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eveloping the Business Plan
Your Rapidly Growing Company
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
For rapidly growing companies, a business plan is a key management tool that can be used for a variety of reasons: q Attract debt or equity financing q Promote relationships with joint venture partners and large customers, suppliers, and distributors q Provide strategic guidance, operating tactics and objectives q Furnish a standard against which to judge future business decisions and results. q Evaluate strengths and weaknesses and identify viable alternative strategies q Establish the operational and financial structure of a management buy-out Regardless of the exact impetus, a business plan is a fundamental requirement for all start-up and rapidly growing businesses. Due to the array of business plan goals and the endless variety of circumstances, there is no such thing as a standard business plan. Furthermore, a business plan should not be static.
Over its lifetime, a business typically goes through several stages. Although the number and names of these stages vary by economist, it is safe to speak of at least three stages: start-up, growth, and maturity. Generally, each stage in the life of a business represents an increase in revenues and employees -- and perhaps in product lines, assets, etc. -- and requires a greater delegation of routine functions. The transition to a new stage represents a critical phase in the life of a business. This transition, along with changes inherent in a business's growth, changing market conditions, evolving company strategies, and actual financial results, signals the need to update the business plan. The outline presented below has been formulated based on PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's experience with start-up ventures and rapidly growing businesses. You will need to make certain modifications to your business plan depending on whether your company is in the technology, manufacturing, service, retail or export industry. However, the basics are the same. Regardless of your business, it is important to remember that this outline should be used as a guide, not as a rigid, allencompassing format.
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
A Few Generalizations About Business Plans
q The executive summary is critical: This two to three page summary of the business plan is what most investors turn to first; it often determines whether they will read the remainder of the plan or decline the opportunity. This section should always be written last. q Clarify the focus: The plan should be clear about the products to be developed and the markets to be addressed by the business. Try to avoid saying that the company will develop a widget and sell it to General Motors and the grocery store down the street without explaining how it will actually be done. q Transition into a rapidly growing environment: Businesses that are emerging from less dynamic environments need to provide an accurate critique of past performances (i.e., strengths/weaknesses) More importantly, they need to clearly describe what has changed about the business and the reasons for the changes. q Avoid superlatives: The "trust me" school of thought does not work in business plans. If your product is going to be the best in the market, thoroughly explain why. q Quantity does not equal quality: A well written plan should be succinct and to the point and is usually 30 to 50 pages. q First impressions are lasting impressions: There are many things that can sink a plan including incorrect spelling, grammar or punctuation; the use of unprofessional language; numbers that do not total; or poor organization. Take the time to have the plan reviewed by at least three other members of your team. q "Slick" plans can be a turnoff: Expensive looking plans are often perceived as form over substance, frivolous and a waste of scarce financial resources. To give your business plan a professional look, consider including a plastic binding, a title page including your company name, address, date, contact name and copy number, numbered pages, and a detailed table of contents. q Support assumptions with independent sources: Assumptions made with regard to the target market and competition should be supported by independent, third-party data whenever possible. This lends credibility to the plan in the eyes of the reader. q Avoid the use of non-assertive language: Vague, qualifying words such as "might", "probably", "maybe" and "perhaps" can have a subtly negative effect on the reader. Be positive and definitive.
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
Rapidly growing companies are usually heavily dependent upon a few key technologies which are not always patent protected and are particularly prone to competition while in a development stage. Therefore, a business plan should be clear and concise but should not reveal information that could reduce the company's competitive edge. Two methods of promoting confidentiality are described below: q Non-disclosure Agreement: This is a statement indicating that the information in the plan is proprietary and is not to be shared, copied, disclosed, or otherwise compromised. The agreement can be verbal or take the form of signed documentation. Be prepared to negotiate on signed nondisclosures as potential investors sometimes balk at such agreements. q Control Numbering: The control number, usually included on the first page of the plan, is cross-referenced to a journal kept by the entrepreneur (e.g., copy 14 issued to Jake Johns on November 10, 1997). Control numbering helps to keep track of your plans and when they were issued. Should the recipient of a business plan not become an investor, control numbering facilitates the Company's requests for the return of the business plan. The number of plans that you distribute should also be kept to a minimum. Excessive exposure of your idea to the investing community can lessen its overall appeal. The executive summary should be between one and three pages in length. It should be a concise and clear highlight of what the company is all about and what's in it for the investor. The executive summary should include a few sentences on each of the following, while at the same time remaining concise: q The Company When formed? To pursue what purpose? q Exploit a particular technology q Design a new product q Manufacturing q Marketing What are the Company's goals? q Short-term q Long-term q What are the Company's critical success factors?
Many consider this the most important part of the business plan because it is what investors usually will read first. It is the "teaser" through which you need to convince an investor to spend more time on the plan itself. This section should always be written last so that each individual section being summarized has been thought through and analyzed fully.
The Product(s) What are you selling? What makes it unique? Is it a proprietary product? Other entry barriers? iii
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
At what stage is its development? Features that distinguish it from competition: q Pricing q Quality q Speed
q What are your company's goals? q Be as explicit as possible q Include sales, income, Return on Investment (ROI) q Try to quantify more obscure goals (e.g., customer satisfaction rates) q What are the company's critical success factors? q These are not the same as business objectives, but will lead to their achievement. q What are the company's past achievements and strengths? q Do you plan to do more of what has worked in the past or start new, complementary lines of business? q What are the company's past problems and weaknesses? q Those that threaten company survival must be eliminated/controlled. q Those that do not may be eliminated if cost-effective. q Other general information to be included as appropriate: q Date and form of business organization q Past and anticipated changes in business form q Principal investors and management q Organizational structure
The Market Current size Domestic/international Recent growth (cite sources) Projected growth (cite sources) Estimated company market share
q Financial Financing sought: q For what purposes? q Will carry company how far? q Exit strategy for investors? Five-year revenue and net income projections Projection of when profits will begin q Management How complete is the team? Brief past experience Highlight strengths
In this section, a more thorough description of the company is given, including the short- and long-term goals of the company, its strengths/weaknesses, and critical success factors. q What business are you in? q Address in broad terms before getting specific q Be imaginative (go beyond obvious answer)
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
Provide a detailed description or illustration of existing products and plans for future products. Are products market-ready or, if not, when will they be? Also included should be any unique features (e.g. brand names) or other possible sources of competitive advantage. This section of the business plan should present information derived from the answers to the following questions:
q What is included in the product's bill of materials? (major components only, not too detailed) q Are there any current/potential component supply problems?
Future Products
q Any planned innovations to the existing product lines? Any new products/services? q If the answer is affirmative, provide development time projections. q What are the expected sales price, cost and profit margin on future products and how is the overall sales mix and profitability expected to change?
Existing Products
q Does your product have any patents or other proprietary features? (trademarks, copyrights) q How is your product different from the competition's?-- compare capabilities, strengths/weaknesses, and characteristics of your product to those of your competitors.' q How up-to-date are your products? -address potential obsolescence or losses of market share. q What is the output and sales mix for each of the company's products/services? q What are the sales price, cost, and profit margin for each product line? q Who makes up your current customer base? (both direct and ultimate end-users)
The purpose of this section is to explain why your product/service will give your company a sustainable competitive advantage. By answering the following questions, you can effectively assess your competitive environment: (Be sure to include information on current industry status and trends as well as the industry status and trends of your customers, indirect competitors, and key suppliers.) q What is the size, maturity, and competitive nature of the industry?
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q What are the barriers to entry and growth? q How do economic developments affect the industry? q What is the industry's financial position and performance? q What is the role of innovation and technological change? q How is the industry affected by government regulation? q Who are your competitors? What do you know about them? Address the following aspects:
q q
Relative size Competitive strengths/weaknesses q Markets addressed/market share q Reputation q Prospects q Who are your customers and what are their product/service preferences and reasons for purchasing? q Who is buying? OEMS, end users? q Why are they buying? q What are they looking for? q What are the factors that drive their buying decisions? q How does distribution take place in your target markets? q Value Added Resellers (VARs) q Direct sales q Distributors q Manufacturers' representatives q What are your company's sales and profits by market segment? (current and projected) q What is your company's current and projected market share? (This is an important indicator of your company's success.) How well you know your market will also be demonstrated in this section. The sources for intelligence in any market are numerous. The following are just a few suggestions:
Emphasize the opportunities for your company to achieve its goals by answering the following questions: q What is your target market and to whom are you trying to sell? (may be different) q What is the size of your target market? q Historical q Current q Projected (5 years) q How can you segment your target market? (by region, age, income, profession, etc.) q Natural splits--geographic, industries, volume vs. unit buyers, etc. q Growth prospects within each segment q What are the trends in your target market? q Where is the market going and why? q What are the economic trends? q Maturity of the market--growth stage or stable?
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q Existing competitors q Product brochures q Annual reports filed with the SEC (public companies only) q Interviews with marketing people. This requires a degree of brashness. Don't be timid about asking a potential competitor to lunch to pick his or her brain. q Trade publications: If you don't know what's available, ask someone who does. Call editors for further suggestions on sources. q Users of existing products q Purchasing directors q Manufacturing directors q Potential customers: It is absolutely essential that you have as many discussions as possible with users before, during, and after the formation of the company. Their feedback should be incorporated into both your products and plans. Specifically identify the customer groups you will address. What is it about the segment that makes it right for your rapidly growing company? Are the customer groups ignored or ill-served by your competitors? If you enter this market and make a profit, why won't a larger competitor enter it (revenue volume too low, buyers in the market are unit purchasers, etc.)? q What geographic advantages/disadvantages does your company face? q How will you establish credibility (company and product)? Why should customers buy a new product from an unproven company? q Will your pricing strategy be high, moderate, or low relative to the market and why? q Will credit be extended and under what conditions? q Will warranty policies be standard or nonstandard with your product? Will their cost be included in the cost of the product or be additional? q To generate sales, what product or service attributes will your company emphasize? q What will be the image you strive for? Your level of quality, reliability, service, response time should fit neatly with other strategies (i.e., quality and low price may not appear to make sense--if they do in your case, explain why).
After the thorough description of the market, this section should be an in depth coverage of how you plan to get products to your buyers and what strategies you'll use to help accomplish that task. Answers to the following questions will encapsulate your business's approach to marketing: q What is your target market (by segment)? q Geographic q Industry q Type of buyer
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q How much will be spent on advertising and public relations? In which channels will these dollars be spent? (These strategies should match with others; i.e., are ads in Modern Mechanics compatible with the objective to develop an image of quality?) q What distribution channels will you utilize? Describe the physical means by which the product will be delivered to buyers: q Factory distribution q Company-owned regional distribution q Independent remote distribution q Order lead times q How will product servicing be facilitated so that fixing product problems entails the least cost to you and minimum disruption to your customer? q Factory-only service q Company field service engineers q Contracted service q Services contracts q Profit centers q Loss leaders q How are you going to sell the product? If you use sales reps, what kind of incentives will you use to get them to know and push your products? Is it a highly technical product requiring skilled sales people? Should senior management in your company participate directly in the sales effort to establish company and product credibility? How many salespeople will you require to reach projected sales levels? How will you compensate sales people-commissions (payable on order or on receipt of payment), bonus, salary, or some combination? q Direct sales q Reps q Distributors q Retailers q Hybrid
The strength of management simply cannot be overstated in an investment decision. Remember the venture capital axiom that a mediocre product with great management is always preferred to the opposite. Highlight the past experiences of the management team that will combine to reduce the risk typically associated with a start-up venture or rapidly growing company. The following information should be included in this section of any business plan: q Summary resumes of key management and owners--List education, skills, experience (including past duties). Focus on important past accomplishments but don't be too lengthy. Detailed resumes may be included in an appendix to the business plan. q Functional responsibilities--Who is charged with what in the operations of the company? How is this anticipated to change in the future?
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q Management holes--If important functional areas are not filled, what steps will be taken to fill them and when? q Management philosophy--What is the company's decision-making and management philosophy? q Board of Directors--If already in existence, include affiliations and experience of each member. If not, discuss current status of plans for formation. q Subcontracted production: q Sole or multi-sourced q Quality control q Supply problems q Capital needs: q Equipment list q Financial requirements q Quality control: q Raw materials q Manufacturing q Finished goods q Critical processes: q Capacity q Critical paths q Cost characteristics (fixed, variable, semivariable) q Seasonality q Inventory control: q Inventory turnover q Production size q Lead time q Storage requirements q Waste/shrinkage factors q Obsolescence
Having responded to questions basic to any business plan or relevant to your unique circumstances, you are ready to develop a plan for executing your business strategy. This can be achieved by listing the following actions and activities, by business function, that are necessary to achieve the goals of the business (be sure to include a timetable indicating when each planned activity is to be undertaken and completed): q Research and development (R&D): q Resources committed or planned q Expected results q Facility requirements: q Leased q Purchased q Labor requirements: q Local labor pool q Skilled/unskilled
Before your business plan will be considered by investors, you must answer the following questions: q What is the total amount of funds needed by your business? Is it needed immediately or over the next two to five years? ix
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q What part of this financing is being sought from the investors or lending institution who will receive this business plan? (including the amount, terms, and any related security agreement) q For equity financing--What percentage of the company are you willing to give up and what is the proposed return on investment and anticipated method of taking out the investor (e.g., buy-back, public offering, sale)? q For debt financing--What is your company's proposed interest rate and repayment schedule? q Should include future projections which answer the following questions:
q How will the company performs
financially? - Profit and Loss Projections
q What will the company's cash position be?
- Cash Flow Projections
q What will the company's financial
position be? - Projected Balance Sheets q Should include a list of significant assumptions used in any individual section or throughout the financial projections that are: q Material to the projected amounts q Especially sensitive to variations q Deviations from historical trends q Especially uncertain q Should include key financial ratios and should compare to competitors/industry averages. Key ratios include current, debt-tonet worth, return on equity, gross margin, and break-even point (in both sales units and dollars)
Financial projections should include high level figures, although underlying detail should be available for further discussion. Present five-year projections: monthly for the first two years, and quarterly for the remaining three years. Also include any historical financial information that is available, including all applicable footnotes and any audit or review opinions. In addition, the financial information: q Should be a reflection of your business plan quantified (therefore, it must be consistent with the body of the plan) q Will help demonstrate whether your strategy is financially feasible and whether it allows you to reach your goals and objectives q Is a key indicator of the amount of outside financing necessary to support the execution of your strategy
The foregoing material represents the minimum you should include in a business plan. To provide further reassurance to yourself and outside investors, you should develop additional industry specific information to supplement your basic plan.
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
Several characteristics tend to distinguish technology companies: q High intellectual content of such companies is difficult to value and protect. q Obsolescence is likely. q Effective management and retention of key personnel is critical. q Commercialization of innovations may require major changes to business structure. q R&D costs usually exceed expected cash flows and revenues for several years. q High growth is expected relative to other markets and industries. Answers to the following questions should be included in the business plan of a technology company. In addition, answers to applicable questions for manufacturing companies should also be incorporated into the business plan. q What products has your company introduced in the last one to three years? (Review age of product mix for signs of obsolescence.) q What is the status of products/services still undergoing research and development? q What is required to complete the development process? (Mention specific equipment or personnel, costs and other financial requirements, timing, and anticipated obstacles.) q How well will your company meet its personnel needs? (Through its hiring, training, and other personnel practices, the company must demonstrate confidence in its ability to recruit and retain qualified people.) q Will your company have the cash to survive rapid growth? (Small technology companies face a compressed life cycle, rapid growth, and the need for continual innovation (R&D), creating a crucial need for financial and cashflow projections that are updated on a regular basis.) q How does R&D fit into your company's strategy? (Consider the following about R&D programs: purpose, direct costs, facility requirements, financing needs, and expected benefits - often 10-15% of revenue is spent on R&D by technology companies.) q What is the best way to protect the intellectual content of your innovations? (e.g., internal security, patents, copyrights, or reliance on R&D to bring new products to market quickly.)
q How will your company fight technological obsolescence? (e.g. search for new or pending patents to deter impending competition, maintain rapid development and technical leadership to increase market share and decrease production costs). q Does your company have the management information systems to cope with the demands of a technology enterprise? (The company must keep current on rapid changes in competition, markets, prices, production costs, and its cash position.)
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
Manufacturers usually meet customer needs by converting various inputs (raw material, labor, equipment, etc.) into inventory. Therefore, the following questions should be answered in the business plan of a manufacturing concern: q Will manufacturing be outsurced to a turnkey vendor? Who will perform the final testing and assembly of the product? q When and how many units of output will your company ship? (Provide at least quarterly forecasts.) q What is the company's inventory policy? (i.e., is EOQ used? What basis is used for establishing inventory levels?) q When and how much will the company produce? (Provide at least quarterly forecasts that reconcile to shipping and inventory projections.) q What is the company's raw materials outlook? (List suppliers, terms, advantages, disadvantages, product, and anticipated changes.) q How does the company's physical plant relate to the production schedule? (For each location, list uses, current value, any applicable financing, layout, advantages/ disadvantages, and anticipated changes. Also include a separate list of idle facilities and plans for them.) q How does the company's equipment relate to the production schedule? (List major equipment in use/to be acquired, cost, condition, value and any related financing. Also, make a separate list of idle equipment.) q What is the company's labor outlook? (For each job category, list projected need, expected turnover, personnel availability, compensation and training requirements, and any expected union involvement.) q For each product/product line, include sales price, direct and indirect costs, and variable and fixed costs to facilitate the determination of profitability and break-even point. q Do opportunities exist to reduce costs, increase flexibility, or otherwise improve the company's production process?
Service businesses seek profits from opportunities to offer accommodations or professional time. The distinguishing feature of a service business is that its output does not get placed in inventory. The advantage is that a service business can show great flexibility in responding to consumer demands. The disadvantage is that each opportunity is shortlived. Profit is determined by the cost of providing a given service capacity, price, and consumer utilization of that capacity. The following questions will assist in preparing a service company's business plan: q How closely does your company's capacity correspond to sales forecasts? (Plot this comparison at least quarterly.) xii
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q What would it cost to change capacity, either temporarily (i.e., to cover seasonal demand fluctuations) or permanently? q Do opportunities exist for increasing capacity through more intensive use of existing capacity? (e.g., increase hours of operation, increase employee skill level, etc.) q What is the company's "break-even utilization factor"? - How much of current capacity must be utilized to cover the cost of providing that capacity? - Defined as: Fixed Capacity Expense Customer Revenue - Customer Expense OR Cost per Capacity Unit Customer Rev/Unit - Customer Exp/Unit q What is your company's expected utilization factor? (as a ratio) q Do opportunities exist for increasing your company's utilization factor? (This usually means using existing capacity to provide new/different services.) q Does your company's pricing policy maximize profit? (e.g., raise prices to meet seasonal demand increases.)
A retail operation depends on attracting customers to buy goods/services that are usually produced or offered by other companies. The following questions will help to address certain demands specific to retailers: q How does the location of your store(s) suit your company's overall strategy? (For each location, note advantages/ disadvantages including traffic patterns, parking, character of locale, floor space, appearance, cost, etc.) q How well does your company's image support its business strategy? (Make sure that location, merchandise quality, manner of display, service, credit policy, and pricing are consistent with each other and the overall business strategy.) q What pricing policies will your business follow? (Must be consistent with strategy.) q What will be the policy on customer service? (List the services competitors provide and the related costs. Determine what services are necessary to compete in your market. Then list the related cost of customer services to be provided and determine consistency with strategy and reasonableness of expected costs.) q How will your business approach advertising? (Indicate form of advertising, expected results, and cost. Compare with competitors.)
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q What is the company's inventory policy? (i.e., is EOQ used? What basis is used for establishing inventory levels? How are goods to be purchased determined since they must match strategy and customer tastes/demand?) q How adequate are the company's sources of supply? (For each supplier, list name and location, product, prices, discounts and credit terms, advantages/disadvantages, and anticipated changes.) q How much will your company's export operation cost? (Although it reduces the amount of control over the selling of product by an exporter, using indirect selling also reduces costs by eliminating direct selling costs like overseas personnel, market research, packaging, shipping, etc.) q How will you price your company's products in export markets? ("Marginal cost" pricing is most realistic - this method sets the direct costs of producing and selling an export as a floor under which prices cannot be set without incurring a loss. This floor should take into account costs for export personnel, market research, credit checks, shipping, insurance, etc.)
Selling abroad may require modifications to your market research, product, pricing, and promotion. The choice of distribution method (indirect vs. direct) is very important and involves different costs and benefits. Answering the following questions will help to incorporate information specific to exporting into your business plan: q Which of your company's products are most suitable for exporting? Are modifications to the product necessary before it meets foreign standards, preferences, etc.? Does the product have little or no direct competition in foreign markets? q How much control do you want over the marketing of your company's product in foreign markets? (Indirect selling leaves exporters with less control over pricing, advertising, and other marketing matters than direct selling. Exporters usually want more control over the marketing of new products.)
To strengthen your case with outside investors, the following documents may be included -- as appropriate -- in appendices to the business plan: q Market analysis data q Exhibits outlining expected timing of product development, hiring or other significant corporate events q Product specifications, photographs, brochures q Samples of advertisement q Organization chart and list of job responsibilities
Developing The Business Plan For Your Rapidly Growing Company
q Detailed resumes or biographical sketches of owners and managers q Personal financial statements, tax returns, and credit reports of owners q Copies of contractual agreements q Credit reports q Commitment letters from major customers, suppliers, and lenders q References (either letters or contact names) from lawyers, accountants, suppliers, and banks
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
The following document is an example of a business plan. The plan is provided as a guide only. The plan which you create will require information specific to your industry and your company and should be based on real market information and your best-estimate projections.
Control Copy Number _______________
Issued to: ______________________________
The Generico, Inc. Business Plan is confidential and contains proprietary information including trade secrets of Generico, Inc. Neither the Plan nor any of the information contained in the Plan may be reproduced or disclosed to any person under any circumstances without express written permission of Generico, Inc.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Executive Summary.............................................................................. The Company........................................................................................ The Market............................................................................................. q Industry Trends.............................................................................. q Market Segments............................................................................ q The Competition............................................................................. q The Customers................................................................................ Marketing and Sales............................................................................. q Marketing Strategy........................................................................ q Sales Plan........................................................................................ Products................................................................................................. q Automaton 10................................................................................. q Future Products............................................................................. Development Plan................................................................................ Implementation Plan........................................................................... q Inventory........................................................................................ q Staffing Requirements.................................................................. q Facilities.......................................................................................... Management......................................................................................... Financial................................................................................................ 1 4 5 6 8 9 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 21 22 22 22 23 25
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Company
Generico, Inc. was formed in August, 1997 to develop, manufacture and market a flexible product line of highly cost effective assembly robots. Generico's initial product, the Automaton 10, will be directed specifically at printed circuit board manufacturers. While a prototype has yet to be built, the design and specifications of the product are substantially complete.
Generico's robotics products, whether addressing the electronics industry or other light assembly manufacturing applications, all share a common goal: production flexibility and cost reduction for end users. Current and future Generico products encompass proprietary designs which yield substantial benefits over competitive products as follows: q Simplicity — Manifested in ease of use and maintenance in addition to lower cost of manufacture q Performance Capacity — Six axis movement ranging from 30 inches per second (IPS) at 30 grams or less to 20 IPS at four kilograms maximum capacity (in the Automaton 10) q Precision — Limitless repetition to an accuracy of .001 inch q Flexibility — Smaller size reduces space requirements and allows either permanent (ceiling or floor) mounting or portable applications q Price/Performance — Significant savings to end users through state-of-the-art performance at highly competitive price-performance ratios
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan Market
As domestic labor costs continue to increase and the logistics of foreign production become ever more burdensome, the demand for robotics solutions to these problems becomes more and more evident. The robotics market has grown substantially, from a base of approximately $20 million in 1988 to an estimated $320 million in 1996. Both DATAASK and the Rebel Group predict the domestic market to reach $1.7 billion by 2000. As foreign labor costs continue their inevitable rise, the global market for robotics is expected to approach $3.5 billion by 2000. Generico believes it can realistically capture 3% of the domestic market, or $54 million by its fifth year of operations. Underlying the phenomenal growth anticipated for the robotics industry is an equal or faster growth in competition among manufacturers of a wide range of products requiring a flexible process as products change. These manufacturers must find ways to achieve manufacturing flexibility while containing costs. Generico's products address this issue by incorporating reprogrammability which reduces the need for additional capital equipment and worker retraining. To the extent the assembly process is labor intensive, as labor costs rise, Generico's products can also reduce the average hourly cost of assembly.
Generico is seeking $2.5 million in first-round financing. The funding will enable the company to build its product line, to implement aggressive sales and marketing plans, and to establish an initial manufacturing facility. The company anticipates that the initial round will be sufficient to carry it to profitability and to allow building assets to a level where outside debt financing can be obtained to fund further growth. Initial revenues are expected in the second half of 1998. The company is anticipated to become profitable during 1999. Revenue and profit information for the first five years is summarized below:
Year 1 Revenues (millions) Net Income (millions) $ 0.7
Year 2 $ 8.2
Year 3 $18.4
Year 4 $36.2
Year 5 $54.0
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan Management
The ultimate success of Generico will be dependent upon management's ability to develop an innovative product line and to cost-effectively deliver the line to a large and receptive market. Generico's founding executives comprise the following high calibre professionals whose experience will create immense synergy for the company. Vincent Losciallo, CEO — Former CEO and founder of MIME, Inc., a multimillion dollar manufacturer of robot welders and painters acquired by Major Motors in 1993. Stephen Daniels, V.P. of Marketing — Twelve years of industrial marketing experience culminating as a divisional marketing director for a Fortune 500 manufacturer of capital equipment. Harold Ginjeans, V.P. of Engineering — Former design engineer at MIME, Inc., Ginjeans was a major contributor to the "MIME 1982", the company's largest selling product to date. Priscilla Sproviero, Controller — Seven years of "Big Six" accounting experience, the last two of which were consulting to start up businesses; Stanford MBA. George Forrester, Director of Manufacturing — Former director of manufacturing at Acme, Inc., a $100 million producer of audio visual equipment and microwave ovens. Each of the founders has contributed substantially to the company in the form of sweat equity and capital. Management believes that it is addressing a market destined to grow substantially with a well-conceived line of products. It is confident that both market share and revenue projections will, at a minimum, be achieved in the projected time frame.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan THE COMPANY
Generico, Inc. was founded in the summer of 1997 to address one of the major problems facing manufacturers of electronic components and systems today: achieving flexible manufacturing while containing costs. As competition within the electronic component, peripheral, and system markets continues to flourish, pricing pressures push margins lower and lower. Ultimately, only those companies manufacturing at the peak of efficiency will survive. Generico has been formed by a team of experienced executives to design a line of products whose sole purpose is to provide manufacturing flexibility and cost efficiency by: q Providing reprogrammability for assembly tasks q Increasing manufacturing productivity q Enhancing accuracy q Reducing supervisory and other indirect labor costs q Substantially converting what was previously a variable cost (labor) into a fixed cost (capital equipment), thus increasing profit margins at volume production and allowing process changes to be made without adding new or additional capital equipment
During its first two years of operation, Generico will focus only on U.S. and Canadian markets. Beginning with its third year, the company will pursue foreign markets, concentrating on European users. Potential major customers with whom Generico's marketing and product design personnel have already spoken include MBI, Inc., Board Technologies, Pear Computers, Inc., Hillhatch Peripherals, and Fullsiz Computer Corp. (The aggregate revenues of these five companies surpass $15 billion.) The response to the design summaries has been extremely positive. Generico's guiding corporate philosophy will encompass high quality, innovative products, unparalleled service, and competitive prices.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan THE MARKET
Two years ago, assembly robotics manufacturers were seen as some of the most attractive prospects by the investment community. Unfortunately, the market growth projections have not materialized in the earlier anticipated time frame. Notwithstanding the disappointing performance over the short term, Generico management remains convinced that the commodity-priced nature of the electronics industry makes achieving manufacturing flexibility while containing costs the key issue in the management of such companies. Coupling that with growing trade protectionism, foreign instability, currency exposure, and other business risks endemic to foreign production leads to the conclusion that robotics assembly of products will become increasingly more important in the future. Thus, the growth curve has not flattened, but merely been pushed out on the time axis by two to three years. According to Robots on Parade (ROP), a major trade group, the total domestic market for robotics products grew from $63 million in 1994 to $320 million in 1996, a compounded growth rate of greater than 50%. Using the same figure and extrapolating to 2000 results in an annual domestic market of over $2 billion. Industry and trade group estimates on growth rates for the industry are for a compounded growth rate of 30%-35% for the period from 1997-2000.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Table 1 below shows actual domestic growth within the industry for the past eight years and projected growth to 2000.
Table 1
Percent Increase in Sales N/A 75% 86% 10% 36% 83% 45% 25% 38% 30% 30% 30%
Year 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Units 650 1,050 1,850 2,075 2,760 5,120 7,000 9,500 13,300 17,600 23,000 30,000
Sales (MM) $ 36 63 117 129 175 320 465 580 800 1,040 1,350 1,750
Industry Trends
As competitive pressures from both domestic and international sources continue to rise, managers are being forced to closely scrutinize their product cost. The problems are particularly acute in the electronics industry where volume production and heated competition have resulted in extremely thin-margined commodity pricing. Industry managers are now compelled to increase productivity, maintain or improve quality, and reduce labor costs. Otherwise, they will suffer the same consequences U.S. manufacturers of televisions did in the 1960's and 1970's - i.e., slowly wither away as a result of foreign competition.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Many industrial experts, including Wanda Fleming of the Industrial Group, Inc. and George Davis of McBan & Co., a major industry consultant, feel the competitive realities facing U.S. manufacturers of electronic products will result in near-explosive growth in the domestic assembly robotics market during the next decade. The reason for the expected growth is that robotics address the competition head on by allowing manufacturers to: q q q q Increase productivity while maintaining or improving quality Tie in with long-term strategies to out-perform foreign competitors Cost effectively utilize the innovations within the industry Reduce labor costs
Supporting the data above is the unavoidable fact that the growth rate of U.S. industrial productivity in both heavy and light industries has decreased substantially over the past decade. The year-to-year increase in 1984 was 4.2%. In 1996, it was .8%. The most alarming aspect of the figures is that increases in foreign productivity have been astronomical over the same period (Japan, for instance, went from 2.8% to 5.3%). At the same time, U.S. producers of automobiles and electronic products have yielded a substantial domestic market share to foreign competition as evidenced by the following table.
Table 2
1982 Autos Domestic Foreign Non-consumer Electronic Domestic Foreign 1988 1996
87% 13%
79% 21%
63% 37%
97% 3%
91% 9%
82% 18%
Consumer Electronic Domestic Foreign
89% 11%
72% 28%
57% 43%
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
In 1996, Japan had 50,000 industrial robots in place in a work force of approximately 10 million. The U.S., however, had about 15,500 robots in place out of its workforce of about 19.5 million. Perhaps more importantly, some 85% of U.S. robots were applied in heavier utilization (welding, painting, etc.). In Japan, the split between heavy and light applications (i.e. electronic assembly) was approximately 50-50. Clearly, Japan, the number one competitor for U.S. market share of electronic products, has established robotics production as a priority in its long-term strategy.
Market Segments
The domestic market for robotics spreads across five major and distinct industries. The automotive industry has been by far the largest consumer of robotics products, using them primarily in painting and welding operations. The other industries include foundry and heavy manufacturing, aerospace and defense, electronic assembly, consumer products, and other. While the automotive industry has shown the most impressive growth in robotics applications to date, it is the electronics assembly market that will be the growth sector of the future. This is the market which Generico will be addressing. Electronic American, in its 1996 issue featuring robotics products by market segment, projected the installed base of robotics products in the U.S. to be as follows:
Table 3
1997 Auto Foundry Aerospace and defense Consumer products Electronics assembly Other Total installed base (units) 12,000 3,000 2,000 3,000 8,500 2,500
1999 18,000 5,000 6,000 6,000 14,500 5,500
2001 25,000 7,000 8,500 7,000 23,000 6,500
2003 35,000 7,000 10,500 11,000 40,000 7,500
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
As the U.S. economy continues to move away from smokestack industries, it becomes apparent that the exciting growth will occur in industry areas where substantially higher value is added through both technical product design and state of the art production methods. As clearly evident in the previous table, electronics (including aerospace), automotives and consumer products will experience high growth. Generico's target market, then, is demand driven. The company's products will fill an urgent and dissatisfied need within the market.
The Competition
Currently, there is a wide spectrum of roughly 30 companies addressing the robotics market. They range from the multibillion dollar MBI, Inc. to the four or five startups concentrated on the West Coast. As Generico's strategy is to address the light manufacturing and electronics markets, this plan does not address manufacturers focusing on other markets. In addition, Generico management is convinced that those companies addressing the automobile and foundry industries (such as Muscle Machines, Inc., Ergoarms Corp., Koniyoki Heavy Industries, and Veblen, Ltd.) do not represent a competitive threat to the company. Approximately 20 manufacturers focus on the same markets as Generico and shared the $320 million market in 1996 in the following distribution (Rebel Group statistics): Robotics Revenues (in 000's) $102,000 80,000 50,000 29,500 29,000 10,000 19,000
Percent Mississippi Micron Digitizer Corp. Robox, Inc. Manoforms Corp. Smartarms, Inc. MBI, Inc. (Robotics only) Other 32% 25% 16% 9% 9% 3% 6%
Net Income (in 000's) $8,300 5,700 N/A N/A N/A 250 N/A
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
The following is Generico's analysis of each company's strengths and weaknesses:
q Mississippi Micron Inc. (MMI) A publicly traded company based in Natchez, Mississippi, MMI is the "granddaddy" of the robotics industry, having installed its first product in a foundry application in 1953. MMI's reputation in heavy industry robotics is unparalleled. However, its attempts to enter the light manufacturing markets have been met with lukewarm reviews. The company is continuing to experience excessive product downtime, accuracy problems, and service demands it has been unable to meet. Notwithstanding the difficulties, MMI has the potential to be formidable in the light assembly market.
q Pros:
w w w w w
well-capitalized strong name awareness good design team unreliable products in this market ineffective service support (contracted service)
q Cons:
q Digitizer Corp. Second in Generico's target market, this publicly traded Boston company has established a reputation for quality and reliability for its robots. Over the past seven years, Digitizer has grown to roughly $80 million in sales in 1996. However, the company's product line is not perceived as a future market force due to the utilization of an archaic operating system at the controller level, making re-programming the robots extremely difficult.
q Pros:
w w w w w w w
strong quality reputation in hardware particularly successful marketing fast and accurate robotics arms expensive — at the market's top end weak software — a current problem, but it can be overcome limited 4-axis movement complex components
q Cons:
Robox, Inc. This privately held start up was formed in late 1993 in Milpitas, California. Its founders came from MBI, where they had been directly involved in the development of its robotics line. Little is known of Robox except that its first product has been well received in the market and it was funded by Viewridge Ventures, a mid-level venture firm located in Seattle.
q Pros: q Cons:
w w
highly skilled design team products may be late to market 10
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Manoforms, Inc. Privately held, based in Wheatridge, Illinois, Manoforms is about four years old and has enjoyed reasonable success in its market niche of disk drive assembly. It has apparently been somewhat restricted in its marketing efforts by Tendon Corp., a major disk drive manufacturer and shareholder in the company.
q Pros:
w w w w w w w
relationship with Tendon Corp. well-capitalized relatively strong product acceptance relationship with Tendon Corp. narrow market focus expensive weak price/performance measures
q Cons:
Smartarms, Inc. Private, two-year old company based in Seattle, Washington. Smartarms is, potentially, Generico's strongest competitor. Both companies have developed low weight, 6 axis robotics products and are expected to be priced similarly. Smartarms is not particularly well-funded, so its major weakness is vulnerability to development/production delays.
q Pros:
w w w w w w
strong hardware and software design good price/performance grades competitively priced (anticipated) experienced marketing team cash shortages reliance on Cantel 700177 microprocessor could easily result in production delays
q Cons:
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
MBI, Inc. New York based, publicly traded firm with approximately $7 billion in revenues.
q Pros:
w w w w w w w w
extremely well capitalized captive market of MBI plants premium sales team strong management strong service support perceived as inflexible to external market needs low strength to weight ratios in product line limited 4-axis flexibility of arm
q Cons:
A price/performance matrix is shown below comparing Generico's Automaton 10 to its primary competition:
Unit Price Company Generico MMI Digitizer Robox Smartarms MBI (in 000's) $40 $40 $46 $38 $34 $41 Accuracy Speed* .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 18 IPS 20 IPS 20 IPS 17 IPS 17 IPS 19 IPS Movement Axis 6 4 5 5 6 4 Load Capacity 8 lbs 6 lbs 10 lbs 8 lbs 8 lbs 9 lbs Software Simplicity easy moderate difficult moderate easy moderate
System Weight (in lb's) 125 250 170 500 150 250
* With load weight of 56 grams
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Generico management has developed exhaustive files on its publicly traded competition, but has had difficulty in gathering details relating to non-traded companies. Conversations with end users of competing products, product brochures, industry publications, and trade associations have been the primary source for intelligence on the latter group of companies. Generico management believes that none of its competitors enjoy a broad enough installed base to establish insurmountable loyalty. By interviewing manufacturing managers and purchasing directors at six potential customers who are current users of robotics products, Generico has determined that purchasing decisions are currently based, in descending order, on the following factors:
q Product reliability q Ease of operation q Performance specifications q Price
Generico is convinced that the noted purchase factors will ultimately determine which suppliers enjoy the most success within the market.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan The Customers
Generico's initial target customer list is highlighted below. Generico's design and marketing personnel have met with representatives from those companies.
Table 4
TARGET CUSTOMER LIST (abbreviated)
Company Hemlock-Packett Pear Computers Board Technologies Fullsiz Computer Cantel Informedics Northwest Digital Fletcher Disks Indiana Instruments Davis Designs Avitar Avconics Acme Electric
Revenues $2.4BB 1.0BB 250MM 125MM 750MM 75MM 110MM 225MM 630MM 70MM 300MM 25MM
Manufacturing Director A.W. Davies Allan Fischer A.M. Dresser Richard Payson - unknown Phil Upham Tom Burch Randy Church Ellen Meevwsen Ravi O'Leary Sheeta Gierhart Dan Acme
Purchasing Director W.H. Harrison Galen Mercer George Spate Don Griffin Steve Polson Phil Upham Mo Sembler Tom Jensen Dave May - unknown Hal Deterich Don Acme
For each prospective customer, Generico maintains an in-depth profile covering products, labor force, capital equipment in use, operating statistics (as available), other key decision makers, and other information as appropriate.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan MARKETING AND SALES
Marketing Strategy
Generico's marketing strategy encompasses an early stage focus on 15 to 30 major manufacturers of electronic products (see target customer list above). Each target customer is known for its innovative management, relatively high labor costs, and eroding market share over recent years to foreign competitors. Product design will follow a stated objective of addressing quality (as manifested in accuracy, simplicity, speed, and reliability), innovation, service (second to none by Generico field service engineers, not outside contractors), and price. Generico management firmly believes that providing quality products is its first and foremost task in achieving its targeted market share. Innovation and service are actually subsets of quality and, as a result, substantial management attention will be focused in those areas. To help foster innovation and to maintain close communication with users, Generico has established a technical analysis group which will convene monthly to discuss manufacturing needs. The group will be chaired by Generico's Director of Manufacturing, co-chaired by its Vice Presidents of Marketing and Engineering and have five outside manufacturing members from Hemlock-Packett, Pear Computers, Northwest Digital, Davis Designs, and Informedics (each company has already committed its participation). The group will meet in Generico's headquarters in Sequim, Oregon. While Generico management feels that pricing will be the least important variable in a purchase decision, the company will price its products at the middle of the market — approximately $40,000 per unit. Potential mid-range price hesitancy on the part of customers will be met head on with specification sheets comparing Generico product performance with competitors' and on-site product demonstrations. Generico's innovative designs result in greater flexibility with potentially lower manufacturing costs than competitors' products. This will allow the company to have standard margins above the industry average in spite of mid-range pricing. Multiple unit order discounts of up to 13% will be available to quantity buyers (units purchased within a sixty-day period will qualify for quantity discounts reduced by 25%). It will be company policy to require a 15% cash deposit on all orders, with the balance due within 45 days of installation.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Generico's standard warranty (full parts and labor) will be 90 days, the industry standard. The company's service contract, however, will diverge from the market substantially in that it will be priced on a tiered basis, depending on the service contract period. Generico's modular approach to product design, coupled with the products' engineering simplicity, will allow the company to guarantee maximum down time of twelve hours to its customers. An innovative insurance policy, underwritten by Boyd's of Boston, will provide business interruption liability insurance in the amount of $2 million per site per occurrence lasting in excess of the 12 hours.
Sales Plan
Generico will use only in-house sales personnel with impeccable credentials and extensive product training. Emphasis will be continuously focused on the needs of the customer. During the first twelve months, both the chief executive officer and vice president of marketing will play key roles in establishing contact with target customers. All sales in the first year will be made by home office based personnel. As installed bases dictate, satellite sales and service offices will be established in eight predetermined regions of the U.S. At this time, it is expected that an installed unit base of 25 to 35 will justify opening a regional office. Sales personnel will be compensated with a relatively standard base salary and a "bonus" payable quarterly based on collected payments on sales made in the preceding three months. Bonus schedules will begin at 2% of ex-factory sales price (excluding freight) and will step to a maximum of 7% with no upward dollar limit. Sales personnel will be expected to turn in weekly call reports outlining initial contacts, follow ups, and projected bookings on a rolling three-month basis. Written, semi-annual objectives by all sales personnel will be submitted by the second and seventh month of each year, and the preceding period's actual to budget will be reviewed at the same time. Professionalism in both appearance and approach will be the guiding principle for the Generico sales force. Thorough knowledge of customer needs, Generico's products, and competitors' products will be reinforced with monthly sales meetings conducted by the chief executive officer and director of marketing and sales.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan PRODUCTS
Automaton 10
Generico's initial product, the Automaton 10, is a lightweight (125 lbs), high performance (up to 30 inches per second at repetitive accuracy of 1/1000th of an inch), two servo-motor robotics arm designed specifically for light electronic assembly applications. The Automaton 10 operates on six separate axes, allowing it to be configured to virtually any light assembly operations (competitive products are available with six axis movement, but most existing installations are four and five axis machines). The Automaton 10 has a maximum reach of seven feet, six inches and a maximum load capacity of eight pounds, though at higher weights some speed is sacrificed. The arm is controlled by two Cantel 11940 16-bit micro-processors at each motor. They, in turn, are controlled by a HAL personal computer with a minimum RAM capacity of 512 kilobytes. While not necessary, fixed storage capacity of 10 megabytes is recommended for the PC controller. One of Generico's strongest selling points is the flexibility of its proprietary resident software (written in BASIC). The software is a plain English, menu-driven format allowing for rapid adjustment of speed, pick and place loci (to within 1/1000th of an inch — ideal for circuit board stuffing), travel routes, interval timing, and product weight. Hardware is configured using the industry standard IEEE 422 Multi-Purpose Interface Bus. The bill of materials for raw materials and components making up the Automaton 10 amounts to 137 separate items. The single most expensive component is the HAL personal computer controller. The arm motors are commonly available from seven different sources. Electrical circuitry, including the Cantel 11940 microprocessors, is expected to remain in abundant supply according to industry sources. The remaining components include industry standard hydraulic arms, silicon gasketry, and fasteners (bolts, nuts, etc.). The only custom-produced items in the bill of materials are the forged aluminum three-point mounting base and the molded plastic unit cowling. As noted earlier, the Automaton 10 will be priced at $40,000 per unit. The unit price is ex-factory, less shipping, and includes resident software, the HAL PC controller, and one-day installation and training. Complete documentation and an easy-to-read user's manual are also in the package.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan Future Products
Generico's intentions are to develop a full line of robotics products to meet market needs in light manufacturing industries. To that end, designs are in process for the company's second product, the Automaton 20, a two arm robotics assembler. The Automaton 20 will function in a similar fashion as the Automaton 10, but with two six-axis arms which will allow more detailed assembly tasks to be performed (screwing, unscrewing, spot soldering, etc.). Generico expects to be production-ready with the Automaton 20 by the beginning of the fourth quarter of year one. The company's third product, now well into the design stage, is the Automaton Brain, an upscale version of the Automaton 10, which incorporates automated test capabilities into the arm. Generico envisions applying the Brain in pre and post burn-in tests and other quality control scenarios. Flexible programming will allow the Brain to function simultaneously in both assembly and test configurations. Generico's remaining product on the drawing board is expected to be an add-on to existing robotics products — vision capability. Using a proven laser-based light source, and startlingly sophisticated software, more appropriately called artificial intelligence, the company is hopeful of having robotics vision market ready by the first quarter of year three. Since the company's marketing strategy encompasses innovation as a major component, future product development will be of key concern to management. In the first three years, substantial resources will go into research and development. As the company revenues grow, management expects to commit from 7% to 13% annually to product development.
While operating and manufacturing specifications for the Automaton 10 are substantially finalized, software development must be completed and tested prior to beta site installation. Software development clearly poses the most formidable obstacle to Generico in moving the Automaton 10 into production on schedule. To mitigate this exposure, the development process has been divided into five segments (drive, controller interface, operating system, networking, and sensor input) for simultaneous development. Each segment will be the responsibility of a specified design engineer. A project engineer will be responsible for the overall coordination of the development. He, in turn, will report to the vice president of engineering. The target date for software completion is three months from funding. The aggressive development plan will require the addition of three skilled software designers to accomplish the task within the time frame allotted. Five candidates have been identified and interviewed by Generico's chief executive officer and vice president of engineering. Each is prepared to commit upon successful funding of the company. 18
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
A development time line is shown below:
Table 5
Hardware Design (A-10) Hardware Spec (A-10) Funding Placed Acquire Vax Drive Insts Software (A-10) Contrllr Intrface Software (A-10) Operating Syst Software (A-10) Network Instrcts Software (A-10) Sensor Input Software (A-10) Software Test Hardware Design (A-20) Hardware Spec (A-20) Software Design (A-20) Prorotype (A-20) Beta 1 (A-20) Hardware Design (F.P.) Prototype (A-10) Beta 1 (A-10) Beta 2 (A-10) Beta 3 (A-10) Production Ramp Up
0 month
A-10 is the Automaton 10 A-20 is the Automaton 20 F.P. are Future Products Month 0 is the month of funding
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Generico management anticipates having three beta sites installed by the end of month six (month of funding being zero). Production ramp up will start at the end of month six. Supplier contracts for both the servo-motors and the PC controllers have been negotiated on terms favorable to Generico. The company is multi-sourcing its servo-motors (Mighty Motors, Inc., Hydraulic Manufacturers Corp., and Hester Corp.). HAL Computers has locked in its supplies over the long-term by exchanging six-month purchase terms for a modest (1.17%) equity position in Generico. Without question, one of the more pervasive problems facing Generico is staffing, particularly in the design and manufacturing areas. Generico currently has one hardware designer/engineer and two software engineers, each of whom brings strong skills to the company. It is management's intent to selectively exploit its contacts within the industry by offering attractive incentive packages to proven technicians. Building the right team will be one of the most costly components of Generico's startup phase. A hiring schedule (company wide) is shown below.
Table 6
60 50 40 Staff 30 20 10 0
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
In an effort to reduce the development stage risk inherent in a startup and to minimize financing needs, Generico's manufacturing will be done by subcontractors in the first 12 to 18 months. While a certain degree of control is sacrificed in a subcontracting scenario, management feels that its past experience and industry contacts will allow it to cost-effectively manage the flow of subcontracted material to Generico's plant. Specific contracts with subcontractors have not yet been executed but a most-likely list of companies (chosen based on reputation for quality, proximity, reliability, and price) has been assembled:
q Westridge Tool and Die q Forest Grove Metal q Custom Fabrication, Inc. q Propolyn Molding q Daisy Designs q Montooth Corp.
Generico management has direct past experience with each of the companies and is confident of their individual capabilities and willingness to meet demanding delivery schedules. No materials, with the exception of the HAL PC and Cantel 11940 microprocessor, will be sole-sourced. Company purchasing philosophy, however, will not be to play one supplier off another. Generico will expect quality service and will willingly pay a fair price for it. Generico's manufacturing, then, will be more of an assembly and test operation. Aside from substantially reducing early-stage capital requirements, the assembly operation will reduce labor costs of the company by being staffed with less-skilled workers. Nonetheless, Generico will maintain full control over quality through a vigorous, multi-phased test process at four assembly stages and culminating with a 12-hour, hostile environment burn-in procedure.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan Inventory
Inventory control will be a major area of management attention and will demand close cooperation between marketing, sales, manufacturing, and purchasing. The largest dollar inventory item will be HAL PC's because the quickest delivery HAL will commit to is 90 days after the receipt of an order. Management has set a target maximum days in inventory of 45 days for the PC's during its first year. It is expected to be lowered in subsequent years as order forecasting becomes more stabilized. The next slowest turning inventory components will be mounting bases and custom molded cowling. However, using multiple supply sources, Generico believes it can turn these inventory components monthly in its first year. Servo-motors and hardware are available virtually off the shelf from "neighborhood" suppliers. Generico will maintain a base inventory equal to one week's production and will request drop shipments to meet excess production demand. During its first month, Generico's director of finance will be responsible for implementing a micro-based software system encompassing a sophisticated inventory control package which will generate inventory reports on an as-needed basis.
Staffing Requirements
Generico begins its operations with seven employees, all of whom are skilled technicians. During its first six months of operations, the company will increase in size to 32 people, 18 of whom will be engineers. At the end of year one, Generico will employ 63 people: 30 in engineering, 20 in marketing, 10 in manufacturing and 3 in general/administration.
Generico is currently housed in a 5,000 square foot office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company has an option through its current landlord on an additional 20,000 square feet of contiguous space which will carry it through its second full year of operations.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Generico's five key members of management bring unique and tested skills to his or her functional areas. Detailed resumes and references are available. Presented below are highlights of prior experience and functional responsibilities at Generico:
Vincent Losciallo, 43, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer — co-founded MIME, Inc., a manufacturer of industrial robotics, in 1988. As Chief Operating Officer, he took the company to $39 million in sales by 1993 and negotiated its sale to Major Motors, Inc. in the same year. Losciallo will have overall responsibility for operations of the company, but will concentrate on sales and operations in the first two years. On an interim basis, he will handle the chief financial officer's responsibilities. References — Joel McMenamie, CEO, Major Motors (503) 555-2249 David Womanvock, Partner, Valued Ventures (212) 555-1000
Stephen Daniels, 36, Vice President, Marketing — former Divisional Director of Marketing at Massepequa, Inc. Charged with charting market strategies for a $35,000 to $75,000 product line of capital equipment. During his seven-year tenure, sales grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 23% to $175 million. Daniels will be charged with overall marketing strategies for the company including positioning, pricing, advertising, and establishing internal communications with sales, engineering and manufacturing. References — John Sells, Vice President, Marketing, Massapequa, Inc. (803) 555-1212 Henry Simonson, President, Massapequa Inc. (803) 555-1212
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Harold Ginjeans, 40, Vice President, Engineering — former Chief Design Engineer at MIME, Inc. where he was responsible for development of four key products including the MIME 1988. Ginjeans will manage all product development (hardware and software), establish development PERT charts, staff the engineering department in year one and oversee design and specification processes. References — Doug Guttentag, Professor of Engineering, Carnegie Tech (703) 269-1121 Charlie Emmerson, Director of Engineering, Flossback, Inc. (614) 594-1702
George Forrester, 39, Director of Manufacturing — seventeen years with Acme, Inc., culminating as Vice President of Manufacturing. Forrester supervised the installation of one of the first assembly robotics plants in the U.S. Forrester will be responsible for establishing Generico's assembly operations and negotiating subcontracts and maintaining subcontractor relationships. Additionally, Forrester will chair the potential users of Generico products. References — Esteban Rafael, Vice President, Finance, MBI, Corp. (912) 795-1795 Alan Herzog, Vice President, Finance, Acme, Inc. (301) 295-5000
Priscilla Sproviero, 30, Controller — former Senior Consulting Manager with Reed Hawick. Seven additional years of audit and accounting experience with a Big 6 accounting firm. Sproviero will establish all accounting and financial control systems. References — Jerry Groft, Partner, Reed Hawick (503) 771-2095 Dalim Stevequist, President, OGS, Inc. (503) 971-0011
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
During an interim period of approximately three to six months, Daniels will serve as Director of Sales. The company has interviewed four prospective candidates to fill the position, but has not found a good match. Management is continuing its search primarily by using industry contacts. If the position has not been filled by the end of month two, a management recruiter specializing in sales and marketing will be hired for the search. As noted, Losciallo will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer until that position is filled (expected by month five).
All officers and employees of Generico will be afforded equity positions in the company. Currently, there are no outside investors. An ownership breakdown is as follows: Vincent Losciallo Stephen Daniels Harold Ginjeans George Forrester Priscilla Sproviero Other employees 45% 14% 14% 14% 8% 5%
Management believes that the initial funding of $2.5 million will be adequate to carry the company through initial profitability. It is anticipated that receivables and inventory financing from commercial bank sources will be available beginning in the second quarter of year two. The company anticipates being able to sustain a gross margin in the 40% range, which exceeds the industry average of 33-36%. Beginning in its third year, Generico will have a bottom line net income of approximately 9% to 11% of sales. Management has taken what it believes to be a reasonable approach in formulating its pro forma financials — no additional financing is shown until year two and lease financing is not proposed as an option.
Generico, Inc. An Example of a Complete Business Plan
Assumptions underlying financial projections:
q q q
Founders contribute $70,000 cash to Generico in month one (accomplished). Founders defer salaries and out-of-pocket expenses of $42,500 indefinitely (accomplished). Depreciation is calculated on all fixed and capital assets assuming five-year lives and straight line computation. Receivables are 30 days in duration (industry standard is 30 days). Payables are 30 days (industry standard is 50-60 days), do not begin until month thirteen, and equal only 50% of inventory costs during the period (trade support is expected much sooner). Inventories turn an average of seven times per year (on top of a fixed base of $40,000). Salaries through month 18 are approximately 50% to 75% of industry standard (higher at lower personnel levels in the company). Interest is earned at 8% per annum. Interest is paid at 13% per annum. Cash purchases are the sum of the previous period's payable, 50% of inventory purchases for the period, and current period capital acquisitions. Minimum cash on hand is $20,000 (under bank line when cash flow is negative for the period).
q q
q q
q q q
Detailed budgets underling the financials are available for further review and discussion.
Generico, Inc. Projected Balance Sheet by the Month Year One (Not Reviewed by Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 $2,159,669 -40,000 $2,199,669 216,000 (13,817) 202,183 $2,401,852 Month 5 $2,059,251 -40,000 $2,099,251 239,000 (17,800) 221,200 $2,320,451 Month 6 $1,955,552 -40,000 $1,995,552 250,000 (21,967) 228,033 $2,223,585
Cash/Investments Receivables Inventory Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Fixed Assets $2,311,206 -40,000 $2,351,206 196,000 (3,267) 192,733 $2,543,939 $2,260,889 $2,214,766 -40,000 -40,000
$2,300,889 $2,254,766 206,000 (6,700) 199,300 211,000 (10,217) 200,783
$2,500,189 $2,455,549
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts Payable $ -Accruals Other Payables Total Current Liabilities Term Debt Leases Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Equity 42,500
--2,570,000 (68,561) 2,501,439 $2,543,939
--2,570,000 (112,311) 2,457,689
--2,570,000 (156,951) 2,413,049
--2,570,000 (210,648) 2,359,352 $2,401,852
--2,570,000 (292,049) 2,277,951 $2,320,451
--2,570,000 (388,915) 2,181,085 $2,223,585
$2,500,189 $2,455,549
Generico, Inc. Projected Balance sheet By Month (Continued) Year One (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Month 8 $1,608,344 40,000 108,571 1,756,915 278,000 (30,933) 247,067 $2,003,982 Month 9 $1,369,820 80,000 177,143 1,626,963 296,000 (35,867) 260,133 $1,887,096 Month 10 $1,130,309 120,000 245,714 1,496,023 309,500 (41,025) 268,475 $1,764,498 Month 11 $828,729 200,000 382,857 1,411,586 309,500 (46,183) 263,317 $1,674,903 Month 12 $701,525 200,000 382,857 1,284,382 328,000 (51,650) 276,350 $1,560,732
Cash/Investments Receivables Inventory Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Fixed Assets $1,740,668 40,000 108,571 1,889,239 260,000 (26,300) 233,700 $2,122,939
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts Payable $ -Accruals Other Payables Total Current Liabilities Term Debt Leases Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Equity 42,500
--2,570,000 (489,561) 2,080,439 $2,122,939
--2,570,000 (608,518) 1,961,482 $2,003,982
--2,570,000 (725,404) 1,844,596 $1,887,096
--2,570,000 (848,002) 1,721,998 $1,764,498
--2,570,000 (937,597) 1,632,403 $1,674,903
--2,570,000 (1,051,768) 1,518,232 $1,560,732
Generico, Inc. Monthly Statement of Projected Income Year One (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Net Sales Less: Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Gross Margin %
$ ---0.00%
$ ---0.00%
$ ---0.00%
$ ---0.00%
Operating Expenses Marketing Finance and Administration Engineering/R&D Manufacturing Total Operating Expense Lease Int. Expense (Engr) Other Interest Expense Other Income (Interest) Pre-Tax Income Provision for Tax Net Income (Loss)
$ 5,618 9,163 21,603 4,983 41,367 --15,306 (26,061) -$(26,061)
$9,934 9,163 34,643 4,983 58,723 --14,973 (43,750) -$(43,750)
$9,934 9,747 34,643 4,983 59,307 --14,667 (44,640) -$(44,640)
$9,933 9,747 43,337 4,983 68,000 --14,303 (53,697) -$(53,697)
$22,883 9,747 52,030 10,378 95,038 --13,637 (81,401) --
$31,516 9,747 56,377 12,177 109,817 --12,951 (96,866) --
$(81,401) $(96,866)
Generico, Inc. Monthly Statement of Projected income (continued) Year One (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12
Net Sales Less: Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Gross Margin %
$ 40,000 25,000 15,000 37.50%
$40,000 24,000 16,000 40.00%
$80,000 46,000 34,000 42.50%
$120,000 71,000 49,000 40.83%
$200,000 116,000 84,000 42.00%
$200,000 116,000 84,000 42.00%
Operating Expenses Marketing $ 35,833 Finance and Administration 9,747 Engineering/R&D 69,417 Manufacturing 12,177 Total Operating Expense 127,174 Lease Int. Expense ( Engr) Other Interest Expense Other Income (Interest) Pre-Tax Income Provision for Tax Net Income (Loss) --11,527 (100,647) -$(100,647)
$ 35,833 9,747 82,457 17,572 145,609 --10,651 (118,958) -$(118,958)
$ 40,150 10,038 86,803 22,967 159,958 --9,072 (116,886) -$(116,886)
$ 48,783 10,038 95,497 24,765 179,083 --7,485 (122,598) --
$ 48,783 10,038 95,497 24,765 179,083 --5,488 (89,595) --
$ 61,734 10,330 104,190 26,563 202,817 --4,646 (114,171) --
$(122,598) $(89,595) $(114,171)
Generico, Inc. Cash Budget Month Year One (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Beginning Cash Plus: Cash Receipts Other Interest Cash Available Cash Purchases Cash Operating Costs Lease Payments Interest Costs Total Disbursements Net Cash Available 2,500,000 $ 70,000 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 $2,214,766 Month 5 $2,159,669 Month 6 $2,059,251
$2,311,206 $2,260,889
-15,306 2,585,306 236,000 38,100
--14,973 2,326,179 10,000 55,290
--14,667 2,275,556 5,000 55,790
--14,303 2,229,069 5,000 64,400
--13,637 2,173,306 23,000 91,055
--12,951 2,072,202 11,000 105,650
--274,100 $2,311,206
--69,400 $2,159,669
--114,055 $2,059,251
--116,650 $1,955,552
$2,260,889 $2,214,766
Generico, Inc. Cash Budget By Month (Continued) Year One (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Beginning Cash Plus: Cash Receipts Other Interest Cash Available Cash Purchases Cash Operating Costs Lease Payments Interest Costs Total Disbursements Net Cash Available --11,527 1,967,079 103,571 122,840 40,000 40,000 80,000 120,000 200,000 $1,955,552 Month 8 $1,740,668 Month 9 $1,608,344 Month 10 Month 11 $1,369,820 $1,130,309 Month 12 $828,729
-10,651 1,791,319 42,000 140,975
-9,072 1,657,416 132,571 155,025
-7,485 1,457,305 153,070 173,926
-5,488 1,255,797 253,143 173,925
-4,646 1,033,375 134,500 197,350
--226,411 $1,740,668
--182,975 $1,608,344
--287,596 $1,369,820
--326,996 $1,130,309
--427,068 $828,729
--331,850 $ 701,525
Generico, Inc. Projected Balance Sheet By The Month Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Assets Cash/Investments Receivables Inventory Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Fixed Assets $ 635,693 240,000 451,429 1,327,122 353,500 (57,542) 295,958 $1,623,080 $2,834,082 360,000 657,143 3,851,225 353,500 (63,433) 290,067 $4,141,292 $2,685,647 400,000 725,714 3,811,361 359,500 (69,425) 290,075 $4,101,436 $2,505,758 480,000 862,857 3,848,615 362,000 (75,458) 286,542 $4,135,157 $2,520,000 560,000 1,000,000 4,080,000 362,000 (81,492) 280,508 $4,360,508 $2,520,000 680,000 1,205,715 4,405,715 370,500 (87,667) 282,833 $4,688,548 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts Payable Accruals Other Payables Total Current Liabilities Term Debt Leases Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Equity $ 205,715 42,500 $ 308,571 42,500 $ 342,857 42,500 $ 411,428 42,500 $ 480,000 42,500 177,309 699,809 $ 582,858 42,500 369,345 994,703
--2,570,000 (1,195,135) 1,374,865 $1,623,080
--5,070,000 (1,279,779) 3,790,221 $4,141,292
--5,070,000 (1,353,921) 3,716,079 $4,101,436
--5,070,000 (1,388,771) 3,681,229 $4,135,157
--5,070,000 (1,409,301) 3,660,699 $4,360,508
--5,070,000 (1,376,155) 3,693,845 $4,688,548
Generico, Inc. Projected Balance Sheet By The Month (Continued) Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Assets Cash/Investments Receivables Inventory Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Fixed Assets $2,520,000 760,000 1,342,857 4,622,857 370,500 (93,842) 276,658 $4,899,515 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts Payable Accruals Other Payables Total Current Liabilities Term Debt Leases Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Equity $ 651,429 42,500 433,280 1,127,209 $ 685,715 42,500 450,586 1,178,801 $ 754,286 42,500 469,075 1,265,861 $ 788,572 42,500 419,558 1,250,630 $ 857,143 42,500 395,671 1,295,314 $ 925,714 42,500 339,987 1,308,201 $2,520,000 800,000 1,411,429 4,731,429 375,500 (100,100) 275,400 $5,006,829 $2,520,000 880,000 1,548,571 4,948,571 381,500 (106,458) 275,042 $5,223,613 $2,520,000 920,000 1,617,143 5,057,143 386,500 (112,900) 273,600 $5,330,743 $2,520,000 1,000,000 1,754,286 5,274,286 398,500 (119,542) 278,958 $5,553,244 $2,520,000 1,080,000 1,891,428 5,491,428 398,500 (126,183) 272,317 $5,763,745 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12
--5,070,000 (1,297,694) 3,772,306 $4,899,515
--5,070,000 (1,241,972) 3,828,028 $5,006,829
--5,070,000 (1,112,248) 3,957,752 $5,223,613
--5,070,000 (989,887) 4,080,113 $5,330,743
--5,070,000 (812,070) 4,257,930 $5,553,244
--5,070,000 (614,456) 4,455,544 $5,763,745
Generico, Inc. Monthly Statement of Projected Income Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Net Sales Less: Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Gross Margin % Operating Expenses Marketing Finance and Administration Engineering/R&D Manufacturing Total Operating Expenses Lease Int. Expense (Engr.) Other Interest Expense Other Income (Interest) Pre-Tax Income Provision for Tax Net Income (Loss) $ 70,367 28,822 117,230 31,958 248,377 --4,210 (143,367) -($143,367) $ 70,367 25,702 117,230 31,958 245,257 --2,213 (84,644) -($84,644) $ 74,683 25,702 117,230 33,757 251,372 --1,230 (74,142) -($74,142) $ 79,000 25,701 117,230 33,757 255,688 --38 (34,850) -($34,850) $ 79,650 26,091 125,745 33,757 265,243 ---(18,843) -($18,843) $ 95,223 26,967 129,515 37,805 289,510 ---36,890 -$ 36,890 139,200 100,800 42.00% 201,600 158,400 44.00% 224,000 176,000 44.00% 259,200 220,800 46.00% 313,600 246,400 44.00% 353,600 326,400 48.00% $240,000 Month 2 $360,000 Month 3 $400,000 Month 4 $480,000 Month 5 $560,000 Month 6 $680,000
Generico, Inc. Cash Budget By The Month Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 1 Beginning Cash Plus: Cash Receipts Other Interest Cash Available Cash Purchases Cash Operating Costs Lease Payments Interest Costs Total Disbursements Net Cash Available 200,000 -4,210 905,735 27,557 242,485 --270,042 $635,693 240,000 2,500,000 2,213 3,377,906 305,459 238,365 --543,824 $2,834,082 360,000 -1,230 3,195,312 264,285 245,380 --509,665 $2,685,647 400,000 -38 3,085,685 330,272 249,655 --579,927 $2,505,758 480,000 --2,985,758 382,171 83,587 --465,758 560,000 --3,080,000 464,957 95,043 --560,000 $701,525 Month 2 $635,693 Month 3 $2,834,082 Month 4 $2,685,647 Month 5 Month 6
$2,505,758 $2,520,000
$2,520,000 $2,520,000
Generico, Inc. Cash Budget By Month (Continued) Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Beginning Cash Plus: Cash Receipts Other Interest Cash Available Cash Purchases Cash Operating Costs Lease Payments Interest Costs Total Disbursements Net Cash Available 680,000 --3,200,000 456,171 223,829 --680,000 $2,520,000 760,000 --3,280,000 480,086 279,914 --760,000 $2,520,000 800,000 --3,320,000 514,571 285,429 --800,000 $2,520,000 880,000 --3,400,000 517,686 362,314 --880,000 $2,520,000 920,000 --3,440,000 570,572 349,428 --920,000 1,000,000 --3,520,000 619,372 380,628 --1,000,000 $2,520,000 Month 8 $2,520,000 Month 9 $2,520,000 Month 10 $2,520,000 Month 11 Month 12 $2,520,000 $2,520,000
$2,520,000 $2,520,000
Generico, Inc. Annual Statement of Projected Income Years One through Five (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Net Sales Less: Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Gross Margin %
$ 680,000 398,000 282,000 41.47%
$8,160,000 4,278,800 3,881,200 47.56%
$18,400,000 9,384,000 9,016,000 49.00%
$36,200,000 18,462,000 17,738,000 49.00%
$54,000,000 27,540,000 26,460,000 49.00%
Operating Expenses Marketing $ 360,933 Finance and Administration 117,252 Engineering/R&D 776,493 Manufacturing 171,297 Total Operating Expense 1,425,975 Lease Int. Expense ( Engr) Other Interest Expense Other Income (Interest) Pre-Tax Income Provision for Tax Net Income (Loss) --134,706 (1,009,269) -($1,009,269)
$1,135,840 351,809 1,515,720 445,208 3,448,577 --7,691 440,314 -$440,314
$2,651,580 960,416 2,445,380 1,064,100 7,121,476 ---1,894,524 669,069 $1,225,455
$3,913,440 1,186,207 3,518,300 1,502,880 10,120,827 ---7,617,173 3,808,586 $3,808,587
$4,906,940 1,382,108 5,696,600 2,370,280 14,355,928 --14,863 12,118,935 6,059,467 $6,059,468
Generico, Inc. Monthly Statement of Projected Income (Continued) Year Two (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Month 7 Net Sales Less: Cost of Goods Sold Gross Margin Gross Margin % Operating Expenses Marketing Finance and Administration Engineering/R&D Manufacturing Total Operating Expenses Lease Int. Expense (Engr.) Other Interest Expense Other Income (Interest) Pre-Tax Income Provision for Tax Net Income (Loss) $ 95,223 26,967 129,515 37,805 289,510 ---82,890 -$ 82,890 $104,576 26,967 129,515 37,805 298,863 ---60,337 -$ 60,337 $109,253 26,967 129,515 39,728 305,463 ---134,537 -$134,537 $113,930 26,967 134,332 39,728 314,957 ---126,643 -$126,643 $123,283 26,967 134,332 43,575 328,157 ---181,843 -$181,843 $ 95,283 26,967 134,332 43,575 300,157 ---229,043 -$229,043 387,600 372,400 49.00% 440,800 359,200 44.90% 440,000 440,000 50.00% 478,400 441,600 48.00% 490,000 510,000 51.00% 550,800 529,200 49.00% $760,000 Month 8 $800,000 Month 9 $880,000 Month 10 $920,000 Month 11 Month 12 $1,000,000 $1,080,000
Generico, Inc. Year End Balance Sheet Years One through Five (Not Reviewed By Independent Accountants)
Year 1 Assets Cash/Investments Receivables Inventory Total Current Assets Fixed Assets Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Fixed Assets $ 701,525 200,000 382,857 1,284,382 328,000 (51,650) 276,350 $1,560,732 $2,520,000 1,080,000 1,891,428 5,491,428 398,500 (126,183) 272,317 $5,763,745 $2,520,000 1,840,000 2,668,571 7,028,571 691,000 (257,383) 433,617 $7,462,188 $2,520,000 3,620,000 5,211,428 11,351,428 1,601,000 (545,383) 1,055,617 $12,407,045 $4,744,294 5,400,000 7,754,285 17,898,579 2,528,500 (1,008,383) 1,520,117 $19,418,696 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts Payable Accruals Other Payables Total Current Liabilities Term Debt Leases Paid in Capital Retained Earnings Total Equity $ -42,500 -42,500 $ 925,714 42,500 339,987 1,308,201 $1,314,286 42,500 454,403 1,811,189 $ 2,585,714 42,500 319,245 2,947,459 $ 3,857,143 42,500 -3,899,643
--2,570,000 (1,051,768) 1,518,232 $1,560,732
--5,070,000 (614,456) 4,455,544 $5,763,745
--5,070,000 580,999 5,650,999 $7,462,188
--5,070,000 4,389,586 9,459,586 $12,407,045
--5,070,000 10,449,053 15,519,053 $19,418,696
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This extremely rare Romanesque wood sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary's role in important Christian doctrine. It belongs to a type known as Sedes Sapientiae (the Throne of Wisdom).
The Thinker: A CMA Blog
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17 States Considering State Banks
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Taking a cue from North Dakota, a large number of state governments are considering the establishment of a state bank.
In the wake of the financial and mortgage crises, proponents are pushing for states to rely less on large national private banks and establish state-run financial institutions.
North Dakota serves as the model for this new experiment that 17 states are looking at. However, the state bank in North Dakota, the only one of its kind in the U.S., is not new, having been in operation since 1919.
With the Bank of North Dakota, financing is made available to support loans to students, farmers and others, while the bank's profits go into the state budget to help provide more revenue for government programs.
Some states, such as Idaho and Vermont, have introduced legislation to study the idea of starting a state bank. Other states, like New Hampshire, Virginia, Hawaii, Washington and California, are debating bills that would create a state bank.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Move Our Money: New State Bank Bills Address Credit and Housing Crises (by Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Blog)
Hawaii House Democrats Consider Establishing a State Bank (by Malia Zimmerman, Hawaii Reporter)
Solution to the Banking Crisis? Look to North Dakota (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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Idaho health care call center lays off 1,600 as federal exchange enrollment period ends
Jon Elswick, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — A Boise call center that helps people sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is laying off 1,600 people — nearly its entire workforce — as the federal exchange open-enrollment period ends.
Maximus Inc. hired about 1,800 people for the Boise facility last year.
In a letter to employees on Monday, company officials announced that 1,600 employees will be laid off in April because they won't be needed when the federal enrollment period ends. Company officials say some employees may be hired back this fall, in preparation for the next enrollment period. The Boise call center operated under a federal contract administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Similar layoffs are happening at the Maximus Inc. call center in Brownsville, Texas, according to the letter sent to Boise employees.
"After open enrollment ends, call centers operated by CMS contractors that have supported our effort to enroll millions of Americans in quality, affordable health coverage will be ramping down much of their activities," Richard Olague, a CMS spokesman, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "Similar to our Medicare call line, the call center will staff up and down over the year to meet consumer demand and maximize operational efficiency. As such, our contractors are notifying their seasonal employees of this fact through WARN Act notices, as required by law."
The news came as a surprise to a group of nine employees suing Maximus over alleged violations of overtime laws. Their attorneys, Jeremiah Hudson and Howard Belodoff, say workers believed their positions were permanent, not seasonal.
"Our clients were shocked to find out that their positions at Maximus were not permanent positions. They were led to believe that they were being recruited for permanent positions at Maximus, and accordingly, many of them left behind secure employment elsewhere," Hudson wrote in an email.
The workers sued Maximus in Boise's U.S. District Court last month, contending they were forced to work unpaid overtime. Maximus has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
When the Idaho Department of Labor announced a series of job fairs last summer to recruit employees for the call center, it described the positions in a news release as "up to 1,800 permanent and seasonal customer service representatives and operation support staff for a major call center."
"The employees we spoke to were never told they would be seasonal when they were offered their positions," Belodoff wrote in an email to the AP.
According to the letter to Boise employees from Maximus vice president Helene Fisher, regular employees who weren't hired in a limited capacity will be eligible for up to two weeks' severance pay, as long as they keep working until their layoff date.
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text:
Sateen Sunday: Take 15% off 1+ Yards of Organic Cotton Sateen Ultra fabric through 11:59 p.m. EDT July 24th.
Preview scale: 27.0 x 18.0 inches

Change DPI Base size is 150
Collection: Let it Snow
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kawaii (3566),
snow (3103),
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snowman (545)
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jjtrends says:
Thank you so much Rhonda and Sue Ellen! This was a really fun project.
I like your suggestion Sue Ellen, I think it would make a great Santa or toy storage sack.:)
Posted over 3 years ago.
fireflower says:
Or one could sew two panels together and make a "Santa sack" for an awkwardly-shaped gift --- very cheerful pattern!
rhondadesigns says:
Set amid the starry snowflakes and all dressed up in their winter woollies, these jolly snowmen look wonderful!
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09 February 2013 at 12:03 AM
Jessica Simpson & CaCee Cobb Shop for Baby Stuff Together!
About this photo set: Jessica Simpson keeps it comfy while out and about in on Friday (February 8) in Los Angeles. It was recently announced that the 32-year-old pregnant entertainer's… Read More Here
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