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Table of Contents
1. DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................. 4
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................. 5
3. INTRODUCTION TO SMEDA ......................................................................... 6
4. PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT ................................................................... 7
5. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT & Services ......................................... 7
5.1. Call Center Services .................................................................................... 8
6. Installed and Operational Capacities ......................................................... 11
7. CRITICAL FACTORS ................................................................................... 12
8. GEOGRAPHICAL POTENTIAL FOR INVESTMENT ................................... 12
9. POTENTIAL TARGET MARKETS ................................................................ 12
10. PROJECT COST SUMMARY ....................................................................... 17
10.1. Initial Project Cost ...................................................................................... 17
10.1.1. Land .................................................................................................... 17
10.1.2. Building and Renovation Cost............................................................. 18
10.1.3. Furniture and Fixture........................................................................... 19
10.1.4. Office Vehicles .................................................................................... 19
10.1.5. Office Equipment ................................................................................ 19
10.1.6. IT Equipment ...................................................................................... 20
10.1.7. Software.............................................................................................. 22
10.1.8. Pre-Operating Costs ........................................................................... 23
10.1.9. Security against Building..................................................................... 24
10.1.10. Legal, Licenses and Training Cost .................................................. 24
10.1.11. Initial Working Capital...................................................................... 24
10.2. Breakeven Analysis ................................................................................... 25
10.3. Revenue Generation .................................................................................. 25
10.4. Variable Cost Estimate .............................................................................. 27
10.5. Fixed Cost Estimate ................................................................................... 28
10.6. Financial Feasibility Analysis ..................................................................... 28
10.7. Financial Feasibility Analysis with 50% Debt ............................................. 28
10.8. Human Resource Requirement.................................................................. 29
11. CONTACT DETAILs ..................................................................................... 30
12. USEFUL LINKS ............................................................................................ 31
13. ANNEXURES ................................................................................................ 33
13.1. Income Statement ...................................................................................... 33
13.2. Balance Sheet............................................................................................ 34
13.3. Cash Flow Statement ................................................................................. 35
14. KEY ASSUMPTIONS .................................................................................... 36
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Table of Tables
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Process Flow - Inbound Call Services ................................................................ 9
Figure 2: Process Flow - Outbound Call Services ........................................................... 10
Figure 3: Global Market Forecast ....................................................................................... 14
Figure 4: IT and ITeS Exports ............................................................................................. 15
Figure 5: Pakistan’s IT and ITeS Sector ............................................................................ 15
Figure 6: Government Incentives ....................................................................................... 16
Figure 7: Telco Depot TD-3000 (VoIP - PRI Based Server) .......................................... 21
Figure 8: Cisco Catalyst Switch 2960 ................................................................................ 21
Figure 9: Cisco C891F-K9 router SFP ............................................................................... 22
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1. DISCLAIMER
This information memorandum is to introduce the subject matter and provide a general
idea and information on the said matter. Although, the material included in this
document is based on data/information gathered from various reliable sources;
however, it is based upon certain assumptions, which may differ from case to case.
The information has been provided on, as is where is basis without any warranties or
assertions as to the correctness or soundness thereof. Although, due care and
diligence has been taken to compile this document, the contained information may
vary due to any change in any of the concerned factors, and the actual results may
differ substantially from the presented information. SMEDA, its employees or agents
do not assume any liability for any financial or other loss resulting from this
memorandum in consequence of undertaking this activity. The contained information
does not preclude any further professional advice to be obtained by the user. The
prospective user of this memorandum is encouraged to carry out additional diligence
and gather any information which is necessary for making an informed decision,
including taking professional advice from a qualified consultant/technical expert before
taking any decision to act upon the information.
For more information on services offered by SMEDA, please contact our website:
www.smeda.org.pk
Document Control
Document No. 208
Prepared by SMEDA-Punjab (OS)
Revision Date September 2021
For information helpdesk.punjab@smeda.org.pk
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2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A call center is a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organization to which phone
calls from customers are directed. Call centers can handle inbound and/or outbound
calls, and be located either within a company or outsourced to another company that
specializes in handling calls. It is a common practice for larger companies to outsource
to call centers as they contribute towards improving a company’s performance by
providing high quality services to build customer confidence, increasing sales,
avoiding any lost opportunities, providing competitive advantage by offering 24/7
coverage, providing a professional image and reducing company’s expenditures.
The services normally outsourced by companies to the call centers includes offering
customers support, handling customer’s queries, carrying out telemarketing and
conducting market surveys. These services are provided to local as well as overseas
markets.
Call centers may provide inbound and/or outbound services to the customers/potential
customers of these companies/brands. Inbound calls are the phone calls initiated by
the customers and made to representatives of call center through which the customers
contact call center to resolve their queries. Outbound calls are the ones which are
initiated by a call center’s representative / agent to a customer on behalf of a client of
the call center. Outbound calls are typically made to prospective customers. These
calls focus on sales, lead generation, etc. The proposed Call Center project will
provide inbound as well as outbound services. A call center may be established in
major cities of the country; such as Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, Faisalabad,
Peshawar, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Mardan,
etc.
This “Pre-feasibility Document” provides details for setting up a Call Center with 100
seats.
The proposed center is assumed to operate with 100 seats providing hybrid services
i.e., inbound as well as outbound. 60% of the total seats have been allocated for
outbound services (6 Supervisors and 54 Customer Service Representatives) and
40% seats have been allocated for inbound services (4 supervisors and 36 customer
service representatives). The allocation of staff for outbound and inbound services is
based on the nature of services as more effort and time is required for making
outbound calls as compared to inbound calls. Further, for outbound services, the
representatives have control to make as many calls as much possible and increase
revenue; whereas in inbound services, the representatives may have to sit idle
sometimes when there aren’t much incoming calls. The proposed project will also need
support staff for carrying out the administration and HR, accounting and finance and
IT functions. In addition, there will be security guards and office boys to provide support
to the team. High return on investment and steady growth of business is expected with
the entrepreneur having some prior experience.
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The proposed project will be set up in a rented building having an area of 3,104 sq. ft.
The project requires a total investment of PKR 43.08 million. This includes capital
investment of PKR 27.99 million and working capital of PKR 15.09 million. The project
will be established using 100% equity financing. The Net Present Value (NPV) of
project is PKR 76.24 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 66% and a
Payback period of 1.47 years. Further, the proposed center is expected to generate
Gross Annual Revenues of PKR 129.13 million in the 1st year of operations, Gross
Profit (GP) ratio ranging from 45% to 46% and Net Profit (NP) ratio ranging from 9%
to 11% during the projection period of ten years. The proposed project will achieve its
estimated breakeven point at capacity of 66% (28,946 number of calls) with breakeven
revenue of PKR 85.84 million.
The proposed project may also be established using leveraged financing. At financing
from debt sources at a cost of KIBOR+3%, the proposed center provides Net Present
Value (NPV) of PKR 96.01 million, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 66% and Payback
period of 1.47 years. Further, this project is expected to generate Net Profit (NP) ratio
ranging from 8% to 11% during the projection period of ten years. The proposed
project will achieve its estimated breakeven point at capacity of 69% (30,233 number
of calls) with breakeven revenue of PKR 89.65 million.
The project will generate direct employment opportunity for 120-140 people. The legal
business status of this project is proposed as a “Private Limited Company”.
3. INTRODUCTION TO SMEDA
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) was established
in October 1998 with the objective to provide fresh impetus to the economy through
development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
With a mission "to assist in employment generation and value addition to the national
income, through development of the SME sector, by helping increase the number,
scale and competitiveness of SMEs", SMEDA has carried out ‘sectorial research’ to
identify policy, access to finance, business development services, strategic initiatives
and institutional collaboration and networking initiatives.
Preparation and dissemination of prefeasibility studies in key areas of investment has
been a successful hallmark of SME facilitation by SMEDA.
Concurrent to the prefeasibility studies, a broad spectrum of business development
services is also offered to the SMEs by SMEDA. These services include identification
of experts and consultants and delivery of need-based capacity building programs of
different types in addition to business guidance through help desk services.
National Business Development Program for SMEs (NBDP) is a project of SMEDA,
funded through Public Sector Development Program of Government of Pakistan.
The NBDP envisages provision of handholding support / business development
services to SMEs to promote business startup, improvement of efficiencies in existing
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SME value chains to make them globally competitive and provide conducive business
environment through evidence-based policy-assistance to the Government of
Pakistan. The Project is objectively designed to support SMEDA's capacity of
providing an effective handholding to SMEs. The proposed program aimed at
facilitating around 314,000 SME beneficiaries over a period of five years.
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Customer Information/
Calls Guidance
Customer Customer
Feedback Satisfaction
Customer Calls: An interactive voice response (IVR) system answers calls and
utilizes speech recognition technology to either address customer queries with an
automated message or route calls to the appropriate call center representatives via an
automated call distributor.
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Call Customers
Collection of Leads
Contacts (exisiting & Generation
potential)
Customer Execution
Feedback Department of
Client
Collection of Contacts: The sale agents of the company approach the targeted
customers for introducing services or products. They try to convince the potential
customers to purchase the product/service being offered. Contacts of the potential
customers are bought by the call center from different sources; under different
arrangements. Sometimes, the company shares the contacts to be called but most of
the times, it is the call center which has to purchase such data from other companies.
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Lead Generation: This is also known as ‘Closure’ in industry terms. One lead is
generated when a sales agent successfully convinces a client for purchasing a service
/ product.
Execution Department: After successful call made by sales agent, the client
company is contacted for provision of services / delivery of goods. The client company
then ensures delivery of product / provision of services and receives payment.
Customer Feedback: At the end, customer feedback is received which is considered
essential in this industry. The customer then shares his overall experience and may
also provide suggestions to enhance quality of service provision. The feedback helps
in improving customer experience regarding company’s services or products.
1
Active hours have been calculated by deducting 3 hours for lunch, dinner and prayers and 3 hours as leaves/idle
time out of 24 hours.
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7. CRITICAL FACTORS
Before making the decision to invest in Call Center business, one should carefully
analyze the associated risk factors. The important considerations in this regard
include:
Appointment of Customer Service Representatives with good communication
skills
Hiring of personnel with proficient English
Sufficient technical knowhow of the industry
Provision & installation of internet & computing facilities with its backup plans
Availability of latest and modern IT equipment
Queries and problems handling capabilities of staff
Provision of quality services e.g., maintaining call quality standards, timely response,
ensuring customer privacy, customer retention etc.
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Airline Bookings
An airline customer service representative works in an airport or a call center,
providing information and assistance to the air travelers. In a call center, an airline
customer service representative helps the customers with flight reservations, flight
status, itinerary changes, baggage concerns and questions about customer loyalty
programs.
Insurance Services
Most health-insurance companies interact with their customers through call centers.
These centers, through their customer service representatives, dispense health
advice, collect premium payments, explain benefits to people and sell insurance
policies.
Automobile Companies Services
Most people prefer to call their auto company for effective and reliable customer
support. To enhance customer experience, such companies outsource their customer
services to call centers. Typical call center services for automotive companies provide
24/7 customer support
Appointment setting
Welcome calls, after sales calls
Test drive booking
Order taking
Sales support services
Technical support
Complaint handling
Banking Services
Customer service representatives, who work for banks, answer customer questions
about basic banking services; such as account balances and interest rates and fees.
They also help the customers protect their accounts by reviewing suspicious activity,
reversing transactions and blocking and reissuing compromised debit and credit cards.
Hotel Services
A hotel call center offers a way for hotels to answer every incoming call, and then
convert those calls into paying guests. They know that every missed call represents a
potential lost booking, which can have a serious impact on booking revenue.
Transport Services
In the transportation industry, communication is vital, and a call center keeps all the
necessary parties well-connected. This ensures that the customers get the materials
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and products they need to operate effectively or get people where they need to go by
providing information regarding schedules, fares and making reservations.
The global market for Call Centers, estimated at US$339.4 billion in the year 2020, is
projected to reach a revised size of US$496 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of
5.6% over the period 2020-2027.2
Figure 3: Global Market Forecast
According to several key types of researches made, it can be concluded that in the
coming years, there would be a growth of around 36-40% in Pakistan’s call center
sector. This will allow several organizations, both national and international, to cater
to the new customers and venture into a different kind of markets. Call centers offer
not only a good business opportunity but it is also an attractive option as a career
opportunity.3 Figure 4 shows exports of IT and IT enabled services of Pakistan from
2015-16 to 2020-21 (6 months data for the year 2020-21 has been shown) as reported
by Ministry of IT, Government of Pakistan. Pakistan’s IT exports have grown
exponentially over the last five years with a growth of 137%4. The data shows that
there are good returns with increasing trends and there is a promising future for the
entrepreneurs.
2 www.researchandmarkets.com/reports
3
https://errandsservices.com/how-call-center-industry-in-pakistan-is-helping-the-economy/
4
http://www.moit.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/Pakistan%27s%20IT%20Industry%20Report-Printer.pdf
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The rise of call center industry in Pakistan is progressive. The number of students
passing out of the local universities, who can speak and interact in English, have been
increasing over the years. Moreover, wages and salaries in Pakistan are very low as
compared to those in the developed countries. This allows the call centers to hire
employees on relatively lower salaries. Sales, networking and business development
are the key functions where university graduates are employed by the call centers.
The call centers usually operate round the clock. This is an added advantage for both
the professionals and the students who want to work in call centers.
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5
https://www.pseb.org.pk/
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Land - 10.1.1
10.1.1. Land
The call center will be established in a rented building to avoid the high cost of land.
Suitable location for setting up a call center like this can be easily found on rent.
Therefore, no land cost has been added to the project cost. Total space requirement
for the proposed call center has been estimated as 3,104 square feet. The breakup of
the space requirement is provided in Table 3.
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10.1.6. IT Equipment
Table 8 provides details of IT equipment for the proposed project.
Table 8: IT Equipment
Cost Item No. Unit Cost Total Cost
(PKR) (PKR)
Laptop 15 100,000 1,500,000
Desktop Computer 40 40,000 1,600,000
Headsets 50 4,000 200,000
Telco Dept TD-3000 (VoIP - PRI Based Server) 5 700,000 3,500,000
Cisco Catalyst Switch 2960 1 650,000 650,000
Internet Server (LAN) 1 1,000,000 1,000,000
Cisco C891F-K9 router SFP 1 100,000 100,000
Manageable Network Switch (Ports 24) 1 42,000 42,000
LAN Equipment 1 50,000 50,000
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10.1.7. Software
Table 9 provides details of the software and other reference material costs required
for the proposed call center.
Table 9: Software
Cost Item No. Unit Cost (PKR) Total Cost (PKR)
Linux LTS Version 1 10,000 10,000
Sound Recording Software 1 1,200,000 1,200,000
Total 1,210,000
Linux LTS Version
Linux is the best-known and most commonly used Operating System (OS). Linux is
used as an embedded OS for a variety of applications, including network file system
appliances, automotive entertainment systems and household appliances.
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LTS stands for Long Term Support. Here, support means that throughout the lifetime
of a release, there is a commitment to update, patch and maintain the software. For
an LTS, there is a shorter development cycle, where engineers and contributors add
to the body of the release.
Sound Recording Software
Call recording works with the addition of hardware and software that taps into phone
lines and records the conversations. Legally, one cannot record a call without notifying
participants. The recording can be set to start automatically or will be initiated manually
by the agent or employee.
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6
Granting of network access only to a specific IP addresses. It is commonly used as a security measure to reduce
attack of sensitive resources/data.
7
https://www.pta.gov.pk/assets/media/ip_white_listing_regulations_21022020.pdf
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8
Reference Table 1
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13. ANNEXURES
13.1. Income Statement
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