Quincy Apparel Case Study PDF

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Quincy Apparel

1.

Using the Meyer Framework, what does the venture strategy, value proposition, and business model look like for Quincy Apparel?

Quincy Apparel shifted from a new concept to a comprehensive business selection. Its foundations are centered on the co-founders' desire for acceptable size and trendy fashion choice for a working female market.

After 18 months since the founding of the venture, the co-

founders encountered certain concerns and conducted debates based on the most suitable approaches to adopt with regards to the company and their insights.

Venture Strategy

Industry Niche: Fashion Industry focused on the utilization the online marketing potentials: It designs are designed with a target mechanism aimed to fit the working woman in a professional space, thus, it is designed with a certain body type in consideration. Target Customer: The diverse female market, with a focus on the young working woman. Products/Services: The Company designs, creates and markets work outfits for the target market, providing them a fit and sense of luxury at low expenses Positioning:

Delivering affordable and differentiated designs and service based on its novel sizing system, providing additional measurement sizes compared to the basic female fashion. High quality designs, created and tailored in-house, distributed digitally through online based platforms, thus establishing effective and efficient client feedback. Value Proposition Quincy brands have significantly strived to create and market office wear to most young adult women through delivering fit sizes of certain high-end items at comparatively cheaper costs. Business Model Revenue Model: The company aims at delivering quality fit and high volume designs at lower market prices, thus developing higher sales margin. Marketing and Sales approach: The adoption of the potentials that e-commerce presents in the gaining grip of a larger market. Direct sales are also incorporated. The strategy made the assumption that through e-commerce, 85% of would accounted for, with the remaining 15% retained from direct sales. Price-level: Pricing ranges from $100 to $250, lower than its competitors, thus gaining a competitive edge on its rivals. R&D Model: All in-house

Production Model: Designed and manufactured in-house Go-to-market Model: Selling online / Mass retailer

2

D o e s

Quincy’s customer value proposition address a strong unmet need in the market? How do you know?

Yes. The Quincy customer value proposition addresses a significantly strong unmet need through a discerned fashion across the market. After the company conducted a market analysis, it was identified that the approach adopted for female fashion sizes was structured on clothing

measurements taken in the 1940s. As a result, the mechanism indicated the company’s challenges in the current industry, which originated from concerns on fitting and measurements. Therefore, an evaluation of its standardized measurements, identified as 0-14 sizing scale, implied the company’s assumption that its target market was comprised of the standard female hour glass figure. This assumption, however, was flawed since it led to the targeting of only 8% of the female market in the United States. However, as compared to women fashion, the company provided many variations in male suits measurements, ranging from chest sizes, waiting measures, to featuring broad and tall suits including the fitting/slim suit designs. Therefore, outcomes indicated that although though there were options for slim and large women, these size variations were generally not popular. Additionally, the brand failed to consider potential improvements in the dimensions of the sleeves, the neck, the bust, the hips, as well as pant length measurements with regards to a clothing's fitting. Female suit businesses like, Ann Taylor or Banana Republic provided their customers rates ranging from $250 to $450 with luxury brands such as, MaxMara and Armani selling their designs at price rates approximated at about $700 and $1,500. The price strategy and neglect of female design measurements meant that the market was hampered by a gap which contributed to a shortfall in the designing of female's sustainable, fashionable and luxurious clothing styles. As such, the customer value proposition from the company was negatively impacted, as the suits did not provide their target market with accurate variability in sizes and measurements, while at the same time providing value of high fashion labels at a cheaper prices.

3.

Did Quincy have a solid plan for technology and operations management? Why or Why not?

No. The company experienced team management challenges as well as inadequate and professional workforce. As such, the company did not have a strategy founded on capable technology and operations management. For instance, Investors that Wallace was courting were calling for a professional designer. The cofounders only made steps towards the approach after its launch and operation, by hiring various strategic members of the technology and operations field. Cofounders also found a new finishing factory and replaced their patternmaker. Nevertheless, the company still experienced staffing challenges that affected its ability to deliver on its promises to customers even after they hired new people For instance, in November, apart from the cofounders, its staff comprised of 5 employees, and only 2 of them worked for the company in February

4.

Where in Quincy Apparel’s operating model are they innovating and can that create value for the firm?

Both Nelson and Wallace presented two separate methods from the ground of the new business. Nelson's emphasis was tailored on adopting an innovative strategy, which would minimize the range of design sizes that the novel system had adopted. He asserts that the strategy would effectively minimize uncertainty and its expense. Subsequently, Wallace claimed that providing more choices that best suit most women was the most suitable innovative capability since it would, make provide a competitive edge, thus differentiating them from their rivals. As a result, they acquired varying opinions and arguments that in the long run affected the start-up as a whole. Should they have worked on similar grounds and examined their varying ideas as a unit, then maybe, the impact experienced would have been averted. This would have created value for the firm.

The problem started from the materialization; the idea was substantial, however, the plans that were adopted after that idea, affected the company’s functionality. The co-founders would have started small rather than engaging on various innovations. These advanced innovations components, primarily caused the operational challenge. Therefore, the best strategy would have been to maintain a smaller customer base at their startup. On their managerial team, they lacked the proper minds that would have encouraged them on various issues such as a better and more efficient promotional strategy. The criterion that they used at choosing their partner was significantly flawed since they failed to meet the needs of their clients, thus accruing to losses along the way.

5.

How much of a bridge loan is required to sustain Quincy Apparel? Which approach should the founders take at Quincy’s December Board Meeting? Why? . Quincy Apparel's start-up capital, was considerably running out on funds; therefore, the co-

founders encountered the need to access additional funding, to ensure its success. Thus, they would mitigate the issue through a bridge loan, which would be obtained from its present investors. While its sales were considerably active, the sizing system adopted by the company presented challenges. The problems experienced originated from the utilization of obsolete measurements, which were higher compared to the trendy standard female sizes. Therefore, its collection comprised of large and basic designs. Thus, its processes in manufacturing grew complex as Quincy's operational issue became a persistent limitation and also a complexity in providing improved quality and fitting designs, as a result, it experienced high product return rates. By getting more time and resources, the co-founders were optimistic that they could

overcome the existing operational complexities. To mitigate the operational challenges the company needed $562,083in bridge loan.

Numbers

Projected capital =1,200,000 Initial capital

=$950,000

Duration

=$4months

1 month

=$950,000/4 =$237,500

I day

=$237,500/30=$7916

7 weeks (49days) =$7916*49=$387,917 Estimated $ = $950,000-$387,917

=$562,083 During the December board meeting, as such, the founders should address the issues surrounding the challenges experienced with capital fluctuations. The company needed additional capital to enable the funding of their upcoming spring collection. In order to facilitate Quincy’s operation’s the founders should call for its investors to pull together towards the acquisition of a bridge loan, which would guarantee functionality. Wallace’s mentors also advised that if failure was inevitable, it was important to act in this situation in a responsible manner in order to protect the cofounders’ professional reputations and relationships....