LeatherWay Business Plan

Prepared by: Felix

 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LeatherWay is a Men &Women Chelsea boots company in Nairobi, Kenya. OR, Nairobi and
Kenya as a whole needs an upscale Chelsea Boots company for both men and women because
the current stores do not have the authentic type of Chelsea boots. Currently, if one needs an
authentic pair of Chelsea Boots, he or she has to import from overseas.
LeatherWay will have an unmatched, extensive selection of different types of Chelsea Boots.
Generally, the size of LeatherWay’s selection is cost prohibitive compared to the locally
available ones due to the authenticity & all the different sizes that must be stocked per style.
LeatherWay has a unique business model which is accomplished through a special relationship
with the customers’. Where customers’ are allowed to help with the designing (sole color, size,
color, even the type of leather used) of their Chelsea Boots. Once one has ordered, the Chelsea
Boots will be ready in two days.

1.1. Key to Success

The key to success is to come up with an upscale of Chelsea Boots’ with a wide selection and
focused customer attention.

1.2. Objectives
 To create a product whose primary goal is to exceed customers’ expectation.
 To increase the number of clients served by 20% per month by serving unmet need with
outstanding selection and customer service.
 To develop a start-up business, surviving off its own cash flow.

1.3. Mission

LeatherWay’s mission is to provide locals with an upscale Chelsea Boots & outstanding
customer service. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to maxim,
everything else will fall into place. Our products will exceed the expectations of our customers.

1.4. Vision

To be a yardstick in the market by offering high quality leather accessories.

 2. COMPANY SUMMARY
LeatherWay is an authentic Chelsea Boots producer for both men and women located in
Nairobi, Kenya. Customers’ outside Nairobi (but within Kenya) won’t have to travel all the way,
they will fill their relevant details and we will have the Chelsea Boots delivered to them.
LeatherWay will be able to offer a wide selection because they will typically have one size
available per style. This one size is used as a demonstrative model. All other sizes are available
within two days.

2.1. Company Ownership

LeatherWay is a Partnership Owned by:

 Hannah Njeri
 Felix Opata

2.2. Start-Up Summary

LeatherWay will incur the following costs:

Cost (Kshs)
Designing 3 500
Grading 3 500
Soles 204 000
Last 7 000
Texon Board 1 000
Top Puff 1 000
Leather 9 000
Elastic 1 000
Marketing 20 000
Total (Kshs) 250 000
 3. PRODUCTS
LeatherWay will sell upscale Chelsea Boots for both women and men.
The general categories of the Chelsea Boots that will be sold are:
(NB: This are just some of the few Chelsea Boots LeatherWay will come up with)

 Black
 Maroon
 Grey
 Brown
 Blue
LeatherWay will strive to be one of the largest shoe companies (but specifically dealing with
Chelsea Boots) in Kenya. LeatherWay will accomplish this by having one size per style in stock as
a demonstration model. LeatherWay will then create the style in the needed size and it will
arrive to the consumer in two days (outside Nairobi might take up to 3 days). This will be
accomplished through a special relationship with our consumers & from there we can be able
to know which styles, sizes are in demand.
 4. MARKET ANALYSIS
LeatherWay will be targeting 3 distinct groups of consumers:
 Professional Workers
 Fashion-conscious Shoppers
 Others
While all of this groups are interested in shoes; Chelsea Boots, Professionals will be looking for
descent classy shoes they are able to wear with their business attire. Fashion-conscious will be
looking for fashionable shoes while the ‘Others’ might be looking for fashionable but more
casual shoes.

Sales

Professionals Fashion-Conscious Others

4.1. Target Market Segment Strategy

LeatherWay will use Internet Marketing, also known as Online Marketing to drive direct sales to
its intended audience. Online Marketing is a marketing effort that uses internet to approach
sales. Internet marketing will help showcase the products over the internet since internet is
currently an indispensable part of our life, therefore using the internet to market LeatherWay’s
products is one of the best ideas to reach out to the consumers.
Internet Marketing strategies like blogging, content marketing, email marketing, pay per click
and social media can catapult LeatherWay to reach the global world that it desires to reach.
Benefits of Internet Marketing are:
  Cost Effective
 Easy to reach targets
 Easy to create a personalized offer
 Provides a way to build client relations
Another strategy is Influencer Marketing. This is a strategy where LeatherWay will use to
promote their products by partnering with popular social media users. Influencers usually have
a large, engaged audience that brands can tap into to build credibility and even drive sales.

4.2. Competition

LeatherWay has two direct competitors:

i. Bata: This is a national franchise that sells almost all types of shoes for both men and
women with their name on it. While this store has a huge selection the quality of shoes
leaves a lot to be desired. This is somewhat understandable since their shoes are made
out of leather. The shoes here are expensive but the Chelsea Boots are not of upscale
style.
ii. Retailors: This are small store buyers who sell different type of shoes for both men and
women. They have a nice selection of shoes at a cheap price. This is because they are
not genuine leather and they get torn out fast.
 5. STRATEGY & IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY
LeatherWay will leverage their competitive edge of extensive selection to drive sales. This is
indeed a competitive edge because it is typically cost prohibitive for a starting shoe company to
have as much of a selection that LeatherWay will offer. Because of a unique business model,
LeatherWay is able to leverage their financial resources and offer an unmatched selection. This
is done by carrying a large selection of styles by only stocking one size per style. Once the
customer has chosen the style, LeatherWay will have the customer’s shoe in two days.

5.1. Sales Strategy

LeatherWay’s sales strategy will be based on online presence. A highly visible online presence
with lot of engagement will get a high percentage of traffic. There is this quote that, ‘Shoes
Speak Louder Than Words.’ People love shopping for tasteful shoes that can be used on
different occasions and that is what we here to give them.
The sales strategy will simply be, have the most complete selection of Chelsea Boots. Assuming
the prices are reasonable, having the broad selection of Chelsea Boots will drive sales because
we believe our target markets of Professionals, Fashion-conscious & Others are always looking
for a perfect pair of shoes to coordinate with their fashion style.

5.1.1. Sales Forecast

The first month, LeatherWay is going to be set up and not that much of customer engagement
will be expected. The second month we will begin to see sales activity, and it is forecasted that
around month three and four sales will really begin to pick up. The reason for this is that word
will get out about LeatherWay and more and more people will be checking out our extensive
collection.

Consumers
60
50
50

40 35
30
20
20
10
10 5
0
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5+

Consumers
 5.2. Milestones

LeatherWay will have several milestones early on:

 Business Plan Completion. This will be as a road map for the organization. This will be an
indispensable tool for the ongoing performance and improvement of the company.
 Set up the company
 Revenues & Profitability.

5.3. Competitive Edge

LeatherWay’s competitive edge is an unmatched selection and authenticity. This selection will
be achieved in two ways. The first way is a very specific effort to carry as many styles of Chelsea
Boots as possible. LeatherWay recognizes that Nairobi currently does not have a single store
that offers a wide selection of decent quality Chelsea Boots for Professionals, Fashion-conscious
and Other consumers. The competitive edge is the recognition of this unserved niche and
serving of this demand.
LeatherWay will be able to offer a large selection through a unique inventory model that stocks
only one size per style. The advantage of that is that the same amount of money that
LeatherWay invests in overhead, they can offer far more styles.
LeatherWay offers two day delivery within Nairobi and Three day delivery outside Nairobi.

6. MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
Hannah & Felix, the founders and the owners have already received a Bachelor of Science in
Leather science & Technology from The University of Nairobi. During their tenure at campus,
both of them were posted at different leather industries for some time. During that time both
of them learned “ins and outs” of the Leather world. Upon completion, they began to do
market research on leather products that’s when they realized there was unmet demand for
authentic Chelsea Boot shoes and began to come up with a business plan to serve this need.
They were confident that they would leverage all of their industrial knowledge and create a
company in Nairobi.

6.1. Personnel Plan

Hannah & Felix will be working full time at LeatherWay. Felix will be in charge of all
Administrative details, Inventory Management while Hannah will be in charge of Marketing,
Customer departments. Beginning the Fourth Month, LeatherWay might hire a clerk to help at
the company.
 7. FINANCIAL PLAN
The following sections will outline important financial information.

7.1. Important Assumptions

The following table details important financial assumptions:

 500 Pairs of Soles are bought for Kshs. 204,000

 Out of the 500 Pair of soles, 100 will be used to make Display shoes & for promotions,
hence we remain with 400 Pair of soles.
 The 400 pair of soles remaining will make 400 pairs of Chelsea boots which are expected
to sell at Kshs. 7,000 per shoe therefore making Kshs. 2, 800, 000.
 From the sales amount we will deduct Kshs, 250, 000 borrowed.
 The remaining amount, Kshs. 2, 550, 000 will be profit and from that LeatherWay will
get new pairs of soles, then get their own machines.

7.2. Break-even Analysis

The Break-even Analysis indicates that approximately Kshs. 250 000 is needed for startup. After
that the amount of at least 10 sales is needed per month to reach the break-even point.

Chart Title

Month 5

Month 4

Month 3

Month 2

Month 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

SALES LOANS
 8. APPENDIX

SOLES

SHOE COLOR BLACK MAROON GREY BROWN BLUE

{SOLE COLOR} Black Black Grey Black Black
{SOLE COLOR} Cream Brown Black Chocolate Cream
Brown
{SOLE COLOR} Brown

500 Pair Soles:

COLOR NUMBER
Black 300
Grey 30
Brown 20
Chocolate Brown 100
Cream 50

SHOE SIZE
SIZE SOLE NUMBER
12 5
11 10
10 50
9 100
8 130
7 130
6 50
5 20
4 5
TOTAL 500
DISTRIBUTION

SIZE 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
COLOR
BLACK 3 10 25 80 80 60 25 4 3
GREY 2 5 10 10 10 5
CHOCOLATE B 1 3 15 15 10 10 3
BROWN 2 5 10 15 15 10 5 3 2
CREAM 2 7 10 10 10 5
TOTAL 5 20 50 130 130 100 50 10 5

PACKAGING BOX

 For Black Chelsea Boots

 For Blue Chelsea Boots

 For Brown Chelsea Boots

 For Maroon Chelsea Boots

 For Grey Chelsea Boots

BUSINESS CARDS