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Plastic Re-Shop
Missoula, MT
Bryce Rowe
Phone: (406)850-360
Email:
Address: 614 Woodworth Ave. Missoula, MT 59801
Executive Summary
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Business Description
The Plastic Re-Shop is a post-consumer plastic recycling company based inMissoula, Montana. Being a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Bryce Rowe, the company will create and develop sustainable products from local plastic waste. The Plastic Re-Shop is currently an entrepreneuriallean startup, with a bootstrapping mentality and intentions of growing into a large recycled plastic product producer. Envisioning to eventually be a recycler of all Montana post-consumer plastic. Initially the focus will be on making recycled plastic coasters and lumber from recycled type 2 HDPE plastic.
Since the first synthetic polymer was invented in 1907, plastics have grown into a 427 billion dollar industry (SPI). This industry is divided into four categories; resins, plastic products, molds for plastic, and plastic processing machinery. With plastic products being the most prominent, the industry as a whole is experience growth trends. Our business plans to take advantage of the waste continually create from this growing industry year after year. Plastics are too precious a material to be seen strangling ocean wildlife or even to be wasted in a landfill.
The business will sell to both B2B and B2C demographics. Our end customer is homeowners building or performing maintenance on their decks, railings, and fences. We hope to work with some businesses in order to receive raw materials while still selling finishedproducts to others.The company name, logos and domain name will be owned. The rest of company information will be largely made public in an open-source effort to promote the growth of the plastic recycling industry. Our machines will be built off the Precious Plastic designs.
Mission:
Recycle plastic by producing useful plastic products.
Vision:
To cultivate an involved zero-waste community around sustainably creating and recycling plastic products in Montana, in order define the adjacentpossibilities involving plastic polymers.
Marketing Section
Market Research
In the United States, the plastics industry accounts for more than $374 billion dollars in annual shipments and directly employs nearly 900 thousand people (SPI).
According to an EPA report in 2013 there was 32.52 millions of tons of plastic waste generated with only 9.2 percent of it recovered. The plastic recycling rate islower than other types of waste recycling products.
7% plastic recycling rate (NEA).
Plastic lumber industry has enjoyed significant gains in commercial, marine and recreational applications. It is expected to grow by ten percent annually. (PLTA)
The Montana population is 1.024 million. Missoula, Montana is home to more than 69,000 people, and there are over 110,000 in Missoula County alone. There are about 25,000 houses with a little less than half owner occupied. (City-Data)
Market Competitors
Competitors / Product and PricesPlastic Lumber Yard
Norristown, PA
/ The plastic lumber yard sells a variety of lumber, furniture, sheeting, vinyl, fasteners, and roofing.
They offer four grades of plastic lumber
Premium Grade: 2″X 4″X 12 ‘ $39.12 White or Black
Molded Grade: Extrusion molded, 2″X 4″X 12 ‘ $41.40 White or Black
Structural Grade: Fiberglass additive, 2″X 4″X 12 ‘ $57.15 White or Black
Premium Grade Trim Board: PVC, 15/16″x 5 1/2″x 18′$76.55 Multiple Colors
Trek
Winchester, VA
/ Trek is most widely known for their decking and they are an outdoor living company that makes composite lumber.
Products include:
Composite Decking
Deck railing
Fencing
Outdoor Storage
Outdoor Lighting
Bedford Technology
/ Recycled products manufacturer founded in 1993. Interested in the Marine Industry, Playground, Park & Recreation, Vineyards and Agriculture, Equine, and Industrial markets.
Types of Plastic Lumber Products
SELECTFORCE® Plastic Lumber - standard HDPE plastic. Hard tool or continuous extrusion methods used. 14 colors.
BARFORCE® Plastic Lumber - encapsulated full length fiber reinforced polymer rebar, along with fiberglass additive. 15 colors.
FIBERFORCE® Plastic Lumber -high quality recycled HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), ultraviolet stabilizers, colorants and fiberglass strands to increase rigidity. 15 colors.
Multi-X Plastic Product - recycled plastic matrix with unique glass fiber reinforcement bars. Marine applications.
Custom Fabrications & Shapes
Custom Signs & Engravings
Parking Curbs & Speed Bumps
Recycled Plastic Industries
Green Bay, WI
/ Plastic Lumber Manufacturer since 1989.
Recycled Plastic Lumber is stocked in 12 foot lengths.They accept calls for custom orders.
Wood Grain, Embossed Wood Grain, and Knurled Surface surfaces available.
American Plastic Lumber Inc.
Shingle Springs, CA
/ Structural Lumber - recycled polyethylene, reinforced with chopped fiberglass and contains additives such as UV inhibitors and colorants. Optional fiberglass rebar can be added for even greater strength and stability. 10 colors.
Premium Lumber - non-structural grade of HDPE plastic lumber 4 colors.
Industrial Lumber - blend of LDPE, HDPE, and sometimes PP, Industrial plastic lumber.
Sheet Goods - HDPE/HDPP (high-density polyethylene and high-density polypropylene) sheet goods offers excellent impact resistance, light weight, low moisture absorption, and high tensile strength.
Markstarr
Scarbiriugh, MA
/ MARKSTAAR is a North American distributor ofcommercial - residential products and site amenities for use in business, government, education, healthcare, hospitality, industrial, military and public/residential environments.
They sell a large variety of products along with plastic lumber. Recycled plastic lumber available in square, rectangular, and round shapes.
Recycled Plastic Factory
Englewood, FL
/ Florida based is a producer of environmentally-friendly site furnishings and home products.
Products
Picnic tables, Benches, Chairs, Marine Products, Building Materials and Other Site Furnishings
Eagle One
/ USA Distributor of commercial outdoor furniture and furnishings. Warehouses on the west coast, east coast, and Canada.
Product catalog provided on website
PlasTeak
Akron, OH
/ Provides a variety of recycled plastic product provided in a catalog. 20 years in business.
Custom swim platforms, boat handrails, deck trim, bow pulpits, park benches, trail markers, picnic tables, planters, furniture, landscaping materials.
MarketingPlan
A website will be owned and operated for online marketing along with retailing. For local marketing our business plans on taking advantage of business partnerships along with direct mailing information cards to potential customers. Logo’s and business cards have been developed with future plans coming. In person marketing will be done at local business event such as 1 million cups and the Hellgate Venture Network.
Porter’s Five Forces Model
Threat of New Entry
There is a medium pressure from potential new entrants since the barriers to entry are relatively low. The barriers being as follows
- Machine processing capabilities
- Low capital requirements
- Material sourcing
- Equipment and Facility
Buyer Power:
Our company will receive high pressure from the buyers because they hold a fair amount of the power. They get to dictated production through quantity and quality choice. Individual buyers hold pressure.
Threat of Substitution:
There are a variety of different materials that can be used as suitable substitutions for our products so this are represents a medium to high pressure area. Along with other materials, there are competitors with largely similar products.
Supplier Power:
The primary ingredient is a common post-consumer waste product with little value. This makes it a low pressure area because there is plenty of material that is easily available. Plastic can be captured from a varied of places
Competitive Rivalry:
There are no current local competitors within the state. Nationally there are a few established competitors that do no hold strong rivalries. As a whole the plastic industry is supportive of its companies and helps provide free flowing information and support.
Operations and Logistics
The Plastic Re-shop will specialize in converting post-consumer type 2 HDPE (High Dense Polyethylene) plastic into recycled plastic lumber (RPL). Our production process will largely resemble the Precious Plastic model with modification and upgrades over time. By following the model, we become part of an online open source community. Currently we are the second location in America for the movement and will continue to contribute with progress. Four machines will be built to handle the plastics through the process an extruder, shredder, injection mold and a compression oven.
Blueprints for all four machines are provided online. Fourms pertaining to all the machine aspects exist in an online global community online. The building order for the machienes will be the shredder, injection, extruter, and then lastly the compression oven. The product building process allows for a large variation of products to be produced for R&D purposes.The RPL will be made through the use of a mold and the injection molding machiene.
Our plastic collection process will use a voulunteer bases initially. A personal network of households will provide enough plastic waste for experimenting. Once capacity levels are recognized and established, then local business partnerships will be saught after. Pre-sorting of the plastic will needd to be done by the business. Currently we are partenered with the University of Montana recycling program. Future business partners will be sought out as sources of plastic going forward.
Our facilities will be at a rental commercial location in missoula county. The used of a warehouse or workshop type property will be enough for production. Standard electrical wiring is sufficient to power the precious plastc machines. Later macheines more industrial sized may need an coverter to handle three phase power.
Organizational Structure and Management
Bryce Rowe is the visionary and architect involed in creating the Plastic Re-Shop. As owner/operator he will be reponsible for many start up “Hats” roles and responsibilities in the beginning.The business will run as a sole-proprietershop. Volenteers will be brought on time to time for labor help
.
Initially contracted production assistants will be used to help with labor and production. He will do his own bookkeeping until sales reach a certain level. Then bookkeeping will be contract out and some marketing tasks, until demand reaches a level that could warrant an employee.
Job Descriptions:
Bryce RoweOwner Operator / Architect, Product Developer, System Administrator, Markerter, Content Creator, Customer Support, Manager, Tester, Sales, Cost Accounting, Bookkeeper, Janitor, Machine Technician, IT Technitician.
Production Assistant / In charge of running and operating production process. From raw materials up to finished goods. Involed qualitity testing along with inventoring tasks.
Business Manager / Lead and oversee the work of employees in our company; hire, train and evaluate new employees. Responsible for ensuring the efficiency of business operations as well as setting strategic goals for the future.
Plastic Producer / Hands on work in handling and crafting of plastic in order to create finished products. Will work with fellow employees to produce quality products.
Accountant / Handing the taxes and bookkeeping tasks along with financial analysis.
Financial Information
Please refer to Excel spreedsheet.
Risk Analysis
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years. The success of the Plastic Re-Shop will not be a simple path but we plan to embrace obstacales as welcomed challenges. We hope for luck in all endevors, but here is how we plan to address the following most common reason for failure.
Production demand too high to supply:
We plan to grow by producing a storage of lumber. As the amount of lumber that we have grows our demand capabilities will grow. We will not take orders that exceed the amount or product in our supply.
Production too low for profitablility:
Because we willl not need to pay for raw materials we will have a larger contribution margin on all products. We plan to keep overhead costs as low as possible until we grow profitable to be able for expansion.
Growing too fast:
By having bi-weekly scrum meetings to access constant progess we can be more agile to pivot as needed. We will be working with a agile approch based off the lean start up method.
Failing to properly track finances
Overspending:
Since we aren’t paying for our production resource, by keeping other spending to a minimum we can keep from overspending. Company purchased will have to be approved by owner Bryce Rowe.
Lack of reserve capital:
Inatially starting wil nothing our business will build up reserve capital over time. This will be dome by saving money from sale and expremely low initially overhead costs.
Poor choice of location:
Our current location is advantages because of our proximity and partnership with the University of Montana. Future locations will be searched for based off current and furute business needs.
Poor exection:
We will be continueally be producing research and development progess by working the the Precious Plastic movement. Our product progress will be well understood before attempting to make sales.
Inadequate business plan:
Unfortunately you don’t know what you don’t know and we will remain hopefule that we have developed a comprehensive business plan.
Failing to change with the times:
The industry we reside in is very new and developing. We will keep up with changing times by continuing to conduct research and development activities. By staying upto date with the most recent Precious Plastic news we can keep with global trends.
Ineffective marketing:
By taking advantage of the current digital marketing enviorment we can utilize a variety of social media platforms
Underestimating the competition:
Though tracking the progess of our companion Precious Plastic companies we hope to properly gage the challenges that arising competition may bring.
Poor leadership and direction:
With a flat business structure our owners hope to inspire faith in the growth of this company. The owner will build a personal relationship with every employee. Consistent assessment of company progess as a group will help steer company direction.
Legal problems:
Careful initial research will be followed by legal councel on compliance and regulatory issues. Lawyer advice will be sought out as needed. Insurance will be purchased for unexpected incidents along with disclamers to go along with product purchase.
SWOT Analysis:
Internal Analysis
Strengths:
•Low startup costs
•Micro-business
•Low Cost of Materials
•Strong Managerial Skills
•Innovative small scale approach
The relatively small scale of the business involved in startup assures an equally small amount of liability involved, and a relatively short term path to overcoming any debt. The small size of the business also insures low cost across the board for all expenses, from the actual machinery costs incurred by building the machines myself, to the actual expense of production in its entirety. Only a small staff will be required initially, and this small staff should easily be able to keep up with estimated demand for production and maintenance of the business. This in aggregation with the unique method of obtaining waste plastic from local sources, and the low cost of materials necessary to production will exponentially contribute to insuring that the business will be profitable. I have experience in management and a strong education in business and management.
Weaknesses:
•Relatively untested business model
•Learning curve involved in application of machinery
•First time business owner
•Limited personal contacts/resources
•Small staff preoccupied with many different tasks which may inhibit their ability to focus on individual tasks
•Excess in collected waste plastic
Unlike starting a restaurant or a t-shirt company, this business model is relatively non-existent and as such I will be a pioneer. Data and estimation can only provide the business with a limited amount of potential breathing room in the event of unforeseen circumstances. My experience with the applicable machinery involved in the production process is limited as well, and herein lays the bulk of potential hazards for my business plan. As a first time business owner, I will be hard pressed to adapt and grow accustomed to the stresses and responsibility involved. While I have plenty of experience in leadership positions, I have never been solely accountable for an entire business. As such, I also have a negligible resources and information on local business contacts and relationships. According to my initial estimates I should be able to maintain day to day operations with a relatively small staff, but by reducing the number of team members on my staff, I may be expecting too much of them switching from inventory to production to driving supply vehicles to facility maintenance and cleanup. I may have to scale down my business plan or hire extra employees eventually, but I have allowed for this in my financial accounting. Another potential hazard I can foresee is for the waste plastic supply to build up faster than it can be shredded and sorted. Even if I allow for only several barrels of waste plastic to be collected per week, I can estimate that my stockpile of waste plastic will potentially far exceed the amount of products on demand, and the amount of production my small staff can keep up with.