Strategic Growth and Marketing Challenges at Zarr Tech

The founder and CEO of Zarr Tech, Matthew Zarrillo himself has a solid foundation in information technology. He has earned an advanced certificate in Information Technology as a Computer Systems Analyst from Sheridan College and has experience from working in numerous co-ops jobs regarding IT. Moreover, the Milton and Oakville chambers of business both named Zarrillo the Entrepreneur of the Year. This shows how his experience and skills in the industry was helping Zarr Tech to deliver high-quality services and showcase the beneficial services that has provided to the locality.

Zarillo wasn’t sure which social media platform would be the most effective for advertising or marketing his company’s services. He experimented with a few social media sites where he had marketing difficulties in order to properly promote. Secondly, moving on with his email marketing approach and other marketing endeavors, he began his promotion by experimenting with LinkedIn and Google AdWords.

According to my research, each trade fair would need an investment of $650 to $2,000 in order to reach the broadest audience attainable with products, posters, banners, etc. He might have lost out on business for the day if he didn’t spend the entire day at the trade shows, which would have cost him money. Zarillo was debating whether or not to hire a sales representative on a full-time basis but wasn’t sure how to go about doing so. Additionally, he would be responsible for paying their wage ($35000/year) and giving them a 10% cut of sales. Also Zarillo was concerned enough that his representatives would have enough experience or not. He selected internet advertising since he was looking at Google Ads and LinkedIn Advertising to find better prospects and increase his business’s profit or revenue. He was spending $100 five days a week as that is how google advertising works. He was unaware of the upcoming costs, which is why he fell into problems with the overall cost, which ranged from 1.50 to a maximum of $4.

While Zarrillo felt positive about the possible immediate effects of this possibility, he had also heard that certain companies received a high volume of bouge calls, limiting the promotional efficacy.

Operating in the IT service industry for about 3 years, Zarr Tech has been working hard to provide and satisfy its customers. The information technology consulting services industry in Canada has expanded more than ever. Over the last ten years, statistics showing the revenue increase from CA$34 billion to about CA$50 billion within the industry, showing how well it is booming. Hence, in order for Zarr Tech to further grow itself to becoming one of the biggest IT managed service providers in Canada by capitalizing on this increase in demand. In doing so, Zarr Tech has to analyze its capability to achieve this goal.

In the three years that Zarr Tech has been in the industry, it has grown quickly. Revenues are anticipated to exceed $300,000, which proves the company’s ability in retaining and satisfying customers. This estimate shows Zarr Tech’s immense capability to satisfy client demands. However, Zarrillo did mention that Zarr Tech’s price for its service is on the low to average end when compared to the industry standard. While this could attract some customers, it is important for Zarr Tech to assess its pricing plan to make sure it is both profitable to them and is market-competitive.

Moreover, in order to keep up with the rapid growth of demand for its services, Zarr Tech has hired two more IT professionals in its staff list. In doing so, the business now has access to a greater variety of skills, which enables them to give a wider range of services to their clients, handle more complicated projects with ease and successfully satisfy their clients’ expectations by providing top-notch services.

Through the analysis of Zarr Techs internal capabilities, it is possible for them to achieve their goal. However, there are issues that require some reiterations in order to strengthen their road to success.

The founder and president of Zarr Tech Canada Inc., Matthew Zarrillo, wants to increase the revenue stream of his rapidly expanding IT consulting business. Currently, Zarr Tech provides services to about 100 clients, including household customers, small and medium-sized companies, and a few big corporations.

Zarr Tech is up against competition from a number of different angles, such as direct rivals like Networth and Digital Fire as well as bigger IT service providers like Geek Squad and Nerds on Site. Also providing their own support services are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers including Dell, Microsoft, and Apple.

Numerous services are offered by Zarr Tech, such as backup solutions, network maintenance, cloud solutions, business telephone systems, data recovery, IT consulting, website building, and project management. The company normally charges for its services on a fee-per-user or prepaid time allocation basis.

To promote further growth for Zarr Tech, Zarrillo is considering the following options:

Trade Shows: Zarrillo has had some success in the past with trade exhibitions. He is thinking of taking part in local trade exhibitions hosted by the Oakville and Milton chambers of business, as well as regional trade events like the Better Business Expo (BBE) in Hamilton or Mississauga. He is also thinking of going to the Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference & Tradeshow, a bigger event with more expenses but perhaps more exposure.

It is vital for Zarrillo to weigh the expenses and potential effects of each promotional opportunity in order to determine which ones are most likely to result in long-term success for Zarr Tech. His decision-making process will be greatly aided by conducting market research, examining the intended consumer base, and taking the company’s budget into account.

For Zarr’s Tech business and due to its nature there are multiple similar businesses that he is competing against and with low barriers to entry to such a business. Competitive analysis is quite a broad spectrum but among them, the prominently mentioned are NETWORTH and Digital Fire and others that are not so prominently detailed are: Geek Squad, and OEM companies like: Dell, Microsoft, Apple and CGI Group Inc.

NETWORTH: One of Zarr Tech’s biggest rivals happens to be a larger and much more established business compared to Zarr Tech. As mentioned in the case the company has a much more substantial client list that mostly doesn’t consist of a circle of families, rent and acquaintances. Another big issue would be the fact that they also consist of credibility from a big-name player with a bigger brand which would no doubt play a big role in bringing in new customers or much less tech-savvy people. But as a silver lining there is one competitive advantage that Zarr Tech can take advantage of and that would be pricing their products lower than theirs.

Digital Fire: Another notable rival of Zarr Tech also at a slightly bigger scale compared to Zarr Tech. The notable difference between NETWORTH is the advertisement for better virtual and better-custom-tailored support to the customer. Again the competitive advantage for Zarr Tech remains the same here.

From a Consumer Analysis

Zarr Tech mostly comprises 100 clients which range from residential, small, medium to large businesses. It is quite important to take into consideration Segmentation targeting and positioning of the products and services to their customers or else the business would be looking towards a huge loss in potential. It is safe to say that the customers are quite affluent, to begin with so losing one customer for that matter would be a huge blow to the business and a loss in long-term business relationships s well,

Implications

There are multiple ways that Zarr Tech can use different marketing strategies that could go a long way in saving them money that they can use in some other resources where the company feels that they are lacking in compared to their rival firms. Among the four discussed promotional methods include sales representative, Which can greatly be leveraged to bring in new clients At the same time this would give Zarr more time to allocate to more important things. Internet advertising would greatly promote the company online as a part of the technology sector by the use of Admob, Google Ads and many more alternatives alike can be a viable option in this regard as they can be used to offset some of the unavoidable costs that would have otherwise occurred .

Another approach the owner can use would be to provide support like other major brands or they could try to cater to another equipment manufacturer that has a wide market share and specialize in that OEM partner or alliance

One way that Zarr Tech has a distinct advantage that they can lean on would be pricing and another one would be offering a strong value proposition compared to the competition.

As a small business Zarr Tech has potential to grow if they follow a good marketing strategy. Zarr Tech can take decisions based on product, price, placement and promotions to grow in its Target market. A marketing plan based on the 4P’s is given below.

Product: Zarr Tech provides a variety of services to its customers including backup solutions, network maintenance, cloud solutions, business telephone system, data recovery, IT consulting, website development, project implication and management and many more. IT service and consultation is Zar Tech’s key services. These services are perfect for the company as the founder of Zar tech, Zarello has extensive experience performing these services.

Price: Zar Tech charges its customers on either by prepaid time and or on a fee — per — user basis. Smaller companies use the prepaid time option while small and medium sized companies use the fee — per — user basis. Zarr Tech charges $125 per hour on a prepaid time basis and $120 per-user per year. These prices are average to low end compared to its competitors. Here Zar Tech is providing similar benefits for a less price compared to the competitors. Which will attract smaller businesses towards the company as smaller businesses don’t want to invest an excess amount of money for IT services. Zarr Tech’s main competitors, Networth and Digital fire are larger than Zarr Tech. They Provide similar kinds of services for higher price, But their pricing is justified as their services are broader. Due to their services being more expensive than Zar Tech’s consumers will lure more towards Zar Tech as they provide similar benefits for lower price. And this is the correct pricing strategy for Zar Tech to grow.

Placement: Zarr Tech operates from Oakville, Ontario. Which is located at the border of the Greater Toronto Area. Zarr Tech primarily focuses on Oakville, But founder Zarello is thinking about expanding the business to Vancouver. Which would be a bad idea for his business. Zar Tech already faces tough competition in the Greater Toronto Area and in his town Oakville, where Digital fire is located. Vancouver expansion will be a very costly and very high risk move. As they might fail due to increased competition. So, Zar Tech should focus on expanding in the Greater Toronto area first. As Zarr Tech has lower prices than the competitors, and with a good promotional strategy, Zarr Tech might get a leverage in attracting more customers in the Greater Toronto Area. But they can also start focusing on providing IT consultation via online outside of the Toronto area and outside of the country and target developing or underdeveloped countries. As these countries are also seeking IT solutions for a cheaper rate. Conducting online services will give Zarr Tech enough data to expand to vancouver and give physical services.

Promotion: As a small company Zarr Tech should focus on internet promotions. Internet would give Zarr Tech exposure to outside markets. And internet marketing is very cheap and convenient. Google charges for every click on the advertisement. Which could range from $1 to $4. Despite it needing extensive research to put in the right keywords, once its set up correctly it will be the most efficient promotion for the company. Using Linked In is also a good idea as they charge cost per click and Linked In has manager of many businesses. Zarellos articles might attract them to see what Zarr Tech has to offer and might potentially become a client too. Internet marketing can bring potential clients outside of Zarr Techs operating area and give exposure to foreign countries too. Zarr Tech can also use Email marketing. Although it is very inefficient, it is also free. So there is still a slim potential for them to find a customer form email promotions. Finally Zarr Tech can use Trade Shows as a good promotional strategy. Although it is expensive to register for a bigger Trade show, Zarr Tech can take advantage of smaller trade shows, for example the Better Business Expo, they can gather a significant amount of customers due to their quality services and cheaper price.

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