Snazzy Sneaker Co. wants to launch a new athletic shoe line and needs help determining key features for the new shoe design. The company's objective is to incorporate features into the new design that will allow it to grow its market share, target new customers, retain existing customers, and increase profits. Quantitative and qualitative market research such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups could help identify features customers want. Primary research would seek information on customer preferences, trends, pricing of similar products, and perceptions of competitors' products. Secondary research could provide context on the size of the market and customer behavior.

1. Sheet1Facts and AssumptionsYear201520162017Net sales$
12,650Growth rate in sales35%30%Cost of goods sold/net
sales86%86%Gen., sell,, and admin. expenses/net
sales12%11%Long-term debt$ 8,500$ 7,650$ 6,885Decrease
-10%Current portion long-term debt$ 850$ 850$ 850Stays
ConstantInterest rate10%10%Tax
rate45%45%Dividend/earnings after tax50%50%Current
assets/net sales29%29%Net fixed assets12,450$ 11,828$
11,236Decrease -5%Current liabilities/net
sales14.5%14.4%Owners' equity$ 1,730INCOME
STATEMENTYear201520162017Net sales$ 17,078$
16,445Cost of good sold14,68714,143Gross
profit2,3912,302Gen., sell,, and admin. exp.2,0491,809Interest
expense8501,280Earnings before
tax(508)(787)Tax(229)(354)Earnings after
tax(280)(433)Dividends paid(140)(216)Additions to retained
earnings(140)(216)BALANCE SHEETCurrent assets$ 4,952$
4,769Net fixed assets11,82811,236Total
assets16,78016,005Current liabilities2,4762,368Long-term
debt7,6506,885Equity1,590(216)Total liabilities and
shareholders' equity11,7169,037EXTERNAL FUNDING
REQUIRED$ 5,064$ 6,968
Locate this information for your company
Use this data to calculate 2016 based on 2015 actuals.
Note: you will need to modify: Long-term Debt, Current long-
term debt and Net Fixed Assets based on your company's data.
Complete the formulas to calculate 2017 estimates)
Running head: On your way to using qualitative and
quantitative research
On your way to using qualitative and quantitative research
7

2. Module 02 Course Project
Douglas Williams
Rasmussen College
06/01/19
Introduction
I have been given responsibility as a leader in my first big
client project. The project that I have chosen is that of Snazzy
Sneaker Co. who wants to launch a new athletic shoe line and
needs help determining the key features to include in its new
shoe design. Therefore, I will start by selecting a client,
identifying client’s marketing research objective, writing
SMART goals to achieve the objective, evaluating the use of
quantitative or qualitative marketing research to achieve the
objective, and conducting research both primary and secondary
to collect information for the project.
The scenario chosen and marketing research objective for the
client
The scenario that I have chosen is that of Snazzy Sneaker Co.
who wants to launch a new athletic shoe line and needs help
determining the key features to include in its new shoe design.
The marketing objective for Snazzy Sneaker Co. is a brand
image. Through this, Snazzy Sneaker Co. will be able to grow
its market share, target new customers and retain its customers,
enter new markets, and also increase its profit. Therefore, the
objective is to make unique shoes by incorporating key features
into the new shoe design.
SMART goal based on the scenario selected
Snazzy Sneaker Co. focuses to expand and grow by launching a
new athletic shoe line. Therefore, there is a great need to ensure
that the SMART goals for the company fully align with the
company’s overall marketing strategies, vision, and mission.
Specific: Snazzy Sneaker Co. has a strategic plan to focus on 10
key cities in different countries. These cities include: New
York, Mexico City, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Cape Town,

3. Milan, London, Paris, and Washington D.C. The company will
mainly focus on London and New York as its primary focus
from 2019 to 2021. The main strategy will be the consumer
direct offense marketing strategy.
Measurable: The consumer demographics and their behavior
will be utilized as the core of the 10 city incubator for the new
shoe product line. For the new product line being launched, the
company will utilize customer driven data and information such
as colors. Therefore, information on what customers prefer more
in these 10 cities will be utilized to show what customers need
more. London and New York will be the main focus for retrieval
of this information.
Attainable: Through the utilization of trends, the data and the
patterns on the consumer behaviors from these major 10 cities,
the company will have the ability to effectively depend on the
information on creation and implementation of strategies that
will aid in proper functioning. The information will also help in
determining the distribution of the product. An increase in sales
and the responses of the customers will be reflected from a test
of variables.
Relevance: By focusing on 10 cities and primarily the two
chosen cities i.e. London and New York, the company will be
able to have and more accurate and reliable representation of
segmented market preference. It is easy to collect data, analyze
it and adjust t depending on real-time data from sales.
Time: The Company will focus to determine its success over the
next 1 year. The accomplishments will be measured after one
year.
How quantitative and qualitative marketing research could be
used to achieve the objective
Quantitative market research can be used as a means of
acquiring information by asking the target audience questions
(Wilson et al, 2009). From the responses received, the
information can be used in developing well-though decisions on
what features should be added on the new design. This hence

4. helps in increasing satisfaction levels. For Snazzy Sneaker Co.
to be a customer-centric organization, it has to consider
customer feedback and research. Some of the ways that can be
used in conducting quantitative market research include;
surveys, questionnaires, and polls. Basically, for Snazzy
Sneaker Co. to get to know some of the key features to include
in its new shoe design, it has to do research. Quantitative
market research tends to capture data such as the size of the
market and customer behavior among others. The primary
quantitative market research techniques include; surveys, one-
on-one interviews, and computer-assisted personal interview.
Qualitative market research basically is based on the opinions,
feelings, thoughts, and attitude of an individual (Wilson et al,
2009). This market research can be used in achieving the
objective as it will help in ascertaining the factors that may
influence their behaviors. Through this research, it will be
easier to get an insight into the perception of the buyers, their
behavior and their needs. Some of the things to be considered in
order to attain more information on the buyers’ perception
include; what they feel about a certain design, what they like or
dislike about it, what their expectations are, what they feel
about the competitor’s product, and what the barriers that
influence their purchasing behavior are. Therefore, quantitative
and qualitative market research will help in incorporating better
the key features to include in its new shoe design based on the
buyer’s perception.
Credible sources of information that could be helpful for the
project
Types of primary research methods I would use and discuss the
types of information I would seek to collect through marketing
research
The first method is focus groups. This method entails bringing
together potential groups of customers and evaluating their

5. ideas and feeling about the product (Bradley, 2007). The
method would help in getting detailed information about
customer preferences and their tastes regarding shoe products.
other information from this method could include current trends
and pricing of similar products. The second method is online
surveys. This method would in acquiring information about the
views of potential and existing consumers. The method can
show the designs that customers need, help in comparing with
competitor’s products, pricing of similar products and the
current trends.
References
Bradley, N. (2007). Marketing research: tools & techniques.
Oxford University Press, USA.
MacLeod, L. (2012). Making SMART goals smarter. Physician
executive, 38(2), 68-72.
Wilson, A. M., Jones, R., Miller, K., & Pentecost, R.
(2009). Marketing research: An integrated approach. Pearson
Australia.
Running head: PROFORMA DOCUMENTS 2
PROFORMA DOCUMENTS 2
Your Name
Assignment:
Instructor
BUS 522:
May 23, 2019
Proforma Balance Sheet and Income Statement for a

6. Hypothetical Company
Facts and Assumptions
Year
2015
2016
2017
Net sales
$32,450
Growth rate in sales
35%
30%
Cost of goods sold/net sales
86%
86%
Gen., sell., and admin. expenses/net sales
12%
11%
Long-term debt
$ 4,670
$ 4,203
$ 3,783
Current portion long-term debt
$ 500
$ 500
$ 500
Interest rate
10%

7. 10%
Tax rate
45%
45%
Dividend/earnings after tax
50%
50%
Current assets/net sales
29%
29%
Net fixed assets
15,680
$ 14,896
$ 14,151
Current liabilities/net sales
14.5%
14.4%
Owners' equity
$10,500
INCOME STATEMENT
Year
2015
2016
2017
Net sales
$ 43,808

8. $ 42,185
Cost of goods sold
37,674
36,279
Gross profit
6,133
5,906
Gen., sell., and admin. exp.
5,257
4,640
Interest expense
470
1,072
Earnings before tax
406
194
Tax
183
87
Earnings after tax
223
107
Dividends paid
112
53
Additions to retained earnings
112

9. 53
BALANCE SHEET
Current assets
$ 12,704
$ 12,234
Net fixed assets
14,896
14,151
Total assets
27,600
26,385
Current liabilities
6,352
6,075
Long-term debt
4,203
3,783
Equity
10,612
10,665
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity
21,167
20,522

10. EXTERNAL FUNDING REQUIRED
$ 6,433
$ 5,863
Process of Creating Proforma Statements
Proforma documents such as income statement and balance
sheet are important for companies to assist them in projecting
the operations of the company. The Pro forma income
statements provide an important benchmark or budget for
operating a business throughout the accounting period.
Similarly, the proforma balance sheet aids in estimating the
future assets and liabilities of the company. In the creation of
the proforma documents, the projected growth of company
operations is estimated which are then used for projecting. For
instance, the net sales of the above hypothetical company are
estimated to be 35% and 30% for the period of 2016 and 2017
respectively. Thus, using these estimates, the projections are
made for the 2016 and 2017 net sales respectively (Stickney, C.
P., Brown, P., & Press, D., 2014).
For the case of the hypothetical company above, the external
funding required for the year ending 2016 is $6,433 while
external funding amounting to $5,863 is required in 2107.
Therefore, the company requires these funding to enable it to
operate efficiently without any cash shortages in meeting its
obligations. The funding also helps the company undertake its
growth projects hence increase its sales and thus profits. The
internal resources of the company are also used for other
purpose since the external funding helps to run other necessary
projects which may have required to use of internal resources.
Also, the company gains access to expert advice from its
external financiers since they are also interested in the growth
of the firm’s profits (Arnold, T., & Eisemann, P. C., 2012). A
good image of the company is that external funding decrease in
2017 as compared to 2016, hence resulting to increase the
ownership of the shareholders of the compared because less

11. proportion of company assets are owned by external financiers.
References
Arnold, T., & Eisemann, P. C. (2012). Debt Financing Does
NOT Create Circularity Within Pro Forma Analysis.
Stickney, C. P., Brown, P., & Press, D. (2014). Financial
statement analysis. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden.
BUS522- Financial Tools for
Managers
Unit 5 Assignment: The Company Blog
Due Date: Sunday of Unit 5
Total Points: 40
Overview:
Select a company in which you would like to learn more about
during this term. You will
use this Company Blog for your Final Project in Units 7 and 8,
so choose a company
you find interesting. Also consider, in making your choice, a
company that you can
easily access information on. You will create a Blog (+/-2 pages
per assignment) in
which you will post information that you research and report on
in each Blog.
Instructions:

12. 1. Each person must select a different company – first-come
first-served. Email
your instructor with your company selection before you begin
your blog. You
need instructor approval of it before you begin.
2. You must be able to obtain company information: strategy,
goals, financials, etc.
3. Your initial post should provide a brief overview of your
selected organization.
For each assignment, you are required to make the following
posts:
1. Your data, analysis, and commentary – collected data can be
news reports,
Facebook postings, first-hand accounts, videos/pictures from a
visit – almost
anything and any source can be used.
2. Your comments and observations on your data – which is
really the important
part of this assignment. You are encouraged to select a company
that you can
visit – in-person or virtually (web-based). You will be required
to gather first-hand
reconnaissance. The Blog post should generally relate to subject
matter for that
week.

13. 3. For Unit 5 Blog -- Using the material presented in this
session, analyze, and
describe the cash situation for your company. Look and
comment on the cash
balance vs short -term and long-term debt. Is your company
profitable? Do they
have cash to fund operations? What do the ‘Notes’ (from their
financial
statements) say about their cash position? Do they appear to
have issues with A/
R, inventory, or other areas the consume cash?
Requirements:
your postings. Each
student is required to make two follow-up comments.
-crafted paragraphs in
length.
ed.
Be sure to read the criteria, by which your assignment will be
evaluated,
before you write, and again after you write.

14. Evaluation Rubric for Unit 5 Blog Assignment
CRITERIA Exemplary Proficient Deficient
(9 – 10 Points) (7 – 8 Points) (0 – 6 Points)
Overview of the
Organization.
Overview is clearly
presented including
all key details.
Overview is
presented, though
key details may not
be clearly or
completely
presented.
Does not provide an
overview or the
overview is missing
key details.
Organizational
Data, Analysis,
and Commentary
Data, analysis, and
commentary is
clearly presented
including all key
details.

15. Data, analysis, and
commentary is
presented, though
key details may not
be clearly or
completely
presented.
Does not provide
data, analysis, and
commentary or is
missing key details.
Personal
Observations on
the Collected Data
Personal
observations on the
collected data is
clearly presented
including all key
details.
Personal
observations on the
collected data are
presented, though
key details may not
be clearly or
completely
presented.
Does not provide
personal

16. observations on the
collected data or is
missing key details.
(4 – 5 Points) (2 – 3 Points) (0 – 1 Points)
Focus and Flow of
the Blog Post
Post is focused and
coherently
integrates
examples with
explanations and
analysis. The post
demonstrates
application of
critical thinking and
analysis of course
subject matter. The
post reflects in-
depth engagement
with the topic.
Post is reasonably
focused,
demonstrating
some connections
between ideas,
though key details
may not be clearly
presented.
Post is unfocused,
or simply restates
previous comments,

17. and displays little
evidence of
engagement with
nor critical thinking
about the topic.
Clear and
Professional
Writing and APA
Format
Writing and format
is clear,
professional, APA
compliant, and
error free.
Few errors that do
not impede
professional
presentation.
Errors impede
professional
presentation;
guidelines not
followed.