bookOf Statistics Sabah 1999) and new scheme of investment for exampleintroduce by employment provident fund and other private bank andfinance. In addition, the continuous promotion of strong family value, bu yMalaysia products and clothes are necessity clothes will indirectlypromote ZC Fashion House clothes.

4.3 Com petitors and Com petition AnalysisLady TailorsThe lady tailors like Mayang Sari and Umastine in Centre Point only makecustomise clothes, which take considerable time to make it. It is usuallyexpensive than th e ready-made clothes. The tailoring fees will range fromRM45 blouse and above (Yew, 2 A ugust 2000). If they do produce ready-made clothes, it will be during festival session and the size will normallyrange from size S to L. However, they might not react rapidly to ZCFashion House entry because their customers range from other targetgroup.

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In addition as claimed earlier on the owner experience and Mrs Komilusstatement, they ignore the 4 body shapes and knowledge in beautifies the 4body shapes.

Lady ShopsThe competitors usually sell th e large and old women clothes with othertarget group clothes. The competitors l ike Guan Chong Hong Sdn Bhd ofSegama Street and Kian Teck Sdn Bhd of Wisma Merdeka and CentrePoint imported the big sizes lady clothes. Usually from Hong Kong,Taiwan, China and Singapore (confirm by all the lady shops owners andworkers, 28 July and 3 August, 11.30-5pm). They do not provide a widerange of clothes product line to suit to the big size lady. Usually they onlysell blouses size L, XL and XXL but not custom tailor. The clothes areusually suitable for lymphatic shape. In addition, they do not consider th esuitable colour or pattern for the target group. There is no advised for theircustomers in clothes selection (direct observation, 28 July and 3 August2000 11.30am-5.00pm). They might not immediately consider ZC FashionHouse as a threat since their product line is more concentrating on currentfashion only.

However, despite the deficiency, th e target group still buy it because oflimited choice. Sometime they will alter the clothes or just wear it. If they

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are fossy or none of the ready-made clothes suit them, they will go to thelady tailors.

ZC Fashion House anticipate threat will be in 2003 when Malaysia entryto globalisation. There could be speciality shops fo r large and old womenespecially from China, Korea an d Western coun tries (based on observation28 July and 3 August 2000, 11.30am-5pm).

4.4 Marketing Strategy4.4.1 Distribution an d Sales StrategyZC Fashion House wil l intend to sell its clothes directly by opening a shopin KK. The purpose is to assist th e customer in clothes selection andprovide services for example alteration. This will eventually allow ZCFashion House to penetrate this market successfully and have directcontact to its target group around KK. In addition, this will assist ZCFashion House research and development in knowledge accumulation,compilers and improve its products and services. These services also couldeducate th e target group.

Th e sale assistant will have the feature of large size w o m a n and isinterested in fashion and good personal relation. She will be demonstratingin th e shop. The owner's mother also wil l display th e design todemonstrate to the customers. The sale assistant will be given an explicit

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job description. In addition, ZC Fashion House will have fashion showsquarterly during women and mothers ' day, charity and w o m e n associationfunction.

There will be continuously learning latest selling techniques and productinformation to all the three personnel (the owner, sale assistant and MrsZaaba) in the sale section. This will assist in selling of the ready-madeclothes.

4.4.2 Pricing strategyNon-pricing competit ion will be emphasized. The distinctive productfeatures, product quality and services and promotion will distinguish fromcompetitors, ZC Fashion House will do extensive promotion to establishsuperiority and set apart from competitors in the mind of buyers. This wil lbuild up customer loyalty towards ZC Fashion House clothes. ThereforeZC Fashion House customers will not easily lure by future competitors.(Pride and Ferelf, 1997)

However ZC should not ignore price competit ion because th e Malaysiannamely Sabahans are sensitive to prices since the 1997economic crisis.Price has psychological impact on customers. Price could lure potentialcustomer to venture into it shop/ products. Afterwards, then they willevaluate the services they receive from ZC Fashion House staff. If price.

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product and service satisfy the potential buyers, they will buy and couldpossibly be ZC Fashion House loyal consumers.

Therefore at the beginning, ZC Fashion House ready-made clothes price isof current price (Appendix III:Expected sale price) since it is new. Th eprice expected to increase by RM10 (Appendix HI) in the third year withanticipation cost inflation in 2003 and to be distinguish from the anticipatecom petitors. The customise clothes projected fee is based on averageRM60. It might be higher according to the fashion, fabric andworkmanship.

ZC Fashion House will apply odd pricing, a psychological pricing, whichcommonly use today (Pride and Ferell, 1997). If the fashion is out ofseason, seasonal discount is use.

4.4.3 Promotion M ixZC Fashion House will strive for integrated marketing communication,which is coordination of promotional elements and other marketing effortsthat communicate with costumers to maximize total informational andpromotional impact on customers (Pride and Ferrell, 1997). Subsequent tothis and acknowledge each promotion mix has it l imitation, ZC FashionHouse has decided to use these promotion mix.

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AdvertisingLocal media will be the main target of advertisement. ZC Fashion Houseallocate fund under marketing expenses to wor k with an advertisementcompany to advertise in well read newspaper and magazine in Sabah forexample Daily Express and Jelita respectively. It will also distribute flyers,business cards and pamphlets. It begins with informing th e business natureand location follow with product advertising follow with pioneeradvertising, competitive and comparative advertising. On the secondprojected year, reminding and reinforcement advertising will be used.

Public RelationZC Fashion House will take the opportunity to appear in the national radioin th e business and programme section for new entrepreneur. This willallow direct contact with potential customers. Apart from that, ZC FashionHouse wil l ensure that it also appear in fashion, women , academic andbusiness magazines section. This can be achieved through forming a goodrelationship w i t h them.

In addition, ZC Fashion House will not forget it obligation towardssociety, ZC Fashion House wil l contribute to the old folk home, assist inpromoting family value in Malaysia as well as Sabah community and alsowill provide free consultation in self image either th e customers or thepublic occasionally especially women association courses, seminar and

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