Tips  for  Research   Keep  in  mind,  to  locate  credible  business  sources,  they  should  be:   1. No  more  than  2  years  old  (3  is  permissible,  but  avoid  going  over  that).   2. Respected  sources  (you  can  google  names/titles  to  be  sure).   3. Unbiased-­‐-­‐no  agenda.   4. Written  by  an  easily  researched  author  or  entity.   Also,  keep  in  mind:   1. A  variety  of  types  of  sources  is  always  a  good  idea.   2. There  is  still  some  lingering  distrust  of  web-­‐exclusive  sources.   3. The  library  resources  will  help  you  (but  you  also  don’t  need  to  limit  yourself  to   them).   When  you  locate  a  credible  source:   1. Actively  read  it,  making  notes,  highlighting,  writing  questions,  etc.   2. Write  a  one-­‐paragraph  summary/description  of  the  piece’s  content  in  your  own   words.   3. Make  notes  of  the  major  points/information  you  might  use  in  your  project.   4. Identify  (either  by  writing  down  or  highlighting)  direct  quotes  that  might  be  worthy   additions  to  your  own  project.   5. Make  sure  you  have  complete  bibliographic  information  for  the  piece.   6. Remember  that  for  each  credible  piece  you  find,  you  should  find  others  as  well—the   first  one  may  or  may  not  be  the  best  one.       Once  you  are  crafting  a  draft,  keep  the  following  in  mind  about  integrating  research   into  your  work:   1. Always  cite  sources.    Any  time  you  use  information  that  is  not  your  own,  it  must  be   cited  (whether  it  is  a  direct  quote  or  a  paraphrase).   2. Don’t  rely  too  heavily  on  one  particular  source—mix  it  up.   3. Introduce  qualifications  as  appropriate.   4. Direct  quotes  can  “spice  up”  your  writing...   5. ...but  avoid  more  than  10%  of  direct  quotes...   6. ...and  make  sure  they  connect  to  the  ideas  around  them...   7. ...and  that  you  properly  introduce  them  (According  to,  etc.)   8. Don’t  end  a  paragraph  with  a  direct  quote.   9. Sources  exist  in  the  present  tense  (“So-­‐and-­‐so  states...”    not  “So-­‐and-­‐so  stated.”)   10. Always  remember  that  research  first  educated  you...now  it  must  support  you.   A  word  about  Citation  Format:   No  one  is  expe ...

1. Tips
for
Research
Keep
in
mind,
to
locate
credible
business
sources,
they
should
be:
1. No
more
than
2
years
old
(3
is
permissible,
but
avoid

2. going
over
that).
2. Respected
sources
(you
can
google
names/titles
to
be
sure).
3. Unbiased-­‐-­‐no
agenda.
4. Written
by
an
easily
researched
author
or
entity.
Also,
keep
in
mind:

3. 1. A
variety
of
types
of
sources
is
always
a
good
idea.
2. There
is
still
some
lingering
distrust
of
web-­‐exclusive
sources.
3. The
library
resources
will
help
you
(but
you
also

4. don’t
need
to
limit
yourself
to
them).
When
you
locate
a
credible
source:
1. Actively
read
it,
making
notes,
highlighting,
writing
questions,
etc.
2. Write
a
one-­‐paragraph

5. summary/description
of
the
piece’s
content
in
your
own
words.
3. Make
notes
of
the
major
points/information
you
might
use
in
your
project.
4. Identify
(either
by
writing
down
or
highlighting)
direct
quotes

6. that
might
be
worthy
additions
to
your
own
project.
5. Make
sure
you
have
complete
bibliographic
information
for
the
piece.
6. Remember
that
for
each
credible
piece
you
find,
you
should
find

7. others
as
well—the
first
one
may
or
may
not
be
the
best
one.
Once
you
are
crafting
a
draft,
keep
the
following
in
mind
about

8. integrating
research
into
your
work:
1. Always
cite
sources.
Any
time
you
use
information
that
is
not
your
own,
it
must
be
cited
(whether
it
is
a
direct
quote

9. or
a
paraphrase).
2. Don’t
rely
too
heavily
on
one
particular
source—mix
it
up.
3. Introduce
qualifications
as
appropriate.
4. Direct
quotes
can
“spice
up”
your
writing...
5. ...but
avoid
more
than

10. 10%
of
direct
quotes...
6. ...and
make
sure
they
connect
to
the
ideas
around
them...
7. ...and
that
you
properly
introduce
them
(According
to,
etc.)
8. Don’t
end
a
paragraph
with
a
direct

11. quote.
9. Sources
exist
in
the
present
tense
(“So-­‐and-­‐so
states...”
not
“So-­‐and-­‐so
stated.”)
10. Always
remember
that
research
first
educated
you...now
it
must
support
you.
A
word

12. about
Citation
Format:
No
one
is
expecting
you
to
memorize
every
single
aspect
of
citation
format.
Use
the
online
references
to
help
you—they
are
there
for
reference.
What
is

13. expected
is
that
you
will
remember
the
following:
1. To
cite
any
time
you
use
information
from
a
source
2. To
refer
to
the
resources
to
get
proper
format

14. 3. To
know
the
difference
between
a
References
page
and
a
general
bibliography
4. To
remember
that
not
properly
citing
sources
equals
plagiarism
5. It
is
better
to
“over-­‐cite”
on
drafts
than
“under-­‐cite”

15. As
always,
please
feel
free
to
see
me
with
any
questions
at
all!
1. The business will achieve the average margin of industry
20% each year.
2. The revenue growth trend of industry is 4.13% for16-17,
4.39% for 17-18, 3.87% for 18-19(estimated)
3. The percentage of pet owner is increasing, and revenue is
increasing each year.
4. The Start-up cost should around 20000 dollars.
Here is the lists:
Rent: 3000(one month)
Utilities: 500(include deposit)
Stationery 200
Operating supplies and equipment 12000
Insurance 650
License 106
5. The expect cost of goods sold will depend on the potential
target customers which relate to the market.
6. The operating supplies and rent expense.
7.
8. The margin of industry was 10-50% in year 2016 but 20%

16. was a best average value.
9.
10. Compared with out-of-house, in-house plan will have a
lower start-up cost. Because we don’t need a store to run our
business. Instead of the renting expense, we will need the
advertising which we expected 15000 each year. Also, the
operating supplies will decrease to 3200 but there are some of
grooming service will cut off.
11. Yes, inventory will be a small amount in this business. The
only inventory will be the operating supplies.
12. See answer of Q4 and Q10
13. The new injection of fund will help us to improve and
upgrade our operating equipment and supplies. Also, it will help
us to open a new store if needed.
14. SBA will be the first choice for our business.
1. Pricing Success
web: http://www.groomingbusiness.com/Grooming-
Business/May-2016/Pricing-Success/
2. Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics
web: https://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends
.asp
3. Grooming Business setup advice
web: https://groomarts.com/student-advice/business-setup-
advice
4. Break-even analysis
Ray H. Garrison & Eric W. Noreen, “Cost-Volume-Profit
Relationships,” Managerial Accounting, McGraw-Hill
Company, Inc., NY. 2008, P243
5. Business License Tax Application City of Santa Barbara
web: https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdloa
d.aspx?BlobID=160943
6. Tax Information
Web: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-

17. employed/sole-proprietorships
!
!
!
$hopE-Z
“The efficient route to shopping”
7 June 2012
Tim Bliss, Partner at IGSB
Investment Group of Santa Barbara
1485 East Valley Road, Suite L
Santa Barbara, CA 93150
Dear Mr. Bliss:
Thank you for your interest in the $hopE-Z mobile application.
We are pleased to

18. present our business plan for our company. As you may know,
we are seeking investors
to help us get our app up and running.
$hopE-Z is a mobile application utilizing the GPS locator in
smartphones to assist
customers in grocery stores when they cannot locate an item on
their list. It will be
available for Apple and Android users to download. Other
features of the app include a
shopping list and coupons for various grocery stores.
This $hopE-Z app is a good idea for a business plan right now
because the mobile
application market is expected to double by 2013, with an
annual growth rate for
downloads of 92%. In a world where everyone is attached to
their smartphones, a mobile
app that assists will daily shopping will make each trip to the
grocery store easier and
faster as well as being a money saver for those who forget their
coupons at home.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions
regarding $hopE-Z. We thank you
for your time and considering and hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Audrey Lau Brittney Eugenio Tommy Trauger
Weilu Yang Yingmin Cai

19. Audrey Lau – Brittney Eugenio – Tommy Trauger – Weilu Yang
– Yingmin Cai
[email protected]
Santa Barbara, CA
(805)893-7407
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
$hopE-Z Business Plan
Presented By:
Yingmin Cai – Introduction
Weilu Yang – Market Analysis
Audrey Lau – Business Management
Brittney Eugenio – Marketing Strategy

20. Tommy Trauger – Financial Plan
Writing 107B: Business Writing
Professor Krut
Tuesday and Thursday: 8AM
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Table of Contents

21. Executive
Summary……………………………………………………..………
…. 1-2
1.0
Introduction…………………………………………………………
…….……. 3-7
1.1 Our Purpose 3
1.2 Chief Characteristics of Industry 3
1.3 Smartphone Application Industry Trend 4
1.4 The Product Description 4-5
1.5 The Product Pricing 5-6
1.6 Future Development Plan 6
1.7 Product Liabilities and Regularly Requirement 6-7
1.8 Conclusion 7
2.0 The
Business/Management……………………………………………..
…........ 8-13
2.1 Management Introduction 8
2.2 Board of Directors 8-9
2.3 Employees and Interns 9-11
2.4 Work Environment 11
2.5 Employee Guidelines 12
2.6 Salary and Benefits 12-13
2.7 Disciplinary Actions 13
2.8 Management Conclusion 13
3.0 The
Market……………………………………………………………..…
…..... 14-19
3.1 Overview 14
3.2 Target Market 14-15
3.3 Demographics 15-16
3.4 Market Trends and Potential Growth 16-17

22. 3.5 Market Share 18
3.6 Competitor Analysis 19
3.7 Conclusion 19
4.0 Marketing
Strategy………………………………………………………...…..
20-25
4.1 Introduction 20
4.2 Target Market Audience 20-21
4.3 Competition 21
4.4 Location 21
4.5 Logo 22
4.6 Marketing Methods 22-24
4.7 Goals and Future Development 24-25
4.8 Exclusive Preview 25
4.9 Risk Assessment 25
4.10 Conclusion 25
5.0
Financials……………………………………………………………
…………. 26-32
5.1 Budget 27
5.2 Projections 27-28
5.3 Developmental Costs 28-29
5.4 Revenue 29-31
5.5 Advertisement Revenue 31-32
5.6 Conclusion 32
6.0
Conclusion……………………………………………………………
……….... 33

23. Appendix………………………………………………………………
……………. A-1
References
!
! 1!
Executive Summary
1.0 Introduction
The industry of smart phone is growing; the demand of mobile
application is growing as
well. Our purpose clearly states that we are going to propose a
business plan of a smart
phone application called $hopE-Z. Based on the research of the
industry trend, it’s a good
time for us to enter the market with a free version of application
to build up our clientele
base. The emphasis on convenience and innovative function of
our app are going to give
$hopE-Z an advantage in competing with other application
developers. In the
introduction, we explain how our unique function of $hopE-Z
will lead to success in
today’s technical society, how we are going develop our
business in the future, and how
can we protect our business against the possible liability.

24. 2.0 Management
Management describes how and who our company is to be run.
The board of directions
consists of a chief executive, finance manager, marketing
director, head of industry and a
lead technician. The roles of each position are to be carried out
efficiently and
professionally in order to ensure the success of the company.
Outlined in the
management section are our company’s guidelines, sick days,
vacations, salary, and other
employee benefits. The mission of $hopE-Z is to encourage
team building and an
effective workplace.
3.0 Market Analysis
Our business is a mobile application business and highly
depends on the market of
smartphones and smartphone applications. Research shows that
smartphone users
doubled from 2010 to 2011 and the number of mobile apps
downloaded has grown 4
times the number of 2009 downloads. The target market of our
business is the United
States. As the population has increased and is expected to
increase, we believe there is a
huge potential market. At this stage, we have two competitors:
Vons and Albertson’s
mobile applications. They both provide similar services as
$hopE-Z. Our application
intends to combine all grocery stores together, provide store
locations, collect coupons
and help users locate any given item in a grocery store. With
successful marketing

25. strategies, we expect to obtain 30% of the market share in the
near future.
4.0 Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy of the $hopE-Z application will use a
variety of techniques
including social media sites, its own webpage, a promotional
booth and in-app and
magazine advertisements. Through these marketing methods we
will be able to reach our
targeted audience of smartphone holders and grocery store
shoppers. Available for Apple
and Android operating systems, a wide base of customers will
be able to download the
app for the easiest shopping experience. Being the first of its
kind which encompasses a
GPS, shopping list and coupon feature, the success will be
determined from the review of
the 100 people that will get to exclusively preview the app
before its release date.
! 2!
Customer feedback will allow us to improve the app and be
among the top downloaded
apps within its first year.
5.0 Financials
The financial section contains a comparison of the growing use
of mobile applications
over the use of website consumption. The comparison allows
investors to see the

26. potential of the $hopE-Z app. Also included in financials is a
list of required expenses
for getting the application off the ground. These expenses
include developmental costs
and start-up fees. A table displays the first three years of
running and maintaining our
app. All of these costs are explained in detail and how they are
all equally important to
the development of the app. The mobile application market is
growing and to generate
revenue we will utilize the market and its growing industry. We
primarily anticipate
generating income from advertising on the interface of the
application.
6.0 Conclusion
As our business proposal has included all our major sections to
explain how the business
is going to work and penetrate the market using one free
application for the first three
years. Since the demand of smart phone application grows in a
continuous rate even in
recession, it’s the best time for us to enter the market. In spite
of the challenge of
requiring raising a substantial capital to cover the huge start up
cost and make the plan
work, we expect the business to be very successful.
! 3!
1.0 Introduction

27. 1.1 Our Purpose
The use of smart phone has grown tremendously in the recent
past. Increasing demand of
smart phone has led to an increase in its applications globally.
Application refers to
software used by the subscribers to enhance communication
over wireless networks
(Harty, 2010)1. This has changed people’s purchasing
behaviors and has made their lives
easier. People can use smart phones to buy anything they want
(for example, groceries
and clothes) in a very limited time. The paper aims at
discussing one of the smart phone
applications known as $hopE-Z, which is available to everyone
in the website. $hopE-Z
is not restricted to anyone and can be downloaded easily from
the website. It has a floor
plan containing grocery stores and a GPS locator. This enables
people to locate things
they need easily while shopping.
For instance, consider a person shopping inside Ralphs and
wants a can opener. All
employees are very busy serving other customers. This
application, through the GPS
locator, can help him to locate the grocery store he is in, and
direct him to the opener.
Therefore, $hopE-Z application is convenient and saves time to
its subscribers.
1.2 Chief Characteristics of Industry
Both the smart phone industry and its applications have grown
correspondingly in the

28. recent past. The study has shown that both,
individuals and businesses use these smart
phone applications frequently. Gone are the
days when people used to think that the only
channel that can link them to many
businesses is the website. Today, mobile
phone applications have been vital to many
businesses, and equally important as the
websites were previously.
The use of smart phone applications has
been regarded as new ways through which
businesses communicate to their customers.
This has led to efficient and effective
collaboration and engagement between
businesses and customers. According to the
research survey in 2010, the use of this
application has increased greatly.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"! Harty, J. A practical guide to testing wireless smartphone
applications. San Rafael, CA: Morgan &
Claypool. (2010). Retrieved May 7, 2012
!
Figure 1.1: use of applications in business
Source: The Wall Street Journal (online)
!
! 4!
1.3 Smartphone Application Industry Trend

29. There is no indication, which show whether there is a transition
of these applications
towards large companies or not. Majority of these smart phone
application companies
start small that is, some applications can even be developed in
home based offices.
According to a study, it is estimated that by 2013, smart phone
application market could
reach $15 billion. It is expected that this growth will remain
constant in the subsequent
years. This will be the most suitable time to develop this
$hopE-Z application. For
instance, many users have not realized the strength and
influence of these smart phone
applications. They are not aware of the addiction that is behind
these smart phone
applications. 48.6% of over 100 million smart phone subscribers
in the US have used
applications on their mobile devices in the last 3 months (Keith,
2012). 2Therefore, study
shows that many people will be using these applications in the
future. Uncertainty in
trends of demand may be the major problem, but volumes are
expected to increase.
Figure 1.2 shows projected trends of the volumes of smart
phone applications download
in years 2011 and 2012.
Figure 1.2 Projected Downloads of Smart Phone Apps
Source:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=2033
12
1.4 The Product Description

30. We will be specializing in the development of a smart phone
application known as
$hopE-Z. It will use the GPS locator, and a floor plan of a
certain grocery store to guide
customers while shopping along the aisle that has items they
need. Today, people live in
a competitive world with full of stressful lifestyle. Therefore,
time is considered as the
most precious commodity. With the development of this
application ($hopE-Z), time
saving will be easy hence a smooth life. Our team will ensure
no problems exist among
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#! Keith, K. Smartphone apps wield more power than you think.
(2012). From
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=2033
12. Retrieved May 7,2012,
! 5!
the subscribers when using this application. Our goal is to see
that the subscribers enjoy
using this application, and ensure excellent experience among
subscribers.
Figure 1.3 shows the addiction these applications bring to
people’s lives. They can use
the smart phones anywhere even when they are on the streets
walking. Moreover,
subscribers can use this application for their mobile banking
and during shopping to save
time. Figure 1.3 People often use Smartphone, even when they

31. are on the street
Frequent updates will be made through
our technical staff to enlighten the
subscribers about the movements of
the stocks in the aisle. Finally, the
$hopE-Z application will enable
subscribers to access the coupons, and
ensure items needed are easily and
quickly found. This is the ideal
application people need when
shopping to save time.
Figure 1.3 People often use Smartphone, even when they are on
the street
Source:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=2033
12
1.5 The Product Pricing
Our objective is to develop both free tentative smart phone
application and an upgraded
version. The free application will be made available for
everyone to download, and it will
be accompanied by in advertisements to attract more
subscribers. On the other hand, the
upgraded one will be downloaded at a cost. It will have special

32. features like, more access
to locations, grocery stores, and coupons. The free application
will enable us penetrate
the market, and attract many subscribers. Many subscribers will
inform their friends
about it, and they will download this application from the stores
without thinking because
it is free. It is uncertain to estimate the profits that can be
generated, and the number of
subscribers of both the free and the updated version. In spite of
all the uncertainties,
profits will be generated through popularizing this application
and attract many
! 6!
subscribers. Figure 1.4 shows the number of subscribers who
download the paid and free
applications. It is evident from this figure that there is a need
for free application.
Figure 1.4 Application-Free V.S. Paid Data Chart
Source: http://appsmarketing.mobi/free-paid-freemium-apps/
1.6 Future Development Plan
$hopE-Z will penetrate the market using one free application for
the first three years.
Profits will be generated through in app advertisement to
counter other companies. This
free version will be used by our subscribers to improve on

33. clientele base. Frequent
communication and engagement with our subscribers will help
us improve on our product
through their responses. Our executives will evaluate these
feedbacks and the returns of
the product to make a decision on whether to upgrade the paid
version or not. This will
aim at increasing profits. We also expect to increase the size of
our company and,
manufacture other types of applications. These applications will
earn their market share
when demand supersedes supply.
1.7 Product Liabilities and Regular Requirement
Risks behind the in app advertisement are many, and this might
create insecurity to the
phone. Study shows “apps sometimes incorporate “in-app ad
libraries,” permission for
which was granted when the user downloaded the app, which
can provide a backdoor for
! 7!
hackers into your phone” (Klima 2012). 3Therefore, we should
take care and ensure the
wellbeing of our subscribers. We will choose a company that
will be reliable, and entitle
it with the advertisement strategy in our application. We will
make an agreement with the
advertising company to ensure our security.
The more people continue using this application, the more need
for ads free version of the
application. Therefore, another version of application has to be

34. developed by our
technical team to offset the risk of insecurity among
subscribers. To develop ads free
version, we will guarantee some level of security to our users,
and allow them use this
application without any anxiety.
1.8 Conclusion
Our application ($hopE-Z) will have a competitive advantage
over other applications,
because we have stressed on innovative type of application, and
convenience. Unlike
other applications in the same industry like Vons and
Albertsons, $hopE-Z will provide
its users with item locator instead of store locator. This unique
function that our
application has will make it more attractive when we compare it
with other applications
in this industry. In spite of the challenge of finding floor plans
from all grocery stores, we
expect the business to be very successful.

35. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$!Klima, L. Are Free Apps Like ‘Angry Birds’ Giving
Advertisers Access to Your Private Information?
(2012). from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/are-free-apps-
like-angry-birds-giving-advertisers-access-to-
your-private-information/ Retrieved May 7, 2012.
! 8!
2.0 The Business/Management
2.1 Management Introduction
$hopE-Z, a GPS equipped smart phone application, is designed
to assist grocery store
customers to make their trip quick and a little less stressful. Our
goals are to help
navigate shoppers directly to their desired product while
maturing as a small business
through teamwork.
2.2 Board of Directors
There will be a board of directors that will start off the
development of the $hopE-Z
smart phone application. The president/chief executive of the
company will fuel the
growth of this application business. There will also be a finance
manager, a marketing

36. director, a head of industry, and a lead technician along with
graphic designers. All board
members are required to communicate with one another; to
share ideas and further
enhance team building and maximize company profits.
2.2.1 Chief Executive – Audrey Lau
The chief executive will oversee the board and the employees,
making any necessary
changes to better the company. Ms. Lau will make any required
announcements to
employees regarding company policy at the beginning of each
shift. All company
employees will report status updates or progress to the chief
executive after their shift has
ended. Everything that takes place regarding the employees and
company information
will also be reported to the chief executive.
2.2.2 The Finance Manager – Tommy Trauger
Mr. Trauger is responsible for managing company budget and
making financial
decisions. In regards to managing company budget, the finance
manager works with the
chief executive when the time comes to distribute employee
paychecks. Also, Mr.
Trauger decides whether the company needs and can afford to
hire new employees. Any
Table 2.1 Overview of Company Employees
Interns
Employees

37. Board of Directors
Principal Executive Chief
The
Finance
Manager
Financial
Analysts/
Accountant
s
Financial
Interns
The
Marketing
Director
Market
Analysts
Market
Interns
The Head
of Industry
Industry
Analysts
Industrial
Interns

38. The Lead
Technician
Technicians
/Engineers
Engineering
Interns
Web
Designers
Designing
Interns
! 9!
necessary expenses that will contribute to improving sales or
improving the business are
under the control of the finance manager. Qualities that this
individual should possess are
a responsive attitude and awareness to changes in company
revenues. All profit and
earnings growth witnessed by the finance manager should be
reported to the chief
executive as well as other final transactions.
2.2.3 The Marketing Director – Brittney Eugenio
The duty of Ms. Eugenio is to advertise the $hopE-Z
application. In addition, the
marketing director should be up to date with any developing
competitors, while in

39. partnership with the head of industry. The marketing director
should also be aware of
what customers look for in an application to make any changes
necessary in advertising.
Ms. Eugenio should be actively involved in social media and
networking with other
companies as well. Through networking, we aim to look for any
partnerships that can be
made to enhance company outcomes. The chief executive should
approve all decisions
made by Ms. Eugenio.
2.2.5 The Head of Industry – Yingmin Cai
Ms. Cai is in charge of observing the latest innovations to
improve the product in any
way. Working alongside the marketing director, the two teams
work to examine existing
and incoming competitors. The job of the head of industry is to
discover innovative
features that attract more consumers and hike up the sales of the
product as well.
2.2.4 The Lead Technician – Weilu Yang
The duty of Ms. Yang as a lead technician is to make sure that
$hopE-Z is using all up-
to-date technology and that there are minimal flaws in the
product. Also, the lead
technician is responsible for overseeing customer inquiries
about any faults in the
application technology-wise. Any technological complaints
made about the product
should be dealt with professionally and fixed as quickly as
possible.

40. 2.3 Employees and Interns
Creating a team development atmosphere in a small, private
business is one of the key
qualities of a successful private enterprise. Therefore, each of
our directors will be in
charge of employees as well as department interns. The goal is
to build a comfortable
team-building atmosphere while bettering the company. Our
goal is to familiarize them
with the workplace through observation as well as hands-on
practice.
As our full-time employees will be assistants to our board of
directors, the interns of this
company will follow the footsteps of our skilled employees
under each specific
department. Their particular area of study will be applied in the
workplace through
hands-on experiences. The company’s goal for these interns is
to give them the necessary
experience needed to further excel in their area of expertise.
Those who intern for $hopE-
Z will have the opportunity to apply and become full-time
employees.
! 10!
2.3.1. Financial Analysts & Interns
Under the training of the finance manager, Mr. Trauger will be
in charge of the finance

41. analysts. These employees will follow a certain protocol so that
the outcome of our
company is efficient and precise. These analysts will be under
the training of Mr. Trauger
to assist the company financially in any way possible. We hope
our employees will get as
much out of their work as they can, as it will help them as
individuals and the company
as well.
Financial interns will observe the work of our financial analysts
and learn the proper
steps in keeping the company growing financially at an efficient
speed. These interns will
do sample spreadsheets and help gather financial information
for our accountants as well.
2.3.2 Market Analysts & Interns
Ms. Eugenio will be the head of the company’s market analysts.
These employees need to
be alert for day-to-day updates on the application market. Our
market analysts are great
assets to our company as they are watchful eyes for any new
participants in the
application market. Required changes for application
advertisements will be made under
the market analysts’ judgment as well as the marketing director.
Market interns will examine the company’s market analysts.
They will be trained to
skillfully select advertising opportunities and also survey for
competitors in conjunction
with the industrial interns.
2.3.3 Industry Analysts & Interns

42. Our industry analysts will be trained under Ms. Cai. The job of
the industry analysts will
comprise of finding ways to utilize researched results in
increasing sales and expanding
company profits. These employees will use the application itself
from time to time and
inspect for any glitches or upgrades in features that can be
made. Any problems found by
our industry analysts will be reported to the appropriate
department for modifications.
Our interns in the industry department will work alongside our
industry analysts as well
as the market interns to accomplish essential skills in
maximizing company revenue and
sales through advertisement.
2.3.4 Technicians/Graphic Designers & Interns
Under Ms. Yang, there will be a few computer technicians and
web/graphic designers to
handle the technical aspects of $hopE-Z. Our customer service
is also backed up by our
computer technicians along with the technician to ensure fast
responses. The web/graphic
designers’ jobs are to be constantly improving the appearance of
our application icon to
attract more customers. Rather than imitating other application
designs, we train our
employees to learn and pick up from the appearances of more
popular applications out
there in the market.

43. ! 11!
$hopE-Z’s computer technicians will oversee the work of the
engineering interns to make
sure that the proper procedures are taken in when
communicating with customers. Further
into the internship, these interns will learn the appropriate steps
in fixing common
technical errors.
Our designing interns will assist our graphic/web designers in
producing attractive digital
exteriors that are appealing to the customers. These interns
prior to hiring will need
proficient skills in Adobe Photoshop and web design.
2.4 Work Environment
$hopE-Z strives to maintain a safe and comfortable work
environment, where all
employees and interns are able to express their feedback about
the company’s well-being.
The reason why we value the feedback of our employees is
because exercising open
communication helps to foster better relationships with one
another professionally.%! We
aim to provide the experience and assistance to employees in
need.
2.4.1 Team Development
Our company is focused on team
building and working together in being

44. efficient to our fullest potential.
According to Susan Heathfield on
team building success, utilizing
employee involvement and interaction
emphasizes team building
tremendously, which in turn helps
each individual or group make better
decisions.5 Every one of our
employees has a professional yet
collaborative personality, therefore
each a great asset to our company.
2.4.2 Customer Service
To strive in a small business, it is
important to present commitment to our customers. All of our
employees work to please
and satisfy the needs of our shoppers. From “7 Habits of
Business Success,” Darrell
Zahorsky supports that in order to understand what our
consumers really need and want,
our foundation for customer service needs to be firmly
established.6 In the long run, not
only will business be booming due to our dedication and
promise to put our customers
first, but also in turn, our customers will be loyal to us.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
% TinTin. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/team-building-in-the-
workplace.html. Retrieved May 20, 2012
& Heathfield, Susan M.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_
one_stop.htm.
Retrieved May 20, 2012.
' Zahorsky, Darrell.
http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/development/a/032303.htm.
Retrieved May 20,

45. 2012.
Image 2.1 Team Building
Source: Courtesy of Google images
! 12!
2.5 Employee Guidelines
2.5.1 Employee Rules and Regulations
1. Efficient performance of each employee is expected.
2. Professional etiquette is to be kept at all times.
3. Timely attendance and completion through time cards is
required.
4. Proper care and usage of company equipment is expected.
5. There will be no sleeping on the job.
6. No illegal substances or weapons will be allowed inside the
workplace.
*Violation of these rules will result in serious consequences.
2.5.2 Employee Duties
The job of each employee is to contribute their capability in
improving the company
proficiently. All changes and updates are to be reported to the
chief executive.
All employees are required to attend a monthly meeting in the
conference room to discuss
any questions, concerns, or comments regarding our customers
or any feature of the
application.

46. 2.5.3 Confidentiality Agreement
Upon hiring, all company employees will be required to sign a
confidentiality agreement,
which states that the employee will protect confidential
company information from those
outside of our company and workplace. Any information should
only be distributed to
personnel working for $hopE-Z inside the workplace.
2.5.4 Dress code
All employees should dress to work
comfortably in the workplace whilst
keeping a professional yet classy
image. All shoes are to be close-toed
and clothing should be kept
appropriate. Our aim is business
casual.
2.6 Salary and Benefits
2.6.1 Salary
The salary of every employee will
vary according to his or her
department and position. Details are
kept with the chief executive.
Image 2.2 Dress Code – Business Casual
Source: Courtesy of Google images

47. ! 13!
2.6.2 Pay Procedures
All employees and interns will be paid on the fifteenth and the
last day of every month
through the employee’s preference, either through check or
direct deposit.
If the payday falls on a weekend or holiday, the check will be
delivered to the employee
the business day following the day(s) off.
2.6.3 Vacation Benefits
Every full-time employee is offered a one-week vacation period
with all transportation
fees paid by the company from company budget after one year
of employment with the
company. Any collaboration benefits with out-of-state clients
will be appropriately
shared with company full-time employees.
2.7 Disciplinary Actions
2.7.1 Confidential Information
Depending on the severity of the information leaked, violation
and distribution of
confidential company information will either result in the
employee being put on
probation or losing his or her job.
2.7.2 Sick Days
Each employee is allowed up to fifteen sick days, and will not

48. be paid during those days
of absence. It is not recommended to take more than fifteen sick
days, but if necessary,
the company will surely oblige.
2.7.3 Vacations
All employees taking non-company related vacations should
notify the chief executive
two weeks in advance. Vacations are not to exceed 10 business
days. The employee
should have a sense of whether his or her absence will
significantly affect the
productivity of the company. If so, it is recommended that the
employee not take leave.
2.8 Management Conclusion
$hopE-Z’s overall goal as a small, private company is to ensure
a safe, comfortable yet
professional workplace while constantly improving our product
to satisfy our customers.
Day to day, we strive to create a team-building environment so
all our employees are at
ease and feel free to express their opinions about our product
and the workplace, creating
open communication in making important decisions. All of our
employees and interns are
certified to take on critical tasks to keep our company moving
forward. With a strong
board of directors to guide our employees, $hopE-Z’s easy but
efficient pace of
collaborative work is sure to produce a successful outcome.

49. ! 14!
3.0 Market Analysis
3.1 Overview
The future development of our smart phone grocery (GPS
application) depends on the
growth of the smart phone market. After the economy began to
decline in 2008, the
demand for goods also fell tremendously. However, due to the
development of
technology, both the smart phone and smart phone application
markets kept on
flourishing. In addition, the number of smart phone users in
different ages doubled
between 2010 and 2011. Research studies have shown that the
number of smart phone
users has been increasing yearly, with marketing companies
making enormous sales.
Today, the number of smart phone applications downloads has
globally increased 4 times
higher than in 2009.7
The grocery GPS application is an online technical business.
Although we do not have a
specific physical location, we plan to market our product
throughout the whole country.
There are numerous grocery stores and households, thus
providing our business with an
enormous market for our product. Since the grocery GPS
application is still new in the
market, our business does not have a lot of competitors. After
conducting a research

50. survey, statistics indicate that our business has enormous
potential to succeed in the near
future.
3.2 Target Market
The target market for our product will be citizens of the United
States. Although there are
numerous stores located countrywide, majority of the grocery
stores have similar basic
layouts. Since our mobile application will be different from the
other grocery stores in the
country, it will not pose a significant challenge to launch our
product. On the contrary,
the numerous grocery stores and households will provide an
enormous potential market
for our product, since our business is distinctive and unique
(Price, 2011).
The expanding smart phone market will provide an ideal chance
for our smart phone
grocery application. The market of potential customers is wide
and diverse, since our
business will target people of all ages. As the graph below
illustrates, the largest group of
customers that use smart phone and smart phone applications is
aged between 18 to 44
years. In addition, we expect that this group of users would be
the most valuable part of
our market share.8
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(!Gary Price. "New Statistics: The Rise of Smart phones, Apps
and the Mobile Web," Infodocket.com,
(December 15th, 2011))!Retrieved May 10, 2012.
8 Gary Price. "New Statistics: The Rise of Smart phones, Apps

51. and the Mobile Web," Infodocket.com,
(December 15th, 2011))!Retrieved May 10, 2012.!
! 15!
Figure 3.1 Monthly Data Usage by Age
Source: The Rise of Smart phones, Apps and the Mobile Web
3.3 Demographics
The demographics
of the U.S. provide
concrete evidence
to show that our
business has a
favorable market
for its product. The
United States
Census Bureau
indicates that, in the
year 2010 there
were 308,455,134
residents in the U.S.
In 1990, the
population
increased by
24.02% and 9.61%
in the year 2000. In

52. addition, the total population is expected to increase by
4.52% in the next two years (US Census Bureau, 2010).
These statistics are a clear indication that, the rapid increase
in population will provide a stable growth and potential market
for our business. 9
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*!United States Census Bureau, “Population Growth and
Population Statistics,” US Census Bureau (2010).
Retrieved May 10, 2012.!
Figure 3.2 Population Statistics
Source: www.clrsearch.com!
!
! 16!
Furthermore, research studies also show that the majority of the
population comprises of
people between the ages of 18 to 64. From these statistics, our
business will identify its
target market of smart phone users. Therefore, the business will
develop strategies of
developing products that meet the demands of this age group to
attract and satisfy its
customers.
3.4 Market Trends and Potential Growth
3.4.1 Smartphone Market Analysis
The future development of our product, the smart phone grocery

53. GPS application to a
significant extent depends on the growth of smart phone market.
In his article, “New
Statistics: The Rise of Smart phones, Apps and the Mobile
Web” Price (2011) explains
"Majority of the population aged between 25-34 and 18-24 year
old, own smart phones
(64% and 53% respectively). On the other hand, majority of
smart phone owners (62%)
regularly download applications on their devices and games, as
the top application
category used in the past 30 days. In addition, the number of
smart phone subscribers
using the mobile Internet has grown by 45% since the year
2010.
Figure 3.3 Breakdown of U.S. Mobile Video Viewers
Source: www.infodocket.com
The figure above provides a breakdown of mobile video viewers
in the U.S. From the
statistics, it is evident that, among all three ways to viewing
mobile videos, the use of
smart phone has the fastest pace and growth. For instance, in a
span of only one year, the
number of smart phone users increased from 16 million to 26
million, translating to
62.5% (www.infodocket.com). Since the use of smart phones is
becoming a common
phenomenon in our daily lives, the growth and development of
our smart phone grocery
GPS application is assured.10
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

54. "+!Gary Price. "New Statistics: The Rise of Smart phones, Apps
and the Mobile Web," Infodocket.com,
(December 15th, 2011). Retrieved May 10, 2012.!
! 17!
3.4.2 Smartphone Application Market
It is apparent that the growth of the smart phone grocery GPS
application is highly
influenced by the growth of the smart phone application in the
market. This means that,
with the rising number of consumers using the smart phone,
consequently, the usage of
smart phone applications is also expected to increase.
According to Jahns and
Mikalajunaite (2010) "the use of smart phone applications in the
market, grew by more
than $2.2 billion dollars within the first six months of the year
2010”. Mobile application
download numbers reached a total of 3.8 billion in only 6
months, compared to 3.1 billion
in 2009.11 As a result of the widespread use of advanced
technology, and the increasing
number of connected consumers means that, the market of smart
phone applications has
the potential to grow. In his article “Smart phone Application
Market To Reach US$15.65
Billion In 2013” Jahns (2010) predicts that, this trend will
continue and the number of
global smart phone application users numbering 970 million by
the end of 2013.12

55. Figure 3.4 Smart phone Application Users from 2009 to 2013
Source: www.research2guidance.com
The figure above illustrates that the number of smart phone
application users has been
increasing sharply and steadily. Since 2010, the market of smart
phone application users
has almost been tripled. Since the numbers of smart phone users
are still increasing, there
is no doubt that the smart phone application market will
continue increase. Therefore, this
is a perfect time for us to enter the application market and
popularize our grocery GPS
application.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
""!Ralf-Gordon Jahns and Egle Mikalajunaite. "The Smart
phone Application Market as Reached more
than 2.2 Billlion Dollars in The First Half of 2010."
Research2guidance.com. (August 19th, 2010).
Retrieved May 10, 2012.!
"#!Ralf-Gordon Jahns. "Smart phone Application Market To
Reach US$15.65 Billion In 2013,"
Research2guidance.com. (March 4th, 2010). Retrieved May 10,
2012.!
! 18!
3.5 Market Share
Although there are many smart phone GPS applications in the
market, the grocery GPS
application is an undeveloped market. We intend to use coupons

56. that will contain clear,
understandable and direct information to help users locate our
product in the grocery
store through our application. Since our business does not
require a large space and
physical equipment to develop and organize our applications,
we shall advertisement our
product through internet, thereby reducing on costs and saving
on time.
Since the grocery GPS application market is new and
undeveloped, our business does not
have many competitors. However, it is not prudent to assume
that our business will not
face any challenges and gain a large market share. The most
significant challenges we
shall face is that, our target consumers have no idea about our
product since they have
never heard of it. Therefore, we have to create an awareness
program to convince our
customers that we shall provide high quality and efficient
services.
The use of an effective advertising campaign to market our
product will be the key to
success and growth. We have to convenience our customers that
our product is unique
and tailored to suit their tastes and preferences. In addition, we
shall value the feedback
from consumers by asking them to give suggestions on how to
improve our products.
Furthermore, we intend to develop a program of rewarding the
most loyal consumers.
Our business hopes to attain a 30% market share in the near
future. This will only be

57. achieved by the use of effective and efficient marketing
strategies to create awareness on
consumers and the community. Since the smart phone
application industry keeps growing
and expanding by day, we expect that the number of customers
purchasing our product
will increase, thereby raising the profitability levels of the
business.
Our business intends to engage in product differentiation to gain
a competitive advantage.
For example, we intend to offer our customers with free
downloads of no-ads version. To
increase our revenue earnings, we shall add advertisements of
other applications in our
application. However, we are anticipating a risk in this move.
Since our product is new
and many potential customers have never used this application,
we intend to employ
strategic marketing to create customer awareness. Besides, we
have to convince different
brands of grocery stores to believe that, by using our
application they stand a better
chance of increasing their profits margins. If we fail to achieve
this, our business will
face serious obstacles.
3.6 Competitor Analysis
After carrying out extensive market research, and explored
every aspect of the market
and in which our business will operate, we have understood the
risks of starting up a new
business. Besides, we have understood the primary competition
in this industry and have
developed strategies that will enable us to create our own

58. market niche. The main
competitors include: Vons Application that was developed by
Safeway Inc. and updated
on April 24th, 2012. The application provides weekly
advertisements, different Vons store
locations, shopping lists and coupons for its users. On the other
hand, Albertsons
application was designed by the Supervalu Inc. and most
recently updated on May 3rd,
! 19!
2012. Just like Vons application, Albertsons application also
provides weekly
advertisements, maps for Albertsons store locator and coupons
for its users. This
application only works for the states of California, Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
3.6.1 Competitor Comparison
Vons and Albertsons applications provide similar services. The
only difference is that,
Vons application operates in the whole of U.S. while Albertsons
application is only valid
for certain states in the U.S. Our application, $hop E-Z, works
in the whole country and
combines all the grocery stores together. As opposed to the
services that Vons and
Albertsons applications have already provided, our $hop E-Z
provides an item locator,
which could give understandable directions to help users find a
specific the item they are

59. searching for in a grocery store through our application. This
could serve our customers
better and make $hop E-Z more attractive than our competitors.
3.7 Conclusion
The current research statistics show that, the market of smart
phone and use of smart
phone application is rapidly expanding at an alarming rate. As a
result, there are no signs
of slowing down in the future since the mobile grocery
application market is
undeveloped. We intend to focus on the residents of the U.S.
and provide them with the
best service to achieve customer satisfaction. We believe that,
by customizing our
product to suit the needs of our customers, our business will be
able to satisfy the
demands of the growing market. Besides, our business will
experience high rates of
return on investment (ROI).

60. ! 20!
4.0 Marketing Strategy
4.1 Introduction
$hopE-Z is a mobile application with the goal of making
grocery shopping easier and
faster. Stepping into the app industry with the right foot is
crucial to the success of the
business. This section will cover the target audience,
competition, marketing strategies,
goals now and in the future, risk assessment and an exclusive
preview of the app to a
handful of consumers.
4.2 Target Market Audience
There are two audiences the $hopE-Z app is targeted towards.
Directing advertisements
and promotions towards them will produce the greatest benefit
for the $hopE-Z company.
These two markets are smartphone holders and grocery store
shoppers.
4.2.1 Smartphone Holders
Smartphone holders are the first target of this product because
they are the ones that can
download the application on their phones. Gartner research
firm vice president said, “by
2015, applications targeting smartphones and tablets will
outnumber PC projects by four
to one. Smartphone and tablets will represent more than 90
percent of new growth in the

61. world’s device sales113.” Increase in smartphone and tablets
sales will promote growth
within the app industry.
The app will start off by only being available for phones or
tablets. Since it is a GPS
incorporated app, it would not be beneficial to be downloaded
on computers because
people do not bring their laptops into grocery stores.
Figure 4.1 Smartphones
Source: Google Images, Jaxov
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"$!Liang Fei, “Mobile app market set for increased growth:
Gartner”, Global Times, January 18, 2012,
http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/692610/Mobile-
app-market-set-for-increased-growth-
Gartner.aspx, accessed May 2012.!
! 21!
4.2.2 Grocery Store Shoppers
The second targeted audience is grocery shoppers. Being a
specialized app, it will not be
of advantage to every smartphone or tablet owner. Those who
do the grocery shopping
for their households will get the most use from the app.

62. 4.3 Competition
This is among the first known app of this type. However,
competition can still be found
among other apps providing shopping lists and coupon finders.
There is a VONS app
featuring store specials, ads and coupons.
The main attraction of the $hopE-Z app that has not yet been
developed by competitors is
the GPS locator that helps shoppers find items they cannot
locate on their own. $hopE-Z
is branching into a new app industry where it will be one of the
first of its kind and set the
bar for competitors in the future.
4.4 Location
As a mobile app, there is no physical location. The app will be
available to download
through the app store for Apple and Android operating systems.
Figure 4.2 Apple and Android Operating Systems
Source: Google Images
! 22!
4.5 Logo

63. $hopE-Z’s logo, shown in Figure 4.3 on the following page, is a
simple shopping bag
with a dollar sign to represent the customers shopping trip and
potentially monetary
savings. When creating a logo it is important to use visuals that
stick to people’s
memories. A dollar sign will always capture people’s attention
and draw them in to see
what it represents.
This will be the logo consumers will see in the app store when
searching and
downloading the $hopE-Z mobile app.
Figure 4.3 Shop E-Z Logo
4.6 Marketing Methods
A variety of methods will be used to market the $hopE-Z app.
Spreading the word is a
critical call to action for our business so that the app can grow
and serve as many
consumers as possible. $hopE-Z will be advertised through
Facebook, Twitter, its own
website, ads on various web pages, in technology magazines,
and a promotional booth.
4.6.1 Facebook
Social media connects almost everyone nowadays. $hopE-Z
will have its own app page
on Facebook that allows Facebook users to “like” and post

64. feedback about the app.
Appendix A displays the potential app page on Facebook.
Friends will be able to view
this activity between consumers and $hopE-Z. The aim is the
more likes it gets, the
more downloads.
! 23!
4.6.2 Twitter
The twitter account for $hopE-Z will serve a similar purpose to
the Facebook page.
Twitter account holders will be able to follow the $hopE-Z app
and tweet about its
performance. In return, $hopE-Z will tweet to its followers
about updates and special
promotions that can be found within the app.
4.6.3 Online Ads
Online advertising will also play a huge role in the success of
$hopE-Z. The purpose of
online advertising is to capture the attention of consumers while
they are surfing the web.
According to a source from the New York Times the type of ad
that “allow[s] users to
click within the ad to see a brand’s Twitter messages or
Facebook wall posts in real time,
or to watch a brand’s video content from YouTube—all without
leaving the Web page

65. where the ad appears14” receives more customer interaction
than an ad that takes you
away from the website you are on.
4.6.4 Technology Magazines
$hopE-Z will have a small advertisement to send out to various
technology magazines.
Over the first year it will be the most important to get the
$hopE-Z ads in these types of
magazines so that a solid group of consumers download the app,
have the chance to use it
and also provide any suggestions.
4.6.5 Website
A website for $hopE-Z will contain the basic information about
the app, its purpose and
usefulness. It will include news about updates, where the app is
available for download
and most importantly a place to review the app and give
suggestions for improvement.
Figure 4.4 illustrates some of
the key strategies that will go
into making a successful
website for $hopE-Z.
The $hopE-Z team will select
a handful of customers to
download the app before it is
made available to the public,
as a pre-launch strategy.

66. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"%!Andrew Newman, “Brands Now Direct Their Followers to
Social Media”, August 3, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/business/media/promoting-
products-using-social-media-
advertising.html, accessed June 2012.!
Figure 4.4 Mobile App Marketing Strategy
Source: Brandignity.com (2011)
!
! 24!
$hopE-Z will also reach out to bloggers to write about the app
after experiencing first
hand the usefulness of the app. The links to the blogs will be
put on the $hopE-Z website
for easy access.
As mentioned above, social media such as Facebook and
Twitter, will be an active part in
advertising the app. Business Communication Quarterly quoted
in a recent article that
“approximately 80% of American adults use the Internet and
approximately have of them
have at least one social networking site15.” A Facebook app
page and Twitter account
will expose the $hopE-Z to these social networking users.
Lastly, it will be important to increase all chances of the app
being found in the app store.
Through popularity and good reviews, the app needs to be easily
found when terms like
“shop”, “grocery”, and “coupons” are searched.

67. 4.6.6 Promotional Booth
Even though most of people’s time is spent online, The Wall
Street Journal article written
by Ed Keller and Brad Fay emphasize the importance of offline
marketing. Face-to-face
conversation is a successful marketing strategy because it “puts
people—rather than
technology—at the center of products116.” A promotional booth
with sample phones to
demonstrate how the app works will be useful for $hopE-Z in
spreading the word outside
the online world. It will give customers a chance to meet the
people behind the app
instead of a mysterious cyber world salesman.
4.7 Goals and Future Development Plans
The goal of $hopE-Z is to provide consumers with
an app that makes a trip to the grocery store easy,
fast and inexpensive. With the GPS function,
$hopE-Z wants to ensure that if no workers are
around, the shopper will be able to use their
smartphone or tablet to find what he or she is
looking for. A shopping list feature will also
provide further convenience for shoppers instead of
having to bring five different papers with lists of
what they need. By entering their zip code and
selecting their choice of store, consumers will be
able to gather coupons, if available, for the items
on their shopping list.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"&!Tena B. Crews and Wanda L. Stitt-Gohdes, “Incorporating
Facebook and Twitter in a Service-Learning

68. Project in a Business Communication Course,” Business
Communication Quarterly, March 2012, from
Business Source Complete, accessed May 2012.!
"'!Ed Keller and Brad Fay, “Why Successful Branding Still
Happens Online”, May 14, 2012,
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/05/14/why-most-
successful-branding-and-sales-talk-happens-
offline/?KEYWORDS=marketing+strategy, accessed May
2012.!
Figure 4.5 Coupons
Source: Google Images
!
! 25!
As stated in an article on the Forbes website, mobile
applications aren’t just a trend, they
are customer service17. The grocery store industry can only
benefit by investing in our
$hopE-Z app and provide their shoppers with the customer
service they deserve.
In the future, $hopE-Z hopes to create a paid app with more
features for the shopper and
grocery store. For the first three years we will catalog three
local stores each year, a total
of nine in three years. Once the grocery store aspect is
perfected, $hopE-Z will look into
expanding to cataloging stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target
and Walmart.
4.8 Exclusive Preview

69. To help spread the word and also receive feedback before the
app is released, a selected
group of 100 people will be able to preview the app. The
preview will allow consumers
to download the app before it is available to the public and test
it out. They will then be
asked to fill out an online questionnaire about the app, what can
be improved and how it
worked for them.
4.9 Risk Assessment
While the mobile app industry is growing, there are risks for the
$hopE-Z app because it
is one of the first of its kind. There are GPS incorporated apps
out there as well as
grocery store shopping lists apps but together in one app is a
new project.
Other risks lay with cataloging the grocery stores. All stores
have different layouts which
will require extra work for the $hopE-Z team.
Customers may also be hesitant to download the app thinking
that if they couldn’t find
something they can just ask someone. It is anticipated that
shoppers will take the chance
with this app and see that it is faster than finding an employee,
which can often be
difficult to do.
4.10 Conclusion
Many smartphone and tablet owners are always looking for the
next useful app to
download. $hopE-Z is that next app. Through media such as

70. Facebook, Twitter and the
Internet, all that can be accessed on a smartphone, $hopE-Z will
be promoted. Being the
first of its kind, $hopE-Z will depend on the reviews and
suggestions of its consumers to
grow and improve over time as a top successful mobile
application in the industry.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"(!Gene Marks, “Your Business Checklist: A Website, A Phone
Number, A Mobile App”, May 7, 2012,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/05/07/your-
business-checklist-a-website-a-phone-
number-a-mobile-app/, accessed May 2012.!
! 26!
5.0 Financials
With the combination of smart phones and mobile applications
of today’s developing
tech industry we believe that $hopE-Z will create a new avenue
for the mobile
application market. A recent study conducted by Flurry, a
mobile application analytics
website, found that “consumers spent 81 minutes per day using
mobile apps, compared to
74 minutes web surfing” (Wasserman, 2012)118. These numbers
are expected to grow at
an exponential rate over the coming years. We believe that with
the growing application

71. industry $hopE-Z will soon become an integral part of mobile
users daily lives.
Figure 5.1
Title: Consumers Now Spending More Time On Mobile Apps
Source: http://mashable.com/2011/06/20/app-use-overtakes-
web-use/!
This financial section will encompass all of the related costs
beginning from the
development of the application to the hosting fees and other
related costs for the first
three years.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
",!Wasserman, Todd. "Featured in Social Media." Mashable. 20
June 2011. Web. 31 May 2012.
<http://mashable.com/2011/06/20/app-use-overtakes-web-use/>.
!
! 27!
5.1 Budget
Due to the fact that this venture is a mobile application, the
majority of our budget will
require costs that are related to developing a fundamental
platform for both the Apple and

72. Android market place.
Two Platforms (Apple, Android)
Estimated/development start up costs from (swebapps.com) 19
-$2,399 one-time development fee
-$39/month hosting fee (capable of updating content and design
anytime)
-$20/hour/person (Indexing stores to pinpoint specific items
and their location.)
-$2000 Server Cost per three stores (Data storage for
maintaining all indexed
locations within the store)
-$90/year (Joining the Apple App Store)
Initial Required Expenses
$2,399
One time developmental cost
Swebapps.com developing both Apple and
Android Platforms
$39
Per month hosting fee cost
Hosting through Swebapps.com
$20
Per person to index the stores
$2000
Server cost per store

73. $90
Per year joining Apple Mobile Market
5.2 Projections
These projections are fairly similar to the industry norms
although a large portion of the
start up cost will be due to the indexing costs that are going to
be vital to the proper
functionality of the application. Indexing is required in order to
locate specific items
within approximately one foot from its location in the store.
These assumptions are based
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"*!"IPhone Apps Development by SwebApps:." IPhone App
Development Cost. Web. 31 May 2012.
<http://www.swebapps.com/iphone-app-development-
cost.php>.!
! 28!
on the industry average development costs when developing a
mobile application for both
the Apple and Android platforms. Both the application
development fee and the indexing
expenses are the most significant costs related to $hopE-Z’s
success.
In addition to indexing the entire store, we will need to store all
of the data and maintain
it properly in order run the application with ease. Many users of
the application market

74. may not know this however, “Storage is the key bottleneck for
mobile devices”, said a
NEC electronics manufacturer (Nitin Agrawal, 2012)20. As our
database for indexed
stores begins to grow, we will need more capacity for data
storing all of the indexed
locations.
To begin development of $hopE-Z, here is a table of required
Developmental Costs:
Table 5.2 Developmental Costs for first three years
Beginning
Expenses
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Development Fee $2,399 0 0
Hosting Fee $468 $468 $468
Indexing per store $720 $1,440 $2,160
Server Cost $2000 $4000 $6000
Joining App Store $90 $90 $90
Android Market Fee $30 $30 $30
Total $5,647 $5,948 $8,748
5.3 Developmental Costs
These operating costs encompass all of the required costs for
getting the application up
and running within the first three years of production.
Developing the application is a
one-time fee for creating the platform for both the Apple and
Android market place.
5.3.1 Hosting Fees

75. The hosting fee is a required fee to have the application live 24
hours a day, 7 days a
week and 365 days a year. This is a $39 per month fee also
allows us to update the
platform or any application content.
5.3.2 Indexing Costs
The indexing costs are required in order to offer the user a
direct location to the item or
items in the store. This is a variable cost therefore this cost can
fluctuate from year to
year depending on the number of stores that decide on using the
$hopE-Z application. At
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#+!Simonite, Tom. "How Data Storage Cripples Mobile Apps -
Technology Review." Technology Review.
20 Feb. 2012. Web. 31 May 2012.
<http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39764/>.
!
! 29!
$20 an hour and 12 isles per store, we estimate approximately
$240 per store. In year one
we anticipate beginning with three local stores costing us $720,
and branching our
application service three stores a year for the following two
years.
5.3.4 Sever Cost

76. In order to maintain the all of the recorded data from indexing
the grocery stores, we are
going to need a server to keep the data saved. As we increase
the number of stores that
the $hopE-Z application is offered, we are going to need more
server space to maintain a
successful growth rate. We estimate that our server expenses
will double in the first three
years due to the application’s popularity.
5.3.5 Apple Market Fee
To properly advertise the application’s launch, we figured the
best way to boost the
number of downloads would to offer the app though Apple’s
application market. At $90 a
year, we believe placing the application on the Apple platform
will be a very lucrative
decision.
5.3.6 Android Market Fee
To further promote the app, there is an annual fee of $30 per
year in order to have
$hopE-Z available to Android users.
5.3.7 Bottom Line Start-up cost
Getting $hopE-Z off the ground we expect roughly $5,600 in
developmental fees, hosting
fees, indexing, server and deploying the app to the market
place. We anticipate roughly
three stores a year bringing our total expenditure to $20,343
within the initial years.
5.4 Revenue

77. As far as building up equity into $hopE-Z, we believe that
advertising is a good starting
point in order to get the application off the ground. The app will
be offered as a free
download within the first three years to help build a large user
database. After the first
three years, depending on the number of downloads and growth
within the application, at
that point we may consider charging a fee. Recent research has
found that, “ad revenue is
not as profitable as selling applications” (Heinen, 2012)21
although, we figured allowing
the users to experience the application for free would make
them more prone to trying the
app out. Ultimately, based on the growth rates of the mobile
application market in the
next year illustrated in the figure below we think $hopE-Z’s
user-friendly interface will
attract a large shop happy crowd.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#"!Heinen, Chris. "Heinen Creative." / How To Profit From
Mobile Apps. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 31 May
2012. http://heinencreative.com/articles/how-to-profit-from-
mobile-apps!
! 30!
!
Figure 5.2
Title: Smartphone Application Market to Reach US$15,65
Billion in 2013

78. Source: www.research2guidance.com/smatphone-application-
market-to-reach-us15-65-billion-./-#+"$!
Ralf-Gordon Jahns has estimated that, “in the worldwide smart
phone application market,
[we] expect growth from $1.94 billion in 2009 to $15.65 billion
by 2013.”(Jahns 2010)22
With the researched backed analysis from a number of
professionally accredited
companies, we feel that $hopE-Z’s innovative concept will
prosper in this exponentially
growing industry. In addition, as Wauters stated in his article,
“The big surge in
applications will be driven by a fast-growing number of
smartphone users, which the
research company estimates will increase from about 100
million last year [2009] to
nearly 1 billion by 2013.”
Figure 5.3 Costs as percentage of Total Expenses
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
##!Jahns, Ralf-Gordon. "Subscribe to Our Newsletter and Get:."
SMARTPHONE APPLICATION MARKET
TO REACH US$15.65 BILLION IN 2013. 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 31
May 2012.
<http://www.research2guidance.com/smartphone-application-
market-to-reach-us15-65-billion-in-2013/>.
!
!"#$#%&#%&%'()*(+$&,(%
0/1!2.31!
415167831/2!911!
%#)(:!

79. ;7<2./=!>11!!!!!!
,:!
?/[email protected]/=!6AB7C!
D7<2<!81C!<27C1!
"#),:!
! 31!
We believe that this figure properly displays to the investor that
the one time
developmental fee does in fact take up a large portion of the
initial costs. After the first
year production of the application, the upkeep on the overall
application will decrease.
Following the production of the app, the primary costs then
depend on the growing
popularity and the demand for greater store indexing as well as
data storage.
5.5 Advertisement Revenue
Table 5.3 Advertising Revenue
Advertisement
Revenue
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Projected CPP
Revenue
$7,560 $15,120 $22,680

80. 5.5.1 Advertisement Break Down
After tracing the industry norms the average amount of revenue
per click of an
advertisement would be .05 cents. Considering that the average
American visits the
grocery store 50 times per year, we made a safe assumption
stating that 35 of those visit
would be either an Albertsons or a Vons. Further research stated
that at any given time
there are approximately 35 people shopping at any of the store’s
operating hours. We
estimated that of those 35 people, 25 smart phone holders would
be utilizing the
functions of $hopE-Z. This would give us a total of about 120
uses per day in each of the
three initial stores. Totaling to 360 app uses multiplied by 35
uses a year, gives us 12,600
advertisement opportunities. Lastly, at .05 cents a click and at
12 ads an hour, that leaves
us with .60 cents per visit. So putting it all together leaves us
with 12,600*.60, which
gives us our first year’s advertisement income of $7,560.
(Goodman, 2008)23
5.5.2 Three Year Revenue Forecast
Table 5.4 Three Year Forecast
Revenue
Forecast
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Advertisement
Revenue

81. $7,560 $15,120 $22,680
Less
Expenses
($5,674) ($5,948) ($8,748)
Expected
Advertisement
Revenue
$1,886 $9,172 $13,932
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#$!Goodman, Jack. “Grocery Shopping: Who, When and
Where”, “Who Does the Grocery Shopping and
When Do They Do It?” The Time Use Institute. October 2008.!
! 32!
As the typical venture capitalist or investor can envision, this
monopolizing application
combined with the growing nature of the mobile app market can
make for a very
lucrative investment.
With the remaining funds, we plan on spending a great deal of
time researching on how
to expand our exposure to the application market. In addition,
we plan on taking the
necessary steps to begin charging users for $hopE-Z in the
longer term.

82. 5.6 Conclusion
“It is estimated that by 2015 the mobile web will have more
subscribers than the desktop
web. This mass exodus to mobile means we need to modify the
way we conduct business
on the Internet”(Heinen, 2010)24. At the rate that the global
smartphone industrty is
growing, we believe $hopE-Z will not need much exposure
other than the small fee to
have app available in the Apple and Android market place. With
the number of
smartphone users growing at an exponential rate for the coming
years, by default our
application will prosper in the new niche we at $hopE-Z plan on
creating.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#%!Heinen, Chris. "Heinen Creative." / How To Profit From
Mobile Apps. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 31 May
2012. http://heinencreative.com/articles/how-to-profit-from-

83. mobile-apps!
! 33!
6.0 Conclusion
The Board of Executives of $hopE-Z have created a business
proposal that will make our
mobile application business a successful idea. We have included
the Industry, the Market
Analysis, Marketing Strategy, Business Management, and the
Financials in our proposal.
These five sections demonstrate and explain how our product is
going to enter the
market, how we are going to earn profit, and what opportunities
we see based on the
potential industry and market trends of smart phone
applications.
$hopE-Z will enter the market with one free version of
application for the first three
years. Our company will start out having subscribers to try our
free version in order to
build a clientele base. Then we will regularly ask our customer
for feedbacks, which
allows us to check our mission achievement of expanding our
business, and whether or
not to introduce the paid ads free version or other products.
$hopE-Z can be a very successful business based on not only
the emphasis convenience,
but also as the demand of smart phone application grows in a
rapid rate even in economy
recession. Like other companies, our business requires to raise a

84. substantial capital to
make the plan work due to the huge startup cost. With the
capital that we need, based on
the utilization of $hopE-Z, our business will be able to compete
with other application
developers through our unique function of the application.
A-1

85. References
Crews Tena B., and Wanda L. Stitt-Gohdes. “Incorporating
Facebook and Twitter In
A Service-Learning Project In A Business Communication
Course.” Business
Communication Quarterly 75.1 (2012): 76-79. Business Source
Complete. Web.
Retrieved May 2012.
Fay, Brad and Ed Keller. “Why Successful Branding Still
Happens Offline.” Wall
Street Journal (May 14, 2012) from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/05/07/your-
business-checklist-a-
website-a-phone-number-a-mobile-app/. Retrieved May 2012.
Fei, Liang. “Mobile app market set for increased growth:
Gartner.” Global Time
(January 18, 2012) from
http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/692610/Mobile-
app-market-set-for-inc
reased-growth-Gartner.aspx. Retrieved May 2012.
Goodman, Jack. “Grocery Shopping: Who, When and Where”,
“Who Does the
Grocery Shopping and When Do They Do It?” The Time Use
Institute. October 2008.
Retrieved May, 2012.

86. Harty, J. A practical guide to testing wireless smartphone
applications. San Rafael,
CA: Morgan & Claypool. (2010). Retrieved May 7, 2012.
Heathfield, Susan M.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_
one_stop.htm.
Retrieved May 20, 2012.
Heinen, Chris. "Heinen Creative." / How To Profit From Mobile
Apps. 27 Apr. 2010.
Web. 31 May 2012.
http://heinencreative.com/articles/how-to-profit-from-mobile-
apps. Retrieved May,
2012.
"IPhone Apps Development by SwebApps:." IPhone App
Development Cost. Web.
31 May 2012. http://www.swebapps.com/iphone-app-
development-cost.php.
Retrieved May, 2012.
Jahns, R.G (March 4th, 2010). Smart phone application market
to reach US$15.65
Billion in 2013. www.research2guidance.com. Retrieved May
10, 2012.
Jahns R.G and Mikalajunaite, E (August 19th, 2010). The smart
phone application
market has reached more than 2.2 billion dollars in the first half
of 2010.
www.research2guidance.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
Keith, K. Smartphone apps wield more power than you think.

87. (2012). From
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=2033
12. Retrieved May
7,2012
Klima, L. Are Free Apps Like ‘Angry Birds’ Giving Advertisers
Access to Your
Private Information? (2012, March 20th).. from
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/are-free-apps-like-angry-birds-
giving-advertisers-acc
ess-to-your-private-information/ Retrieved May 7, 2012.
Marks, Gene. “Your Business Checklist: A Website, A Phone
Number, A Mobile
App.” Forbes (May 7, 2012) from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/05/07/your-
business-checklist-a-
website-a-phone-number-a-mobile-app/. Retrieved May 2012.
Newman, Andrew. “Brands Now Direct Their Followers to
Social Media.” New York
Times (August 3, 2011) from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/business/media/promoting-
products-using-social
-media-advertising.html. Retrieved June 2012.
Price, G (December 15th, 2011). New Statistics: The Rise of
Smart phones, Apps and
the Mobile Web. www.infodocket.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
Simonite, Tom. "How Data Storage Cripples Mobile Apps -
Technology Review."
Technology Review. 20 Feb. 2012.
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39764/. Retrieved
May 31, 2012.

88. Tin, Tin. Team Building In The Workplace.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/team-building-in-the-
workplace.html. Retrieved May
20, 2012
United States Census Bureau (2010). Population Growth and
Population Statistics.
U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
Wasserman, Todd. "Featured in Social Media." Mashable. 20
June 2011.
http://mashable.com/2011/06/20/app-use-overtakes-web-use/.
Retrieved May 31,
2012.
Wauters, Robin. "Global Smartphone App Download Market
Could Reach $15
Billion By 2013:Â Report." TechCrunch. 5 Mar. 2010.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/05/global-smartphone-app-
download-market-could-re
ach-15-billion-by-2013-report/. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
Zahorsky, Darrell.
http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/development/a/032303.htm.
Retrieved May 20, 2012.
IV
Supplements
!

89. !
"
June 2, 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
We are pleased to submit our Business Plan for IV Supplements.
At this time, we are
seeking investors to start up our business in the Isla Vista/UC
Santa Barbara area,
providing distribution and delivery services for students and
local residents.
IV Supplements will offer a broad range of nutritional
supplements and convenient
delivery to the greater Isla Vista/UC Santa Barbara area for
customers ranging from
frequent gym-goers to collegiate athletes. Our relationship with
international wholesalers
will allow us to distribute brand-name supplements to our
customers for discount prices,
while making delivery convenient and giving us an advantage
over our potential
competitors.
In this plan, we have included details on the market we will be
joining, marketing
strategies, financial outlook, and a detailed explanation of the
workings of the business
itself. The plan also looks at the growth of IV Supplements over
a time span of three

90. years, where we have promising proof of a substantial rise in
sales and a growing
customer base.
If you have any questions, we would be pleased to discuss them
with you at your
convenience. We look forward to doing business with you.
Sincerely,
Nicole Leopardo, Anthony Perry, Haik Sahakyan, Joel
Walmsley, Yun Zhang
Enclosure: IV Supplements Business Plan
Robert Krut
!
!
#
IV Supplements Business Plan

91. Presented by:
Haik Sahakyan, Introduction
Anthony Perry, Market Analysis
Nicole Leopardo, Marketing Strategy
Joel Walmsley, Business Management Plan
Yun Zhang, Financial Plan
Writing 109EC: Business Writing
Professor Robert Krut
Tuesday and Thursday: 8 AM
Robert Krut

92. Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
Robert Krut
!
!

93. $
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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97. (
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IV Supplements will be the only local supplier of name brand
supplements in the Isla
Vista/UC Santa Barbara community. Instead of a storefront, IV
Supplements will allow
customers to order off of our website. Not only will we carry
quality products at a
discounted price, but we will also have a quick and efficient
delivery service that will
separate us from the competition. IV Supplements will carry a
wide range of products,
including general fitness products, and more specialized
supplements. Because our
company buys the supplements in bulk, we are able to afford to
discount prices, which
will make our company even more attractive to college students.
Because the UC Santa
Barbara and Isla Vista communities emphasize fitness, and an
active life style, we are
confident that our company will thrive in the Isla Vista and
Goleta areas.
The market we are targeting is Isla Vista, California, a bustling
college town full of
students from Santa Barbara City College and the University of
California, Santa
Barbara. Almost the entire population of Isla Vista is college
students, whom we have
found to be big consumers of nutritional supplements. There are
currently no supplement

98. shops in Isla Vista, which provides us with an opportunity to
seize the market. Our
competition includes GNC, Complete Nutrition, and
BodyBuilding.com, however with
our low prices and provided services we will be able to sway
customers from these
competitors and eventually take control of the market.
Our target audience is males and females in the Isla Vista and
UC Santa Barbara
community, aged 18 – 25. Our company will implement a
thorough and creative
marketing strategy aimed not only at attracting our target
audience, but also ensuring that
IV Supplements is ultimately part of the Isla Vista community.
The marketing strategy
contains a heavy stress on peer-to-peer and online marketing, as
well as more traditional
forms of marketing, such as print advertisements, and mailings.
Over all, the marketing
strategy aims to reach a diverse array of students, ensuring the
future success and
expansion of IV Supplements.
Our company believes in a strong management style that will
aid in the success of our
company. The Chief Executive officer and president is a joint
position that will provide
proper management, and will determine the short term and long
term vision of IV
Supplements. The management team will also consist of the
Marketing Director and
Executive Director, two essential positions that will aid in the
long term growth of our

99. company. This section of the plan lays out the hiring practices,
benefits, and working
conditions of the two employees that will be hired.
The financial section of the plan provides a projected financial
outlook on the first three
years of IV Supplements. The financial character of the
business, IV Supplements, is easy
to start, and investors are able to break-even in profits quickly.
The business can easily be
!
!
@
duplicated through the same operation model, thus there is great
potential for the
investors to expand the business into a larger geographical area.
The financial analysis is broken down into four different
sections including the startup
costs, projection of three-year financial statements, taxes, and
profitability. The business
will be funded in full through contributions of investors; this
amount is expected to be
around $20,000 at the beginning of the first year.

100. !
!
^
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The presence of nutritional supplements has revolutionized the
fitness world, making
goals even more reachable and possible for many athletes and
weekend warriors. Starting
from basic vitamins and protein shakes to monohydrate
creatines, nutritional supplements
have become synonymous with every success story that walks
out of the gym.
1.1 THE BUSINESS
IV Supplements prides itself in the fact that we will be a local
supplier of name brand
nutritional supplements at discount prices to the Isla Vista/UC
Santa Barbara area. Rather
than a physical store, our business will function and complete
transactions through a
website – to make products more accessible to customers. IV
Supplements will go the
extra mile for convenience and will deliver products to
customers door to door within the
same day that they are purchased.

101. 1.2 THE PRODUCTS
Our business will specialize in distributing popular nutritional
supplements to our
customers, such as generic fitness products (vitamins, proteins,
energy boosters, etc.) to
more specialized supplements (creatines, mass builders, weight
loss, etc.). Using larger
internet supplement stores such as BodyBuilding.com and
MuscleandStrength.com will
allow us to receive feedback from a bigger customer base on
what products are popular,
so that our
business can
know how
many of each
product to
order.
More
specifically, IV
Supplements
will carry
products found
in the top sellers
lists of the
online stores
mentioned
above. Usually
these products
consist of supplements shown in Figure 1-1 from companies
such as Gaspari Nutrition,
Figure 1-1. Nutritional Supplement Product Line Up

102. Source: http://www.steroidsources.com
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!
%1
Optimum Nutrition, Maximum Human Performance, etc.
According to extensive drug
research, the “shelf life was extended for at least one year
beyond the originally indicated
expiration date—and by an average of 66 months” for many of
these nutritional products;
therefore, IV Supplements will not lose money if there are
leftover supplements for each
time that we order new products to restock inventory.
1
The long shelf life of these
products means that if we don’t meet sales or accidentally
overstock our inventory, we
will not jeopardize our financial situation for that month. These
extra products will just
be sold along with the new inventory because the product will
not spoil or go bad.
1.2.1 Product Pricing

103. Our business will be able to resell products to potential
customers for discount prices
because IV Supplements will purchase from supplement
warehouses in bulk. Buying such
a large number of products will be profitable for the warehouse
and it will give our
business a profit margin, allowing us to sell supplements for
better prices than other
stores.
1.3 POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
IV Supplements will mainly focus on the Isla Vista/UC Santa
Barbara area where
“students aged 18 – 22 will be the general make up of the
customer base.”
2
Fitness plays
a large role in this environment, making UC Santa Barbara one
of the fittest colleges in
the country, full of individuals who are trying to stay healthy
through diet and exercise.
Based on recent articles focusing on health and fitness, doctors
agree that nutritional
supplements recently have become “more attractive to college
students and are becoming
an essential part of a successful workout routine” for athletes
and gym rats, alike.

104. 3
Therefore, it would be safe to assume that the majority of
potential customers for IV
Supplements are already regular consumers of the nutritional
products that we will offer
through our website.
1.3.1 Rewards Program
Also, our business will have a “rewards program set up to create
more incentive for our
customers to keep ordering their nutritional supplements” from
IV Supplements.
4
We will
have promotional discounts for many of our customers after
they purchase a certain
number of supplements from our business so that they will
return back to IV Supplements
for all their nutritional needs. In the long run, we hope to have
our potential customers
1
Lyon R.C, Taylor J.S, Porter D.A, Prasanna H.R, Hussain A.S.
“Stability profiles of drug products
extended beyond labeled expiration dates”. J Pharm Sci, July
2006: 1549-1560.
2

105. “Isla Vista, CA Population and Demographics Resources,”
accessed May 15, 2011,
http://islavista.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm.
3
Roosevelt, Max. “When the Gym Isn’t Enough.” The New York
Times, January 13, 2010.
4
Donnelly, Tim. “How to Start Customer Reward Program.”
Inc., August 17, 2010.
!
!
%%
order from our business even when they move out from the Isla
Vista/UC Santa Barbara
area.
1.4 POTENTIAL COMPETITORS
The greatest potential competitors for IV Supplements are
online stores and nearby
nutrition chain stores located in Goleta, California. Many
potential customers regularly
purchase from chain stores nearby because of the “reputation
that the name of these
stores carry, but recently ordering from online supplement

106. stores has become more
affordable and convenient,” making it a growing market.
5
1.4.1 IV Supplements vs. Online Competitors
The Isla Vista/UC Santa Barbara area currently does not have a
local nutritional
supplement distributor; therefore, many of the potential
customers for IV Supplements
order products from other online stores (BodyBuilding.com,
MuscleandStrength.com,
etc.), which for the convenience of the customer, ship their
purchases directly to the
customers. These larger supplement superstores offer their
products at a competitive
price; however, on top of these prices they include shipping
costs and an average wait of
two to five days to receive the order.
6
IV Supplements will take an approach that is more
affordable and convenient, offering supplements for discounted
prices and cutting out
shipping costs by delivering the order to the customers within
the same day.
1.4.2 IV Supplements vs.
Nearby Nutrition Shops

107. Another potential
competitor for IV
Supplements is Complete
Nutrition and GNC that are
located relatively close to
the Isla Vista/UC Santa
Barbara area. A quick
review of Complete
Nutrition’s catalog and
prices shows that it has a
limited inventory,
specializing in vitamins and
dietary pills as seen in Figure 1-2; rather than, offering a wide
array of nutritional
supplements that will be
offered by IV Supplements.
5
Maxwell, Chickie. “In Search of the Best Nutritional
Supplement Store.” ArticleFeeder, June 14, 2009.
6
“BodyBuilding.com Supplement Store,” accessed May 12,
2011, http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/.
Figure 1-2. Complete Nutrition in Goleta, California
Source: http://www.independent.com

108. !
!
%"
With that note, GNC currently offers the same products that we
will be selling through
our business’s website; however, their prices contain overhead
costs and are too
expensive for many customers. Also, neither competitor
provides delivery for purchases
and many times will charge a premium price for supplements in
their store because they
do not distribute products from other companies; instead they
focus on selling
supplements made by their own private-owned company.
7
1.5 MARKETING PLAN
The location of IV Supplements requires our business to have a
unique marketing strategy
in establishing ourselves as a successful business of the
community. Therefore, to appeal
to our market and potential customers, IV Supplements will
advertise to attract attention
on the local level. At the same time, our business will advertise
online where we can

109. reach a larger customer base.
1.5.1 On-Campus Advertising
Since our business is mainly focused on a very student-oriented
environment, we can use
the campus as our advertising ground. IV Supplements will
invest money to print our
business logo on gym clothing and hand out flyers to potential
customers on campus and
near the gym. Along with these strategies, we will also
advertise through UC Santa
Barbara’s newspaper, The Daily Nexus, to achieve maximum
outreach to all students and
the community. Also, establishing a relationship with the UC
Santa Barbara Recreation
Center by sponsoring some of their programs will make IV
Supplements a trusted and
active community member.
1.5.2 Online Marketing
By marketing online, IV Supplements will create a reputation
with many students at a
faster pace, especially since in 2009 “46% of students prefer to
get information on goods
and services over the Internet,” which is up 26% from 2000.
8
Therefore, our business will
take advantage of established online marketplaces, such as

110. SBMenus.com, that will allow
customers to directly purchase our products and will enable our
business to advertise to
more local customers who prefer shopping online.
9
1.6 STARTING IV SUPPLEMENTS
Our business, like many other startup businesses, has various
initial obligations and costs
that need to be mentioned. We will need to obtain licenses and
permits to legally allow IV
7
“Complete Nutrition,” accessed May 13, 2011,
http://www.completenutrition.com/.
8
Horovitz, Bruce. “Marketers get creating targeting hard-to-
reach college students.” USA Today, October
3, 2010.
9
“Santa Barbara, CA Online Menu Resource,” accessed May 15,
2011, http://sbmenus.com/.
!
!

111. %#
Supplements to distribute and sell nutritional supplements to
potential customers. Also,
capital will be needed to fund purchasing the new inventory and
paying for many
operational costs before IV Supplements begins selling any
products to its potential
customers.
1.6.1 Initial Obligations
IV Supplements will need to apply for a “seller’s permit and a
DBA (“Doing Business
As”) registration before legally selling any products.”
10
The seller’s permit will allow us
to sell our products to our customers. Our business also needs to
register the “IV
Supplements” name to be able to use it on behalf of the
company.
1.6.2 Startup Costs
Besides licensing and registration, initial costs will be needed
for our business to jump
right into the market and begin distributing products to the Isla
Vista/UC Santa Barbara

112. area. For example, IV Supplements will need to stock inventory
before we even make any
sales and our business will need money for marketing. Due to
the discounted prices of
our products, our business will be able make enough profit from
sales to slowly pay back
these startup costs.
1.7 FUTURE PLANS
After successfully operating IV
Supplements in the Isla Vista/UC
Santa Barbara area, our business will
expand to other campuses in
California, as shown in Figure 1-3,
similar to our target market in this
business plan. Also, we will begin to
offer our products to individuals who
would like to purchase supplements
from us online so we can broaden our
customer base. Our future businesses
at other campuses will use the same
model as our original business to
make IV Supplements known in other
parts of the state.
10
“5 Steps to Registering Your Business,” accessed May 19,
2011, http://www.sba.gov/content/5-steps-
registering-your-business.

113. Figure 1-3. Univeristy Campuses in California
Source: http://www.ncousino.com
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!
%$
A goal for IV Supplements is to become large enough and
popular enough to be able to
put our name on nutritional supplement products. We will be
able to open up doors to
new markets and become a distributor of our very own line of
brand name nutritional
supplements to individual potential customers and other
nutritional chain stores.
1.8 CONCLUSION
Our business’s competitive prices, emphasis on convenience,
and unique marketing plans
give IV Supplements an advantage over internet-based
nutritional superstores and other
chain stores. Although there are startup obligations and costs
that need to be taken care of
in the beginning, our business plan is a promisingly successful
model for a small
business.

114. !
!
%<
2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS
2.1 OVERVIEW
Although many facets of the American economy have fallen on
arduous times due to the