Executive Summary Essay Example For Students

Executive Summary Essay Shoes4U.com is being organized as a global Internet shoe store thatis focused on reducing the overall price structure, in addition to enablingcustomers to make knowledgeable decisions about footwearpurchased.Shoes4U.com will also attain a competitive edge by offeringservices such as website development and e-commerce, which have becomeessential for any business presence. Shoes4U.com intends to establish andoperate an Internet shoe store with services costing significantly lessthan the prices of its competitors, while supplying superior quality. Eight equal partners will manage Shoes4U.com, and will each supervisedifferent areas of the business. The partners will create an environmentand structure that will encourage productivity and respect for customersand fellow employees. All wages and salaries are based on the position andfull time/part-time status. Shoes4U.com is targeting individuals between 18 and 40 years of age. The organization is planning on targeting these individuals through variousmarketing tools, with the main tool being direct e-mail promotions thatoffer substantial savings on products purchased. The major themes behindour different sales pitches to our potential and existing customers will bethe significant cost savings, convenience, streamlined fulfillment process,broad range of services and products, and comprehensive customer servicethat Shoes4U.com provides. Shoes4U.com has four major competitors online. Shoes4u.com realizesthat it must also compete with physical discount retail stores. In order toremain competitive Shoes4U.com has analyzed their advantages and takensteps to use those advantages to maximize their opportunities in the shoeindustry. Shoes4U.com offers many services and products. Some of the servicesthat Shoes4U.com offers includes order tracking and review 24 hrs a day, 72hr delivery, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee program. Some of theproducts that the business offers are slippers, boots, sandals, casualwear, corporate casual wear, and dress shoes. Shoes4U.com plans to continually expand its business through manyways. Some of theses ways include creating new services, building brandrecognition, acquiring strategic alliances with major shoe companies anddistributors, etc. Shoes4U.com will also expand by leveraging andextending technology and initiating several sales programs. While expandingthe business will simultaneously be combating the following challenges:intensive customer interaction, flexible pricing, intelligent orderrouting, and re-orders. Company Mission Statement and DescriptionShoes4U.com will develop a unique website that provides customers variousways to buy designer shoes and boots of all types and sizes. The companyplans to register a corporation under the name of Shoes4U.com and operateunder the same name. Mission StatementWe at Shoes4U.com provide designer shoes. Through our on-line retailoperation we guarantee the best prices, the highest quality, the widestselection and the quickest delivery utilizing the power of the Internet tobecome the market leader in providing convenience and selection tocustomers. DescriptionOur goal is to become the #1 on-line shoe retailer. By providing aconvenient way for customers to purchase the designer shoes that they love,need, and want, we offer low prices with high variety. What makesShoes4U.com unique is the ability to capture the needs of customers. Customers will be able to log on to the site, type the brand, size, andcolor of the shoe they prefer and a 3D image will appear. Factors forgrowth are downsizing in large retail companies, a growing trend towards on-line purchasing, and society is moving towards a more technically orientedtrend where every home has a computer with Internet access. ManagementThe companys management philosophy will be based on responsibility andmutual respect. Shoes4U.com will maintain an environment and structure thatwill encourage productivity and respect for customers and fellow employees. Additionally, the environment will encourage employees to have fun byallowing creative independence and providing challenges that are realisticand rewarding. Shoes4U.com is a private partnership with eight partners of equalliability. Each partner has different duties and responsibilities. Company Director Racquel Richards Overseas the general operation andinterrelation of each division. Company Administrators Gabrielle Mitchell, Danielle Smiley Overseasoperations within the corporate headquarters, including answeringtelephones, tracking orders, and general customer service. Creative Consultant Deidre Melton Overseas advertising and promotions. Director of Supply Chain Thomas Duncan II Overseas supply relationshipsand procures financial resources. Director of Marketing Errol Allen II Overseas customer relations andmarketing strategies. Director of Information Technology Marvin Cole Maintains website andresearches new technologies applicable to Shoes4U.com. Director of Research and Development Natasha Martin Researches trendsand future markets and areas of growth. Customer Service Representatives Answers incoming customer calls andresponds to customer concerns. Distribution Specialists Package orders for customer deliveryRecruitment of EmployeesIn the event that employees will need to be hired services will bepurchased from a local employment agency. Salaries and BenefitsAll customer service representatives will be paid minimum wage and willonly receive medical benefits if they work an average of 40 hours a week. All partners will be paid an equal wage determined by how much profit isretained from operations after all costs have been rendered and liabilitieshave been covered. All workers will be covered by Workers Compensation. All full time employees are eligible for one weeks paid vacation after oneyear of employment. The company projects that between July 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002 itwill generate revenues of $250,000. Projected revenues for 2003 and 2004are $2.91 million and $5.82 million, respectively. Shoes4U.com is seeking$5 million in venture capital to be used for: 1. Establishing an organization and office presence in Florida. 2. Completing development of the Internet shoe store. 3. Marketing the website and its services and products. The Market and CustomerTarget MarketShoes4U.com is focusing on individuals 18 years of age and older. Duringthe ages of 18 to 40, these individuals are the trendsetters for societyand the #1 users of the Internet (Appendix 1). Also, the average householdincome for this group is between $50,000 and $74,000 a year (Appendix 2). CustomersShoes4U.com plans to aggressively pursue and acquire customers throughpromotions and convert them into repeat paying customers. Direct emailpromotions are the most important vehicle that the company will use toacquire customers. These promotions may include charging the customer onlyfor the product but no shipping and handling, in order to introduce thatcustomer to our products and services. Shoes4U.com plans to expand itsbusiness and customer base by offering promotions on a continuous basis. Shoes4U.com will continually strive to provide consumers with more cost-effective avenues, offering substantial savings rather than just a fewcents. Customer Buying CriteriaThe traditional process of purchasing footwear can be long and tiring. Therefore Shoes4U.com believes that consumers will choose products andservices based on the following criteria: . Significant cost savings. The shoe store will operate online and willbe highly automated, enabling Shoes4U.com to eliminate the costs ofboth building/managing a physical shoe store andmanufacturing/distributing catalogs. We will be able to pass thesesavings on to our customers, offering goods for up to 50% lessthan traditional shoe shops. Furthermore, it is believed that ourprices will be competitive and could possibly undercut mail-ordercatalog prices, but have a superior offering of customized products. Traditionally, the primary cost of retailing has been salaries andwages as well as inventory. By only keeping an emergency stash ofinventory on our own and outsourcing shipping to FedEx, we cut downthe inventory cost as well as eliminate the overhead associated witheither catalog or physical selling. . Convenience. Shoes4U.com will develop its online shoe store andspecialized services to be user friendly, using a self-serviceapproach to ordering products. Products will be shipped to thelocation the customer selects, enabling the entire process to bemanaged from the comfort of the customers office or home. . Streamlined fulfillment process. After an order is placed, Shoes4U.comwill electronically send a ready-to- graphic file. Where appropriate,a job ticket file, which is a data file containing all of theattributes of an order, will be sent, first to the company database,then to one of the companys distribution partners and FedEx. . Broad range of services products. Shoes4U.com will provide a one-stopshop for a wide range of products and services, with a shoe selectionthat the company believes is superior to most traditional shoe storesand shoe catalogs. Customers will be able to view and compare productsand either immediately place their order or save their work-in-progress to order at a later date. . Comprehensive customer service. Shoes4U.com will offer a broad rangeof customer services during all phases of the ordering and fulfillmentprocess. After each order is placed, an email message will beautomatically generated to the customer that itemizes the order, thetotal cost, and reiterates the estimated delivery time. The companywill electronically receive order confirmation, and deliveryinformation from its partner distributors and make this informationaccessible to customers through a password-protected mechanism,enabling the customer to easily check an orders status online or evencancel the order if it has not yet been shipped. An additional emailwill also be sent once the customers order is shipped. Market DescriptionThe explosive growth of the Internet as a tool for global communicationshas enabled millions of people to interact electronically. The IDCestimates that there were 142 million Web users worldwide at the end of1998, and expect this number will grow to approximately 502 million by theend of 2003. Rapid acceptance of the Internet as a communications platform,by both businesses and consumers, has created the foundation forsignificant growth in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer(B2C) e-commerce. IDC estimates that worldwide commerce over the Internetwill increase from approximately $50 billion in 1998 to $1.3 trillion in2003. Small businesses are taking advantage of the opportunities the Internetoffers. The IDC estimates that the number of small businesses engaged in e-commerce will increase 47.1% annually, from 400,000 at the end of 1998 toalmost 2.8 million at the end of 2003, signaling the broad adoption of theInternet by these small enterprises. The Meno EssayChallengesThe challenges for an online shoe store which are not typically faced byother electronic commerce vendors include: 1. Intensive customer interaction. Our websites are not presenting staticcontent pages; customers are engaged in price and selection shoppingwhich require constant system monitoring and optimization as visitortraffic grows. 2. Flexible pricing. An intelligent agent will be used in order to checkthe prices of similar priced merchandise on a variety of sites inorder to ensure our continued leadership as the price leaders in theindustry. 3. Intelligent order routing. Each of the shoe wholesalers the companywill work with has different capabilities and a unique set ofrequirements that are taken into account when determining how tofulfill an order. By considering account product type, pricing,geography, and shipping options, Shoes4U.com will strive to route eachorder individually to the vendor with the best combination of quality,delivery time, and price. 4. Re-orders. Shoes4U.com will retain each customers orderspecifications, including personal and shipping information for alimited time. We will not sell this to any related third parties. Shoes4U.com believes that, with our technology expertise, we will beable to address these challenges while also handling large numbers ofcustomer orders. We feel this represents a competitive advantage. Software ModulesThe software that supports the online shoe store is a collection ofintegrated software modules that will enable Shoes4U.com to quickly create,maintain, modify, or replace individual components. Shoes4U.com will createits proprietary software modules using development and technical standardsand practices, and without significant dependencies on specific operatingsystems, databases, or Web server technologies. As a result, the companywill be able to move portions of its software between different databases,operating systems, and Web server products to upgrade capacity or takeadvantage of price or performance improvements, as they become available. The following is a description of the key software modules that willbe found on the Shoes4U.com website: 1. 3-D Workshop. This will allow customers to view the shoes from avariety of angles and to take a virtual tour of the shoe componentswith a related explanation of each part of the shoe and why that shoeis of superior quality. 2. Product and Pricing Engines. Our various engines will contain a widerange of product s, features, and pricing information. To support thebroad array of product variations and customization options offered,we will these databases to be highly flexible. This will allow us tomodify our records as the market dictates. 3. Secure Shopping Cart. We will provide a customized order basket tostore and securely process orders. The Secure Shopping Cart will beintegrated with the systems of members, thus reducing the need forhuman intervention in order to produce and complete an order. Thecompany believes that by organizing the system in this manner, theorder and completion process will be vastly more efficient and areless error prone than current processes. 4. System Reporting and Diagnostics. This program is ed to track customeraction on participating websites. Shoes4U.com will utilize thisprogram in order to remain aware of industry and retail trends. System Standards and IntegrationStandardsShoes4U.com will offer the following standards: . High-speed operation. . Optimized screens incorporating data from several modules on a singledisplay. . Great depth to handle the most sophisticated requirements. . Tightly integrated standards to minimize errors, data entry, and time,and maximize the speed and information content on displays and outs. . Consistent look and feel, uniform prompts and similar data flow forevery module. . User-friendly. Rich in useful features such as help displays, pickboxes, numerous user-changeable flags and user-modified options. Depth and IntegrationShoes4U.com will have depth, which means that the software will allow thecustomer to go beyond the basics. Depth will apply to each moduleindividually: estimating, cost collection, and accounting. Software withoutdepth is limited and can be frustrating to a consumer. The company will have the ability to confirm customer information whenprocessing an estimate. We will also be able to route order to wholesalerand automatically allocate inventory, verify credit limits, allow forcoverage, and put all outside buys on a must buy list for purchasing andupdating work-in-process. When an order is taken and the customer isbilled, all information will be fully automatic. We will have depth inaccounting. This implies the following: . A job scan will be pre-billed or partially billed. . The sales tax will be computed for all states taxes, including anycounty or local tax. . More than one accounting period can be open at the same time. . Allowing several bank accounts and classes of Accounts Receivable toautomatically compute and track sales commissions and multiple plantswith individual and consolidated financial statements. Financial Projections and PlansFunding Requirements and UsesThe company will be raising $5 million for the purposes of: . Establishing an organization and office presence within the USA andoverseas. . Completing the development of the Internet shoe store. . Marketing the website and its services and products. . Providing a world-class customer service website. The table in Appendix 5 provides a breakdown of how the funds will be used. Significant AssumptionsNature and Limitation of Projections. This financial projection is based on sales volume at the levels describedin the revenue section and presents, to the best of managements knowledgeand belief, the companys expected assets, liabilities, capital, revenues,and expenses. The projections reflect managements judgment of the expectedconditions and its expected course of action given the hypotheticalassumptions. Nature of Operations. The company operates as a Florida LLP. Revenues. Shoes4U.com will generate revenues from the sale of a variety ofproducts to customers. The companys products and services will beavailable to customers through the Shoes4U.com website. The company will not recognize revenues until the product is shipped,collection of the receivable will be probable, and partner distributorshave fulfilled all contractual obligations to the customer. Shoes4U.comwill take title to all products that the company instructs its partnerdistributors to produce. Shoes4U.com believes that purchases by businesseswill account for a majority of its revenues and will record sales net ofdiscounts. The company will record the cost of promotional products that itwill give away at no charge as a sales and marketing expense (Appendix 6). Appendix items 7 through 12 give a more in depth depiction of Shoes4U.comfinancial position. RisksShoes4U.com currently has no operating history, which makes it difficult toforecast future operating results. The company will encounter risks anddifficulties that start-ups frequently encounter in rapidly evolving andcompetitive markets. These risks include expanding the number of certifiedpartner distributors and improving technological and logistical connectionsto these vendors. If these risks are not addressed successfully, thebusiness will be seriously harmed. Due to the nature of Internet business, the performance and fluctuations inquarterly sales and operating expenses will depend on the currentmarketplace and competition. The performance of Shoes4U.com will depend onmarket and industry risk factors that the company recognizes it will besubject to. The companys view of its risks is as follows: . Employee turnover. One of the biggest risks that all dot-com companiesface today is the loss of key personnel. Shoes4U.com will minimizethis risk by ensuring that our employees have a world-class workingenvironment, which includes being paid competitive wages, excellentbenefits, and stock options. . Competitors. To mitigate this risk, we will closely monitor ourcompetitors pricing structures, business strategies, and overallcustomer satisfaction to make sure we are one step ahead at all times. . Economic Factors. To minimize this risk, we will diversify ourposition in the products and services that we offer, as well asplanning to ensure there is always enough liquid assets and resourcesin case the economy begins to show negative trends. . Customer retention. The company will aggressively advertise itsproducts and services and establish strategic alliances with industryleaders in order to generate a solid customer base and retaincustomers. . Downtime. Technical difficulties, system failures, or Internetdowntime. . Timing. The timing of large customer orders, or the failure to enterinto strategic alliances. . Costs. The amount and timing of operating costs and capitalexpenditures relating to expansion of the business, operations, andinfrastructure. . Pricing. Changes in our pricing policies or competitors pricingpolicies. The success of Shoes4U.com will depend on a significant number of buyingcustomers knowing about, and regularly using, our services. The market forInternet-enabled shoe stores is at an early stage of development. Manycustomers will be addressing issues such as quality, reliability, billing,delivery, and customer service for the first time in a self-service,Internet-based, creation and ordering environment (w/ regard to shoes). Educating potential customers is a complex, time consuming and expensiveprocess. In many cases, organizations must change established businesspractices and conduct business in new ways to use the services. ConclusionWe predict that Shoes4U will evolve into a very profitable company. It will prove to be a lucrative venture for any investor. Low cost combinedwith high quality products and efficiency is the equation for ourcompanies success. We believe that although our company will profit littlein the first year, revenue will be doubled by the second year andexperience a continuous growth. We have strategically placed our company inan e-commerce market in order to prevent barriers to entry and high startup costs. We also evade the risks of long-term debt and bankruptcy bychoosing not to borrow money. We believe in Shoes4U and you should too!Sources 1. Carey, James F. Complete Guide to Sales Force Compensation. Homewood,Illinois: Business One Irwin. 2. Eglash, Joanne. How to Write a .com Business Plan. New York: McGrawHill Publishing, 2001. 3. Plunkett, Jack W. Plumbetts E-Commerce ; Internet Business Almanac. Houston, Texas: Plunkett Research, Ltd., 2000 4. Tracking Internet Infrastructure: A Handbook on Business, Tech ;Structural Issues Reshaping the Landscape of the Commercial Internet. The Cook Report on Internet, April 1996. 5. Trepper, Charles. E-commerce Strategies: Mapping Your OrganizationsSuccess in Todays Competitive Marketplace. Redmond, Washington:Microsoft Press, 2000. Online Sources 1. www.plunkettresearch.com 2. www.neimanmarcus.com 3. www.designershoes.com 4. www.nordstrom.com 5. www.zappos.com 6. www.tonyshoes.com