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Introduction to Finance & Economics - Mar 2010

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week 2 business plan

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Post all business plan discussions here by responding to initial discussion. Please do not create a seperate discussion.

This week , read the attached power point and then post the following answers :

what good or service are you dealing in?  

What country are you buying from and into what country are you selling?

What volume in units of the good or srvice will you be selling?

Please follow the format for creating an income statement in th epower point and try and create one and post it here.

AttachmentSize
week 2.ppt34 KB
eric desmond's picture
eric desmond
Sat, 2010-03-20 05:39

test

Dennis Riedel's picture
Dennis Riedel
Sun, 2010-03-21 00:37

Set up a web shop selling small items like gifts, accessories or clothing. I am able to build the shop on my own, having the technical and some online marketing knowledge to do so.

Buy from 3rd world country, maybe India (http://www.tradeindia.com/) or Africa (http://www.africabusinessnet.com/). These platforms sound trustworthy. But I am not sure whether I really support some local manufacturer with that. Maybe these are sweatshops.
I speak Spanish, so I could look for South-American countries, too.

Other source: http://www.freetradefront.com

The question is also: concentrate on one type of item, e.g. wallets. Or create a shop around a theme, e.g. Mediterranean shop.

Prospects:
-I earn some money by selling a product that is of interest
-I help some 3rd world manufacturer, artisan, artist
-I develop a feeling for
--trustworthy manufacturers and suppliers and extend my online shop with more desirable goods
--what people want to buy

Risks:
-my shop has no history, so may not appear trustworthy
-goods I buy are of low quality
-goods I buy do not sell at all
-I buy from a sweatshop
-I am violating Spanish import regulations
-I transfer money but do not receive goods
-I have to invest too much in marketing, because nobody finds my shop

Georgi Ivanov's picture
Georgi Ivanov
Fri, 2010-03-26 09:49

My idea is similar to yours. My opinion is that this kind of operation needs more focus. In this case i suggest the focus to be on the target countries and the type of goods. I think so because I feel it is time of fragmented markets not of mass markets so the approach should be of more focus and loyal relationships.

Curtis Frantz's picture
Curtis Frantz
Sun, 2010-03-21 03:41

For the record, this whole message board is almost a nightmare to navigate. I don't even know where or how I'm supposed to post anything. But, using precedence as my guide, I shall post this here.

I was planning on using the coffe roasting concept a spin. This works particularly well when you are trying to buy coffee from a foreign distributor. You probably couldn't really own the farm, because that would mean you could just pay them in dollars. But, if you had an exclusive agreement with a farm, such as paying them a decent price for their coffee, a good enough price that they can actually support themselves on the money they make, as long as they agree to supply only to you, then you have yourself a viable situation. I was thinking of converting American dollars into the source country's currency to pay for the coffee. Or, if we're paying them in dollars, in order to do business locally, they'd have to convert the dollars into local currency anyway. Case in point, Belize. In Belize, it's difficult to pay for anything without a Belize dollar, the law gets in the way. So, for you to work with a farm in Belize, you'd have to convert the US dollars into Belizean dollars.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_dollar

Georgi Ivanov's picture
Georgi Ivanov
Thu, 2010-03-25 18:58

I will post more detailed post later today.

My idea is about being an intermediary in trade of traditional goods. I will do it by a website. I will provide clients for the craftsmen, monitor the deals and intervene if necessary and provide infrastructure for intermediation.

The providers of goods will be from Bulgaria the buyers will be only from the EU. The transactions will be easier to do if only in EU.

At the beginning it will be about 50 craftsmen that i will help selling their goods.

Jesus Zavala's picture
Jesus Zavala
Sun, 2010-03-28 01:14

1) Mexican crafts

2) Buying from: México. Target country: USA, Chicago (where there exists great Mexican or Mexican-American concentrations, “nostalgia” market).

3) 150 to 200 crafts

4) I´m still searching some relevant issues to this project. The preliminary ideas and facts:
The crafts are buying from México through FONART (a government dependence that trades with localities where the crafts are generated), they offer a franchise model (FONART 100% México).

Franchise cost: 15,000 usd + taxes
Initial capital: 50,000 usd, includes: franchise cost, local adaptation, initial inventory, startups costs.
ROI: 12 to 18 months
Ragali: 0%
Adversating share: 3%
Gross margin: greater than 100%
Some advantages: territorial exclusivity, catalog of 600 crafts, logistical support for shipping, training, payment facilities for the down payment through subsidiary fund from FONART.

More details in the forthcoming week.

marwan al-sibai's picture
marwan al-sibai
Sun, 2010-03-28 08:05

I am currently dealing with cloths sale i am importing these cloths from bangladesh and sell it in saudi arabia the volume of units becoming bigger everyday and the business is booming.

Dennis Riedel's picture
Dennis Riedel
Tue, 2010-03-30 22:21

What good or service are you dealing in?
Woolen handbags from Nepal

What country are you buying from and into what country are you selling?
I am buying from Nepal and sell in Spain

What volume in units of the good or service will you be selling?
200 Units in the first 3 months

I would like to add my pro forma income statement, but there is no way to submit assignment files here. I have seen this in other courses. Can you activate it?