E-Commerce Website Producer

views updated

E-Commerce Website Producer
Internet Capabilities

941 Broshwell St.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 31214

Internet Capabilities is an internet-based company which provides goods and services that are purchased and distributed over the World Wide Web.

Currently the main product that we offer is pre-made e-commerce websites, packaged as a ready-to-go Internet business for those wishing to work from home but need a product or service to sell.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Market Analysis

In recent years there has been an explosion in the number of people who work from home, including employees of large corporations and small, independent business people.

Our product lines are designed to capture this new market, factoring in our easy-to-use templates.

We have thirty four different types of e-businesses for sale with over 300 different designs. Ninety percent of the businesses sold are fully automated, meaning that they do not require any maintenance, upkeep, or even order processing or fulfilling for the owner; very little PC knowledge is required. In addition, we provide the domain names as well as the hosting services.

At present we are in the capital attainment mode and will be focusing on securing funding for our operations, both an operating line of funding as well investment in capital equipment.

The founder has invested a great amount of time and resources to get the company to this stage. Due to the nature of our business, we feel our business will grow to new levels once the infrastructure is put in place. At present we have been operating out of our home while we put the systems in place.

Mission

We are a strong believer in do-it-yourself business building. What we mean by this is simple. If we can provide a market with a turnkey product that requires little expertise by the new owners, they will not only succeed in business, but they will also be very happy with the product we have sold them. In the end they will buy more products from us.

Our vision is to be the best online seller of this product and service. Internet Capabilities will work tirelessly to make every client our supporter.

Management Summary

President and CEO: Miyoshi Seto

Vice president: Lew Seto

As more personnel are added, managers will be appointed as the need arises.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Funding

In order to market and expand our current product line, Internet Capabilities is seeking funding in the amount of $200,000. We will offer the standard market return on investment (ROI) on your investment.

Our current focus is toward moving into an office, purchasing office equipment and marketing previously developed products.

While interest has been high in our product line through word of mouth and online auctions, we would like to expand our specialized product line to a national market.

As Internet Capabilities grows and expands, our operational needs will also expand. To exploit these possibilities, television commercials and Internet advertising must be utilized at a considerable expense.

Therefore, management anticipates employing half of any funds received in marketing and advertising. Moving from a home business to an actual office will be necessary along with additional equipment and staff. These additions will be added gradually as business dictates.

Customer service will continue to be a main focus of all levels of employees. This commitment to customer service has made our company what it is today and will continue to make it successful in the future.

Expenses

Capital equipment and marketing expenses
Breakdown:
18 Computers$ 20,000.00
9 Servers$  9,000.00
Domain registrar$  3,000.00
Cubicles and installation$  3,000.00
Chairs$  1,000.00
Software$  8,000.00
Lease (12 months)$ 15,000.00
Miscellaneous$  1,000.00
Wages (4 months)$ 40,800.00
Advertising and marketing$ 99,200.00
Total$200,000.00

GROWTH STRATEGY

Operations

We plan to take Internet Capabilities to the next level. Within the next six months we would like to lease an office space, purchase necessary equipment and servers, and hire employees in order to provide better service and handle more customers. This is part of a two-year expansion plan which includes opening an in-house advertising agency.

With a budget to hire customer service representatives and order fulfillment reps we will be able to provide more "personal" customer service via a 1-800 number or over the Internet with live help chat (already in place). Our order fulfillment representatives will be able to distribute the massive orders for website packages in a timely manner.

Advertising

Additionally, with a new advertising department we will have a more efficient and effective way of promoting our services and plan to profit from taking on new clients by providing Internet-based marketing for them as well.

We will have one of the most effective ways of advertising on the web. Five of the new employees we plan to hire will be software developers who will develop freeware and low-cost software which will allow us to send search results-related pop-up ads to computer users who have our software installed and have agreed to the terms according to their online behavior.

This is a highly effective means of reaching customers. Click-through rates are twenty to forty times higher than traditional banner ads because advertisers can reach consumers across the Web at exactly the right time in their buying cycle. Relevance is one of the most consistent drivers of successful advertising campaigns—especially in today's cluttered Internet environment. If a consumer is considering a purchase in a certain category, or knows she will be, information about that category becomes relevant and valuable. Other companies who use these exact methods such as "Save", "Advertising.com" and, "Gain" have each generated approximately $132 million in 2003.

By the end of 2006 we envision Internet Capabilities as an essential building block of the Internet.

Objectives

Within the First 4 Months

  • Find and lease a location within Saint Paul, Minnesota
  • Purchase and install equipment for customer service reps and order fulfillment reps
  • Hire and train three customer service reps and four order fulfillment reps (one-week training)
  • Deploy major marketing campaign by way of television commercials, newspaper and magazine ads, press release, and Internet marketing campaign (we will temporarily utilize the services of our soon to be competitors "Save" or "Gain")

Month 7

  • Purchase and install equipment for two website designers (to keep the look of the e-businesses fresh and avoid the final product becoming dated)
  • Hire and deploy web site designers to design sites specifically to be sold as e-businesses for Internet Capabilities. Use the designers to look for new types of products that can be added to our product offering

Month 10

  • Hire three software developers to design our own advertising software along with the freeware and low-cost software for distribution

Month 15

  • Begin the distribution of our freeware throughout the Internet by means of Cnet (download.com), through e-mail campaign, eBay, word of mouth, and as free "stickys" for other webmaster sites. "Stickys" are placed on a web site to attract visitors. They can distribute our products to their visitors for free.

Month 18

  • Determine the number of people who have downloaded our products. Use this information to market our other products as well as look for new revenue opportunities.

PRODUCTS

Some examples of the Internet businesses that we sell are:

  • Auction web sites
  • Classifieds web sites
  • Domain name registration web sites
  • Search engine submission web sites
  • e-book web sites
  • Travel booking web sites

Because of our variety of businesses for sale, two thirds of our customers return as repeat customers. To help ensure the profitability of our customers we give them free marketing materials to help start them with their promotion.

Some of the free marketing materials that we offer to our customers include:

  • Free search engine submission
  • Built in meta tags
  • Free web site banners
  • Web rings
  • Valuable marketing tips e-book
  • List of sources where they can obtain leads for people who op-in

We provide people with a means to earn an income without all the normal hassle. The niche market of Internet Capabilities is high in demand and has very few competitors.

With our products we turn the at-home computer user into the Internet entrepreneur! We help other people reach their goals, while at the same time reaching our own.

Customers

As a home-based business, we are currently on a shoestring marketing budget; however, we are still able to attract a large amount of customers and traffic to our sites. This speaks volumes in terms of our potential growth opportunity with our product mix.

Studies have shown that women have become the majority of Web users and do the most on-line shopping in the United States. This fact is central to our business opportunity and our product mix.

According to the US Census in 2005, women became a slight majority of Web users in the United States for the first time in history (51 percent female vs. 49 percent male). Women make up almost half of the first-time Web buyers. It is believed that women will continue to flock to the on-line platform because it allows them to save time researching and buying what they want.

Stay-at-home parents are our main target market at present. Our service will allow them to make money from home while caring for their children at the same time.

In fact, this business was started while the founder was a stay-at-home mom. Now that her children are old enough, she is able to expand the business and help even more people. Her customers can benefit from her experiences.

Young entrepreneurial-spirited men between the ages of 19 and 35 are the secondary market. This group is categorized as highly energized with the ability to simultaneously work on multiple tasks.

These skills will allow them to manage the products they buy from us while at the same time working on other projects.

COMPANY HISTORY

We are a privately-held General C corporation currently operating out of a home office in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Products & Services

Characteristics: completed, fully functional e-commerce web sites designed specifically to generate money on the internet. Most of the web sites sell internet products or products that can otherwise be fulfilled by a drop shipper. The web sites are sold as pre-made e-businesses for those looking to earn an income over the web.

How the service works: We do the time consuming part of finding a product to sell and building the web site. We provide the hosting services and domain name.

The only thing that the customer must do is promote their new business. To help them in this task, we provide free marketing materials to our customers including free search engine submission, web rings, marketing tips e-book, and links to other sites that provide free tools and information. In addition, the web sites come with meta tags already in place for search engine indexing.

The company founder started out by designing web sites for her friends and acquaintances. Word of mouth alone quickly expanded the business to the point where it provided a good income. Next, the web sites were sold on eBay; business was very good here, but competition is high. Finally, the founder built her own web site. Loyal eBay customers frequently visited and purchased from the web site, and this is the basis for the corporation.

We currently are on a limited marketing budget which only permits simple forms of advertising such as small email campaign and link exchanges. With funding we will be able to broaden our marketing and increase sales from $2,000 per month to an estimated $20,000 per month.

Product Description

We sell over 34 different types of e-businesses with over 300 different designs.

The product interface is extremely easy for customers to use. Most web sites are fully automated and only require customers to promote their sites. They can collect payment via paypal.com, which offers free accounts and secure merchant services so that they may accept payment via credit card or e-check.

For example, the auction web site contains scripts that allow users to register with the site for free. In order for them to sell their items, they must pay a nominal fee which can be automatically handled through paypal.

The scripts contained within the site allow users to upload pictures and item descriptions. It also allows member feedback and bidding. The owner of the web site does not have to do anything for the daily process to work and business will carry on without any maintenance.

Paypal integration is very powerful feature. The site's payment buttons are linked to paypal which processes the payments on a secure server into the customer's free account.

Product Life Cycle

Our products are entering growth stage. With enough funding, would like to help the products expand and add more services to our company, such as a mass Internet advertising department.

Because the Internet is only 10 years old, products produced for the Internet and sold on the Internet are still in the start up stage. While the internet has had a few bad days, we are confidant that the wave of the future is front of us; our products are well positioned to meet the needs of both our clients and the end users of our clients' products.