20BUCKS Inc.

www.illgiveyou20bucks.comA BUSINESS PROPOSAL BY:

JACOB FEIN

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Company Description:

Our website is a centralized linkage of online communities that will conjugate individuals who

are looking to make a quick twenty dollars with those who are willing to give them the

opportunity to do so. Individuals are turning to the internet to find alternative ways in which

people can make money. Our company provides a platform in which those individuals have the

ability to do so and benefit from it. Building upon the foundations of credibility, originality, and

simplicity, our website will tap into the growing market of classified listings on the internet, by

providing the opportunity for people to construct deals with each other in a stress-free and safe

environment. The days of reading through newspapers for classified listings in small print, or

entrusting in unreliable online websites are in the past. The future of online classifieds, and the

method by which individuals make money, is at 20Bucks.

Mission Statement:

“We strive to be the world’s premier online classifieds forum that will enhance the productivity,

efficiency, and communication amongst internet users. We believe that in order to obtain and

sustain a prime position as the pioneers of this industry, our drive and dedication to serve the

service industry’s need for reliable, dependable, and user-friendly website comes first. This is

why our core foundation is built on continuous top performance, innovation, and integrity, which

inspire every employee, manager, and shareholder to know and trust our company. At the heart

of our company, we are committed to keeping our promises and value that trust.”

Target Market:

Our company’s current target market will initially focus on four major cities: New York City,

Chicago, Los Angles, and Boston. However, since many $20.00 jobs can be completed despite

ones location, for example, paying someone $20.00 to make a custom break-up video, our

boundaries are limitless. The four core cities are for jobs that need to be completed in person, for

example, paying someone $20.00 to carry your couch down the stairs. Demographics of such

individuals include those that are internet savvy, live in an urban or suburban area, have a mid-

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low income level, and whose ages range from 18-33. Research has shown, that 64% of

Millennial’s have used a classifieds site, versus 58% of those ages 34-45 having done so.1

Competitors:

Due to the fact that we are the pioneers of this industry, there are no direct competitors, but there

are a few indirect ones. Our main indirect competitors include Craigslist.org and Fiver.com.

Minor indirect competitors include classifiedads.com, kijiji.com, as well as newspapers.

Management Team:

Jacob Fein is the C.E.O. and Founder of 20Bucks Company. He is a senior at Baruch College,

and is expected to graduate in the spring of 2012 with a Major in Entrepreneurship & Small

Business Management, while receiving his minor in Communications studies. At the age of 18,

Jacob created a small waffle-making business in Israel which he sold a year later making 300%

profit as a result of the buyout.

Victor Fein is the Chief Financial Officer, and father to Jacob. Victor Fein has real estate,

accounting, and governance expertise. He graduated from Baruch College in 1984 with a BBA

degree in Accounting. Mr. Fein joined a Bronx-based family-owned property management

company in 1981, and has been its president and CEO/CFO since 1990. After serving as the

treasurer of the Riverdale Jewish Center for 6 years, he served as its president from 2006-2010,

and currently serves as chairman of its board of trustees.

Adam Stern is the web developer and designer for 20Bucks Company. Mr. Stern, a neighbor and

close friend of the Fein family, was a systems engineer for Network Doctor for four years. He

was also the founder and owner of Morfie Technologies in which he was involved in Web

Design and IT Admin consultation. Currently the Director of Technology at iNDELIBLE, Mr.

Stern specializes in Facebook API, iOS Development, CDN Integration, Mail Integration,

HTML5, PHP, Flash (ActionScript 3), XSLT, Javascript, JQuery, J2EE, .NET (C#), Perl, c, c++,

asp, sed, VB, SQL (Oracle, MySQL, Sybase, SQLite), Photoshop, and much more.

1 http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Trends/Classifieds.aspx

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Product & Services Description:

When an individual wants to offer an opportunity for someone to make 20 dollars for hire, he/she

will create their listing specifying what service they require. Another user will look at the

available listings and decide whether or not they wish to complete the offer. Contact between the

users will be done through their profiles that they have created when joining the website, and

monetary transactions will be done through a secured payment method. Reviews, customer

satisfaction, and transactions offered and completed will all be presented in the users’ profile.

The two types of individuals are broken down into vendors and workers. Vendors, are those that

are posting the listings they are willing to pay 20 dollars for the workers to complete. Each

registered user will have their own profile that provides information on previous jobs that have

been offered and completed, as well as their “cash purse.” A users “cash purse” reveals how

much money that user has made from completing jobs as a worker, as well as the amount of

money they have granted as vendors.

All jobs available are offered for a fixed, base price of $20.00. On craigslist, one of our indirect

competitors, a frequent complaint is when someone posts an ad on their forum only to find out

that price asked to do the job was now changed by the user. By establishing a set price of $20.00

per job, it will help the communication process between individuals and remove any

misunderstanding between users on the basis of price, thus creating more completed jobs for

both the worker and the vendor in the future.

Registration is free, and only registered users can become vendors or workers. When a worker

agrees to perform the work requested by a vendor, the vendor will be immediately notified via e-

mail. If a response is not given within 36 hours, the listing is taken down and both parties will be

notified. All communication between the vendors and the workers will be conducted through

20Bucks secured and customized messaging system. Any posting by a potential vendor that is

deemed inappropriate by the “circle of trust” at 20Bucks headquarters, will be immediately taken

down, and that vendor’s account will be permanently blocked. The “circle of trust” is a group of

five hired individuals who monitor the website for scams and inappropriate user behavior.

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Once a job has been completed, the Vendor must pay the worker 20 dollars through the secured

payment method on the 20Bucks website. At this point, a 10% handling fee will be charged, and

the worker will receive a net of $19.00 in their account. Under no circumstances, can vendors

and workers offer or accept payments outside the networks of 20Bucks. Similar to eBay and

Amazon, vendors and workers are then requested to give feedback and apply a “star” rating

depending on the performance and quality of work completed.

To understand this process let us look at an example. Joe lives in an apartment building in New

York, and is moving out of his apartment in the morning. He doesn’t need five different movers

to help him move the minimal stuff he owns, but rather needs an extra hand moving out a couch

and a bed. He then registers for free on 20Bucks, and posts: “I’ll give you 20 Bucks to…help me

move out two pieces of furniture tomorrow morning.” Ben, a member on 20Bucks, sees this post

and replies that he will accept the job offer and contacts Joe. After Ben assists Joe in moving, Joe

then pays $20.00 to Ben through the secured payment on the website, in which Ben receives

$19.00 for his work. The next time both of them log into their accounts, they give each other

reviews and offer a star rating between one, being the worst, and five, being the best. Such

examples of listings worthy of twenty dollars might also include drawing a cartoon of a family

portrait, proofreading a term paper, or acting as a personal body guard for an hour. The beauty of

this website and company is that the possibilities are endless, and we believe people can make a

lot of money by completing these $20.00 tasks.

Furthermore, on the website, there will be a ranking of the top 20 daily, monthly, and yearly

vendors and workers, so users can see the success of both types of individuals. Additionally,

20Bucks will be giving away and rewarding an extra 20 dollars every month to the top worker

and top vendor as a bonus. New job posts can also be found via our Twitter and Facebook feeds,

in which people can check the newest and closest deals that they might be interested in. Feel-

good stories and overall testimonials can also be found on our community blog section of our

website. Essentially, we are craigslist done right sprinkled in with Amazons profile system and

Fiver.com’s simplistic approach.

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Customer Problem:

When dealing with classified ads on the internet, the risk of fraud, personal safety, dishonesty,

and scams are all are present. Many individuals feel that the only forum to go to is one of our

primary indirect competitors, Craigslist.org. However, there have been numerous scandals and

scams with craigslist users, as well as murderers who use craigslist as a platform to find their

victims. Yet, because there are no alternative options for users to go to, individuals reluctantly

keep going back despite the risks associated with the website. Our goal at 20Bucks is to combat

these threats with our primary focus on user safety and satisfaction, and give users an alternative

option by providing a fresher, safer, and more efficient system.

Business Model:

Our business model is based on a three tier revenue streaming system. The first tier is the 10%

fee we charge toward the worker for helping him find the job. Essentially, for every $20.00 job

completed, our company takes $1.00, and the worker receives the remaining $19.00. The second

tier is our advertising capabilities. Advertisement space will be available by means of Full

Banner (468X60) and Skyscraper (120X60) ads for 45 cents via a Pay-Per-Click basis. Optional

surveys will also be available for a fee in certain areas of our website. The third and final tier in

our revenue streaming system is the selling of our users’ information to third party companies.

When registering a profile for our website, users are required to submit their name, age, and

location. By virtue of the deals they are posting and completing, their preferences and habits can

be easily documented and a compelling database will be constructed. This information is vital for

marketing companies to acquire as they can target their consumers more efficiently and

accurately. As per the users’ agreement, we will be selling this coveted information to the

information thirsty third party companies.

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External Analysis:

General Environment:

The amount of internet users have been increasingly exponentially over the past 10 years, and are

projected to increase even more so into the future. Projections according to eMarketer.com, show

an increase of internet users in the United States from roughly 232 million to upwards of 258

million by the year 2015 (Appendix A). That is an increase of 8 percent over the next 5 years.

The more people using the internet, equates to more opportunity for individuals to visit and

register to our website, as well as a greater desire for advertisers to market on the internet. In the

past, a combination of mass media and traditional advertisement was suffice, but as the internet

keeps gaining more users, national advertisers are looking to online advertising to reinforce their

brands. In fact, an e-marketer article written in June 2011 “estimates internet ads will account for

nearly 20% of all major media ad dollars spent in the US this year, up from a 17% share in

2010…by 2015, online advertising is expected to make up nearly 28% of total US major media

ad spending.”2 This trend serves in 20Bucks’s favor because the increase in online advertisement

spending can result in advertisers to look to advertise on our website over others.

Further research has proven that the numbers of internet users who are using online classified ads

are increasing. A survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, report that the

number of online adults who have used online classified ads has more than doubled in the past

four years. Almost half (49%) of internet users say they have ever used online classified sites,

compared with 22% of online adults who had done so in 2005.3On any given day about a tenth of

internet users (9%) visit online classified sites, up from 4% in 2005.4 This is in conjunction with

the decreased revenue of classified ads in newspapers which plummeted significantly over the

past couple of years. In fact, newspaper classified ads revenue has decreased by over 50% over

the past 10 years (Appendix B). Overall, these trends suggests that there is a positive trend

towards individuals seeking jobs in an online forum as well as increasing advertising potential in

the future as well.

2 http://totalaccess.emarketer.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/Extranet.aspx?bernardmbaruchcollegeofcuny3 http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Trends/Classifieds.aspx4 http://totalaccess.emarketer.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/Extranet.aspx?bernardmbaruchcollegeofcuny

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The unemployment rate in America also impacts the amount of users searching for classifieds on

the internet. The higher the unemployment rate, the more people are looking for means to make

money and make a couple of extra dollars here and there to scrap by. Being that the expected

unemployment rate is due to increase to from 8.6% to 9% by June 20125, this bodes well for our

company’s outlook.

Porters 5 Forces:

Degree of Existing Rivalry- Currently, because our product does not have any direct competitors,

we do not have any significant rivalry at the time. However, we do have indirect and almost

direct competitors in Craigslist and Fiver. Our fixed offering of 20 dollar services in a secure

environment differentiates ourselves and results in a less direct rivalry.

Threat of Potential Entrants: The threat of potential entrants is extremely high. Entry barriers are

low, and any new competitor can enter the market at any time due to low capital start-up needed.

A competitor can easily analyze our company and create a similar one if they desire to do so

fairly easily. However, by engaging in first-mover advantage, we hope to establish brand

recognition before a potential entrant threatens to enter the market.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers- Within our current business model, there are no suppliers,

therefore this is not a force we must be concerned about.

Bargaining Power of Buyers- Within our current business model, there are no buyers, therefore

this is not a force we must be concerned about.

Threat of Substitutes: There is a substantial threat from our substitute competitors such as

Craigslist and Fiver. However, we feel zero threat from classified ads in newspapers. The ability

for our substitutes to make alterations to their companies to rival ours is significant and could

hamper our productivity in the future. Having said that, we firmly believe our company can

withstand any threats possibly being made by our indirect competitors.

5 http://forecasts.org/unemploy.htm

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Internal Analysis

One of the strongest parts of 20Bucks, is the fact that there is a ready and desirable target market

ready and eager to find an alternative to craigslist. As the trends suggested, people are looking

towards the internet for ways to make money, and up to now Craigslist was the only viable

option. With 20Bucks, users are unshackled from the cuffs on craigslist and finally have a safe

and trustworthy alternative to choose from. People might suggest Fiver as an alternative, but you

will have to do four jobs on Fiver to make as much money as doing one job on 20Bucks. Having

a fixed rate of $20.00 per job is absolutely crucial. By having a fixed rate of $20.00, it eliminates

the time wasted on negotiating on prices and on deals being broken due to price disagreements,

thus making the overall process more efficient and effective

Our user rating system along with our “cash purse” function is an immense strength of our

company. Giving users the ability to review and evaluate other users via the star system as well

as written feedback provides a level of comfort and reassurance for other users to register on the

website and get involved in our community. The “cash purse” is another feature on our website

that exemplifies the success that registered users are having on our website. Our monthly

incentive program makes 20Bucks even more of a viable option. Furthermore, our integration

into social networking, specifically Twitter and Facebook, will revolutionize the way online

classifieds are viewed, by enabling users to check job listings instantaneously.

Moreover, our management team plays an enormous role in our future success, and is a

sustainable competitive advantage for years to come. Adam Stern, with his technology know-

how coupled with the entrepreneurial vision of Jacob Fein will guarantee success in the future.

Furthermore, because 20Bucks has Mr. Stern on board, there is no need to invest in a

programmer and website developer. As a result, the financial risk involved is held at a minimum.

The risk–reward test clearly demonstrates that the potential rewards clearly outweigh the risk

quite heavily.

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Finally, our ability to provide a safe and secure network, and in turn gain the trust of our users, is

a competitive advantage that is very important in the long term success of our company. We

believe that there are two different types of users we will now be attracting. One of those groups

are current users of indirect competitor websites, such as craigslist, who simply use craigslist

because there is no alternative. The other group consists of the individuals who did not use

craigslist or other similar online classified companies, because they were afraid of being

scammed and did not trust the website. With 20Bucks’s established reputation as a safe, secure,

and trustworthy website, we expect an influx of new users to register for our website.

SWOT Analysis:

SWOT analysis is a great tool for examining an organization and its environment. It is the first

stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on significant issues. This tool is a simple,

straightforward, model that provides direction and serves as a basis for major marketing plans.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and Weaknesses

are internal factors whereas Opportunities and Threats are external factors. A firm’s strengths

are its resources and capabilities that can be used to develop a competitive advantage. The lack

of certain strengths is what we call weaknesses. The external environment analysis may reveal

certain opportunities such as growth and profits. And lastly, Threats can cause harm to the

business.

Strengths

Highly innovative, safe, and secure company

Low start-up costs and future financial risk

Management Team

Standard $20.00 pricing model

First-mover advantage

Opportunities

Increased online classified users

Expand to $50 and $100 markets

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New market with minimal direct competition

Smartphone application

Room to expand globally

Future buyout

Weaknesses

New industry

Unpredictable obstacles because we’re the first to try

Uncertainty of consumer acceptance

Threats

Immediate copy cats

High threat of new entrants

Scammers attempting to ruin credibility of website

Company Strategy:

Our immediate strategy is to launch the website www.illgiveyou20bucks.com within the next 6-8

months. We hope that through word of mouth, twitter, and a local television advertisement,

traffic towards the website will start to increase. No internet classifieds forum has ever had a

television advertisement, and we believe that 20Bucks should take it to the next level by having

one. This will expose our company to a wide audience and quickly give us credibility. In two

years from now, we are expecting over 200,000 users signed up as vendors and workers on our

website. Additionally, we will launch our subsidiary websites www.illgiveyou50bucks.com as

well as www.illgiveyou100bucks.com. With our anticipated success in the future, we hope by

year five to be bought out by Facebook, whose attempted “marketplace: jobs” application has

failed miserably. Another one of our strategies for the future, is to develop a 20Bucks application

for smart phone users, so registered individuals can be readily updated on all job listings

immediately.

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Timing of Entry:

When deciding on the optimal timing of our entry, we looked at several factors including:

customer certainty, margin of improvement offered by our company, threat of competitive entry,

and our company’s financial situation. After reviewing the aforementioned criteria, we firmly

believe that a first mover advantage would be vital for our success. We know and understand our

customers’ preferences and desires as well as offer a service and a forum upon which they desire.

We are extremely confident that once our company website is launched, there will be a plethora

of individuals across the United States registering for an account ready to become vendors and

workers within our online community. With a first mover advantage, we will be able to establish

our brand and reputation before new entrants attempt to enter the market. Furthermore,

financially we are at a secure state and the earlier we move into the market, the faster we can

start seeing returns on our product

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WIREFRAME:

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Works Cited

http://www.forecasts.org/unemploy.htm

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Trends/Classifieds.aspx

http://www.totalaccess.emarketer.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/Extranet.aspx?

bernardmbaruchcollegeofcuny

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APPENDIX:

(A)

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(B)

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