Business plan Klaus and Co.

Toy Shop

OWNER Anthony Botti 45 Converse Drive Winchendon, MA 01475 555-555-5555 555-555-5556 sales@klausandcotoyshop.com

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I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................2 Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................................3 General Company Description.............................................................................................................4 Products and Services ............................................................................................................................5 Marketing Plan ........................................................................................................................................6 Operational Plan......................................................................................................................................9 Management and Organization..........................................................................................................10

VIII. Startup Expenses and Capitalization ................................................................................................11

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Executive Summary

Klaus and Co. Toy Shop wants to promote U.S. made wooden toys all over the world. American toy makers are some of the best craftspeople in the world so why not let everyone know this. Manufacturers use natural materials to produce fun products for children to develop creative play by using their own imagination. We will offer a wide range of wooden toys for all ages between babies and the teen years. Our buyers will search the country for just the right toys that meet our strict criterion for being included on our website. The toys must be made in the U.S. and be designed with child safety in mind. We will have a professionally designed and constructed website with the users experience and ease of shopping in mind. Customers will be able to pay online using any type of credit card with processing being done by PayPal and the customers order will be shipped within 48 hours of receiving their order. Our marketing plan is geared toward parents and grandparents who desire quality toys that are safe for their little ones. Customers will generally be well educated middle to upper middle class people who are considered professionals in their industries. Anthony Botti, the owner, has about 8 years of experience in the distribution field and has held the position of Operations Manager at a gift manufacturer with a portfolio of over 15,000 SKUs in stock. He also has 20 years working in different areas of the office environment. An important sales strategy is to market to baby boomers because they like to remember the simple life of their childhood and basic playthings that kept them amused. Wooden toys require the child to use their imagination to make the toy come alive and grandparents like to see the grandkids get out from in front of the computer or TV set and create their own fun. Baby Boomers are one of the largest generations in the population so business should stay strong for the next 20 years or so.

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III. General Company Description

Mission Statement: Our mission is to distribute the classic handmade toys from entrepreneurs from across the country to assist in the rejuvenation of small American business. Company Goals and Objectives: We anticipate Klaus and Co. Toy Shop to become the first place people think of when shopping for U.S. made wooden toys due to our variety of products and fair pricing. Klaus and Co. Toy Shop will excel in customer service and provide quick shipping of all products. Business Philosophy: Present a quality product at a fair price and deliver it quickly. Our customer will be composed of parents and grandparents who can appreciate well made wooden toys and a desire to provide children with quality toys. As baby boomers grow older they look back on their childhoods and reminisce about simple classic toys and wish their kids and grandkids could enjoy the same uncomplicated pleasure. Klaus and Co. Toy Shop can deliver on these desires with a wide selection of U.S. made toys. Company strengths and core competencies: A strong knowledge of shopping on the Internet will help us design a user friendly web site that is easy to navigate. Working in the past with a small distribution company and bringing them to the Internet via a new web site with over 5,000 products gives us a good appreciation of what it takes to get this business going Legal form of ownership: We are set up as a Limited Liability Company. We decided on this form of organization because we have plans on growing the business over the next few years with more employees. Asset protection for the owners was the main consideration for this formation for the business.

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IV. Products and Services

We will offer classic U.S. made wooden toys from across the country via our professionally designed web site. We will have products suitable for babies all the way up to the teen years and toys everyone in between. In the future we will open a brick and mortar store and incorporate the warehouse in the back to keep the store well stocked and reduce employees for two locations. Another idea is to create an in home toy demonstrations with toy consultants program for individuals to have their own small business selling toys to family and friends. We will have the largest selection of U.S. made wooden toys available on the Internet. The customer will not have to search all over the Internet to shop for wooden toys, one-stop shopping at our site.

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V.
Market research:

Marketing Plan

We plan to utilize secondary data from the United States government agencies web sites i.e. U.S. Census Bureau, toy trade associations as well as toy trade journals and magazines to compile potential market size. We plan to conduct our own primary data collection by doing random polls of parents and grandparents to see if they would buy such products. Economics: The toy market is a huge industry with wooden toys being a percentage of this market. According to the Toy Industry Association, Inc. the total toy industry sales for 2011 was 21.23 Billion dollars. Current Baby Boomers like to reminisce about the days of their childhood and how much simpler life was when they were children. We believe this trend will continue for at least the next 10 years. Barriers. o High capital costs to stock our warehouse. Our plan is to reduce this expense by partially stocking the warehouse and working with manufacturers to drop ship for us until capital can support filling the warehouse. o Building the brand will be a struggle with many big names brands like Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Toy R Us. We are concentrating on just a small portion of the toy industry, wooden toys, which these bigger players dont participate in very heavily.

Product: The products we offer will satisfy the needs of the customer as a simple yet durable toy where a childs imagination will dominate their play time. Features and Benefits: Features: The toys are long lasting and safe for children of all ages. U.S. toy manufacturers must follow strict guidelines for toy safety when creating their products. Benefits: The products will provide pure satisfaction to the purchaser when seeing their child or

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grandchild enjoy the simple pleasures of imagination. Customers: Grandparents, have a substantial amount of discretionary cash to spend on quality wooden toys. They will be retired or almost retired both male and female. They will have enjoyed a healthy income and now have fewer bills to deal with making toy purchases easy. Working parents will be highly educated and successful in their professional lives and care about the environment for their children. Both parents will share in the decision making process of purchasing safe durable toys. Both types of customers can come from all over the country with no special region targeted except for a criterion of a middle class area. Competition: The toy manufacturers themselves usually have their own web sites to sell directly to the consumer which should not interfere with our website. We will represent many different companies from across the country to create a large assortment of wooden toys. Major competitors: Wal-Mart Amazon Toys R Us The above listed competition will compete directly with some of our products but we hope to have a better assortment to choose from not just one or two items that the big chains carry. The big chain stores offer many toys but not as many wooden toys as we would offer. Small Mom and Pop toy stores do not have the variety of wooden toys that we will offer. Niche: We would capitalize on the changing consumer attitude to Buy American and help the economy and the American worker. Also young educated parents want to be eco-friendly and get back to basic educational play time with well made toys where imagination is the key ingredient.

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Strategy: Word of mouth will play heavy into our marketing strategy. We would also market to the consumer by advertising on parenting type web sites and e-magazines along with these same types of sites for grandparents. Social media will also play into the marketing plan because this is where our young educated parents like to hang out. Promotion: We will use social network sites to get our message out to the world, have opted-in e-mail, and use of RSS feeds to help customers keep up with us. Advertising: Use of free or inexpensive advertising is our first choice of advertising then we will create a budget for paid type advertising in the future. The above use of social media, Craigslist, and social forums with parents and grandparents will all help build the Klaus and Co. Toy Shop brand. We would also attend local fairs and build relationships with organizations like hospitals and other businesses to offer special discounts and promotion for their employees. We will have professionally designed logos, web sites and letterhead to give our company a professional look. Pricing: We will use the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) to set our prices. They have a good feel for their customers so we would follow their lead. Furthermore we want our prices to be competitive with most other retailers. Our target market customers are willing to pay a premium to get quality and service, so price is not as important to them meaning, they will not be discount shopping when it comes to buying toys for their little ones. Distribution Channels: We will focus mainly on selling our toys retail from a well designed website incorporating all the latest payments processing available. In the future we plan on offering wholesale pricing and to create an in-house toy demonstration model for aspiring entrepreneurs. We would also create a mobile toy show type model to sell toys at small venues like fundraisers at hospitals and other non-profit events.

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VI. Operational Plan

Klaus and Co. Toy Shop will initially be started out of a rented office space with a small warehouse to store and ship product. A fast Internet connection is a must for this business and location should be in a more central business area as to allow easy deliveries and shipments. Good accounting software as well as a warehouse management system to track inventory of the product. We will stock product and also utilize drop shipping of certain larger items direct from the manufacturer. UPS and the United States Postal Service will be used to quickly deliver products to the customer. Credit Policies: All transactions will be credit card from our web site. If selling at a remote location all transactions will be credit card processed through a cell phone.

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VII. Management and Organization

Anthony Botti, as the business owner will manage the daily operations of Klaus and Co. Toy Shop. I was the Operations Manager at a small distribution company that sold animal figurines at wholesale and retail via Internet web store and Outside Salesman. We offered over 15,000 products in our product line. Employees will be added as needed to keep the operation lean and efficient.

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VIII. Startup Expenses and Capitalization

This business will be bootstrapped by the owner to get the company started. We feel we have enough capital on hand to get the company into a profitable state. We may seek additional funding at a later time if required to grow the business.