Al Qatar Gift Shop

Posted: September 9th, 2013

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Al Qatar Gift Shop

Business description

In my discussion, I shall refer to my own business example, Al Qatar Gift Shop. Al Qatar Gift Shop will be a company that will engage in the sale of antiques, unique gifts and other presents. The company will operate primarily within Doha and its environs, but over the next two years, it will have to increase it regional presence to other countries such as Syria, Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon. The company was founded in 2002 by myself, Mr. Mohammed bin Talal, an investor in the importation of antiques from Sudan. The company will start as a clearing and forwarding agency but later, plans are present to convert it into a fully-fledged transportation company. The headquarters of Al Qatar Gift Shop will be located on Fourth Street Al Sharqi St.

The last part of my business description will address the owners and the legal form of Al Qatar Gift Shop. Al Qatar Gift Shop will be a partnership made up of three partners. These three partners will all have a permanent position at the board of directors table where they must all be consulted before a decision is made.

Requirements for starting Al Qatar Gift Shop business

            Starting a business will require that we three partners contribute significant amounts for raising the capital base. As there are three partners with varying levels of interest in Al Qatar Gift Shop, there shall also be varying contributions. We estimated that the required capital for starting a transportation company would amount to 20,000,000 Riyal. While this amount is massive, part of it will originate from the sale of previous assets and some of it from loans extended by banks. Overall, the capital will be raised primarily by the three partners and to a lesser extent, by other shareholders.

SWOT Analysis for Al Qatar Gift Shop

Strengths

Establishing a gift shop store such as Al Qatar Gift Shop within the heart of Doha will be a wise decision, as the Middle East is abundant in multicultural antiques and companies that exploit and sell antique objects products. Therefore, a large customer base exists that would serve to supply Al Qatar Gift Shop with unending consumers who prefer antique products. For instance, the principal consumers include museums and collectors of archeological items, the government as well as other subsidiary companies. The domestic rate of purchasing antique products in Doha also shows a large consumer base that will ensure Al Qatar Gift Shop has a strong profit margin in the initial years.

I also see strength in the intricate distribution network that Al Qatar Gift Shop has adopted. The company will apply an effective method of distributing suppliers throughout the region. Proper distribution systems will ensure that Al Qatar Gift Shop will deliver all the orders requested by customers, thus increasing their profit margins.

Weaknesses

Starting a new oil transportation business in Doha will meet challenges from existing rival companies. The Doha Group of Museums and the Al Sadd Archeological Company are some of the rival companies that will present stiff competition to the introduction of the company in the market. Starting an archeological-related company in the Middle East is also a difficult task as there are many of such companies already operating. The transport and communications network in Doha does not cover the whole of the region appropriately, and may lower the success rate of the deep distribution system on which we are depending. Our deliveries may not be delivered in due time and this may cause unnecessary losses for our company.

Opportunities

            Al Qatar Gift Shop stands to benefit from supplying most of the rural areas of Doha such as Al Hilal and Al Bidda that have not been fully exposed. Most of the antique shop companies operate within the city centers and town. Most of the rural communities cannot access these antiques and our company will take advantage of this opportunity in various ways. First, Al Qatar Gift Shop will increase the distribution in the rural areas to increase the customer base. Second, our company also provides other services that are new to Doha, for example, providing individual home delivery for smaller retail products.

Threats

            The extraction and sale of antiques faces a significant threat in the emerging globalization. As a company, we are entering a market environment where foreign companies from Africa, Europe, Asia and America also scramble for the historical artifacts in the Middle East. These companies take up substantial shares of the archeological sector in the Middle East and leave small companies such as ours little chance to grow. Most starting companies like Al Qatar Gift Shop cannot survive in such as environment.

Our company also faces the global threat of recession and inflation in commodity prices. The fluctuation in the macroeconomic factors means that our company might be established during an unstable period, which may ensure that we do not prosper as a new company. All over the world, commodity prices have plummeted during the last recession in 2008 and companies such as Al Qatar Gift Shop suffered the most. A repeat of such a recession will prove disastrous for our company and may see us bankrupt.