Business Plan
Business Plan
Business Plan
The most important part of business plan is the executive summary. It includes the main business
idea, market potentials, unique selling points, the service we are trying to sell, the profit making
process, the company vision and finally the financial forecast. Our report is mainly concerned
about the planning of online grocery business and Electronic business. Our strategy is to build an
impressive shopping website that not only take the order but also deliver the goods to the
doorstep for people who want to avoid the rush of shopping mall, traffic. The marketing of the
site will be built around the core value that the site will offer. Although our competition has built
a simple store for ordering the product, this site will be reviewed by Web award companies as a
great destination for the all needed customer. We will build our revenue and market share around
this traffic and value added service. Our business model is based on the sales of the products
over the website. Because the site is also intended to increase brand equity, awareness and best
available product in cheapest market price, we are building for high traffic. Our model requires
giving users an excellent free experience and to develop trust to increase sell-through. We may
lose money for at least three to six months while we build the traffic and develop our position for
the long-term future. Our first class design, product quality and user friendly design are critical
to our positioning as a dot-com company - we should be the best reviewed website in our
category, and that will become the key to future sales. However, the core experiences for the
every household have always been better, and with a better design team and a round of financing,
our company is ready to grow with the market. The company will distinguish itself from its
competitor as a full capacity center, rather than just a store front.
The target customers of our site are all affluent; we have the luxury of using the latest
technologies to impress the visitors with excellent design and animation. We plan to release the
site entirely in groswave format as almost 90% of our visitors will already have internet is
connected. We will carry on the colorful and extremely well branded design of our company
literature and logo - the decisions on basic aesthetics will not get in the way. The site will have a
colorful and intelligent design, taking the ad campaign and product art into an interactive
medium on the Web. Our e-commerce site will be built on a three-tier structure. Driven by
SQLTM servers and an IISTM Web server backed with bandwidth, the site will be coded mostly
in ColdFusionTM and ASPTM. We will be taking our registration databases live to be able to
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email updates on products and the website to customers. We will offer customers the option to
take themselves out of the list. The information architecture will be based on four fundamental
arenas - the free valuable information arena, the product detail arena, the final purchasing arena,
and the purchase administration arena. The purchase arena will require a VerisignTM certificate
and a CybercashTM connection. That will begin immediately because dealing with
CybercashTM can sometimes be a lengthy process. The administrative arena will be hosted on
mirror servers that query to the live databases for migration into local databases. This server is
hidden from Internet traffic and kept under high security even within the company. The entire
set-up will be somewhat costly. We will need five servers, 2 for in-house reasons, and three for
Web hosting reasons. Two of the Web host servers will be serving traffic through ColdFusionTM
and ASPTM in cluster, and the third will be a dedicated SQLTM server.
MISSION
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Our business plan is created through some motives. Here we tried to explain our missions and
objectives.
Product Mission:
We will serve better quality product through a variety of domestic goods.
Economic Mission:
Operate and grow at a profitable rate through sound economic decisions. We want to capture the
market share and replace a great portion of conventional super shops items. Our goal is a little bit
economical. We are forwarding to reach our break-even point within one year and if we can
manage to double up our revenue within 3 years we have a plan to extend our business.
VISION
Our visionary view of this business is that we don't want to see any body's panic. We want to
make people having a good likeness in buying. We would like to make their day-to-day life
easier. Moreover, ensuring customer satisfaction is ultimate goal.
LIMITATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Our business idea is all about web based. We would like to provide services to people with a
view to making their day-to-day life more comfortable and easier. We will provide customers
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with grocery items as well as electronic goods. And provision of these goods will be done
through web in the form of e-commerce. Our business will be beneficial for people who want to
avoid the rush of shopping malls, traffic, etc. People can order us through web and thus well be
able to know their demands, wants, etc. Then well be able to act accordingly. Customers can
check samples of the products they want in the web. Well receive orders and then will take
every step to provide them the goods. Our services will save a lot of time of the customers. The
ultimate goal of our business plan is to ensure customer satisfaction.
DESCRIPTION OF VENTURE
ONLINE SHOPPING
Day by day online shopping concept is developing by region in the world. The idea of online
shopping was found few years ago and statistic show people are doing their shopping more than
50 percent online. Flipkart, Snapdeal, EBay and Amazon have been running successful business
in the world. Last two or three years many companies have launched online shopping facility.
One can browse product in their website and choose then have to give order and have to choose
ones payment option .After making payment they will send the order product in ones address.
Few numbers of reasons behind the necessity of online shopping in India are the following,
a) Improved productivity: Using e-commerce, the time required creating, transferring and
process a business transaction between trading partners is significantly reduced.
b) Best bargain: It is possible as one can visit numerous shops /suppliers
c) No national boundary: As one can order products from any place within the national
territory.
d) Easy payment system: Making payment is easy.
e) Streamlined business process: Use of internet and with automation of business process
can make business more efficient
f) Saving time and cost: The cost savings stem from efficient communication, quicker
turnaround and closer access to market.
g) Better Customer service: Customer can enjoy the convenience of shopping at any hour
and anywhere in the world.
h) Variety: The choices one can get for products are amazing. One can get several brands
and products from different sellers at one place.
In Lucknow this concept is not popular still now but day by day online shopping in Lucknow has
been growing rapidly. There are some websites which provide online shopping option in
Lucknow with delivery the products ordered and also offer return policy. Rather some shopping
websites charge high cost and are not up to date with the price and products of the market. They
rarely modify the products and prices of day to day market.
We have planned to establish a business of online shopping and modify it with some more
contemporary approaches and privileges. Some of them are the following,
1) Cash on delivery
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We want our customers to enjoy the opportunity of paying cash on delivery. Cash on delivery
(COD) is a financial transaction where the payment of products and/or services received is done
at the time of actual delivery rather than paid-for in advance. In India, it remains a popular option
with internet-based retailers, since it is far easier to set up for small businesses and does not
require the purchaser to have a credit card. Most small businesses prefer cash payment over
credit card payment.
Ecommerce has changed the way people shop for products and services and the manner in which
a business sells its services to the customers. Shopping from an online store is no longer
restricted to a few elites and techno savvy people, as more and more customers are realizing the
benefits of online shopping. From books to electronic gadgets, garments to food items, customers
can purchase anything under the sun from the comfort of their homes and offices.
Some of the advantages that our customer will get through CoD are,
Trust Factor Some customers have always been wary about paying for a product of
service without actually getting in then and there. The fact that many customers fell
victims to online scams worsened the situation. The Cash on Delivery concept allows the
customers to make the payment only when the product or the services is delivered to
them. This increases the trust factor between the customers and the businesses resulting
in more sales and revenue for the online store. The entire transaction remains transparent
substantially.
Quality Improvement The customers pay only when they receive the product and are
satisfied with its quality. They have the right to refuse poor quality products. This has
ensured that online stores need to sell high quality products to the customers resulting in
better quality and customer satisfaction.
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Legal Aid Unless a customer has paid for a product he/she doesnt have the legal right
over it. This works to the advantage of the online store as this keeps them at bay from
legal responsibility over late delivery of the product or no delivery due to unavoidable
circumstances. In case, our online store fails to deliver a product we can ask customers
for an alternative product of their choice without having to worry about any monetary
compensation or legal hassles.
1) Return policy
We also plan to provide our customer with 30 days return policy. They can return the product if it
is not satisfactory.
The following items may NOT be returned:
acquired through authorized domain name registrars. All registrars have access to the
same list of reserve names, but they may have different fee structures.
c) Finding a Web host- We have to develop the website. For business transactions
involving payment by customers, then a hosting package that includes space on a
secured server is usable. Secured servers are servers that contain additional layers of
encryption to protect the identity of the individual and the data that is being transacted
from unauthorized access.
d) Web design- After that we have to arrange web developers to design the website.
There are also web designers who design web sites for a fee.
Examples of host and design websites in India are,
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www.godaddy.com
www.websitedesignIndia.com
e) Financial transactions on the Web- In addition to having access to a secured server,
we will need to design a transactions page that collects the customers financial
information, transmits it to a service that can verify the transaction, and stores the
data in our files. The unique feature of the website will be a very user friendly search
engine for the visitors along with multiple categorical options. In addition there will
be places for advertisement where we can put other multimedia flash advertisements
with a payment.
f) Linking the site- We have to link the site with other, already recognized sites
increases the chances of being found by both our prospects and by the search engines.
Creating a website needs a Systems Development Life Cycle. Five major steps in the Systems
Development Life Cycle are:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Systems analysis/planning
Systems design
Building the system
Testing
Implementation
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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
1) Competition
Competition always makes a business more challenging. Competition motivates and sometimes
compels a business to perform better and better. The most important thing is to identify the
competitors and their natures. In our business we do have related competitors but some business
is flourishing now-a-days in this area. Our competitors are some web based online shopping
business in our country.
There are some websites which provide online shopping option in India but neither delivers the
products ordered nor offer return policy. Rather they charge high cost and are not up to date with
the price and products of the market. They rarely modify the products and prices of day to day
market.
The advantages of our competitors are,
To overcome the competitors strengths and advantages we need to focus on time as they had an
earlier entry. We will go for an exposing advertising to ensure the very effective entry in this
entry. If we can attract the customers by massive advertisement through social networking sites
and websites we can be assured of our business increasing.
OPERATIONAL PLAN
1) Business goals
Short term goals
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2) Resource requirements
a) Capital investments
Land and Building- An office with 800 square feet will be enough for
primary operations. The office building can be either be rented or
bought.
Utilities- Electricity and power cost should get emphasis which will be
around Rs. 6000 per month.
b) Personnel requirement
There should be appointed efficient data entry officers who are expert in technical knowledge of
computers and internet. There should be reliable field workers for delivering the products.
In case of business expansion we will have to collect resource from external means.
4) Products
We will primarily start with two types of products
a) Electronics: Television, computers, mobile phone, air conditioner, laptops,
cameras, watches, water purifiers, kitchen appliances etc.
b) Groceries: Rice, flour, oil, seasonal fruits etc.
5) Implementation
a) Order: We plan to make contract with the companies with related products for
five years to supply us with the asked products when they are ordered by our
customers. When customers will order products through our websites it will be
added in our shopping cart software. If they want to take collect on delivery
system then they will have to give their address, number. They can also pay
through credit cards. After getting the selling price we will payback the
company with related products.
b) Delivery: We plan to deliver in two ways, either by cash on delivery or by
credit card within 3 days. We will also offer 3 days return policy.
c) Billing: We will bill the product at their market price and will add minor
commissions for delivering.
d) Customer service: We plan to provide utmost customer service with our
transactions. Our foremost concern would be the satisfaction of customers.
6) Risk Assessment
Areas of risk are
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not.
b) Supply: Whether the supply and delivery of products be in proper time and
cost.
d) Security: To address proper security system to protect the website from
Organization Structure
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MARKETING PLAN
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Market potential: Market potentiality means the estimated maximum total sales revenue of
our products in the market during a certain period. For determining the market potential of our
service we first need to identify who are our target markets and then future prospect.
We will serve the people who are from mid income level. We do not have any geographical
barrier as it is a web based business. But we can state it in a different way. Our geographical
expansion will be like that we will be covering areas beyond Lucknow i.e. other divisions (other
Uttar Pradesh Districts and northern States i.e. Delhi NCR, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana,
Uttarakhand)
Target markets: We are targeting two distinct groups of customers, individuals and corporate
customers:
Individuals- The individuals are people who are looking to give a friend, relative a gift or trying
to satisfy his needs. These customers typically do not have the expertise in recognizing the
peaches among the mixture of lemons and peaches nor the time to bargain over the products in
the market. Individuals aging 16-35 are our main concern for electronic products.
Corporate- The corporate customer typically buys electronic products in a large scale from the
manufacturer or from the direct distributor at a lower rate. We will provide same product at the
same rate as the direct distributor does. Moreover we can supply the necessary grocery in case of
special event (e.g. picnic)
Market size: The rapid growth of digital technology is fundamentally changing the world as
we know it. Our business is fully web based and so the number of internet users determines the
potential market size of our product. The internet subscriber base in India (excluding mobile)
currently stands at 15.1% of whole population. However, total desktop/laptops internet users in
India is actually far greater than that number, likely driven by heavy usage in offices, internet
cafes and multiple users accessing the internet from a single household. Local industry estimates
suggest that in 2014 access to the web having grown 300% since 2010 and expected grow a
further 500% by 2020 (BCG, 2010).
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Culture
Environment
Regulation
Economy
Industry practice
Demography
Trends
Infrastructure
Market Strategy: The marketing strategy will first seek to create customer awareness
regarding the products offered, grow the customer base, and work toward building customer
loyalty and referrals. The long-range goal is to not only dominate the online store business, but
to create an icon brand. Initially we will:
Engage in Web-based marketing for the next year to generate awareness of the website
and product information. Because Internet-based advertising has declined in recent
quarters, the prices for advertising have consequently significantly dropped making the
expenditure more cost effective.
Utilize outdoor advertising, providing general awareness to the public at large and direct
individuals to the company's website.
a) Product classifications: we will sell two types of product throw our website:
i.
ii.
Electronic products (laptops, mobile phones, mp3 players, dvd players etc)
Grocery
b) Pricing policy: Product pricing is based on offering high value to our customers compared
to most price points in the market. The price of our products (grocery) will considerably be
lower from the market rate as we will collect them directly from the manufacturer. In case of
electronic products we will become business partners or direct distributors of the popular
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brands so our price will be slightly lower than that is in the market. We are intended to attract
customers to our website so the overall pricing policy will be as such that it makes our
website different from those of the prevailing web based selling stores. Moreover we will
offer better quality and selection.
Factors that influence pricing
Competitive pricing
Affordability
c) Product packaging: We will use sophisticated packaging measures to ensure the safety
of the products (grocery) and in case of electronic products, as the products are already
packed by the manufacturer, we will just use a sticker containing the identity of our website.
d) Distribution policy: We will distribute the products to the customers with our
responsibility. Initially we will only concentrate in distributing the products within the capital
and gradually we will expand our business to other cities.
Sales Forecast: Our sales will be tracked using the same system that tracks our website visits
and contact requests. We project sales of our product will remain roughly equal throughout the
first year, with both categories rising from 30-50k per month at the beginning of the year to 75100k per month by the end of the year.
Sales growth should be based on
a) Market penetration
b) Market expansion
c) Expansion of product range
d) New sources of revenue
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Market Promotion: The plans for marketing and promotional strategies are:
Press release
Leaflets/Banners
Stickers
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Marketing Budget:
Particulars
2015
2016
2017
Advertising
8,75000
9,00,000
17,00,000
Sales Promotion
5,75,000
5,25,000
4,25,000
Direct Marketing
50,000
75,000
75,000
Total
15,00,000
15,00,000
22,00,000
Analysis (SWOT)
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1) Strength
Main purpose is to provide better customer service rather than making profit only.
2) Weaknesses
3) Opportunities
The buying process by people without being physically present lowers their
concerns.
No bargain hassles
4) Threats
ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVENESS
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We have analyzed the current market situation by the five factor model of Michael Porter. In this
model there are five forces. By those forces we have identified the competitiveness of the target
market. It is the renowned process all over the world to evaluate the appropriateness to enter into
a business.
Competitive Rivalry within an Industry:
Within this market we have some strong
Snapdeal,
Amazon etc. But as we are going to start with the necessary items we don't have such type of
competitor. It is a stable business because it is related with day to day life. So it is appropriate
business to enter. Exit barrier is also low, so certainly it is an attractive segment of market to
choose.
Threat of New Entrants:
Threats of new entrants for a business are always true. So we have always risk of those new
entrants. For this business entry barrier is not very high, as a result in that sense it is an
unattractive segment. In grocery business new entrants are always available, but if we can build
ours as a brand name and gain the major portion of the market share we will certainly be able to
avoid the threat of the new entrants.
Threat of Substitute Product:
We are going to compete with super shops. We have various types of readymade good, in this
field we don't have real substitute products. Other industry such as our Grocery industry can be
substitute product. But as those are not our real substitute product, it is certainly an attractive
market.
Threats of Buyers Growing Bargaining Power:
Our buyers would not bargain with the price because we are offering in fixed price. As we are
starting from a fixed price it would certainly fulfill the customer demand, because customers are
always price sensitive. It is also avoidable because the switching cost of our goods would be
much high. Our product would be cheaper than that of super shops.
Threats of Suppliers Growing Bargaining Power:
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We are going to launch a new trend of the grocery business. So the suppliers of that field are so
much concentrated and organized. We emphasize on collecting items from diversified groups.
We will collect specific items from specific places. As a result our suppliers are widened in
Dhaka. So, low bargaining power of the suppliers makes the target market so much attractive.
BUSINESS EXECUTION
The first and foremost task before the commencement of business is licensing the business under
partnership act. We have to set up the business with the help of capital expenditures. And then
these will be supported by personnel to continue operation and in case of expansion we will get
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the help from the external resources. We will continue the research on development of our
website through regular online survey participated by the customers.
When an operational space will be collected by means of rent or buying along with the necessary
equipment and personnel it will be right for us to start the operation. Last but not the least we
have to arrange a good web developer who is ready to develop our online shopping website for
us according to our requirements.
Expected number of consumers for a particular financial year will be estimated, after that time
periods we will compare the projected and the actual number of customers. In case of material
deviations we will find out the reasons operating behind the deviations and find out what is to be
done to overcome this.
a) Evaluate whether proper marketing promotions are going on
b) Perform a survey regarding what more customers want from us
c) Watch whether the staffs are performing their duties properly.
FINANCIAL PLAN
Here are financial highlights for projected five year
Particular
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Sales
1,00,65,000
1,17,60,000
1,34,75,000
1,22,29,000
1,26,00,000
Less- COGS
6039000
7371000
8385000
7637400
7360000
Gross Profit
4026000
4389000
5090000
4591600
5240000
Advertising
20,00,000
20,00,000
15,00,000
15,00,000
22,00,000
Salary
5,16,000
5,34,000
552000
612000
648000
Offices Supplies
50000
52500
55000
60000
65000
Rent
4,80,000
4,80,000
4,80,000
4,80,000
4,80,000
Utilities
72,000
72,000
72,000
72,000
72,000
Depreciation
30,000
42,000
37,000
45,000
57,000
Miscellaneous Expense
30,000
35,000
47,000
53,000
48,000
Interest (15%)
6,00,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
3778000
3815500
3343000
3422000
4170000
2,48,000
573500
17,47,000
11,69,600
10,70,000
Taxes (40%)
99200
229400
698800
467840
428000
Net Profit
148000
344100
1048200
701760
642000
Operating Expense:
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
16,25,000
15,03,000
16,40,000
Assets
Total Fixed Assets
18,25,000
16,05,000
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45,00,000
48,00,000
51,50,000
49,25,000
50,50,000
2,25,000
3,20,000
3,00,000
3,75,000
4,35,000
Total Assets
65,50,000
67,25,000
70,75,000
68,03,000
71,25,000
8,50,000
9,75,000
11,00,000
9,75,000
10,25,000
40,00,000
40,00,000
40,00,000
40,00,000
40,00,000
Total Liabilities
48,50,000
49,75,000
51,00,000
49,75,000
50,25,000
Owners Equities
17,00,000
17,50,000
19,75,000
18,25,000
21,00,000
65,50,000
67,25,000
70,75,000
68,03,000
71,25,000
Equities
Project Analysis:
The discount rate has been calculated using WACC. The cost of debt is 15% as it is a low
moderate
Risk project and a speculative return on equity is 20%, based on the expectations of the
entrepreneur. Therefore the WACC stands at [(15*0.40) + (20*0.60)] = 18%.
Parameters
Value
NPV
16,59,821,32
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IRR
57.32%
5.88
6.47
Ratio Analysis:
Ratio
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Current Ratio
5.29
4.92
4.68
5.05
4.93
36,50,000
38,25,000
40,50,000
39,50,000
40,25,000
40%
37.07%
37.78%
37.55%
41.59%
1.14%
2.93%
7.78%
5.74%
5.10%
Debt-equity ratio
2.85
2.84
2.58
2.72
2.39
Debt-Asset ratio
0.74
0.74
0.72
0.73
0.71
Return on asset
2.26%
5.11%
14.82%
10.32%
9.01%
Return on Equity
8.70%
19.66%
53.07%
38.39%
30.57%
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
3283600
3773500
3306000
3377000
4113000
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6039000
7371000
8385000
7637400
7360000
Depreciation
30000
42000
37000
45000
57000
40%Tax Rate
40%
40%
40%
40%
40%
5575560
6661500
6992400
6581640
6849600
Graphical representation: The graphical representation of the break even sales presents
below
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Fixed Cost
Stress Analysis:
Stress test has been done by increasing the sales by 5% and decreasing direct cost by 5% for the
best cost scenario and vice versa fro worst case scenario. Here NPV is still high even in worst
case.
Stress Analysis
Base Case
Best Case
Worst Case
Units Sold
21,33,761.59
7,23,853.55
NPV
16,59,821.32
Performance Analysis:
Sales
1,00,65,000
1,17,60,000
1,34,75,000
1,22,29,000
1,26,00,000
Gross Profit
4026000
4389000
5090000
4591600
5240000
Net Profit
148000
344100
1048200
701760
642000
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Appendices
Projected Ravenue from Selling:
Revenue
Particulars
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
11,25,000
18,40,000
19,40,000
15,34,000
17,20,000
Laptop
55,50,000
60,50,000
72,75,000
65,50,000
65,75,000
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Monitor
5,25,000
4,75,000
7,35,000
4,25,000
5,00,000
Television
2,25,000
3,75,000
3,50,000
3,50,000
3,85,000
7,20,000
8,50,000
8,75,000
9,00,000
9,25,000
81,45,000
95,90,000
1,11,75,000
97,59,000
1,01,05,000
12,00,000
14,50,000
15,80,000
17,50,000
17,75,000
7,20,000
7,20,000
7,20,000
7,20,000
7,20,000
Total Income
1,00,65,000
1,17,60,000
1,34,75,000
1,22,29,000
1,26,00,000
Firm
Demand
Customer
Marketing activities
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