1 Business Plan Process, Running Head: Business Plan Process How to Prepare a Business Plan Seval Ozbalci Submitted To University of the Incarnate Word Entrepreneurship (INEE734002.72931.200870) Norman St. Clair, Ph.D. San Antonio, Texas May 9, 2008 How to Prepare a Business Plan I am going to explain the scenario with 5W’s and one H: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. I. First W: Who? I am the consultant: ● Who has a family company since 1960, ● Who developed a government supported business plan last year in Turkey, ● Who has special personal skills which are creative thinking, world wide entrepreneurship experience, and hard working, ● Also a web designer and a good analyzer… ● And who is going to be retiring in five years. You are a big shot business woman: who has a lot of international connections to establish this project, who has been working in this area and developing study abroad programs between US and other world countries, ● who knows the city council members to interact with them. Women in Business1 We need to impress the investors with those areas: ● the potential for good business management, ● strong financial information and records, ● good marketing plan, ● flexibility and ability to make money, ● a way out for investors if things don't work. Women goals are important factor to understand their life concept. This sentence can be explain what the women want; “Women want the same things as men –only in prettier colors.”2 A lot of research findings indicate that women’s important goals are for professional growth, development, challenge, and self- fulfillment, while men’s are preferred higher income.3 Women’s life perspective is changing in the last century. According to the U.S. Department of Labor estimates, nine out of 10 women manage their finances alone. They want to take responsibility for their financial well-being to pursue the quality of life they desire. They are all well educated, responsible, careful, and multi functional producers.4 Entrepreneurial women’s number is growing. There were nearly 6.5 million women-owned businesses in 2002, up 20% from 1997. The increase was twice the national average for all businesses.5 There are some funding sources specifically target women entrepreneurs, loans, scholarships, and other sources of funding. Financial resources are available in all those web pages: 6 ● Small Business Administration (Office of Women's Business Ownership) (www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness) ● Count-Me-In (www.count-me-in.org) ● Federal Money Retriever? (www.fedmoney.com) ● The Women's Funding Network (www.wfnet.org) ● NBC Supplier Diversity Program Website (www.nbcsourcing.com/supplierdiversity/) ● American Association of University Women (www.aauw.org) ● The Ada Project for Women (TAP) (http://tap.mills.edu) ● Financial Women International (www.fwi.org) Additionally, the US government grants $350 billion in free government grants each year for small business and personal grants. Special grants are available for entrepreneurial women to start up a home-based business.7 II. Second W: What? Idea description: a new web-home based work opportunity to teach international business techniques. Main ideas; this is a useful project for all over the world, that can be a part of the lifelong learning program opportunities, and it is a new alternative for global education partnership. Our primary partners are: Universities, City Council and Members, City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Center. ● ● We will be training those titles; the basis of global business language, main concepts of international business, international company structures, global standardization, world-wide production process, and we will support these trainings with company visits, workshops and seminars. III. Third W: Where? Our starting point is going to be San Antonio. The first study part will arrange between two similar areas in Texas and Turkey. This project connects businesses and the business life circle will be connected with City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Members. That’s why we will start this project with them. Because they can support this entrepreneurial and educational start with their funds and they can encourage the companies to pay for their partners’ or professionals’ training costs. IV. Fourth W: When First step will start with a local market research in Turkey during the consultant’s summer vacation. We will arrange meetings with university departments, city chamber of commerce center, and city council members. Second step will be ready to start in October 2008, when I come back to San Antonio. It will be completing the workshop for 2009 calendar, finishing the detailed program, and publishing the schedule. In 2009 January: “let the game begin”, managing the process, group booking, controlling the progress, and communication. V. Fifth W: Why? Why we are doing this? Because the smart company owners of today and young professionals know that diversity can be a source of competitive advantage, but they don’t know how to start to create a strategy that builds cultural differences to deliver their real business values. Apparently, this program will help them to realize; world-wide workforce, global marketplace, and the new world community. Our program priorities are; adding a new value for market with a good price, improving global business development, giving an international perspective, creating a new competition. In the other hand, our trainees’ objectives will be learning a new culture, improving their language skills, visiting a different country, building a good business relationship, being a part of the global business world, and having some fun… VI. And the one H is: How? We are going to explain this concept with scenario planning. This is very useful way of learning. We will be creating an imaginary, discovering, comparing, measuring, mapping, realizing the process of the real start up businesses life circle. We will also use process modeling. By the way, we should be practicing the start up problems, predetermined elements, and unpredictable parts of the strategic thinking. Learning business in multinational class will give us some extra skills, such as international work-life priorities, common risks and advantages, and extraordinary risks and advantages. The most important question is asking for the next and estimating how will the future affect my business? External Analysis I. Industry This project is directly related with the international education industry. That industrial, big dynamic market is growing day by day and US universities are looking for new markets in other countries (All related tables are attached to the assignment).8 There are a lot of different types of projects about study abroad programs. They started in 1959-60, it was only 48,486 then this number incredibly increased and last year it became 582,984. There are a lot of new area opening in this growth. The infrastructures of universities are ready to establish new openings. New international business connections will be more important in the future than before. All markets desire to learn their international competitive advantages. Global market will be easier to reach in the future. Therefore it will be more important to find international consumers for all the other industries as well as production industry. In Turkey many people have a different curiosity about USA. All professional workforces are wondering their work conditions in the US and they are really eager to learn international rules. Even though most of them saw Europe and a lot of different countries, they knew the US culture from movies and they are looking forward to see how it is in the real world. United States Universities have; international offices to manage this process, technology laboratories to teach trainees, shuttle to visit companies and other areas, conference centers to lecture learners, connections to communicate companies, volunteers to help visitors. This is a kind of agency work the only need is a web site, I can develop this web site by myself. Universities international offices are good communication centers for the trainees’ placement, UIW can be the first university and starter for this organization, program cost is going to be $1.500 per person, price will be $2.000. ● Detailed product categories, ○ professional development ○ consulting ○ training opportunities ○ study abroad ○ higher education placement ○ summer camps ○ winter camps ○ publications ● General facility and equipment requirements ○ technology laboratories, ○ dormitory, ○ mechanic equipment and vehicles, ○ communication partners, ○ lecturers, ○ an auditorium or a conference center ● Possible locations for a facility based on available resources and infrastructure: ○ Partner Companies, ○ Free Trade Alliance, ○ US Commerce Department, ○ City of San Antonio International Office, ○ San Antonio Port, ○ Law Firms, ○ Shopping in San Antonio II. Competition When Universities start to accept trainees for this program then the competition will be very hard. International professionals can find very different kind of language or training program but this is different and specific for their necessities because of that this idea will be very popular in the future. III. Target Market Half of the population in Turkey is under 21. They are all well educated and eager to learn. For instance, research and development workforce was 66,330 by 1999. Government, institutions and companies are recruiting approximately 2,500 people for those positions every year. They usually earn more than $40.000 per year. They are planning to have their own companies in the future. Internal Analysis I. Potential Clients ● Medical Personnel 3 ● Technical Jobs and Engineers 3 ● Agricultural Employees 2 ● Lawyers 2 ● Educators 3 ● Army 2 ● Other Professionals 5 TOTAL 20 II. Company Management Which business structure is right for me? This is going to be a web and home based work. Therefore my partner and I need to decide with a legal adviser, which one is the suitable choice for our company. A company owner/manager has to be a different person who knows study abroad program details, Turkish culture, and US Universities. The company headquarter would be his/her potential office. The other issue which needs to solve that the US student visa doesn’t allow working out of the school area. Because of that I need a school permission to work with this company or the company owner may apply a H1B visa for me as a consultant. H1B visa apply process starts every year at April first. This is the one of the risks of this business. If we choose to start a company in Turkey there is an extra structural problem will be waiting for us. We should establish a tourism agency. In addition, taxing will be different and probably higher than the US. As a result of these conditions we have to prefer legal adviser’s opinion. III. Operations That business is web based so the other important point is the web server provider. Company operations will be basically managing on interactive pages. Web management tools will help to manage admissions or common questions. The company operator must use e-mail proficiently. A phone is very important and inalienable tool for this business. IV. Financial Issues Bookkeeping is unnecessary to assign but if we need it will be $20-50 per hour. Financial records and accounting are important that would be outsourcing. Accountants charge $150-$400 or more per hour, depending on the type of work, the size of the firm and its location. V. Web Applications A web based business’ first and important need is hosting and e-mail service. We prefer Yahoo Small Business web services and it is $8.96 per month. Free domain and e-mail are included. It has MySQL database access and unlimited disk space, data transfer, traffic, and e-mail service. SWOT I. Strengths With over 15 years of combined educational and business experience: ● International perspective, ● Being familiar with both countries, ● Good human relations, honest, trustworthy and hardworking personality, Easy to apply, adaptable and flexible work conditions, managerial operations will be leading from the US. II. Weaknesses Managerial and financial supports are important necessity because that might be an expensive experience for some Turkish people. Customers’ language level could be lower then expected, they can look for a job, and they might find the US market neutral. III. Opportunities New business ideas will be growing for business networks. Different business opportunities would be available for the future experiences. International connections can make more powerful business relations between two countries. Global economy partners will develop the big picture with other work areas. IV. Threats “Easy to apply” means that many people can start to do this business easily; people’s demands can be unpredictable. International business circle members can be very competitive and they can strongly defend their know-how's. V. Mission Statement To provide students, educators, and educational institutions with a world of opportunity to embark on a meaningful life experience in a world class educational setting. Key Result Areas I. Preparing a start up schedule Strategic Objective 1: Establish a relationship with a school allowing for a detailed program: First Week ● Company Visits ● City Tours ● Grammar Classes Second Week ● International Business and Law Conferences ● City of San Antonio International Office ● Free Trade Alliance Action Plan 1: Develop a schedule to explain how to train the trainees in 15 days. ● Discuss this schedule with the school. ● Update the schedule. ● Correct the mistakes and unnecessary details. First Week’s Schedule II. Developing the company web site Strategic Objective 2: Build a web site with the company owner. ● Research web services, ● Read term and conditions, ● Choose a plan to buy. Action Plan 2: Go to Yahoo Small Business Services and build the web site. ● Buy a plan, ● Choose a template from yahoo samples and make it temporary home page, ● Develop a banner and a template and put the files on web. Web Site (www.crosStudy.com) Marketing Plan ● Meeting with Universities: Face to face. ● Meeting with the City Council and members. ● City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Center: Fax and e-mail. First Two Years ● First Year: 180 people ○ First 6 months: Every month 10 people, total 60 ○ Second 6 months: Every month 20 people, total 120 ● Second Year: 500 people ○ Second University ○ Every month 20 people Monthly Income Plan 2009 Jan Feb Mar Apr Ma y Jun e July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Professi onal Develop ment $20. 000 $20. 000 $20. 000 $20. 000 $20. 000 $20. 000 $40. 000 $40. 000 $40. 000 $40. 000 $40. 000 $40. 000 Consulti ng $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 Training $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $7.0 00 $7.0 00 $7.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 Study Abroad $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 Higher Educatio n Placeme nt $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $5.0 00 $5.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 Summer and Winter Camps $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $3.5 00 $3.5 00 $3.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 $1.5 00 Publicati on $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 $20 0 Total $37. 700 $37. 700 $33. 700 $33. 700 $33. 700 $37. 700 $57. 700 $61. 700 $57. 700 $53. 700 $53. 700 $53. 700 First Year Total: $552.400 Monthly Cost Plan 2009 Jan Feb Mar Apr Ma y Jun e July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Book keeping $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 $10 0 Accoun ting $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 $1.0 00 Web hosting $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 $11. 95 Phone Bills $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 $15 0 Turkey Flights $2.5 00 - - - - - $2.5 00 - - - - - School Paymen t $15. 000 $15. 000 $15. 000 $15. 000 $15. 000 $15. 000 $30. 000 $30. 000 $30. 000 $30. 000 $30. 000 $30. 000 Total $18. 762 $16. 262 $16. 262 $16. 262 $16. 262 $16. 262 $33. 762 $31. 262 $31. 262 $31. 262 $31. 262 $31. 262 Start Up Costs: $2.000 First Year Total: $292.144 Profit: $260.256 Trademark Search It takes 4 months – 18 months, the process is almost same in the US and Turkey. Madrid Protocol is the important point for international businesses trade marking, because you only pay $11.000 for 71 countries. Online Documents: http://www.basicpatents.com/tmfees.htm, Nolo Press sells a basic do-it-yourself book for $30 -$35 (online or paper). I. How Much Does a Trademark Cost? ● Low: Do-It-Yourself: $325-$375 ● Medium: $600-$1,000 ● High: $1,000-$2,000+ (paper submissions cost more than online) II. How Much Does a Copyright Cost? ● Low: Free ● Medium: $45-$100 ● High: $300-$400+ US copyright protection is free, because anything created in the US after April 1, 1989 automatically has a legal copyright. It helps to add a copyright notice on your work ("Copyright YEAR by YOUR NAME" or ©YEAR by YOUR NAME). III. How Much Does a Patent Cost? ● Low: Do It Yourself: $1,200+ ● Basic: $3,000+ ● High: $5,000-$18,000+ ● Turkey: $250 http://www.google.com/googlepatents/about.html Before applying for a patent, you need to search to see if your invention is already patented. You can do that for free through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); The University of Texas provides a free online tutorial for using this search site. Google.com also offers a free, user-friendly search of the USPTO records. Specific Patent Search for This Business Idea 1. Go: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm 2. New User Form Search (Basic) Term1: professional Term2: training AND: International 3. Hit: Search > 4. Result: 1.244 patents Result Example 1 Word Mark OE-STUDYABROAD Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Enrolling students in the educational programs of others; Recruitment of students for higher education institutions. FIRST USE: 20060901. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060901 Standard Characters Claimed Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 77315121 Filing Date October 26, 2007 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition April 15, 2008 Owner (APPLICANT) South Pacific Educational Travel Inc. LTD LIAB CO NEW ZEALAND P.O. Box 30126 Christchurch NEW ZEALAND Attorney of Record John C James Type of Mark SERVICE MARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE Result Example 2 Word Mark STUDYABROAD.COM Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: computer services, namely providing on-line directories containing information links and other resources available on computer networks pertaining to education and educational programs. FIRST USE: 19950700. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19950900 Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING Serial Number 75676968 Filing Date April 7, 1999 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition September 4, 2001 Registration Number 2511470 Registration Date November 27, 2001 Owner (REGISTRANT) EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORIES UNLIMITED, INC. CORPORATION PENNSYLVANIA 1350 Edgmont Avenue Chester PENNSYLVANIA 19013 Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED Attorney of Record Ryan Udell Type of Mark SERVICE MARK Register PRINCIPAL-2(F) Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). Live/Dead Indicator LIVE Tables Table 1: International Students by Academic Level, 2005/06 & 2006/079 Academic Level Associate's 2005/0 6 Int'l Student s 2005/06 % of Total 63,598 11.3 2006/07 Int'l Students 67,855 2006/07 % of Total % Change 11.6 6.7 Bachelor's 172,74 4 30.6 170,195 29.2 -1.5 Graduate 259,71 7 46.0 264,288 45.4 1.8 Master's 115,43 4 20.4 122,385 21.0 6.0 Doctoral 107,99 3 19.1 108,033 18.5 0.0 8,463 1.5 7,415 1.3 -12.4 Graduate, Unspecified 27,827 4.9 26,455 4.6 -4.9 Other 30,611 5.4 38,986 6.7 27.4 Non-Degree 15,394 2.7 19,167 3.3 24.5 Intensive English 15,217 2.7 19,819 3.4 30.2 Opt. Practical Training 38,096 6.7 41,660 7.1 9.4 TOTAL 564,76 6 100.0 582,984 100.0 3.23 Professional (JD, MD, etc.) Table 2: Financial contribution of international students by U.S. State, 2006/0710 State 2006/ 07 Total Int'l Stude nts Tuition and Fees1 (millio ns) Living Exp. & Dependent s2 (millions) U.S. Suppor t3 (millio ns) TOTAL CONTRIBUTIO N4 (millions) California 77,98 7 $1,270. 9 $1,684.2 $766.1 $2,189.0 New York 65,88 4 $1,247. 6 $1,447.3 $829.0 $1,865.8 Texas 49,08 1 $590.5 $780.7 $375.7 $995.4 Massachus etts 28,68 0 $739.6 $669.6 $471.6 $937.6 Florida 26,87 5 $441.4 $490.4 $253.1 $678.7 U.S. Total 582,9 84 $9,928. 6 $10,850.2 $6,279. 7 $14,499.1 Table 3: International Student Enrollment and U.S. Higher Education Enrollment Trends, Selected Years 1950/60 - 2006/0711 Year International Students Annual % Change U.S. Total Enrollment % Int'l 1959/60 48,486 2.6 3,402,300 1.4 1969/70 134,959 11.2 7,978,400 1.7 1979/80 286,343 8.5 11,707,000 2.4 1989/90 386,851 5.6 13,824,592 2.8 1999/00 514,723 4.8 13,584,998 3.8 2000/01 547,867 6.4 14,046,659 3.9 2001/02 582,996 6.4 13,511,149 4.3 2002/03 586,323 0.6 12,853,627 4.6 2003/04 572,509 -2.4 13,383,553 4.3 2004/05 565,039 -1.3 13,994,869 4.0 2005/06 564,766 -0.05 14,528,728 3.9 2006/07 582,984 3.2 15,023,346 3.9 Table 4: International Students by Primary Source Of Funding, 2005/06 & 2006/0712 Primary Source of Funding 2005/0 6 Int'l Student s 2005/0 6 % of Total 2006/0 7 Int'l Student s 2006/0 7 % of Total % Chang e Personal and Family Funds 358,31 8 63.4 358,28 1 61.5 0.0 U.S. College or University 146,21 1 25.9 152,01 7 26.1 4.0 Home Government/University 14,476 2.6 18,704 3.2 29.2 U.S. Government 2,501 0.4 3,450 0.6 37.9 U.S. Private Sponsor 8,367 1.5 8,003 1.4 -4.4 Foreign Private Sponsor 8,661 1.5 6,682 1.1 -22.9 International Organization 1,326 0.2 1,685 0.3 27.1 21,745 3.9 29,262 5.0 34.6 3,161 0.6 4,901 0.8 55.0 564,76 6 100.0 582,98 4 100.0 Current Employment Other Sources Total 3.23 References Abroad View (2008). 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