Structuring A Business Plan For A Non-Alcoholic Beverage Startup

Importance of a Structured Plan

A structured business plan is compared to a formal statement of attainable business goals. The startup business company formulates a structured plan to accomplish such goals. A clear and descriptive business plan includes the enriched ideas about the product description, industry trends, target market, and the marketing strategy planning (Mariotti & Glackin, 2014). In order to establish a new business, it is essential to determine the necessary capital that will be invested for utilizing the resources. Hence, a financial plan for five years will ensure the invested capitals for this business purposes . In this case, it is observed that Melinda Cates has been planning to start a new business in the Non-Alcoholic Beverage (NAB) industry in US. The clear market analysis will provide the enriched ideas about the feasibility of the business in this competitive scenario. The plan is clearly structured in the further section of the study.

The business plan is based on opening a small NAB (Non-Alcoholic Beverage) business in US market by gathering the essential equipment for manufacturing the NAB products. She has been dealing with the NAB products at Country Fairs for the last seven long years. She sells the non-alcoholic beverage drink at just $2 per bottle. If the County Fair is open in the weekend, she sells an average of 10 Cardboard cartons during that time (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). She calculated that a bottle of NAB takes up to $.56 and it includes the prices of caps and bottles as well. She has left a few monetary inheritances since her uncle died. However, her uncle was much fond of the homemade NAB. Hence, she has the facility to use some of his equipment for starting a small NAB company. These equipments can be used for this new business purposes.

The new business plan is structured for establishing a start up NAB Company, which is not yet into any operational business. The mission of the company is to sell the It is noted that Melinda Cates has the proper ‘recipe’ for preparing the beverage. However, currently, the business is not ensuring the significant sales ratio and the establishment of the structured marketing plan will help to earn the expected revenue. It is essential to pay attention towards the product specification. It has been observed that the only concern of preparing this beverage is to determine that the beverage must be non-alcoholic (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). This business plan is looking forward to sell the non-alcoholic beverage in both individual sizes and wholesale basis. In order to earn more revenues, the business is paying attention towards raising funds through friends and family money. Apart from these sources, the funds from the external investors (e.g, venture capitalists) will also be considered in structuring the business. The association with the MBA professional will be much helpful for structuring the plan in a sequential way. The further plan is described below.

Financial Planning

 The Non-Alcoholic Beverage Industry in US comprises several categories, such as ready-to-drink tea and coffee, carbonated soft drinks, sports drinks, bottled water, and energy drinks. The market research implies that in the year of 2014, the volume of the liquid refreshment beverage market in US rose from 2.2% to 30.9 billion gallons (Marketrealist.com, 2017). The enormous sales ratio of the noncarbonated or still beverages is the major reason behind such volume growth in 2014 (Ratinho, Kraaijenbrink & Luttikhuis, 2014). The CSD (Carbonated Soft Drinks) is considered as the largest segment of the US liquid refreshment in the NAB industry. 

The above graph highlights the top ten NAB companies in US that experienced significant growth volume on 2014. In current market, it is observed that the sports drinks and the bottled water have become much attractive to the consumers. The key players in the NAB market are Coca Cola, Pepsi Co., National Beverage, Dr Pepper Snapple, Cott Corporation, Monster Beverage, and Nestle Waters (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). The non-alcoholic beverage landscape has been influenced due to the urbanization, increasing population and emerging middle class. However, the report highlights that during 2015, the carbonated beverage volumes continued to disappoint. In spite of the enormous efforts to revive the volume growth, the NAB companies faced the significant downfall in volume ration in the year of 2015. The report derived from the fiscal 2015 highlights that the volume of the carbonated beverage grew only 1% whereas the volume of the still beverage volumes grew up to 5% (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). In current time, the beverage industry has been experiencing some of the major changes. The growth of the water, energy, and sports drinks brand are influencing the industry in a significant manner. The non-alcoholic beverage companies are introducing more brands of the healthy beverages (Waterlander, Mhurchu & Steenhuis, 2014). Therefore, the market competition is increasing in a significant way. Therefore, it can be stated that the market of the non-alcoholic beverages is growing much significantly in current times.

The current market trend depicts that the soft drink industry is becoming more competitive and matured in current times. Therefore, the need of concentrating on the target group has become much essential. The business needs to focus on the specific needs of the consumers in consuming the non-alcoholic beverages. It has been observed that the adults and adolescent group are much conscious about their health. The focus of the consumers has been shifted towards the healthier products. Therefore, the business is targeting the adults and adolescents as the target group (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). However, it is necessary to pay attention to the ingredients. The consumers may reject the products if the beverages contain high level of sugar or minerals that are causing obesity. Hence, while targeting the consumer market, the business needs to keep the concentrations on such basic criteria.

Market Analysis

It is important to mention that the non-alcoholic beverage industry is highly competitive. Especially in US, few of the non-alcoholic beverage companies have been dominating both the national and international market. Coca Cola Company (KO) and Pepsi Co, Inc (PEP) are the two dominant non-alcoholic beverage companies in the industry. It is reported that these two companies hold almost 70% of the US carbonated soft drink market (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). Therefore, it can be predicted that Melinda Cates may face the most challenges from these two companies more specifically. Apart from Coca Cola and Pepsi Co, the business may face the significant level of competition from Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Cott Corporation, Monster Beverage Corporation and some other key players that are available in the CSD (Carbonated Soft Drink) market in US.

It is to be specified that some of the key players of the CSD market like Coca Cola and Pepsi Co are the major dominator in the international market as well. However, apart from these two companies, Nestle SA, Groupe Danone, and Suntory Holdings Limited are also the most famous non-alcoholic beverage companies in the international market (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). It is noted that the non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers, such as Coca Cola and Pepsi Co are considered as the integral parts of the consumer staple sector. Therefore, if the business invests in these companies through the Consumer Staples Select Sectors, it will be profitable for the future prospects. However, while structuring the proper sales and marketing plan; it is necessary for the business to pay attention towards the competitive scenario in the NAB market (Nishtar, Gluckman & Armstrong, 2016).

 The prime players primarily capture non-alcoholic beverage sector in a significant way. Therefore, start-up organizations would have very little opportunities for establishing the business in the target market (Hollensen 2015). It has been also assessed that people are reluctant to change their taste and preferences in favor of any non-alcoholic beverages. For that reason, Melinda will have to be extremely careful at the time of deciding the type of alcoholic beverages for penetrating the market.

Initially Melinda will have to focus on the local geographical area within the 100 mile radius, as people living in here knows the taste of the provided alcoholic beverage. Moreover, it would also have to focus on utilizing effective segmentation technique for creating maximum impact on the revenue level (Mangram 2012). For that reason, Melinda will also have to divide the entire market in terms of geographic, demographic and psychographic perspective. It case of demographic segmentation, Melinda will have to target teenagers and people up to 30 years for fulfilling objectives. On the other hand, it would also focus on understanding the value, believes and preferences of the customers so that it can create also create positive impact on the businesses.   

Competition in the NAB Industry

As mentioned earlier, non-alcoholic beverage market is primarily captured by all the top organizations of the world (Mangram 2012). In fact, they have created such environment where it has become extremely difficult for the new businesses to establish its presence in the desired market. For that reason, Melinda would also have to face huge amount of competition in order to create desired amount of popularity on the market. 

The prime strength of the start-up organization is that it had a well prepared recipe that costs around $0.56 per bottle. Moreover, Melinda was selling that product for almost 7 years for $2 per bottle. For that reason, it would allow the start-up company to establish the reputation in a major way. As a result, the product itself is not new for the targeted customers, which would definitely create positive impact on establishing the company on the desired market. 

As highlighted by Hollensen (2015) businesses will have to take risks in order to fulfill all the objectives in an appropriate way. Now, as Melinda is looking to increase the reach in the domestic market, it would also have to invest huge amount for fulfilling the objectives. Therefore, it has also increased the risks level in a major way. For that reason, Melinda will have to understand the market potential in an effective manner in order to assess the risk level comprehensively. 

As a small size start-up organization, Melinda will have to focus on direct marketing approach for positioning all products in an appropriate manner. It has been assessed that proper utilization of positioning strategy is necessary for reaching to all possible customers in an appropriate way (Mullins, Walker & Boyd Jr 2012). Now, as a non alcoholic beverage provider, Melinda will have to focus on using sales promotion and seasonal offering technique for achieving desired level of sales volume.

The message of the start-up organization focuses on providing superior quality of non-alcoholic beverage products at the reasonable price (Ahn 2013). The organization’s message also focuses on maintaining the quality of the products with a unique taste for influencing the customers for long period of time. The message would also focus on developing the trust level of the customers that will allow sustainable growth in the market.      

As a small size start-up organization, Melinda will have to focus on the direct marketing technique for fulfilling all the business objectives. Moreover, it would also have to consider display advertising and sales promotion for enhancing the sales volume in a major way (Armstrong et al., 2014). It has been assessed that appropriate use of marketing technique will help the organization to create desired amount of impact on the market.  

Focusing on Effective Segmentation Techniques

Strategic partnership describes different corporate alliances that businesses made for fulfilling all the objectives in an appropriate manner. It has been assessed that strategic partnership has allowed businesses to divide the total risk amount in an effective way. As a result, it has enhanced the opportunity of increasing revenue level in a major way (Boone & Kurtz, 2013). However, Melinda would not look for any strategic partnership, as it is trying to establish the business as an individual identity. Moreover, strategic alliances would also affect the secretiveness of the recipe, which can have major impact on the overall business level of the company. 

As per the article by McDaniel and Gates (2013), proper utilization of online platform has become essential for all the business entities in order to establish presence in the market. Moreover, online marketing is comparatively less expensive to other types of marketing strategies. For that reason, Melinda would also focus on utilizing the entire prime social media platform in order to provide information about the kind of products it would offer. Melinda would have to consider Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and MySpace for encouraging potential customers to purchase products from the offerings. Moreover, appropriate use of online marketing technique would allow the organization to develop long-term relationship with the customers.

As highlighted by Ogunmokun and Tang (2012) proper utilization of organizational structure allows organizations to perform all the responsibilities in an effective way. Moreover, it has allowed using a systematic procedure for covering all responsibilities in an appropriate manner. Now, Melinda will have to follow on the development of effective sales force in order to cover all the desired area in significant way. The organization will have to focus on dividing the areas for the sales force so that each individual within the market segment can be covered in an appropriate manner. On the other hand, Melinda will also have to provide specific time period for the sales force team so that they can cover all aspects of the business objectives comprehensively.

The business plan is structured through formulating the complete operations plan. The involvement of the clear operations plan helps in understanding the business functionalities (Kang, Auras & Singh, 2017). Melinda Cates is looking forward to structure a proper operations plan for the business development. The operations plan includes the description about the involved equipment, inventory, labour, personnel, and the legal atmosphere. The description of these necessary segments is provided further:

In order to manufacture the beverage products, two NAB Mixers will be required. Each of the mixers mixes up to almost 200 gallons. The price of each of the NAB mixer is $28,500. This machine of Beverage filling process has the capacity to rinse, fill, and cap the beverage producing ingredients. This machine is in fact imported from Italy. The machine has the constant temperature controlling system due to which, tea, hot and cold fruit juices and other beverages are filled into 16 oz bottles. At the current time, it is considered as the most advanced Filling machine. There are more two Bottling machinery required for filling and capping the bottles. Each of these machineries cost almost $9,600 (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). Apart from these machineries, other necessary equipment and technologies are mentioned below:

• Four vehicles or the panel vans are required. The price of each of these vans is $10,000.
• Three computers of Apple Macintosh will be involved. The price of each computers is $1,200.
• Graphic Software will be installed in these computers. The price of this graphic software is $750 (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017).

Apart from these equipments, some of the leased equipment will also be involved. For example, the labeling machinery will be rented by paying $4500 per month. The printers will also be included and need to pay $550 per month (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017).

Along with the necessary equipment, the involved inventory system for the operation process will be as follows:

Inventory Systems	Measurement	Price
1) Glass Bottles	16 oz: 24, 000	$3,000
2) Metal Caps	24, 000	$300
3) Cardboard Cartons	(48 bottles included in one carton): 500	$500
4) Ingredients for preparing Non-Alcoholic Beverages	24,000 bottles are needed to be prepared	$600

 Table 1: Inventory Operations

(Source: Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017)

The above inventory systems will be added on the operational activities of the NAB business. The following part of the study will provide the knowledge about the associated personnel for managing the entire process of manufacturing and selling.

In order to conduct this business for five-year contract, some of the experienced personnel will be associated with the business operations. The fresher MBA Graduate from the Strayer University will be the President of this business for five years. The president will be the investor for the business. The president will invest $20,000 that will be utilized in the business operation process. A part time computer expert will be associated. He will work for 20 hours a week and the charge will be $10 per hour. Melina Cates is the creator of this NAB Company. She is the master mixer and she will invest $40,000 for the business (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). There are some other colleagues will be associated for this business. Ian Glass is the plat production line supervisor and he used to work at PepsiCo. He retired from his post recently and was in the service for PepsiCo from last 35 years. He is ready to work as the non-paid line supervisor until the company hires the production supervisor. He advised the company that the line supervisor who is going to be associated with a startup business would not charge a huge salary amount. Hence, the company can save their capital resource from this aspect.

Another associate of the personnel is Mary Cates, who is Melinda’s sister. She served as the Senior Executive in Federal Trade Commission for 12 years. After leaving FTC, she started working in Federal Government for 30 years (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). However, she is interested to be involved with a startup business. Hence, the personnel is associated with these members for conducting this new business operations.

In order to open the new business, it is necessary to focus on the legal aspect. The American Beverage Association is representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry in America as the trade association. In the year of 1919, this American Beverage Association was established (Terry-McElrath, O’Malley & Johnston, 2014). At the initial stage, this association started the journey as the American Bottlers. However, in current scenario, ABA has been representing almost hundreds of distributors, producers, support industries, and franchise companies (Field et al., 2014). The non-alcoholic beverage companies can avail the opportunities to discuss the common issues. ABA provides such beneficial opportunities to maintain the tradition of spirited competition all across American market (Powell et al., 2014). This association is serving the liaison between the public, industry, and government. It provides the unified voice in regulatory and legislative matters. The Association takes the proactive participation to provide the fruitful opportunities to the non-alcoholic beverage companies (Roberto et al., 2016). Accordingly, this new NAB business will be able to avail these facilities for establishing the business in American market.

In order to formulate the structured business plan, it is necessary to undertake the proper technology plan. It is important to note that the current business market has become much advanced. Therefore, there is the significant need of adopting the latest and innovative technologies for the business process. The business is using the innovative technologies for manufacturing the non-alcoholic beverages. These automated machineries are reducing times and efforts of the associated labour (Landon et al., 2017). Moreover, the technological advancements are effective enough in preparing the beverages by applying proper (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). Apart from these innovative machineries, the business will focus on the digital technologies as well. For example, the complete information of the capital investments, and incurred costs will be stored in a computerized system. It will be helpful enough to gather the entire information in a safer place. This information will be utilized for the five years business purposes.

Another most remarkable technological implication is the establishment of the proper promotional activities through website. The company will establish the business promotions through the internet media. The business will structure the official website from where people will receive the proper information regarding the non-alcoholic beverage (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). The internet pages will include the informative sites where the manufacturing process will be described. People will receive the ideas about the ingredients that are added during the preparation of these non-alcoholic beverages. It is medium for the business to let the people know that the soft drinks are completely free from alcoholic substances (Kim & Zheng, 2017). Moreover, the business is offering the healthy fruit juice and carbonated soft drinks that will prevent many diseases of human health. The information obtained from these informative websites will be attractive towards the target group of consumers. In addition to this, the target customers can even present their demands through these internet pages. The ideas about the consumers’ preferences will be helpful for manufacturing these non-alcoholic beverages and carbonated soft drinks (Ghvanidze et al., 2017).

The effective telecommunication between the personnel and the external stakeholder will also be counted as the part of the technological plan. The business needs to pay focus on the supply chain process (Kang, Auras & Singh, 2017). The efficient telecommunication process is essential during the supply chain and logistic process. Hence, the business needs to indulge the user-friendly technologies to create the efficient links between the technologies and the distribution process (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). The personnel members would require the proper technological tools to derive the ideas about the specific needs of the target group of customers. For example, if the business is connecting with the consumers through social media, it will be effective enough in understanding the demands more specifically (Thomas et al., 2014). Moreover, it will be helpful enough in communicating with them and letting them know about the substances and ingredients that will be mixed in preparing the non-alcoholic beverages. Hence, the efficient telecommunication and internet services are essential.

 Employees are involved with the startup company to provide the best NAB products to the consumers in America (Watson, McGowan & Cooper, 2016). It is essential for them to follow the proper principles while associating with a reputed brand. However, this startup company will look forward to establish to proper organizational culture to bring out the best performance outcome of the employees. The employees will be efficient enough to provide the quality products and services to the consumers (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). The initiative is much beneficial for the company to spread the positive brand identity among the consumers in the American market (Schaper et al., 2014). Many management personnel associated with this startup business.

The fresher MBA graduate is the president of the company. He has the potentiality to structure a proper business plan for next five years. He will also invest some of the capital amount that is essential for utilizing the necessary resources. On the other hand, Stephen Job will be hired as the part time computer expert. He will organize the activities and schedule properly. He will in fact look after the necessary information stored in the computer. The information will include the details about the supply and distribution process. Melinda Cates is the owner of the company. She will invest some of the capital amount for the business purpose. She would add the proper recipe to manufacture the NAB products. Another governance figure is Ian Glass, who is the former production line supervisor in PepsiCo. After his 35 years of service life in PepsiCo, he has gathered the sufficient experience of running a business. He would provide the structured business plan for next five years. In fact, he presents the ideas about the salary structure of the associated personnel members. Hence, his advices will be beneficial for conducting the business. Mary Cates is another member of governance system. She was the senior executive of Federal Trade Commission from the year of 2001 to 2012 prior to join Federal Government (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017). She would take care of the ethical business process and the legal aspects associated with the business. Consequently, the business will associate these members for conducting the business for next five years.

The sustainability of the business depends on the social and ethical welfare process. One business need to maintain the ethical and social responsibility for strengthening the reputed position in this competitive scenario. Moreover, the maintenance of the social and ethical responsibility is necessary for attracting more customers towards the offered products and services. It has been observed that in current times, the adults and adolescences are much fond of the health drinks since they are much health conscious. In US, the adults prefer the non-alcoholic beverages or the carbonated soft drinks. (Blackboard.strayer.edu, 2017) However, it is also noted that they are eve conscious about the amount of the sugar and high carbohydrate mixed ingredients. In order to maintain the social responsibility, the business needs to focus on the amount of the sugar and the other elements that may cause obesity. Moreover, company needs to pay attention towards the bottles of the soft drinks. The cartons and the bottles should be environment-friendly that will not create the pollution.

On the other hand, the company needs to be attentive towards the maintenance of the ethical parameter. In order to promote the products, many companies add many features to the company’s propaganda. However, it is necessary to provide the relevant and justified information to the consumers before selling any product. Providing the falsified information to the consumers would be most unethical behaviour for a business. Apart from this, the business should work according to the guidelines provided by the Federal Government to maintain the ethical parameter.

References

Ahn, J. B. (2013). A Study on Service & Advertising Marketing Plan using LBS Smart Mobile Technology based on Delphi Research Method. The journal of the institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication, 13(6), 281-288.

Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014). Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia.

Beck, A. L., Tschann, J., Butte, N. F., Penilla, C., & Greenspan, L. C. (2014). Association of beverage consumption with obesity in Mexican American children. Public health nutrition, 17(02), 338-344.

Blackboard.strayer.edu, (2017). [online] Available at: <https://blackboard.strayer.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/BUS/599/1154/Week1/NAB_Company_Portfolio_3-10-15.docx> [Accessed 10 Mar. 2017].

Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. (2013). Contemporary marketing. Cengage learning.

Boyland, E. J., Nolan, S., Kelly, B., Tudur-Smith, C., Jones, A., Halford, J. C., & Robinson, E. (2016). Advertising as a cue to consume: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of acute exposure to unhealthy food and nonalcoholic beverage advertising on intake in children and adults. The American journal of clinical nutrition,.

Collins, E., Collins, E., Kearins, K., Kearins, K., Tregidga, H., Tregidga, H., … & Bowden, S. (2016). Selling all good: how small new entrants can compete. The CASE Journal, 12(3), 374-398.

Da Silva Lopes, T. (2015). A Systems View of Corporate Diversification: The Case of the Global Alcoholic Beverages Industry. International Studies of Management & Organization, 45(4), 342-358.

Field, A. E., Sonneville, K. R., Falbe, J., Flint, A., Haines, J., Rosner, B., & Camargo, C. A. (2014). Association of sports drinks with weight gain among adolescents and young adults. Obesity, 22(10), 2238-2243.

Ghvanidze, S., Velikova, N., Dodd, T., & Oldewage-Theron, W. (2017). A discrete choice experiment of the impact of consumers’ environmental values, ethical concerns, and health consciousness on food choices–a cross-cultural analysis. British Food Journal, 119(4).

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Hugenholtz, J. (2013). Traditional biotechnology for new foods and beverages. Current opinion in biotechnology, 24(2), 155-159.

Kang, D., Auras, R., & Singh, J. (2017). Life cycle assessment of non-alcoholic single-serve polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottles in the state of California. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 116, 45-52.

Khoury, E., & Khoury, M. C. (2014). Who Will Be Next?: The Challenge of Family Business Planning. In Cases on Management and Organizational Behavior in an Arab Context (pp. 241-256). IGI Global.

Kim, G., & Zheng, Y. (2017). US Nonalcoholic Beverage Demand: Evidence from AIDS Model with Dynamic Effect.

Kponee, K. Z., Siegel, M., & Jernigan, D. H. (2014). The use of caffeinated alcoholic beverages among underage drinkers: Results of a national survey. Addictive behaviors, 39(1), 253-258.

Kraak, V. I., Vandevijvere, S., Sacks, G., Brinsden, H., Hawkes, C., Barquera, S., … & Swinburn, B. A. (2016). Progress achieved in restricting the marketing of high-fat, sugary and salty food and beverage products to children. WHO Bull.

Landon, J., Lobstein, T., Godfrey, F., Johns, P., Brookes, C., & Jernigan, D. (2017). International codes and agreements to restrict the promotion of harmful products can hold lessons for the control of alcohol marketing. Addiction, 112(S1), 102-108.

Mangram, M. E. (2012). The globalization of Tesla Motors: a strategic marketing plan analysis. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 20(4), 289-312.

Mariotti, S., & Glackin, C. (2014). Entrepreneurship and small business management. Pearson Higher Ed.

Marketrealist.com, (2017). An Overview of the US Nonalcoholic Beverage Industry – Market Realist. [online] Marketrealist.com. Available at: <https://marketrealist.com/2016/03/overview-us-nonalcoholic-beverage-industry/> [Accessed 10 Mar. 2017].

Marsh, A. J., Hill, C., Ross, R. P., & Cotter, P. D. (2014). Fermented beverages with health-promoting potential: past and future perspectives. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 38(2), 113-124.

McDaniel, C. D., & Gates, R. H. (2013). Marketing Research Essentials 8th Edition. Wiley.

Mirasgedis, S., Georgopoulou, E., Sarafidis, Y., Papagiannaki, K., & Lalas, D. P. (2014). The Impact of Climate Change on the Pattern of Demand for Bottled Water and Non?Alcoholic Beverages. Business strategy and the environment, 23(4), 272-288.

Mullins, J., Walker, O. C., & Boyd Jr, H. W. (2012). Marketing management: A strategic decision-making approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Nakamura, R., Pechey, R., Suhrcke, M., Jebb, S. A., & Marteau, T. M. (2014). Sales impact of displaying alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in end-of-aisle locations: an observational study. Social Science & Medicine, 108, 68-73.

Ng, S. W., Slining, M. M., & Popkin, B. M. (2014). The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation pledge: calories sold from US consumer packaged goods, 2007–2012. American journal of preventive medicine, 47(4), 508-519.

Ni Mhurchu, C., Vandevijvere, S., Waterlander, W., Thornton, L. E., Kelly, B., Cameron, A. J., … & Swinburn, B. (2013). Monitoring the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods and non?alcoholic beverages in community and consumer retail food environments globally. obesity reviews, 14(S1), 108-119.

Nishtar, S., Gluckman, P., & Armstrong, T. (2016). Ending childhood obesity: a time for action. The Lancet, 387(10021), 825-827.

Ogunmokun, G. O., & Tang, E. C. H. (2012). The effect of strategic marketing planning behaviour on the performance of small-to medium-sized firms. International Journal of Management, 29(1), 159.

Popkin, B. M., Bray, G. A., & Hu, F. (2014). The role of high sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in weight gain and obesity. Managing and Preventing Obesity: Behavioral Factors and Dietary Interventions; Gill, T., Ed, 45-57.

Powell, L. M., Wada, R., Persky, J. J., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2014). Employment impact of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes. American journal of public health, 104(4), 672-677.

Prayson, R. A., Bierer, S. B., & Dannefer, E. F. (2014). Perspectives on Learning and Business Plans—More in Common Than Meets the Eye. Journal of graduate medical education, 6(1), 15-17.

Ratinho, T., Kraaijenbrink, J., & Luttikhuis, J. O. (2014). Towards A Taxonomy of Entrepreneurial Strategies: Evidence From US Hightech Venture Business Plans. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 34(11), 5.

Rehm, J., Lachenmeier, D. W., Llopis, E. J., Imtiaz, S., & Anderson, P. (2016). Evidence of reducing ethanol content in beverages to reduce harmful use of alcohol. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 1(1), 78-83.

Roberto, C. A., Wong, D., Musicus, A., & Hammond, D. (2016). The influence of sugar-sweetened beverage health warning labels on parents’ choices. Pediatrics, 137(2), e20153185.

Robinson, C. K. (2012). Peter Drucker on marketing: application and implications for libraries. The Bottom Line, 25(1), 4-12.

Ronit, K., & Jensen, J. D. (2014). Obesity and industry self-regulation of food and beverage marketing: a literature review. European journal of clinical nutrition, 68(7), 753-759.

Schaper, M. T., Volery, T., Weber, P. C., & Gibson, B. (2014). Entrepreneurship and small business.

Terry-McElrath, Y. M., O’Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2014). Energy drinks, soft drinks, and substance use among US secondary school students. Journal of addiction medicine, 8(1), 6.

Thomas, D. F., Gudmundson, D., Turner, K., & Suhr, D. (2014). Business Plan Competitions and Their Impact on New Ventures’ Business Models. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 10(1), 34.

Waterlander, W. E., Mhurchu, C. N., & Steenhuis, I. H. (2014). Effects of a price increase on purchases of sugar sweetened beverages. Results from a randomized controlled trial. Appetite, 78, 32-39.

Watson, K., McGowan, P., & Cooper, S. (2016). Reimagining the extracurricular business plan competition through the incorporation of effectuation.

Westwood, J. (2016). How to write a marketing plan. Kogan Page Publishers.