‘Tots & Teens Fashion' is a small business based in Birmingham, UK. It is owned by Amara and her husband Tariq who started the business 2 years ago. The business supplies a range of designer clothes for babies and children up to 15 years of age and is run from a small stall in the city's thriving Bull Ring Shopping Centre. The couple spend a lot of time buying clothes from up and coming, less well known fashion designers and very often travel to London to fashion colleges and fashion exhibitions to source stock for their stall. However, the recent ‘credit crunch' has meant that families have less money to spend on ‘luxuries' such as designer clothes for their children and so the 2011/2012 income for the business was low and the couple have noticed that there is a lot of unused stock that really needs to be sold. Amara has decided that the business cannot continue on this basis wants to formulate a plan to ensure the prosperity of the business for her and her husband.

Instead of selling specifically to the ‘local market' Amara and Tariq will supply designer clothes, shoes and accessories to a much wider market by setting up an online retail business which could supply the clothes etc. via their own local delivery service (within a 50 mile radius of the centre of Birmingham) or via a courier service for further distances.

All of the clothes etc. are to be sourced from up and coming fashion designers and as such are likely to be ‘one off' items or ‘exclusive designs' and this would mean that the prices would be higher than those retailers providing ‘mass produced' clothing and accessories, and Amara believes that customers would be willing to pay more for the unique clothing and associated accessories. Amara and Tariq think the customers most likely to be interested in their clothing range would be affluent families who like their children to wear unique clothing to stand out from their peers.

Amara and Tariq are also aware that not all customers will be willing to pay a premium price and to cater for these customers Amara is considering designing / making some of her own designs / clothes ranges and offer these at a lower price.

In an attempt to promote the business Amara and Tariq organised an open day in a local college but it was poorly attended and only around 20 people (mostly family and friends) visited the open day. Amaras' response to any criticism on the day was that the students at the college were not the market / customers that they were aiming at anyway.

Amara and Tariq now realise that they need help if they are to make the business a success and as they have no real understanding of marketing Amara has asked if you will meet with her and Tariq to discuss / explain what marketing is and what the key marketing issues that they need to consider for their business are.

Using the information that you already know about the business and its products, and through consideration of the PEST and SWOT factors, you are required to prepare a brief marketing plan document that you are going to use in your discussion with Amara and Tariq.