Draft Business Plan
Ryan Mills, Alex Moore, Colin Murray
I. Table of Contents
I. Table of Contents
II. Executive Summary
III. General Company Description
IV. Products and Services
V. Marketing Plan
VI. Operational Plan
VII. Management and Organization
VIII. Personal Financial Statement
IX. Startup Expenses
II. Executive Summary
Robeks Fruit Smoothies & Healthy Eats is a popular and highly established health food
and smoothie franchise with a reputable name and recognizable brand logo. Towson is an
area that is currently being re-developed and re-energized with multiple efforts from its
community. The popular area known as “Uptown” Towson has recently become home to
a yoga studio, located directly across the street from a Subway sub restaurant. These
businesses invite a specific type of customer, a health conscious one. This is a very
specific market and it is important that other companies who could garnish success from
its existence do so. Robeks franchises are currently located in over 100 places across the
United States since their opening in 1996. While Annapolis and Washington, DC have
both become host to Robeks franchises the Towson/Baltimore area is still untouched and
this new Uptown location would be the perfect place.
In addition to the health conscious customers who will already be in the area of our
Robeks store there will also be the Towson University students who are located within
walking distance of our storefront. Our affordable and on-the-go snacks and smoothies
provide a good, budget-friendly and healthy choice for these students. This beginning of
a market for Robeks in the Towson/Baltimore area provides multiple opportunities for the
business as a whole as well as other franchise openers, because of it’s predicted success.
As the owners of this franchise we feel that we are qualified for the position because we
are all in school with a business-related major and are invested in the Towson community
because we are students here.
III. General Company Description
Robeks is a business whose name has become synonymous with nutrition. Our
company’s main focus is to provide our customers with the freshest and healthiest food
alternatives and excellent customer service according to detailed guidelines and
procedures. According to the corporate mission statement, “At Robeks, our passion is to
help people lead active and healthy lifestyles by offering a full menu of the highest
quality nutritional food products and supplements. Our blended-to-order fruit smoothies,
fresh-squeezed juices, healthy sandwiches, salads, soups and baked goods - and a
proprietary line of premium nutritional boosts - have made us the upscale choice for
healthy and active consumers in Southern California for years.” Since the development of
the business Robeks has expanded from Southern California to impacting healthy eaters
nationwide.
In addition to the general purposes of the company our franchises specific goals will be to
introduce the Robeks name to the Towson/Baltimore community and prove that it was a
worthy location of expanding to. With Customer Satisfaction surveys we will be able to
monitor our performance and make sure we are meeting all our of customers needs. In
addition, we will set financial goals congruent with those of other Robeks franchises in
the Maryland area to make sure we are meeting and hopefully excelling the standards that
we set for ourselves.
As stated above our target audience will be the health-conscious market, while there is
already an existing opportunity to target these customers in this location it is a growing
market that will continuously gather more and more momentum in the area as health
conscious businesses begin popping up all around the town. The only changes I expect to
see in this industry are positive ones, because of the furious war on obesity that America
is waging with places like McDonalds and Burger King businesses like Robeks and
Jamba Juice are only gaining in popularity.
IV. Products and Services
Healthy smoothies, juices, sandwiches, and desserts provide the core of the Robeks
menu. With protein supplements that can be added to each item our products are based
around fresh flavor and nutritional value. Appendices #1, #2, and #3 are a list of our
products as well as those of our leading competitors, Jamba Juice and Smoothie King,
both of which are present in the Towson area.
V. Marketing Plan
Research Polls and Surveys
Although we have already formatted our business plan based on renting the location at
9100 York Rd. in order to make sure this location will be effective we could do some
primary market research by placing surveyors out on the sidewalk in front of our
prospective storefront and asking people in the area if they would be interested in a
Robeks-style business if it were located in that part of the community. We could also
contact local newspapers and blogs asking them to run polls about the possibility of the
business to make sure this would be an eligible market for it.
Discounts and Community Partnerships
Once we have confirmed our location and opened our doors we will increase our initial
customer base with marketing initiatives like student discounts through local universities
and creating a partnership with the yoga studio next-door where the number of classes
you attend can correlate with the percentage discount you receive on Robeks products.
Although Robeks is corporately owned the company is very open to individual franchises
using their own marketing strategies to further the brand in new and innovative ways.
Competition and What Sets Us Apart
As shown in the products and services section our competitors are very present in the
market we are targeting so it is important that we set ourselves apartment with strategic
marketing practices. Our product can be compared to others but when examined closely
our company stands above the others because of our dedication to customer satisfaction
and providing the best product.
In order to make sure our customers know this we will be very accessible via social
media websites such as Yelp, Twitter, and Facebook as well as offering discounts
through mobile apps like Groupon and LivingSocial. Another way that we can expand
our brand throughout the community is by participating in and making a presence at
community wide events. By offering free samples and handing out coupons at large
events with an already large following we will be gaining return customers and making
them familiar with our name and product.
VI. Operational Plan
Production
Our production takes place in our facility using fresh ingredients and our own equipment.
Our ingredients consist mainly of fruits and vegetables as well as prepared foods such as
sandwiches and deserts. These costs are set by our supplier and vary depending on
market price. There are two production methods for our non-prepared goods, frozen soft
serve and blended-to-order. We will need at least 2 soft serve machines and 10 blenders
to start. Quality control will be done via an inspection of the goods and equipment daily
to ensure that all of our ingredients are fresh and our equipment safe. Customer service
will be the duty of the front side employees. The cashiers and blenders will interact with
the customer and should extol the virtues of our business and our franchise. Inventory
will be checked at the same time the quality control check is being done. Employees will
also note when ingredients are running low so that they may be restocked quickly and
efficiently. Product development will be done by our parent franchise as our menu and
therefore our ingredients are set.
Location
Our location is 9100 York Rd. near the old Towson Commons building. It costs
$3000/month and it has a floor area of 1000 square feet which leaves us room for a few
small tables. Our location is easy to access on foot or by bike being in the center of the
“Uptown” area of Towson. Those who are driving will likely need to park in a garage or
on the street. Being situated close to York Road gives us a lot of through traffic from
pedestrians and drivers alike who would be able to see us from the main road through
Towson.
Our construction will be limited to a sign, paint and cosmetic changes to make our
business fit the franchise model and as such will be fairly standard. Franchise
representatives will assist us in laying out our equipment as they have experience setting
Robeks up in various locations. Our business will operate on a standard Robeks
schedule, which is Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm
being closed on Sundays.
Legal Environment
One of the first costs to be incurred by our business will be the hiring of a franchise
lawyer to review the terms of our franchise agreement and the FDD (Franchise
Disclosure Document). The fees for this average between 2 and 5 thousand dollars but
because the cost is uncertain, we are budgeting the full 5 thousand dollar amount for it.
We also need to pay the franchise cost to the franchise, which for a single store, like
we're doing, which is $30,000.
Royalty costs need to be factored in. Robeks levies a 7 percent royalty charge on our
gross sales. Permits are also an important legal expense. We will require a business
operation license; health departments permit due to the food we will handle, a sales tax
license, and a business name permit. We will also need an EIN or employee
identification number. This number is used for identification and tax purposes.
Personnel
Our personnel will consist almost entirely of employees who are able to work a register
as well as blend juice (See Appendix #7). These employees can be unskilled as our
Franchise provides training for us as part of the franchise cost. The training follows a
standard form that familiarizes employees with the preparations methods and ingredients
to prepare them to make juices and smoothies to order.
We will likely employ 10 to 15 of these employees to ensure we have full shifts all week.
These employees will be in charge of blending and preparing items for customers to order
and operating the cash register as well as routine upkeep. These employees will make
$10.00/hr. Ads will be placed in local and university papers. Hiring students will
encourage other students to check our location out and give our business a youthful
ambiance. Overall candidates should be enthusiastic and make customers feel welcome.
The three owners will be the managers for this business. We will do inventory and
quality control, set schedules, contact repairmen, organize and receive supplies and
maintenance, and manage personnel. We will receive $16.00/hr.
Maintenance work will be contracted out at a discount rate negotiated by our Franchise in
order to receive the best possible service. They will also take care of selecting the
contractor.
Inventory
Our inventory will consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, non-refrigerated prepared goods,
refrigerated prepared goods, and frozen items. A large amount of our stock is raw
material in the form of fruit and vegetables. This keeps our inventory investment low so
we are less worried about spoilage. We are also able to recycle some of our raw material
into our frozen items, which would consist of our same juice or smoothie method with the
result put into the freezer. This helps keep costs down as well. Our seasonal build up
will be in the spring when the weather starts to get warmer. In the Towson area that is
usually early March. Our lead-time for ordering will be small as we will have a fast
turnover rate for our ingredients.
Suppliers
The regional franchise office chooses suppliers for our franchise for us. The franchise
establishes this connection to the supplier based on their history and creditability. They
may also choose to drop a supplier if they decide that supplier does not meet their
criteria. In this case we would have a backup. Because a majority of our inventory is
fresh fruits and vegetables, shortages and fluctuations are to be expected. Our selection
of offerings helps us in this case. We can use other ingredients to fill in for out of stock
ingredients until we get more. Or simply offer another flavor at a discount. Having a
local supplier can also help in this case as well because they can supplement any
shortages we would have quickly.
VII. Management and Organization
The three owners of this franchise are also the managers; Ryan will be the General
Manager while Alex and Colin will be the two shift managers (See Appendices #4-6).
This would give us each two days a week to be the main manager. All of us have
experience managing employees and working in a team environment, which will help us
in our business endeavor. Because we have three managers as well, we can survive
without one or even two in a worst-case scenario. We would simply have to hire someone
to replace him.
Despite having more than 10 employees, we have a very simple structure. There are the
3 managers, and at least 10 service workers. All of the managers are in charge of all the
employees and all the employees answer to all of the managers. No one is assigned a
team or a shift, as there is only one. By working with different team members each work
day, everyone gets to build a stronger team instead of being isolated into smaller groups.
Managers will do inventory and quality control, set schedules, contact repairmen,
organize and receive supplies and maintenance, and manage personnel. Employees will
be in charge of blending and preparing items for customers to order and operating the
cash register as well as routine upkeep.
VIII. Personal Financial Statement
Due to a recent inheritance settlement, Colin has a net worth of $400,000 with $200,000
in liquid assets. Those figures represent amounts after taxes have been taken into
account. His credit score is at least 690 from FICO. Each of us has experience in
management; Colin’s comes from a 3-year position as the operational manager of the
concessions at a baseball stadium. There I coordinated schedules and did inventory and
quality control.
IX. Start-Up Expenses
Our total start-up costs will include:
•
Franchise Fee- $25,000
•
Min. $100,000 in liquid capital; $350,000 in tangible net worth
•
Leasehold Improvements/Renovations- $80,000-$110,000
•
Furniture and Fixtures- $15,000-$35,000
•
Equipment- $50,000-$80,000
•
Inventory- $8,000-12,000
•
Professional Fees- $8,000-16,000
•
Deposits and License- $3,500-6,500
•
Insurance (per year)- $1,500-5,000
•
Advertising- $5,000
These expenses have been calculated from Robeks website franchise information. Our
total investment will be from $196,000-$294,500. These high and low numbers have
been provided to us through Robeks franchise agreement.
Qualified vendors will be provided to us through Robeks Corporation to ensure we meet
their requirements for produce and equipment.
We will be financing our new business franchise through a bank loan. BB&T bank offers
a small business advantage credit line for up to $250,000. Interest is accumulated through
1.5% of our outstanding balance. We will be establishing a loan for the full $250,000
where we can withdraw funds when needed, especially for our start-up expenses. BB&T
bank allows us to create up to 3 other loans, which is perfect for our 3 owners.
Appendices
Appendix #1
Appendix #2
Appendix #3