Introduction
This business plan is made up of six sections that are subdivided into sub-sections. The main sections are made up of the executive summary, detailed description of the business, market analysis and strategies, personnel management and procedures, financial planning and management, and conclusion. The above will provide sufficient data that will help unveil our business plan.
Section One
Executive Summary
-
Business Idea
The high unemployment rate that leads to low incomes and the global emergence of small start-up enterprises that lack capital for growth has prompted this business owner to start a micro-enterprise development to ensure small enterprises’ growth, poverty alleviation, and community development. The micro-enterprise is meant to be an income-generating strategy that will help low-income earners start or expand on already existing small businesses.
The business idea would involve providing capital and education to citizens with talents and skills who want to actualize their dreams but lack formal business experience and cannot access conventional capital sources. In the past, many economically disadvantaged people have applied the microenterprise program to alleviate poverty, generate income, build upon assets while enhancing their skills, and even created new jobs for themselves and others.
Part of incomes generated from interests earned will be directed towards support of aging in the community, especially in regions where little has been done. It is envisioned that this business will expand in the future and diversify into supporting women’s development projects and other sectors in financial distress.
-
Names and Contact Addresses of the Owners
- The owners of the company are:
- Raymond jerry- +1-541-754-3010
- Anderson Zamunda-+1-541-820-3786
- Hernandez Gova-+1-541-719-2035
-
Name, Address, and Location of the Enterprise
- The name and address of the business will be:
- MABORITHA Micro-Enterprise
- 1 Hallidie Plaza,
- Suite 715
- San Francisco, CA 94102
- Phone: (415) 674-2370
- Email: maboritha@outlook.org.
- www.microbizzy2016.org
-
Mission and Vision of the Business
- Our Mission is: To provide capital and education to citizens in California and its environs at affordable interest rates. The income generated will be re-invested to support more small businesses and expand globally.
- Our Vision is: To be the leading micro-finance Enterprise in California and beyond.
-
Target Market and Market Size
The target market would be the whole of California and the neighboring states. According to the American Bureau of statistics (2010), the population is at 850,000+ people providing a good market for our services. The enterprise targets this population, as well as those within the enterprise, reach in other counties. The enterprise focuses on both the internal and external markets that accessed seem to provide sufficient demand for the enterprise services.
-
Competitive Advantage of the Enterprise
- Control of Both Internal and External Markets: The enterprise will have a niche to fill or command market share within the county.
- Quality of Service at Low-Interest Rates: The enterprise will provide funding/capital at low affordable interest rates compared to any other firms around.
- Convenient Location: The enterprise is located near the customers to access funds with the minimal hustle of offices location.
- Time: The enterprise intends to operate 24 hours with our customer care service online to serve the customers at any time of the day.
-
Estimated Annual Breakeven Profitability
The business is expected to reach its breakeven point in the first year of operation if there are sufficient funds to lend out. If there would be a large number of small business people to take up funds, then we expect to raise millions in dollars in terms of interest to be paid. According to owners projections, if everything goes according to the laid down plans, then it is guaranteed that within 276 days of operation, the stipulated breakeven should have been reached.
-
Quantitative Social-Environmental Impact of the Business
- Socially: It is estimated that almost 500000+ people might benefit from the funding, which would go a long way to alleviate poverty in the region. More growth of the business will lead to self-dependence, and with education, they would be able to learn how to re-invest funds. This enterprise would enable citizens to create employment for other citizens, and more so, the interaction with the customers would improve company-customer relations leading to repeat customers.
- Environmentally: The enterprise will not fund projects or businesses that lead to pollution of the environment or poor disposal of the waste. Any company that would involve cutting down trees or reducing the forest cover will not receive support from the firm since it’s focused on protecting the environment.
-
First Idea of Funding Requirements
The total amount/ cost needed for running the enterprise successfully is estimated to be $ 150,000, setting up shop and human resource cost in acquiring new talents and settling relative salaries cost. The owners will contribute $ 200,000 from personal savings for the start-up. The remaining amount will be sought from donors and local banks in the region. The owners have already contributed the $ 200,000, and the remaining amount of $ 300,000 will be sought from banks and donors. The owners have accessed and are assured the venture is viable, and it will be able to make profits and repay the loans within a short period and sustain itself in the future.
Section Two
Purpose and Background of The Business
-
Description and Purpose of the Enterprise
Martha enterprise will operate as a partnership business. It will be a privately owned venture by the entrepreneurs. The company will be non-profit making and will be focused on growing the state’s economy by supporting businesses and ensuring sustainability and growth on re-investments. This business’s need resulted from unbearable interest rates those local banks charge that restrict companies from fund access. The venture is therefore focussed on providing access to these funds for business growth. The experience will operate as a micro-finance institution from 2015 while dedicating itself to market research and general marketing of its service to command a market of its own.
The major challenge facing the enterprise is the lack of initial capital, and thus owners have to depend on long-term personal savings to cater for initial start-up expenses. The business intends to diversify its service to work with financially struggling institutions to bring them back to their operation. The owners plan to expand in the future to be a fully-fledged bank in the region.
Current Business Status
Currently, the institution is in operation with services already being offered first to come, first served customers with viable business ideas. There is already an influx of people with possible ideas being accessed, and the reputation of the institution is picking up at an impressive rate. However, due to aggressive marketing, the business cannot handle the high number of individuals with the company and in financial need; thus, the enterprise has employed more talent to assist the team and intends to expand its locations to ensure accessibility.
Section Three
Market Analysis and Marketing Strategies
-
Market Prospects and Competition
San Francisco County is a place that individuals with small businesses in operation inhabit, and there’s a need for expansion due to lack of proper financing. Our enterprise is focused on filling this niche by the provision of necessary funding. According to the survey carried out in the region by owners of the business, it was discovered that the firm would compete with two other micro-finance institutions around the area dealing with the same service provider. These have been identified as the major competitors of the firm.
Our enterprise intends to provide services based on projects/business sizes without discriminating against any clientele. Our prices will be lower than what competitors offer, ensuring that our enterprise has a competitive edge over the region’s competitors. In this way, we intend to attract more customers to our brand. Since the competitors have located a distance from the customers as an enterprise, we want to move closer to the customer by bringing our services to their doorstep to cut on transport costs and ensure the service is accessible at all prices.
-
Business Service (Financing)
Martha micro-finance will specialize in financing small businesses and expanding on other small businesses that require funding. This is due to the significant demand for funds by companies in the region. Once the venture grows to achieve its goals, it will diversify into rescuing business in financial distress to ensure economic growth. The business approach would be to visit customers at their business premises and convince them to take up funds to expand on their ventures.
- Pricing Strategy
The enterprise will offer fair and affordable prices to our customers, especially bearing in mind the high costs of living and the earning levels of our customers.
-
Advertisement of our Business
Our salesperson will visit institutions to inform them of what the business is offering.
The business will also be advertised using posters displayed in the nearby neighborhood and shopping centers and making use of brochures. We shall also make use of our loyal customers to tell their friends and relatives about our services.
-
Possible Challenges and their Solutions
The main challenge to this enterprise is that it can be replicated by other people who may want to enter the market in the future. However, for the new competitors to start this enterprise in California State, one needs enormous capital investment, which can be extremely expensive to afford at present. Our enterprise has the advantage of having enough funds for the intended projects, and the concentration will focus on developing the business to increase the market share.
Section Four
Personnel Management Structure
-
Owners and Key Management Team
The enterprise will be managed by the Board of Trustees, composed of the enterprise’s three founders- Raymond jerry, Anderson Zamunda, Hernandez Nova. There will be a manager who will run the enterprise on behalf of the owners. In his/her absence, s/he will be assisted by a deputy manager. The manager will be entitled to an administrative secretary, who will be responsible for recording, analyzing, and reporting everyday administrative issues. He/she will be answerable to the manager, who in turn is accountable to the board.
In the absence of the administrative secretary, he/she will be helped by the deputy manager. The owners, manager/deputy manager, and administrative secretary will form the management team. Under the executive secretary, there will be 11 well-trained and qualified workers, who will be responsible for the running of every day’s activities within the enterprise. There will be regular meetings involving both the management and the workers to harmonize the enterprise’s plans and activities.
-
Future Responsibilities/Tasks
In the future, the enterprise intends to expand into the following departments:
- Audit Department: The department will be responsible for determining the quality standards of service we provide and ensuring the management team is meeting schedules with minimal errors or fraud.
- Sales and Marketing Department: This department will determine consumers’ needs and ensure that financial service reaches the final consumers on time. The department will also advertise potential customers; collect information regarding competitors, and collect complaints raised by our customers.
- Human Resource Department: The department will be responsible for hiring the relevant human resource for the enterprise; determining the personnel requirements for the enterprise; organizing for training and development of the existing workforce, and designing salary packages and other rewards for employees. The department will also liaise with workers’ trade unions to promote employer-employee relations, maintain up-to-date personnel records for workers in the enterprise, and conduct required procedures on retirement, resignation, or workers’ sacking.
- Finance Department: This department will be responsible for arranging for the purchase and receipt of materials required by the various departments in the enterprise; maintaining adequate stock of material requirements; ensuring the safety and security of the funds secured; despatching materials to the user departments when required, and keeping proper records of stocks/item and its movements. To be effective, the financing, purchase, and supplies department will need to cooperate with other departments to understand their needs and expenditures.
Section Five
Financial Analysis
The funding for the enterprise is needed for starting capital expenses and operating expenses for the first year of operation only. The breakdown is shown below:
Pre-Operational Costs |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital Required
| Items | ($) | |
| Owners’ Equity (Savings) | 180,000 | |
| Donations | 20,000 | |
| Total Owners Equity | 200,000 | |
| Donors + Bank Loan | 300,000 | |
| Total Capital | 500,000 |
Assumptions and Capital Requirements
The business requires $ 500000 to start its operation, and this is only needed in the first year of operation; The company will reach its breakeven point in the first year of its operation. This will be possible if the finances are availed on time to facilitate the capital investment needed;
Once the expansion plan is implemented and the business is fully operational, there will be improved productivity translating into higher income and maximized customer satisfaction;
There will be the sustainability of the company without over-dependence on external funding.
Section Six
Conclusion
This business plan is out to source the initial capital needed to establish the proposed enterprise. Today, there are many constraints to livelihood due to the current global financial crisis. Having a sustainable business will be the solution to better one’s and other peoples’ living standards. Martha micro-finance enterprise wants to contribute to better livelihood in the community of low-income earners of California. Its surroundings state through its innovative and creative enterprise to bring the much-needed social change. The enterprise needs an initial capital in the first year to establish itself to start well, and it is hoped that it will sustain itself in the long run.
References;
- Neumark, David. (2011) Direct Job-Creation Policies in the Aftermath of the Great Recession. Irvine, CA: University of California, Irvine. Big Ideas for Jobs Series
- Kane, Tim. (July 2010) The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction. Kauffman Foundation Research Series: Firm Formation and Economic Growth.
- FIELD. (March 2012). 2011 US Microenterprise Census Highlights: FY2010 Data.
- Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute.
- Head, Brian. (2004) Desktop Study: SMEs and Poverty Reduction. Washington, D.C.: CFED