Question

prepare a Business Plan. Think of a financial venture that you always wanted to start and develop a business plan to be your blueprint.All sections of a business plan as described in the presentation are equally important, however, for the purposes of this project you will include only the sections listed below:

The Executive Summary

The Business

The Market Analysis

Organizational Plan

Marketing Plan

Financial Plan

Answer 1

Solution:-

Executive Summary

Green Investments (GI) is a financial service company that focuses on stocks of environmentally responsible companies. The Washington-based L.L.C. is lead by Sarah Lewis and Steve Burke. GI uses financial research purchased from Bear Stearns and in-house environmental responsibility analysis to make recommendations to clients.

Executive Summary

Green Investments (GI) is a financial service company that focuses on stocks of environmentally responsible companies. The Washington-based L.L.C. is lead by Sarah Lewis and Steve Burke. GI uses financial research purchased from Bear Stearns and in-house environmental responsibility analysis to make recommendations to clients.

Market
GI will concentrate on the unserved niche of environmental investing within the financial services market. GI faces indirect competition from environmentally responsible mutual funds, which do a similar job in assessing a company's environmental performance but do not allow for investing in individual equity.

Management Team
GI is lead by two experienced managers, Sarah Lewis, and Steve Burke. Sarah has a masters degree in environmental studies and has worked for the Environmental Protection Agency where she was responsible for preparing environmental impact statements. Steve has an MBA and has worked for Salomon Smith Barney where he developed an extensive amount of networking contacts.

GI addresses a previously ignored niche of the financial services market. GI will generate $230,000 and $261,000 in sales in year two and three respectively.

Objectives

• To become the premier environmental investment firm.
• Attract more people into making investments based on environmental actions of the prospective companies, in effect raising the awareness of and supporting investments in companies that act on environmental concerns.
• Continue to drive down the costs associated with investment research as it relates to environmental criteria.

• Mission

  Green Investments' mission is to become the premier financial service organization that makes investment in companies with outstanding environmental records and practices. Green Investments, through comprehensive research and well thought out and verifiable marker criteria will be able to identify sound environmental investments. By offering the highest level of services, Green Investments will succeed as a company as well as have a positive impact on our environment.

• Company Summary

  Green Investments is a Washington-based financial service company that is concentrating on the niche of environmentally responsible companies. The company is owned by Steve Burke and Sarah Lewis. It has been formed as a L.L.C.

• Start-up Summary

  The following equipment will be needed for start up:

• Phone system (5 line).
• Workstation computers (4), back end server, DSL Internet connection, and laser printer.
• Office furniture, meeting room and waiting room furniture.
• Monthly service charge for Bears Stearns software.
• Fax machine, copier, lighting, and assorted office supplies.

• START-UP REQUIREMENTS
  Start-up Expenses
  Legal	$5,000
  Stationery etc.	$500
  Brochures	$500
  Licenses	$2,000
  Insurance	$500
  Research and Development	$9,000
  Other	$2,500
  TOTAL START-UP EXPENSES	$20,000
  Start-up Assets
  Cash Required	$79,000
  Other Current Assets	$7,000
  Long-term Assets	$19,000
  TOTAL ASSETS	$105,000
  Total Requirements	$125,000

• START-UP FUNDING
  Start-up Expenses to Fund	$20,000
  Start-up Assets to Fund	$105,000
  TOTAL FUNDING REQUIRED	$125,000
  Assets
  Non-cash Assets from Start-up	$26,000
  Cash Requirements from Start-up	$79,000
  Additional Cash Raised	$0
  Cash Balance on Starting Date	$79,000
  TOTAL ASSETS	$105,000
  Liabilities and Capital
  Liabilities
  Current Borrowing	$0
  Long-term Liabilities	$0
  Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills)	$0
  Other Current Liabilities (interest-free)	$0
  TOTAL LIABILITIES	$0
  Capital
  Planned Investment
  Investor 1	$75,000
  Investor 2	$50,000
  Additional Investment Requirement	$0
  TOTAL PLANNED INVESTMENT	$125,000
  Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses)	($20,000)
  TOTAL CAPITAL	$105,000
  TOTAL CAPITAL AND LIABILITIES	$105,000
  Total Funding	$125,0

Service :-

• Energy usage
• Water usage
• Recycling program
• Paper consumption and procurement
• Chemical cleaning usage
• Ground maintenance impact
• Formal environmental policy
• Recycling rate

Market Segmentation

Green Investments has segmented the target market into two distinct groups. The groups can be differentiated by their difference in household wealth, households of <$1 million and >$1 million.

• <$1 million (household worth): These customers are middle class people who have a concern for the environment and are taking personal action through their choosing of stock investments based on companies with both strong economic and environmental performance records. Because these people do not have an over abundance of money they choose stocks that are of moderate risk. Generally, this group has 35%-45% of their portfolio in stocks, the remaining percentages in other types of investments.
• >$1 million (household worth): These customers are upper middle class to upper class. They have amassed over $1 million in savings and are fairly savvy investors (themselves or the people they hire). These people are generally concerned about the rate of return of their investments but also have environmental concerns.

• Target Market Segment Strategy

  Green Investments has chosen the previously mentioned target market segments because of the ideological beliefs and the fact that these beliefs translate into the customer groups needing services that Green Investments can provide. While the people can always purchase shares of an environmentally responsible mutual fund, a way that they can exercise their beliefs, mutual funds are just one type of investments. The downside of investments are their relatively low rate of return (relative to good stocks) and the inability to receive personalized service and the ability to make custom choices beyond the type of mutual fund.

  Therefore, Green Investments has chosen these specific customer segments because it is a market group that has unmet needs. These groups have the money and willingness for an environmental investment, yet their only current choice is a mutual fund. Green Investments has chosen to distinguish the two market segments by household worth since this characteristic provides useful behavioral information regarding the different people.

• Marketing Strategy

  "Think globally, act locally." This well known and concise mantra simply suggests everyone should do their part. Green Investments services allows people to make investments based on their conscience. So many people want to do good but are unsure how to. Green Investments' services allows people to do the right thing, with no real cost relative to the other options. Green Investments' returns are better than the S&P 500 Index.

  The marketing effort will concentrate on Green Investments' ability to empower people to make a substantial difference in this world while getting a great return on their money. Green Investments will use magazine advertisements and community based marketing (networking, sponsorship and participation in seminars) to increase visibility for Green Investments and the services offered. The advertisements will be a steady way that people will become aware of the investment options as well as some visibility for the company itself. The community involvement implicitly accepts the premise that good business relies on networking (inter relationships, both business and personal) to be a significant source of business and good will. Green Investments will participate in numerous on-topic events and seminars that will display them as experts as well as give them a podium to describe the different services.

• Sales Strategy

  The sales strategy will rely on using quantitative evidence the recommended companies outperform the S&P 500 Index. In 1999-2001, Green Investments' chosen companies outperformed the index by 2.4%. This is a significant amount. The sales strategy will concentrate on that by making smart green investments, you can achieve better then average returns on your money. A sales packet will be assembled and distributed to prospective customers that shows the better than average historic returns that Green Investments recommended companies enjoy.

• Sales Forecast

  The sales forecast is being done in a conservative fashion to avoid any inflated expectations that might not be able to be obtained. The first several months will be slow. Green Investments has projected steady, incremental growth in sales. This can be explained as a function of the increased proficiency in terms of sales for Green Investments as well as an increased awareness of Green Investments by the target customers. Please review the following table and chart for numerical and graphical representations of the future year's sales forecasts.

• Web Plan Summary

  The website will be used as a marketing tool to provide interested people with information regarding Green Investments and the services they provide. The site will be fairly basic, an introduction to Green Investments.

• Website Marketing Strategy

  The website will be marketed via spoken word of Green Investments personnel, on printed literature, as well as submission to popular Internet search engines such as Google!.

• Development Requirements

  The development requirements for the website will not be significant due to the simple nature of the site acting as an informational site as opposed to more complex websites that include ecommerce activities or more interactive features. A computer science student will be used for the design and construction of the site.