EPC ENGLISH BUSINESS REPORT

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Module: English 2 [ENGL 0205]
Report Title : A comparative analysis of two businesses of similar industry in different
geographical locations.
Group Members: Nik Afiq Amadi [0317749]
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng [0317726]
Chong Yi Qi [0304898]
Kong Xhiang Lynn [0317730]
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan [0318668]
Janice Lee Juen Yung [0318695]
Syed Aswad [0318625]

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Table of Content
1. Key Summary
2. Description of history of the business and involvements
3. Brief description of the businesses
3.1 Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon
3.1.1 Brief Description
3.1.2 Question and Answers with Interviewee
3.2 Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon
4. Comparative Analysis of the Two Businesses
4.1 Comparative Table
5. Recommendations
6. Appendices
6.1 Meeting Minutes
6.2 Shop Details
6.2.1 Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon
6.2.2 Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon
6.3 Survey Questionnaires
7. Bibliography
8. References

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1. Key Summary
We were given an assignment to compare the analysis of two businesses of
similar industry in different geographical locations. In this report, we chose to
compare between 2 hair dressing businesses found in Negeri Sembilan and in Klang
Valley. The salon in Klang Valley is located in SS14, called Jasmen Hair Dressing
Salon. Whereas the other salon we chose to compare to is located in Senaway, Negeri
Sembilan, called, Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon. After completing and
analysing the report, we found out that Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon is more
commercially successful in business than Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon.

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2. Description of history of businesses and involvement.
The profession of barbering is one of the oldest in the world. Tools for grooming such
as combs, razors and more mainly came from the tombs of Egypt. Barbering was introduced
in Rome during 296 B.C.. The barbers in Rome became very popular and prosperous, not to
be forgotten, their shops were frequented as centers for daily news and gossips. In the early
Christen era, barbers are also surgeons. They were allowed to pull teeth, and give all forms of
medications. They were known as barbers-surgeons for more than a thousand of years. Due to
the services given by barbers, they were the most respected and protected men in living. A
white cloth was used during their practice of surgery. They would rinse this out leaving blood
stains, hang it in the doorway of their business to dry. This acts as the emblem of the barber-surgeon’s
profession. Later on, the emblem was replaced by a wooden pole of white and red
stripes. This symbol is today’s barber pole and it is universally used as the sign of a barber
shop.
During the 20th century, barbershops were only for men or only for women. However,
at the end of 1970s, men started to wear very long hair, sideburns and perms. The traditional
male barbershops usually did not attend to those kinds of services. The barbers’ reaction was
to expand and offer their services to both men and women. In the 1980s, unisex barbershops
started to be everyday more common, and in the 1990s, almost all salons were giving services
to both genders. Today, hairstylists are regularly for everybody and even their names are
vaguely unisex, hair salons.

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3. Brief Description of the Businesses
3.1 Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon, Senawang, Negeri Sembilan
Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon was founded by Clairol Lee during 1983.
Based on Alexander Tan, who is the daughter of the founder, hair dressing business was a
successful business during the year 1983, therefore the founder decided to pursue in it. The
salon is located at 69, Kampung Baru Rahang, 70450 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, alongside
the residential area. The salon currently only have one shop with 4 numbers of employees.
The salon provide services varying from basics like haircuts to hair perming and hair
treatments. Their price also ranges from as low as RM15 up to RM60 depending on the type
of services requested. Although faced by many competitors, they do not intend to decrease
their price nor renovate their place as they believe that the customers will come back to them
due to their high quality services.

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i) What is your name?
- I am Alexander Tan.
ii) What is the location of this beauty saloon?
- 69, Kampung Baru Rahang, 70450 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
iii) How many branches of beauty saloon you have?
- No branches.
iv) Number of employees?
- 4 employees.
v) What are the main service provided here?
- Haircut, Perming, Dye and Treatment
vi) Where do you get your hair products from?
- Some are from local some are from other countries such as New York.
vii) How did you get your hair products?
- For local products, we get it in bulk. For imported products, we get it from an
online website.
viii) Will you change the brand of hair products you are currently using when there is
other brand releasing now?
- No. We want to stick to the same brand we are currently using.
ix) What is the estimated number of customers daily?
- Approximately 30 people per day.
x) When did your business started?
- Year of the boar, 1983.
xi) Who is the founder of this beauty saloon?
- My mother.

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xii) What was your mother’s motive for starting the business?
- Because saloon was a successful business in this area during 1983.
xiii) Are there any recent development in the past 3 – 5 years?
- N/A.
xiv) Who are your customers?
- From kids to old folks, both males and females.
xv) Do you have any customers from other states?
- Yes. We have some regular customers from Kuala Lumpur and other states.
xvi) Are there many competitors in this area?
- Yes.
xvii) Are you facing any strong competitors in this area?
- N/A.
xviii) Who are your top 3 competitors?
- No
xix) Are there any strategies in overcoming the strong competition in this business?
- Although our customers may visit our competitor’s shop, but eventually they
will come back to us as the customers know that we provide good quality
services.
xx) Are there any specialized field of knowledge is needed to run this business?
- Before I started working, I attended a local academy to learn and obtain some
basic knowledge on grooming skills.
xxi) Kindly explain what is the price range for the services provided.
- Low. Haircut starts from RM15 onwards, Hair perming and hair dying from
RM50, and hair treatment from RM60 depending on the hair length.

xxii) Does pricing for the service provided strongly affected by your competitors?
- No. Our competitor’s pricing may be lower than us but our customer will still
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come back to us.
xxiii) What makes your saloon different from others?
- It is quite old and it still remains the same since 1983.
xxiv) How much do you earn approximately daily?
- Only RM300, but there are days where it can reach up to RM1,000 per day.
xxv) How do you improve your business?
- Sometimes I travel to other countries like New York to learn some new skills
from the local hairdresser.

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3.2 Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon, Subang Jaya, Selangor
Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon is located at 7, SS14/1, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
The salon was founded by Bushpa Nathan at the year of 1986 with an intention of sustaining
his family as Mr. Bushpa only had basic grooming skills and enough money as a capita l to
open the salon. The salon currently have 7 branches located at different places such as SS15,
USJ 16, USJ Court 4, and many more. The current salon located at SS14 have 3 employees,
including Khalaiarasan Javen, who is the interviewee.
The salon not only provide haircut, but also shaving and massage starting from a price
as low as RM7. The products used are mostly imported from India.

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3.2.2 Questions and Answer with Interviewee
i) May I know what is your name?
- Kalaiarasan Javen. I am the supervisor of this salon.
ii) What is the address of this salon?
- 7, SS14/1, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
iii) How many branches do you have?
- 7. They are located in SS15, USJ Court 4, USJ 16, Rawang, Bukit Jelutong,
and other places.
iv) How many employees you have?
- 3.
v) What are the main services provided here?
- Haircut and shaving
vi) Where do you get your hair products from?
- Most of them are from India.
vii) Estimated number of customers daily?
- About 20 to 30 customers per day.
viii) When did your business started?
- 1986.
ix) Who is the founder of this salon?
- Mr. Bushpa Nathan.
x) What was his motive for starting this business?
- Mr. Bushpa only has grooming skills and enough money as capital to open a
barber shop, he also needed the profit to sustain the family.
xi) What are the recent development of this saloon 3 – 5 years ago?
- N/A

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xii) Who are your customers?
- Mainly Chinese followed by Indians, then Malays; males of all ages.
xiii) Are there many competitors in this area?
- Yes. The one next door.
xiv) Who are the top 3 competitors in this business?
- N/A
xv) Any strategies in overcoming the strong competition in this business?
- N/A
xvi) Are there any specialized field of knowledge is required to run this business?
- Yes. Grooming skills are needed.
xvii) What are the price for the service provided?
- Very low. Haircut starting from RM7, head massage is RM15.
xviii) Does pricing decision strongly affected by your competitors?
- No.
xix) What makes your salon different from others?
- We provide head massaging and shaving. The barber chair in our shop also
has a special mechanism that vibrates to massage the customers.
xx) How much do you earn annually?
- RM50,000.
xxi) How do you improve your business?
- So far I am happy with my current salon and no changes are needed.
xxii) How much capital do you need to start this business?
- RM2,000.00

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4. Comparative Analysis of the Two Businesses
We are required to interview two businesses from different locations of Malaysia. In
our case, we chose to compare two hair dressing businesses from Klang Valley and Negeri
Sembilan. The first business that we interviewed was Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon which is
located in SS14, Subang Jaya, Selangor. The interviewee was the supervisor of the salon
named, Kalaiarasan Javen. This business started in 1986 by Mr. Bushpa Nathan, the owner of
Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon. The second business that we interviewed was Clairol Unisex
Hair Style Beauty Saloon. This salon is located in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan. The
interviewee was the daughter of the founder, named Alexander Tan. The business started in
1983 because it was a successful business at that time.
This two businesses started with different motives. For Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon,
the owner only have basic grooming skills and enough money to open a salon. In order to
sustain his family, he decided to pursue in this business. He started off his business with a
capital of RM2,000 only. On the other hand, the owner of Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty
Saloon started this business because it was a successful business in Senawang during 1983.
The business was started off with a capital of RM1, 800.
The products used by both business are different too. Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon
obtained their products from India. The products used in Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon are
mainly oils and creams to sooth the redness after shaving and for massaging. Clairol Unisex
Hair Style Beauty Saloon acquire their products from both local and overseas.
The services provided in this two hair dressing business differ from each other.
Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon only provides limited services such as haircut, shaving and head
massage. As for Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon, it provides more variety services
such as haircut, hair perming, hair dye, and hair treatment. Thus, both businesses attracts
different group of customers as the male customers will prefer to visit shops like Jasmen Hair

Dressing Salon and the female customers are more likely to visit shops like Clairol Unisex
Hair Style Beauty Saloon. This is because most of the male customers do not seek for
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services like hair perming and hair treatment.
Like any other business, these two businesses also face challenges throughout their
business. The problem that Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon face is that there is another
barbershop next to it, therefore, it affected their business. As for Clairol Unisex Hair Style
Beauty Saloon, their location was slightly rural and not many people will be able to notice
them. Other than that, there is also another barbershop opened next to it.
As for advertising, Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon do not have any approaches as they
are satisfied with their current business status. However, Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty
Saloon promotes their business through Facebook by updating new hairstyles and promoting
their products on their page. This is to attract the customers to pay a visit at their salon.
The price range offered in these two hair dressing businesses varies. Jasmen Hair
Dressing Salon provides haircut starting from RM7 onwards and massages at RM15. The
price for the service here depends on different types of category, such as student, employed,
senior citizens. As for Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon, the haircut provided starts
from RM15, hair dye and hair perming starting from RM50, and hair treatment from RM60.
The price for the service here depends on the customer’s hair length.
In conclusion, Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon is more commercially stable than the
Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon. This is because Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon have
more branches compared to Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon. Other than that, the
location of Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon is more strategic and happening and they are able to
attract more customers compared to Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon which is
located in a rural area.

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4.1 Comparative Table
Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon
Initial Purpose -The owner only have grooming
skills and enough money to open
the shop.
-It was a successful business in this area
during 1983.
Main Services -Haircut and Shaving -Haircut, Hair Dye, Hair Treatment, and
Hair Perming.
Obstacles -There is another barbershop
opened few shop next to it
-The location is slightly rural.
-There is another barbershop opened next
door
Competitors - -
Advertising -N/A -Facebook page
Location -Town area
-Higher density of population
-Residential area
-Lower density of population
Price -Haircut starting from RM7 -Haircut starting from RM15
Nature of Business -Monopolistic Competitive -Monopolistic Competitive

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5. Recommendations
This salon is too small that it can only occupy 3 customers only. Hence, we recommend them
to expand the space of this salon to occupy more customers. The cushion of the barber chairs
are badly damaged. They should replace the cushions of the barber chairs to increase the
comfort level of customers. Not to be forgotten, the cabinets in Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon
are damaged. Therefore we recommend them to replace the old cabinets with new cabinets.
The tools in this salon are scattered around, a salon trolley should be purchased by them to
keep the tools in proper place. To increase the business they should give out more flyers and
promotion to the customers.
The products and tools are all around the salon, therefore we recommend them to install some
cabinets to store the products and tools to give it a neater look. The lighting in Clairol Unisex
Hair Style Beauty Saloon is very dim. More lightings should be added to brighten the whole
shop. Not to be forgotten, the space in this salon is too compact. We recommend them to
extend their salon so that they can fit in more customers and provide more services. This
salon should replace the old decorations with new and more attractive decorations to give a
cleaner ambience. Lastly, we would like to recommend Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty
Saloon to buy an advertising space on Facebook. By doing this, Facebook users will be aware
of their existence and will pay a visit to their salon.

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6. Appendices
7.1 Meeting Minutes
1st Meeting
DATE: 1st of November 2014
TIME: 10am-5pm
VENUE: Library, 2.2 Discussion Room
NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS TUTORIAL GROUP ROLE
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng Friday, 10am Leader
Janice Lee Juen Yung Friday, 8am Research
Kong Xhiang Lynn Friday, 8am Research
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan Friday, 8am Note taking
Chong Yi Qi Friday, 8am Note taking
Nik Afiq Amadi Friday, 8am Research
Syed Aswad Wednesday, 10am Research
NO. ACTIVITY ACTION TAKEN BY
1. Decide what business to interview
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng
2. List down all the interview question Janice Lee Juen Yung
3. Contact the owner to interview Agnes Yeo , Nik Afiq

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2nd Meeting
DATE: 8th of November 2014
TIME: 11am-2pm
VENUE: SS14, Subang Jaya
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng Friday, 10am Camera man
Janice Lee Juen Yung Friday, 8am Note taking
Kong Xhiang Lynn Friday, 8am Transporter
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan Friday, 8am Audio Recording
Chong Yi Qi Friday, 8am Photographer
Nik Afiq Amadi Friday, 8am Interviewer
Syed Aswad Wednesday, 10am Note taking
1. M eeting the interviewee All of us

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3rd Meeting
TIME: 12pm-3pm
VENUE: Senawang, Negeri Sembilan
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng Friday, 10am Camera man
Janice Lee Juen Yung Friday, 8am Note taking
Kong Xhiang Lynn Friday, 8am Transporter
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan Friday, 8am Audio Recording
Chong Yi Qi Friday, 8am Photographer
Nik Afiq Amadi Friday, 8am Interviewer
Syed Aswad Wednesday, 10am Note taking
1. Meeting the interviewee All of us

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4th Meeting
DATE: 22nd of November 2014
TIME: 10am-5pm
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng Friday, 10am Video Editor
Janice Lee Juen Yung Friday, 8am Report Writing
Kong Xhiang Lynn Friday, 8am Report Writing
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan Friday, 8am Report Writing
Chong Yi Qi Friday, 8am Report Writing
Nik Afiq Amadi Friday, 8am Report Writing
Syed Aswad Wednesday, 10am Report Writing
1. Editing the video Roy Yiek
2. Report Writing All of us

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Final Meeting
TIME: 10am-5pm
Roy Yiek Chin Hieng Friday, 10am Compilation
Janice Lee Juen Yung Friday, 8am Compilation
Kong Xhiang Lynn Friday, 8am Compilation
Agnes Yeo Shu Yuan Friday, 8am Touch Up
Chong Yi Qi Friday, 8am Touch Up
Nik Afiq Amadi Friday, 8am Compilation
Syed Aswad Wednesday, 10am Touch Up
1. T ouch up and compilation of works All of us

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7.2 Shop Details
7.2.1 Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon
Location: Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon, SS14/1 Subang Jaya.
Founder: Mr. Bushpa Nathan
Interviewee: Mr. Kalaiarasan Javen
Age: 49 years old
Position: Supervisor
Contact Number: 03-56338967
From left to right: Chong Yi Qi, Janice, Xhiang Lynn, Agnes Yeo, Kalaiarasan, Nik Afiq.
Interior of Jasmen Hair Dressing Salon.

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7.2.2 Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon
Location: Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon, Senawang, Negeri Sembilan.
Founder: Clairol Lee
Interviewee: Miss Alexander Tan
Age: 24
Position: Senior Hair Stylist
Contact Number: +60166270270
,
From left to right: Nik Afiq, Xhiang Lynn, Agnes Yeo, Alexander Tan, Roy Yiek, Yi Qi.
Interior of Clairol Unisex Hair Style Beauty Saloon.

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7.3 Survey Questionnaire
1. When was the business founded?
2. Who are the founder(s) of this business?
3. What prompted the founder(s) to start this business?
4. Brief history of this business?
5. How much capital do you start with this business?
6. What are the main service(s) provided?
7. Who are your customers?
8. What is the business annual revenue figure?
9. How many branches, offices and stores you have?
10. If yes, where are they located and why are they located there?
11. Are there any recent developments to your business?
12. Are there many competitors?
13. Who are the top 3 competitors? Can you tell us a brief bio about the 3 competitors?
14. Are you always facing strong competition in this business?
15. Any strategies in overcoming the strong competition in this business?

16. Any specialized field of knowledge is considered necessary to run this business?
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17. Is it easy to enter this market? Why?
18. Does pricing decision strongly affected by your competitors?
19. What makes your restaurant different from others?
20. Any obstacle(s) / challenge(s) when running this business?
21. What are the strategy(s) used to improve your business?
22. Are there any future plans with this business? (Eg: to expand furthermore etc)
23. How many employees do you have?
24. How many customers do you have? (Approximately)

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7. Bibliography
Barber's History - Cleaning Services and Styling for the Head and Face. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 23, 2014, from http://thehistoryofthehairsworld.com/barbers_history.html
Clifton, H., & Sutcliffe, A. (1994). Business information systems (5th ed.). New York:
Prentice Hall.
English, A., & English, L. (2009). Northstar 4, reading and writing (3rd ed.). White Plains,
N.Y.: Pearson Longman.
Favorites. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://webpages.charter.net/bobbyrutledge/History Of Barbering.htm
Israel, D. (2008). Data analysis in business research a step-by-step nonparametric approach.
Los Angeles: Response.
Langan, J. (2002). English skills with readings (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Lesikar, R. (1981). Report writing for business (6th ed.). Homewood, Ill.: R.D. Irwin.
Weissberg, R., & Buker, S. (1990). Writing up research: Experimental research report
writing for students of English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
Welcome to National Association of Barber Boards. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014,
from http://www.nationalbarberboards.com/history.htm
Yaacob R. (2002). A report writing guide. Ampang: Imformation Retrieval Services.

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8. Reference
1. Barber's History - Cleaning Services and Styling for the Head and Face. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 23, 2014, from
http://thehistoryofthehairsworld.com/barbers_history.html
2. Clifton, H., & Sutcliffe, A. (1994). Business information systems (5th ed.). New York:
Prentice Hall.
3. English, A., & English, L. (2009). Northstar 4, reading and writing (3rd ed.). White
Plains, N.Y.: Pearson Longman.
4. Favorites. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://webpages.charter.net/bobbyrutledge/History Of Barbering.htm
5. Israel, D. (2008). Data analysis in business research a step-by-step nonparametric
approach. Los Angeles: Response.
6. Langan, J. (2002). English skills with readings (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
7. Lesikar, R. (1981). Report writing for business (6th ed.). Homewood, Ill.: R.D. Irwin.
8. Weissberg, R., & Buker, S. (1990). Writing up research: Experimental research
report writing for students of English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
9. Welcome to National Association of Barber Boards. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17,
2014, from http://www.nationalbarberboards.com/history.htm
10. Yaacob R. (2002). A report writing guide. Ampang: Imformation Retrieval Services.

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