Canal and river trust opportunity recognition wiki by

Mohammed Shafiq Hanif - 100134260Rami Eter - 100263494Sheraz Gill - 1002283733

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Executive SummaryThe canal and river trust has been given responsibility of 2000miles of waterways but lacks the drive to create new business opportunities. This might be due to their previous status as government funded and know as a registered charity. The major flaws of the CRT are that it is not being treated as a business that needs to be self sustaining. This wiki will highlight current problems that obstruct people from using the facilities that the CRT has to offer and offer an opportunity to help the CRT bring in their own money. Also in this wiki there are the stage the group when through to get the proposal stage.

Mission StatementWe are here to support the canal and river trust with business proposals. Along with their current financial support we hope to boost their financial standing and when profitable help maintain the canals and rivers located in England and Wales to the highest standards and make access to this heritage available to all and integrated into their daily lifestyle. Our vision for our organisation is to become nationwide and be the hub for all commercial and free activities that are based around Englands rivers and canals. Our main goal is to integrate the canals and rivers into modern society through increased services and businesses. This will be primarily done by increasing access to the rivers and canals by roads and public transport. Also by making businesses aware that data transfer can be done easily anywhere for the same cost if not cheaper than any business park.Our absolute goals, values and ethics are to protect the heritage of the rivers and canals and we will strive to create the best original business proposal to keep income coming in for this. Heritage, community, trust

IntroductionCompany history As the canal and river trust (CRT) is relatively new its history lies within it creation of the canals and their purpose and what rivers have been used for throughout the ages, but the most important aspect is how they have been maintained. Rivers have always been an important aspect of society and all major cities that have been around more than a century have a major river or river estuary. These have primarily been used for cheap transport for goods, waste disposal and as a source of generating energy for producers. They have also been used more creatively for example, by the London fire brigade who currently have a fire boat and historically a boat called the Massey Shaw which its restoration was shown on television. Canals on the other hand have been created for the sole purpose of making people lives easier by better irrigation and land drainage by the Romans, or for transportation of materials to build castles etc throughout the middle ages. Also throughout the post mediaeval age natural waterways where converted to canals and people where charged taxes to use them. (Charles, H, 1996, p277-279)The real boom with canals came along with the industrial revolution. They were used for moving heavy materials which would have been too costly to move by road therefore reducing cost of goods. The canals were so successful at connecting major industrial centres there were plans to build a true canal, which is a canal built specifically to two certain places and this was done with the Newry canal in 1741. After the industrial revolution, demand for the use of canals fell due to the capability of mass transportation by trains around the 1920s. After this the lack of use of the canals led them to be increasingly neglected, this is also the same case for rivers. (David M. Harper, 1999, p141-157)Before the CRT was given charge of 2000 miles of water way they were under the care of British waterways. At this time the water ways where wholly government funded, this status was given up to increase funding. Along with the waterways becoming mainly a charitable cause, the government has promised 800million pounds over the next 15 years. The CRTs main goal is to make the waterways cleaner and more attractive for the estimated 10million visitors every year.Business and industry profileThe newly created canal and river trust (CRT) has been given responsibility of 2,000 miles of waterways located in England and Wales along with the historical sites based along them. They work with local businesses to add value to local communities and to promote active lifestyles by encouraging people to enjoy this localised heritage which is available in most cities in England and Wales. They also want to encourage reduction in current businesses carbon foot prints by taking donations to improve locks and waterways for transport of goods. Along with this they plan to make the canals and rivers hubs for living and commercial business through local, national and international tourism. (Canal and river trust, 2005)

Description of products and servicesThe main source of income for the CRT is boat licensing, this is a yearly fee to enable boat owners to travel on rivers and canals. In addition to this there is a yearly boat safety certificate (Boat safety scheme) that all operational boats need to have; this is like a car m.o.t. and any other income is from donation of private citizens or companies. Also most of the services that are on offer are provided from third party companies that operate near the rivers and canals. (Canal and river trust, 2005)The other products and services that are currently operational are;Mooring

Museums and attractions

Tea cruises

Bike offs / bike trails

Fishing Property developmentCanoeing

Eating and drinking

Utilities such as water sales, cooling and heating, surface water drainage, hydro power, wind power and routing of telecoms and power lines

Walking and viewing heritage sites

Consultations to help with businesses on or from a boat

Boat licensing and boat safety certificates, also boat hire, boat cruise, boat gatherings

Description of current target market and methodThis trust works with private, public, voluntary sectors and the public to earn money to re-invest into the canals and rivers. Some of the ways they do these are;Private sector encourages and aids in the development of boat related business. Public sector these are the people who wish to use a boat on the CRP waterways. This includes yearly boat licensing that gives unlimited access to canals and rivers. Also yearly boat safety certificates to ensure all vehicles on water are safe. In addition to this these are also services available for boat gatherings, hire and cruises. Voluntary sector getting local people involved with small project and maintaining land surrounding canals, also basic wildlife and plant conservation.Public sector the trust encourages the general public walking and cycling for greener more environmentally conservative lives. The public is mostly involved when they want to be and can donate money monthly or whenever they want. The public can also access these services free of charge as and when they please. (Canal and river trust, 2005)

The entrepreneurial viewAn entrepreneur is a term used to describe someone who has strayed from the convention labour pool for certain reasons to who organises and operated a business from the ground up. The reasons why these people are popular among consumers are that they meet the customer needs with better and with greater care of their customers. Taking this approach , the CRT would greatly benefit as their consumers would feel more appreciated and as a charity they would more like friends. (Heidi M. Neck, 2004, p190-208)Opportunity RecognitionThroughout our research of the CRT, it became clear that the ideas and opportunities that come from the CRT are generic and lack originality. Also even with over 10million people visiting their canals and rivers every year, the majority of the money spend goes to businesses that are not owned by the CRT. (Canal and river trust, 2005)Convergent and Divergent Thinking Brainstormed Ideas (David M. Harper, 1999, p 259-230)Creative thinking is divergent, often intuitive and unstructured. This enables the opening up of new ideas, new possibilities and connections. Divergent thinking is valuable in generating ideas for an opportunity or project. It includes: identifying, defining and defending the opportunity, also exploring and investigating new opportunities. Divergent thinking is best used with convergent thinking, this helps to funnel the broad range of ideas from brainstorming. (Moon, R and GEE, S, 2012, p259-260) Convergent thinking is focused on problems to create innovative solutions or applications to overcome problems. For this we had to find the problems that affect the CRT which are; Mooring- this is a term used to describe the process of parking a boat up, this can be costly as there are rarely any free mooring places.

The GreatBritishweather- the British weather is unpredictable, this affects the river and canals as business that use them are forced to become seasonal.

They breakdown occasionally- this might be due to poor maintenance as the rivers and canals are over 200 years old. Also there are various mechanisms to control the flow of water and traffic that breaks down due to age.

They're not being used correctly- the canals were originally created for transporting materials, there were never design for motorised vehicles. This is probably the reason why there is still a 4mph restriction on canals.

Some of the sections of river and canals are occasionally closed this is due to poor maintenance and poor repair.

Canals and rivers are slow and never became popular as passenger transport.

They're expensive and hard to build.

There are no new plans for canals and rivers.

Never been successful in agricultural areas.

Difficult to manage and run due to traffic on water ways.

Flooding and leakage is one of the main and major problems.

Rivers are also affected sewage disposal- poor management of the sewage leads to less tourism as its a not pleasant place to be.

We used convergent thinking to come up with solutions to current problems affecting the CRT. The problems and solutions are listed within this report although most of these problems can be overcome with better financing. We initially used divergent thinking to brainstorm ideas that are below, and then we moved on to convergent thinking to filter out our ideas to opportunity.Restaurant boat

Nightclub boat

Bus boat / taxi

Business mergers with othercompany'ssuch as narrow boat's or heritage sites

Business mergers with othercompaniessuch as narrow boat's or heritage sites

Pub boat

Art gallery on a boat / museum

Boat tours / Day trips (sightseeing)

Franchise of food and pubsDiscounts or encouraging schools to send students

Retail shop

canoes / row boat / kayak hire boat race

Environmentally friendly shopping centre along rivers and canals

Sustainable fishing

Concerts on river

Boat racing race / competitions boat events

Boat driving lessons

Environmental energy though fallen trees and natural materials for power

Selling hydro power to the national grid/ power from waste

Environmental fishing of over populated species.

We have chosen five different ideas that we think are reasonable as opportunities. For these five ideas we are going to use an opportunity model with a DIFA model to evaluate them as a group and decide if they are applicable as opportunities. This is an important step as it helps identify what are just ideas and what are opportunities. Ideas can become opportunities at a later stage but might not be realistic at the current moment in time. (Robert A. Baron, 2006, p104-119)

Boat events boat events consist of boat racing in numerous forms such as rowing, kayak, canoe, paddle and motorised boat rallies (long distance races where people can enjoy site seeing, not a lot of emphasis to win the actual race).

D - The actual customers are in the age range of 45+. The potential customers are 20+, this includes people with small families that could take part in the paddle boat races. Also single people can take part in group events such as canoeing, kayaking and rowing. To make this an opportunity it needs to be price competitively, therefore we have decided to make it affordable to all audiences and the price we decided to choose is 25 to 40. (Prices may vary on weekends). This is achievable by doing business with other companies such as boat hire shops.I - we think the boat events idea is innovative because its never been organised by the canal river trust. The benefit of this opportunity is to increase profits and attract more people. The only technological material that is required is a GPS/Sat-Nav. This is optional for the boat riders. F - This is easily done as the CRT can do business with other companies to astatine the recourses they need. The benefit of this is that they do not have storage costs of the equipment that they use as it goes back to the original suppliers. A - This product differs from other services because its family friendly and other services do not offer motorise boat racing.

Boat bus The boat bus will transport commuter to in and around city centres, this service is to be competition to current rail and bus services. This will benefit the city centres as it will ease congestion. The boat bus will be able to travel on roads and on waterways and can carry numerous passengers.

D - The potential customers for this service would be people who commute to work by bus or train. This sector is vastly filled with people who dont like the rising commuting costs. As the boat bus is relatively new, it will be competitively priced to gain loyal customers.I - This idea has many benefits such as reducing congestion within the city centres and also it will encourage further business for the CRT as the boat bus would be making regular stops in these places. F - The hardest thing to do would be to create access routes through rivers and canals and hire or purchase a fleet of boat buses. This is very feasible as if done correctly the boat bus service would not be affected by traffic jams. Also the boat bus can be used for different services such as sightseeing etc. A - This service is different from others as it is mainly based on rivers/canals and not congested roads.

Boat restaurant this is restaurant based on a boat, the service will provide fresh food and beverages, and this will be labelled with CRT brand. This will also bring charitable donation from public and also attract new people.

D - The potential customers for the boat restaurant would be people who prefer enjoying good food and enjoying sightseeing at the same time, also people who would like to support their local communities as the boat restaurant will be a registered charity. I - This idea could attract people who do not like cooking and by doing that they might be able to reduce their carbon foot print and also conserve the river and canal heritage at the same time. This service innovates as there are not any boat restaurant charities, there are high profile restaurant charities but none of them are targeted at the working, middle class.F Restaurant boats are common sights on rivers throughout UK, they are a relatively well known attraction. This would require an initial investment that would be high in cost.A The rivers are a very pleasant place to be and research shows booking are always high.

Retail charity shop the CRT could open or rent space for a retail shop on some of their unused land. This shop could be anything from a small charity or grocery store such as a CRT charity shop or a farmers market or a fully blown outlet store or retail park depending on location.

D There is a demand for cheaper clothing because of the recession, majority of customers would be mothers/women and elderly women. I it is a charity clothes shop and its benefits are that it provides cheaper clothing for all. Also this shop will advertise other businesses located around the canals and rivers. F Physical shop and websites are easily obtainable.A It will not be labelled like other charity shops, so will not have the stigma that comes with them.

Reusable energy this recommendation includes the unused land and waterways the CRT has to create electricity and sell it back to the national grid. They could use wind turbines, solar panels, hydroelectricity generators and WTE techniques on unused land. Also they could apply for government support for this.

D There is a demand for cheaper alternative electricity. There are also government indicatives for companies that that the initiative for renewable energy.I it is cheaper, reusable energy that doesnt harm the environment. The benefit is to save money on energy for the CRT and the public around where the scheme is running.F The technology can be brought but is costly but can be seen as a long term investment; also government has promised reimbursement schemes to company who take the lead with reusable energy. The resources need for the WTE can come from the woodlands around the CRT and waste that is pumped into rivers. A - The national grid always buy power from local residents from stored up energy from solar panels, the excess useless land the CRT has available can be used as they can find locations that are not high profile.The two most viable opportunities where the retail shop and the WTE, reusable energy but the recommendation that we have chosen is the retail shop to maximise profit potential.

Proposal / MarketingThe opportunity that has been identified is the CRT retail charity shop because it is the most realistic and cost effective. Also this will bring the greatest awareness of the CRT. The Marketing Mix (E, J McCarthy, 1960)Product - The opportunity that is being recommended is a retail charity shop that will hold the brand name of the CRT; it will sell a whole variety of products such as everyday items to clothing, electronics, fresh fruit and vegetables and have an emphasis of organic foods. The target market for this retail shop will include a range of different audiences such as young mothers, OAPs, low income households, students, and migrants. These audiences will be targeted while the shop gains stability as the prices will be fairly low attracting lower income people anyway. Price - The initial cost the retail charity shop will be quite high as a building to house all the products will need to be made, this will vary depending on who the building contact is given too. Also as this retail shops profits will be given to support the CRT it is not eligible to be taxed on its profits from land or products sold new or donated because of British legalisation affecting charities. This means that after they have broken even all money made will be theirs. Also as the CRT is a registered charity they can take on volunteers to help with organisational running. Before the opening of the retail shop the pricing schemes for the products needs to be calculated. The product prices need to be competitive with local shops and supermarkets, also they need to be prices in a way to maximise profits but by giving the feeling of value and quality to their customers. This can be done by doing market research by comparing prices in other shops. Promotion - Successful promotion of the shop will increase profits and create loyal customers; this can be done via, TV, radio, face book, twitter, leaflets, emails and online shopping forums. Also this shop will have all in store offers such as two for one etc. Place This retail shop is located within Derbyshire in a town called Chellaston next to the Trent and Mersy Canal. This area was chosen because of its high population. This is also 5 miles from the city centre next to densely populated area and a dual carriage way for good logistical access (E, J McCarthy, 1960, p83-93). This location will benefit the shop as Michael E. Portera says big populations means less risk for organisations. (Michael E. Portera, 1994, p35-40)

Capacity and resources Innovation in business terms is creating new products and services that meet the customers needs more effectively. Also innovation brings a competitive advantage with ever changing customer needs, increase competition, changing business environments and technological advances. (Johnson, D, 1969, p135-140)Our opportunity innovative as it will be the first retail charity that will take the bold leap to sell new products and not rely on second hand donations. Also with a consumer shift towards being more environmentally responsible and living healthy lives the retail shop would have the advantage as it will have emphasis on responsibly sourced products. Degree of product innovation (Hudson, J, 2013, last accessed 30/04/2013)Degree of product innovation Old/new product development

Improvement and revision of existing products Old

New products that similar performance at lower costNew

Existing products that are targeted to new markets New

Addition of products to an existing product line New

Creation of new product lines Old

New-to-the-world products New

Dimensions and degree analysis (Hudson, J, 2013, last accessed 30/04/2013)Degrees of Innovation

Dimensions of Innovation

Product ServicesProcess Business process

No innovationX

Improvements

Similar performance at lower costs

Targeting new markets X

Addition to existing product lines X

Creation of new product lines

New to worldX

Rogerss diffusion model (Everett M. Rogers, 1995, p204-216)Relative Advantage

What are the new benefits?Cheaper products, helping protect heritage, grow awareness, helps the communities as it will take on volunteers to tackle issues of employment regarding work experience.Does the innovation cover all of the benefits of the existing product, process or service? Innovation only covers products.How much better is the innovation, in terms of financial, time saved and other measures? Financial innovation is better as 0% enterprise tax has to be paid. No innovation on times saved and other measures are that they can take volunteers to help.

ObservabilityHow can the benefits of the innovation be made as tangible and demonstrable as possible? The innovation will be made tangible and demonstrable as it will be made clear that products are noticeably cheaper than other retail shops because of the CRT not having to pay taxes.

TrialabilityIs the customer easily able to trial the innovation to perceive the benefits first hand? Yes as they can purchase more products and compare with various retail shopCan a trial on a small scale be used? Small scale can be done relatively cheaply via third party online retailer such as eBay and Amazon.

CompatibilityIn what ways can the innovation be made similar to the customers current way of working? Products can be moved on to a different medium such as internet to match customers way of working which is shopping online.

ComplexityHow can an innovation be designed to be simple? It can be simplified by making the purchasing process easier such as;Clear pricing and signs, in store credit method for people who are not technologically savvy.

Perceived risk

What is the customers perceived risks of adoption? Social stigma and over priced products.How can they be minimized? Advertising affordable products and can reduce social stigma by selling products that are trending.

GrowthFor positive growth for the CRT retail shop the shop will be analysed against the Ansoff matrix. Also if the opportunity is successful in its implementation a franchise chain can be implemented and a web based online store can be made to sell products nationally and internationally. A business always needs to grow or it will be left behind.Ansoff Matrix (Igor Ansoff, 1957)The Ansoff matrix is used for marketing planning and helps an organisation increase their market share. Using this with our opportunity should help create a growth strategy to solidify the future of the CRT retail shop.

With the Ansoff matrix two opportunities have been identified.Market penetration - the retail shop will aim to increase market penetration by pricing products competitively, advertising and in store promotions. Also take advantage of online retailing to expand to a bigger market. The shop will aim to increase loyalty by introducing an in store credit system. Market development - the retail shop could expand its market internationally by selling its products online; these products can include CRT branded souvenirs such as photo frames, post cards, key rings etc...

ConclusionThis wiki identifies the history and current problems affecting the CRT. Group research had revealed that the CRT has no real profitable businesses that make use of their resources. Also this wiki has identified various ways of creative thinking to create ideas that eventually leaded to one business proposal. To get to this stage the ideas had to be filtered from ideas to five opportunities and then the chosen opportunity expanded upon for use within in the proposal that will be put forward for the CRT. Reflection Upon group reflection of the chosen proposal it has been decided that it was not a good idea for this wiki as it wasnt innovative which had the negative effect within the proposal / marketing and capacity and resource sections. Also the proposal would require too much maintenance to be an effective business. After this the conclusion was drawn that the CRT needed to invest a lot of money to make their resources profitable, but this is probably why the government has promised 800,000 million to them and from our research they havent been using it to create new businesses at all. A better opportunity for the CRT would have been the reusable energy as it would have made better use of the canals and rivers and would require no costs after initial implementation. Recommendations We recommend that the CRT create a new venture with the government to encourage people to use the CRTs resources for healthy lifestyles and for the CRT to spend money on making the CRT known nationally.

Appendix

References Canal and river trust. (2005).About us.Available: canalandrivertrust.org.uk/about-us. Last accessed 01/04/2013.Charles, H. (1996). British canals: An illustrated history.Canals; History; Great Britain. 3 (2), 277-279David M. Harper (1999).Aquatic Conservation. London: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 141-157Everett M. Rogers. (1995). Attributes of innovation and their rates of adoption . In: Shoemakers, FDiffusion of Innovation. 4th ed. America : Free press. 204-216E, J McCarthy . (1960). the 4Ps Classification of the marketing Mix revisited.Journal of Marketing. 56 (4), 83-93Heidi M. Neck. (2004). An Entrepreneurial System View of New Venture Creation.Journal of Small Business Management. 42 (2), 190208Hudson, J. (2013). Lecture slides, University of Derby online, last accessed 30/04/2013Johnson, D (1969).Industrial and Commercial Training. 13th ed. Durham: University of Durham Business School. 135 - 140.Michael E. Portera. (1994). The Role of Location in Competition.International Journal of the Economics of Business. 1 (1), 35-40Moon, R and GEE, S (2012).Creating business opportunity. Derby: Palgrave Macmillian. 255-287Robert A. Baron. (2006). Opportunity Recognition as Pattern Recognition: How Entrepreneurs Connect the Dots to Identify New Business Opportunities.ACAD MANAGE PERSPECT. 20 (7), 104-119