Making change and social impact

Makea Change

Change Through Business: A Strategic Business Plan

Make a Change

PO box 6598 Columbia

Business Vision

Business Mission

Business Goals

Production Goals

Sales Production

Market Demographics

Utilizing Market Knowledge

Market Strategies

Investment

Financial Plan

Office / Workflow

Change can be painful and it can take time, but history has shown time and time again that change for the better is possible. Change means to make things different than they are now, and there are plenty of things in the world that need to be changed. You may be wondering how just one person can make any difference at all in the complex world we live in today, but we at Make a Change believe that change is possible and we want to do something about changing things for the better. Make a Change is committed to truly important social issues that affect people's lives in meaningful ways. If you want to help us help others, you don't have to become a full-time missionary or be a millionaire to help others help themselves and to make important changes in people's lives. You can help us help others so please take a look at some of the cool merchandise we offer.

All of our products are useful and inexpensive, but they are high quality and they make great gifts too! We offer a complete line of water bottles, key changes, T-shirts, mouse pads, note pads and book bags that will feature the Make a Change logo and dedicate a percentage of our profits to social efforts that can make a real difference in the troubled world we all live in today. Make a statement and make a difference by purchasing Make a Change brand merchandise for yourself, your friends, classmates and your family members. In fact, everyone needs a mouse pad and keychain, and your classmates will appreciate the T-shirts, note pads and books bags that we offer.

Some small change from you today can help make a real change in people's lives tomorrow!

Business Vision

It is absolutely clear that in this changing economy, a business must not only be original and serve a functional purpose in the everyday lives of American consumers, but it must also have some aspects to help the community around it. This is the vision of Make a Change; to be fully operational and profitable, yet at the same time also a helping hand within the business and social community in which it began.

In terms of operational vision, Make a Change needs growth. In the first three to five years of operation, it is the vision of this company to expand to great heights, as a way not only to increase production and profit margins but also to help expand the reach of our charitable donations. From a two person team running out of a home office, Make a Change wants to see great expansion into a highly profitable and successful corporation. We have the will and so that will must be tested with hard work, dedication, and patience. In order to achieve the vision of expansion, Make a Change must constantly be expanding its profits; from an estimated $5,000 revenue brought in the first year, to a tripled estimate by the third. Achieving this vision means not only will Make a Change become a successful and lasting corporation, but we will extend our reach with our charitable donations and be able to truly make a change in the lives of hundreds, and hopefully thousands of individuals across the United States and elsewhere.

Business Mission

Dedication to Change. The first and foremost business mission that makes Make a Change stand head and shoulders above the rest is our dedication to making a change within the lives of others who may be less fortunate. It is a difficult time for such a wide variety of people in this economic slump, and Make a Change wants to do all it can to help ease the burden of those who cannot on their own. This will be done through taking a percentage of very profit earned on every individual item sold and giving it to local and nationwide charitable organizations. In fact, 10% of every dollar earned as gross profit will go to these charitable donations. NEED to PUT in CHARITIES HERE. Working closely with these charities, Make a Change can ensure that the money donated by each customer's purchase will go where it is needed most in order to facilitate the most effective and necessary change within the lives of strangers who desperately need it. Along with out charitable donations, Make a Change will be sponsoring a book that will be published to also help business owners and individual consumers facilitate changes in their own unique ways. This book will help provide stories of how change affects real people's lives as well as methodologies and strategies for facilitating change within any given individual context. Together with our charitable donations and publications, Make a Change will do just that -- facilitate real change within the lives of individuals in need.

Customer Interaction. We here at Make a Change know that no change is possible without the support and dedication of the consumers that help make achieving our mission possible. Therefore it is an important piece to our business mission to incorporate our buyers and supporters as much as possible. The website itself will have a section where customers and supporters can blog about their own lives and how they made a change in other's lives. The first blog series to be launched at the date of the website opening will be about making a change within the lives of complete strangers. Here, individuals can share their own stories and help inspire others to help make a change and do something about the horrible conditions that leave many people stuck in their present conditions. Along with the blog site, Make a Change will offer other ways the customer can interact with others and us here at Make a Change. First, we will also feature a classifieds listing on the site, where people can post jobs wanted and looking for jobs in order to help facilitate changes within their own lives. This will also serve as an effective marketing tool that will help drive business to the site along with providing necessary information to our already established customer base. As a bonus gift to our customers who do interact with the world around them in regards to the mission of Make a Change, we will also offer a referral program which allows customers to be eligible to receive a free item after they successfully refer three new customers to Make a Change. This is geared towards rewarding our customers for their commitment to making a change.

Business Goals

Before Opening. In any online commercial business, there are a lot of steps to take before even opening up shop. The same is the case here at Make a Change. From about six months prior to actually starting the business, which was done on September 1, 2009, there was a lot to work out. The company is an S Corporation, and all licensing appropriate to that status has already been acquired. First, wholesale sellers of the various products had to be researched and solidified as a way to guarantee price pointing and expenses to fit in the product and financial plan which is at the very heart of this strategic business plan. Therefore, a month before proper licensing was acquired, we here at Make a Change had solidified our preferred wholesalers and the prices and quantities we would be purchasing our various products. Along with the commercial side of things, we had to secure the charity we were to donate 10% of our gross profits to. The charity chosen to participate with our donations prior to opening was the American Red Cross because they are a charity which helps people in need both domestically and abroad. The Red Cross is there for those who cannot afford food, healthcare, and other life essentials and so this is the reason we have chosen the charity as our organization of choice for our donations.

Opening. After initial planning and securing of valuable resources and charitable locations, the next step is to open up shop. In order to do this, a website had to be acquired and built, which is still currently in the making. Also, an online merchant services had to be acquired, which we turned to PayPal, a highly reputable and established company with massive online presence and only a 2% deduction of purchases for services. After this is completed, the next step is to make the first bulk purchase of Make a Change branded merchandise, which is the cornerstone of our product services. Finally, our marketing strategies are to be implemented after the initial purchase order is placed which will lead to the company beginning to pull in revenues from its online venue.

Looking Towards the Future. Planning ahead is an important step for the formation and success of Make a Change. In the first one to three years, Make a Change plans to step up its budget or marketing and advertising expenses as a way to drive up business and profits. After the first year, we also plan to bring in other charities on board to share in some of the donations we will be producing through our gross profits.

Production Goals

T-Shirts

The main cornerstone of the business will rely upon t-shirt sales. On our site, we will offer a variety of different colors and styles, which vary in price to the customer. These shirts range in cost to us depending on the style chosen. Like all other products, 10% of our gross profits from t-shirt sales will go to our chosen charity. All tees are 100% cotton, with several sizes, fits, and colors available to the consumer.

Make a Change Brand. Blank cotton tees total to $1.75 a piece, with women's baby doll tees at $2.50 a piece. We are also capable of acquiring women's tanks at $1.75 each. These shirts can be acquired in a variety of colors and sizes; the site will offer choices in grey, blue, black, red, yellow, and forest green in sizes fro extra small to XXL. The customer can then chose the Make a Change logo or other custom design to the tee which then creates another business cost, silk-screening. For larger orders and Make a Change merchandise, which can be mass produced to acquire even more savings per unit, costs per tee from 51-100 units are $5.17 each, with a total potential of $517 for an order of 100. Orders of 200-500 are at $4.07 an item with a total potential cost $2,035 for an order of 500 tees. Together, these two totals make the average mass produced printed tee offered b Make a Change range between $6.92 for a Make a Change men's and $7.67 for a fitted women's tee. Thus, with these costs in mind Men's tees and Women's tanks will be sold to the customer at $20.00, which is a standard retail markup of triple our cost and leaves us with a gross profit of $12.33. Using this same ratio, Women's fitted Make a Change tees will be sold at $23.00 with a gross product of $15.33. 10% of profits from every tee sold will go to charity, leaving a charitable donation of $1.23 for Men's tees and Women's tanks and $1.53 from each fitted Women's tee sold are all going to charitable donations.

Custom designed tees. With custom designs, the costs of acquiring the tees does not change. However, batches of 1-50 shirt silk screens will end up costing $7.82 each, with totals ranging from $6.07 to $303.50 depending on quantity. Custom designs will naturally cost us more money, especially single made designs that are according to specific customer specifications for an individual garment. For one single design, our cost would come to $9.57 for Men's tees and Women's tanks, with a total of $10.32 a piece for the women's fitted tees. Thus, our price point for Men's tees and Women's tanks will be $28.00 with a gross product of $18.43 and $30 for custom Women's fitted pieces with a profit of $19.68. With the 10% of the profit given to charity, that leaves a total of $1.84 per each Men's tee and Women's tank, with $1.97 for each Women's fitted tee going to charity.

Coffee Mugs

The second piece to the puzzle are our coffee mugs. These are 100% ceramic mugs which are offered in four different colors, black, white, grey, and blue. They make great gifts as well as personal items, for who can't avoid that tempting cup of joe in the morning?

Make a Change Brand. Our Make a Change branded coffee mugs will feature the Make a Change logo in the four different colors available. They are a great way to let everyone in the office know your commitment to making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. These mugs will be purchased I batches of 201-500 mugs at a wholesale price of $0.76 per individual item. Based on typical retail mark up, they will be sold to consumers at a price point of $3.99, a small price to pay for making change in the world. This then leaves us here at Make a Change with a gross profit of $2.71. According to company policy, 10% of that gross profit will be given tour charity of choice, leaving a charitable donation of $0.27 per individual Make a Change branded mug sold.

Custom Designs. Just as with our tees, Make a Change will also offer custom printing of designs and logos based on the customer's own choice. Thus, customers can feel their own individual connection to the Make a Change message while also promoting their own unique designs or company logos. These custom pieces are at a higher cost to us, at around $2.79 per item in batches of 1-50 mugs. Thus, the price point to the consumer must also go up, and has been set at a cost of $8.00. This leaves us with a gross profit of $5.21 and a charitable donation of $0.52 per custom coffee mug sold.

Key chains

The third product to be offered on our site are our Make a Change branded and custom logo key chains, available in eight different colors: blue, green, black, yellow, pink, red, purple, and grey. These are a great way to show one's devotion to change with the everyday outside world. They can be great gifts, as well as simple personal items bought to help make a change in the lives of a stranger who needs it.

Make a Change Brand. These key chains are lightweight aluminum, yet can withstand the rough pressures of everyday wear and tear. They are affordable and help produce charitable donations to help make a change within the context of our chosen charity to receive donations. Our branded key chains will be purchased in bulk order of 201-500 individual pieces. Based on bulk pricing, we will acquire each piece for $0.76 each. With retail mark up, this leaves the price to the consumer at $2.50. That leaves Make a Change with a gross profit of $1.74 and a charitable donation of $0.17 for each item of branded key chain purchased.

Custom Designs. We also offer custom printing for our key chain items. This leaves the customer with full reign in choice of design or their own company logo to help support the facilitation of change in the world as we know it. These orders can range from one single item ordered up to 50 individual pieces. The cost to us here at Make a Change comes to $1.34 per key chain. Based on the increased cost to us, we will turn the price point to the consumer to $4.00 per individual custom item. With this price point, we here at Make a Change will be making a gross profit of $2.66 per item sold, and $0.26 given to our chosen charity as part of the Make a Change promise to charitable organizations.

Note pads

Note pads are extremely useful in any context, both business and recreational. Parents can make a difference in someone's life by ordering their student's school supplies through Make a Change rather than going to a local discount store. These are also great gifts and business promotional items, while at the same time allowing for charitable donations per each item sold.

Make a Change Brand. The Make a Change branded notebooks are important to help show one's commitment to change without having to go outside of one's normal everyday activities. They are lightweight and feature two pockets within the binding for spare or loose papers. Our cost based on bulk ordering prices comes to $0.89 a piece for each notebook ordered. We can then turn around and sell to our consumers at a retail price of $2.50. This leaves us with a gross profit of $1.61 and with the 10% deducted for our charitable donations, that leaves a donation of $0.16 per each Make a Change branded notebook sold.

Custom Design. For promotional items, business needs, or just individually designed notebooks to please the picky student, consumers can choose our custom designed notebooks. These are the same style notebook offered with the Make a Change branding, just with a custom design or logo in lieu of the Make a Change brand name. Our cost for ordering these custom printed notebooks comes to $1.19 a piece. Our price point to the consumer then comes to $3.50 a piece, which is only a dollar more than our Make a Change branded notebooks. This leaves us here at Make a Change with a gross profit of $2.31 per custom notebook sold and a total of $0.23 given to our chosen charity upon each sale.

Water bottles

Water is essential within everyone's life. It is also becoming an important piece n the conservation effort to cut down on wasted plastic water bottles. Thus, our offered water bottles help make a change in a person's life as well as in the general well being of the environment which we all depend on. These water bottles are sleek and stylish, offered in eight standard colors: blue, green, black, yellow, pink, red, purple, and grey.

Make a Change Brand. These water bottles will be gat to bring around to the gym or on your latest workout. They are sleek and small, with the Make a Change logo feature front and center in order to help bring attention to your commitment to change. Each water bottle costs the Make a Change company a total of $1.18, which leads us to set our price point at $3.50 for our customers. With a total of $2.32 gross profit, that leaves us to donate $0.23 per water bottle to the charity of our choice.

Custom Design. Custom branded water bottles make for great promotional and business grabbing materials. Customers can order one specific custom design to enjoy their own unique bottle, or entire companies can purchase their own branded bottles to help with promotions while still staying committed to making a real difference. Custom printed bottles cost us a total of $1.43 per item. At $4.50 for consumers, that leaves Make a Change with a gross profit of $3.07. This leaves us t be able to donate a total of $0.30 per custom water bottle sold.

Tote bags

Totes are an awesome way to show that you care. They can be used for carrying school supplies, as a purse, gym bag, or as a green earth friendly reusable grocery bag. This is continuing the commitment to making a change within the lives of strangers, as well as showing commitment to maintaining a less effected environment. The totes come in three colors: beige, white, and black.

Make a Change Brand. Running around town, hitting the gym, or bagging some groceries in this fashionable and practical tote can really show one's commitment to change, both philanthropic and environmental. They make great gifts or can be acquired as personal items which can show one's fashion as well as kindness directed towards helping others. We buy bulk orders of the tote bags at $1.20 per piece. This allows us to sell each tote to our customers at a price of $3.50. This gives us a total gross profit of $2.30 and allows us to donate a total of $0.23 per each Make a Change branded tote sold.

Custom Design. One does not have to stick with the Make a Change brand in order to show one's commitment to change. We offer custom printing in our tote bags as well as all of our other products, which gives customer's a wide variety of unique and custom designs to choose from. These items can be used to promote one's own business or to create a truly unique tote while still making a change in another's life. The custom printed totes are ordered in smaller quantities, and so the cost to the Make a Change company rises to $1.99. This leads us to also increase our cost to the customer to a total of $5.99, which is still very affordable based on the nature of the all burlap tote. This leaves us with a profit of $4.00 each tote, and therefore allowing us to donate a total of $0.40 per each custom item sold to customers.

Sales Production

Setting and Achieving Goals. Sales goals will be set in a variety of different ways which will change according to business conditions, marketing strategies, and previous business history. It will be a key element of business development to meet these sales goals. Not only do we as a company have to make our overhead and work to make a profit, we must also remain true to our promise to donate 10% of all gross profits to the Red Cross. This is only possible if we set a rigorous and ambitious set of sales goals for each and every product that we offer. Without the stability of attaining our sales goals, we will not be able to make the highest level in impact in our dedication to change. For the first six months of operation, the goals set include a minimum of 100 Make a Change banded tees with around 25 custom design tees. For all other products, goals have been set to sell between 25-50 items per each product line offered on the site.

Expected Growth. The entire design of the company depends on a structure of productive growth. This means not only meeting initial sales goals for the fit six months of production but also planning for a rigorous path of growth and future development. Exact sales goals will be set after six months of operation, but general growth patterns are set for the first year, two years, and three years of operation. Expected revenue for the first year totals around $5,000, with growth of $10,000 by the second year. Projected sales for the third year are believed to triple as the growth continues.

Market Demographics

Internet Community

The Internet community as a force of consumers is a very unique and powerful market demographic. Within the larger Internet community of buyers, there are a wide variety of individuals varying in age, race, and geographical location. That is the beauty of conducting business on the web, you can each people beyond the limits of commercial retail ties down by particular locations and sites of sale.

Despite the wide range of individuals within the larger Internet community, there are certain common trends which Mae a Change can then adhere to in subsequent marketing campaigns. According to research, an average of 30% of people who shop online are women. In fact, female online shoppers outnumber men 3:2. Along with this, market research has shown that parents are much more likely to shop online than their counterparts without children. Shopping online proves much easier when you have children to watch and care for which can become difficult in the context of retail stores and multiple geographical sites for various items. Internet buyers vary greatly in terms of median age and income, with shoppers representing all areas of the income spectrum.

Utilizing Market Knowledge

Understanding the make up of the market can then have a huge impact on the structure and workflow of the company itself. Understanding the urgent need for products from people who do not even have the time or luxury to leave their homes to shop can help shape the nature of our shipping policies. Research has shown that the faster the shipping is, the more increased business internet retailers will see. This means that Make a Change must be fast in responding to shipping and other customer needs. All customer inquiries and issues must also be responded to in a timely manner to ensure our customers that we are here to help them, not at our convenience -- but theirs.

Utilizing customer interaction and referral programs will also be an important piece to business here at Make a Change. Many consumers who shop online have been fooled in the past and have spent money with less than stellar companies. In order to ensure our dedication both to change and to our customer base, it will be key for Make a Change to show appreciation for our customers. Our referral program will incorporate a plan where if a customer tells three different people about the site and those three people register that customer's name upon their own purchase, they will receive a free item complimentary of Make a Change. Utilizing the classified section will also help appeal to customer needs and drive more business to the site itself.

Market Strategies

Using this thorough understanding of current marketplace Make a Change can custom tailor specific market strategies in order to best fit the needs of the market demographics in question. There are four specific strategies which we will highlight here as our initial marketing push, which will then be reviewed and evaluated for efficiency at the end of the first year of operation.

Search Engine Advertising

Utilizing search engines as a prime stage for online advertising is an important part of our online market strategy. People use internet search engines not only to shop, but also to gather information on particular subjects that appeal and interest them. Therefore, Make a Change will use the services of Google AdWords and Microsoft Advertising in order to grab the attention of online surfers in their ongoing quest for information. These ads will be carefully written in regards to common search items to ensure much more effective results.

Tailored Banner Ads

To go along with the search engine advertising campaign, Make a Change will also target specific websites to advertise through their online banner programs. These sites will include sites devoted to parenting needs and female interests based on the research that the majority of online shoppers are either female or parents. We will rotate different sites periodically for the first six months in order to determine which has the greatest market productivity.

Informative Publications

Make a Change holds a key element which helps us above other competitors -- our commitment to change. We are a charitable organization that is dedicated to promoting and facilitating change within the lives of individuals all over the country and world. Therefore, we can work together with other charitable organizations to produce informative publications that can be featured on charitable organization's websites and press releases. These will bring information on how and where individual shoppers can make a change beyond purchasing with Make a Change, as well as drive traffic to the site itself.