A) DETAILED FEASIBILITY PLAN
– HDAM Project
Feasibility plans help entrepreneurs – and their investors – judge whether a business concept is credible. The process of preparing a feasibility plan is a testing process – a validation process to determine what could go wrong and what needs to go right for an enterprise to root and grow. Preparing a feasibility plan requires a tremendous amount of research and thinking, which often lead to significant changes in the original idea. The good news is that the stronger the feasibility plan, the easier the business plan is to write, and the more likely it is that your business will receive financial support and succeed.
Structure as follows:
Executive Summary
Product or Service
Technology
Market Environment
Competition
Industry
Business Model
Marketing and Sales Strategy
Production/Operating Requirements
Management and Personnel Requirements
Intellectual Property
Regulations/Environmental Issues
Critical Risk Factors
Timing Considerations
Capital Requirements & Strategy
Final Recommendation
i Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is a summary of all key sections of the feasibility plan and should work as a separate, stand-alone document. Interested parties will read this section first, and often use this in conjunction with a glance at the financial section when deciding whether or not they read the rest of the plan. Key points to remember include.
• Write this document after the feasibility plan is completed.
• While the executive summary is written last, it is presented first.
• The executive summary should be no more than one page long.
ii Product/Service
• Describe the company’s product or service in lay terms. Give product mix if the company will initially be focusing on more than one product.
• Describe how customers would use and buy the product or service. Give enough detail to help the reader judge the effectiveness of your marketing and positioning plans.
• Describe key components or raw materials that will be used in the product, how the company will source these and how available they are.
• Describe plans to test the product to ensure it works as planned and is sufficiently durable, rugged, secure, etc.(i.e. consumer product test, beta test with major company, etc.).
• Describe plans to upgrade product or expand product line.
iii Technology
• As necessary, provide further technical information about the product or service.
• Describe additional or ongoing research and development needs.
• Keep the description in lay terms and/or explain technical terms enough to be understood by business-savvy but not necessarily technology-savvy readers.
iv Market Environment
Target Market:
• Define and describe the target market(s). Distinguish between end users and customers.
• Be clear how end users and customers benefit, and how and why they would buy the product or service.
Feasibilty Analysis – MMZ/UOM
• What is the unmet need(s) your product or services fulfill so beautifully? And how big is the opportunity?
For business-to-business markets, include:
• The industry the target market is in, key players, frequency of product purchase, replacement needs vs. expansion, purchasing process (i.e. solicits bids, uses preferred vendor lists, goes through committee or multi-level approval process, etc.), likely length of the sales cycle.
• Estimates of market size, initial targeted geographic area, company’s targeted market share.
For business-to-consumer markets, include:
• Demographic factors, such as income level, age range, gender, educational level, ethnicity.
• Psychographic factors.
• Relevant behavioral factors such as frequency of product purchase and shopping behaviour.
v Competition
• Describe direct and indirect competition (as it pertains to the target markets only).
• For key competitors, give market share, resources, product and market focus, goals, strategies, strengths and weaknesses.
• List all key barriers to entry.
• Describe what is unique about the company’s product/service compared to the competition. Make sure this is consistent with the unmet need of the target market(s).
• State how difficult it will be for competitors to copy the company’s product/service.
• Describe how competitors will most likely react to the company’s product launch and the company’s response strategy. Include estimates of the time it might take a competitor to copy your product or service.
vi Industry
• Clearly define and describe the industry in which the company operates. Include the size, growth rate, and outlook. Define key industry segments and state where company fits in.
• Describe demand and supply factors and trends.
• Describe the larger forces that drive the market – innovation, cultural change, regulation, whatever.
vii Business Model
• Describe the company’s business model. How will the company generate revenue (i.e. sell the product; charge licensing, subscription or advertising fees; earn commissions from e-commerce; etc.)? Will there be recurring revenue?
viii Marketing and Sales Strategy
• Lay out the basic marketing and sales strategies.
• Discuss any strategic partnership the company has or is planning to form. Do they provide critical market access or other resources?
What are their rights and responsibilities?
• Describe the distribution strategy (sell direct to customers through sales force, direct mail, or Internet; sell through manufacturers’ representatives, wholesalers, distributors, or retailers). Provide typical profit margin or markup expectations, commissions, and other expected compensation (co-op advertising, slotting fees, etc.)
• Describe the pricing strategy and justification. Include the expected gross profit margins.
• Describe typical payment terms for customers.
o Customers: 60 days from invoice.
o Vendors: 30 days from invoice.
• Other issues and their impact – e.g., warranties.
• Quantify the marketing budget for at least the first year.
viv Production/Operating Requirements
• Describe enough of how and where the company will manufacture, source or create and deliver the final product or service to be able to estimate costs.
o For example, if production and storage will be in-house:
• Give location, size, age, condition, and capacity of planned production and warehouse facilities and number of shifts planned.
• Will space be owned or lease? Will renovations be required? At what cost?
• How complex is the manufacturing process?
Describe equipment needed and costs.
o If company will outsource production or distribute others’ materials:
• Describe supply sources. Are sources of supply readily available?
• Outline the relevant contract terms, manufacturer’s capacity, minimum order and tooling requirements, reputation, size or financial condition.
• Describe the company’s plan to protect its proprietary processes and trade secrets and to maintain quality control.
o If company is providing a service:
• How will the service be designed? Delivered? Monitored and improved?
• What partners will the company use? What will be the terms of the contract? Are there substitute partners?
x Management and Personnel
• List the proposed key managers, titles, responsibilities, relevant background, experience, skills, costs.
• Sketch personnel requirements: what people will be needed now, in a year, in two years? Including skills and qualifications required and financial implications.
xi Intellectual Property
• Briefly describe patents, copyrights, and trademarks obtained and in process. Give all names that are on issued patents; summarize results of patent searches.
• If company is operating under a licensing agreement or patent assignment, give name of licensor/assignor, describe key terms (i.e. exclusivity, rights, responsibilities), and give termination or renewal date.
• If the business concept is a science (research orientated) business, the intellectual property is extremely important. The protocols in managing them, particularly at the initial planning stage are critical.
For example, if a researcher has published their research findings in an industry journal or on the internet prior to ensuring intellectual ownership through copyright or patent, then the knowledge is considered in the open domain and therefore can not be considered restricted.
• Often business planning associated with intellectual property must occur prior to a business (science – research) concept being developed and validated so that the strength and ownership of the findings can be assured.
xii Regulations/Environmental Issues
Outline non-economic forces that might affect the prospects of the firm:
• Key government regulations and the company’s plans for compliance.
• Any environmental problems on property, plans to address the problems, and cost.
• Waste disposal plans, if needed.
• Political stability, if applicable.
• Any other regulatory or political issues.
xiii Critical Risk Factors
Describe critical risks faced by the firm (currently or in the future).
Examples include internal characteristics, uniqueness, investment, external characteristics, sales growth, product availability, customer availability, technical obsolescence, etc. Be sure to describe how you will mitigate each risk.
xiv Timing Considerations
Sketch the major events in life of venture by listing the timetable/deadlines for completion of phases of venture. Be sure to demonstrate the relationship of events and to keep the milestones, financial requirements, personnel requirements, etc consistent.
xv Financial Projections
Include a narrative highlighting key underlying assumptions and the logic governing your projections. Include financial history, if any (e.g. equity and debt), and likely financing stages, including information about funding sources and uses. Provide a page or two of footnotes for each financial spreadsheet attached explaining the assumptions behind each major line item. Some core components of this part of the report are listed below.
• Profit & Loss Statements for 3 years
• Cash Flow Projections for 3 years
• Break-even Analysis
• When will the firm begin to turn a profit?
xvi Capital Requirements & Strategy
• How much equity will the firm need, and when?
• What sources might you tap?
• When will investors begin to see a return and at what rate?
xvii Final Recommendation
Recommendations from the feasibility study regarding the viability of putting the business idea into practice should be honest, short and direct.
These recommendations are not usually a straight “yes” or “no”, but rather “Yes, if . . . .” Or – “No, unless . . . .”
B) The type of business:
Maid In Malta
Mission Statement
• At ‘Maid In Malta’ we pride ourselves on our commitment to our customers’ satisfaction and the highest level of quality. Our customers are our top priority and we are committed to the continuous improvement of our operations through on employee education and continuous training in new products, methods, techniques and safety procedures.
• It is our mission to provide excellent residential and commercial cleaning service to our clients. We will treat our clients’ homes with respect and provide a quality cleaning job on every visit.
Target Market
‘Maid In Malta’ will be focusing on two upper socio/economic groups:
● The first is the affluent where only one spouse works. Although the other spouse is at home and has time to clean, he/she chooses not to. They have no desire to clean the house. To them that is not enjoyable and they have the money to pay someone to do that kind of work.
● Our second segment of the market that we are targeting is the two income family. Over the last couple of decades, the number of two-income households have increased. These families don’t really have the time to clean, can afford a cleaning service, and choose to hire a service because the opportunity costs are too high to waste time cleaning their house.
Marketing Strategy
Once the business is launched all efforts will divert to finding customers. There are a number of ways this can be achieved:
● The distribution of a colour brochure detailing our services. The distribution of this document will be targeted to hit the chosen segment.
● Word-of-mouth referrals. ‘Maid In Malta’ will offer an economic incentive (such as a free visit) to customers if they bring in new business. This will be effective because the financial incentive will motivate their behaviour, and people naturally like to share good deals with their friends.
● An advertising campaign on Social Media through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Starting The Business
• A reasonably sized office that should be large enough to have a small reception area, work space for yourself and your administrative staff and a storage area for equipment and supplies.
• An economy car or station wagon as a mode of transport. You need enough room to store equipment and supplies, and to transport your cleaning teams. The vehicles can be also used as an advertising tool by painting the company’s name, logo and telephone number on them.
• The employees are the greatest asset as they help in achieving the companies goals and meet the needs of the clients. Employees should be carefully selected and trained in a rigorous and intensive manner.
