General Contractors (GC) Skateboard Shop is a new shoe, apparel, and skateboarding shop that will cater to the youth and young adults in the West Roxbury, Roslindale, and Jamaica Plain communities. Our focus is to provide apparel, shoes, boards, accessories and, service in a welcoming environment. Our store will exemplify the latest in cutting edge products and trends. We expect to be, and will strive to position ourselves as, the top retail store servicing this particular market. We are the first and only skateboard shop in the town of West Roxbury. Our market research within West Roxbury has indicated that local skaters are frustrated with current retailers in the nearest cities. Our intentions are to obtain 80% market share and become a central hub of shopping activity for the local skateboarding population, as well as for others who would enjoy wearing the latest trends and fashions. GC will be located on Centre Street in the West Roxbury section of Boston. This location places us squarely in the center of the residential and social areas frequented by our target market. We believe that this location is critical to our initial success and long-term growth. GC will be owned and managed by Sherike Morris. Sherike, who will work as the manager, has been an Athletic Director and directly involved in community relations for well over 5 years. Sherike has also been a loyal follower of the skateboarding and fashion culture. Sherike also has extensive experience working with people in the age range of the customer base 7-25. In addition to working in the community, Sherike has daily contact with children and, parents in that age range. Our conservative sales forecasts, based on solid market research, will yield a net profit over $3,580 in the first year. This will increase to almost $24,922 in year three. To support this plan and set it in motion, the owner is contributing $2,000 in cash, and another $15,000 in short-term assets. We are seeking an additional $50,000 in short-term loans, to be repaid over five years, to cover our start-up requirements.

1.1 Mission Statement
GC Skate Shop is a retail store that will specialize in the sale of Skate Shoes, Lifestyle Shoes, and skateboards for the entire culture of skateboarders, and sneaker collectors. We will emphasize the sale of skate shoes, boards, apparel and, accessories along with many rare and hard to find sneakers in a very welcoming atmosphere. We will provide customers with technical knowledge about sneakers and skateboards as well as style and culture. We will be the only skate shop in a 6 mile radius of our preferred location of West Roxbury; therefore we look to capitalize on the opportunity by developing relationships with the community through a skate team and skate programs.
1.2 Organizational Objectives
GC has three primary objectives for this business plan which are:

1. To become the premier skate shop in the Boston Area in the next 3 years; by providing exceptional customer service and developing a community skateboard program.
2. Gross margin of 50% or more.
3. Net after tax profit above 10% of sales and growing every year.

Nike Dunk SB “Brown Ale”

2.0 Company Summary

GC Skate Shop is organized as an LLC. We will be located on Centre Street in the West Roxbury section of Boston, with Catholic Memorial High School on the corner, within one mile of The Lyndon Middle School, West Roxbury High School, the West Roxbury Community Center, and the West Roxbury YMCA in the highly trafficked Centre Street Shopping area. GC will be the only skate shop in West Roxbury. The hours of operation will be Monday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. All product purchases will be subject to the company’s mission of providing only high-quality, cutting-edge items.

2.1 Start-up Summary

GC’s costs are listed below. The company will start with three months’ inventory on hand for shoes, apparel and accessories, as this is the main revenue generator. The majority of the company’s assets will reside in inventory. The purpose of this business plan is to secure a $56,000 small business loan. This supplemental financing is required to work on site preparation, inventory, and operational expenses. The owners’ cash investment of $2,000 cash and well over $12,000 in inventory will be applied towards any required qualifications for small business loan and will be applied towards the start-up cost. The owner will also contribute current assets consisting of racks, hangers, shelves, etc. valued at approx. $1,200. Successful operation and building a loyal customer base will allow GC to be self sufficient and profitable at the end of one year.

3.0 Products

GC Skate Shop will carry internationally-recognized brands. Our selections will cover skateboarding, snowboarding, skate, and lifestyle shoes. We will be purchasing through sales representatives and manufacturers in a variety of sizes, colors and style to fit our target market base. The greatest percentage of merchandise will be in shoes, followed by apparel, boards, and hardware. We will also have a small section of extremely rare personal shoes for sale. Management will rely on customer feedback, suggestions, and sales reports to introduce or eliminate certain brands, styles and sizes.

4.0 Market Analysis Summary

The primary target customer of GC Skate Shop will be the skateboarding, snowboarding, and sneaker collecting teen/young adults of West Roxbury and the greater Boston area. As we are located in the Centre Street section of the community we believe they will make up the largest percentage of our customer base. Another target customer of GC will be, due to the popularity of the store, curiosity seekers. We expect to see an assortment of local residents from the community as well as seasonal purchasers during all boarding seasons.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Skateboarding, and snowboarding, are popular pastimes for Northeastern youth. We
Estimate a target population of over 3,000 junior high and high school-aged students in West Roxbury, most of whom will visit GC on a regular basis, as the new cultural experience and the one and only skate shop in West Roxbury. Our secondary target market consists of West Roxbury youth, who represent a growing population of skateboarders, snow boarders, and sneaker collectors who will shop outside of the Downtown Boston area. The store will be located on Centre Street, but accessible to all Boston area customers by car or public transportation. The last area of potential customers is adults. There are hundreds of avid skateboarders who travel all the skate parks throughout the northwest, thus the importance of locating GC just one town from a skate park in the Hyde Park section of Boston. Other adults will bring their kids in to buy the most trendy school clothes, shoes, boards, accessories & gifts; they may find something for themselves while browsing. Our ambience and customer service will make them repeat customers.

4.2 Industry Analysis

The skateboarding industry is expanding faster than ever. Although skateboarding merchandise is priced at a premium, people buy it because it provides them with fashionable yet durable products. In the last five years, skateboarding supplies from most manufacturers have become available online. With a click of the mouse, customers can see and compare prices on hundreds of items, from boards and accessories, to clothing and footwear. This shift has served to stabilize prices, and to increase the accessibility of new skateboarding products in rural and outlying areas. However, online shopping happens alone, in one’s home; it is not a social experience. Skateboarding is about seeing and being seen in the latest, coolest clothes, with a killer board, doing amazing, highly-skilled tricks, and sharing them with friends. Skateboarding is not a solitary sport, and solitary skateboard shopping goes against the grain for this sport. The retail side of boarding (skateboarding and snowboarding) is highly fragmented, although the strength of the biggest manufacturers, in terms of advertising and sheer mass of product on the market, homogenizes the standard retailer’s inventory. Some smaller, home-grown operations both manufacturer and sell boards, doing especially well in urban areas on the East Coast. GC will combine the advantages of both models by offering a wide selection of boards, gear, shoes, and accessories from the major manufacturers, with custom-ordering capabilities for more unusual items. We will maintain an up-to-date on-line catalogue of all the most recent products from smaller manufacturers on the East Coast, for customers to browse through while in the store.

4.3 Target Market Segment Strategy

Skateboarding, snowboarding and sneaker collecting have been around for many years but appears to be a growing industry in the Northwest today. Boarding is no longer a fad or a pastime but is here to stay. Movies, Magazines, X-Games, Olympics, television, and video games all feature boarding sports. GC is a part of this growing industry. While our marketing efforts will differ slightly for commercial skateboard shops; our sales strategies rely on a further differentiation in our target markets. Our younger customers can be generally classified as either trendsetters or trend followers:

• Trendsetters keep up with online chats about boards, manufacturers, new wheel technology and new maneuvers. They are unafraid to pioneer the use of a new board style
Or clothing item if they feel it gives them an edge (aesthetically, socially, or in performance). They are willing to spend a great deal of money to be on the cutting edge, and in most circumstances, do this by ordering online or direct from the manufacturer to access items unavailable in the local area. Our challenge with these customers is to direct them to our custom-ordering capabilities, and to let them feel they have “discovered” a new trend on their own.
• Trend Followers, on the other hand, are anxious not to be seen as too far out of the
mainstream, which means playing a constant game of “catch-up” with the trendsetters.
This requires regular purchases of new equipment and clothing. They learn about new styles
online and in magazines, but are more influenced by the local adoption of such styles by
members of their cohort or by high-profile boarders they wish to emulate. When offered a
choice, they are most likely to shop locally, so they can see, in the display of inventory, how their choice fits in relation to other products offered to their cohort. Our challenge with this group is to stay on top of local trends so as to keep in stock a good array of colors and accessories for the style-of-the-month. Our older customers choose merchandise based on more personal needs – preferred styles and manufacturers generally outweigh “trendiness.” Although we do not have the expertise to serve older customers as a font of skateboarding experience, we hope that our convenient location will draw them in, and our selection and flexibility, with custom-ordering, will generate repeat business.

5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary

GC’s goal is to provide specialty apparel, shoes, skateboards, snow boards, hardware, and miscellaneous specialty items (hats, wallets, bandanas, etc.) to the under-served market of the West Roxbury/Roslindale community. The major competitive retailers have left a hole in this market. There are two to four competitors in the general area. After surveying many potential customers, we have found that the general trend is people feel that they have no alternative but to go to one of these stores. Many indicate that they would welcome an alternative in their locality. This particular population of customers is growing. Our intention is to gain 80% of this market share by focusing on our niche positioning, neighborhood location, popular brands, and special promotions.

5.1 Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy will focus heavily on sales promotion, niche positioning in the market and customer service with loyalty and retention in sales.

• The marketing budget will range from 15% to 20% of our gross annual sales.
• Our promotions will always stay in tune with our company objectives and mission statement.
Initial marketing will begin with flyers and posters in the skate parks around the Boston area for two months before we open, to alert our potential customers to our new store. Our Grand Opening, this spring, will include discount prices, and we will give away discount cards to the first 50 customers that day. Future marketing programs include radio spots, ads in the local high school newspaper, bringing pro skaters to the shop, doing skate events, and word of mouth around other high schools and skate parks in the Greater Boston area.

5.2 Sales Strategy

• We will utilize the Retail POS software with every sales transaction. With each purchase, the software will record and maintain in its database the customer’s name, address, email, and purchases. This information will be used with our direct mailing program to focus on the top 50% of our customers.
• We will offer a 14 day return/exchange policy to build trust with our customers and maintain retention and loyalty.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

The following table and chart give a highlight of forecasted sales. We expect sales to start off slowly but increase extensively during the summer skateboard season. We also expect to see increased sales during the Christmas holiday shopping season and the winter snowboarding season. GC has planned for a growth rate of 15% annually. As we build name recognition and status in the community, we expect to gain a larger percentage of the market share and increase our customer base, and consequently see an increase in revenue. Based on research into other skateboard and snow board retailers, we expect COGS at 50% of retail prices for all categories.

Sales by Year

5.3 Competitive Edge

GC offers an enhanced shopping experience, while being competitively priced and keeping up with the latest trends of the worldwide market. Our stellar customer service separates GC Skates & Shoe from the rest.

• Sponsorship of up-and-coming talented skateboarders throughout the community. These
sponsored youth will distribute 10% off business cards while they skate at local skate parks throughout Boston. They will also demonstrate GC apparel and equipment.
• Our location in the community will offer closer access to our target customer base.
• Special sales and package deals featuring complete beginner packages. GC plans to provide beginning lessons at a future date.
• GC will also give our customers the pleasure of designing their own graphics on blank boards.

6.0 Web Plan Summary

GC plans to develop a Web presence before our doors open with the use of weblogs as well as social networking. We will add e-commerce to the business model from the very beginning. GC’s website will be a secondary channel of business serving as advertisement for the company, as well as its online “home.” The website will showcase the available products for purchase. Additional tips and inspirational ideas will focus on gifts and gift giving. To further show off our expertise, GC’s website will provide a resource area, offering articles, research, product information and website links of interest to our customers. GC’s website will mirror the image and brands of products showcased in the store, while keeping up with the latest trends in user interface design. The key to the website strategy will be combining a well designed front-end, with a back-end capable of capturing “hits” and customer data for use in future marketing endeavors.

6.1 Website Marketing Strategy

Market strategy in an Internet retail business depends on recognition of expertise by the
consumer. For GC, it will start with our existing brick-and-mortar store customer base,
Informing them of our Internet presence and encouraging their word-of-mouth recommendations to others. Further awareness will be heightened by utilizing search engine marketing, banner advertising, and affiliates.

6.2 Development Requirements

Costs that GC expects to incur with development of its website include:

Development Costs

• Site Design & Implementation. GC Skateboard Shop will utilize the programming services of Better Off Group; who has 4 years of experience in Web development, including Flash programming, site updating, and backend Shopping Cart design/updating. GC is grateful for the cost efficient and advice that Better Off Group will provide.

Ongoing Costs

• Website name registration – $70 for 2 years.
• Site Hosting – $22.95 per month.
• Search Engine Registration – $200 per year.
• Site Design Changes $2,000 (provided by Better Off Group).

7.0 Management Summary

Employees will be encouraged to work within their creative, physical, and intellectual boundaries. All duties will be divided and delegated according to strengths and weaknesses. At GC we will expect a high degree of customer service skills and personality as this is essential to our success. The owner will use his experience in administration to manage the store and its employees. Sherike will generally have responsibility for inventory ordering and management. The Owner will assess the productivity and perform informal evaluations of all employees every six months. These bi-annual evaluations are conducive to the continued growth of our small business.

7.1 Personnel Plan

The personnel plan is included in the following table below. In addition to the owners, there will be one full-time employee and two part-time employees working 15 hours per week each. I will work as the full-time employee and the two part-time employees will be paid at a rate of $9.00 per hour. All employees will benefit from a one day paid holiday on their respective birthdays. We anticipate a 5% pay increase annually based upon performance.
At this time medical benefits will not be offered to employees. As profits increase, medical benefits will be offered to all employees, probably by year three. The owner will plan to draw only a minimal salary in the first few years.

8.0 Financial Plan

GC’s growth will be moderate and the cash balance will always be positive. As a retailer, we will not be selling on credit. We will accept cash, checks, and all major credit cards. PayPal will be used for those who do not have one of the major credit cards but are purchasing online. Marketing and advertising will range from 15% to 20% of sales. We will continue to reinvest residual profits into company expansion, and personnel.

8.1 Important Assumptions

GC does not sell on credit. We accept cash and checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. All sales paid via credit cards will be deposited in our business checking account within 48 hours. Our business checking account will be with a local bank. Our assumptions about loan and tax rates are listed below.

8.2 Break-even Analysis

Our break-even analysis is summarized by the following chart and table. With average monthly fixed costs for the first year of $1,850, we need to sell $5,650 of merchandise each month to break even. We will surpass this minimum amount in most months of the first year.

Table: Break-even Analysis
Break-even Analysis
Monthly Revenue Break-even $5,650
Assumptions: Average Percent Variable Cost 50%

8.3 Projected Profit and Lose

We expect to make a modest profit in the first year, as we build name recognition and a loyal local clientele, with higher profits thereafter, despite increasing the personnel payments for all employees and offering health insurance by year 3.
Table: Profit and Loss
Pro Forma Profit and Loss
FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
Sales $197,664 $217,430 $239,173
Direct Cost of Sales $98,832 $108,715 $119,587
Other $0 $0 $0
Total Cost of Sales $98,832 $108,715 $119,587
Gross Margin $98,832 $108,715 $119,587
Gross Margin % 50.00% 50.00% 50.00%
Expenses
Payroll $45,240 $48,620 $51,220
Marketing/Promotion $2,400 $2,640 $3,000
Depreciation $0 $0 $0
Rent $12,000 $12,000 $12,000
Utilities $3,000 $3,000 $3,000
Insurance $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Payroll Taxes $0 $0 $0
Telephone & Internet $1,200 $1,200 $1,200
Total Operating Expenses $65,340 $68,960 $71,920
Profit Before Interest and Taxes $33,492 $39,755 $47,667
EBITDA $33,492 $39,755 $47,667
Interest Expense $2,400 $2,000 $1,200
Taxes Incurred $5,500 $6,050 $6,655
Net Profit $25,592 $31,705 $39,812
Net Profit/Sales 12.94% 14.58% 16.64%

8.4 Projected Cash Flow
The following table shows projected cash flow. It includes repayment of the short-term loan
Principal, but does not list owners’ dividends – these are included as regular payments in the personnel table, for the purposes of this plan.
Table: Cash Flow
Pro Forma Cash Flow
FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
Cash Received
Cash from Operations
Cash Sales $197,664 $217,430 $239,173
Subtotal Cash from Operations $197,664 $217,430 $239,173
Additional Cash Received
Sales Tax $0 $0 $0
New Current Borrowing $0 $0 $0
New Other Liabilities (interest-free) $0 $0 $0
New Long-term Liabilities $0 $0 $0
Sales of Other Current Assets $0 $0 $0
Sales of Long-term Assets $0 $0 $0
New Investment Received $0 $0 $0
Subtotal Cash Received $197,664 $217,430 $239,173
Expenditures FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
Expenditures from Operations
Cash Spending $45,240 $48,620 $51,220
Bill Payments $84,775 $140,330 $158,848
Subtotal Spent on Operations $128,659 $190,659 $210,694
Additional Cash Spent
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Paid Out $0 $0 $0
Principal Repayment
Of Current Borrowing $16,656 $16,672 $16,672
Other Liabilities Principal Repayment $0 $0 $0
Long-term Liabilities Principal
Repayment $0 $0 $0
Purchase Other Current Assets $0 $0 $0
Purchase Long-term Assets $0 $0 $0
Dividends $0 $0 $0
Subtotal Cash Spent $145,315 $207,331 $227,366
Net Cash Flow $37,135 $677 $8,723
Cash Balance $38,698 $39,375 $48,098

Nike Blazer Mid SB “Swoosh Life”

The post Providing an exceptional customer service appeared first on UKCustomPapers.