The price will reflect this. The premium prices we will charge -- in the range of $15 per pound, are commensurate with the price charged by other roasters of our caliber for their coffees. We will offer a slight discount from this for our wholesale business, but only slightly. When cafes sell our coffee at retail, they will probably charge in the $1.75 range for a cup and $3.00-$3.50 for an espresso drink.
With regards to place, the majority of our sales will be conducted either in our store or through the Internet. We expect that our store will handle a significant amount of the retail trade, especially since the cafe will attract customers. The Internet -- along with phone and email orders -- will handle the bulk of the wholesale business.
The promotional message will be based around the high quality of the coffee. We will support this with a considerable focus on building our brand. Specific coffees may be the focus of special promotions, but for the most part we seek to create a brand identity that coffee lovers will easily equate with high quality. We expect that our promotion will be primarily Internet based. We intend to create a buzz through social media and will use our page to market our brand and sell our coffees. Beyond this, we expect that we will utilize both guerilla marketing strategies and conventional print advertisements (in local food and entertainment periodicals) to announce our arrival. We will have a grand opening party in order to generate further buzz.
Financial Plan
Projected financial statements for the first year are found in Appendix A. The company expects revenues of $200,000 in the first year. This is expected to increase to $500,000 in the second years. Cost of goods sold is relatively low for coffee, even at fair trade prices. Our beans will cost more than conventional ones, but we are able to charge higher margins than are most coffee roasters because of our premium quality.
We believe that general expense will...
The owners are the only employees expected in the first year, each handling multiple aspects of the business. It is anticipated that additional employees will be required for subsequent years.
The balance sheet illustrates that we expect to remain in a sound financial position after the first year. By keeping our overhead low, we will be able to turn a profit and retain some earnings. In addition, we will have paid $5,000 in principle on our line of credit, in addition to $5,000 of interest.
We believe that with a line of credit for $50,000, we will be able to ensure the company's ability to get off the ground. The line of credit will also give us some financial flexibility as we proceed through our first year. We anticipate that we may at the beginning have a balance in the $10,000 to $20,000 range but would use the full line of credit when we need new equipment with which to expand beyond year one.
Appendix A: Financial Statements
Income Statement
Revenues
200000
Cost of Goods Sold
85000
Gross Margin
115000
General Expense
90000
Net Margin
25000
Interest Expense
Tax Expense
Net Profit
12500
Balance Sheet
Current Assets
Equipment
75000
Other LT Assets
20000
Total assets
99500
Current liabilities
LT Debt
45000
Total Liabilities
47500
Shareholders' Equity
52000
99500
