Aztec Food Exports (Aztec), which will import food products from Mexico, will serve as a hub for the city’s growing Hispanic/Latino population in the Greater Richmond region. This community now represents half of Richmond Metro’s (250,000) population. It has experienced a 70% growth over the last five-years. Aztec has proven to be a more successful supplier of mexican foods products to the PriceRight supermarkets. From this base, Aztec will build a successful business serving the area’s large and small markets.
1.1 Objectives
Aztec Imports will be the most important importer in Richmond of mexican food items.
In the next two years, we will see a 20% increase in the number mexican food products sold on local markets.
Build solid working relationships with the purchasing agents of the local stores serving Richmond’s growing Hispanic/Latino population.
1.2 Mission
Aztec’s mission is to supply Mexican food imports to Richmond stores which are currently being poorly served by importers located over 150 miles away. Raymond Garcia, Aztec’s coowner, will draw on his import experience, knowledge of the food retail market, and contacts in Mexico to provide products that are in demand.
1.3 Keys for Success
These are the keys to Aztec’s success:
Offering high-quality, unique products that are not readily available elsewhere. This is critical to maintain the niche market segments mentioned in our mission statement.
Reliable and timely deliveries. Aztec must fulfill its delivery commitments. This is due to Mexico’s business culture. Aztec needs to plan long-term in order for orders to be placed.
A reliable administration who is available to help customers, prepare accurate bills, follow up on orders, and keep a close watch over expenses and collections of accounts receivables.
Fantastic Florals, Inc., imports only handmade flowers made by Indonesian artisans. The firm’s main office is in Anytown, Oregon, and has a customs house broker in Seattle, Washington to deal with related matters.
FFI quality items are unique and exclusive. FFI’s target consumers are women who have upper-middle incomes to high-end. FFI’s competitive edge lies in the fact that its products are entirely handmade. The firm hopes this will attract people who are passionate about the craft of silk flower production. FFI products are mostly made from silk flowers, and some people purchase the product for their own use.
For the starting year, the company plans to attract manufacturer reps and retailers to distribute the products by attending the Silk trade show in Chicago, Illinois. This trade show allows buyers and suppliers to meet and make deals to sell silk flowers and other products. FFI expects to sell approximately $1.1million by the end its first year of operations. FFI will also open an exclusive gift shop to sell our product at Anytown’s Third Street Public Market. This lease will last for five year.
The company plans on expanding to direct mail sales next year through being part of an established catalog targeting a similar market. FFI expects sales to reach $1.5 million by year 2. FFI expects to sell nearly $2,000,000 in its third year.
The FFI family will expand in Year 3 by adding 10 different kinds of flowers and flower arrangements. A 25-30 percent average gross margin is achievable. Annual sales growth is predicted to be 25 per cent.
1.1 Objectives
Year 1 sales of $1.1 Million
With a five-year lease, open gift shop in Anytown at Third Street Public Market.
For year 2, expand into direct mailing catalogs.
Maintain a gross Margin of 25 Percent
Annual growth rate of 25 %
Add 10 varieties of flowers to your product line and create a new product category in Year 3.
1.2 Mission
FFI’s mission is to become a recognized importer of artisan quality silk gift items in the United States. FFI guarantees customer satisfaction at all times and offers friendly service.
FFI’s purpose is to increase customer appreciation of handmade silk flowers and other silk products and to provide customers with beautiful unique artistic decorations.
1.3 Keys to Success
Fantastic Florals Inc. is looking for key success factors
Product quality.
Customer service.
Access to manufacturers.
Controlling fixed and variables costs in the first two years.
Poppi Designs is an Italian furniture importer serving New York. The original incorporation of the business in N.Y. was over 10 years back. It has been through many business strategies changes. The new model allows for the import of a wide variety of Italian furniture. It is sold primarily to designers as well as unfinished furniture retail shops. Two principals are Kate Jackson, located in New York, and Luca de Febonio, located in Rome, Italy.
The Concept
Poppi understands that good furniture is very competitive and will therefore target niches to reduce competition. Generally, they will concentrate on locations out of reach of larger furniture superstores. Poppi Designs can leverage Luca’s expertise and location in Italy to manage the entire importation process. Poppi Designs will be represented in Italy by Luca.
Poppi Designs has three keys to success. The first is establishing a high quality, high value relationship with its vendors and customers. It is also important to deliver their products on time and in a reliable manner. Reliable administration is the last requirement for success.
Poppi can be set up at home and has additional warehouse space. This arrangement will be the most economical, but it will also provide the necessary support and service.
The Market
Poppi Designs will target the following market segments. Their primary market segment is specialty retailers, which makes up around 80%. This segment is growing at just 2% and has 16 potential clients. Poppi will reduce their dependency on this niche by focusing its marketing efforts. This market is more competitive and Poppi will target targeted marketing to increase their reach. The second segment is designers, that also have a 2% annual growth, with 44 potential customers. The final targeted niche is the unfinished furniture retailer, with a potential 50 participant market and growing at 2%.
The market is based less on brand equity of the manufacturer and more on the actual product and the service provider. The customer should have the opportunity to touch and feel it. The salesperson can also play a significant role in the transaction. Poppi benefits from these realities as they are able pick and choose from multiple manufacturers instead of having to only sell products to one manufacturer.
The Sales Strategy
Direct sales calls to all segments of the market targeted by this plan are key to the success of the sales strategy, with the exception being interior designers. Kate Jackson, the owner of the company, must make these sales calls due to her knowledge and background about the products and the competitors. Experience has shown that the more time Kate Jackson devotes to selling, the greater the sales results. The search for a full-time team member should be made as soon and as quickly as possible. Kate is unable to sell if too much of her time is diverted by this person.
Poppi Designs, through its well-focused business strategy will achieve profitability by month two. Conservative forecasts suggest that sales will increase by almost two-thirds from year one to three. The ratio of net profits to sales will be comparable.
1.1 Objectives
The objectives of Poppi Designs are:
In order to create an efficient and reliable administrative system that allows the owner to focus on selling and managing major accounts.
To concentrate Poppi’s efforts on several selected market sectors that have been researched and found promising.
To increase the reliability and timeliness in shipments from Italy.
1.2 Mission
Poppi’s mission, according to a variety reasons, is to fill certain market niches in chairs and other furniture items that are not being served by large domestic producers. Poppi Designs’s owner, Poppi Designs, draws upon her interior design expertise, as well her contacts in Italy, to tailor her products to meet these market needs.
1.3 Keys to Success
Poppi Designs’s key to success are:
Offering products of high quality and value that aren’t available anywhere else. This is critical to maintain the niche markets mentioned by the mission statement.
Reliable and timely deliveries. Poppi must deliver on its promises. Poppi must fulfill its delivery promises because of the nature and culture of Italian business.
A reliable administration who is available to help customers, prepare accurate bills, follow-up orders, and keep an eye on expenditures and collections of accounts receivable.
Visigoth Imports will provide complete import/export brokerage services including purchase contracts, shipping, warehousing, and delivery scheduling. The company will concentrate its efforts on special and culture imports from Germany or Scandinavia to Leavenworth. Visigoth provides trade consultation services for new-established farms under the Puget Consumers Co-op’’s Farmland Fund program.
Market
Visigoth’s focus will be on two specific clients. They are the Leavenworth, Washington-based gift shops, and the Puget Consumers Co-op (PCC) farmers. We have exclusive contracts or endorsements for both market segments. This puts us in a unique position that can serve these niche companies and their needs.
This market is expected to show excellent profitability, especially the import section. Leavenworth receives more than one million tourists each year. While we expect the co-op to have a slower rate of profitability over the first five years, it will continue to grow steadily.
Competition
Competition includes all potential importing firms that serve small enterprises such as farms and specialty gift shops. Practically, this means that we will not compete against the largest import/export businesses such as Eagle Distributing, Fisher-Mills, or other large, national companies. Many other companies tend not to be regionally oriented. The foreign trade industry has a high degree of fragmentation. It is composed of many small companies that mainly deal with small businesses, as well as a handful large companies that are looking for the largest contracts from companies like Microsoft, GM, and others. The industry is very competitive. Our niche strategy is designed to prevent competition and its drawbacks like price wars, etc.
Why Us?
We are the preferred importer for Leavenworth’s unique tourist area. Visigoth is aware that Leavenworth’s many tourists have unique needs and that Leavenworth’s custom-made gifts are a must-have for its restaurants and import shops. Visigoth Imports recognizes that the farms that are part of the PCC farmland funding initiative have much higher prices than others and must be exported at a price that makes them a profitable company. Visigoth Imports have a combined 35-years of experience in the import/export trade. Our aim is to develop long-term relationships and build loyalty with clients by delivering their products seamlessly.
Expectations
Forecast
Most of the company’s liabilities will come from outside private investors and management investment, however, we have obtained current borrowing from Bank of America Commercial Investments, the principal to be paid off in two years. A long-term loan through Charter Bank of Nieurich will be paid off in ten years.
The company expects profitability by year 2 and does NOT anticipate any cash flow problems. We expect that about 3,500 units per month will guarantee a break-even point.