Planning Your Business

One of the most critical aspects of a successful business is the way in which it is structured. For our business sofTee this aspect was curial to fully utilize our time and resources. The structure we chose was a traditional business hierarchy with a general overseer, a CEO, as well as various section heads to oversee each aspect of the business.

CEO: This position is necessary when initially forming a FBE business. This person will probably be the individual who proposed the business idea and, as a result, is the most passionate about the business. This trait is key because the individual who assumes such a role will be coordinating nearly every aspect of the business. In the scope of FBE this person will be an overseer to all departments of the company as well as be in charge of turning in the weekly deliverables. Exclusion of this role will result in a disorganized business which will be unable to accomplish anything throughout the semester.

Director of Marketing: This position is necessary for all businesses trying to sell a good or service to a specific demographic. In the case of our business, sofTee, this role was essential to our success when marketing to college students. The director of marketing’s role is to create advertisement campaigns to spread the word about the businesses good or service. While this seems like a novel idea, the results from our business’ marketing campaign display a significant increase in the number of sales. Those who assume this role should be creative and have the skills necessary to create excitement about the good or service.

Director of Sales: This position, while not essential, is in charge establishing a target market in to sell the good or service as well as the logistics behind making those sales. This person, depending on the business, will be required to talk to a variety of people to gauge interest in the good or service. They should be able to communicate effectively and have time management skills to organize events to sell the products.

Accountant: It essential that all finances be recorded accurately immediately after they happen. For this reason an accountant is an essential element of the business. This person should have some fundamental understanding of how to account for various transactions as well as be organized to give an updated finance report every week.

Head of Manufacturing: This position will vary with every business depending on what it is selling. In the case of our business, which required sewing, we needed a head of manufacturing. This position was in charge of all the production for our business. This person on our team was the most skilled in sewing. Whoever knows the most production should assume this role in the business.

While this outline just touches on the key categories needed to form a successful FBE business other may be included depending on the businesses specific needs. The remainder of the team should be distributed into under the resulting subcategories depending on everyone’s interests. At the end of the day it is about having the most effective and happy team, and through proper team structure this can be accomplished.