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The Thousand Rand Challenge Business Plan Template

This document provides a template of headings for presenting any business idea. The objective is to produce a step-by-step tool that illustrates every step of the business creation process. It should be possible, by following the information, to produce a viable business.

All text in italics should be deleted (including these introductory paragraphs) for use as a template on newly created business idea pages. Please ensure that the new page you're creating really is a new idea. Check the front page for a current list of businesses, or perform a search.

This heading area should contain a brief outline of the nature of the business - change the heading at the top to list the type of business - e.g. Fish and Chips Frying

Contents 1 Description of the business 2 Upstream Businesses 3 Downstream Businesses 4 Competitors 5 Marketing the business to clients 6 The business inputs and outputs 7 Setting up the business 8 The manufacturing or production process 9 Costing and bookkeeping 10 Running the business 11 Before beginning 12 Related articles 13 External links 14 Business Trials

[edit] Description of the business

Within each sub-heading are a series of questions that require detailed answers. Simply fill in your commentary beneath the headings. Note that these headings and the methodology are here, partly to be pedantic, but mostly to ensure a consistent approach across a number of unrelated businesses. It makes searching for information far easier if you know where to start.

What exactly is it that is going to be sold or done?

• Sewing clothes and selling them, for men,women, children and the youth
• Make tracksuits and T- Shirts and sell them
• Curtains , Toilet sets & coach clothes
• Sewing duvets, pillow cases, baby duvets, nappy bags and embroided duvets

What skills are needed to do this? Where is this taught and how much will it cost?

• Skill to operate the machine, cut the material and the ability to be creative.
• She has had training and she has experience
• Sewing skills
• measuring abilities

What tools or equipment are needed? Where can they be bought, and how much will they cost?

• A sewing machine
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Pins
• Twizer
• Needles
• Material
• An Iron

How much space is needed to work from? She need one big room

Where will the space be found, and how much will it cost to rent?

• She will work from home, she will therefore not be paying rent

What sort of people will buy the product? Who are they and where do they live?

• Any person who wants to buy clothes that are made specifically for them.
• Those who are going to special occasions
• People who want their clothes to be altered
• These people are from Dunoon,Khayelitsha and new cross.Men,woman and youth.
• Schools , Netall and Rugby clubs
• any person in my area
• Local people in the area, Borchards, mainly females

How much and how often will they buy? Will they come to the shop or will it be necessary to deliver?

• Alterations can be done everyday and the other itemsof clothes are sold about three times a week.
• The customers come to me
• Clients will buy regulary for school uniforms and sport tours
• Client is responsible for collection of orders made
• Work according orders
• On request. I will deliver or if possible they can collect it

[edit] Upstream Businesses

A list of businesses and ideas that provide the services and products that this business needs.

[edit] Downstream Businesses

A list of businesses and ideas that this business could provide products for.

[edit] Competitors

What major competitors will attract clients' spending away from the business' products?

• There are three other,in Dunoon close to where the client lives, they are Nomthetho,Nosphathisi and the project women
• Peolpe who sell duvets on street corners
• Shops that sell duvets like Pep Stores

What prices and products do these companies have?

• Skirts R120
• Boob Choop R60
• Skirt R45
• Bags R35
• Baby Blankets R35
• Good Cost prices
• Good Quality Prices
• Not sure of their prices

What makes them popular / unpopular?

• They are popular because their clothes are cheap(they are made from cheap material)
• They are unpopular becauese come of them are incompetant and are not neat
• Popular - They advertise by going from house to house. Pep has good advertisement
• Unpopular - Low quality, not worked off neatly, lays in the sun

What do they do to attract customers? Specials? Interesting marketing / advertising?

• They attract customers by putting up boards with their services and prices
• Advertise regulary
• Specials once a month
• They walk around with teir products and people see them

Which of the competitors stand out as being particularly good at what they do?

• Nomthetho, she makes beter quality clothing than the others
• The shops which sellsbedding ( Pep Stores
• pep is situated near my home

What can be done to stand out against them? What can be done that is more exciting / more interesting?

• Buy good quality material that people love
• Have the best prices and make sure that her work is neat and give the same quality consistantly
• She will put up boards to advertise herself and her services
• I will provide quality duvets at lower prices (but still make a profit)

[edit] Marketing the business to clients

What sort of people will buy the products and how important is product consistency to them (e.g. must every loaf of bread be identical)?

• People who have clothes alteration requirements
• People who love good quality clothing
• and those who attracted by good prices.
• It is important to both the client and her customers to be consistent in her services
• Normal people ( locals). The product does not haveto be the same all the time. It could vary in colour, shape and size. But qaulity should still be consistent

How seasonal or fashion-dependent are their buying habits (do they buy only in summer, only over Christmas, etc.)?

• The business is not season dependant. As new fashion trends arrive, the client changes with it depending on the customer's requirements
• Right through the year

Do the clients want the products to be the cheapest or the best (low price / low quality or high price / high quality)? Her customers want high quality Best price & good quality They are willing to pay a bit more if they know that they are getting a good product

How do the clients decide where to buy the products? What sorts of advertising / promotions attract their interest?

• Marketing boards
• Word of mouth
• Give specials once a month
• They buy when there is discounts on products

Do the clients want the same things sold in the same way, or do they want things to change all the time? The client want variety of clothes

What can be done to attract the first clients (the most important and most difficult to get)? How much will it cost?

• She will make flyers and give to people around her community
• Put up a marketing board
• Tell people about her services
• Advertise by word of mouth

[edit] The business inputs and outputs

List all of the inputs (products that are required to produce the products):

• Material (Different types)
• Threads
• Needles
• Pins
• Zips and buttons

List all the suppliers for the inputs and their addresses, telephone numbers, and sales terms (cash, 30 days, etc.):

List all of your outputs (products created by your business):

• skirts
• shirts
• Jeans
• Children's clothes
• Traditional outfits
• blankets
• Duvets
• Pillow cases
• Nappy Bags

What sort of prices can be charged and how much profit will can be made on each item (a rough estimate)?

• skirts R120
• shirts R60
• Jeans R70
• Children's clothes R30
• Traditional outfits R350
• Curtains - R100
• Toilet sets - R100
• Coach Clothes - R150
• blankets R35
• Normal duvets @ R300 (R70 profit)
• Embroided duvets @ R450 (R100 profit)
• Pillow cases @ R15 (R7 profit)standard
• Pillow cases @ R25 (R9 profit) continental
• Nappy bags @ R40 ( R15 profit)

Do the outputs have a shelf-life? Must they be sold within a specified time limit before they go off / can't be sold? Which ones? No, they can stay as long as possible in a dry place No Yes it has a shelf life (bedding can be kept forever)

[edit] Setting up the business

List everything that needs to be done to prepare the business to be ready (list everything needed to have as well, both equipment and stock):

• Buy different types of material, threads, zips and buttons
• Advertise
• Stock
• Register at Eden District Municipality

How long will it take to get all of these things and how much will they cost to get?

• It will take one day to get all this things, for stock it will cost R200 and for transport R40
• Its going to take about 1 month to get the things and it will cost plus minus R450

List all the fixed costs to be paid every month even if nothing is sold (things like rent, electricity, telephone, staff wages):

• Staff Wages R 480
• Electricity R200
• Telephone R100

Total amount for fixed costs: R___780.00

How many staff will be needed and how much will each of them be paid (wages must be included in the fixed costs above)?

• 1 staff member (only when needed, about 2 days per week)

What training will they need, how long will it take and how much will it cost?

• To work the machine or overlocker
• To kwilt with the hand and embroid
• Training will take about 3 months

[edit] The manufacturing or production process

List every step, from start to finish, to produce the product

• Buying of different types of material
• Zips for skirts ,pants and Jackets
• Threads
• Scissors
• Pins
• Buttons
• Design the parten of the product item e.g skirt
• Cut the material according to the partern
• Sew the material
• Quilt Products
• Sell to client

Allocate each of the manufacturing steps to a process and a process to a staff member (e.g. all manufacturing steps A to process 1):

• The whole process will be done by myself and the staff member

What possible problems may happen during each step of the manufacturing process?

• She may cut the material wrong
• Prolem with getting the material in George
• Sewing machine can break

What solutions can be identified for these problems? How much will they cost and how long will they take to fix?

• Buy a new material which might cost R30 a meter
• Sew something else with the other wasted material and sell it to cover her lose
• I will go to Cape Town to fetch the material
• Keep the number of a person who can repair the sewing machine, nearby

What is the maintenance program for all the equipment?

• The machines need oil from time to time and after a while they need to be serviced
• Replace needles regulary
• Sharpen the scissors

What safety requirements are important for production?

• She just needs to b careful no to cut herself or the material wrong
• Take plugs out
• Switch machines off so that children don`t get hurt

How will quality control and client feedback be handled?

• Making sure the materials are in good condition and she is consistant in her manufacturing of good quality clothes
• Customers feedback are used as a guideline for quality control
• Face to face client feedback
• I will control the quality by checking if each stitch is in its place

[edit] Costing and bookkeeping

How many of each of the stock items can reasonably be sold each day (and month)?

• Skirts and shirts can be sold every other day and other stock items can be sold weekly
• Curtains 4 sets
• Toilet sets 2 sets
• Coach Clothes 3 sets
• Normal duvets - 10 per month
• Baby duvets - 10 per month
• Embroided duvets - 10 per month
• Standard Pillow cases - 10 per month
• Continental pillow cases - 100 per month
• Nappy bags - 50 per month

Will sales volumes be a similar number of each item each month, or is there seasonal variation (cold months, hot, or festivals)? Yes it is possible but during the christmas season people buy even more. Sales double

• All through the year

What sort of pricing strategy will be chosen (cheapest or best)?

• The best
• Excellent Quality

What profit margin will be chosen for the products

Write down the cost prices plus the margin for each stock item you will sell, and the selling price

• Cost
• Skirt=2metres R60

      zips R1.50                
      buttons R12.0              

• Skirt price R120

      Profit R58.25

• Shirt=1.5metressR15

      5 buttons R12.5

• Shirt price R45

      Profit R17.5

• Curtains = R33.10 - R100.00
• Coach Clothes = R82.45 - R150.00
• Toilet sets = R60.45 - R100.00
• Duvets = R230+R78 = R308
• Baby duvets - R90+R39=R129
• Embroided duvets - R350+R78=R428
• Standard Pillow cases - R8+R7.50=R15.80
• Continental pillow cases - R16+R7.50=R40.60
• Nappy bags - R90+R39=R129

Is this competitive? Will customers pay this much? Do the margins need to be adjusted? By how much? Yes Not really. I would have to sell more nappy bags, baby duvets, standard pillows and duvets to have a lower mark-up. So I would sell 100 nappy bags (R7.80 mark-up), 50 baby duvets(R15.60 mark-up),120 standard pillow cases(R6.50 mark-up),and 20 normal duvets R39 which bring the prices to: R32.80 nappy bag, R105.60 (baby duvets, R14.50 standard pillow case and R269 normal duvets

Now, set a target. How many items for each product need to be sold on a daily (and monthly) basis to be profitable? Skirts and shirts can be sold every other day and stock items can be sold weekly,whih makes the business profitable

• 3 Curtains, 2 Toilet & 4 Coach Sets per day
• Normal duvets at least 3
• Baby duvets at least 7
• Embroided duvets 2
• Standard pillow cases - 52
• Contental pillow case 32
• nappy Bags 20

Set out the products, costs, margins and selling prices:

Item	Daily Target	Monthly Target	Cost Price	Margin	Selling Price	Total per Month
Item A	X	X x number of working days in a month	R y.yy	R z.zz	R y.yy + R z.zz	= monthly target x selling price

What trends are included in the projections?

This could just be a typical month. I could sell less or more. I would need to:

• R500 pm profit increase
• R100 for transport & telephone each p.m
• R200 for electricity p.m
• R480 for staff p.m
• R25 p.m loan repayment

[edit] Running the business

What is the process for running the business on a typical day? Who will be responsible for each step? Link this back to the production process. - Keep all stock together (Myself) - Open at 10:00 am & Close at 16H00 pm

Who will act as backup should the person responsible not be there? What do they need to act as backup? - Myself -My daughter

What weekly processes need to be performed? Who is responsible, who is backup and what tools are required? - To check if I have enough stock every week - I will do banking every week

What monthly processes need to be performed? Who is responsible, who is backup and what tools are required? - pamflets needs to be handed out - Keep record of everything -Buy electricity -Service and oil machines -I am responsible

What is the schedule for training and motivating staff? None We will go eat out every now and than to built a good relationship between staff and management

What processes are required for maintenance and new product creation? Who is responsible and what tools do they need? To create new ideas everyday

[edit] Before beginning

List some of the support services available (legal, business and other) that might be needed

Drycleaner Shop - 028 713 1066

What major laws concern the business, and which government departments should be called to keep up to date (list phone numbers)? None

[edit] Related articles

Insert links to articles on Wikipedia or other Wikis that may be useful (such as recipes, legal discussions, accounting articles, and so on)

[edit] External links

List links to outside websites that may be useful for anyone starting this business

[edit] Business Trials

List your name if you started a business based on this plan, where you started the business, and how you did Links to case histories - you are welcome to develop these and insert them in your personal page (create this by developing a personal profile) Retrieved from "http://startup.wikicities.com/wiki/TRC_templates"