ICLP International Academy, Trinidad & Tobago
SCHOOL NAME, COUNTRY
BUSINESS PLAN
Written by STUDENT 1, STUDENT 2, STUDENT 3, STUDENT 4, STUDENT 5, STUDENT 6
Ms. Araceli Marchan
LEAD TEACHER
Created as part of the School Enterprise Challenge Awards Programme – Bronze Level
Section A: Our Business DetailsBusiness Name / IT SOCKS!
Business Activity / Creating and Selling Character Socks designed by students
Main product / service / Decorated Character Socks that represent various genres/themes
No. of students involved in business planning activities (including writing this Business Plan) / Boys 5 / Girls 8 / Total 13
Financial Summary
Our Local Currency is:__TT$_ / US Dollars $
Period of time budgeted for / 3 months / 3 months
Total Income (Estimated) / $6650 / $963.77
Total Costs (Estimated) / $2590 / $375.36
Profit (Estimated) / $4060 / $588.41
Start-Up Costs (Estimated) / $3860 / $559.42
Section B: Market Research and Target Market
1. Here is a description of the Market Research done by us, including how many people we spoke to.
Our team conducted market research by having people in our area conduct a survey and we also had a discussion amongst a focus group of both adults and children. Our target market is students between the ages of 5 and 18 and also adults between the ages of 21 to 40. We asked 15 questions on our survey and issued it to 30 people shopping at the Arima market. Through the survey and the focus group of 10 people we tried to get an idea of how often people use socks and what they looked for in a pair of socks (i.e. brand, price, fabric type etc.). We also asked if they would be interested in our product and if so, what type of characters / designs they would enjoy in our specially designed socks and what price they were willing to pay for our unique product.
2. These are the results of our Market Research, including who is going to buy our product/service and why they will buy it.
According to our survey and focus group we learnt that both adults and children are interested and excited about buying our Silly Socks. They are willing to spend between $40 and $60 for our product. They let us know that they want a comfortable sock that is both stylish and unique. They are encouraged to buy the socks because of the fact that we are using recycled material and hence cutting down on environmental waste. Many of the people surveyed are interested in socks depicting movie characters.
Section C: Competitors and Competitive Advantage
3. These are our main competitors and their strengths and weaknesses.
Competitor Name / Strengths / WeaknessesHappy Socks / Caters to both kids and adults. Colourful and festive.Popular. / Requires online shopping so customers don’t get to see and feel the product before buying
Note to Self / Empowering. Socks come gift wrapped in a pretty box. / Boring colours. All socks come in the same style.
Scrub City Trinidad / Socks are comfortable. They use a local manufacturer. / Made only for adults. Dull in appearance and poor quality. Expensive.
Excellent Stores, Trinidad / Convenient locations throughout Trinidad. Reasonably priced.. / Generic socks. Mainly black and white. Non festive.
Joy of Socks / Festive and colourful. Designed for both adults and children. / Do not use recycled materials in their design. Mainly holiday designs.
4. Our competitive advantage – This is why we are going to be better than our competitors:
We will be better than our competitors because we will offer one of a kind Customer Service. Our customers will have the personalized option to choose what type of character or personality they want on their socks before we make it. Our socks will be comfortable as well as stylish unlike our competitors who trade one for the other. Our business niche is focussed and clear unlike some of our competitors who also offer a wide range of other products. People know what they are getting when they come to us. We will offer a satisfaction guarantee with all purchases or your money back. Our customer will be always surprised and delighted by our unique designs.
Section D: SWOT Analysis
5. This is our SWOT Analysis.
Strengths – What are our business’ strengths?
Though many other companies offer specialized socks, none of them offer the customization that we do. We are unique in our service provided. We target school children directly and younger professionals who are interested in fun self expression. Because we get our design material from a Carnival Costume studio, we have a wide range of fabrics, colours and materials to choose from when designing. Students know what other students want. This gives us a niche in the market. We create all designs ourself so quality is guaranteed. / Weaknesses – What are our business’ weaknesses?
Our market initially is limited to the community of Arima and as a new business we will be challenged with establishing ourselves as a reputable business in the community. Also as a new business our start up capital is limited so we will be operating on a tight budget.
Opportunities – What opportunities do we have for our business?
To expand our business to the wider community outside of Arima, we could explore the possibility of Social Media advertising as well as creating a company website. Eventually we can even offer customers the opportunity to order online. We can also explore the possibility of selling our socks at other Markets in Trinidad as there is a market in every Borough. / Threats – Do we face any threats to our business?
Our competitors who have been in the sock design business a long time and have a loyal following poses a threat to us as well as our competitors who sell regular socks at a cheaper prices. Given the fragile nature of our economy customers might decide to spend less on socks as it can be considered a luxury item and fun and social interaction may become less of a priority for citizens.
Section E: Operational Plan
6. These are the one-off tasks we will need to do to actually start up our business:-Select a supplier from Venezuela to purchase the basic socks from (cheaper than Trinidad)
-Set up our design studio (with workstations, materials like glue guns and work tools etc.
-Assign responsibilities to various team members and appoint titles/positions
-Organize, Plan and carry out our Christmas Concert to raise start up capital.
-Plan a business launch event at our school
-Create templates for initial designs.
-Post a social media advertisement to let people know that we are in business
-Set up a Financial template for record keeping
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
Accounting/ Inventory to know when to order socks from Venezuela and collect them when shipped. / 2 weeks / Monthly (or as needed) / Zara M., Ariana M., Lincoln C
(Management, Accounting and Operations teams)
Collect scrap material from Carnival Costume studio / 1 hour / Weekly / Lincoln C. & Joshua K
(Operations team & Asst. Manager)
Purchase glue sticks to be used in glue guns and other supplies / 30 minutes / Monthly / Asa L and Joshua K
(Finance Team & Management Team)
Go to Arima Market to sell socks / 8 hours / Weekly (on Saturdays) / All team members (shift system)
Meet with school Principals and Companies to encourage them to have Silly Sock days / 2 hours / Weekly / Zara M. and Alexia G
(Management and Marketing Team)
Design and Customize socks / 2 hours / Daily / Design Team
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).
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Section F: Marketing and Sales Plan
9. These are our 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
a) Product – Our product/service is…
IT SOCKS are dynamic, unique, fun and enlightenening conversation pieces designed to bridge borders and get people talking and laughing together again. Our designers create character socks that represent all genres and styles that one can think of from popcorn and soda to movie actors and singers. IT SOCKS can be worn on Silly Sock Days or even on regular days. They make a fashion statement all of their own. They come in various sizes and colours. Customers even have the option of customizing what they specifically want their socks to portray.
b) Price – We will sell it at this price:
$40-$60
A pair of regular plain socks in Trinidad cost about $20. Specialty socks are about $40 a pair and Brand name socks can cost upward of $60 to $70. We feel that pricing our socks between $40 and $60 dependent upon the level of detail in the design keeps us competitive with our main local competitors. This selling price also allows us to sufficiently cover our production cost and still make a profit on each sale. At this selling price we are also within the reasonable range that people are willing to pay for socks in Trinidad.
c) Place – We will sell our product/service at this place:
Our main sales location will be the Arima Market and in time we plan to expand sales to all 5 major Markets throughout Trinidad. We also plan to do Direct Sales to schools and companies and thereby encourage them to host Silly Sock Days at their school/businesses. Ultimately it is our aim to have IT SOCKS available for purchase online and even allow customers to customize their own designs.
d) Promotion – We will promote our product/service by:
Flyers will be placed in the commnuity’s mail boxes so that they are made aware of our presence at the market on Saturdays. At the market, we will also have exciting and interractive events to help draw attention and people to our stall. When we visit schools and companies we will also have a portfolio so that principals and company leads can see our products. We will even offer the company/school an incentive when their students/employees purchase a certain number of socks from us. Our new business will also be adertised and presented at our Fundraising Chritmas concert which various people from the community and also outside of our community will attend.
Appendix Section: Students in Action
Please find in this space 3 pictures (when possible) that clearly shows our involvement as students in our business planning activities.
Our team member consulting a teacher for advice Brainstorming Session Working on our Business Plan
FINANCIAL PLAN
1. Income (estimated)
NAME OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE / QUANTITY / SALES PRICE / SALES INCOME(Quantity x Sales Price)
Decorated Black Socks / 50 / $45 / $2250
Decorated White Socks / 50 / $40 / $2000
Decorated Coloured / Patterned Socks / 40 / $60 / $2400
TOTAL SALES INCOME / $6650
2. Costs (estimated)
NAME OF ITEM / QUANTITY / COST PER ITEM / TOTAL COSTS(Quantity x Cost per Item)
Plain Black Socks / 50 / $12 / $600
Plain White Socks / 50 / $10 / $500
Plain Coloured/Patterned socks / 40 / $15 / $900
Glue sticks / 30 / $8 / $240
Work gloves / 5 / $20 / $100
Scissors / 5 / $9 / $45
Decorating Material (not obtained from recycling) / 8 / $20 / $160
Tweezers / 5 / $9 / $45
TOTAL COSTS / $2590
3. Profit (estimated)
Our Local CurrencyTOTAL SALES INCOME / $6650
TOTAL COSTS / $2590
PROFIT
(Total Sales Income – Total Costs) / $4060
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)
Containers to transport
IT SOCKS / 3 / $250 / $750
Table to be used for display at market / 1 / $200 / $200
Display shelves to be put on table / 4 / $80 / $320
Plain Black Socks / 50 / $12 / $600
Plain White Socks / 50 / $10 / $500
Plain Coloured/Patterned socks / 40 / $15 / $900
Glue sticks / 30 / $8 / $240
Work gloves / 5 / $20 / $100
Scissors / 5 / $9 / $45
Decorating Material (not obtained from recycling) / 8 / $20 / $160
Tweezers / 5 / $9 / $45
TOTAL EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES START-UP / $3860
b) Equipment we don’t need to buy as we own/have access to:
Glue guns, work tables in design studio, decorating tools.
c) We will get the Start-Up capital needed for our business by:
We will hold a school Christmas Concert. We will sell tickets for the event to our friends, family and community. Our fellow students are very talented. Some of us play musical instruments or we sing or love to act etc. We will put together a dynamic program to highlight our talents and boost our confidence to perform in front of others. At the event we will sell produce from our school garden and advise patrons on the various Christmas recipes that they could use to make dishes using the produce we are selling. Based on our projections, we will generate enough start up capital from this event to launch our business
Additional comments:
Our Local Currency used : / TT$Exchange rate to US Dollars: / 6.9TT = 1US
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