The main goal for this company will be to provide the owner with a source of reliable as well sustainable income for long period of time. If at any time the business grows to the point where it requires help, we will hire the required staff to do the work.
The products will change over time as we fine–tune the business; so will the areas where we practice business. It is our intention to run the sales arm of this business online, therefore allowing us to focus strictly on manufacturing and leaving the retailing up to the internet.
MARKETING & SALES
We will produce a series of products as samples. Over time, we will start listing them on our website and on online auctions. As the products sell, we will continue to add more items to our inventory list.
Start up budget & costs
Table saw $ 400
Miter saw $ 250
Jig saw $ 100
Band saw $ 300
Scroll saw $ 200
Compound miter saw $ 400
Sander-edge, table, palm, etc. $ 500
Router table $ 250
2 in 1 air nail gun $ 250
Exhaust ducting and air quality control $ 500 Blades and saw supplies $ 100 Table top HD corner framers clamps $ 200 Picture framing pneumatic nail gun $ 200 Air dust collector & piping equipment $ 250
Altos mat cutter $ 500
Logan mat cutter $ 1,200
Fletcher mat cutter $ 800
Wood vise $ 200
Lathe $ 400
Wood shaper $ 300
Bar clamps $ 200
Wood chisels $ 300
Ratchet clamps $ 300
Jointer $ 300
Planner $ 300
Workshop counters (26 feet total) $ 200
Office desk $ 300
Computer $ 600
Printer $ 200
CAD software $ 300
Internet connection $ 40
Various types of wood $ 1,000
Cardboard for mailing $ 100
Packing tape $ 20
Leasehold improvements
Workshop $ 4,000
Permits $ 150
Power hook-up $ 150
Natural gas hook up $ 150
Taxes for town $ 200
Business license $ 100
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ONLINE WOODWORKING MANUFACTURING&RETAILING
We will remove slow sellers or items that require too much effort for too little profit potential.
Therefore, we will only produce products that are profitable.
As mentioned above, we will use the internet to sell 100% of our products. We will also accept sales to retailers who want to buy our products to resell in their store, as long as there is enough profit in it for us.
The items will be sold on the following internet sites:
• Our own website
• Yahoo Auctions
• Ebay auctions
• Amazon Auctions
• www.buysell–biz.com
• www.icibusiness.com
• Another 20 smaller online auctions services
• All the free classified websites we can find
COMPETITION
The competition for our products is fairly strong. If needed, we could reduce our price to beat the competition, thereby increasing our market share and sales. With our flexibility with top line pricing, we are very confidant that we will find a nice market that allows us to succeed and survive in this business.
ONLINE WOODWORKING MANUFACTURING&RETAILING
Plumbing Service
M a t t ’ s P l u m b i n g a n d A i r C o n d i t i o n i n g 4120 Highway 43
Gull Harbour, Florida 33994 Gerald Rekve
Once becoming a fully registered plumber, Matt Plank’s employer approached him about opening a plumbing and air conditioning service location in the adjacent town. This business plan outlines the research and planning involved in this decision.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Market Analysis
In 2004, Matt Plank had completed his journeyman’s ticket and was now a fully registered plumber. His employer asked if he wanted to go into partnership with him and open a second location in the town close by. After hiring a management consultant to do research and market analysis on this business opportunity, Matt and his business partner decided to open a second location.
The strength of the business opportunity outweighed the risk of investment loss. Along with the help of the consultant, it was determined that there was also an opportunity for a retail store selling plumbing supplies and fixtures. This store would be share the same location as the plumbing company’s office and would be built in conjunction with the office.
The plumbing business is built on trust. By showing their clients the investment they are willing to make in the market, the new owners will be able to grow their business from day one. The investment will come from the partners and a local bank, which has worked with the senior partner for over thirty years.
Customers
The town has a population of fifty thousand people and only one plumbing shop with six journeyman plumbers. The shop seems to be always behind on their work and the locals call out of town shops to complete projects.
The birth of the town happened in 1875, which makes the town over 130 years old. Therefore, many homes have an old infrastructure. The result of this is a steady stream of new business, for everything from new pipes to furnaces and complete renovations.
The medium income for the region is $54,000 and an average of 2.7 people per household. Based on 2003 statistics, the average home spent $350 per year on home plumbing repairs, including clogged pipes. This average does not include the major repairs like new furnaces and air conditioning repairs.
The average price for these repairs is $2,500.
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Upon review of the revenue that is generated from a town this size, it can be expected that we will generate approximately $300,000 in our first year, and then for each journeyman we hire, we will generate another $200,000.
The local town has already indicated they will give us three–year tax abatement; the reason for this is twofold. First, we will be constructing a 10,000 square foot building on a tax–zoned area for growth and development. Secondly, the town feels our services are desperately needed in the town, to better serve the region. We agree and feel we will prosper from this town.
Competition Plumbing Shops
A few years ago, another plumbing shop was in business. However, the owner passed away, the crew was hired by the competing firm, and the shop closed. At the time, none of the crew wanted to start their own shop, because they were older and just wanted to keep their lives simple.
The local plumbing shop, who already has been in business for more than forty years, says our plan is great news. They already tell clients to call shops in other cities, if the clients need the work done sooner than the shop can achieve. The list below details the services offered by this shop.
Competitor’s Services
• Water heaters
• Repairs
• Furnace repairs
• Air conditioner installation and repairs
• New home construction
Due to the limit in market competition, the local plumber can just about charge whatever he wants. The local market is captive to these rates. If clients want, they can hire plumbers from other regions and pay their travel fees. Travel fees are an average of $250, regardless of the type of job.
The current national average hourly rate for a plumber is $125 an hour; the local shop owner enjoys a rate of $150 an hour. Based on our research, we have determined that this rate will be our hourly rate.
We do not want to get into a pricing war, so we will maintain all the same fees. The only area where we will be very competitive is service. We will offer 24/7 service at the same rate, with no off–peak hourly charges and only overtime charges for jobs that take longer than eight hours in one day.
Independent Service Providers
Most of the projects that are small tend to be done by untrained independent repairers. Based on our market research, we have determined that most clients are not happy with these untrained repairman.
In most cases these clients had to call in a professional plumber to get the job done properly.
These contractors, while trying to do a great job for every sector, tend not to be trained in a specific home profession. This small community has gotten wise to these providers and only call on them when absolutely required. This will put us in the winning sector with these clients.
These independent providers charge anywhere from $30–$75 per hour. We do not feel these contractors will be a major competitor to us, as they have little impact on the only plumber in the market.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
While we want to take this market by storm, we also want to be very careful to only offer clients the services and products in which we have expertise. This is part of our mission statement.
PLUMBING SERVICE
Services Offered
• New construction
• Furnace installation and repairs
• Air conditioning installation and repairs
• Bathroom renovations
• Kitchen renovations
• Water heater repair and replacement installation
• Fireplace installation
To separate ourselves from our competitors, we will also offer a full line of plumbing fixtures and supplies. This retail store will be a focus of our business, simply because it will show our clients that we know what we are doing. The store also will be a profit channel for our business. The local chain store will always be a major competitor for us. However our goal is to keep our prices fair and show our clients that it is still less expensive to use us, than to do it themselves or hire a third–party contractor who may not have the required training in this field.
The retail store will be beside the commercial division. The merchandise will house about 70% of the space. The office as well as the management will be based in the retail store, allowing the clients easy access to qualified staff. The store hours will be 8:00AM–6:00PM daily and Saturdays from 9:00AM–5:00PM.
OPERATIONS
Necessary Equipment
• Four vans for our service staff
• Tools for all services
• Three computers
• Three printers
• Two fax machines
• One POS system
• Four desks
• Three four–drawer filing cabinets
• Five racks for pipe retail supplies
• Store shelving as needed Retail Store Inventory
We will inventory all basic items found in your typical retail store. While we have not supplied this list in this plan, we will supply the list for the banker’s approval of the operating line of credit.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Building of location—$400,000 Store fixtures—$40,000
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PLUMBING SERVICE
Inventory—$160,000 Van maintenance—$30,000 Operating line of credit—$100,000 Special tools and equipment—$50,000 Total required operating funding—$780,000
Cash invested by partners is $100,000 with the balance coming from operating lines of credit and mortgage on building.
Monthly payroll is as follows:
Matt Plank—$5,000 Albert Wills—$1,000 Patricia Turk—$3,000
Journeyman—$4,800 x number of staff Fixed monthly Costs
Van Fuel—$1,200 Van repairs—$200 Office Supplies—$200 Telephone—$250
Yellow Page Advertisement—$500 Utilities—$500
Staffing Personnel
• Matt Plank: CEO. Matt will run the day–to–day operations of the business. He will also go out on calls as required to service clients. Matt has just gotten his journeyman’s ticket and is fully licensed.
• Albert Wills: Co–owner and silent partner. Albert will assist in the financial management of the company and will work two days a week in the store.
• Patricia Turk: Store manager and accountant. Patricia is Matt’s wife and has an accounting degree and specializes in retail management. Patricia worked for a large hardware store for four years prior to taking on this role.
• Journeymen: Four journeymen will be hired; two will be transferred from the home location while the company ramps up.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Matt’s Plumbing and Air Conditioning will continue the alliance they already have with Breezy Air Conditioning and Furnaces, Inc. Also Matt’s Plumbing and Air Conditioning will strike alliances with local new home manufacturers and home renovation firms. These will be negotiated and referral fees will be paid to these firms. Research on the market determined that there were no referral fees offered, and most of the time clients had to search out the trades individually. Our goal is to change this by PLUMBING SERVICE
working closely together with other firms looking to grow their business and who share our values for client services.
It may seem that retail shops need to provide niche products or services or be a ‘‘big box’’ in order to succeed. This being said, the trades can be a little different. It was found that one out of every ten clients left a ‘‘big box’’ home improvement store very disappointed with the shopping experience.
Here are some of the reasons:
• Store format is too large; a lot of walking was required
• Lack of staff presence (no one to ask advice of)
• Lost leader prices were good; however other items seemed to be higher
While our strategy is not to be everything to everybody, we will focus on our product lines and provide the best service to our clients as possible.
Some of the products we will sell in our store will be:
• Bathroom fixtures, sinks, toilets, bathtubs, etc.
• Jacuzzis and whirlpool tubs
• Saunas
• Hot tubs
• Air conditioners and furnaces
• Some electrical supplies related to plumbing
• Copper pipes and parts
• Plastic PVC pipes and parts
• Basic plumbing supplies
After we are established, we will hold Saturday morning teaching sessions for a small fee of $5 each.
These sessions will focus on the do–it–yourself clients.
Initial Do–It–Yourself Class Topics
• Installing a tub surround
• Replacing kitchen or bathroom taps
• Unplugging clogged sinks
• Replacing a toilet
• Installing a hot tub
• Installing a bathroom in a basement
We will add and subtract classes as they are required; this will keep us in touch with the market. We will also work with local electricians to offer classes in electrical repair.
Our goal for this retail store will be one of total customer interaction. We strongly believe, and our market research maintains, that our clients will support our store based on the model we have outlined in this business plan.
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PLUMBING SERVICE
Senior Care Facility
H e a r t s a n d H o p e s S e n i o r H o m e 2300 Oak Hollow Blvd.
Englewood, Florida 34224 Gerald Rekve
A woman familiar with managing a section of a hospital decided to transition to the independent care sector. This plan outlines the planning she underwent and steps she took to successfully establish her senior home.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
After working for five years in the management of a hospital wing, Patricia Millen decided it was time to move into her own business. When identified of the opportunity to own a care home, Patricia made the move to open this home. Coming from the medical field helped her; however, running a care home was more about running a business. Expenses can be high and, if not managed correctly, can be costly.
As part of the planning process, Patricia applied for the required license before she purchased a building or a land site. This was smart, considering without approval, you cannot operate this type of home.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Englewood has a population of 200,000 people. With the aging population as well as an increase in government grants, we have determined there was an opportunity to open a senior care facility in this area.
Right now there are only four of these types of facilities, with an average of 22 clients per site. After calls to each one, we identified there is a three month waiting list with over 100 names listed. The entire city has 27 adult care facilities and those have been at capacity for some time. The average client age is 69 years old, and their average stay is four years. There are three different levels of care. Most of these locations offer all levels of care. We have determined that in order to offer all levels of care, we will require a RN on staff 24/7.
In the area where we want locate, we have determined that with the age of the region, we would be required to buy a larger house and build adequate rooms on to it. This would not require a special city permit, because we have found out that this region is in real need for this type of service and the city is looking for qualified providers to offer these services. We applied and were approved for the license to operate a special care home in this geographic region.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
After researching the availiblity of government grants, we determined that there were a few for our region that we might qualify for. So we took the steps and applied for these grants and were approved for them.
We applied for the home buying grant, and as a result, the federal government gave us a one time grant of
$15,000 to put toward buying a home. We will also receive a $10,000 federally–funded grant each year for every RN hired. The state gave us a grant for all the required renovations to the house (i.e. wheelchair access, bathroom and kitchen access), which could be worth approximately $40,000.
The state also offers employers hiring any staff a special wage top–up for the first six months. This will include our business and we will receive a monthly check for each employee for the amount of $270.00.
OPERATIONS
Location
We have placed an offer on a 1,400 square foot bungalow with a detached garage. We will add a 1,000 square foot addition to the back of the home. This addition will take up only 50% of the back lawn, so there will still be plenty of room for clients to plant a garden and enjoy the outdoors.
The addition will add eight bedrooms to the home, making a total of 14 bedrooms for our clients.
Because we will have staff on–site 24/7, we will have an additional bedroom designated for staff.
The home will contain all the appliances designed for special need clients. We have a security system and an emergency system. This facility is only one block from the fire department with four trucks and one ambulance. When there is a client emergency, the ambulance will be no more than five minutes away.
The front steps will be replaced with a front deck and wheelchair access. The front door will be replaced with a commercial size sliding door. The basement of the house has already been completed. It has two bedrooms and a bathroom, along with a living room and a storage/laundry room. We will move the laundry room to the main floor and put it in the new addition, allowing for ease of use for the staff. The rooms in the basement will house one staff person and the RN’s room. We will not have any clients in the basement. We will put in games, card tables, and a foosball table to encourage clients to lounge in the basement. We will add a chair lift for the basement to transport clients up and down the steps as needed. This will allow everyone to enjoy the games and living room in the basement. We will also have a smaller living room on the main level.
The kitchen will be gutted and a larger kitchen with more commercial type appliances will be installed, while keeping in mind the need for clients to access the kitchen. Our goal is to have a free, easy going open policy for clients while respecting the safety of both the clients and the staff.
Community Support
Part of our goal is to offer our clients the best care and to assist them in keeping active. We will winterize the garage, allowing our clients to use the garage as a workshop. The workshop will only have smaller power tools and hand tools. If the clients require larger power tools to complete a job, we have made arrangements with a local handyman to use his shop. This handyman is strong supporter of all the care homes in the region and believes that people need to stay active. We don’t have to pay anything for this service; we just need to make sure our insurance is properly written to cover us and our clients in the case of accidents, etc.
We have met will all the home owners within one block of the adult care home to tell them what we are doing. Every one of them was very supportive and signed a form giving us their support. This was very important for us, since ambulances will periodically come to our home to assist patients and they will have their sirens wailing.
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SENIOR CARE FACILITY