Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Executive Summary
Given our experience and expertise in both commercial Web development and
business-to-business sales, we believe we can offer a unique and superior
service to small business owners, in comparison to what is currently available.
The demand and growth rate for Web development and marketing services in the
small business market is at an all time high and shows no sign of slowing
anytime soon. Even more astonishing is the fact that very few Web development
companies have taken advantage of the opportunity, as there are no dominating
participants in this huge market.
We believe the reason for this virtually untapped market is due to expensive
project costs, the highest profit margins in Web development today are in
servicing large- and medium-sized corporations. We have developed a system
that dramatically reduces steep project costs and henceforth will allow us to offer
the same high-end Web development services as larger companies receive at a
much lower cost to the client.
This business plan will highlight many aspects of our system and our business. It
will detail market growth and demand, and it will outline our projected cash flow
and profit margins over the next three years. All numbers regarding our
projected company growth are based on previous information gathered by
activity in the company over the last few months of operation.
1.1 Objectives
Offering high-end Web services to small businesses in a way that they can
understand and afford.
Build a strong residual income through secondary subscription-based services
tailored for small business (website hosting, marketing, maintenance,
consulting).
1.3 Mission
Company Summary
Our start-up plan is a well thought out base to propel us forward with the proper
equipment, marketing tools, and personnel to start our venture. An initial cash
investment by the owners in the amount of $7,300 to purchase office furniture,
computer equipment, and software has been made. Both owners have also
invested a combined time of approximately 3,500 working hours toward the
start-up of Ibrio Inc.
The cash requirement of $17,000 arefunds that we need to provide the capital to
run our business for the first few months. This capital will fund two
employeespayroll and equipment/supplies to get them started. It will cover
business expenses for a few months until our cash flow takes over.
The four-year $20,000 loan has been secured from the XYZ bank to supply the
needed capital explained above.
Start-up
Requirements
Start-up Expenses
Phones $160
Start-up Assets
Long-term Assets $0
Start-up Funding
Assets
Non-cash Assets from Start-up $7,650
Liabilities
Current Borrowing $0
Capital
Planned Investment
David W. Hickethier$3,650
Richard B. Andrews$3,650
Services
E-commerce development.
Database construction.
We have plans to offer the following services within the next year:
Website Marketing and Analysis: After we build the website for our client, or a
new client introduces us to their pre-existing site, we offer this service. As
experts of the Web, we can analyze and test a website based on an established
set of standards that account for the website's aesthetic value, scalability,
functionality, ease-of-use, and main customer base. After an analysis has been
made, we then explore and present to the client a detailed list of the most
efficient Internet marketing tools and methods available to them within the
constraints of their budget. This type of service is pertinent to our company
given the fact that a very large percentage of our clients are on a tight budget
and can only afford to take advantage of marketing efforts that are targeted
directly at their desired demographic.
Website Hosting and Maintenance: This service is offered for two reasons. The
first reason is because they are both ongoing, continual services that we can use
to establish and maintain a strong residual income. The second reason for
offering these services is to allow for packaging together with other services
either Ibrio Inc. offers, or services an outside company can provide, hence
allowing us to expand our range of small business Internet services.
IbrioInc. currently distributes a sales folder with all the pertinent information
about our company and services. This folder includes our strong points, history,
portfolio examples, and pricing packages info. It also contains facts based on the
growth and popularity of the Internet for small businesses.
In the next six months, we plan to produce and distribute bulk mail and fax flyers
promoting our Web development and hosting services to small businesses in
Central PA to solicit new business.
We have plans to offer a more compact version of our main sales folder in a
brochure format. This brochure will be available both as a mailer to interested
parties and as a sales solicitation in area businesses.
3.3 Fulfillment
For the website hosting services we offer, Ibrio Inc. has formed several alliances
with industry leaders to provide top-rate, reliable hosting solutions. Forming the
alliances has allowed us much flexibility in important hosting features,
customizability, and it has drove costs down dramatically. All these benefits are
crucial to preserving the integrity of our company as being a 'fully-rounded
Internet solutions provider' for small businesses.
3.4 Technology
Currently we own and operate both a professional digital and film camera for the
purpose of offering on-site and in-house product and business photography to
our clients. We would like to improve upon these services in the near future by
purchasing a more complete photography system, it has been our experience
that this is a service many small businesses are recognizing as a crucial part of
their online marketing efforts and would take advantage of it were we to offer
such a service.
Intranet Setup Installation: In our plan, after developing an Internet website for
outside marketing purposes, we would like to offer the service of implementing
the website into the network for use in all the business day-to-day operations.
This would include extensive product/service cataloging, vital employee and
management information, sharing of accounting and inventory details, etc., all
intended for strictly company uses.
Internet Access for Small Business: This feature would act as another residual,
packageable service. We would target small businesses exclusively allowing us to
provide more flexibility and affordability to our clients through discounted high
volume rates, value added service packages, and much more aggressive
technical support services.
Result-based Marketing: This is a service that no small business can turn down.
We have plans to offer aggressive, intensified marketing services with the fees
based solely on results. To achieve this, we are in the process of forming multiple
partnerships and alliances with industry specific Internet websites and various
other software and service-oriented companies that provide specific marketing
services and tools based on results achieved. We feel as though offering this rare
service will dramatically increase our portfolio of clients.
Ibrio Inc. will initially focus almost exclusively on small companies looking to
develop an Internet presence for the first time. We will market our services to
small business owners as a "step-by-step" process, initially starting out with a
small, simple website, then gradually improving and adding to the site and their
entire online marketing efforts.
Although we plan to bring on many clients who simply will need an online
presence and nothing more, our most important and sought after clients will be
those business owners who are ready to implement a larger percentage of their
company onto the Internet. This type of client will traditionally need one of the
following services:
E-commerce/shopping cart.
Ibrio Inc. will focus the majority of sales and marketing efforts toward attracting
small businesses. The reason for this decision is simply the low amount of
services available for a market with such a high demand. In addition to the very
promising supply and demand ratio, it is also technically easier and less
expensive to market to and attract small website projects than larger projects.
The need for small business Internet services has existed for several years. Small
businesses and start-up businesses alike are migrating onto the Web at an
astonishing rate and making their online presence a higher priority than in earlier
years. We have noticed an enormous hole however in the small business services
that are currently available.
While every small business has now recognized the need for having a presence
on the Internet, many do not know where to start, how much it will cost, or even
how it will benefit their company. It has been our experience by talking to small
business owners that the decision to take advantage of the Web is not a matter
of 'if' but a matter of 'when.'
Another important trend is the overall merging of daily business operations with
the Internet and World Wide Web. Just as the majority of large companies have
already started to use the Web to handle interoffice tasks, we believe that many
smaller companies will begin to realize the time and money saving advantages
to this strategy.
Our target market has been growing and expanding toward Internet and Web
usage at an astonishing rate. In addition, Internet usage by our clients'
customers has been growing exponentially. Below are supporting facts on our
target market growth:
By 2001, small businesses (1-99 employees) will spend in upwards of $22 billion
to either gain an Internet presence or improve their existing efforts. This number
is up from $12 billion in 2000 (Activemedia Research).
Total U.S. business Information Technology (IT) expenditures for 2000 are $119.1
billion and will reach $285 billion by the year 2003. The year 2000 will also be
the first year that U.S. businesses spend more of their total IT expenditures on
Web-related services than on IT hardware (IDC Research).
Currently, the total number of online users in the U.S. is 107 million, by 2004 that
number will grow to 210 million (IDC Research).
E-commerce revenue will reach nearly $6.8 trillion by the year 2004, up from
$48.6 billion in 2000 (Forrester Research Group).
Web services and development companies vary greatly in the type of service
they offer and the type of client they attract. Ibrio Inc. will be relatively unique in
the fact that we are marketing exclusively to small businesses.
This industry consists of many small Web development firms usually less than 10
years old that generally start out offering services to smaller companies but with
long-term goals of catering to large, corporate Web accounts.
Teeple Graphics: Located approximately 10 miles from our Palmyra offices, they
offer Web development and graphic services.
Strengths: Teeple has a very strong clientele, by talking to several of their Web
development clients, we have come to the conclusion that Teeple offers a very
dependable and high-quality service.
Strengths: Sharp Innovations has a large market share in its area, offering a very
broad range of services from Web development, e-commerce, graphic design,
and Internet access.
Strengths: Say1 has established a 'portal' type website designed to serve the
Lebanon and surrounding areas with useful information regarding community
events and business listings. This could serve as a valuable tool to their clients
when marketing to that area.
Strengths: WebWorks has been in the Web services business for almost six years
and has a very experienced team of developers and programmers. They also
offer outstanding marketing services.
The Web services and development industry consists mainly of three different
types of firms.
The first type are the very large, high revenue companies who service larger
Fortune 1000 corporations and well-funded Internet based start-ups exclusively.
In this category are only a few worldwide participants that dominate.
The second type of firm offers pre-fabricated, all-in-one, proprietary type Web
services to any size company at a very low cost or without any cost. The
participants in this category consist of a few dominating companies that mainly
all have additional sources of revenue and only offer Web services as a value-
added service or additional attraction.
The third type of firm is our classification, that is the smaller, usually very young
companies that market to small- and medium-sized businesses in their local
area. Currently there are a large number of participants in this category, but no
dominating forces.
Our target market is separated into the four surrounding counties listed below:
Dauphin County: Located to the West, approximately five miles from our location.
The number of businesses is estimated at 6,723. It will make up 23% of our four
county target area.
Lebanon County: Our office is located in Lebanon County. Lebanon is the smallest
of the four counties and therefore we will market in proportion to its size. The
number of businesses is estimated at 2,547. It will make up 9% of our target
area.
York County: Located Southwest, approx. 40 miles from our location. York county
is the last of the four counties we will market in. It will be late next year before
we begin marketing in this county. The number of businesses is estimated at
8,238. It will make up 28% of our target area.
The above demographic information can be found through the Geospatial &
Statistical Data Center.
Market Analysis
Ibrio Inc. will initially focus all marketing and sales efforts toward the Central
Pennsylvania area, this includes Harrisburg, Lebanon, Lancaster, and York
counties.
We have a valuable competitive edge over our local competitors based on the
fact that we have streamlined all our services into the small business market.
Through setting up several strategic partnerships with various Internet and Web-
related companies, we are able to offer our clients an affordable and efficient
proprietary Web package that will meet all their related needs.
Ibrio Inc. also has as its lead development manager, Brandon Andrews, a main
principal in the company. Brandon Andrews has four years of commercial Web
development experience and has been recognized as a leader and innovator in
the graphic design and layout areas of website development.
The following is a summary of our marketing programs from the Milestones table:
Hershey Partnership.
We plan on doing a large scale marketing project during this month including
(March 5 - April 5, 2001):
For most small business owners, cost, both residual and one-time are huge
influences on the decisions they make regarding everyday operations of their
company. Even though we offer 100% customized services and our pricing is
based on an hourly fee, to make it easier and less confusing for the clients, Ibrio
has established a packaged pricing system.
Website Hosting (from $15.00 to $45.00 per month): Depending on the type and
size of the website, the price for hosting can vary greatly. The average cost of
hosting for most clients is $25 per month.
Website Maintenance ($45.00 per hour): We charge a set fee of $45.00 per hour
billed in 10 minute increments. If a client feels as though they will need their
website updated or maintained on a regular basis, packages are available at a
discount rate.
Our target client is part of a very specific demographic, for this reason, we
market and promote our services in a direct and specifically targeted manner.
Print Ads:
Currently we advertise in eight separate area yellow page directories. All our ads
appear under either the Internet Services or Website Design headings.
Ibrio Inc. also has an ad listing in a national business directory under the heading
of Web Developers.
In the near future we will feature ads in several area business publications such
as The Central Penn Business Journal and the Who's Who in Dauphin County.
We have sent out targeted bulk mail flyers promoting special offerings by our
company.
In the near future we will begin a new aggressive, ongoing bulk mail campaign to
promote our Web development and hosting services.
We will begin advertising on a broader scale within the next six months. Radio
spots will be continuously played during local area talk shows and news
programs, this placement is intended to reach the highest percentage of our
target client possible.
Educational Seminars:
Ibrio Inc. has been invited to speak to business owners and managers at several
Internet and Web-related educational seminars on a variety of topic. In the near
future, we will promote our services through these seminars.
To promote our services and our name as a participant in the Web services
industry, we will be joining many of the local area Chamber of Commerce groups
and various other strategic partnership clubs.
Our clients are small business owners, most are very protective of their
company, and almost all of them are salesmen themselves. We sell value,
service, and quality when we talk to business owners. We need to convince them
that they can look past all of the hype surrounding the Internet and still see why
having a website is worth the money spent.
We currently utilize a database system specifically targeted toward our desired
demographic to establish our first contact with every potential client. It has
proven a successful method for soliciting new business directly due to the
method in which we approach the first call. The salesman always requests to
speak to the business owner, asking for him by his first name only, and when
asked who is calling, responds by providing simply his first name as well. Once
on the phone with the business owner, there is absolutely no script and the
salesman clearly identifies himself and asks the business owner if he has ever
considered having a website developed for his company, no matter what the
response, a brief conversation will always pursue, sometimes leading to an
appointment, and sometimes to a follow-up call.
Because we have full confidence in our services, and recognize that business
owners are generally open to the idea of utilizing the Internet and most even
consider it a necessity, we take a very low-pressure, non-abrasive approach to
direct selling. We will normally present the information about our company,
portfolio, strengths, and pricing to the client and let them make the decision on
their own. This method has proven successful provided that we keep our follow-
up calls consistent and regular until we receive either a yes or no answer.
The following table and chart summarize our forecast sales. We expect the first
month of operations (October) to be spent training the new developer and new
salesman. November will be our first month of operation and we expect to grow
steadily in the following months.
Website development sales will be the largest portion of our revenue with result-
based marketing following. Maintenance and hosting revenue will be built up
slowly but are the residual base we will stand on in the future.
Sales Forecast
Sales
Website Development $0 $0 $0
Maintenance $0 $0 $0
The following is a summary of the our sales programs from the Milestones table:
October 9-16: Hiring first salesman. We will be training this employee this month
to make telephone calls to business owners in the area and set appointments to
meet with them and show them what we have to offer. Starting in mid-November
he/she will begin meeting with clients alone.
February 12-26: Hiring second salesman. We will be training this salesman in the
same fashion previously stated.
5.5 Milestones
The accompanying table lists important program milestones, with dates and
managers in charge, and budgets for each. The milestone schedule indicates our
emphasis on planning for implementation.
What the table doesn't show is the commitment behind it. Our business plan
includes complete provisions for plan-vs.-actual analysis, and we will hold
monthly follow-up meetings every month to discuss the variance and course
corrections.
Milestones
Totals $18,550
Management Summary
Ibrio Inc. is owned and operated by two partners with equal equity in the
company, and both directors in the corporation.
David Hickethier attended Williamson College on a three year scholarship basis,
earning his Associates Degree in construction management. He has completed
many business management and business finance courses and has also had
hands on experience with managing people. He has one year experience in
Internet and Web-related sales and nearly two total years of professional sales
experience.
Ibrio Inc. will depend on the two main principals, David Hickethier and Brandon
Andrews, for all management responsibilities. This will include office
management, accounts receivable and payable, marketing, and talent
recruitment.
David Hickethier will serve as chief operations officer and sales manager. He will
supervise all salesmen and all sales promotions and projects. David will also be
holding the office of the treasurer therefore will be responsible for all financial
related matters.
Brandon Andrews will serve as chief technology officer and lead Web developer.
He will be directly supervising all Web development (employee and sub-
contracting projects), and will also be responsible for any necessary training in
the same department.
The current management team will require support in both the business
development and administrative departments. Both managers have had prior
experience in these fields, but feel as though their experience is limited given
the fact that prior working environments rarely required this type of support.
We will turn to Parks & Company, our finance and accounting firm, to provide
expert advise and counseling in both the business development and
administrative support departments. This strategy will allow the partners of Ibrio
Inc. to lend the majority of their time to their respective areas of the company.
We will turn to the law offices of Keefer Wood Allen & Rahal, LLP for all advice
concerning the legal issues of running Ibrio, Inc.
The following table shows how we plan on making the above a reality.
Personnel Plan
Production Personnel
Other $0 $0 $0
Other $0 $0 $0
N/A $0 $0 $0
N/A $0 $0 $0
Subtotal $0 $0 $0
Other Personnel
N/A $0 $0 $0
N/A $0 $0 $0
Subtotal $0 $0 $0
Total People 7 7 7
Financial Plan
Important Assumptions.
Break-even Analysis.
Business Ratios.
General Assumptions
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Plan Month 1 2 3
Other 0 0 0
The following chart indicates our key financial indicators over the next three
years.
The following table and chart summarize our break-even analysis. With two
developers and two salesmen we plan on developing eight sites in November
and once the two new hires are fully trained doubling the number to 16 sites a
month. (We don't plan on that happening until March 2001).
The average variable cost is an aggregate measure for all the types of services
which will be offered.
Break-even Analysis
Assumptions:
Our projected profit and loss is shown on the following table. Some highlights
are the Gross Margin at 67% for our first year and steadily increasing. Our Net
Profit/Sales starting at 26% and increasing by approximately 10% the following
two years to reach 45% by our third year.
Pro Forma Profit and Loss
Other $0 $0 $0
Operating Expenses
Leased Equipment $0 $0 $0
Other Expenses:
Other Payroll$0 $0 $0
Consultants $0 $0 $0
Contract/Consultants $0 $0 $0
Cash flow projections for the first half of the year are slightly declining and in
May they begin to raise sufficiently. We may need to borrow against our accounts
receivables but are projecting that the initial capital raised should cover us until
our cash becomes fluid.
Pro Forma Cash Flow
Cash Received
Dividends $0 $0 $0
The balance sheet in the following table shows managed but sufficient growth of
net worth, and a sufficiently healthy financial position. The monthly estimates
are included in the appendix.
Assets
Current Assets
Long-term Assets
Current Borrowing $0 $0 $0
The following table shows the projected businesses ratios. We expect to maintain
healthy ratios for profitability, risk, and return. The Industry Profile ratios, shown
for comparison, are based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 7375,
Information Retrieval Services.
Ratio Analysis
Percent of Sales
Main Ratios
Activity Ratios
Debt Ratios
Liquidity Ratios
Additional Ratios
Appendix
Sales Forecast
Sales
Website Development $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0 $0
Maintenance $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Personnel Plan
Production Personnel
Other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
Subtotal $0 $200 $2,036 $1,352 $1,884 $3,180
$3,468 $4,836 $5,552 $5,104 $5,328 $5,552
Other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
N/A $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
N/A $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
Subtotal $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Other Personnel
N/A $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
N/A $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
Subtotal $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Total People 0 2 4 4 4 6 6 7 7 7
7 7
Total Payroll $0 $400 $4,140 $2,632 $3,624 $6,280
$6,680 $7,992 $9,000 $9,024 $9,248 $9,472
General Assumptions
Plan Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0
Other $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0
Operating Expenses
Miscellaneous $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0
Depreciation $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Leased Equipment $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0
Insurance $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Payroll Taxes 12% $0 $48 $497 $316 $435 $754 $802 $959 $1,080
$1,083 $1,110 $1,137
Other Expenses:
Other Payroll $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Consultants $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
Contract/Consultants $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0 $0
Interest Expense $217 $217 $217 $217 $217 $217 $217 $217
$217 $217 $217 $217
Cash Received
Dividends $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0
AssetsStarting Balances
Current Assets
Long-term Assets
Long-term Assets $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0
Current Liabilities
Current Borrowing $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
$0 $0 $0