Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The undersigned reader acknowledges that the information provided by Mr.Niranjan Mutkekar in
this business plan is confidential; therefore, reader agrees not to disclose it without the express
written permission of Mr.Niranjan Mutkekar.
Niranjan Mutkekar
Signature
Niranjan Mutkekar
Name (typed or printed)
12/20/2010
Date
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Table of Contents
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Social Media Consulting
Social Media Market is expanding rapidly. With collective user base of over 1 Billion it will be the
dream market for any company, brand or corporation. Social Networks contains most accurate data
about users from around the globe. Social ‘U’ is a Social Media marketing firm aiming for that market
with the help of dedicated and hardworking individuals. Social ‘U’ plans to leverage the existing users’
data on Social Networks to map out marketing strategies for our clients. We will ensure complete
satisfactory solutions to companies’ social media networking needs. Social ‘U’ aims to specialize in
creating targeted Social Media marketing strategies, map their implementation plans and efficiently use
the generated data for analytics and ROI measurements. Given below are our forecasted sales, growth
margin and Net profit. We will achieve high level of success by molding our strategies as per clients
needs.
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Mission
Social 'U' Consulting offers development and execution of 'Social Media Strategies' for your
business. Is your business lacking the well deserved brand identity? We can provide you with
the solution. We specialize in only one thing, Social Media Optimization. The wave of
opportunity in Social Media Marketing is hitting the shores and every business is diving in. Are
you the one lagging behind? We will guide you. We will create a targeted strategic plan to
increase your brand identity and marketing penetration on Social Media Networks such as
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Social Media Consulting
Facebook, Twitter etc. The new era of communications and marketing has come. Let us help
you profit from it.
1. Development of exceptional Social Media Strategies which will be our core competency.
2. Targeted solutions addressing your specific needs.
3. Offering low-cost solutions which will generate high-value returns in Customer satisfaction.
4. Professional handling of client information - Your information is completely confidential and
secure.
5. Increasing your customer base and ROI.
Social ‘U’ is a Social Media Consulting firm which will provide high-level expertise for developing
and execution of strategies for social media optimization.
The Company, Social U, is a currently a sole proprietorship, owned by Mr. Niranjan Mutkekar.
As the operations will expand the owner will consider additional business partners specifically
'Social Media Marketers and Specialists'.
For the Start up of Social 'U', after initial home based operations will kick off we will be looking
for rental space in near future. Our office will be located in the commercial district of Miami. The
total current expenses for start-up will be around $5,100 (Home Base). The other cash at hand
should be around $1000-$1500. The start up expenses is not much as we are going to supply
our own furniture, laptops etc. till the business kicks off. After that we plan to expand both the
office space and headcount.
Table: Start-up
Start-up
Requirements
Start-up Expenses
Legal $500
Rent $1,000
Computer $800
Other $1,500
Total Start-up Expenses $3,800
Start-up Assets
Cash Required $1,100
Other Current Assets $100
Long-term Assets $0
Total Assets $1,200
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Social Media Consulting
3.0 Services
Social U will provide expert solutions for your Social Media Optimization needs. Social U will
handle everything from developing the customized strategies for your business. Social ‘U’ will
implement them to achieve successful result. Social ‘U’ is performance driven company and we
will help you achieve competitive advantage in this developing market.
We specialize in:
Social Media Marketing is most recent and efficient way of communication. Users are now
spending more and more time online on Social Media Networks. The main contender web sites
for Social Media interactions are Facebook with 500 million active users, Twitter with 175
million users), MySpace with 130 million monthly active users. A study by Virtue for Facebook
posts revealed that 1500 major brands shared 1.64 million posts and received 7.56 million
comments from Aug 10, 2007 till Oct 10, 2010. The companies are also increasing their share
in the Social Networks by utilizing it for sending messages, coupons, receiving real time
feedbacks and providing valuable customer service.
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Social Media Consulting
The influence of Social Media networks is spreading like wildfire. Different age groups have
differentiated themselves for the usage of social media networks. For ages 25 and above, Social
networks are medium to connect with old friends, colleagues and relatives. Place where people
can stay in contact with family and friends. While younger generation is vibrant on social media
sites, for them it is a medium to manage their complex social lives.
With so many users, there 'likes' of fan pages and ‘followings’ of the brands one can imagine
the amount of direct user related data which is available through social networking sites. The
major core of Social Media marketing is based on utilizing the existing data (number of
followers, there conversations and comments) available for various companies, activities and
brands. This core data can be used to target the existing customers and also to attract more
new customers by plotting and executing definitive strategies. The theme behind social media
marketing is simple "Create, Converse and Utilize".
Social 'U' will be a forerunner in making existing as well as new coming brands more interactive
and visible on the social media scene. Each company is different and their interaction with the
customers will provide varied results. Thus, Social 'U' will engage in extensive research about
the company and brand. Dedicate quality time to listen to customers and employees, and craft
value adding strategies which will range from pushing the exact content users need to start
social interaction and measure their feedbacks. The most important part will be utilization of
information gathered wisely to generate quality content. The social engagement will result in
more number of followers of the company/brand and create a specific social brand image in
customers mind.
See below the Marketing compass created by Social Media Guru Brian Solis.
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Social Media Consulting
Social 'U' will define measurable goals and objectives which will focus exactly on what
customers want to generate more traffic for their site. The social media networks will be used
as enticers through pushing of quality data (new collections, items, coupons, sales, feedback on
products etc) through which customers will be lead to the actual e-commerce web sites, blogs
or brick and mortar stores. Social 'U' will always look for newer techniques and non
conventional marketing strategies based on current market trends and implement them on
Social Media sites.
Social Media market is huge with Facebook (500 million active users) and Twitter (175 million
active users) leading the pack. In order to access the current customers and potential
customers all the business to consumers companies will use our facilities. The companies can
be differentiated based on the industry they are in and the company size. Our market can also
be divided by types of products and services. But our main target market will be small business
to customer companies which will use Social Media channels to better connect to their
customers. The need for this interaction is mutual. With the social media channels in place, a
company can push quality content to the consumers directly. This includes saving money on
existing marketing practices utilized by companies for example: printing of large amount of
coupons which people receive through their regular mails. By utilizing the targeted coupons and
other promotional offers for consumers, companies can bring in more customers and cut down
on their costs. Also a communication channel can be established in real time with the customers
to measure their feedbacks, provide customer support and generate more followers.
This is the infographic for how companies are utilizing the social media:
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The main target market for Social 'U' will be local small businesses. They will be able to
generate more followers and attract more customers through utilization of Social Media
Marketing channels. This will enable them to increase their customer interactions and they can
provide more products/services based on customers likes, wants and demands.
The business of Social Media Marketing is split between large number of small and medium size
consulting firms. Also every other large organization or company have their own marketing
managers working on Social Media campaigns. But as this is a relatively new field there is large
untouched market space. This mainly includes the small-medium size businesses which are still
unaware of social media communication channels or which haven’t started using them for their
businesses. As they will become aware of the Social Media Marketing and its direct impact on
growth of businesses they will need help from consulting firms like Social 'U'.
Social 'U' will compete against many social media marketing firms locally and nationally. The
success of Social 'U' depends on successful content generation, marketing strategy
development and execution for our customers and through increasing the number of followers
on Facebook, Twitter and other social media web sites. See the below infographic to visualize
the existing situation of marketers using Social Media:
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Social Media Consulting
The major factor for our customers to utilize services with Social 'U' will depend upon success of
our strategies. As we will gather experience, we will gather more followers and earn
professional reputation.
At Social 'U' we assess your needs for optimizing your social networking needs. Once we
establish the needs we develop strategies around them and start addressing their engagement
and deployment.
Our website will feature our current clients. It will also include our social profiles and a running
blog which will contain our discussions and communications. We will also create a map of
activities which we are currently involved in so that current as well as future clients will
understand extent of our work and various aspects of social media which we engage in.
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Social Media Consulting
The Social 'U' website will be developed along with our social networking profiles. It will be
deployed in stages with first deployment anticipated month of Feb 2011. Our website will be
developed in Flash and will be simple yet informative. The website logos, graphics and social
engagement widgets of web sites such as (@Twitter, @Facebook, @Wordpress) will be
mentioned on all the pages so that we get mass coverage. We will also include our running blog
and features such as comments (provided via @disqus) and likes (provided via @facebook).
The website currently will be maintained by Mr. Niranjan Mutkekar but in future the
responsibility will be given to IT/Social Media person. The website will also contain our contact
information in addition we are going to create a unique link so that our future clients can create
projects in real time for our assessment. We project that we will be ready with full fledged
website in July 2011.
Social 'U' is very strong on factors such as resources, talent etc. The growth of Social Media
Networks is fast and Social 'U' is well prepared to help local businesses to utilize these
networks. The strengths of Social 'U' include highly competitive work environment, Professional
and multi-talented workforce, Out of Box thinking approach and high level of understanding of
the Social Networks, their design and features.
6.1.1 Strengths
· High level understanding of Social Media Networks and their effective usage.
Social 'U' will demonstrate a high level of knowledge about Social Networks. This will be
done through the use of interactive media channels. This demonstration will be done for
both marketing of the company and building strong professional reputation. The live
examples without the specific details about our projects will be made available on our
website. Social 'U' is highly capable of using the analytical and measurement tools for Social
Media networks.
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Social Media Consulting
Social Media Networks. Once set the goals and objectives can be assessed through
analytical tools which will measure the ROI for our clients on the basis of More followers,
new customers, emotional attachment to the company, monitory gains etc.
6.1.2 Weaknesses
6.1.3 Opportunities
products/service.
· Social Media networks are very less cost high return investments.
The basic network frame is all present- People, Networks and Groups. It’s very cost
effective to set up a Social Media profile. And upon creating awareness, development of
interests and engagement with customers on these networks the generated data can be
utilized in many ways. For example : Rallying new campaigns, Testing new
products/Services, Real time customer service etc.
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6.1.4 Threats
· Old businesses which are egoistic and don't want embrace the changes.
Many businesses are still being run old style. They have their tough bureaucratic systems in
place which are tough to change.
· Social Media Networks also have many adverse effects if not used wisely.
Social 'U' has created a vision for its future. The first phase will involve increasing company’s
social network presence. We have till now distributed quality content regarding Social Media
technology and future. We have armed ourselves with analytics and ROI measurements of
social networks. Our competitive edge is our strong background experience in Marketing, IT
consulting and Customer service. We are channeling all our experience to build up a
professional social media profiles. Our approach to the customers’ social media will be unique.
We are detailed oriented and will not formulate any strategies unless we have all the
information of customers wants and needs. We will speculate our clients’ future demands. We
will handle maximum of 5 customers at a time thus giving our complete focus.
Our main sales strategy will have one agenda - 'Communication'. Through our Social Media
profiles, blogs and our website the current and future followers will be constantly informed
about our work. The sales will be by undertaking consulting projects. To achieve maximum
efficiency and focus on customers we will handle 5 customers at a time.
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Social Media Consulting
The sales forecast is based on our fee structure for per hour of our consulting services which
are:
We are going to charge Twitter and Facebook marketing (Only writing Marketing plans) - $150
per hour.
Analytics of Existing Twitter and Facebook accounts - $100 per hour.
Sales Forecast
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013
Sales
Twitter and Facebook Marketing $17,214 $26,000 $40,000
Twitter and Facebook analytics $13,605 $20,000 $25,000
Total Sales $30,819 $46,000 $65,000
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Social Media Consulting
The initial Management team will be Mr. Niranjan Mutkekar and some prospective members.
We will be adding additional team players and team leaders as we expand. The initial marketing
will be dominantly through social media channels. Following infographic shows how we are
going to handle social media on various levels:
As stated in management summary the work will be undertaken by Mr. Niranjan Mutkekar and
some other interested members.
Social 'U' being a consulting company, does not carry any tangible product inventory. All the
expenses/sales will be on debit/credit basis.
The costing is explained in above table. As it’s a start-up firm we are still in the initial phases of
acquiring additional investments.
Start-up Funding
Start-up Expenses to Fund $3,800
Start-up Assets to Fund $1,200
Total Funding Required $5,000
Assets
Non-cash Assets from Start-up $100
Cash Requirements from Start-up $1,100
Additional Cash Raised $0
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Social Media Consulting
Liabilities
Current Borrowing $1,000
Long-term Liabilities $1,000
Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) $500
Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) $0
Total Liabilities $2,500
Capital
Planned Investment
Owner $0
Investor $0
Additional Investment Requirement $2,500
Total Planned Investment $2,500
We assume the Social marketing scene is going to grow rapidly and by 2015 around 80% of the
companies will use social media marketing.
Break-even Analysis
Assumptions:
Average Percent Variable Cost 35%
Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost $778
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Social Media Consulting
The below mentioned Profit Loss table is a rough draft. The rent and other additional expenses
are shown to be zero as we will be operating from our individual houses till we find a place to
rent. The first year estimated profits will be $15000 approximately but can increase and
decrease depending upon the external factors. The table will be updated regularly as the
information will flow in.
Expenses
Payroll $0 $0 $0
Marketing/Promotion $3,211 $5,000 $7,000
Depreciation $2,143 $3,500 $5,000
Payroll Taxes $2,901 $0 $0
Other $1,077 $0 $0
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The cash flow projections show that provisions for ongoing expenses are inadequate and will
need to raise some more capital investment. But as the seed capital is made available the
project will start generating revenues.
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The following table presents the balance sheet for Social 'U'.
Current Assets
Cash $8,011 $22,132 $44,738
Other Current Assets $487 ($1,013) ($3,013)
Total Current Assets $8,498 $21,119 $41,725
Long-term Assets
Long-term Assets $0 $0 $0
Accumulated Depreciation $2,143 $5,643 $10,643
Total Long-term Assets ($2,143) ($5,643) ($10,643)
Total Assets $6,355 $15,476 $31,082
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable $3,123 $2,521 $3,548
Current Borrowing $598 ($1,402) ($2,402)
Other Current Liabilities ($4,323) ($9,423) ($15,673)
Subtotal Current Liabilities ($602) ($8,304) ($14,527)
Business ratios are as shown in table. The industry profile ratios are based on Marketing
Research/Consulting industry. We are not planning for any Long term assets currently thus we
are not including them for second and third year.
Table: Ratios
Ratio Analysis
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 Industry Profile
Sales Growth 0.00% 49.26% 41.30% 11.29%
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Social Media Consulting
Percent of Sales
Sales 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%
Gross Margin 51.48% 56.52% 56.92% 100.00%
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses 37.66% 30.82% 31.03% 78.96%
Advertising Expenses 10.42% 10.87% 10.77% 1.04%
Profit Before Interest and Taxes 21.20% 38.04% 38.46% 3.23%
Main Ratios
Current -14.11 -2.54 -2.87 1.46
Quick -14.11 -2.54 -2.87 1.19
Total Debt to Total Assets 53.45% 4.49% -1.70% 61.14%
Pre-tax Return on Net Worth 205.64% 114.27% 76.05% 24.85%
Pre-tax Return on Assets 95.72% 109.14% 77.35% 9.66%
Activity Ratios
Accounts Payable Turnover 7.82 12.17 12.17 n.a
Payment Days 28 34 26 n.a
Total Asset Turnover 4.85 2.97 2.09 n.a
Debt Ratios
Debt to Net Worth 1.15 0.05 -0.02 n.a
Current Liab. to Liab. -0.18 -11.94 0.00 n.a
Liquidity Ratios
Net Working Capital $9,100 $29,423 $56,251 n.a
Interest Coverage 14.53 28.70 26.05 n.a
Additional Ratios
Assets to Sales 0.21 0.34 0.48 n.a
Current Debt/Total Assets -9% -54% -47% n.a
Acid Test 0.00 0.00 0.00 n.a
Sales/Net Worth 10.42 3.11 2.06 n.a
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Appendix
Gross Margin ($700) $130 $653 $1,240 $1,654 $1,759 $1,872 $1,762 $1,872 $1,843 $1,885 $1,894
Gross Margin % 0.00% 14.44% 43.53% 57.12% 61.74% 60.95% 60.17% 56.40% 55.55% 52.80% 50.97% 48.70%
Expenses
Payroll $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Marketing/Promotion $150 $165 $182 $200 $220 $242 $266 $293 $322 $354 $389 $428
Depreciation $100 $110 $121 $133 $146 $161 $177 $195 $215 $237 $261 $287
Payroll Taxes 15% $100 $115 $132 $152 $175 $201 $231 $266 $306 $352 $405 $466
Other $50 $55 $61 $67 $74 $81 $89 $98 $108 $119 $131 $144
Total Operating Expenses $400 $445 $496 $552 $615 $685 $763 $852 $951 $1,062 $1,186 $1,325
Profit Before Interest and Taxes ($1,100) ($315) $157 $688 $1,039 $1,074 $1,109 $910 $921 $781 $699 $569
EBITDA ($1,000) ($205) $278 $821 $1,185 $1,235 $1,286 $1,105 $1,136 $1,018 $960 $856
Interest Expense $26 $31 $35 $38 $40 $40 $40 $42 $41 $40 $38 $38
Taxes Incurred ($338) ($104) $37 $195 $300 $310 $321 $260 $264 $222 $198 $159
Net Profit ($788) ($242) $86 $455 $699 $724 $748 $608 $616 $519 $462 $371
Net Profit/Sales 0.00% -26.89% 5.71% 20.96% 26.09% 25.09% 24.04% 19.45% 18.28% 14.87% 12.50% 9.55%
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Appendix
Expenditures Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Net Cash Flow $117 $269 $910 $1,409 $1,291 $820 $527 $262 $546 $343 $240 $177
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Appendix
Cash Balance $1,217 $1,486 $2,397 $3,805 $5,096 $5,916 $6,443 $6,705 $7,250 $7,593 $7,833 $8,011
Current Assets
Cash $1,100 $1,217 $1,486 $2,397 $3,805 $5,096 $5,916 $6,443 $6,705 $7,250 $7,593 $7,833 $8,011
Other Current Assets $100 $400 $790 $769 $636 $690 $529 $852 $1,257 $1,092 $905 $694 $487
Total Current Assets $1,200 $1,617 $2,276 $3,166 $4,441 $5,786 $6,445 $7,295 $7,962 $8,342 $8,498 $8,527 $8,498
Long-term Assets
Long-term Assets $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Accumulated Depreciation $0 $100 $210 $331 $464 $610 $771 $948 $1,143 $1,358 $1,595 $1,856 $2,143
Total Long-term Assets $0 ($100) ($210) ($331) ($464) ($610) ($771) ($948) ($1,143) ($1,358) ($1,595) ($1,856) ($2,143)
Total Assets $1,200 $1,517 $2,066 $2,835 $3,977 $5,176 $5,674 $6,347 $6,819 $6,984 $6,903 $6,671 $6,355
Liabilities and Capital Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable $500 $665 $998 $1,250 $1,530 $1,773 $1,934 $2,113 $2,244 $2,454 $2,644 $2,875 $3,123
Current Borrowing $1,000 $2,000 $2,400 $2,700 $2,900 $3,000 $2,678 $2,524 $2,435 $2,007 $1,536 $1,018 $598
Other Current Liabilities $0 ($200) ($295) ($334) ($312) ($361) ($652) ($1,001) ($1,452) ($1,986) ($2,636) ($3,407) ($4,323)
Subtotal Current Liabilities $1,500 $2,465 $3,103 $3,616 $4,118 $4,412 $3,961 $3,636 $3,227 $2,475 $1,544 $486 ($602)
Long-term Liabilities $1,000 $1,140 $1,294 $1,463 $1,649 $1,854 $2,080 $2,329 $2,603 $2,904 $3,235 $3,599 $3,999
Total Liabilities $2,500 $3,605 $4,397 $5,079 $5,767 $6,266 $6,041 $5,965 $5,830 $5,379 $4,779 $4,085 $3,397
Paid-in Capital $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Retained Earnings ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800) ($3,800)
Earnings $0 ($788) ($1,030) ($945) ($490) $209 $933 $1,681 $2,289 $2,905 $3,424 $3,886 $4,258
Total Capital ($1,300) ($2,088) ($2,330) ($2,245) ($1,790) ($1,091) ($367) $381 $989 $1,605 $2,124 $2,586 $2,958
Total Liabilities and Capital $1,200 $1,517 $2,066 $2,835 $3,977 $5,176 $5,674 $6,347 $6,819 $6,984 $6,903 $6,671 $6,355
Net Worth ($1,300) ($2,088) ($2,330) ($2,245) ($1,790) ($1,091) ($367) $381 $989 $1,605 $2,124 $2,586 $2,958
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Appendix
8.8 Bibliography
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