Wisdom High International School, cambridge, India
BUSINESS PLAN
Written byMahekdeep Rai, Esham Karanjikar,Pratishtha Kapoor, Ishita Bhandari& Anushka Patil (Students Team)
Geeta Narang (Lead teacher)
Created as part of the School Enterprise Challenge Awards Programme – Bronze Level
Section A: Our Business DetailsBusiness Name / 1-A-R-K (One Act of Random Kindness)
Business Activity / To sell “Handicrafts” made out of waste and other materials. These will be designed or customised products which will be made by training the underprivileged, tribal and disabled people from different villages and NGOs in and around our city. We will be designing and branding these products as per the market requirements.
Main product / service / Handicrafts
No. of students involved in business planning activities (including writing this Business Plan) / Boys: 5 / Girls: 11 / Total: 16
Financial Summary
Our Local Currency is: INR / US Dollars$
Period of time budgeted for / 1 year / 1 year
Total Income(Estimated) / 305,500 / 4,888 USD
Total Costs (Estimated) / 99,000 / 1,584 USD
Profit (Estimated) / 206,500 / 3304 USD
Start-Up Costs (Estimated) / 39,500 / 632 USD
Section B:Market Research and Target Market
1. Here is a description of theMarket Research done by us, includinghow many peoplewe spoke to
We had carried out primary research by means of questionnaires which included the following questions.
1)Do you purchase handicrafts? (Please underline) Yes/No
2)How much do you plan to spend on handicrafts?
o Up to Rs. 500
o Up to Rs. 2000
o Up to Rs. 5000
o Up to Rs. 10,000
o More than Rs. 10,000
3) How often do you buy handicrafts?
o On specific ocassions
o Once in a month
o Once in six months
o Few times a year
o Very rarely
4) Where do you usually buy handicrafts?
o Exhibitions
o Specialized stores
o Directly from the artist
o Online
o If others, please specify:
5) What kinds of handicrafts do you prefer?
Mostly / Occasionally / Never
Needlework and Thread work
Pottery
Mosaic/Glass
Jute work
Bamboo work
Bead work
Others, specify
6) What is the purpose of you buying handicrafts?
o Personal use
o Gifting (Personal)
o Gifting (Corporate)
o Decoration
o If others, please specify:
7) Are you looking forward to customized handicrafts, i.e., handicrafts that suit your taste?
o Yes
o No
8) Do you look for brand names while buying handicrafts?
o Every time
o Occasionally
o Never
9) What are your expectations from the handicrafts, when you buy them? (Tick as many as you want)
o Attractive
o Good quality
o Durable
o Reasonable Cost
o Suits taste and preference
o Exchange/Refund available
o If others,please specify:
10) What type of designs do you look for when you buy a handicraft?
o Traditional
o Contemporary/Modern
o Fusion
o Geometric designs
o Bright colours
o Uniqueness
o Lace works
o If others, please specify:
11) Do you look forward to benefit the underprivileged people of the society through your purchase?
o Yes, always
o Sometimes
o Rarely
o No, not interested
o Yes, only if the product satisfies my expectation
2. These are the results of our Market Research, includingwho is going to buy our product/service and why they will buy it.
Question 2 - How much do you plan to spend on handicrafts?
Details / frequency / percentage
Up to RS 500 / 200 / 40%
up to Rs 2000 / 149 / 29.80%
up to RS 5000 / 80 / 16%
up to Rs 10000 / 51 / 10.20%
More then Rs 10,000 / 20 / 4%
Question 3 How often do you buy handicrafts?
Details / frequency / percentage
On specific occasions / 220 / 44%
Once in a month / 40 / 8%
Once in six months / 50 / 10%
few times a year / 140 / 28%
very rarely / 50 / 10%
Question 4- Where do you usually buy handicrafts?
Details / frequency / percentage
Exhibitions / 200 / 40%
Specialized stores / 180 / 36%
Directly from the Artist / 60 / 12%
Online / 20 / 4%
Others specify / 40 / 8%
Question 5- What kind of Handicraft do you prefer?
Kinds of handicraft / weighted score / average score / Rank
Needle work / 660 / 1.32 / 4
Pottery / 560 / 1.28 / 5
Mosaics / 450 / 0.9 / 6
Jute work / 900 / 1.8 / 1
Bamboo / 780 / 1.2 / 3
Bead work / 850 / 1.7 / 2
Others / 0 / 0
Question 6- What is the purpose of you buying handicrafts?
Purpose / Frequency / Percentage
Personal use / 200 / 40%
Gifting ( personal ) / 120 / 24%
Gifting ( corporate) / 100 / 20%
Decoration / 80 / 16%
others / 0 / 0%
Question 7 - Are you looking forward to customized handicrafts?
customized handicrafts / frequency / percentage
Yes / 350 / 70%
No / 150 / 30%
Question 8- Do you look for brand names while buying handicrafts?
Look for brand name / frequency / percentages
Every time / 80 / 16%
Occasionally / 200 / 40%
Never / 220 / 44%
Question 9-What are your expectations from the handicrafts you buy?
Expectations / Frequency / percentage / Rank
Attractiveness / 450 / 90% / 4
Good quality / 480 / 96% / 3
Suits one's taste and preference / 500 / 100% / 1
Durable / 400 / 80% / 5
Reasonable cost / 500 / 100% / 1
Exchange/ refund / 300 / 60% / 6
Questions 10- What types of designs do you look for when you buy a handicraft?
Designs expected / frequency / rank
Traditional / 380 / 3
Contemporary/ modern / 360 / 4
Fusion / 420 / 2
Geometric / 220 / 6
Bright coloured / 219 / 7
Lace works / 356 / 5
Uniqueness / 480 / 1
Questions 11- Do you look forward to benefits the underprivileged people of the society through your purchase?
Help through purchase / frequency / percentage
Yes, Always / 150 / 30%
Sometimes / 80 / 16%
Rarely / 50 / 10%
No, Not Interested / 10 / 2%
Yes, Only if the product satisfies
my expectations / 210 / 42%
Section C: Competitors and Competitive Advantage
3. These are our main competitors and their strengths and weaknesses.
Competitor Name / Strengths / WeaknessesLocal Handicraft shops / · Better knowledge and understanding of current market conditions, demand and market behaviour patterns.
· / · Do not sell customized products.
· Product quality is generally low.
· Mass production
Handicraft wholesalers / · Low selling prices.
· Various kind of handicrafts available as products are bought in bulk.
· Economies of scales / · Product quality is generally low leading to lower consumer satisfaction
· No focus on customer satisfaction focus is on sales.
National Brands / · More variety
· High quality
· Competitive prices / · Cant offer what the customers want
· No customisation
· High prices
Online sellers / · Easy availability
· Availability of all brands under one roof
· Economies of scale / · No customisation
· Mass selling
· High prices
4. Our competitive advantage – This is why we are going to be better than our competitors:
1) We aim to provide customized products, some of which will be mass-customized and the remainder will be expected to be specifically ordered.
2) We aim to produce high quality products by increasing the efficiency in production.
3) Our primary objective is to give an opportunity to underprivileged, tribal and disabled people from different villages and NGOs in and around our city, people with artistic skills in them and give them a platform to come up and learn how to earn a living and that is how we fulfil the objective of “Teach a man how to fish”.
4) Products will be at a competitive price.
Section D: SWOT Analysis
5. This is our SWOT Analysis.
Strengths – What are our business’ strengths?
1) We have a sound organisational structure.
2) It is easier for us to employ labour force for the operations of the business.
3) Labour force is relatively efficient since we are making use of specialisation and division of labour.
4) Designer products.
5) Customised products.
6) Available easily, even online. / Weaknesses – What are our business’ weaknesses?
1) The business is new and will require extensive marketing leading to higher costs.
2) The business has to face a lot of popular competitors and therefore, survival will be one of the business objectives rather than business growth.
Opportunities – What opportunities do we have for our business?
1) The increasing interest of people in handicrafts.
2) The increasing awareness among people to support underprivileged people in society. / Threats – Do we face any threats to our business?
1) Well-established firms with multiple operations.
2) Maintaining high quality can increase costs in the short run.
Section E: Operational Plan
6. These are the one-offtaskswe will need to do to actually start up our business:Fund Raiser activities:
1) Family Fun Day
2) ‘Run for a cause’ - Marathon
3) Box Cricket
4) Lil-Flea
7. These are the daily, weekly and monthly tasks we need to do to actually run our business:
Task / How long does it take? / How often?Daily/Weekly/Monthly / Who?
Who will be responsible
Finance Management / During every event / Weekly / Mahekdeep Rai
Marketing / 3 months / Weekly / Ishita Bhandari
Sales Execution / 3 months / Weekly / EshamKaranjikar
Human Resource and Administration / 3 month / Monthly / AnushkaPatil
Operations / 3 months / Weekly / Pratishtha Kapoor
Collecting Sponsorships / Before every fun raiser event / Monthly / Nishant Agrawal
Arya Karnawat
8. Our business team structure – Here are the names and positions of the business team members with a reference if they are teachers/students and a diagram of our business team structure (when possible).
Section F: Marketing and Sales Plan
9. These are our 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
a) Product – Our products are handicrafts like cane baskets, warli panted clthes, jewellery, diwali diyas etc. We aim to produce different types of handicrafts to allow for diversification and spread the risks of the business. Products will be designed by our team and made by underprivileged, tribal and disabled people from different villages and NGOs in and around our city. They will be branded and then sold.
b) Price – We will sell it at this price:
A detailed analysis of the price of every kind of product has been provided in the financial plan. We plan to make use of competitive pricing and so different websites, local and international brands have been taken into considerations to provide price comparisons. This will help us to remain competitve in the market.
c) Place – We will sell our product/service at this place:
The target market for our products is the city of Nashik. We will sell our products in local shops, malls, exhibitions and online
d) Promotion – We will promote our product/service by:
· Door-to-door publicity
· Good-word-of-mouth as a result of consumer satisfaction
· During fund-raiser events
· Pamplets and leaflets
· In newspapers (when substantial profits are earned)
Appendix Section: Students in Action
Please find in this space 3 pictures (when possible) that clearly shows our involvement as students in ourbusiness planning activities.
FINANCIAL PLAN
1. Income (estimated)
NAME OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE / QUANTITY / SALES PRICE / SALES INCOME(Quantity x Sales Price)
Needlework’s / 100 units / 700 INR / 70,000 INR
Threadworks / 80 units / 650 INR / 52,000 INR
Glass Mosaic / 120 units / 650 INR / 78,000 INR
Jute and Bamboo Works / 90 units / 350 INR / 31,500 INR
Pottery / 80 units / 550 INR / 44,000 INR
Customized products / 30 units / 1000 INR / 30,000 INR
TOTAL SALES INCOME / 305,500 INR
2. Costs (estimated)
NAME OF ITEM / QUANTITY / COST PER ITEM / TOTAL COSTS(Quantity x Cost per Item)
Sewing Kit / 40 units / 300 INR / 12000 INR
Glue Gun / 60 units / 300 INR / 18000 INR
Brush Kit / 20 units / 200 INR / 4000 INR
Set of Paints / 20 units / 500 INR / 10000 INR
Yarn and Knitting Needles / 10 units / 1500 INR / 15000 INR
Embroidery Threads / 10 units / 1000 INR / 10000 INR
Clay / 15 units / 3000 INR / 30000 INR
TOTAL COSTS / 99,000 INR
3. Profit (estimated)
OurLocal CurrencyTOTAL SALES INCOME / 305,500 INR
TOTAL COSTS / 99,000 INR
PROFIT
(Total Sales Income – Total Costs) / 2,06,500 INR
4. Start-Up Budget (estimated)
Our Start-Up Budget is the costs of the Equipment and Supplies that we will need to start our business.
a) Equipment& Supplies Start-up
EQUIPMENT& SUPPLIESNAME OF ITEM / QUANTITY / COST PER ITEM / TOTAL COST
(Quantity x Cost per Item)
Crochet Hooks / 10 units / 500 INR / 5,000 INR
Pottery Tools / 15 units / 750 INR / 11,250 INR
Glass Cutter / 10 units / 220 INR / 2,200 INR
Work Gloves and safety glasses / 15 units / 800 INR / 12,000 INR
Stencils / 5 units / 370 INR / 1,850 INR
Stationery / 10 units / 550 INR / 5,500 INR
Tape Measure / 5 units / 350 INR / 1,750 INR
TOTAL EQUIPMENT& SUPPLIES START-UP / 39,550 INR
b) Equipment we don’t need to buy as we own/have access to: We are looking forward to producing jute and bamboo artifacts from some local tribes, who will have access to all materials required for such artifacts cheaply as well as easily. Therefore, we will not be investing in the procurement of these raw materials. The base for glass mosaics could be pottery artifacts, which would reduce additional cost for bases, thus increasing cost efficiency. The fabric for needlework and threadworks along with glass will be provided from the students’ households, leading to recycling of resources, which reduces costs and makes the products more environmentally-friendly.
c) We will get the Start-Up capital needed for our business by: The start-up capital will be provided by sponsors like hotels and business corporations in the local area, where one department will solely be appointed for sponsorship opportunities. Fund-raising events like games, food stalls and fun fairs will also give the finance required to begin the operations of the business.