2. Opportunity
Problem Summary
Our company LLC "DL-L" has been supplying turnkey quality LED lighting equipment since 2012 in
B2B and B2C sectors. During this time, there have been significant changes in the lighting
equipment market. When a cheap LED-equipment for mass market had appeared, some retailers
and manufacturing companies shifted to use cheap plastic lamps, hoping to save considerably on
electricity and, at the same time, to save on the costs of lighting equipment also. Soon, it became
clear that the reverse side of this “savings” was the increase in operating costs and the increase in
the burden on engineering staff, especially among huge retailers. While a declared lifespan was 2-
3 years in the technical passport, the real lifespan for such LED-equipment was about 1 year; that
fact delivered a lot of unpleasant surprises to companies on trade and industrial facilities.
Today, some of our clients who had left us previously in pursuit of a low price come to us again.
They are ready to collaborate with us, because our company has provided high-level quality of
products and services throughout our history, and we have been supplying only perfect LED-
lighting equipment with over 5 years lifespan.
The main obstacle to use the high-quality durable equipment is its high price. So, for a technician it
is difficult to prove for financiers the need of an expensive modernisaton program, where the
cheap lamps are superseded with more expensive counterparts.
Solution Summary
To overcome the mentioned obstacle and expand the list of our clients and partners, LLC "DL-L"
has developed a new business model for collaboration with large corporate clients and municipal
services.
As part of the new business model, we do two things:
1. We minimize the first payment for a client; we provide the client with an installment plan
for up to 6 months. Thus, we allow the client to pay back a cost of our equipment through
continuous saving on electricity bills, and we allow reimbursing the cost of equipment from
their saved funds.
2. We develop a brief of project and a feasibility study for every client, where we prove with
figures the economic benefits and financial profitability of the light-equipment
optimization program.
We follow the scheme below:
1. Our company delivers LED-equipment to a client at our own expense, using our working
capital. The client should prepay from 0% to 50% depending on a contract conditions.
2. A month later, the client begins to pay for the equipment. Payment is made on a monthly
basis, in equal parts, according to the installment schedule. We do not require any
collateral, but leave the equipment in our ownership until it is fully paid. The equipment is
shifted in client ownership after repayment its full cost.
3. 3. Our company performs warranty service and repairing works in our service center. At the
same time, we place orders only at the best manufacturers, which provide a guarantee for
five or more years for all equipment.
Even in the most pessimistic case, LED-equipment pays off after 1.5-2 years, and then the client
starts receiving a net profit by saving on electricity.
Our main task is to remove the barrier in terms of financial efficiency and show to our clients the
real benefits of the collaboration with us.
At the same time, we reduce our own risks keeping the right to take back not fully-payd LED-
equipment in case the client refuses to pay its full price. Due to its high technical characteristics,
the withdrawn LED-equipment can be re-sold to another client.
Market
Our company has got a reputation of a reliable and long-term partner, and offers complex and
flexible collaboration scenarios. Our clients today are: Kyiv International Airport Zhuliany (IEV),
large retailers, such as "Eco-Market", "Fora", "VARUS", "Continent", "Velika Kishenya", as well as
"Nemiroff", MHP Group, the malls "Mandarin Plaza", "KOMOD", and many others.
Our focus is on retail and companies that use lighting at least 12-15 hours a day. It is profitable for
such customers shifting to LED-equipment. Large retail suffers of enormous costs with electricity
bills, and for such customers, energy savings are an important part of optimising their expenses.
As we offer installment payments for 6 months to our LED-lamps, the implementation of the new
business model allows us to cover a segment of small retailers, who still have insufficient funds to
switch to LED-lighting. Due to our installment program the private stores and small retail also be
able to optimize their own operating costs through energy saving.
Municipal services are in our focus too. During the autumn and winter time street lamps work up
to 12 hours a day. At the same time, the maintenance works are quite difficult. The cost of
maintenance is very high due to the need to involve specialised vehicles and equipment. It is also
need to cover large geographical areas and attract tech personnel extra. If outdoor lamps demand
a replacement too often, the maintenance puts heavy burden on the state and municipal budget.
The role of the long-life lighting equipment is difficult to overestimate in this case.
Competition
The Ukrainian market of LED-lighting equipment is quite saturated.
The low-cost price segment is full of sellers who distribute LED-lighting equipment from China and
Turkey, and that equipment, as a rule, has low quality. Suppliers of such equipment are not our
competitors. According to feedback from our customers, we know that such equipment is not
taken into account by them.
The middle price segment is almost empty, because the business in this segment is related to a
number of difficulties. For example: as in the low-cost segment, in the middle price segment any
equipment must be placed in a warehouse in large quantities (on logistic reason); at the same
4. time, the middle price equipment is more difficult to sale than the cheaper one. The same amount
of an equipment demands to invest much more money and "freeze" money in goods. Therefore, in
the middle price segment the competition is insignificant due to low supply.
The high-price segment is in our focus, and here is a high level of competition. In order to bring
our own business to a new competitive level, we are launching this project. The individual
approach to a client and the unique business model are our key tool to reach the aim.
Expectations
Forecast
We are optimistic about the future and expect stable demand for our LED-lighting equipment over
the next three years. Approximate sales schedule is on the chart below:
The approximate sales have been calculated based on the negotiations with current and potential
customers. The company has been operating in the LED-lighting market since 2012, and our deep
knowledge of the market allows us to make the optimistic forecast.
Financial Highlights
Financial indicators of the project are calculated using the company's financial model and include
the following:
1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year 5 year
Income 7 377 048,00 9 439 691,18 9 484 757,49 9 486 068,40 9 493 933,82
CapEx 64 500,00 - - - -
OpEx 5 648 177,23 5 863 820,20 5 859 369,92 5 882 825,55 5 900 666,90
Net Profit 1 364 784,03 2 932 214,21 2 972 817,81 2 954 659,13 2 946 478,88
320,000
330,000
340,000
350,000
360,000
370,000
380,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
psc
Years
Sales
5. 6 year 7 year 8 year 9 year 10 year
Income 9 497 866,53 9 484 757,49 9 484 757,49 9 484 757,49 9 484 757,49
CapEx 95 000,00 - - - -
OpEx 5 903 468,38 5 905 907,16 5 908 504,94 5 911 158,48 5 913 859,23
Net Profit 2 869 506,49 2 934 657,27 2 932 527,09 2 930 351,19 2 928 136,58
Calculated NPV, ROI and IRR you could see in other file, which is named “Economic plan”.
Financing Needed
To implement this project, LLC "DL-L" needs investment funds in the amount of $ 8,187,000 (USD).
We plan to attract investments for a period of 10 years with the possible deferred payment.
Investment needs 8 187 000,00 USD
Investment period 10 years
Investment purpose:
2% of investments are being directed to capital expenditures;
98% of investments are being directed to working capital.
Our company supplies the equipment to clients on pre-order. We use our working capital to
arrange manufacture of pre-ordered LED-lighting equipment and then we supply that equipment
to our clients.
- $
1,000,000.00 $
2,000,000.00 $
3,000,000.00 $
4,000,000.00 $
5,000,000.00 $
6,000,000.00 $
7,000,000.00 $
8,000,000.00 $
9,000,000.00 $
10,000,000.00 $
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Revenue OpEx Net Profit