2. Marian Mats Business Plan
Introduction:
Marian Mats are an essential way to show your school spirit in your living
accommodations. Not only does it show school spirit, it also provides a way for people to clean
their shoes and get rid of any unwanted materials from outside. Marian Mats is a doormat that
consists of 250 gsm (grams per square meter) of nylon material with a white latex backing. The
material we have chosen will make it thin enough to fit under the door and slip resistant so it will
stay in one place. Our Marian Mat will be 2’ x 3’ (60cmx90cm). The design on the mats would
include the Marian logo and the saying “Marian University Knights” silk screened in white. This
product is perfect for students that live on or off campus, faculty/staff, alumni and parents/family
members of students. Our product costs $4.80 to make and our selling price is $20 which gives us
a 75.54% profit margin. We also offer a $2.50 discount for purchasing more than one mat because
we believe in rewarding our loyal customers. We want to encourage our customers to buy a mat
for a family member or friends. The best part about our product is that is it not tailored to one
group of people. It can be used for male or female, undergraduate or graduate, dorm or house,
student or teacher, even alumni and parents can enjoy our school spirited and useful mat.
3. Executive Summary:
We start with buying each doormat printed with the phrase “Marian University Knights”
and the Marian Knights logo printed in white from Shezhen Dotcom Warehouse Products located
in China. We will order 205 mats at $4.80 apiece. 5 will be given away promotionally and the
other 200 will be sold to students, parents, faculty and alumni. Our $1,500 loan we will receive
will cover the cost of our 205 mats which is $984, our advertising budget of $165, our mold fee of
$100 and our application fee of $250. It will take 3 weeks from the time we place the order to
receive our mats. Once we place the order we will begin advertising in a variety of ways. We will
advertise with posters, flyers, a banner and also on social media. We can connect with students
and faculty on campus through the posters and the flyers and then reach out to the parents and
alumni through social media. We will also have the help of Wil Hampton who is the director of
the M-Club and he has agreed to help market our product to the parents and alumni of Marian
University. We have an excellent marketing strategy which is what is going to make this business
so successful. We also have Heather Bisher and Dr. Kyle Kellam to help us reach out to faculty
members. Heather Bisher is the director of Housing and Residence and has agreed to help us
market our product to other faculty members and incoming students. Dr. Kyle is our celebrity on
campus and will help market to his students and other faculty members. Dr. Kyle is a large part of
our marketing strategy because he is very personable and almost everyone on campus knows and
likes him. Dr. Kyle was featured in our commercial which we will posted on our social media
pages like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
In the scenario analysis we made, we looked at a $15 selling price and also a $25 selling
price. We did not choose the $15 selling price due to the fact that if we had low sales of 100, we
would not be making a profit, and would instead be losing money. At our low sales on the $20
4. selling price we are still making $301 in profit. When we sell all 200 mats, we will make $2,301
in profit which we will then split equally. We will each also give a portion to the Holy Family
Shelter. Since we are buying the mats for $4.80 and selling them for $20 this gives us a gross profit
percentage of 75.54%. This shows that we are making a significant profit on each mat sold which
is another reason that our business will be successful. We want to encourage our customers to
purchase more than one mat so we created a $2.50 discount for purchasing more than one mat. We
incorporated these sales into our income statement along with the $95 in credit card fees we
anticipate having. We feel very confident in our product and already have 61 pre orders before
even opening our business. We can back up the need and demand for doormats with survey results
students have taken. We have event dates that we plan to sell at which includes basketball games,
freshman orientation, family visitation weekends and coffee house events in Alumni Hall. We are
going out and attacking the sales and not sitting around and waiting for the sales to come to us.
We also have an exit strategy for the end of the semester if we have any mats left. We believe our
product will be successful to market and sell.
Benefits to the Community
Our Marian themed doormat allows students, parents, faculty and alumni to show school
spirit. This benefits the community because it allows people to show that they are proud that they
attend/attended Marian University. It helps keep dorm rooms, houses, and apartments clean.
People who buy our product will also be supporting a local, student-run business instead of helping
a large chain business such as Target or Wal-Mart. When people buy our product and help support
our business and make it successful, it will serve as an example for other students who want to
start their business. It will show that people in the Marian Community believe in us and will
5. endorse other Marian products because they are proud of where they went to school. Each group
member is also donating a portion of their profit to a local charity.
Industry Analysis:
The doormat industry has been relatively constant without any major changes in the sales
or demand for doormats. The household industry is growing and with more houses, more doormats
will be needed. The general growth opportunities would be advertising and reaching out to people
to make them aware of a product that they wouldn’t typically think about purchasing. Advertising
will make the biggest difference for the alumni market because they are not on campus and will
not see our posters located by the cafe or in alumni hall. They may still be interested in buying our
product, so we definitely want to reach out to them. Our doormat product would be considered a
household item. Household industry items are rapidly growing. According to PR Newswire on
May 26, 2015, in 2010 the household product industry was an estimated value of $170 billion and
in 2015 it was estimated the household product industry was an estimated value of $203 billion.
In 2015 it is estimated to reach 324.5 billion. Of all the segments in the household product industry,
the “home comfort” which we consider our doormat to be a part of, is likely to grow at the highest
rate. Developing nations such as China, India and the Middle East have been experiencing strong
economic growth and are anticipated to boost the industry. Doormats could also be considered part
of the rubber product industry and despite the recession and the rising cost of raw materials, the
industry is experiencing a 2.7% annual growth rate.
Competitive Analysis
We have no direct competition on-campus because no one else is selling a Marian themed
doormat. However, we do have indirect competition off campus. That competition is big name
stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Bed Bath and Beyond. These stores sell doormats that would
6. be similar in style to the type of mat we are looking into selling. The prices of our competitor’s
doormats vary in range from $10 to as high as $40 depending on the size and materials used. The
cheaper doormats are a lesser quality compared to the more expensive models, we feel that our
product will be in demand here at Marian based on the style and models we are looking to invest
in. The product we are looking at is not the cheapest quality, but it is not the highest either. We are
looking to be better rather than cheaper, this is because of the custom Marian University logo that
will be printed on our doormat. Our $20 selling price is around the median price range as compared
to our competitors. We believe that the Marian University logo adds value to our doormat and that
will be a strong reason people want to purchase our doormat.
Product Demand:
The demand for our product is not as high as it will be once we tell our consumers about
the product. In an on-campus survey, 93% of students said they did not have a doormat leaving
only 7% that said they did. Our next survey question asked if they would be interested in buying
a Marian themed doormat and an astounding 70% said they were interested in buying one again
leaving only 30% of people saying they would not be interested in our product. We also asked
students about the price point of $20 and whether or not they would purchase a doormat at that
price. Over 50% of people said they would be comfortable purchasing a doormat at the $20 price.
Once we are able to show off a model of our stellar product, we feel the demand will rise even
more than we initially expected. Since our main consumer is full time college students, there is not
much time for jobs. Our average consumer income is between $14,400 a year according to the
National Center of Education Statistics. Research also showed that college students, on average,
spend about $907 a year on dorm room decorations. This shows that most college students do have
7. a little bit of money to spend, since our consumers are college students, they want to show school
spirit.
Target Market:
We have three different categories in our target market and they consist of students (living
on and off campus) faculty/staff, and alumni. Different marketing techniques have been set in
place to insure that we reach our target market. We believe the target market of faculty/staff and
alumni will be the hardest to reach but this is also one of the most important for our product. The
difference between our faculty/staff, alumni and the students is the faculty/staff and alumni have
houses and are more likely to want one for their door. Students don’t always think to put a doormat
in their dorm room. The qualities of our target market include customers who would like to show
their Marian pride while keeping their house or dorm room clear of dirt. Through our research of
the student body, we reached a number of 265 mats that we believe we can sell. This number was
estimated by going around to different areas on campus and asking people to take our survey. We
broke up our 265 mats into traditional and nontraditional students. We further broke down the
traditional students into students that live on campus and students that live off campus. .There are
a total of 3,551 students that attend Marian. This consists of adults doing the MAPS program,
online, commuters, traditional and nontraditional students. 6% of all students = 213 mats (169
+44) - 1,686 traditional (undergraduate) students 10% = 169 mats (135 +34)753 students live on
campus 18% = 135 mats 933 students live off campus/ commute. 4% = 34 mats- 1,865
nontraditional (graduate/maps/online) 2% = 44 mats)
1% of parents of traditional students =16 mats
1,686 traditional students 5% of faculty/ staff members= 28 mats. 571 full and part time staff
members
8. Management Team:
We have all put an incredible amount of time and effort into this product. We have divided
up the tasks into what suits each of our skills. Cody Bauer is involved in the Marian community
because he is a former member of the football team, involved in International club, and SHRM
(Society for Human Resources and Development). Cody is in charge of pre-order organization,
reaching out and setting meetings with directors within staff and faculty, and our social media.
Emily Boxler is very active in attending MU sporting events and is our marketing wiz. She is in
charge of designing our posters, flyers, and banner. Emily organizes the plans and dates to sell at
events and created our Gantt chart. Jason Chandler is also very active in attending Marian
University sporting and theater events. Jason is in charge of economic research for our product,
Jason is in charge of taking our survey data and interpreting the data. Jason also is in charge of
finding our target market and which groups we can sell to. Laurel Rathbun is active in the Marian
community because she is on the cycling team and a member of SHRM. Laurel is in charge of all
financial statements including the scenario analysis and directing the commercial with Dr. Kyle.
She is also in charge of communication with the supplier. Since we are all doing equal work, we
are splitting the profit equally.
Marketing:
To advertise our product we plan to use strategies that will stand out to our customer and
make them want to purchase our mat. Our strategies consist of posters, flyers, a banner, candy,
napkin holders, on campus celebrity, social media, M-club, and sponsoring two basketball games.
We plan to purchase ten posters. We buy the posters and the banner from Staples. The posters cost
$10 each and the banner costs $25. The location of the posters consists of two in Alumni; one by
Papa Johns and Grille Works and the other by Starbucks fireplace. Three will be located in Marian
9. Hall on each floor stairwell. One poster will be located in each of the following residence halls,
Doyle, Drew, University and Clare Hall. The last poster will be located in Ruth Lilly Student
Center. We chose these locations because these areas have a heavy flow of traffic by students and
staff/faculty. Displayed on the poster is our group name, a picture of our product, the price, our
email, and a brief description of our product. Our poster is meant to catch the eye and not
overcrowd the poster so our customer will maintain interest.
The banner will be used to help sell during events on campus. The banner simply has a blue
border with our group name, a picture of our product and the price. We went with the same idea
for the banner as we did the poster, short and simple. We are sponsoring two basketball games and
during halftime of each game we will be playing a game of knockout and the winner will receive
a free mat. After the game is over we will have a table to sell outside the gymnasium with our
banner to reach out to our customers. Our banner will also be used when we sell our mats in Alumni
Hall during coffee houses. A coffee house is a great way to reach out to the students at Marian.
Coffee houses occur Friday nights and it’s a time for students to enjoy music and light
refreshments. The other events we will be selling at in alumni are SOAR and Kids n’ Sibs. SOAR
is a freshman orientation for new freshman coming into Marian. We believe we can reach two of
our target markets which would be parents and students. SOAR is also a way for us to reach
students before they even move on to campus so they can already have their mats ready to go for
their dorm rooms. Kids n’ Sibs is a weekend where siblings stay the weekend on campus with their
college siblings. We believe this is a great way to reach our parent market as the parents will be
dropping off their kids on campus.
Along with our banner at the basketball games and selling in Alumni, on our table we will have
a bowl of candy. Candy is a way to grab attention of our customers. The bowl our candy is in will
10. represent Marian Mats by having our business name printed clearly so customers know who we
are. As we were taking surveys we found students were instantly more drawn in to take our survey
when we mentioned we had cookies and this is how the idea of the candy bowl came to be.
Our intention with the flyers is to pass them out to students, faculty/staff, and alumni
around campus or during events to make them aware of our product. Our flyers have our team
name, the price and multiple choices on how to contact us to purchase a mat. We also plan to put
flyers in mailboxes in all of the residence halls. Every student has a mailbox in the residence halls
and this is a way to reach out to our target market of students living on campus
Our celebrity on campus is a communications professor, Dr. Kyle. Many students know
Dr. Kyle as a funny, energetic, friendly professor. Dr. Kyle is helping promote our product by
starring in a commercial that shows the use and pride that comes with having a Marian Mat. Dr.
Kyle is also helping promote another of our target markets which is the faculty and staff here at
Marian.
Located in the cafeteria on every table are napkin holders. In every napkin holder there is
an area to put advertisements. We plan to put an advertisement in the napkin holder to generate
awareness about our product. The napkin holder advertisement will be similar to the way our flyers
look, just smaller.
One of our biggest marketing strategies will be social media. We have created an account
for our Marian Mats on the following, Facebook (Marian Mats), Instagram (@marianmats),
Twitter (@marianmats) and also an email (marianmats@gmail.com). By making these accounts
we are reaching out to our customers and promoting our product. We plan to reach many alumni
and parents through our social media.
11. The M-Club is an organization for parents and alumni to help support athletics. The M-
Club has offered to let us sell our Marian Mats at their golf outing later in the semester and also at
other M-Club events throughout the year. Our product would be promoted on their weekly show.
The M-Club is an opportunity for us to reach out to the parents and alumni which is one of the
more difficult to reach on campus. Now that we have M-Club helping us we are confident we are
able to reach out to the parents and alumni market the director of M-Club, Wil Hampton, will also
help generate awareness of our product within the faculty and staff.
Our budget for advertising is $165.00. Breaking the cost down the posters cost $10 each
and we are purchasing 10. The banner is $25 and we will be purchasing 1. $15 will go towards
candy and the final $25 is giving away 5 free mats. The free mats being given away, 2 of them will
go to the basketball games on February 3rd and 9th and the last 3 will be given to Dr. Kyle, Heather
Bisher and Wil Hampton as they have all been a huge help supporting our product.
Operations Plan
Our operations plan will include the different ways we will plan on reaching our target
market in order to sell our product to them, these ideas include advertising with posters, napkin
holders, selling in Alumni, banners, flyers & candy, celebrity Dr. Kyle, selling via social media.
Advertising with posters will allow our consumers to see our product and know when and where
they can find us to buy or pre order the product. Napkin holders in the cafe is another way for us
to reach our target market. When they least expect it, our customers will see our product when
eating in the cafe, a napkin holder on every table allows us to advertise to anyone who sits down
at a table. Selling in Alumni hall at different events has already been approved and is another
opportunity for us to reach more potential customers who attend the event. Dr. Kyle is a
communications professor who has agreed to help endorse our product, his popularity around
12. campus will allow us to draw in our potential student market. At all the events we sell at including
SOAR (April 22nd), Kids N Sibs weekend (February 12-14th), basketball games (February 3rd
and 9th), and Coffee House (Dates TBD) we will have one girl and one guy pairing up to conquer
sales at the events. We will then alternate pairs for every event.
Financial Statements:
For our income statement our revenue starts out at $4,000.00 due to our selling price of
$20.00 and the quantity of 200 we are planning on selling. We then anticipate that 15% of our
sales will be with the $2.50 discount so 30 mats will be sold at $17.50 instead of $20.00 which
gives us $75.00 in discounts that we must subtract from the sales. So, our revenue is now
$3,925.00. Next, we subtract our cost of merchandise which is $984.00 because we are buying 205
mats that each cost $4.80. We subtract our advertising expense of $165.00 which is made up of 10
13. posters that cost $10.00 each, a banner that costs $25.00, $25.00 worth of mats we plan to give
away, and $15.00 worth of candy to attract customers to our table. Our interest expense is $30.00
because our notes payable is $1,500.00 and we only expect to pay 2% interest over 4 months (6%
per year). The next expense we subtract is $95.00 because we expect that 85% of our sales will be
made using a credit or debit card on which we will have to pay 2.75% fee to Square, which is a
credit card reader that we can plug into our phones, on each transaction. We also have to subtract
$100.00 for a mold fee to make the silkscreen for our mat and a $250.00 application fee as well to
use the Marian Knights logo. With our revenue of $4,000.00 minus our expenses which is
$1,624.00, our net income is $2,301.00.
Our retained earnings statement is very short because we do not have any retained earnings
to start since this is a new business. We are paying $3.00 dividends to each of the four owners
giving us a total of $12.00 in dividends. Subtracting the $12.00 from our net income of $2,301.00
gives us our increase in retained earnings of $2,289.00. Since we don’t have any previous retained
earnings, our total retained earnings is $2,289.00.
14. On our statement of cash flows, our total cash balance as of May 6th, 2016 is $3,859.00.
We get this number by adding our net cash flow from operating activities, $2,331.00, our net cash
flow from investing activities, $0.00, and our net cash flow from financing activities, $1,528.00.
Our net cash flow from operating activities is $2,331.00 because our cash received from customers
is $3,925.00 and then we subtract our cash for expenses which is $1,594.00. Our cash received
from customers is $3,925.00 because we take the 200 mats sold at $20 which is $4,000 less the
$2.50 discount we expect 15% of our customers will get for buying more than one mat. Our cash
deducted for expenses is $1,594.00 because we include our cost of merchandise which is $960.00,
our advertising expense which is $165, our credit card fee of $95.00, our mold fee of $100, and
our $250 application fee. We do not include our interest expense. We have no net cash flow from
investing activities because we are not purchasing any equipment since we already have all the
materials necessary which are a table and a cash box. Finally, our net cash flow from financing
activities is $1,528.00. To get this number we added our cash receipts from notes payable, $1,500,
and our cash received from common stock, $40.00, and then we must subtract our cash for
dividends, $12.00. Our cash receipts for notes payable is $1,500.00 because this is the amount we
are borrowing from the sharks. Our cash received from common stock is $40.00 because each of
15. the four team member is buying into the company at $10.00 a share. Our cash for dividends is
$12.00 because each of the four shareholders will receive $3.00 from the company. Our net
increase in cash is $3,859.00 because we have to add our net cash flow from operating activities,
$2,331.00, and our net cash flow from financing activities, $1,528.00. Since we don’t have a cash
balance at the beginning, our total cash balance on May 6, 2016 is $3,859.00.
On our balance sheet, under the assets, we have cash as $3,859.00 because that was our
ending cash balance on May 6th, 2016. We have no property, plant, or equipment to list under
assets because we already owned the table and cashbox we are going to use to sell our mats and,
therefore, did not need to purchase one. Under our liabilities we have our notes payable of
$1,500.00 because that is the amount of money we will need to cover all our expenses minus the
credit card expense and the interest expense and purchase our 205 mats. We have $30.00 in interest
we will have to pay back on our $1,500.00 and that is also under the liabilities. The notes payable
and interest payable give us a total liabilities of $1,530.00. Under our stockholder’s equity section,
we have common stock and retained earnings. We have a common stock of $40.00 because each
of our four group members are going to pay $10.00 towards ownership interest. We also have our
16. retained earnings of $2,289.00 from the retained earnings statement. The retained earnings and
common stock amounts to a total stockholder’s equity of $2,329.00. Our total liabilities and
stockholder’s equity is $3,859.00 which is the same as our total assets.
Our analytical measure is gross profit percentage. We calculated this by taking our sales of
$3,925.00 and subtracting our cost of merchandise which is $960.00 to get $2,965.00 gross profit.
We then divide our gross profit by our sales to get .7554. We multiplied by 100 to get our
percentage which was 75.54%.
GDP
GDP: Gross Domestic Product is one of the primary indicators that gauges the health of
the country's economy. It represents the total dollar value of goods and services produced within
the country borders over one year. As shown in the graph above, the shaded area indicates the US
recession which hit in 2008 and remained at a low point until around 2010 before it started to
steadily pick back up from 2011 to 2014.
GDP is a very important economic indicator along with unemployment rate and consumer
sentiment. However we find it to be much more useful for policy makers and banks to judge how
the economy is doing - whether it is contracting or expanding. Then, they can decide whether it
17. needs to be boosted or restrained. The health of our U.S. economy and the way people spend their
money is a critical component for our small, student-owned business. If the economy is healthy
and people have more disposable income to spend on luxury items that they weren't necessarily
buying before, that's a positive and encouraging sign for our business growth potential.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Unemployment rate is the percentage of the total number of unemployed people actively
seeking a job divided by the total number in labor force (including the unemployed). The graph is
from 2004 to a projected 2020. It shows the unemployment activity and rate from the past to the
present. From 2015 to 2020, it is all projected. The shaded area indicated the U.S. recession that
started in 2009. The government calculates the unemployment rate to measure unproductive
resources in the economy. When individuals want and are willing to work, but there are no job
opportunities available for them, then, the production possibilities of the economy are not being
fully utilized.
For our small business we did not feel that the unemployment rate indicator was the best
match for us based on a few different elements. Our business already has employees which is the
four of us who make up the group, Laurel, Emily, Cody and Jason. For our company we have a
supplier who we will be paying to make the product and they already have their own workers, so
18. we will not be hiring anyone. Therefore the unemployment rate data is insignificant for us and our
macroeconomic indicator.
CONSUMER INCOME
Consumer income is money earned from work or investments, such as dividends
distributed by companies to its stockholders and the gain realized on the sale of one’s asset, such
as a house. When you combine these income sources, it's often referred to as aggregate income.
Consumer income becomes important to us as a small business because it shows the
amount of money people are bringing in, the more disposable income that people have, the more
they are willing to spend. The more money people have left over, they are usually more willing to
spend. This might not always be the case because some consumers would rather use their extra
disposable income as a security blanket and put it in the bank to save for future purchases that may
be more important and demanding.
19. CONSUMER SENTIMENT
We believe that consumer sentiment is the best indicator to determine the price to sell our
product. Consumer sentiment graph shows how the people (consumers) feel about the economy.
It is very helpful for predicting the future of the economy and since the graph is on the upward
trend, but the economy numbers are not what they used to be before the stock market crash, which
is indicated in the grey area of our graph. The 18 month recession started December 2007 and
officially ended June 2009 though the economy still continued to feel the effects of the economic
downturn in 2010 and also 2011.
We want to sell our product at a medium price of $20 which is $15.20 more than we
purchase it for. If the consumers in our market feel confident in the steady growth of our economy
then they are more willing to spend money on our product, which is good for the potential growth
and profit for our small business. In 2007 the index of consumer sentiment was 85.6, in 2008 it
dropped to 63.7 and in 2009 it was at 66.3. In 2010 the index rose to 71.8 then dropped again in
2011 to 67.3. The index has slowly risen over the past few years and for 2015 the number is at
93.5. The numbers in the index equal the degree of optimism about the economy.
20. Wages
The $2,301 profit will be divided equally by the four team members. The profit each team
member will receive equals out to $575 per person. We have decided to split the profits evenly
because of all the work we have each individually put into making our product, from marketing to
coming up with the design of our mat, to all the financial statements.
Charity
Each member has agreed that we will contribute $75 of our individual profit to the Holy
Family Shelter. This will be a donation of $300 all going to The Holy Family Shelter. The Holy
Family Shelter is located in Indianapolis on Holmes Ave which is two miles from Marian’s
campus. The Holy Family Shelter houses families and helps them get back on their feet. They help
families by providing food, shelter, basic material needs and a safe place for families to be. The
Holy Family Shelter runs just on donations and we believe this would be a good cause for our
monetary donation.
Exit Strategy
In a last case scenario, our exit strategy will consist of any mats not sold after April 23,
2016 will be 50% off. This drops the price to $10. If we still have inventory after April 29, 2016
the price will then be marked down to 75% which drops the price to $5. We believe that we will
already have hit our breakeven point of 85 by this time. Since the breakeven point will have already
been reached we will still be making profit with 50% and 75% off if we get to that point. This exit
strategy will only be put into place if our inventory of 205 items have not been sold by April 23,
2016.
Critical Risks and Assumptions
21. Every business comes with some bumps in the road and our company, Marian Mats, plans
to deal with them to the best of our ability. Before running our business we ran into a few
complications with our supplier not being able to get our mat here for important dates. This was
due to their warehouse being shut down for a week due to cold weather. This delayed getting our
sample mat until after our first round of presentations. Luckily, we had the pictures of our mat.
With the pre sales we made, we may run into some students that were just interested in helping out
fellow students and were not fully committed to purchasing the product. This affects reaching our
breakeven point for sales. Another problem that may arise is if customers are not happy with the
mat. This could be due to quality or if it gets ruined after being put in the washer. We would offer
a 30 day money back guarantee for people, but obviously if people are returning their mat, this is
not good for our business. If other problems arise throughout our business, our team plans to
communicate with each other to come up with what we think will be the best way to handle the
situation.
Conclusion
Our product will be a successful business here on the Marian campus for many reasons.
We have an extremely high gross profit percentage of 75.54% while still offering a fair price to
our customers. High gross profit percentage shows our business will make a significant profit on
every mat sold. Our marketing plan is exceptional and very well thought out. We have a
marketing plan that reaches out to students, parents, faculty and alumni. We have different
marketing strategies to reach every single group. Not only are we reaching every group in our
target market, but we are doing it effectively and efficiently. By reaching out to all our target
markets, we are boosting our chances of reaching our breakeven and then making profit. We feel
very confident that we will have no problem reaching our breakeven considering that we already
22. have 61 pre-sales as of December 15, 2015 and our breakeven is only 85 units. Our financial
statements represent how profitable our business will be, and how we will easily be able to pay
back our $1,500 loan plus $30 interest. We are very concerned with being a profitable business,
but that is not the only thing we care about. Our team is dedicated to bettering the community
around us as well and that’s why our group is donating almost 15% of our profits to the Holy
Family Shelter Charity. Our team has worked all semester to make this the best business it can
be. Our team has confidence that with our excellent strategies we have used all semester our
business would be very successful.
Appendix:
The first picture is the design that we sent to our Supplier, Shezhen Dotcom Warehouse
Products, to make the prototype mat. The second is a picture of what the actual prototype mat
looks like. We asked them not to remove the trademark ® because this adds value to the Marian
Knights logo. Samples of the posters, banner, and flyers we are going to use for our advertising
are also listed. Below that, we have our market research and survey questions. The very last
thing we have listed is the Gantt chart. This shows the steps we will take towards making our
business run smoothly and efficiently. As soon as we get the money to start our business, we
want to make sure we have a plan that shows the dates of when we will begin advertising, when
we will begin selling, and what dates we are planning on selling.
Mat Design:
24. Banner:
Flyer:
Market Research
To find out if our product had an interest here on campus we surveyed 100 students. We
asked each student the following six questions.
● What is your gender?
● Do you live on campus?
● What year are you?
● Do you own a doormat?
● Would you be interested in buying a Marian doormat that fits under your door?
● How much would you be willing to spend for a Marian doormat?
25. From these results we looked at three questions that would give us the most useful
information. Do you own a doormat was the first question and 93% of students said no and 7%
said yes. The second question, would you buy a Marian doormat, 70% said yes and only 30% said
no. The last question, how much would you be willing to spend helped us decide our price point,
the results were, 54% said $20, 9% said $25, 7% said other, and 30% were not interested. We
found these three to be the most important questions because they told us if they would be
interested in a Marian Mat, the price point they would be willing to spend, and if they already own
a doormat as this would be the percentage of people it would be harder to target. The survey helped
make some important decisions in our business and also helped prove our product would be of
interest on campus.
Gantt chart:
