1. Business Proposal
Prepared by:
Nichakamon Pornkeratiwat; Estefanía Leonela Scherger
Eunice Fei Jin Shi; Andrea Salazar
Daniela Velasco Bernal; Oladipupo Azeez Dolapo
2. 2 CrystalECO
Table of Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................3
Business Overview..............................................................................................................................................3
The company................................................................................................................................................3
Objectives and Goals....................................................................................................................................4
Construction Method....................................................................................................................................4
Market Analysis..................................................................................................................................................4
Target Market...............................................................................................................................................4
Market Opportunity......................................................................................................................................5
Risk and Barrier............................................................................................................................................5
Comparative Advantage ...............................................................................................................................5
Business Strategies..............................................................................................................................................6
Partnerships ..................................................................................................................................................6
Resources......................................................................................................................................................6
Challenges ....................................................................................................................................................7
Potential Growth Strategies..........................................................................................................................7
Financial Report.................................................................................................................................................7
References ...........................................................................................................................................................9
3. 3 CrystalECO
Executive Summary
CrystalECO is an ecological initiative based on the construction of plastic bottles houses
in Nigeria Africa to implement a hotel inspired by Green Tourism. This project was
undertaken in order to make known this type of construction that gives effective solutions
for reusing plastic.
The great challenge of this business plan is to create a sustainable eco-friendly tourism
business building houses with plastic bottles to attract visitors and tourists while
motivating them to join us in this new experience as an option for sustainable development.
It is a business focused on creating a more economically and environmentally sustainable future for housing in
Nigeria as well as encouraging tourism to help grow the economy of this underdeveloped country.
Business Overview
One of the main concerns in developing countries is deplorable housing conditions, which is often linked to poor
health and low productivity, leading to lower economic growth.
Building houses from discarded plastic bottles is a creative
and innovative construction method that can tackle these
issues by using a simple technology to make houses more
affordable. A bottle house costs one third of what a similar
house made of concrete and bricks would cost and it is more
durable. This technology also helps lessen the environmental
problems caused by the increasing use of plastic bottles in the
developed and developing countries, such as soil and air
pollution.
As there is a rising demand for ecotourism 1
, given the
increasing concern and awareness over environmental issues in the developed world, bottle houses have the potential
of becoming a touristic attraction, based on the premise of sustainability and respect for the environment.
The Company
CrystalECO will establish a touristic venture by building houses using disposable plastic bottles (PET). Initially we
are to construct 15 houses, 12 of which will be hotel houses with 4 hotel rooms each. The rest of the houses will
operate as a restaurant, a security house and an administration house.
CrystalECO will offer hotel services, restaurant services with traditional food and beverages, tours of the nearby
scenic landscapes and natural attractions, outdoors activities and workshops on ‘how to construct a plastic bottle
house’. Locals will be employed to build the accommodation as well as to be tour guides.
1
The Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves
the welfare of the local people" (The International Ecotourism Society, 1990)
4. 4 CrystalECO
The chosen location for the venture is Gombe, a city in northeastern Nigeria, a
country with astonishing natural beauty, potential for eco-friendly tourism as well
as a housing deficit and abundance of plastic bottles.
Objectives and Goals
To establish the company as a sustainable touristic venture.
To generate local employment, both directly in the tourism sector but also
in peripheral resource sectors.
To stimulate domestic industry such as retail, local crafts, transportation,
restaurants.
To increase the area’s tourism and Nigeria’s foreign exchange and investment.
To spread knowledge about this particular construction method as it can improve the quality of life of many
citizens.
To increase the plastic bottles recycling in the developed and developing countries and therefore reduce
pollution, as they take hundreds of years to bio-degrade in landfills and generate hazardous gases when
incinerated.
To foster the appreciation of different cultures, generating concern for the conservation of local heritages.
To promote the protection and active conservation of the environment in the developed and developing
countries.
Construction Method
First, the bottles are filled with sand, providing them the resistance
needed to hold a structure. Then the bottles are stacked into layers and
bonded together by mud and cement, with an intricate network of
strings holding each bottle by its neck, providing extra support to the
structure. On the walls it is generally used a mixture of soil with clay
or mud, very similar to the adobe. Bottle caps of various colors
protrude from the cement-plastered walls, giving them a unique look.
The amount of bottles required for construction varies according to
the house’s size.
Market Analysis
Target Market
The initial target market is in Gombe city, Nigeria, in Gombe state, also known as “Jewel in the Savannah”. Gombe
state is the 2nd
poorest state in Nigeria. Both hotel service and tourism are underdeveloped compared to states like
Lagos. The travelling time between Gombe city to Gombe International Lawanti Airport is less than 30 minutes. This
provides great opportunity to encourage tourism. There are many tourism sights such as vast grasslands, monuments,
mountains, a dam and Game Reserve; the travelling time varies from 0.5 hour to 3 hour from Gombe city. The target
workforce is both men and women between ages 18–45 who are willing to working as constructors, tour guides, hotel
servers and many more who want to take this opportunity to improve their life quality. The target market is tourists
from varied countries who are willing to enjoy their holiday in a plastic bottle hotel and view sights around the state.
Market Opportunity
5. 5 CrystalECO
At the initial stage, CrystalECO plans to construct 15 houses, 12 of which will be hotel houses with 4 hotel rooms
each. The rest of the houses will operate as a restaurant, a security house and an administration house within one year.
It proximately takes 6-8 weeks to construct a plastic bottle house.
CrystalECO will hire both women and men to the build the plastic bottle houses. Women are given the task of filling
the bottle with sand while men are given construction tasks. They will be paid $400 per month. As workers who are
unskilled and illiterate provide labor force for the company, the company provides work opportunity and benefit for
them. At the same time, company will marketing on hotel and tour service to attract customers for future operation.
In the 2nd to 5th year, CrytalECO will gradually increase hotel and tour services.
CrytalECO hotel and tour service is attractive because it is not only a profitable service but also sustainable, green
and healthy. CrytalECO provides bicycles tours, hiking and canoeing that not only allows tourists to enjoy sights but
also help them exercise and give zero carbon emission. Sustainable tour service operates as taking tourists into game
reserves, instead of safari tour. Green service is provided by the hotel service. While customers enjoy their stay at
plastic bottle hotel rooms, CrystalECO hotel encourages customers to use disposable material to a minimum.
As human population gradually increases with year, the demand for sustainable and green services will also increase.
CrytalECO can provide with high quality sustainable and green services, therefore the demand for both hotel and
tour service can remain strong or even become stronger in the future.
Risk and Barrier
Funding for the project
Resistance from the local people
Tourists amount is not big enough at the beginning
Increase in competitors
Comparative Advantage
Lower cost compared to traditional way of constructing houses. It costs about 1/3 of the traditional way of
constructing houses.
Tourism attraction, Ecotour
Green, healthy and sustainable service
Cost-effective
Environmentally-friendly
Plastic bottle house is nearly 20 times stronger than bricks.
The house is Bullet-proof
Provide employment opportunity
Increase in tourism in the local area.
Business strategies
The overall business strategy is aligning with larger businesses to retain the local and international reputation. It is
easy entering the local market, as our business is different. Nevertheless, it is hard to enter the international market
6. 6 CrystalECO
as the competitors are differentiating by producing unique houses’ designs. However, being an environmental
sustainability and eco-friendly company differentiates us from other competitors. Aligning with larger businesses not
only helps us gain more reputation locally and internationally, but it helps our business entering larger markets of eco
tourism.
Partnerships
To expand our project, it is important to make connections with locals and international businesses.
It is essential to build a strong relationship with local companies such as DARE (Development
Associations Renewable Energies). They specialize in reusable resources, thus, it is easier to gain the
communities’ trusts since they have a greater reputation.
African Community Trust. A London-based non-
government organization. They provide basic skills and
knowledge based on the ‘plastic bottles house’.
E.M. Micheletti & Sons (Nig) Limited. This
construction company operates in Nigeria, Europe, Asia
and America. This gives our business the exposure of the
idea of ‘the plastic bottle house’ to other countries by
sharing experiences between businesses.
CrystalECO is aligned with Coca-Cola because we have the same purpose of being environmental
sustainability and friendly by reusing and recycling plastic bottles. Coca-Cola not only provides used
plastic bottles but also funding for our project. Therefore, Coca-Cola is part of our shareholders.
Resources
Human Resources:
- Local people in the community: They are constructing the house as well as being trained to be tour
guides.
- Experts: In order to construct the house, we need the experts from the DARE organization and the
African Community Trust to provide knowledge to the locals.
Natural Resources: We use sand to fulfill the plastic bottles because Nigeria’s climate is very hot and the
sand insulates the heat from the sun, which keeps the room temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit year
round.
Tangible Resource: The tangible resource is the discarded plastic bottles from the street and the rubbish
dump. We create value on the discarded plastic bottles by reusing them.
Intangible Resource: It is important that our company has tacit knowledge. The knowledge provided by
the experts to the locals such as their experiences and practical skills cannot be written on the papers.
Challenges
Increase the demand of the ‘plastic bottles house’ rather than the traditional house’s style, as it’s cooler
than the traditional house.
Increase cost of sands.
7. 7 CrystalECO
More competition in market as competitors are being differentiated from our company.
It requires people to collect bottles on the street and the rubbish dump. Additionally, as demand grows
the need of plastic bottles increases. Thus, the future cost may arise because of transportation cost.
A recycling company may take advantage of selling bottles collected by them from the street and the
rubbish dump before we reach there.
Potential Growth Strategies
2nd
– 5th
year:
Expand our hotels as well as increase the tourists’ attractions. This reduces land investment and it
also benefits the landowner by comprising them as the shareholder.
Expand to other villages in different provinces in Nigeria. This is considered as the social
responsibility for the local people.
Hotel Service strategy
Our hotel is called CrystalECOcity. The purpose of CrystalECOcity is being environmental friendly as it
is built from recycled plastic bottles.
1. Hotel room: Our hotel rooms are made from plastic bottles. There are 48 rooms in 12 houses.
2. Restaurant: We serve the local food and traditional western-style food, which is cooked by local
chefs.
3. Souvenir shop: It sells plastic bottle gift which are designed by the locals.
Tour activities planning
Day1: Monument, bicycle tour in Gombe City, and workshop- ‘how to construct a plastic bottle
house’
Day2: Sight-seeing a canyon, dam and lake.
Day3: Yankari Game Reserve
Day4: Hiking and visiting water spring and local’s market.
Financial Report
CrystalECO is going to start constructing the hotel on July 1st
of the present year, with an initial workforce of 40
employees that are going to be paid USD 400 which is very high compared to Gombe’s minimum wage of USD
139,46 (NGN 22,000). When construction finishes the company is going to hire 30 people in order to operate the
hotel and 15 more employees for renovation.
The initial investment is going to be USD 723.196, contributed by the company; the revenues are going to be from
tourism and are expected to grow exponentially as our plan is to expand across Nigeria, and also gain recognition as
the company offers a new and innovational plan for tourists. CrystalECOcity is clearly a very profitable business
with social and environmental sustainable responsibility that will be also very beneficial for natives, and tourism
growth for Gombe Nigeria.
Explanation of costs and revenues:
COSTS OF FIRST YEAR
Construction and tools costs 220,000
Fournishing costs 60,796
8. 8 CrystalECO
Operational costs 225,000
Assets 203,000
Others cost from room 14,400
TOTAL COSTS 723,196
Revenue 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year
Rooms 391,680 548,352 979,200 1,175,040
Food 195,840 274,176 489,600 587,520
Tour 101,837 142,572 254,592 305,510
Beverage 47,002 65,802 117,504 141,005
Gift shop 40,735 57,029 101,837 122,204
Telephone 6,267 8,774 15,667 18,801
Total revenue 78,3360 1,096,704 1,958,400 2,350,080
Departmental expenses
Rooms 78,336 109,670 195,840 235,008
Food and Beverage 194,273 271,983 485,683 582,820
Telephone 3,760 5,264 9,400 11,280
Gift shop 20,367 28,514 50,918 61,102
Operating expenses
Administrative 191,760 196,320 208,080 212,640
Marketing 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000
Utilities 200 250 300 400
Internet 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Maintenance and repairs 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000
Insurance 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500
Training 13,500 5,400 6,200 6,600
Gasoline 1,814 3,629 6,350 7,258
Depreciation 350 350 350 350
Total Expenses 519,861 636,880 978,622 1,132,958
Income Before Income Tax Expenses 263,499 459,824 979,778 1,217,122
Income tax expense @ 10% 26,350 45,982 97,978 121,712
Net Income 237,149 413,841 881,800 1,095,410
References
9. 9 CrystalECO
About TIES | The International Ecotourism Society. (2012). Retrieved May 4, 2012, from
http://www.ecotourism.org/about-ties
Africa’s first plastic bottle house rises in nigeria. (2011). Retrieved May 10, 2012, from
http://inhabitat.com/africas-first-plastic-bottle-house-rises-in-nigeria/
Bamboo Housing. Retrieved May 4, 2012, from http://www.inbar.int/housing/introduction.htm
BBC news - Nigeria's plastic bottle house. (2011). Retrieved April 30, 2012, from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14722179
Cost of living in Nigeria. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-
living/country_result.jsp?country=Nigeria
E. M. Micheletti & Sons' history. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from http://www.emmicheletti.com/aboutus.htm
Frequently asked questions. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.eco-tec-solutions.com/frequently-asked-
questions/
Mimiko approves N22,000 minimum wage. (2012). Retrieved May 9, 2012, from
http://www.punchng.com/news/mimiko-approves-n22000-minimum-wage/
Nigerian states from richest to poorest. Retrieved May 3, 2012, from
http://www.nairaland.com/498954/nigerian-states-richest-poorest-ppp
Plastic bottle house, Sabon Yelwa, Nigeria . Retrieved May 8, 2012, from
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=18010
10. 10 CrystalECO
Plastic bottles solve Nigeria's housing problem. (2011). Retrieved April 30th, 2012, from
http://phys.org/news/2011-11-plastic-bottles-nigeria-housing-problem.html
Sights. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://gombestate.gov.ng/Sights.html
Taxes in Nigeria. (2008). Retrieved May 12, 2012, from
http://www.ngex.com/business/public/newsinfo.php?nid=2
