Business Plan
Recyclables-R-Us
11610 Spotswood Trail Elkton, Virginia 28217
540-RECYCLE
ert005@eagles.bridgewater.edu
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Executive Summary
Our inventory will consist of items found in everyday household garbage that can be recycled
and redistributed back out to companies interested in making purchases from us. We will obtain these
large quantities of materials from the city of Harrisonburg. At the end of each week, the garbage
collected throughout the city will be brought directly to us to recycle. We will then supply our clients
with the finished recycled product. Our customers will include any business that is looking to buy
refurbished materials at a reasonable price, especially those companies who are environmentally
friendly as we have the same approach in green marketing. In accordance to our recycled materials, we
will offer fertilizer made from decomposed organic materials, as well as refined metals.
We have six co-owners in our business: Aaron Shifflet, Aaron Doman, Shawn Conner, Jacob
Slaughter, Michael Long, and Elijah Tackett. We each hold equal responsibility in helping our business
succeed and grow. The future of our company looks to be prosperous for many reasons. The first, we
have cheap prices. In today’s current economy, the value of the dollar is continuing to decline, which will
result in businesses turning to us in their acquisition of high quality material at accost advantage. Our
green market approach is another positive aspect of our company as eco-friendly products have been
integrated into today’s economy. Due to a lack of competition in Harrisonburg, we see the future of our
business as bright as we grow economically and develop close relationships with our loyal buyers.
Currently, we are unable to know our startup finances and expenses due to the cost of the trash
from the municipal of Harrisonburg being unknown.
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General Company Description
We will be a part of the recycling industry. We will be marketing fertilizers, as well as trying to
better the community with an environmentally friendly marketing approach.
At Recyclables-R-Us, we take the city of Harrisonburg’s household trash, recycle it, and
distribute it to companies across the globe at a cheap, affordable price to make a profit. Our goals
include expanding the company to offer our services in places across the globe, clear up landfills, and
push the world towards a greener environment.
Recyclables-R-Us’ philosophy is to build healthy relationships with our clients and to make them
loyal while making a profit and increasing our marketing and selling. We plan to market to the local
companies first and long distance second. Our goal is to pay off our debt in five years or less.
The recycling industry fits the definition of growth industry well. This is because as resources
become more limited and scarce in the future and as the push for businesses to become greener the
need for recycled materials will sky rocket. Also, due to very limited competition, we plan to expand our
company to cover the world so we can offer our products to the maximum number of companies for
maximum profit.
When it comes to our strengths we have a huge competitive edge over other companies. Our
main advantages are the small amount of competition. For the area we plan to start up in, there
happens to be no other company that can compare. Also, we use green marketing techniques and this
will play into our strengths as the push for eco-friendly products increase. We also plan to offer our
product at a cheap price which attracts any customer or business. Lastly, we will be interested in
building a strong relationship with our staff and the city of Harrisonburg.
Background information of our co-owners include past experiences with the business world, we
are all business majors, and we are interested in helping the environment stay clean and remain clean
for future generations. We have 22 employees, 10 on the floor in each 8 hour shift and a manager for
each shift. Founded in 2012, we are enhancing the world of green marketing as we know it today by
saving companies money on every purchase. We are all as co-owners strong outgoing extroverted
individuals looking to serve a purpose and keep our world cleaner and more sustainable.
Our choice of legal ownership is a general partnership. We have more than one owner, and we
plan on sharing all the profits and liabilities the company takes place in. We don’t plan on managing
stock either. We want all 6 owners to have a say in managing the company and guiding it forward to a
prosperous future.
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Products And Services
Once again, our products and services include recycling household trash to sell back to local and
major companies in bulk as well as produce fertilizers from decomposed organic materials obtained
from trash. The products taken from the trash we buy will fall into five categories. These five categories
will sort the trash into tire recycling, plastic recycling, scrap metal recycling, and paper recycling, and
decomposable food for fertilizer recycling. Once our product is recycled an processed and packaged into
bulk, it will be sold out to companies where the co-owners themselves will make face-to-face deals with
our clients. These recycled goods will be used for anything such as the making of new bottles, paper,
new tires, scrap metal for cars or foundations, etc. With our recycled goods, companies will buy our
products at a cheaper price usually around 20% off to produce the same products their competition is
producing with the difference being, the companies operating through us are saving money therefore
making a higher profit.
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Marketing Plan
Market Research: Economics
Our company will share around 50% of the market. Our competitors only sell to the public and
we will sell to major businesses meaning we will have more sales on a more consistent record. The
demand in our target market of businesses and farms is currently high. Cheap production is the new era
in business so many businesses are looking to get a competitive edge and make more profit. Trends of
growth are definitely growing. As the push for green marketing and eco-friendly product increases our
industry will grow and make more money as a result. Our business has a ton of opportunities to sell to
major companies for a long amount of time as we will always have an inventory and people to sell to.
Our cost problems will be our capital mostly. Our recycling machines cost over 100,000
$ in capital investment and we need them right away. Shipping costs will be another high cost as renting
trucks and shipping the product out to companies will be expensive due to gas prices, insurance, and
other amenities. We will overcome these barriers by getting our name out using face-to-face interaction
and getting good customer reviews to use as marketing to other companies we hope to reach out to.
Once our name is out we will break the cost barrier for capital as in our projected sales we will pay off all
our debt in the first year.
Technology can change our company by the way products are produced and what
materials are needed. If a company starts producing a different material we may lose that company. If
technology produces a cheaper way to produce we are in jeopardy. The change in economy which
seems to be getting worse will strengthen our business. As more people try to produce cheaper we will
receive more business. Our industry doesn’t plan on changing unless we expand into different areas of
the world.
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Products:
Recycled materials- This includes, but not limited to, rubbers, metals, plastics, and papers that
are recycled from trash in residential neighborhoods in Harrisonburg and its surrounded areas. This
product will provide businesses with a cheaper and greener alternative for them to purchase.
Services:
Drop off recycled materials-We will provide the businesses that buy our refurbished products
with transport of the recycled goods to their chosen location.
Customers:
We will be selling directly to businesses and farm owners. The product will be for any party
looking for a cheaper and greener approach to getting the materials to use to make their product and
engage in green marketing.
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Customers:
Our customers would be any companies in the production industry that would like to benefit
from the advantages of using recycled materials instead of wasting time and money on the production
of new materials. Any company in Harrisonburg that deals with plastic, paper, metals, etc. would be
interested in purchasing our materials because they are not only cheaper materials but they are also
environmentally friendly. The production of new materials is very wasteful considering how much
materials we can get from recycled materials. Today’s society understands this fact and is therefore
making the switch to the greener approach. This gives us a great deal of potential customers.
Competition:
Because we are selling recycled materials, our competition is any company that sells new
materials to different businesses looking to purchase raw materials for production. We will be
purchasing cheap recyclable material in bulk, meaning we can sell those materials to companies at a
lower price than newly produced materials. Also, there is an ever-growing push for businesses to
become greener and environmentally friendly. This means that we, being a company based on recycled
materials, will have a competitive edge. Businesses will seek to become greener, and after we get our
name out there, we will be the obvious choice. Businesses will purchase our products as opposed to
foolishly wasting new materials.
Other competitors would be other companies in the Harrisonburg area that buy and sell
recycled materials. There are only a few in existence and we plan on selling at a lower price and getting
into long-term relationships with our customers. This will insure that beat the competition. Even if we
cannot manage to beat the competition, the push for businesses to be green is growing so fast that
there will be room for more than one company selling recycled materials to businesses.
Waste Management Blue-Ridge
3580 S Main Street, Harrisonburg VA 22801
Recycle Management LLC
3426 US Highway 340 Business, Stanley VA 22851
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Table 1: Competitive Analysis
Factor
Me
Product
Strength Weakness Recycle Mng. WM BlueRidge Importance to customer
1
x
5
5
1
Price
1
x
2
5
1
Quality
1
x
1
5
1
Selection
3
Service
1
x
1
1
3
Reliability 1
x
1
1
1
Stability
x
2
1
x
2
Expertise 4
Rep
x
1
Location
5
Appearance 5
Sales Method 5
Credit Policies 2
2
2
1
x
2
2
5
x
4
4
5
x
Advertising
4
x
Image
5
x
1
4
x
2
3
3
x
5
1
5
5
3
3
3
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
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Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages:
The fact that we have little to no competition is our advantage, therefore, leaving us with no
disadvantages. We have a competitive advantage for pricing and production. We will be spending little
money to produce our items but will bring in large amounts of money by selling to companies buying in
bulk.
Niche:
We are not only a recycling business, but also sell fertilizer and refurbished metals as well as
being eco-friendly. We fit into the world well because everyone wants to keep the world sustainable
forever. We will be making our products basing them off of recycled goods. Therefore, we aren’t
harming the world by extracting more natural resources to produce.
Strategy:
We will promote our company mostly by using face-to-face selling. Other ways will be billboards
and television ads on local media. These methods will get word of our company out quickly and to a
large customer base across a diverse group of people in Harrisonburg. We want our customers to see
the value in our recycled products by advertising our green market approach. We want them to see the
benefits of saving our worlds resources and land while having a low cost.
Promotional Budget:
We will be spending 10,000$ on advertising in our first year. We will market on 2 billboards in
Harrisonburg and on television ads during local channels breaks. Our other way to promote will simply
be face-to-face.
Pricing:
Our prices will be around 70-80% of retail value per ton. Price will be valuable to our customers
since it is cheap but will also have other added benefits such as a close proximity to the businesses
buying, and green marketing to help promote a better world. We will have great personalized customer
service to attract our customers along with our skim prices
Proposed Location:
Our warehouse will be fairly close to the residential areas of Harrisonburg and easily accessible.
We will offer convenient outside parking. Our building is located in Elkton, Virginia just outside
Harrisonburg. Our work environment will be clean and spacious while providing maximum efficiency.
We are distanced from our competitors but certainly close enough to be a high competitor in the
recycling business.
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Distribution Channels:
When businesses plan on purchasing our products they will initially use our website to fill out
purchase orders, but we would then need to have an in person meeting to finalize a contract.
We plan on using contracts to insure that we will not be getting ripped off or scammed. Because
it is a combination of web and in person meetings, this means we will be acting as our own sales
force. We will be personally involved in every step of the process. For larger better-known
businesses, we will be bidding against other companies on the contracts that they propose.
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Operational Plan:
The daily operation of the business will be to bring in trash from Harrisonburg on trash days.
Then also daily, we will be sorting the trash into the respected categories and focus on recycling into
bulk in the amounts our clients have ordered then delivering the goods to them. Our location will be in a
warehouse just outside of Harrisonburg at a convenient area for the city to drop off the trash. We will
have 5 pieces of main equipment which include a tire recycler, plastic recycler, metal recycler, paper
recycler, and a conveyer belt to bring the trash through the sorting area. We will have 20 workers
divided up into two eight our shifts as well as two floor managers and our six owners.
Production:
Our products are going to be produced only in our warehouse in Harrisonburg. All of our
production will be done in only warehouses even after we have expanded to other places.
1)
Our production techniques will be solely the use of our 4 recycling machines and nothing else. It
will not cost hardly any money for these to run off of electricity. The only cost will be electric for these
machines.
2)
Our quality will be practically the same as any other company selling plastic, rubber, metal, and
paper. Our goods are just recycled from earlier products that fall under the same category making our
quality just as good as anyone else’s.
3)
Customer service will be a big part of our company. We will be meeting face to face for every
sell we make and will make personal orders and deliveries for them.
4)
Our inventory won’t be a problem. The municipal of Harrisonburg collects once a week from
over 40,000 people. We will constantly be bringing in new inventory for a cheap price.
Location:
Our location isn’t very demanding. We need proper space for conveying the trash and sorting it.
Then the other space needed is for our machines and storing the finished product. We need a small
warehouse compared to any large company manufacturing. We will be located just outside the city of
Harrisonburg. Our building needs power, water, and proper space for our equipment.
Access:
Our location needs to be close enough to Harrisonburg for the city to drop off our raw goods.
Our warehouse doesn’t need to have walk in access. If anyone comes to buy something they will need a
truck to take their product out with. The walk-in access doesn’t quite apply to us as we will sell to large
businesses. If people do come in to buy, there is a small parking lot in the front.
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Cost:
The building warehouse costs $38,852 to lease. We plan on leasing monthly until we can afford
to buy it after a year or so. Our financials can be found in our start-up costs.
Our business will be open from 6 AM-12PM but our business cell phones each owner has will
always be on in case any client ever needs to speak with us.
Legal Environment:
1)
Business permit
2)
Health shouldn’t be a big factor. All of our employees will wear covers over the mouth and nose
to prevent any health incidents involving air quality although that shouldn’t be a problem. Our machines
won’t damage the environment so no regulations will come into play for us.
3)
We won’t be getting insurance on our capital as we are buying it used. We will get insurance for
company vehicles and our building.
4)
Once we establish a branding logo, we will be patenting and trademarking it
Personnel:
1)
We will have 6 co-owners, 2 floor/shift managers, and 10 workers for each shift. In all 28
workers.
2)
Our co-owners will all be skilled professional businessmen. Our Floor managers will be
specialized in recycling and the use of the equipment. The sorters on the floor and manning the
equipment will need no prior skills as they will learn everything at training.
3)
Our pay structure will be based on salary. The floor managers will make a base salary of $40,000
a year working 40 hours a week. Our floor sorters will be making $16,640 a year working 40 hours a
week. The co-owners will make any other profit.
4)
We will use our floor managers to train our workers. They will have the specialized skills to man
the equipment before training.
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The tasks that our employees will be partaking in will be: sorting out the trash into plastics,
metals, papers, etc, throwing away anything that is unrecyclable, and taking the recyclable materials to
their respected bins. They will also load the materials after they go through their machines onto pallets
to be marked for shipping out.
The schedules the workers will work are separated into two eight hour shifts that we will have
twenty workers alternate shifts and with two mangers will rotate out every eight hours. We will have
procedures that our managers will follow if any issues arise during the work day. Also, our workers will
allowed an hour for lunch a day per shift.
The job description for general employees will be: your job will be helping in preserving the
environment by helping recycle materials that everyday people would throw away.
Inventory:
Our main inventory that we will be is the raw trash that will be constantly flowing in from the
municipal company in Harrisonburg. The portion of our inventory that would be considered finished
goods will be shipped out as soon as possible in order to maximize profitability. With the average
amount of trash that households throw away or average stock will have a value of forty million per year
if we were able to sell it all at the average price of all our goods.
Suppliers
All of our inventory will come from Harrisonburg’s municipal trash collecting company. They will
deliver every time they collect any trash to our place of business for immediate sorting. We expect a
steady flow of inventory to constantly to flow in with surges during holidays and not many dips through
the year.
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Management and Organization:
Our group will oversee all of the operations that go with our Recyclables-R-Us business. We will
also have two supervisors to watch over the day to day operations. Some of the people in the group
have held previous jobs so they know what working is like. Everyone in our group is hardworking,
organized, and has great time management skills. As long as the main four of Elijah, Shawn, Aaron and
Aaron continue in the business we will be able to go forward.
Management Hierarchy:
Elijah, Shawn, Aaron, Aaron, Michael
2 Supervisors
Floor Workers
The four of Elijah, Shawn, Aaron, and Aaron will run the business in an orderly fashion and
disperse the main tasks amongst ourselves. We are the main owners of the company. The two
supervisors will watch over the day to day functions of the business. We will have a board of advisors
that will help brainstorm ideas and help the 5 owners guide the company in the right direction.
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Appendices
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Advertising:
Our company is going to place up two billboards on major interstates with them being on 81 and
64. We will also have two smart cars with our business name on the sides of our cars. There will also be
ads on the television to promote our business.
Industry Studies:
The only competition that we will have is from Waste Management and they do not recycle the
trash they just put the trash in the landfill. We will be able to get more business with our green slogan.
Maps of Location:
Our business is located in Elkton, Virginia.
Equipment Purchased:
We are going to buy a metal recycle, paper recycle, rubber recycle, and plastic recycle. We are
also going to buy two smart cars and two billboards.
Copies of Lease:
Our company leased a plant in Elkton, Virginia.
Market Research:
We are the only recycling distributing plant in Harrisonburg. We also promote green marketing.
We sell our stuff at a cheap rate to attract big businesses.
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