CEO                            Ali  Larijani  COO                  Rachel  Garrett  CFO                                Wesley  Yoo  CMO                        Rory  McCale  EVP                  Malynda  Jenne  

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Table of Contents Executive Summary 3-5

I. COMPANY, CONCEPT AND PRODUCTS 6 a. The Company and Concept 6 b. Our Service 6 c. Service Differentiation 7 d. Market Entry & Sustainability 7

II. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 8 a. Industry Segmentation, Size, & Growth 8 b. Industry Structure 8 c. Key Trends 8 d. Key Success Factors 9 e. Financial Ratios 9

III. MARKET RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 10 a. Definition of Your Relevant Market and Customer Overview 10 b. Market Size and Market Segmentation 10 c. Market Share & Market Trends 11 d. Buyer Demographic and Buyer Behavior 11-12 e. Market Segmentation and Targeting 12-13 f. Competition and Competitive Advantage 13-14 g. Ongoing Market Evaluation 14-15

IV. ECONOMICS OF THE BUSINESS 16 a. Revenue Drivers and Profit Margins 16 b. Fixed and Variable Costs 16-17 c. Operating Leverage and Its Complications 17 d. Start Up Costs 17 e. Economic Model 18 f. Breakeven Chart and Calculation 19

V. MARKETING PLAN 19 a. Overall Marking Strategy 19 b. Pricing 19 c. The Selling Cycle 19-20 d. Sales Tactics 20-21 e. Advertising and Sales Promotion 21 f. Publicity 21-22 g. Customer Service 22 h. Guarantee Policies and Warranties 22 i. Distribution 22-23

VI. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN 24 a. Development Status and Tasks 24 b. Difficulties and Risks 24 c. Product Improvements and Features 24-25 d. Costs 25 e. Proprietary Issues 25

VII. OPERATION PLAN 26 a. Operation Model & Cycle 26-27

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b. Operations Strategy 27 c. Geographical Location 27-28 d. Facilities 28 e. Legal Issues Affecting Operations 28-29

VIII. MANAGEMENT TEAM 30 a. Organization 30 b. Key Management Personnel 30-31 c. Salaries and Competition 31 d. Board of Directors 31-32

IX. OVERALL SCHEDULE 33 X. CRITICAL RISKS, PROBLEMS, AND ASSUMPTIONS 34-35

XI. FINANCIAL PLAN 36 a. Highlights of the Financial Statements 36 b. Key Cost Controls 37

XII. OUR PROPOSED COMPANY OFFERING 38 XIII. APPENDIX XIV. WORKS CITED

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Executive Summary After speaking with over 20 different local businesses within the Syracuse area we found out that with 30 minutes of the businesses time spent on BusinessConnect weekly, they would save 10-12 hours of time on order purchasing per week. For example, a if a restaurant plans to open in May and needs to order inventory and they want to get the best possible price on each item. To do this the owner needs to research all the different vendors that are in their area; this includes both national and local food vendors. Then, once they have a list they need to contact each vendor about the product they want, compare the different prices, negotiate prices on difference products, and finally make final confirmation and await delivery. This needs to be done for each product with each vendor. The total time this takes for an average business is 2 hours a day. Similar to Amazon, BusinessConnect is a website where the small business can log on to their account and use the search bar for a product, like napkins for example. Just one click and the searcher will be presented with a myriad of products related to napkins from many different vendors. A task that could take as long as five hours to complete, will be reduced to a few seconds for the customer, thanks to BusinessConnect. BusinessConnect allows customers to see the products quality as well as vendor reviews before making their final decision. By providing greater transparency to the customer the suppliers will be encouraged to offer as many quality products as possible. Quality and pricing transparency are just two of the many benefits that BusinessConnect will offer to customers. BusinessConnect will also offer a group purchasing option for businesses to use to their advantage. For the businesses that operate on tighter margins, they will be able to use this option to avoid vendor’s order minimums this will also lower the customers per unit cost. For example a café wants to purchase paper plates. Sysco has a minimum order amount of $500, but the customer does not need $500 worth of inventory, $350 is exactly the amount they wish to spend. Businesses wanting to make a purchase that would be below the order minimum can be paired with another business in their local area that has a similar need. By combining the two orders each business will be able to realize the purchasing power of a group. In the example the two customers who used BusinessConnect’s group purchasing feature lowered their per unit costs and were able to do so in a time efficient manner. BusinessConnect’s goal is to provide its members with convenient solutions to eliminate wastes from the ordering process. BusinessConnect’s competitors include companies like Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay. As well as vendors like Sysco and Maine’s Foods. BusinessConnect is taking a novel approach to its entrance into the industry with the launch of its online marketplace. BusinessConnect’s goal is to bring enough businesses to the website so that it breeds vendor competition. For suppliers this will be an opportunity to grow its customer base without the costs usually associated with growth. BusinessConnect’s revenues will come from transaction fees that are placed on each order. This amount is minimal compared to our competitors. Our company takes a .5% transaction fee amount. In comparison Amazon takes almost 3% from their sellers. The

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fee of half a percent will reduce the suppliers profit margin by an immaterial amount while at the same time bring them more business. The growth of their business at the cost of .5%, per the dollar amount of the transaction, is low compared to the costs associated with gaining new business. The markets that BusinessConnect will initially target are in the northeast region of the United States. The target customers will be businesses in the foodservice industry mainly restaurants. With an emphasis on businesses starting up or those that are working on lower profit margins. Through the companies’ primary research, we established that within this industry, many businesses are struggling to break even. In year 1 the geographical area that our website will serve includes Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica, Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo. By year 2 we will be entering Pennsylvania, followed by New Jersey in year 3, and then expansion into Connecticut in year 4. After the 4th year the management team will conduct a companywide analysis to determine if further expansion is appropriate.

BusinessConnect’s customers will be the business owners, as well as employees responsible for inventory and purchasing. These are the individuals who have to deal with the day-to-day operations of their business. Initially to obtain a customer base the company will use strategic partnerships with small business associations and connections that have been made throughout the data gathering process to attract businesses. BusinessConnect is offering to potential customers a website that costs the businesses no money, and will accomplish in thirty minutes what now takes customers between 10 to 12 hours to complete BusinessConnect is estimating that from 100% of our sales amount, 15% will be dedicated towards shipping costs for the group-purchasing feature. Through market research we have concluded that suppliers currently offer many of their customer’s free shipping. Because of this BusinessConnect believes it too needs to offer the same benefits to its customers. When a business has made a group purchase their order will be processed and shipped back to them through common carriers BusinessConnect contracted. Our company will contract with a common carrier that has prior experience delivering to businesses. This carrier will pick up the supplies from the vendor’s distribution center, and deliver the group order to each customer.

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BusinessConnect’s website will be produced through a third-party website development company. This company is called Happy Fun Corp. The reason we chose to go with a website development company is because they will have a group of talented employees with a strong portfolio to back it up. Happy Fun Corp specializes in the development of websites for startups as well. At BusinessConnect, our senior level management team has both prior experiences in the industry as well as prior business development. Our team consists of a CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, and Executive VP. This team is a group of gifted individuals who have been working together, and will be graduating from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. They have conducted intense research on both the e-commerce industry and the foodservice industry. The group also has a strong knowledge of the targeted geographical areas. BusinessConnect has high fixed costs with low variable costs. BusinessConnect has a contribution margin ratio of 84.88%. The company will break even in sales by November (7 months in) of 2014 and see income of $5.4 million by year 5 of operations. BusinessConnect will have a strong cash position by year 3, with about $3.1 million on hand, and seeing that in year 5 we will be positioned at a little over $12 million dollars, proves that our website will be a success with businesses within the Northeast. Throughout the entirety of the first five years the company’s cash flows will never drop below $100,000. The management team is requesting $200,000 of venture capital. This is in addition to the $100,000 of capital invested by the management team. This capital will go towards start up costs and provide a cushion as the company finds it way through fiscal year one. Start up costs consist of marketing and website development. By the end of year 3, April 2017, BusinessConnect will offer their investors to receive an ROI of $400,000 as well as the principle of the loan. This will also include 6% equity of the company in common stock. In addition BusinessConnect will make a payment of $140,000 to cover income tax liabilities from the gain of your investment. This is based off of a 35% tax rate on capital gain. The company's firm value is $3,299,446.05 at a discount rate of ~49%. Since BusinessConnect will be seeing a high growth in profits, the belief is that offering equity will be beneficial.

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Section I: The Company, Concept, and Service A. The Company and Concept BusinessConnect will become a Limited Liability Company, giving the administrators the option to choose to be taxed as a corporation or as a pass-through entity. This will also give management and potential investors the opportunity to incorporate in the future if they choose. An LLC will provide protection to investors whom initially invest capital for our startup. The company will be formed in New York and commence operations within a year and a half. We will be recruiting suppliers and customers leading up to the launch date. BusinessConnect’s concept can be similarly identified to the existing e-commerce business, Alibaba. BusinessConnect is a website that will essentially give businesses (our consumers) the opportunity to purchase all of it’s products needed for daily business operations, from several different suppliers, on one internet marketplace. With the search of a single product (e.g. napkins), the customer will be able to base their selection on the price, quality, and distributor’s customer reviews. This will ease the pains owners are currently faced with daily, such as making numerous lengthy phone calls to distributors, finding and negotiating reasonable prices, and many other issues that have been identified through primary research. Mission Statement At BusinessConnect we believe, “By helping one, we can help all”. By helping these businesses, our initiative is to eventually stimulate local economic growth within communities. By providing owners with a way to improve upon their business, communities will become more business-friendly and consumers will be provided with cheaper and better quality products and services. B. Our Service BusinessConnect is providing a service that allows consumers to browse/search an online marketplace, which will be supplied by both local and global business product distributors. If customers choose to make a single purchase they can experience the benefit of pricing transparency without the hassle of having to call each supplier. Connecting businesses in order to increase their purchasing power is a novel approach that has never been done before. Through doing this, BusinessConnect is creating opportunities for these companies to eliminate waste and cut costs. BusinessConnect will not only offer price differentiation, but also provides customers with a group purchasing option, which allows local businesses to combine similar purchases in order to meet minimum order requirements that distributors set. This brings convenience to the business owner, as they will not have to worry about holding off on certain inventory until the following week. Through the use of common carriers, BusinessConnect will organize and finance transportation for group purchasing transactions, eliminating additional costs and hassle to the distributors.

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C. Service Differentiation BusinessConnect differentiates itself by using a unique business concept to meet the opportunity that lies in the growing e-commerce industry, while providing convenience to its customers. Companies such as Amazon and Alibaba have high fixed-cost structures, however, BusinessConnect believes once the sales break-even point has been met then we will see an upsurge in operating profit. By conducting primary research we have been able to gain insight into the issues that these owners face which has led us to identify opportunities. As we continue to conduct research in this field, we will eventually be able to examine how our service can be tailored to suit all of the needs of the business and suppliers. D. Market Entry & Sustainability By using the Internet to conduct all business, our operations will have low overhead costs creating a high operating leverage. Initially, we will have low variable costs; every dollar of revenue will first help to pay down fixed costs. Anything earned past that will be profit, which will go towards paying back our investors as well as expansion of our company and product development. Business Connect’s short run strategy is to start in the metropolitan areas of New York, and eventually expand into new markets by the end of year two. The logistics of this growth will be easier because of our Internet and business presence during that time. Initially, we expect the growth to be slow for the first few months but eventually spark since there is no cost to the businesses to use our site. By year four, we expect exponential expansion after entering into Connecticut. BusinessConnect’s long run strategic goal will be to service various businesses throughout the entire Unites States. Staying competitive in this market will be difficult, due to the nature of the service and its ability to be easily mimicked. Low prices and strong relationships with the distributors is the only way BusinessConnect will be able to hedge against potential competitors. Our sales representatives and management team have strategic plans to build relationships, that include showing distributors how our service can help them increase sales and become even more successful.

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Section II: Industry Analysis A. Industry Segmentation, Size, & Growth The NAICS code for the E-Commerce and Online Auctions Industry is 454111. Since the beginning of 2010, the e-commerce industry has grown rapidly. Many consumers have taken the alternative of using the Internet to purchase products, rather than shopping on site. According to the IBISWorld Industry Report, the e-commerce industry is at $278.5 billion in revenue for this past year. The annual growth from 2009 to 2014 has been about 10.3%. Although the industry has grown a lot in the past, it is not in the maturity or decline phase of the life cycle stage. E-commerce is currently in a rapidly growing phase and is predicted to have an annual growth from 2014-2019 of an estimated 5.9%. The earlier BusinessConnect gets into this business, the sooner we will be able to achieve a strong industry position. Another industry that we should pay close attention to is the Soft Drink, Baked Goods & Other Grocery Wholesaling Industry (NAICS 42449). This industry has a decreasing growth rate of 2.0%. Although BusinessConnect is primarily an e-commerce business, the overall profits of its distributors and suppliers industry is important for generating growth as well. B. Industry Structure BusinessConnect will be in a fragmented industry. With the exception of Sysco, Co. many of our competitors each have a small market share, with many small firms in the industry. The reason BusinessConnect will do well in this industry is due to the focus on our customer service and geographic areas, which gives us a unique value proposition. Our company will be introducing a tool that pairs convenience and opportunity with the growing advances in technology. We have classified our competitors into three different categories; suppliers/distributors, wholesale retail stores, and online marketplace. Each of which has its own benefits to consumers and are further discussed in Section III. C. Key Trends Within the e-commerce industry, some key trends include globalization of consumer preferences, connectivity, and compliance. Consumer preferences have become a complicated and emerging issue with the number of products out on the market. Consumers can now order just about anything they need online. In this industry, it is important to find the needs of the consumers and cater to their specific preferences. Connectivity is a huge trend in the e-commerce industry. Connecting to the right vendors and businesses in a timely manner while making it an easy flow of communication will result in positive impacts on our consumers. The global economy is growing and with that, rules and regulations are constantly changing as well. Strict business practices make it more difficult for the industry to keep up with the local knowledge of each area.

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D. Key Success Factors Operational Efficiency Efficiency is one of the main key success factors in the e-commerce industry. E-commerce allows for people to connect with an easier flow for communication and products. This increases customer satisfaction by providing customers/businesses with the products they need on a timely basis and with an easier transaction to supply them with their products all under one website. Supply-Chain Efficiency The distribution system is a key success factor in the industry because supply chain management has become a large role in how businesses operate now. BusinessConnect would be connecting businesses with the distributors they need, so BusinessConnect would have to focus a large part on the supply chain aspect of what these businesses are looking for and provide them with that service. Website Maintenance Website content planning will be a key success factor in not only the business, but also this industry as a whole. Planning for the delivery of products, making relationships with businesses, and providing the correct products on the website are all important aspects of the website content planning. The products that are delivered and provided for businesses to see on the website are key to making a successful company and providing customers with satisfaction. Internet Growth The e-commerce industry appears to be growing at a rapid pace, as mentioned previously. This is something that BusinessConnect plans to use to its advantage, as competitors such as Sysco, Co. have no plans of expanding to the Internet in the near future. The V.P. of Operations at Sysco, Bill Pawlewicz expressed in an interview that their senior management is concerned with customers accessing the products they need via the Internet instead of Sysco’s sales representatives, however there are no formalized plans to move forward with this idea. (Primary Research, Appendix B) E. Financial Ratios Liquidity To assess the liquidity of our company, we will be using an operating cash flow ratio. This ratio will help us determine from our cash flow’s if we are able to meet our short-term liabilities. This will also help the financial managers in planning for future projects and assessment of the cash flow cycle.

Ø Operating Cash Flow Ratio: (Cash flow from operations / Current Liabilities)

ROI Return on investments is important to protect the investment of the principal investors as well as the valuation of the company. This ratio will also help differentiate ourselves, as we will be aware of the status of our company in comparison to others. If BusinessConnect’s ROI is doing better than it’s competitors within the industry, then we will be seeing a higher company valuation.

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Section III. Market Research and Analysis A. Definition of Your Relevant Market and Customer Overview In the first year, BusinessConnect will target the cities of Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton, and Utica. The initial customer demographic includes businesses within the foodservice industry such as diners, restaurants, delis, and cafes. The end user will be the General Managers of these businesses, or the persons held responsible for tracking inventory and calling in orders to suppliers and wholesalers. These establishments should have multiple suppliers from which it orders the products it needs for daily business operations. After the first two years of business, BusinessConnect plans to continue to expand into other areas within the Northeast region of the United States. B. Market Size and Market Segmentation BusinessConnect’s total potential market is based on the total number of registered businesses in the six cities listed above. Out of 50,179 total registered businesses, it is estimated that one third of these would meet the segmented characteristics of our target customer. This gives us approximately 16,726 potential customers. Projected customer capture is estimated to be 7% of that number, giving us 1,170 customers in our first year. During our third year of operating, we hope to start reaching out to several businesses in the Northeast. After speaking with large distributors about their current customer base, we have narrowed down our potential market to focus on cities these distributors serve multiple times a week.

The most important customer demand is going to be based on the characteristics of management type, profit margins, and inventory level. Businesses that are open to innovation and increasing time and efficiency within its ordering process are going to be more likely to adopting our service. Also, businesses that are working on smaller profit margins, with less overall inventory, are going to be more attracted to group purchasing and other membership benefits. Due to a stronger economy and higher consumer confidence, our market segment is positively affected by increased foodservice sales, which are expected to hit a record high in 2014. In addition, increasing technology trends will have companies looking for ways to incorporate new technology into its daily business operations.

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C. Market Share & Market Trends The two industries that will affect BusinessConnect’s revenues are the E-Commerce and Online Auctions Industry (NAICS 45411, IBIS), which has an annualized growth rate of 11.7%(IBIS), and the Soft Drink, Baked Goods & Other Grocery Wholesaling Industry (NAICS 42449, IBIS), which has a decreasing annualized growth rate of 2.0%(IBIS). The two industries together have an average annual revenue of $270.27 billion. BusinessConnect’s potential market includes 16,726 customers. Through primary research (Appendix B), it is estimated that these customers will be ordering $10,000 worth of products through our service per month. After factoring in the .5% transaction revenue that BusinessConnect receives, potential revenue for the first year ends up being $10,035,600. This gives BusinessConnect a potential market share of .00037%. Currently Sysco Co. is the top leader in wholesale for the foodservice market. Sysco is the process of buying its main competitor, U.S. Foods which will give them a 25% market share. Many feel that this merge will lead the company to lend its focus toward franchises and chains, leaving smaller businesses as a somewhat underserved market. BusinessConnect’s service will cater to these businesses by getting them the products they need efficiently and at a reasonable price. D. Buyer Demographics and Buyer Behavior The actual purchase decision-maker for our service includes the owners of these businesses, with a strong influencer being the general operating manager, assuming the two are different roles. The key stages to our customer buying process include the initial awareness of our service. This is going to be an important part of our marketing strategy, as we plan to personally reach our customers through door-to-door and different business associations. The owner/operator of Cosmos Pizza in Syracuse NY has indicated an interest in our service, due to the stores difficulty in meeting order minimums as well as the option of price differentiation. Potential customers who have expressed interest in our service are Recess Coffee, Strong Hearts Cafe, Cosmos Pizza, and Cinderella’s restaurant. (Primary Research, Appendix B) Buyer Persona: Joe Miller Joe has been General Manager for three years at a local cafe that offers a variety of sandwiches and drinks. Each day he is responsible for tracking and stocking inventory for daily business operations. This process seems tedious and time consuming, as it includes calling multiple wholesalers and suppliers to compare prices before even finalizing an order. About two to three times a week Joe goes to Sam’s Club or local grocery stores to get perishable items or inventory he could not find at a reasonable price elsewhere. In addition to this, Joe sometimes struggles to meet the minimum order of $500 that Sysco requires. He expresses his frustration with the whole process of acquiring and ordering products needed on a daily basis, and states that it takes his time and attention away from customers and other business operations.

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Challenges One of the biggest factors going into the purchasing decision is whether owners want to share orders with competitors or potential competitors through group purchasing. Another factor going into the purchasing decision includes management being uninterested in adapting to new technology or operating routines. Thoroughly demonstrating the values and benefits of our service through qualitative and quantitative charts during our sales process will help to alleviate these buyer concerns. E. Market Segmentation and Targeting Our target market is businesses within the foodservice industry that do not include franchises or chain restaurants. The primary focus will be on delis, cafes, family restaurants, and diners. Although we do not have a distinct customer segment we will be targeting, there are various characteristics we will use to prioritize and classify current and potential customers.

The two main factors that will determine the purchasing decision include management type and membership interest. We will use a four-quadrant diagram to categorize a customer’s priority level. The left lever will represent the level of likeliness the customer is to use the membership incentives, running from low to high. The right lever will represent the management type based on the criteria listed below.

Management Type

-­‐ Flexible -­‐ Innovative -­‐ Adaptive to change -­‐ Adaptive to new technology

-­‐ Traditional -­‐ Habitual -­‐ Slow to adapt to change -­‐ Slow to innovate to new technology

While we look to target every single one of these businesses, we feel in order to maximize profits we need to place a more primary focus on the businesses that are more likely to use the membership incentives. The customers that are more interested in using

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the perks of our service will drive revenue and increase overall profit. The businesses that are struggling to meet minimum order requirements each week are going to be more attracted to our membership incentives (group purchasing, etc.). It is assumed that the larger establishments (restaurants, diners, etc.) would have higher profit margins, but this may not always be the case especially taking high traffic and customer turnover into consideration. So we will use additional criteria to determine which businesses are more likely to use our membership incentives.

High Membership Interest Low Membership Interest

-­‐ Low inventory levels -­‐ Low storage space -­‐ Lower $$ total orders -­‐ Low profit margins

-­‐ High inventory levels -­‐ Reasonable storage space -­‐ Higher $$ total order -­‐ High profit margins

A variety of other factors should also be considered during prospecting stage, such as the number of distributors the customer is currently ordering from, and the business’s location in relation to other customers and distribution centers (wholesalers, suppliers). F. Competition and Competitive Edges To determine who our competitors are, it is necessary to look at the process potential customers are currently using to track and order inventory. Our competitors can be placed in three different categories; suppliers/distributors, wholesale retail stores, and various online marketplaces. Specific competitors within these categories are included, but not limited to the table below.

Suppliers/Distributors Wholesale Retail Stores Online Marketplace -­‐ Sysco, Co. -­‐ Maine’s Paper &

Food Service, Inc. -­‐ Gianta’s Meat

Farms

-­‐ BJ’s Wholesale Club

-­‐ Sam’s Club

-­‐ Alibaba.com -­‐ Globalsources.com -­‐ Buyerzone.com

The fundamental values of our service that will provide economic benefits for our customer includes cutting costs and saving time. The less time and attention managers and owners have to put toward this process, allows them to focus on other areas of the business. Quality The quality of service that we provide to customers is expected to be a competitive edge, in comparison to the process potential customers are currently using. Due to the fact that suppliers/distributors/wholesalers are already providing quality products to customers, we will be doing the same as they are receiving the same exact products, just through a different distribution flow. Our service will provide customers with more quality than it’s

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competitors because it will offer an even wider variety of products, in addition to member reviews so that the customer can ensure the quality of what they are purchasing. Price The ability to compare prices on one website will allow our customers to get the same products at the lowest possible prices, cutting costs, and creating value for their own business. Already established online marketplaces require steep shipping costs, which our customers will be able to avoid through becoming a member. Becoming a member and user of BusinessConnect is completely free of cost for the business placing orders, saving them time and money. Performance Currently, distributors and suppliers are slow in innovating the use of technology that makes the process of tracking and ordering inventory faster and more convenient. The V.P. of Operations at Sysco, Bill Pawlewicz, expressed that it will be a long time before they move away from having sales representatives gather and enter invoices. Our service will provide customers with an easy-to-navigate website that they have access to 24 hours a day. (Primary Research, Appendix B) Delivery & Order Accuracy Wholesale retail stores can provide customers with the exact products they need, as soon as they need them. This is something that our company must be aware of, as they will always have that competitive edge over us. In order to competitively hedge against distributors and suppliers, we will provide even more assurance of order accuracy and timely delivery. After our system sends an order to a distributor we will require the warehouse to send us an order invoice after it is picked and packed, and before it is shipped. After interviewing local business owners, some have expressed frustration in receiving late or inaccurate orders from companies like Sysco and Maine’s. (Primary Research, Appendix B) Service The service customers receive from sales representatives seems unparalleled to any of its secondary competitors, as they report on-site to build relationships. Business owners and managers state that this makes the process easier when they are interested in ordering new products, or if they have questions regarding packaging and quality. The customer service wholesale retail stores provides ranges depending on location. We will provide quality service through our website and customer relations. G. Ongoing Market Evaluation BusinessConnect will continue to evaluate our target markets by conducting surveys and interviews to get a broad understanding of the direction the industry is going, and what our current and potential customers value. Gaining contract agreements with both large and small distributors and increasing the number and variety of products will be important for future growth. Sysco, U.S. Foods, and Maine Foods are a few main distributors that we will want to research in order to get a better look at the order process that they are offering to potential customers. Most of our constructive feedback will come

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from potential customers, as we can better understand the opportunity and need our service needs to meet. Any ideas for product-improvement programs and new-product programs will come from the information we gather from local businesses.

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Section IV: Economics of the Business A. Revenue Drivers and Profit Margins Business Connect has a unique revenue driver. We expect our revenue stream to come from transaction fees (placed on the supplier) using our website. We will be charging a 0.5% transaction rate. This revenue amount will be the amount our customer spends multiplied by the .5% rate. BusinessConnect’s variable cost would be the credit/debit processing fee, which would be charged to collect the transactions fees, from the suppliers. This fee will be roughly .12% based on all the major credit cards. Using this defined market, we estimate revenue of $7.46 million and a profit of $5.37 million by year 5. Through our primary research we estimate each business to be purchasing around $10,000 a month once we establish ourselves within the market. B. Fixed and Variable Costs BusinessConnect’s variable costs would be a 0.12% credit and debit processing-fee of the transaction fee amount. This would be an included cost with the transaction fee amount of 0.5%. If a customer were to request group purchasing then we would also incur shipping costs. BusinessConnect will also incur variable costs for shipping through a common carrier, which would be 15% of our sales revenue. This is an approximated amount we will incur based off of our market research. The approximate cost of a common carrier picking up one pallet from Sysco and delivering it to two separate locations is $150-$200. It would be the same whether it is 20 or 100 miles away. The graph that follows is the monthly fixed costs amount for the next year. These figures are all results through primary research of the industry averages.

MONTHLY FIXED COSTS $ AMOUNT

OFFICE SPACE RENT $600

LEGAL FEES $1,250

PROGRAMMERS/WEBSITE MAINTENANCE $1,500

SALARIES $6,668

INSURANCE EXPENSE $300

ADVERTISING COSTS $20,000

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EXECUTIVE PAY $6,083

OFFICE EQUIPMENT RENTAL $2,100

TOTAL MONTHLY FIXED COSTS $38,501 Assumptions *Salaries: $3,304 per employee, with two employees for the first year of operations. * Rent: Used for holding meetings and appointments with potential customers. (Craigslist) *Office Equipment Rental: Office supplies (furniture, computers, phones, etc.) (Villa Park Office Equipment) *Website Maintenance: Server Maintenance, Software development *Legal Fees: Attorney and Accounting Fees *Advertising Costs: Marketing expense C. Operating Leverage and Its Implications BusinessConnect has a high operating leverage. We have high fixed costs with little variable costs. This would mean that it will take us longer to breakeven and a riskier venture. However, once we start obtaining our customer base, we will be able to achieve substantial profit and we will not have many variable costs needed to increase our profit margins.

D. Start Up Costs Our Start Up Costs include research and development for the site, the incorporation fee for a LLC in NY, and the trademark fee for our logo. These costs are a one-time cost that we would pay that would not be included as part of fixed costs.

ONE TIME START UP COSTS $ AMOUNT

INCORPORATION FEE (LLC in NY) $200

TRADEMARK FEE $500

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT COST $50,000

TOTAL ONE TIME START UP COSTS $50,700

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E.) Economic Model Economic  Model  for  year  1          Start  of  2014          Number  of  potential  customers  (1st  year)       1,170  Supplier  Transaction  Fee       0.50%  

Estimated  Consumer  Spending  Amount  [Approximate  =  1,170  customers  *  $120,000  amount  spent  a  year  (based  off  an  average  $10,000  being  spent  a  month)]       $140,400,000    Transaction  Fee  Revenue,  yearly  (1st  year)    $                      702,000        Credit/Debit  Operating  Transaction  Fee       0.12%  Credit/Debit  Operating  Transaction  Amount    $                          842.40        Start  Up  Cost    $                          50,700        Year  1  Income    $                      650,458        

F) Breakeven Chart and Calculation

Due to the fact we are providing a service, we have two variable costs, but high fixed costs. Our company will breakeven when our fixed expenses meet our revenue, less the processing fees in sales. Our blended industry growth rate is at 9.7% for the following year. We expect our revenues to surpass our expenses by November, 2014 (our 7th month into business). We expect to breakeven by the 2nd Quarter of Year 2.

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Section V. Marketing Plan *(All market research is in Appendix B) A. Overall Marketing Strategy The service BusinessConnect offers is unique to the foodservice industry. The marketing philosophy is to provide businesses with a convenient and innovative process for tracking and ordering inventory. Through using the website, businesses will cut costs and increase overall revenue. Distributors using the website will also gain business from current and potential customers. Fostering growth of subscribers, businesses in each city will help to create new potential clients for BusinessConnect. BusinessConnect’s marketing tactics will rely on personal selling. We will get in contact with businesses over the phone, as well as follow-up sales meetings at the businesses. This will be to introduce the product to the consumer and for them to be accustomed to the interface. Even though it is very user friendly, BusinessConnect will also be directly mailing businesses, but this will be done on a lower scale.

By being a very customer focused company, BusinessConnect will develop a positive outlook for the company and service that is innovative and new. BusinessConnect interviewed Laura Ryan, general manager at Strong Hearts Café, to find out what she thought of the website and services BusinessConnect provides. Ms. Ryan explained how the “price comparison aspect is great.” “It takes [Ms. Ryan] a lot of time to find the cheapest product from the different vendors.” Ms. Ryan had been very enthusiastic about an innovative way to make her purchases at Strong Hearts. She explained how “a lot of people who work in restaurants, live and breathe their businesses, so they are constantly looking for new things [for the business].” (Primary Research Report, Appendix B)

B. Pricing The suppliers will be charged a 0.5% transaction fee for every order. This transaction fee will act as the main stream of revenue, and a small expense for suppliers who in turn will see a boost in sales volumes. Amazon’s transaction fee is 2.9% and Ebay charges 10% of the total amount of sale and the maximum fee is $250. Comparing BusinessConnect’s 0.5% transaction fee to Amazon and Ebay, customers will be saving a significant amount of money. This pricing strategy is more efficient compared to BusinessConnect’s competitors.

BusinessConnect has lower overhead and lower variable costs compared to competitors, and this allows the company to maintain profitability. The businesses that BusinessConnect is targeting are in a niche market and this is a competitive advantage that caters to our value proposition.

C. The Selling Cycle BusinessConnect’s selling cycle will be an ongoing process and each step will involve everyone in the company. A variety of marketing tools will be used to get the target customer to become aware of how this service will add value to their company, essentially creating loyal customers.

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D. Sales Tactics The prospecting stage will include extensive research and searching for businesses that will benefit from the use of the service. An administrative assistant will be responsible for maintaining a database of both existing and potential customers, where each person in the company has the ability to access and edit the status of customers. In the recruitment process, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) will be looking for an administrative assistant who has at least two years of experience, and will be paid on an annual basis. The CMO will also be responsible for overseeing two sales groups.

Sales Force 1 This will consist of the founders of the company, and will work strategically to build relationships with distributors and wholesalers. This group will only be necessary during the first year of business, and will be responsible for gaining contracts ensuring that they will sell their products on BusinessConnect’s web service. Persons in this group should be trained to demonstrate how distributors could benefit and increase profits from using BusinessConnect’s service. Once an agreement is worked out with distributors, it will be easier to gain customers through word-of-mouth.

Sales Force 2 The CMO will be responsible for recruiting and training a group of two sales representatives in the first year. These employees will act as sales representatives will be involved in every step of the sales process and will be the main person in contact with customers. In order to gain a maximum amount of customers in year one, BusinessConnect will be recruiting highly skilled sales representatives. The candidates must be driven, personable, confident, and assertive.

Training Sales group two will undergo a four-day workshop of extensive sales training, before any selling takes place. Through this, they will gain knowledge on every aspect of the business. They will learn how to successfully approach customers and present the service, showing features and benefits, and demonstrating how value can be added to their

Step  1:    Prospecting  

Step  2:  Marketing/PR  

Step  3:  Approach/Contact  

Step  4:  Personal  Selling  

Step  5:  Membership/Transaction    

Step  6:  Follow  up/  Incentivize  

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business. They will be taught how to use the customer database and will be assigned sales regions based on the city they are assigned to.

Compensation Due to the fact that sales force one is being paid a base salary, these tasks are included in their initial job criteria. Sales group two will be paid on a fixed and variable compensation plan. The two sales representatives will be paid a fixed compensation plan of $40,008 annually. E. Advertising and Sales Promotion The target market for BusinessConnect is different than most businesses. BusinessConnect plans to advertise with a couple of approaches. In the beginning, the company will work to build a rapport with businesses. Reaching out personally and visiting the businesses to explain what the business does and how they can benefit will increase the amount of exposure for BusinessConnect. However, since the company is ideally targeting six cities in Upstate NY, it will help reach out to a broader potential consumer base. The marketing budget will be roughly $20,000 for the first quarter, $15,000 for the second quarter, $12,000 for the third quarter, and $10,000 for the fourth quarter. When BusinessConnect expands to another state this marketing budget will be the same. After the first year, the marketing budget in that state will stay at $10,000. To reach these cities, BusinessConnect will need to use a couple different tactics. BusinessConnect will begin by direct mailing to area businesses. This will introduce the company as well as BusinessConnect's website. This will allow business owners to get familiarized with the site and accustomed to its user-friendly interface. Next, the marketing team will be emailing the different business managers inviting them to view the website. The email will give them a guided introduction to what the website contains and how to use it properly. Cold calling will be the strongest approach through contacting food service businesses within the local area and introducing the new site. Since the businesses have already received the direct mailers they should recognize the company and the concept. Fourth, after initial contact is made, follow-ups will be conducted to ensure satisfaction with the customers overall experience. Another approach BusinessConnect plans to take is utilizing social media. BusinessConnect plans to advertise through social media by making a fan page and using advertisements with Google AdWords. With the popularity of social media in today's world, a popular page and advertisement through these websites may be the best way to target customers. F. Publicity Sponsoring a local community service project is one way BusinessConnect will be exposing the business. For example, sponsoring food kitchens and food drives to help those that are in need. This relates to BusinessConnect since we will be targeting diners, restaurants, and cafes. Developing an annual community award will create attention around the area and help the company gain recognition. The community award will be given to the business that

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contributes the most food to the food drives that are connected with the local community service project that is sponsored. BusinessConnect is helping to encourage new businesses on opening up. Overall, this is helping to boost the economy within the cities it is in. Many different organizations will recognize this as a major factor giving us free publicity through news articles and reports. G. Customer Service Customer service is one of the most important factors for the success of the company. It is very important for the company to develop a relationship with businesses. A small office staff will be available to field customer queries and concerns. They will also set up appointments for any business owners, and vendors, who want to come and speak with any of the senior managers of the company. Customer service representatives will also take suggestions and ideas to help improve the site. Direct contact between BusinessConnect and the vendors will also be crucial. BusinessConnect's sales representatives will have relationships with both the vendors and the customers. Any problems that occur with vendors or customers, sales representatives will be available to contact to fix the problem. The customer service will be essential to keep both the vendors and customers satisfied. H. Guarantee Policies and Warranties Quick and accurate service is important to customers and in their purchasing decisions. BusinessConnect guarantees quality and fast service, to provide customers with the products they need. If problems occur within the service, BusinessConnect will personally attempt to solve the problem with that customer. One example to satisfy a disgruntled customer is by giving them a discount on products to make up for a mistake. Any warranties that will be in place will be with the customer and the distributor. The only warranty BusinessConnect will give is if there is a problem with the service, resulting in customer discounts. Any service calls we encounter will be if a sales representative needs to visit a customer due to a problem. The sales representative will then try to amend the situation. This will be profitable to the company to ensure customer satisfaction. I. Distribution Intangible The majority of BusinessConnect's distribution channel includes employees and sales representatives using the Internet, vehicles, and phones throughout the sales cycle. Freight and delivery will be the responsibility of the distributor for a majority of transactions. With group purchasing, BusinessConnect will be using a common carrier to pick up the order and distribute this to the customers. Tangible Although distributors will be responsible for a majority of the distribution flow, they may not agree to deliver to multiple locations for a group purchasing transaction. When pickup and delivery is not confirmed by the distributor for these smaller orders, BusinessConnect will pay to outsource this task to common carriers that handle small

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LTL (less than truckload), 1-5 pallet shipments. These transportation costs range, and are based on freight class of the product, dimensions, and weight. BusinessConnect has agreed to take on this initial cost because the customer's loyalty and membership will become a long-term financial gain.  

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Section VI. Design and Development Plan A. Development Status and Tasks BusinessConnect will be hiring the web development company Happy Fun Corp. After hiring the company, BusinessConnect will be assigned a contractor/engineer that will be responsible for the project and will be the main contact if any issues or concerns should arise. By outsourcing this task, we are guaranteed a top quality, professionally designed website in order to sustain an easy and convenient navigation for customers. Having an ongoing contract with HappyFunCorp will be extremely beneficial, as it will ensure information consistency, and as technology improves, changes will be able to be made. This web development company was chosen due to its location, professionalism, and experience with re-known corporations and successful start-ups. HappyFunCorp’s location in Brooklyn, NY, will be helpful as they are a close and central location in comparison to BusinessConnect’s growth strategy, and they operate in the same business hours. Once this process is complete, there will be a testing phase of one week, where local small business owners will use the website run mock purchase transactions. This will help find any bugs within the website/software, and will allow the operations team to identify any potential bottlenecks or issues throughout the operations process.

B. Difficulties and Risks There is considerable risk that lies in the development and design of the webpage and software program, as the management team does not consist of anyone who has skilled experience in web design. BusinessConnect decided to outsource this process in order to mitigate this risk. It is still important that the management team seeks training and guidance before and throughout the process so there is knowledgeable personnel for operating and assisting customers. Another challenge is that the business strategy may experience obstacles, within the actual distribution and transportation of the products as they go from the wholesaler to the customer’s hands. Deliveries of small amounts of freight to several different local businesses will need to be financially justifiable to the suppliers. In order to foresee solutions to these obstacles research into hiring common carriers has been conducted, and BusinessConnect has agreed to incur the cost of group purchasing, or combined orders that do not meet the minimum order requirements that distributors set.

C. Product Improvements and Features With the assistance of the web development company, most of the tangible growth that our service will experience lies in the features and navigation of the website. As the company expands to new locations, the website will consist of regional tabs for convenience. After growing financially and incurring more customers, the operations team plans to make the website extremely personalized and customizable to its members. There will be features that help business owners better track their inventory, allowing them to view order history and recommended products will increase customer service and ensure convenience and ease of use.

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To keep the business competitive, it is important to keep up to date on the needs and wants of customers while expanding into new markets. Providing customers with all of the resources and products they need and reaching as many distributors as possible will help improve our service in the future. As BusinessConnect becomes more publicly known and accepted, more distributors and suppliers will take interest in being a part of the service, allowing us to offer customers a large variety of products and prices. D. Costs BusinessConnect’s management team will form a legal contract with HappyFunCorp, in order to lock down on a fixed rate. During the first month of operating, $50,000 will be used for the website/software development process. After the first month, $1,500 is allotted for maintenance. It is important that BusinessConnect allows one month for the engineers to build the software program and website from ground-up. A large sum of money is being placed toward the software development process and maintenance, due to the fact that the entire business solely relies on operating the website and software program. BusinessConnect’s business strategy requires maximum time, attention, and money be directed toward the research and development of this process. E. Proprietary Issues BusinessConnect will be using a trademark to protect its logo. This will be used to identify and distinguish our name, protecting us from current or potential competitors. As a company we are hoping to build brand recognition and eventually become innovators of the industry. The costs of incurring a trademark are moderate and it will last for several years.

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Section VII: Operations Plan *(Mock Website, Appendix F) A. Operations Model & Cycle

Front Stage Operations The company’s front stage operations will consist of BusinessConnect’s website and the group purchasing feature that is available to the customer. After the customer has placed an order the subcontractor will be responsible for the distribution process. The exception will be orders placed using the group purchasing feature. In group purchasing transactions BusinessConnect will arrange transportation. Backstage Operations BusinessConnect’s primary focus will be on backstage operations. Once the customer has made an order, the information regarding the order will go to both BusinessConnect’s server as well as the vendors processing system. BusinessConnect’s servers will then process the invoice. If it is a group purchase, the account manager will set up shipping of the product from the distribution site. For group purchasing orders delivery of the product will be carried out by BusinessConnect. The cost of a common carrier picking up one pallet from Sysco and delivering it to two separate locations will range from $150-$200 regardless of distance. (Primary Research, Appendix B) Subcontractor Accounts BusinessConnect will have a specific employee responsible for each subcontractor account during the first 6 months of operations. These employees will be responsible for communicating with the subcontractors that have a contract with BusinessConnect. The employee will establish an account, help manage the products recorded on the site, and regulate the price per unit/price in bulk of the products, as well as any customer disputes with that company. After the first 6 months, BusinessConnect’s membership base will

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become large enough for vendors to see the potential of increased revenue and less man-hour pay. This will encourage them to have a designated individual to create/manage their account. Seasonality BusinessConnect expects a slight increase in revenue during the fall/winter seasons. Through research it was discovered that people tend to eat more food during the winter seasons, inclining them to go out more, increasing foodservice sales. Due to this we expect to see an increase in the number of products being ordered by customers. Since our transaction fee is at a low percent, the seasonality will not have a dramatic impact on our overall revenue. B. Operations Strategy BusinessConnect’s service will create value by offering its customers convenience by having all their business supply needs one click away. The company’s operations strategy is to bring innovation to the customer and subcontractors (distributors/suppliers) by connecting them through a simple and cost effective purchasing platform. BusinessConnect’s supplier partners are established world-class foodservice companies. BusinessConnect will use this to its advantage by having these companies continue to carry out the tasks they do well on a daily basis. The subcontractors will be responsible for picking, packing, and shipping every order a customer places. Bottlenecks are anticipated to occur from the time the order is sent to the distributor to the time the warehouse picks and packs the shipment. Communication with subcontractors is going to be key during this process to ensure that customers receive the best service. In order to minimize bottlenecks, BusinessConnect will use a “marshall” system, which is used often in warehousing to ensure the accuracy of orders. This system will require warehouses to electronically send the invoice of picked and packed orders to BusinessConnect’s operations department, before it is shipped. Once the appropriate personnel approves the invoice, the warehouse is then informed that the order is ready to be shipped. At BusinessConnect, we believe that quality control for our customers is a major concern and will be managed by the use of this process. Through primary research the President/Owner of The Mission Restaurant, Steve Morrison, had brought up a major issue with one of their former distributors, Goya Foods. “Goya is the most difficult [distributor] to deal with, with silly restrictions like 10 case minimums. This is ironic that because they short-shipped 5 cases when they are out of stock for the other 5.” By implementing the “marshall” system, BusinessConnect will have the opportunity to make sure every order is accurate to the last detail. (Primary Research, Appendix B) C. Geographic Location BusinessConnect’s offices will be located in East Syracuse, NY. Business will be done in the following targeted upstate New York cities; Utica, Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, and Binghamton. Because all of the stakeholders currently reside in and around Syracuse, it will be the easiest and most efficient location for the headquarters. It

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is also in a central location to the six-targeted cities with a span of 150 miles max, making traveling for sales representatives easier, so that it is possible to develop relationships with the customer base. Also, keeping business in New York alone will allow for BusinessConnect to fall under one sales tax rate, until market expansion D. Facilities An office space will be the only facility needed for operations. The entire office will consist of a large room with a cluster of five cubicles, a small room for the sales representatives to share, and a small conference/meeting room. The room of cubicles will be used for the stakeholders of the company, allowing for each person to have their own workspace, but still be able to work collaboratively with each other. The office space will be a leased facility in an industrial area, and will be needed as soon as possible to start conducting research and development. The space will eventually have to expand to a bigger facility as sales grow because more sales representatives will be hired. Budget The budget for office expense is $24,000 for the first six months, allotting $4,000 a month for leasing space. There is a $2,400 budget for office utilities in the first six months of operating. Utility providers will be National Grid and Verizon Wireless. Verizon will be the best option, as we will be able to use their small business package, which allows for unlimited local calls and high-speed internet service with 99.9% network reliability. A Landline will not be necessary, however there will be a designated mobile phone located at the office for customer service calls. Each employee, including sales representative will be provided with a mobile phone.

Design The sales representative’s office should range is size from 17’4” x13’4” to 19’4” x13’4”. This will be appropriate space for two small desks, and a small table with chairs. The cluster of cubicle workstations should be 47” high and 5’x5’ in size. This will be sufficient because it will offer privacy for each of the employees, but still allow for work in the same room. The size of the conference room will be larger than the sales representative’s room and should range in size from 23’4” x14’2” to 25’4” x14’2”. This will be large enough for a 180” L x 58” W sized conference table, which will allow for meetings with as many as 12-14 people. This will allow for the company stakeholders and sales representatives to meet, and will also be the space used for employee training. E. Legal Issues Affecting Operations Contractual issues will be the area where BusinessConnect will face the greatest liability. For legal purposes we will have to have agreement terms for each member so that they feel secure about paying their yearly dues. We will also have to enter into contracts with freight vendors to ensure that member’s orders are delivered in a timely manner and obligations are met. A company code of conduct will be created that will act as governance for employees. We will offer at will employment meaning at any time the company or the employee can end a working relationship. Based on the code of conduct we can make sure that all

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employees are aware of the policies of the company. Having a strict set of guidelines that employees are made aware of should help to reduce workplace misconduct. These guidelines will ensure that the employees and the management have an understanding of the behavior expected. If behavioral expectations are not met then the consequences will also be communicated via an employee handbook that will be distributed with the code of conduct. The company will also face tax liabilities within the state of New York as well as federal taxation. Being compliant of both state and federal tax laws will ensure that legal issues will not arise.

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Section VIII: Management Team A. Organization

B. Key Management Personnel Ali Larijani, Chief Executive Officer - Ali’s role will be to shape the development and strategy of the company in conjunction with the rest of the management teams inputs based upon their area of expertise. Ali started a company called C4 Scooters, which generated revenue of around $90,000 a year. He is also a dual B.S. major at Syracuse University for Finance as well as Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprise. Wesley Yoo, Chief Financial Officer - Wesley’s role is to manage all the financial activities for the firm. Wesley has interned at two prominent accounting firms in the past and has experience dealing with many small businesses. He has worked with managing these small businesses’ finances by separating AR/AP, revenues, expenses, and reconciling cash. He is an accounting major at Syracuse University. Rory McCale, Chief Marketing Officer - Rory’s role will be to manage the marketing strategy and approach at BusinessConnect. Rory established the ideal pricing method, market research, and will be developing the companies prime customer service. Rory enters with strong customer service experience from positions held with both Aquamaestro and BNY Mellon. At both companies, Rory dealt with customers directly on a day to day basis representing the reputations of both firms by ensuring that each customer’s experience was positive. Rachel Garrett, Chief Operations Officer - Rachel’s role will be to establish and maintain relationships with suppliers and retailers so that the business maintains continuity. She will be responsible for overseeing the flow of operations from when a customer makes a transaction to when the customer receives their order. She is a member of the Franklin Supply Chain Club and Syracuse Enactus at Syracuse University. She has interned as an

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Assistant Buyer at Ross Stores, which included building relationships with vendors, negotiating prices, and tracking shipping of purchase orders. Malynda Jenne, Executive Vice President - Malynda will be a part of the rollout of new processes, development, and streamlining of operations. She has previously worked at Enchanted Forest Water Safari in a supervisor/management position. Managing approximately forty people, she has experience in working across multiple departments. Malynda is a retail management major where she has experience in not only selling products but bringing in clientele. C. Salaries and Compensation The compensation for each of our members will be modest in the beginning with each of the management team owning 20% of the company after year two. Because of the nature of our business, a cost based model will require us to each receive about $16,000 a year with raises being contingent upon growth of the business. After year two when all the partners are vested, the management team will share profits equally and have equal ownership of twenty percent. Currently stock placement is spread up equally between each member of our business. That is 20% each member. Each member, excluding the CEO, will be on a 2-year plan. At the end of the first year they will receive 50% of their stock, then at the end of year 2 they will receive 100% of their stock amount. So, at the beginning of the year, the CEO will have 100 shares (100%). After year 1 the CEO will have 50 shares (50%), while the other members will have 10 shares each (10%). After year 2 the CEO will have 20 shares (20%) and the other members will have 20 shares (20%) as well. E. Board of Directors (Board of Directors, Appendix D) Matthew Turcotte is the CEO of both North Shore Solutions and Grindstone Holdings. With his experience in web design, web hosting, and marketing, Matthew has expert experience within this field. He has also written his book From Main Street to Mainstream: The Essential Steps to Launching Your Small Town Business Online, which refers to how his experience of starting his own web development company online became a success. Gerard Briscoe is currently the IBO/Agency President of Mode Transportation, a subsidy of Hub Group, located in Brewster, NY. He has extensive experience in the supply chain and transportation industry and will be able to provide us with knowledge regarding contracts with common carriers and freight terms for our group purchasing strategy. Gerard also has several networking opportunities and will help us get in contact with the large distributors and suppliers that are essential for our business. Michael Hara is the Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development at Cortina Systems, a leading supplier of high-speed network communications semiconductors. He is a 33-year veteran of the personal computer, computer graphics and semiconductor industries, and was previously VP of Investor Relations and Communications at NVIDIA. At NVIDIA, Michael served as senior vice president of

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Investor Relations from 2000 to 2011 and helped grow NVIDIA from a private startup to a multi-billion dollar public company. He joined the company in 1994 as their first director of marketing where he was prominent in creating their corporate identity and product line branding. Prior to NVIDIA, Michael worked at S3, Wyse Technology, Radius, Verticom Graphics, Vermont Microsystems and GE Healthcare in various sales, product line development, and corporate and strategic marketing roles. Given his involvement in developing computer graphics subsystems starting with the IBM PC in 1984, Michael is considered an industry expert on the PC graphics industry. He is a graduate of DeVry University and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. Brendan Farnach is the president of All-Seasonings and handles many of the day to day functions of Cinderella's restaurant located in Sylvan Beach, NY. Brendan's family has been an integral part of the Sylvan Beach community for several years owning and operating multiple businesses. All Seasonings has grown from a few thousand in revenue per year to a multi-million dollar revenue firm in just over ten years. Brendan has been able to juggle his duties with All Seasonings allowing the company to grow while continuing to have a role with Cinderella's. Besides being president of All Seasonings, Brendan also places all inventory orders for both businesses. Bill Pawlewicz is the Vice President of Operations at Sysco, Co in Syracuse, NY. Bill will be an asset to our company due to his support and presence in the food and beverage wholesaling industry. He has worked in the industry for over twenty years and has the knowledge and experience that will be important to our company. Bill is enthusiastic about the business concept and is interested in investing his time in making it become a success. This member of our board of directors will help us build relationships with subcontractors, which is key to our operations strategy.

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Section IX: Overall Schedule (See Appendix E for Schedule of Operations) BusinessConnect like any other company has many risks associated with its operations. There are a number of variables that could prove disastrous if they are not managed properly. BusinessConnect needs to move quickly which means that even before financing has been obtained the management group will begin evaluating office locations and the paperwork will be filed to create an LLC. Once financing is obtained construction of the website can begin. The time period from when the LLC is formed to the proposed launch date of the website which is May 12, 2014 are critical. All of these activities have been planned so that the launch of the website will not be delayed. The sole focus of the management team is to do whatever is necessary to make sure the website is fully functional by May 12th. Before the launch of the site, key personnel will be hired over a 20-day period with the staff being finalized by 05/20/2014. The only variable that can present a challenge is the delivery of member’s orders via freight services. Transportation costs are something that will be closely managed as part of the monthly expense review. Along with a review of the costs incurred from transportation customers will be ask to rate their BusinessConnect experience. Members will be asked about their delivery experience in addition to the online experience. Customer reviews will also be reviewed monthly to ensure the business is running smoothly.

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Section X: Critical Risks, Problems, and Assumptions Based upon the pro-forma financial statements drafted by the management team, BusinessConnect has the opportunity to be profitable in just over a year. The company’s startup costs are at a minimal $50,700. The overhead and monthly expenses translate into the company realizing a high degree of operating leverage. BusinessConnect’s managers predict having cash flows that never fall below $100,000. The company expects to obtain 1,170 customers in the first year based on research conducted on the local geographical areas, and the need based services offered. These customers are expected to spend $10,000 a month on average per customer. From interviews with business owners the company expects the group purchasing feature to be used sparingly until the business becomes more established. Sales are projected to grow at a rate that is higher than the blended industry average which is 9.7%. In year five, revenues are predicted to exceed five million dollars as the company continues to expand outside of New York and into other territories. This expansion will present tax liabilities for the owners and investors, but the management is aware of these liabilities and has a plan in place to take care of the investors year to year tax liabilities. A startup company faces many risks and investors need to be aware of these risks before they invest capital. The rate of growth in sales will depend on how quickly BusinessConnect expands. Growth will depend on how fast the brand reputation grows and the number of customers that use the site along with the frequency at which they make purchases. This will be important to monitor in the first year of business. Producing sales is a cost intensive process for a startup and BusinessConnect will face many of the same challenges as other startups. To navigate through this difficult process, BusinessConnect will put its focus on attracting a loyal customer base. Because the business model is untested, BusinessConnect faces a high degree of risk that is immeasurable due to the fact that a comparable company does not exist. One of the main aspects to look at is the market research and primary research that BusinessConnect has completed. This will provide investors and stakeholders with the assumptions listed in the financial statements. In order to mitigate risks within the operations strategy, BusinessConnect is renting all of its property and equipment, and little capital will be invested in tangible assets. There is technological risk that lies in the actual use of the website and software program. It is important that the website is easy and efficient for customers to navigate, and that transactions run smoothly through the distribution channel. To ensure a minimal amount of technological risk, extensive research was done in searching for a preferred web development company. The third party that will be used is HappyFunCorp (web development company), which has strong reputation and professional engineers with fifteen years of experience. They also have a successful history of working with startups and building software programs from the ground up. HappyFunCorp is based out of Brooklyn, NY and BusinessConnect has made sure that there will be a project manager and engineer available to communicate with when needed. This is extremely important in

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case there are any unforeseen technological obstacles that arise early in the life of the firm.

The threat of competitors mimicking the website is also a major risk. Sysco, Co. is one of BusinessConnect’s major competitors and with the amount of supplies and vendor relationships that Sysco has already developed could affect BusinessConnect. Fortunately, BusinessConnect has chosen to focus on certain areas of the industry that Sysco has chosen not to allocate its vast resources towards. For example, BusinessConnect offers several advantages to customers that Sysco, Co. does not currently provide. In order to avoid competitive risks, BusinessConnect will constantly be aware of subcontractor’s business strategies and what they are doing to move forward. BusinessConnect is focused on building partnerships with these distributors as a way of avoiding competition. Having the expertise of CEO, Ali Larijani, will also be key in mitigating business risk. Ali is an Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises major, and co-founder of C4 Scooters, an e-commerce retail business. In relation to BusinessConnect, Ali has experience in managing a company’s reputation and developing key relationships with suppliers.

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Section XI: Financial Plan *(See Appendix A for Financial Plan) A. Highlights of the Financial Statements BusinessConnect should be seeing a loss in revenue of $100,380 after year 1. This is due to our fixed cost business structure. BusinessConnect’s market potential will be increasing based on an estimated size. We believe that we will obtain all our market potential for New York by August of 2015 (Y1). BusinessConnect had estimated average sales to be separated by quarter. In the first year in New York, the average spending per business will be $2,000, quarter 2 will be $6,500, quarter 3 will be $8,500, and then finally quarter 4 sales at $10,000. Years State Customer Market Potential 2015 (Yr 1) New York 1,170 2016 (Yr 2) Pennsylvania 3,148 2017 (Yr 3) New Jersey 1,969 2018 (Yr 4) Connecticut 6,152 2019 (Yr 5) No expansion In the graph below we show how we spread out the customer’s estimated spending amount, and the increase, until it reaches the customer’s average amount, which was obtained from the primary research. Below average spending, we explain our market potential growth rate for year 1. Year 2-5’s growth rate is at a slower growth rate because our company will be headquartered in Syracuse, NY estimating for distance.

Month Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Average Spending

_ $2,000 $2,000 $6,500 $6,500 $6,500 $8,500 $8,500 $8,500 $10,000 $10,000

$10,000

Market Capture % (Yr 1)

10% 20% 40% 80% 90% 95% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Market Capture % (Yr 2-5)

20% 50% 90% 100%

BusinessConnect will be assuming a variable expense of 15% of revenue for group purchasing shipping. This has been assumed through BusinessConnect’s primary research information. (Primary Research, Appendix B) The company expects to start seeing a positive operating income by November of 2014. By year 3, we believe that BusinessConnect’s operating income will be $1,864,419. Since the company will be renting most of its things, and being based online, we will have very little assets. BusinessConnect will be seeing $2,970,797 cash on hand in end of the year 3. This cash on hand will be one of the major benefits of BusinessConnect’s expansion as well as product R&D.

    37  

C. Key Cost Controls BusinessConnect will have a policy of intense oversight in order to eliminate overhead expenses, with monthly reviews, in the first twelve months by the CEO and CFO will reduce waste. Starting in year two, this will be relaxed to a quarterly review, but the CEO and the CFO will continue to conduct monthly expense reviews. Annually, the entire executive team will conduct expense reviews. This will give all of management the opportunity to voice concerns and share any ideas regarding the firm’s spending policy. This policy will insure that the company has effective internal controls over operations spending, and everyone on the management team is on the same page.

    38  

Section XII: Our Proposed Company Offering The management team is requesting $200,000 of venture capital. This is in addition to the $100,000 of capital invested by the management team. This capital will go toward start up costs and provide a cushion as the company finds it way through fiscal year one. Start up costs consist of marketing and website development. By the end of year 3, April 2017, BusinessConnect will offer their investors to receive an ROI of $400,000 as well as the principle of the loan. In year 3 they investors will be given 6% equity of the company in common stock. In addition BusinessConnect will make a payment of $140,000 to cover income tax liabilities from the gain of your investment. This is based off of a 35% tax rate on capital gain. The company's firm value is $3,299,446.05 at a discount rate of ~49%. Since BusinessConnect will be seeing a high growth in profits, the belief is that offering equity will be beneficial.

Appendix  A  

Rent:&h

ttp://syracu

se.craigslist.o

rg/off/4

358229652.htm

lOffice

&Equipment:&h

ttp://w

ww.vp

oe.co

m/in

dex.p

hp

Income'Statem

ent'Com

ments

2014M

ayJune

JulyAug

SeptO

ctNov

DecJan

FebM

archApril

Yr 1 TotalRevenue

a$0

$1,170

$2,340

$15,210

$30,420

$34,223

$47,239

$49,725

$49,725

$58,500

$58,500

$58,500

$405,551

Operating'Expenses:'''Variable'CostProcessin

g&Fee

b$0

$1$3

$18$37

$41$57

$60$60

$70$70

$70$487

Shipping&C

ost

c$0

$176

$351

$2,282

$4,563

$5,133

$7,086

$7,459

$7,459

$8,775

$8,775

$8,775

$60,833Fixed'CostTrad

emark&Fe

e$500

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$500

LLC&Fillin

g&Fee

$200

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$0

$0$200

Salaries

d$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$6,668

$80,016

Rent&(U

tilities&In

cluded)

e$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$7,200

Phone&&&Internet

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

$2,400

Website

&

Development/M

aintain

ance

f$50,000

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$1,500

$66,500

Insuran

ce&Expense

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$300

$3,600

Legal&&

&Acco

untin

g&Fees

g$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$1,250

$15,000

Advertisin

g&Cost

$20,000

$20,000

$20,000

$15,000

$15,000

$15,000

$12,000

$12,000

$12,000

$10,000

$10,000

$10,000

$171,000

Executive

&Pay

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$6,083

$72,996Office

&Equip&Rental

h$2,100

$2,100$2,100

$2,100$2,100

$2,100$2,100

$2,100$2,100

$2,100$2,100

$2,100$25,200

Total'Operating'Expenses$87,901

$38,878$39,055

$36,001$38,301

$38,875$37,843

$38,219$38,219

$37,546$37,546

$37,546$505,931

Operating'Income'

[$87,901

-$37,708-$36,715

-$20,791-$7,881

-$4,653$9,395

$11,506$11,506

$20,954$20,954

$20,954-$100,380

Comments:

a)&Revenue:&M

arket&Size

&*&0.5%&tran

saction&fe

e&*&ave

rage&m

onthly&sp

ending&p

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&firms

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 Income  Statement  Year  1:  Monthly  

                                                                                     

Appendix  A  

Income  Statement  Year  2-­‐5    

                 

                                                                   

Appendix  A  

   

Cash  Flow  Year  1:  Monthly  

                                                                                   

Appendix  A  

 Cash  Flow  Years  1-­‐5                                                                                        

Appendix  A  

 Balance  Sheet  Year  1:  Monthly  

                                                                                     

Appendix  A  

     

Balance  Sheet  Years  1-­‐5    

                                                                               

Appendix  A  

 BusinessConnect  Valuation  

                                                                                     

Appendix  A  

   Financial  Ratios:    

Contribution  Margin  Break  Even  Point  

Appendix  B  

Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Ali Darzi Larijani Section 003

Expert’s Name: Thomas Diccone Date: 3/26 Time: 2:06 PM

Expert’s Title: Manager Expert’s Employer Freedom of Espresso Expert’s Phone Number: (315) 415-1730 [Cell]

Expert’s E-mail: Tdiccone2@gmail.com  

Interview Questions Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Notes: “Via telephone” “Some of them already have past purchases with us” He explained that he calls the vendor

and depending on the size of the company they will either have an account of him or he will explain what he needs.

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes: “It would be possible for me to be interested.” “It would make a more organized way of ordering than the system in place now.” A reason he said why he might not use it is because most businesses and himself

Already have a set up and successful method to make their purchases. So some people might think that there’s no reason to deviate from that.

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to business such as yourself?

Notes: “For me and other businesses, an incentive would be the best because we already have an established method of purchasing”

 

Additional Notes Q Who are your vendors? Coca-cola, Onadaga beverage (local), Housted Dairy(local), Central Restaurant Supply (local) Q How is your relation with your vendor representative? “It’s really good, actually” A lot of them stop to get coffee so they are not just someone I call once a week, but also fans of the business” Q If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful? “I think that’s a good idea” “Things that come up on search engines can be very misleading though compared to what you are looking for.” “Make sure things are clear for the consumer” Make the browsing section keyed towards the consumers business. Q Some of the major features we offer are group purchasing, subsidized shipping, vendor reviews, as well as other features to be released. These features would be based off of a membership service which you would purchase. Would you purchase this service?

Appendix  B  

“To be honest probably not, I only say that because a majority of my shipping needs when purchasing products is already under free shipping.” “I work for 4 locations so we don’t usually have any extra cost so we wouldn’t have a reason to use that.” So based on the business and its size some people won’t find interest in this extra expense. Q If yes, then how much would you be willing to spend? (Ex: $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000) --------- Q What are some current problems you are having with your vendor, if any? “One of our vendors that we just discontinued using, because they had inconsistent products. It was a bakery and I would order as need basis and sometimes the product I ordered compared to what came would be completely different.” Q How do you believe we should contact individuals such as yourself to introduce our product? “ For me at least calling over the phone works. But for most businesses I’d recommend to set up interviews in person by calling first” This has varied between many different people. Some businesses believe calling is bad while others see it as a much easier approach. Q How do you pay for your vendor costs and how long do you spend on average with the vendors contacting them? “We pay by check on most part, if we have the cash on hand that usually works too.” “Using a credit/debit I am not sure if we can order because I don’t have a company card, the owners do. But, for them I don’t see it as being difficult in any way.” “I’ve spent around 10-12 hours contacting the different vendors that distribute to us a week, for many different reasons” They spend less than 10,000 a month on one store. They have 4 locations.

 Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Ali Darzi Larijani Section 003

Expert’s Name: Steve Morrison Date: 3 / 26 Time: 2:02

Expert’s Title: President

Expert’s Employer Self-Employed (The Mission Restaurant) Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 475 - 7344

Expert’s E-mail: stevemo@gwcny.rr.com  

Interview Questions

Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Notes: “Go through the brokers” Does his own inventory. “Sysco will contact me weekly to see what’s going on and if I need a re-order on something that I don’t usually need”

Appendix  B  

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes:

“Sounds convenient, I would definitely check it out and see what the site’s about.” He constantly want’s to lower his costs so if he could do that online with out having to contact the vendors that would be perfect.

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to business such as yourself?

Notes:

“ Make it suited towards best price” “Availability is also a major issue with vendors. I place an order [with the vendor] but when it goes through they notify me that it is unavailable or they bring me less of the amount I ordered and refund me. So someway to know in advance if the items are out of stock.”

 

Additional Notes Q Who are your vendors? Sysco, Maines, Andy’s Produce, Goya, Regional Access are our main one’s Q How is your relation with your vendor representative? Each of my representatives are pretty good. Sysco I meet with once a week, Goya phone order every couple of weeks, Andy just leave a message and they get back to me with conformation. Maine’s is on a need basis so I just go to the store when we need it.. Q If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful? Yes I would be interested …. (He didn’t really elaborate on this) Q Some of the major features we offer are group purchasing, subsidized shipping, vendor reviews, as well as other features to be released. These features would be based off of a membership service which you would purchase. Would you purchase this service? Not so sure about Q If no, then why would you not purchase this? “It’s another expense… what am I getting for my money… Will I be getting a better deal” So basically we would need to elaborate on this idea when marketing to businesses to purchase it. He also said that if we were to make a guarantee of cheaper costs through things like group purchasing and shipping then he would be more inclined. Q If yes, then how much would you be willing to spend? (Ex: $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000) “Similar to Sam’s club, so a yearly membership.” Sam’s club membership is $100 a year. This would be a low amount of revenue, but we would bring in customers to be more loyal. We would also get more businesses to sign up at that price. Q What are some current problems you are having with your vendor, if any? “ Goya is the most difficult one to deal with, with silly restrictions like 10 case minimums. Then it’s ironic that they will ship me 5 cases because they are out of stock for the other 5. Also don’t have their own drivers they hire other people and those guys just drop off the product at the door they won’t take it to where you want them to similar to Sysco and

Appendix  B  

other vendors. But, they have a great line of products” - So if we were to somehow fix the availability problem it would fix a major issue with businesses not getting enough of what they need. Q How do you believe we should contact individuals such as yourself to introduce our product? “ Start with a phone conversation because I have a very busy day. Then follow up with a sales drop in” Q How do you pay for your vendor costs? On average how much time do you spend speaking with these vendors a week? “ I spend about $5,000 a week on most of my supplies, this is not including beer and wine.” About $20,000 average every month. Our estimates are only for $10,000 “When I was first starting I spent almost 20 hours a week just to find all the right prices and the right vendors I want to go with, but now its around 5-10 depending on what I need to do or if they are contacting me on something.”

       

Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Ali Darzi Larijani Section 003

Expert’s Name: Laura Ryan Date: 2 / 24 / 13 Time: 2:00 pm

Expert’s Title: General Manager Expert’s Employer

Strong Hearts Café (Marshall Square Mall) Expert’s Phone Number: (315) 478-0000

Expert’s E-mail: laura@strongheartscafe.com  

Interview Questions

Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Notes:

“We are a Vegan only restaurant, so we have to go through natural and organic distributors.” “Most of the bulk food from them” “Most basic supplies from Sysco, or owner goes to Mains a supply store for restaurants that is cheaper than Sysco”

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes:

“Price comparison aspect is good” “Takes a lot of time to find the cheapest product” “negative connotation towards Sysco, since everything is frozen and not as fresh” “Brought us to warehouse and made us a meal and gave a tour of the warehouse”

“Our rep at Sysco is helping us bring in new supplies to Strong Hearts, things that our organic and vegan.

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to the small business, such as yourself?

Notes:

“Main benefit would be the price comparison, make sure that part is very clear.” Make a way to price the products per unit, how big the cases are, and the overall price. “I have to check all the prices by unit myself”

Appendix  B  

 Q  How  is  your  relation  with  the  Sysco  rep?  :  “I  email  him  our  order”  “When  theirs  problem  with  supplies,  we  need  to  contact  him  to  switch  it  out  or  exchange  things”  Sysco  rep  can  be  easily  replaced  for  putting  in  orders  but  when  theirs  a  dispute  they  would  need  to  contact  him  in  case  an  order  is  messed  up.    Q  If  we  provided  a  browsing  section,  to  help  people  who  want  to  spruce  up  their  business  and  purchase  new  things,  do  you  think  that  would  be  useful?  :  “There’s  always  new  things  we  need.  A  lot  of  people  who  work  in  restaurants  live  and  breathe  their  business  so  they  are  constantly  looking  for  new  things  to  purchase.”      

Next Steps & Additional Notes -

• They purchase supplies from only a couple of vendors, all other purchases go through a store

• Really liked the idea regarding price comparisons. Constantly looking for cheaper deals so if they are able to do that online it would be easier.

• The owner and Laura both do purchases

 Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Ali Darzi Larijani Section 003

Expert’s Name: Racquel Luciano Date: 2 / 24 /13 Time: 3:00pm

Expert’s Title: Café Manager

Expert’s Employer Café Kubal Expert’s Phone Number: (315) 299-8300

Expert’s E-mail: racquel@kafekubal.com  

Interview Questions

Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Appendix  B  

Notes:

“We place the orders directly to the vendors” They know exactly what they need so whenever they need to make a purchase they just contact each vendor. For example Johnson’s is their paper supplier and Main’s is their food supplier. Once the representative has been contacted then they place the order for them.

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes:

“Nice to compare prices” “easier to build relations with the vendor over the phone though so we wouldn’t want to only have a website to go through” They don’t believe that a website can hold similar relations to vendors like a representative would.

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to the small business?

Notes:

“Vendors we use are kind of competitive, we look around and see what the best offer is and talking to vendors about lowering the cost. So having a website to compare everything would be great.”

Next Steps & Additional Notes Q Who are your vendors?: Johnson (purchases paper products), Main’s (purchases food), Deli Boy, Premo (local business), Guintas. Q How is your relation with your vendor representative?: “Great, he actually just came by today. They usually stop by if they are able to. But, generally communicate via phone or email” Vendor representatives take care of a good portion of people not just one company. They cater to an area. Q If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful? “It would be good for café’s or businesses who are just starting, but for those people who have already established an idea of how they want their business to operate, won’t want to change” Good idea for companies just starting. Q How do you purchase your coffee beans? “We go through a distributor, but roaster places order” “Thrive, a farmer direct company is where we buy our beans from.” “Deliver to roaster and then distributed” Q One of the starting products we want to cater to are coffee beans, what do you think about that?: “A lot of cafes have difficulty roasting at first. So it would definitely be good for them” Overall didn’t seem to pleased on the idea. Does believe that it could help companies that are starting out, but not as much to those that are established.

Pri Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Ali Darzi Larijani Section 003

Expert’s Name: Demo Smith (Didn’t want to disclose last name) Date: 2 / 24 /13 Time: 4:00pm

Expert’s Title: Owner

Expert’s Employer Cosmo’s American Diner Expert’s Phone Number: (315) 472-6766

Expert’s E-mail: N/A (Either didn’t want to disclose or doesn’t have one)  

Interview Questions

Appendix  B  

Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Notes:

“Sales person calls on me to put in the order” “Calls me every week, same time, same day” “When they call I usually just purchase the same supplies unless I have an event or leftover inventory then I change my order by the amount”

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes: “I would work directly with each vendor, no necessity for a middle-man” “I would use the site for certain supplies that I think are necessary. Only because lowering costs would help me”

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to the small business, such as yourself?

Notes: He didn’t provide any information to this

Next Steps & Additional Notes Q Who are your vendors? “Probably… around 6” “Most likely more”. Doesn’t keep track of all the vendors. Doesn’t need to, they contact him when he needs something. Does the same thing for the business every time. Q How is your relation with your vendor representative? “They call same day and time in the week to put order in. If theirs any issues or problems I contact them.” No relation other than the phone call. Doesn’t usually stop by business. Unlike Café Kubal which stops by frequently to keep in business. Q If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful? “Certain vendors provide that type of service.” “Sysco which is a big company, for example if we wanted to do catering, I just tell them and then they will provide me with the things I need” Q After speaking to a Sysco representative we have found out that they wish to actually start a way where a website can be utilized with sales rep’s. Would you adapt to this or find another vendor? : “I would adapt, but I would rather stick to the representatives” Strong bond between rep and business owner, even if their actual communication isn’t much.

• Feels strong about working with sales representatives. • Believes that the relations between the two is more necessary than a website • Older business that hasn’t changed much and doesn’t have the best structure for growth • Believes that if the website can truly lower the costs by providing more vendor’s and doesn’t just act as a 3rd party

then he would use it. • Agrees with the crowdsourcing idea, to bring in many nearby businesses to make a bulk purchase to lower cost

Pri Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Gerard Brisco Date: 2/24/2014 Time: 12:00 pm

Expert’s Title: IBO/ Agency President

Appendix  B  

Expert’s Employer

Mode Transportation- Subsidary of the Hub Group Expert’s Phone Number: ( 914 ) 772 - 6609

Expert’s E-mail: Gerard.Briscoe@modetransportation.com

 Interview Questions

Question: Do distributors typically do their own transportation?

Notes: Companies like Sysco, Jersey Paper Plus do their own transportation. Sometimes these companies

will hire common carriers if its too far out.

Question: What is Mode Transportation responsible for?

Notes: When a local distributor does not have their own fleet or they need additional carriers, they will

contact us for making deliveries.

Question: What do you think the future of online ordering is?

Notes: I think it is something that bigger suppliers need to start thinking about, as Amazon becomes more relevant, especially with non perishable items like to-go boxes, paper cups, and silverware. Fresh produce is going to be a little bit more difficult, as it would need to be same or next-day delivery.  

- I contacted Gerard to get some industry insight on the transportation/distribution aspect of our concept. He seemed to think the idea was good, as long as we making it somewhat of a “collective buying group”. We need to focus on offering something to the local business (e.g. them avoiding minimums by going through us), as well as the suppliers/distributors.

- Other distributors to look into are Jersey Paper Plus and Bunzl - they deliver in the Syracuse area. - It might be a good idea to think of the concept as a buying group that offers discounts, as long as you reach a

certain order amount annually. - A $500 minimum order is a lot for some businesses, especially if they need is now. You could use this to

consolidate, and be marketable for avoiding the minimums from your website - You would want to link your customers to you manually and then to companies like Sysco at the touch of a

button. - The idea is very green, you are cutting down on costs and ordering, local businesses helping local businesses

   

 Pri Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Patrizia Barbieri Date: 3/25/2014 Time: 5:03 p.m.

Expert’s Title: Owner Expert’s Employer Bittersweet Wine & Desserts Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 474 - 9463

Expert’s E-mail: Bittersweetofsyracuse@gmail.com  

Interview Questions

Appendix  B  

Question: What is your process for tracking inventory and placing orders?

Notes: I go through the inventory once a week and place orders on Mondays with both my food and wine people. Maine’s has a sales rep come in every Monday at 4:00 pm. Any of the fresh foods or day-to-day stuff, I usually just got to BJ’s or grocery stores for as necessary.

Question: Do you find it difficult to meet minimum order requirements set by these wholesalers?

Notes: Yes, sometimes I will add nonperishable products that I don’t necessarily need to an order just to meet the minimum. Maine’s has an order minimum of $500, but if I come up just short of that they usually deliver the order anyways. We don’t go through a ton of inventory just because we don’t need a lot and we don’t have a lot of storage.

Question: Would you be interested pairing with other businesses to group purchase in order to avoid minimums?

Notes: Yes, I would probably do that so that I don’t have to stretch orders to meet the requirement. As long as it was convenient for me, because if it isn’t convenient then it isn’t worth the money I am going to save. But if the distributor were to deliver products to both businesses then I think I would take advantage of this idea.  

Additional Notes

                   

- Patrizia seemed interested in our service and expressed that it would be convenient and nice to be able to get on a website to compare prices od products. She did say that having a sales rep come into the establishment is nice when she wants to look at ordering a new product or is unsure of quantities and packaging of certain items.

- Bittersweet used to go through Sysco Foods before recently switching to Maine’s foods. They decided to switch because of high prices and they were receiving incorrect or incomplete orders.

- They use Central Restaurant Supply to order their paper products. Minimum order requirements are only about $75 and she only places orders about once a month.

- When it comes to comparing prices and finding which supplier has the lowest price, Patrizia said the website would come in handy, due to the fact that it is such a long process to find each suppliers pricing for specific products. Before switching from Sysco, she contacted Maine’s to ask about prices and it took a few days because she had to send her Sysco invoice to Maine’s then wait two or three days for a response.

- Patrizia said that she tries to switch between food distributors but because her orders are so small she has to stick with just one.

- Patrizia used to have to get in contact with the suppliers when she was first starting and contact each one independently this took her over 10 hours a week and sometimes even up to 20 to look for the right products and make her business they way she wished too

Appendix  B  

 

Pr Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Jim Baggetta Date: 3/24/2014 Time: 11:00 am

Expert’s Title: General Manager

Expert’s Employer J.J. Rafferty’s Expert’s Phone Number: ( 518 ) 365 - 7639

Expert’s E-mail: jjraffertys.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What is your process of tracking and ordering inventory?

Notes: The head cook is responsible for ordering food and produce. I am responsible for ordering paper Products and beer/liquor. Depending on seasonality, food and paper products come in about once a week, and produce comes in everyday. Meat comes in two or three times a week. We generally order the same products weekly from every different distributor. Sales representatives come into the restaurant to take orders.

Question: Who are your suppliers?

Notes: Our food comes from U.S. Foods, Sysco, Ginsberg Foods, By George, Reliable, and our paper

products come from a smaller company called Lesco.

Question: Would you be interested ordering all of your products from one website, where you can compare prices?

Notes: Yes, because right now we have to compare prices ourselves and it takes a lot of time and effort. Sometimes we have to hound the food distributors for prices, and prices of food change every day. One week potatoes might be $18, and the next week they could be priced at $25. It would make life a lot easier for guys in the kitchen.  

Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

 

 

Pri Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Stephann Dubois Date: 3/27/2014 Time: 1:00 pm

Expert’s Title: Technology Consultant Expert’s Employer

Information Technology Services, Syracuse University Expert’s Phone Number: ( 904 ) 333 - 3738

Expert’s E-mail: jsdubois@syr.edu  

Interview Questions

Question: What are the costs of creating our own program/website for our startup?

Notes: This is like asking how much does a car cost? it all depends on the website or program. it can cost anywhere from $5 for a cheap DIY website(using low cost templates) to millions of dollar for a more complex system like healthcare system. costs are associated with the features of the websites such as security and ongoing maintenance .Professionals charge either by the scope of the website or by the number hours it takes them to build it.

Question: Would we need one program that controls everything (website, database, etc.)?

Notes: It depends on what you are trying to build. If it’s some cheap website then sure. The bigger and

more complex you get the more systems you need.

Question: What other costs would we need to be aware of?

Notes: Insurance costs, salaries, legal fees, maintenance fees, Google search fees , hosting fees , domain

name registration etc.

- It was interesting to get feedback from a larger restaurant with higher inventory levels. When I asked Jim about group purchasing he said that they have never struggled to meet minimum order requirements, and if they ever did then they have enough inventory stocked to wait until the following week.

- It is clear that even businesses with larger profit margins and inventory levels would be interested in using our service for the added convenience and value in price comparison.

- Jim stated high interest in using the service and said that it would be something he would have to sit down and talk to his partners with at an operational level.

- Between him and the head cook, they generally have the orders they need to make memorized based on where they are at in the season. But because they order from so many different distributors, I think it would be beneficial for them to do this quickly and easily all at once, rather than waiting for sales representatives to come in.

- Jim seemed to think our idea was successful, but expressed concern with getting distributors involved. As I mentioned before, they aren’t always cooperative and willing to release prices of food items due to the competiveness within the industry.

 

Appendix  B  

 Additional Notes

   

               

Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Graham Reynolds Date: 2/11/2013 Time: 4:00 p.m.

Expert’s Title: General Manager of Operations Expert’s Employer Recess Coffee Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 410-0090

Expert’s E-mail: RecessCoffee@gmail.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What is the process you go through to get your products?

Notes: Depending on the product (coffee, tea, paper products, food, etc.), inventory is taken everyday and the GM is responsible for contacting the suppliers via phone or website. Some things are ordered in massive bulk while other things are ordered on a need-basis. The GM goes to a local grocery store to handpick fresh food items when needed.

Question: Do you think it would make your job easier to have a website where you can place all of your orders at once, through several different suppliers?

Notes: “Yes, as a manager that would make my job 100 times easier and would be a lot more efficient. The

- The database should consist of partners (subcontractors) and customers. By having partners on your website, the distributors will then be able to log onto the website and edit information. The website will then be pulling information from all of the databases. - The products and prices and such will be taken from the partner’s database. When partners go in to edit information it will also save on the customer database. The program has separate functions (layout of the website, and communication with the customer/vendor, process payment, etc.) - It would take about 1-2 weeks for someone to create the program you need. Then they can then train administration how to use the program (which should not take long). -­‐  After  discussing  some  of  the  pros  and  cons,  we  should  probably  stick  with  a  professional  from  the  start,  so  that  if  we  need  to  consult  back  or  have  technical  issues.  (Costs  estimated  at  $500-­‐$1000).  -­‐  Essentially  if  we  would  like  to  minimize  all  costs,  then  the  cost  we  cannot  avoid  is  putting  the  website  on  the  Internet.  -­‐  Stephann  provided  the  following  reference  which  will  help  us  understand  the  details  of  how  much  it  costs  to  run  a  mildly  busy  website  based  business:  http://startupdesi.com/costs-of-running-web-business/ - He also provided me with another reference that lists the pros and cons to hiring a professional programmer vs. knowledgeable students: http://www.forbes.com/sites/shanerobinson/2012/11/01/who-should-you-hire-to-build-your-web-startup-tips-for-non-technical-tech-entrepreneurs/ -­‐  Both  of  these  sites  will  be  a  good  thing  to  reference  to  with  my  group,  as  we  sit  down  and  further  discuss  our  operations  plan.    

Appendix  B  

reason we do not go through one supplier for all of our products is because we spend a lot of time negotiating prices each week. We shop around weekly taking almost 8 or more hours contacting all the different suppliers and to find the best deals on things, so that we can go back to other suppliers and get lower prices, event if it means just saving one cent.”

Question: Does your establishment currently order eco-friendly or recycled products from suppliers?

Notes: He is not certain that all of the goods he orders are eco-friendly, because he is more focused on the price. Some of their paper products are eco-friendly and recycled but it is not something they discuss with wholesalers or suppliers when placing orders.  

Additional Notes

 Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Rachel Garrett Section

Expert’s Name: Bill Pawlewicz Date: 2/22/2014 Time: 12:00 p.m.

Expert’s Title: V.P. of Operations Expert’s Employer Sysco Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 952.3016

Expert’s E-mail: Pawlewicz.william@syr.sysco.com  

Interview Questions

Question: Do you have a lot of accounts with small businesses & how often are they making orders?

Notes: Our business is currently 55% street business (small businesses, mom & pops), the rest of the

business is large corporations and the state. They are generally ordering about 1-2 times a week

Question: How does the order process go for these businesses?

Notes: It ranges depending on the type of business. Sometimes a sales rep will go in and take the order on

his/her laptop, and other times customers will either call in to a sales rep or use our Sysco dialing in program

• It is clear that there is opportunity in making this process easier and more efficient for general managers. The main reason they do not currently do this is because there is no service available where wholesalers and suppliers operate collaboratively on a webpage.

• The main objective for managers when placing inventory orders or re-orders is to find the lowest price.

• Graham did state that the coffee beans are directly ordered as green coffee unroasted beans from farms all over the world. It is done weekly through an over the phone relationship between the owners and the farmers. This is not something you can currently do through a website because they contact several different importers to get an assortment of beans. à there could be opportunity in this… what if a niche market for our service was connecting businesses to coffee bean plantations/farms all over the world?

Appendix  B  

Question: Do you think the café/diner/restaurant businesses are doing a majority of their ordering from Sysco?

Notes: No, a lot of them do business with different distributors and have a milk guy, meat guy, or any other distributor. We are not going to be at the cheapest cost on every item every day, and you find a lot of restaurant owners are very penny conscious. However, it is possible for us to be a one-stop shop if that is what they need. We have items ranging from paper products, to fresh produce, to even things like walk-in coolers. Unfortunately, our business is very competitive and there are other distributors that specialize in certain products and understand market trends better. Because of this, customers are able to shop around to find the lowest price elsewhere.  

Next Steps & Additional Notes

                               

Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Amanda Tucker Date: 02/26/2014 Time: 4:00pm

Expert’s Title: Education and event manager

Expert’s Employer Coffee Fest Expert’s Phone Number: 425-295-3300 ext 125

Expert’s E-mail: amandat@coffeefest.com  

Interview Questions

Question: Have you seen a growth in participants at your festival?

Notes: “Yes since I began working in 2008 the number of participants has increased each year on average by 5-6 percent.”

- Sysco requires a minimum order of $500 per delivery from businesses. There spend about $4 million in fuel, so they need to control those costs. Most businesses are able to reach this minimum in order to be profitable.

- They have 134 sales reps in the state of New York - When new food service businesses open, the sales reps go into the restaurant and talk with the owner.

They sit down and show them recipes and share ideas. - Sysco provides apps to owners that help them track their inventory and make re-orders. This could be

helpful for the products they need to order from only Sysco but not for inventory as a whole. - After sharing our idea with Bill, he seemed extremely positive about it. He stated the idea is a legitimate

concept, and their senior management has sat down to discuss the future of this happening. He also state that Sysco will never operate fully on the web, or like an amazon website. There is just too much that goes into their distribution/transportation process, especially with increasing awareness in food safety.

- Bill believes that this concept, along with online ordering is one of their biggest concerns, and they know it has been coming to light. He said if we can get ahead of it, and deliver it, it could be a very practical business J

Appendix  B  

Question: Is there an online resources currently that owners and operators of coffee shops can go to for price comparisons

Notes:

“Coffee suppliers post the prices on their website like Royal Coffee NY and Atlas Coffee, but there is not just one resource no”. “Occasionally coffee buyers foster direct relationships with the farmers at origin but these are not common”

Question: Who do you put coffee fest on for?

Notes: “The focus of coffee fest is on new store owners and existing small coffee shop owners so that they can create a relationship with the suppliers”

 

Next Steps & Additional Notes

Pri Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Brendan Farnach Date: 02/18/2014 Time: 7:30pm

Expert’s Title: Owner/ Vice President Family owned business (Handles ordering for Cinderellas restaurant in Sylvan beach,NY) half hour from Syracuse

Expert’s Employer Cinderellas/All seasonings Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315) 796-0886

Expert’s E-mail: bfarnach@allseasonings.com  

Interview Questions

Question: How much time is spent conducting price comparisons when ordering products like coffee?

Notes:

“Not much time really for our restaurant we are always looking for the lowest price. Typically, we can get large bulk orders from Sysco of private label coffee or sometimes we will go to BJ’s or Sam’s Club” Brendan also told me that to conduct a price comparison they only look at what Sysco is offering and then compare that with any deals that they see in the flyers for Sam’s and BJ’s

Question: Would greater transparency of prices from different suppliers help you in the ordering process? Specifically if you had access to an online marketplace like an Amazon that was just for coffee

Notes:

“It would help to speed the process up. I think that an online marketplace is an interesting idea. For coffee because we are only interested the lowest cost brand it is not really something that I would use, but it is an interesting idea for other products like paper items and frozen foods.”

Brendan then went on to say that he thought that the idea to focus on small businesses is interesting because there is not anything like it that currently allows for price transparency across food service suppliers different product SKU’s. The frozen foods he was talking about were chicken wings which apparently have a lot of price volatility. He said that he is always shopping around for the best price for chicken wings.

Question: Do you what caused the prices to fluctuate? Why they are so high now?

Notes: “No I have no idea the salesman for Sysco just told me that the demand has increased so much that the price per pound has increased with it.”

   

Appendix  B  

   I  ran  out  of  time  as  Brendan  had  to  be  at  a  dinner,  but  after  we  spoke  I  did  some  additional  research  and  the  price  of  chicken  wings  has  increased  dramatically  in  recent  years.    According  to  an  Analyst  at  Wedbush  securities  the  cause  of  the  increases  are  attributable  to  McDonald’s  entering  the  market.    The  analyst  says  in  his  report  that  McDonalds  began  building  their  supply  over  18  months  before  they  started  selling  chicken  wings  in  stores.    They  estimated  that  they  sold  250  million  wings  worldwide  in  2013.    This  means  that  the  supply  is  being  dramatically  reduced  which  is  causing  the  prices  to  increase.          

P Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Jose Date: 03/27/2014 Time: 10:00AM

Expert’s Title: Head Chef also in charge of all ordering Expert’s Employer Today’s Special Expert’s Phone Number: 315-472-5944

Expert’s E-mail: n/a Check out Today’s special on Facebook  

Interview Questions

Question: How do you purchase your supplies for your business?

Notes: We order from Sysco, US Foods and also try to purchase vegetables and fruits from the farmers market so that we can get the freshest items possible.

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes:

The quick answer is yes, but it would all depend on what it offered and how reasonably priced it was. We try to order as infrequently as possible. We change the menu based upon what we have that is about to spoil. Since we make all our soups and sandwiches from scratch it requires us to order something from Sysco and other foodservice vendors. The costs to place an order and receive delivery are usually very high so if there was a service that combined the two for a reasonable price then I would definitely try to use it.

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to business such as yourself?

Notes: We are always looking for the freshest produce, so if you included vendors or local farms that offered these options it would be of greater interest to our business.

Q How is your relation with your vendor representative? It  depends  we  have  an  alright  relationship  with  Sysco  due  to  our  other  business  which  is  running  the  clubhouse  at  the  Links  at  Erie  Canal  Village.    Without  that  there  likely  would  not  be  a  relationship  our  order  volumes  are  not  enough  to  receive  attention  from  Sysco.      

Appendix  B  

   For  some  background  Today’s  Special  is  a  deli  in  the  State  Tower  Building  downtown.    My  girlfriend  used  to  work  there  which  is  how  I  became  aware  of  it.    It’s  open  during  the  week  and  caters  to  all  the  employees  who  work  in  the  tower  which  is  one  of  the  larger  buildings  in  the  city.  The  food  is  excellent  and  they  make  an  assortment  of  different  soups  and  sandwiches  that  they  prepare  each  day  based  upon  the  idea  that  they  do  not  want  to  waste  supplies  they  have  remaining.    Jose’s  family  owns  the  restaurant  and  he  runs  it  with  his  sister  and  brother.      Jose  was  very  interested  in  the  concept  of  BusinessConnect.    He  thought  that  the  membership  of  $1,000  was  too  high  even  if  it  included  delivery.    It  the  membership  came  down  to  $500  or  less  he  said  he  would  subscribe  and  utilize  the  site.    His  family  owns  the  restaurant  and  he  runs  it  with  his  sister  and  brother.     j ddkdkdkdkkddk

     

Pri Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Michele Date: 02/22/2014 Time: 11:00 am

Expert’s Title: Manager at Starry Nites Café (Rochester,ny) Expert’s Employer Starry Nites Café Expert’s Phone Number: ( 585 ) 271-2630

Expert’s E-mail: N/A  

Interview Questions

Question: I see that the coffee is local and the milk is also local is everything in Starry Nites bought locally?

Notes: “We try to make sure that everything is local that is the mission of the owners to offer quality food made from local ingredients. They also own the Basin café in Bushnells basin. “

Question: Do you think that switching coffee suppliers would be an option?

Notes: “I wouldn’t say no because things are always changing but I think that we have a good relationship with Finger lakes right now and there would need to be a reason why we switched.”

Finger lakes coffee roasters is who she means when she said Finger lakes they are a local vendor in Rochester that does different roasts of all types of coffee’s I have noticed their coffees being served in other restaurants.

Question:

If there was a way to compare prices for the other supplies that are order frequently which would be the most valuable to your store? In other words which is the most time consuming when shopping prices?

Notes:

“A lot of time goes into buying many of our food supplies, because we get all of the vegetables from the Rochester farmers market which takes a lot of time. Our meats are just as time consuming because we buy in such a small quantity that price changes force us to do price comparisons all the

Appendix  B  

time.” Do you order from many different vendors then? “Yes we order from a few different vendors mostly Palmers because they have the best quality”.

My take away from this interview was that there is a lack of transparency in regards to the way that food services suppliers share their. Meaning that it is a pain to find out what a package of bacon is going to cost. It seems that if a quality option for fresh produce could be offered that would entice them as well. The costs and time that went into finding food items seemed to be more time consuming than anything else. It seems that an online portal that offered price comparison would be a great help.  

Next Steps & Additional Notes      

Pri Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Jeremy Barnes Date: 03/24/2014 Time: 9:00AM

Expert’s Title: Sales executive Expert’s Employer G&C Foods Expert’s Phone Number: 1-800-333-0949

Expert’s E-mail: Jeremy.Barnes@gcfoods.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What percentage would percentage of orders would you say are made by small businesses?

Notes: “Between 25-30% I handle orders for both the Rochester and Syracuse area this have been the range for the five years that I have been servicing the two areas”.

Question: You said that this has remained constant is that because small businesses either fail or grow? What is the order minimum for delivery?

Notes:

“Not necessarily some small businesses fail especially in the restaurant business as the rate of failure is high for new businesses, but sometimes these businesses orders remain the same so it is not either they grow or fail’.

Question: Do you think the products that G&C would be interested in marketing their products?

Notes: “Who would handle the distribution? We have minimum orders to cover distribution costs, unless your company would deliver it wouldn’t be of any value to us.”

 

Next Steps & Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

I ran out of time with Jeremy but he left me with a lot concerns in regards to getting suppliers participation. Though he is on the sales side it seems that we will have to do a better job of demonstrating value to the suppliers and not just to our members. I sent a follow up email and plan to broach this idea with the group, but maybe if we structured it so that the products displayed on the site are not attached to a vendor. What I mean is like Hotwire the price and product is displayed but the vendor will not be revealed until after the purchase is made. This would protect the vendors reputation which is part of why Jeremy didn’t seem to thrilled about the idea. He didn’t say anything like that but his tone reflected that G&C does not want to be seen as a discount supplier. The issue of distribution still remains our group will have to figure out if we are going to internalize the process or facilitate in any way otherwise I think he is right what value do we offer the vendor?

P Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Rory McCale Section EEE-457 M003

Expert’s Name: Melody Bianchi Date: 03/25/2014 Time: 9:00AM

Expert’s Title: Assistant Vice President Supply Chain Solutions Expert’s Employer RRHA/Seagate Alliance Expert’s Phone Number: 585-273-8193

Expert’s E-mail: mbianchi@seagatealliance.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What is the benefit that you convey to your suppliers?

Notes:

“We have 800+ plus clients that are part of our membership in the Rochester area which helps the members to realize savings, but also allows the suppliers to only have one contact rather than wasting resources selling to each individually”

Question: How does your purchase group handle distribution to each of the members for their orders?

Notes:

“We have contracts in place with the major players in our groups that ensure that delivery is made and that their orders are completed. For smaller clients the coordination is more ad hoc as they have some deliveries from suppliers that are constant, these are food service supplies for the cafeterias. For medical services we coordinate with a freight carrier for the smaller players based upon their ordering needs.”

Question: I saw that on the Seagate Alliance website that you offer value added services? How did that come about?

Notes:

“As the group purchasing market shrunk we needed to differentiate. Now there are only about three companies for the entire country that offer group purchasing services. We started offering consulting services as a way to grow our revenue, but it also is a way to give the best customer service. People want to be able to talk to people and really customer service is what differentiates us from our competitors”

Appendix  B  

 Seagate  is  a  group  purchasing  firm  that  services  a  large  membership  of  hospitals  in  the  Rochester  area.    I  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  get  a  sense  of  why?  And  how?  Group  purchasing  creates  value  for  both  parties  involved  in  the  transaction.    Also  I  wanted  to  understand  some  of  the  functional  pieces  that  go  into  the  group  purchasing  process.    I  thought  that  the  value  added  services  that  the  firm  offers  could  be  an  interesting  idea.    Melody  also  said  that  their  company  is  acutely  aware  of  the  Sysco  and  US  Foods  merger  and  thought  that  it  is  likely  that  small  restaurants  will  become  underserved.    I  think  that  our  group  will  have  to  focus  on  customer  service  to  be  able  to  gain  and  to  hold  members  at  first.    While  we  cultivate  those  relationships  we  may  also  be  able  to  offer  some  value  added  services  in  regards  to  ordering  strategy  that  could  help  to  create  alternate  streams  of  revenue.     ddkdkdkdkkddk

   

P Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Monday 5PM

Expert’s Name: Michael Bresnahan Date: 2/20/14 Time: 9:00

Expert’s Title: Owner of Admiral’s Inn Restaurant Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 )482-2781

Expert’s E-mail: mabresnahan@yahoo.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What types of suppliers do you use for your products? Do you use a wide variety of suppliers, or a tight knit basis?

Notes: They primarily use Sysco as the supplier, and whenever needed he would go to a Sam’s Club in

Watertown to get his other supplies.

Question: Do you run into any difficulties, in general, when working with the suppliers that you currently have?

Notes: As with any business, you will always come across small glitches with your supplier, especially if the product you are looking for is not available through them. Another common problem is receiving the incorrect amount stated on the invoice, or even receiving the wrong product altogether.

Question: Would you consider having a distributor deal with these problems and have them provide more variety of suppliers to increase the competition so that prices will be driven down?

Notes: This would be a good idea if he could deal with one specific salesperson who in the end would

deal with the suppliers. He mentioned that it would take a good relationship that would build long-term trust.  

Next Steps & Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

I told him about our business idea and he thought it was a great idea. Although he was concerned that it was so narrow just to the coffee market, he said it would be a great thing for his business to consider. Furthering on with that I told him that we were looking to buy in bulk so that prices would be cheaper and other smaller businesses in the area can team up together to all take a portion of the type of coffee they prefer. In the end, he thought it seemed like an excellent idea and he had never heard of it before. He thought that buying it in bulk and having other businesses team up together would help prices decrease tremendously.    

 Pri Primary Research Report Form

Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Monday 5PM

Expert’s Name: Don Cole Date: 2/18/14 Time: 10:00

Expert’s Title: Previous Owner of Bonnie Castle Manor and Marina & Swan Bay Beach Club Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 482-4511

Expert’s E-mail: Donaldcent90@hotmail.com  

Interview Questions

Question: Between these two businesses, the ones that sold coffee, how much variety did you have with the different kinds you sold?

Notes: He did not have much variety. He said he sold the typical kinds that you find at restaurants. It was

easiest this way because the coffee wasn’t hard to find and one supplier was all he had to go through.

Question: What supplier did you have for the delivery of coffee?

Notes: Sysco was his supplier for coffee. He said he never had a problem with them and couldn’t ever

remember a time where his order was wrong.

Question: Did you ever consider trying different types of coffee to increase your selection?

Notes: Yes, he did but he said it was just too much of a hassle. He said it was more expensive to do it this way and more work to find different kinds. He even thought he would have to pick up another supplier which was inconventient.  

Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

Although Don is the previous owner of many businesses, he is considered an expert in his field because he worked and owned these businesses for a number of years. He recently sold everything because he is now in his high seventies and decided to retire. As we talked about the type of service that our team was thinking of doing he foresaw it as a company similar to Sysco, but with a specific interest in mind: coffee. He thought the best part about the idea is the focus on small businesses because there are so many small businesses out there and they can take all the help they can get with smart and cheap suppliers. Because he had so many businesses, he said that buying in bulk could not only help the surrounding businesses but it could help both of his restaurants.        

Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Monday 5PM

Expert’s Name: Catherine Berry Date: 2/22/14 Time: 1:00

Expert’s Title: Owner of Good Dog Charlies Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 482-3631

Expert’s E-mail: gooddogcharliescb@yahoo.com  

Interview Questions

Question: Would you consider trying different kinds of brands of coffee to add to the selection that you already sell?

Notes: She typically keeps it simple by using the same brands that she has had for years because she has

stuck with the same supplier. She says that it is easier and quicker this way for her.

Question: Would you say that the coffee portion of the store generates a good amount of your sales?

Notes: Yes, the coffee selection at the store generates a great amount to the store. Especially since there are no real coffee shops within walking distance downtown. I also provide discounts of people that work in other gift shops downtown to generate repeat sales.

Question: If a supplier was provided to you that bought coffee in bulk and you could make your selection as to which kinds you wanted, would you consider it?

Notes: If I could get all my coffee from one supplier, and there is an increase in the number of kinds I could

get, then I would consider it. Price is always a factor as well.  

Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

She continued to ask me questions about the type of service that we are thinking of having and she had never heard of such a thing before. The coffee business within her gift shop is one of the greatest revenues boosters for her. Increasing the different kinds of coffee could help her business grow. I explained to her that by buying in bulk this service could provide her with lower prices by setting suppliers up against one another. The types of coffee that she handles now are the standard typical kind. She does not have any foreign or unique kinds of coffee. Even one kind that is unique could help her selection she mentioned to me.

    I

Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Mon 5pm

Expert’s Name: Shirley Towne Date: 3/27/14 Time: 11AM

Expert’s Title: Owner of Leaf & Bean Coffee Co Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 585 ) 889-8270

Expert’s E-mail: Townecoffee89@yahoo.com  

Interview Questions

Question: What do you recommend we should do to help make this site more catered to businesses such as yourself?

Notes: I have a very specific kind of business that is focused around coffee. So if the suppliers you offered

were very intricate in that department then that would be of use.

Question: If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful?

Notes: The browsing section would work great if you could find suppliers for me, especially within the coffee

market. I am always looking for new suppliers and to try new types of coffee.

Question: How do you believe we should contact individuals such as yourself to introduce our product?

Notes: I am more old-fashioned. I would just go from business to business and ask for the owner and tell them what you are offering. I always like face-to-face conversations. It’s harder for the business owner to say no this way. Also, it shows you have motivation.  

Appendix  B  

Next Steps & Additional Notes After this last question, she asked if we would have sales representatives because she is not very good on the computer. She is the type of person that calls rather than emails. Overall, with all the questions I asked her it sounded more as if she wouldn’t use the service. It seemed like too much of a hassle for her because she already has her routine in place. Shirley would probably need computer lessons on how to use the service because she was not the type to be skilled in that area, she was of an older generation. Her current vendors really work with her and call her about orders rather than do it by computer.                  

P Primary Research Report Form Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Mon 5pm

Expert’s Name: Frank Campione Date: 3//27/14 Time: 2PM

Expert’s Title: Chef and manager of Rooney’s Restaurant

Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 585 )442-0444

Expert’s E-mail: Rooneysr32@hotmail.com  

Interview Questions

Question:

I researched that you change the menu almost every day, and it depends on what is in the market that day. Do you think a service like ours would help benefit you in keeping up with this brand image?

Notes: I think that your website would help me out tremendously if I could just go to one place and all the

vendors are right there. We are concerned about price here, but not as much as we are about variety.

Question: How much would the business be willing to pay for a membership?

Notes: I would say that we would pay up to $3,000 for the membership because of the amount of times we would

be using the service. The more variety the more we would pay.

Question: If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful?

Notes: This keeps getting better. That would be great for me to browse through every day and see which

new types of products I can come up with.  

Appendix  B  

Additional Notes Frank was very enthusiastic about the service that we would provide. The fact that the restaurant changes up there menu so often is a really hard thing to maintain. With our service we could provide him with many different opportunities and many different suppliers. Overall, Frank said that he would use our service and he thought it would help him and the business out tremendously. His current sales reps are great, but he said that he has so many it gets confusing sometimes. Also, he stated that we should do mail-order and newspaper ads rather than going door-to-door for getting the word out there about our business.        Primary  Research  

Interview Details

Student’s Name Malynda Jenne Section Monday 5pm

Expert’s Name: Scott Schalm Date: 3/21/14 Time: 10AM

Expert’s Title: Co-owner of Park Avenue Pub and Restaurant Expert’s Employer Expert’s Phone Number: ( 315 ) 585-461-4140

Expert’s E-mail: ParkAvenuePub@rochester.rr.com  

Interview Questions

Question: If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not?

Notes: The way you describe it, I would take the time to look at it and consider it for my business. This

would be an easier way for me to handle all my purchases in one location instead of having more than one rep.

Question: How is your relation with your vendor representative?

Notes: The relationship is very professional and it is usually a quick process. There is really no time taking to get

to know one another. To be honest, I can’t even think of his name right now and it is always the same guy.

Question: If this service was a membership service, how much would you be willing to pay for it ($500,$1000, $2000)

Notes: If I became a member, I would pay up to $1,000. If I got special deals or if I could buy a membership for longer than a year and get a discount, I would do that as well. That may be something you should take into consideration.  

Next Steps & Additional Notes

Appendix  B  

I asked him a number of other questions after I got done explaining to him what our service would be offering. One of the other important questions I asked him was how he thinks we should introduce our service to people. He thought that in order to catch people’s attention by advertising and mail order. He said if that didn’t work then most certainly door-to-door could work but it seems a little more like those salespeople for vacuum cleaners that do that. That question really led us into building rapport because we laughed about that for a while. Scott also thought it could be a good idea for his business because he could see other suppliers that he may have never heard of before. The opportunities are endless according to him. He wished us good luck and he said he could foresee this opportunity as something that could really be of use to many businesses.            

     

   

PRIMARY  RESEARCH  Student’s  Name:    Wesley  Yoo      Section:  M003  Date:  02/23/14  around  5PM    Name:  Jungyoon  Kim  (President  of  H&R  Cafe)      Employer:  H&R  Café  of  Fort  Lee,  NJ  (Referred  by  Mr.  Jeff  Ryu)  (a  coffee  shop)    COFFEE  SHOP  PHONE  NUMBER:    201-­‐474-­‐0355    How  do  you  guys  purchase  coffee  beans?  Do  you  guys  order  them  in  bulk  from  a  supplier  online  or  purchase  them  through  a  wholesale  store?    We  purchase  from  a  wholesaler.    The  coffee  wholesaler  lends  and  fixs  our  coffee  equipment  for  free.  We  purchase  in  bulk.    2  @  5lb  bags  per  box  is  the  coffee  industry  standard.    If  there  was  a  website  where  you  guys  can  purchase  coffee  beans  at  a  cheaper  price,  would  you  guys  be  willing  to  use  a  website  like  that?  If  so,  what  is  the  biggest  factor  in  making  a  change  to  using  the  website  rather  than  sticking  with  the  same  suppliers?    Yes;    I  will  use  the  website.    Price  with  similar  quality.  The  biggest  factor  will  be  if  the  website  lend  and  fix  our  coffee  equipment.    

Appendix  B  

What  are  some  other  factors  in  making  a  switch  to  using  a  website?  

• How long they have been in business? • Are they well capitalized to stay in business for a long time? • Changing coffee supplier is a major decision and can put us out of business. We must

make sure the taste is consistent with our mission.

Is  price  the  biggest  factor  in  purchasing  coffee  beans  or  would  the  quality  of  the  coffee  beans  be  a  big  factor  as  well?    Being  in  the  coffee  industry  over  20  years,  we  have  so  many  suppliers  to  choose  from.    So,  we  always  look  for  same  or  better  quality  with  the  better  price.  So  both  are  big  factors  in  purchasing  coffee  beans.    Would  there  be  anything  that  you  guys  would  like  to  be  included  in  the  website?    Yes.    We  always  want  to  know  where  the  coffee  is  coming  from.    Then,  are  they  also  helping  with  the  Fair  Trade  Certified  and  Rainforest  Alliance.  Also,  we  would  like  samples  of  different  kinds  of  coffee  beans.    ADDITIONAL  NOTES:  This  helped  show  how  coffee  shops  think  of  getting  their  coffee  beans  and  some  of  the  factors  that  they  account  for  when  buying  their  coffee.              PRIMARY  RESEARCH    Student’s  Name:    Wesley  Yoo      Section:  M003  Date:  02/24/14  around  11  AM    Name:  Jamie  Mayhew  (General  Manager  of  Smith  Housewares  and  Restaurant    Supply)    Employer:  Smith  Housewares  and  Restaurant  Supply      Phone  Number:  315-­‐474-­‐8732    Can  you  state  some  of  the  businesses  that  work  with  your  company?    Some  of  the  businesses  we  work  are  coffee  shops  like  Café  Kubal,  Strong  Hearts  Cafe,  and  the  Mission  restaurant.    

Appendix  B  

Can  you  briefly  explain  the  process  in  how  small  businesses  sign  up  for  the  services  provided?    They  go  into  the  store.  Inquire  about  our  coffee  (Equipment,  Roast  their  coffee).  They  ask  about  our  equipment.  We  roast  the  coffee  beans  for  them  and  they  pick  it  up  when  were  ready.      How  many  different  brands  of  coffee  beans  can  a  restaurant  buy?    We  offer  a  large  selection.  The  restaurants  choose  a  couple  and  we  roast  that  for  them.  Sometimes,  we  do  a  sampling  for  the  customers  of  about  a  quarter  pound  for  each  brand  they  may  be  interested  in.    Do  you  guys  contact  the  plantations  and  buy  from  them  directly?  Or  do  you  guys  purchase  from  other  coffee  companies?    We  purchase  our  coffee  beans  through  wholesalers.  We  fax  in  purchase  orders  to  wholesalers.    Can  consumers  make  an  order  of  the  coffee  beans  online?  Or  would  it  have  to  be  through  the  phone?    Purchase  online,  through  the  phone  in  the  store.  It  is  open  to  not  only  small  businesses  but  personal  expenses  as  well.    Is  there  any  promotional  discounts  or  customer  loyalty  programs?  

• Military discount • On Tuesdays regular 10% off for anyone. • Sales Every Month. Mostly on Equipment

ADDITIONAL  NOTES:  This  helped  show  how  suppliers  get  their  coffee  beans  and  how  small  businesses  use  the  suppliers  to  get  coffee  supplies  for  their  business.                  PRIMARY  RESEARCH    Student’s  Name:    Wesley  Yoo      Section:  M003  Date:  02/23/14  around  12  PM    Name:    Jeffrey  Ryu  -­‐  Director  (Café  Concepts)  -­‐  Fort  Lee,  NJ  

Appendix  B  

 EMAIL:   jeffrey@nj.rr.com  Phone  NUMBER:      201-­‐585-­‐9355    Can  you  briefly  explain  what  the  company  does?    We  are  a  specialty  coffee,  tea  and  franchise  consulting  company  based  out  of  Fort  Lee,  NJ.    How  do  you  guys  purchase  coffee  beans?  Do  you  guys  order  them  in  bulk  from  a  supplier  online  or  purchase  them  through  a  wholesale  store?        We  custom  roast  from  a  local  coffee  roaster.    As  we  use  our  own  coffee,  we  also  wholesale  to  other  coffee  shops.    If  there  was  a  website  where  you  guys  can  purchase  coffee  beans  at  a  cheaper  price,  would  you  guys  be  willing  to  use  a  website  like  that?  If  not,  what  would  be  the  main  reasons  to  not  use  the  website?          No  because  we  like  to  have  a  personal  relationship  with  our  coffee  roaster  over  the  website.    Is  price  the  biggest  factor  in  purchasing  coffee  beans  or  would  the  quality  of  the  coffee  beans  be  a  big  factor  as  well?        No;  Quality  >  consistency  >  price.    Would  there  be  anything  that  you  guys  would  like  to  be  included  in  the  website?        Roast  Master’s  name  and  picture.    Also,  a  tour  of  the  roasting  plant  would  be  nice.    As  a  consultant  for  small  businesses,  do  you  speak  to  the  suppliers  on  behalf  of  the  coffee  shops?    Yes.    We  consult  a  full-­‐turnkey  operation.    We  speak  to  landlord  for  lease,  architect,  interior  designer,  equipment,  food,  coffee  and  tea,  paper,  and  cleaning  and  accessories  suppliers.    Do  you  contact  the  plantations  (coffee  farms)?  Why  or  why  not?  Or  do  you  go  through  a  wholesaler?      We  partnered  with  a  4th  generation  coffee  roaster  in  Queens,  NY.    We  left  the  coffee  farms  and  coffee  bean  brokers  to  them.    Since  traveling  to  coffee  growers  is  time  and  money,  only  most  deep  pocketed  companies  can  afford  them.  Learning  the  art  of  coffee  is  just  like  wine,  one  need  to  invest  a  lot  of  time  and  money  along  with  a  lot  of  passion.  

Appendix  B  

 What  do  you  think  of  an  idea  like  this  for  small  businesses?  Would  it  be  a  beneficial  one?    Well,  without  a  full  business  plan,  it  is  hard  to  tell.    With  so  many  web  bases  coffee  wholesalers,  I  have  not  seen  one  who  stood  out.    So,  if  you  do  your  research  and  find  out  the  need  and  wants  of  small  business  owners,  there  will  always  be  space  for  the  better  one.    ADDITIONAL  NOTES:  This  helped  show  how  a  consulting  company  for  newly  opened  coffee  shops  does  their  business.  It  shows  what  is  important  to  them  and  how  they  get  their  coffee.  Using  the  three  interviews,  it  gives  us  a  perspective  of  the  coffee  bean  industry  in  three  different  point  of  views.            PRIMARY RESEARCH Student’s Name: Wesley Yoo Section: M003 Date: 03/27/14 Name: Eng Chen (Manager at Baumgart’s Restaurant) Employer: Baumgart’s Phone Number: (201) 313-3889 How do you purchase your supplies for your business? We order by from our vendors. Mostly everything is done by the phone. If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not? Maybe, it depends on if it would the business any better. How is your relation with your vendor representative? It’s okay, just strictly business. We just make the sales and orders. If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful?

Appendix  B  

Yes, of course. Some of the major features we offer are group purchasing, subsidized shipping, vendor reviews, as well as other features to be released. These features would be based off of a membership service which you would purchase. Would you purchase this service? Yes. If it can help the business, sure. If yes, then how much would you be willing to spend? (Ex: $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000) I don’t know about a price. If it’s affordable and effective we would be willing to spend some money. If we get more sales than we spend on the website, we will spend a good amount. How much do you pay for your vendor costs a month? Can’t really say, but over $15,000.            PRIMARY RESEARCH Student’s Name: Wesley Yoo Section: M003 Date: 03/28/14 Name: Gunsoo Yoon (Manager at Morgan’s) Employer: Morgan’s Market (NYC) Phone Number: (212) 964-4283 How do you purchase your supplies for your business? We purchase our supplies through a couple different vendors. If there were a site to facilitate the purchases of supplies would you utilize it? Why/Why not? Yes. We would like to try out a website like you mentioned if it meant we can cut costs on supplies.

Appendix  B  

How is your relation with your vendor representative? The relationship with the representative is pretty good. We have been doing business together for a long time now. If we provided a browsing section, to help people who want to spruce up their business and purchase new things, do you think that would be useful? Yes it would be a nice feature to have. Some of the major features we offer are group purchasing, subsidized shipping, vendor reviews, as well as other features to be released. These features would be based off of a membership service which you would purchase. Would you purchase this service? If it will help cut costs on supplies, it would be worth looking into. If yes, then how much would you be willing to spend? (Ex: $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000) It will depend on how much savings it gives me, but lower the better. How do you pay for your vendor costs? We pay mostly by check.          PRIMARY RESEARCH Student’s Name: Wesley Yoo Section: M003 Date: 03/27/14 Name: Dennis Ryu (Programmer) Employer: FAST Technology Email: Dennis.s.ryu@gmail.com Phone Number: (201) 248-1982 About how much does it cost for a small business to make a website for their business (a company solely based off their website, similar to Amazon)?

Appendix  B  

Depending on what the company needs, the cost of the website varies. A company that only needs to display information through text or pictures can hire a freelancer to make a website for under $1,000. A company that needs a fully functional e-commerce website might hire a professional software development company and spend up to $30,000 for a single website or get a similar website from an offshore development team for $6,000 - $9,000, however the quality of the code would be much lower. How much more would it cost to have features like log-ins and purchasing options (credit/debit card transactions) on the website? The cost of such features depends on how quickly the hired developer works. Whether the developer is a freelancer, or an employee of a software development company, they are usually going to charge hourly. After the website is up, how much do small businesses on average pay programmers for upkeep costs? It depends on the amount of time and work they put in on the initial build of the website. A website with just text or pictures is usually no cost and the business owners are taught how to update. For a website that has a need to constantly adapt, the cost can be as high as the number of developers you decide to hire. You are essentially keeping developers under employment full time in order to constantly upgrade your website. Are there any strategies for business owners to cut costs in the payment to programmers? Like basic maintenance for the website? You can utilize offshore resources to cut cost. However, lower cost means lower quality and that may end up costing the business more money in the future. What are some differences in hiring an independent programmer compared to a programming company? Is there a big difference in quality/cost of the two options? In regards to a developer from a company, they can charge a high premium. Not only are you paying a premium for the reputation of the company but also the piece of mind that comes with knowing the developer has backup. As for an independent developer, there’s a higher risk factor of getting lower quality work for what you are paying them. Although there are some developers that are worth the money, there are just as easily twice as many independent developers who over-charge for the quality of work they provide.    

Appendix  C   Ali D. Larijani 58 Mulberry Lane, Atherton, CA 94027

Phone: (650) 759-2354 E-Mail: adarzila@syr.edu Education Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Martin J. Whitman School of Management August 2012 - May 2015 Bachelor of Science, Finance and Entrepreneurship GPA: 3.46 Deans List: Fall 2012 West Valley College Saratoga, CA Bachelor of Science, Finance September 2010 - May 2012 Dean’s List

Professional Experience C4 Scooter (Start-up focused on re-merchandising products internationally) Menlo Park, CA Co-Founder August 2007 - Present • Maintained relations with manufacturing companies in China and France, to distribute their products online for an

increased price. Led to a 12% increase in profit margins and a 15% increase in business retention. • Created financial plan, establishing yearly goals, interpreting a monthly budget, and estimating projected income • Marketed company brand throughout gaming world and standardized the C4 logo to be recognized through out the

scooter world • Sales and marketing efforts lead to $91,000 in revenue and $78,000 in profit a year

Serramonte Volkswagen Colma, CA Product Specialist/Retention Manager August 2011 - July 2012 • Mastered different vehicles being sold to peak customer interest and generate sales • Administrated a plan to manage customer base by answering specific questions based on their leasing or loaning

process, and helping them optimize their search for a new vehicle • Created and managed database of over 200 customers

Gina Papan for Supervisor Campaign Millbrae, CA Intern February 2011 - May 2011 • Cold called voters persuading them to vote for Gina, bringing up main points for her and debating on the

points against her • Canvassing by going house to house to potential voters and giving them the main points behind Gina Papan’s

campaign, what their interest or dislikes were, and establishing voter identification • Researched for and wrote proposition papers on the agenda of a multi-billion dollar high speed train line project that

is being built in California which lead to voter recognition of the project Leadership, Skills, & Activities

• Syracuse University Entrepreneurship Club: Treasurer, & Head of fundraising o Established and collected dues o Maintained club financial records and established club budget o Prepared year-end statements of club accounts

• Syracuse University Investment Club: Financial Services Research Officer o Responsible for researching financial services to help invest the club’s $140,000 portfolio o Analyze financial market trends, data, news, which is then presented to the club

Attended weekly meetings and trading sessions that consisted of distinct decision making • Proficient in Excel, Microsoft Access, Outlook, PowerPoint.

!

                                                                                             

Appendix  C   Wesley J. Yoo wjyoo@syr.edu· Cell: 201-724-7605

!165 Lexington Ave. Cresskill, NJ 07626

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDUCATION

Syracuse University- Syracuse, NY Spring 2014 Martin J. Whitman School of Management

GPA: 3.5/4.0 Major: Accounting (CPA)

Bergen Community College- Paramus, NJ 2011-2012 GPA: 3.7/4.0 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign- Champaign, IL 2008-2011 College of Engineering

Major: Mechanical Engineering

WORK EXPERIENCE Kim & Choi Associates, Inc. May 2013- July 2013 Intern

o Managed each company’s finances by separating AR/AP, recording expenses& deposits, and reconciling cash, assets, and monthly accruals, using QuickBooks

o Corresponded on behalf of clients to the IRS through emails and letters o Researched new tax laws and collaborated with the hiring manager to pass on to the CPAs

Yoon and Yoon Consulting, Fort Lee, NJ Feb. 2012- May 2012 Bookkeeper

o Organized small business’ revenue, expenses, and taxes for the CPA o Determined the taxes to pay for the small business clients

Seed LLC, Cresskill, NJ Jun. 2008-Present Tutor/Teacher

o Taught middle school and high school students in mathematics and science during breaks o Provided private tutoring in areas such as SAT I, SAT II, AP Calculus, Princeton Math Competition

Korean Community Church, Englewood, NJ Jun. 2009- Jul. 2011 Teacher

o Taught students from 1st to 5th grade in writing, vocabulary, and reading o Created lesson plans for other teachers to follow to use for their respective students

Salvation Army, Champaign, IL Sept. 2009- Dec. 2010 Volunteer

o Packaged and distributed hundreds of Christmas gifts to families o Interacted directly with the customers to determine the amount of donations they need o Transferred paperwork into the organization’s computer data bank

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE Chi Sigma Tau Fraternity Inc., Champaign, IL Aug. 2009-May 2010 Vice President

o Enforced the relationships and the duties of the members (ex. philanthropy, community service, chapter reports) o Collaborated with other Asian student organizations on campus to hold various events for charity and social

causes, such as Liberation in North Korea

SKILLS Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Quicken Basic, MATLAB, Programming in C Very Fluent in Korean (Both Reading and Writing)

                                                                                           

Appendix  C   Rory M. McCale rmmccale@syr.edu

57 Beacon St 315-706 -1983 1011 E. Adams St Rochester, NY 14607 Syracuse, NY 13210!

!Education: Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Martin J. Whitman School of Management GPA: 3.8/4.0 Bachelor of Science Spring 2014 Major: Finance Onondaga Community College Syracuse, NY Associate of Business Administration GPA: 3.92/4.0

• Graduated Summa Cum Laude Winter 2012 • Presidents List Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 • Phi Theta Kappa Fall 2012- Present

Experience: Carestream Health Rochester, NY Financial Management Intern May ‘13 –August ‘13

• Audited several business cycles of medical sales office as part of the internal audit team • Performed data mining which was used as the basis to evaluate whether ERM systems were being used consistently and

accurately • Received Quality Advocate Certification as part of company-wide initiative to ensure all employees are quality conscious

BNY Mellon East Syracuse, NY Securities Servicing Processor November ‘07- January ‘13

• Processed redemptions, calls and transfers of debt securities as part of the corporate trust division • Performed both domestic and foreign wire transactions as part of the funds transfer division that handled over a trillion

dollars in wires every day • Actively engaged both internal and external customers throughout the payment process ensuring their satisfaction • Updated and formatted data for the funds transfers quality metrics with a focus on performance

Aqua Maestro Fort Lauderdale, FL Delivery Driver/Warehouse Manager August ‘05-May ‘07

• Oversaw operations of startup beverage distributor, managing three warehouse employees • Managed inventory levels, setting delivery routes, and overseeing packaging of internet requests to a customer base spread

across the world • Delivered to VIP retail customers providing five star white glove service

Sunshine Grocers Sylvan Beach, NY Store Manager July ‘04-July ‘05

• Piloted opening of small convenience store • Handled all staffing and scheduling as well as all inventory orders • Worked directly with distributors on floor plans and products sales and the introductions of new items to the CNY market

Leadership:

• Ronald McDonald House of CNY, Nov 2013- Present, Food service prep and general housekeeping duties for guests • Investment Club, Member, Jan 2013- Present: Joined club which oversees a portfolio worth $140,000, engage members’

regarding investment strategies and opportunities to grow the clubs invested wealth • Red Cross, Volunteer, Jan 2008- Present, Volunteered at blood drives and donated blood at minimum four times a year • Financial Management Association, Member, Jan 2013-Present, Group of Finance and Accounting students that are

interested in learning more about different careers in finance Skills:

• Intermediate skills: Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Sharepoint • Beginner: Visual Basic • Certified Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel 2010 • CFA, Level 1 candidate June 2014

                                                                                               

Appendix  C   MALYNDA ANN JENNE Email: majenne@syr.edu

Phone: (315)323-7087 Current Address: Permanent Address: 420 Lambreth Lane 304 Lake Street Syracuse, NY 13210 Hammond, NY 13646 EDUCATION: Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Martin J. Whitman School of Management May 2014 Bachelor of Science Major: Retail Management GPA: 3.5/4.0 Clarkson University Potsdam, NY Major: Entrepreneurship and Innovation August 2010-May 2012 GPA: 3.4/4.0

• Leadership Award • Valedictorian Award • Edgar Newell Endowed Scholarship • NYS Academic Excellence

EXPERIENCE: Enchanted Forest Water Safari Old Forge, NY Supervisor/Intern July-August 2013

• Assisted customers and employees in need of support along with the responsibility to address any issues that arose type of via the radio and ear piece that was mandated to wear at all times

• Merchandised display items to enhance store layout and implement concise pricing margins • Kept department shelves and display areas stocked, organized, and clean to provide a welcoming environment • Trained and supervised approximately 30 employees at any given time while encouraging egalitarianism • Responsible for the opening and closing of stores, and maintaining the security of 8 store locations

Calypso’s Cove Old Forge, NY Arcade Staff, Pizza Hut Employee July-August 2012

• Performed duty of cashier where skills in accuracy and speed were a necessity to fulfill and maintain good customer service • Cooked and prepared food in which health codes were strictly enforced and monitored staff to ensure proper handling of food • Delivered to campground/hotel locations in company vehicle where efficiency and customer service were managed • Supervised the arcade counter and utilized the S3 electronic device to distribute prizes

La Boutique Alexandria Bay, NY Sales Clerk July 2009-August 2011

• Stocked, priced, and arranged merchandise to generate more revenue by displaying inventory that would target customers and promote products

• Ensured that store merchandise was secure by monitoring products and observing customer behavior in order to satisfy the safety of products

• Trained employees to develop efficient skills necessary to motivate and enhance their performance as successful employees ACTIVITIES: Delta Sigma Pi Syracuse, NY

• Professional Fraternity organized to foster the study of business to encourage the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and practice, to promote a closer affiliation between the commercial world and students of commerce, and to further a higher standard of commercial ethics, culture, and commercial welfare of the community

• Involved in planning and organizing community service events such as the American Red Cross and Relay for Life

Whitman Transfer Peer Facilitator Syracuse, NY • Welcome and provide guidance to new transfer students into the Whitman School of Management

SKILLS:

• Knowledgeable in Microsoft Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, ERP, Quickbooks

   

Appendix  D  

Board  of  Directors    

 Michael  Hara  is  the  Vice  President  of  Investor  Relations  and  Corporate  Development  at  Cortina  Systems,  a  leading  supplier  of  high-­‐speed  network  communications  semiconductors.    He  is  a  33-­‐year  veteran  of  the  personal  computer,  computer  graphics  and  semiconductor  industries,  and  was  previously  VP  of  Investor  Relations  and  Communications  at  NVIDIA.    At  NVIDIA,  Michael  served  as  senior  vice  president  of  Investor  Relations  from  2000  to  2011  and  helped  grow  NVIDIA  from  a  private  startup  to  a  multi-­‐billion  dollar  public  company.    He  joined  the  

company  in  1994  as  their  first  director  of  marketing  where  he  was  prominent  in  creating  their  corporate  identity  and  product  line  branding.    Prior  to  NVIDIA,  Michael  worked  at  S3,  Wyse  Technology,  Radius,  Verticom  Graphics,  Vermont  Microsystems  and  GE  Healthcare  in  various  sales,  product  line  development,  and  corporate  and  strategic  marketing  roles.    Given  his  involvement  in  developing  computer  graphics  subsystems  starting  with  the  IBM  PC  in  1984,  Michael  is  considered  an  industry  expert  on  the  PC  graphics  industry.      He  is  a  graduate  of  DeVry  University  and  has  a  Bachelor  of  Science  degree  in  Electrical  Engineering.        

       

Brendan  Farnach  is  the  president  of  All-­‐Seasonings  and  handles  many  of  the  day  to  day  functions  of  Cinderella’s  restaurant  located  in  Sylvan  Beach,  NY.    Brendan’s  family  has  been  an  integral  part  of  the  Sylvan  Beach  community  for  several  years  owning  and  operating  multiple  businesses.    All  Seasonings  has  grown  from  a  few  thousand  in  revenue  per  year  to  a  multimillion-­‐dollar  revenue  firm  in  just  over  ten  years.    Brendan  has  been  able  to  juggle  his  duties  with  All  Seasonings  allowing  the  

Appendix  D  

company  to  grow  while  continuing  to  have  a  role  with  Cinderella’s.  Besides  being  president  of  All  Seasonings  Brendan  also  places  the  entire  inventory  orders  for  both  businesses.      

   

 Gerard Briscoe is currently the IBO/Agency President of Mode Transportation, a subsidy of Hub Group, located in Brewster, NY. He has extensive experience in the supply chain and transportation industry and will be able to provide us with knowledge regarding contracts with common carriers and freight terms for our group purchasing strategy. Gerard also has several networking opportunities and will help us get in contact with the

large distributors and suppliers that are essential for our business.      

Appendix  D  

 

         

 Matthew Turcotte is the CEO of both North Shore Solutions and Grindstone Holdings. With his experience in web design, web hosting, and marketing, Matthew has expert experience within this field. He has also written his book From Main Street to Mainstream: The Essential Steps to Launching Your Small Town Business Online, which refers to how his experience of starting his

own web development company online became a success.            

Appendix  D  

                                                 

                                           

Appendix  D  

 Bill  Pawlewicz  is  the  Vice  President  of  Operations  at  Sysco,  Co  in  Syracuse,  NY.  Bill  will  be  an  asset  to  our  company  due  to  his  support  and  presence  in  the  food  and  beverage  wholesaling  industry.  He  has  worked  in  the  industry  for  over  twenty  years  and  has  the  knowledge  and  experience  that  will  be  important  to  our  company.  Bill  is  enthusiastic  about  the  business  concept  and  is  interested  in  investing  his  time  in  making  it  become  a  success.  This  member  of  our  board  of  directors  will  help  us  build  relationships  with  subcontractors,  which  is  key  to  our  operations  strategy.    

Appendix  E  

 

Activity Planned-StartDuration-(Days) End-Date

Startup-Activities Obtain'Financing 4/25/14 1 4/26/14Creation'of'LLC 4/25/14 3 4/29/14Website'Design 4/28/14 7 5/5/14Lease'office'space 4/15/14 10 4/29/14Select'Freight'company'to'handle'deliveries 4/21/14 16 5/7/14Rent'office'Equipment 4/15/14 20 5/10/14

Operations-ActivitiesHire'Administrative'Staff 4/29/14 21 5/20/14Launch'Website 4/28/14 14 5/12/14Solicit'feedback'from'customers 5/26/14 219 12/31/14Agreement'with'Credit'Clearing'houses 4/28/14 12 5/10/14Hire'Webmaster 5/1/14 7 5/8/14Employee'Reviews 7/12/14 2 7/14/14Annual'Reviews 12/15/14 2 12/17/14

Financial-ActivitiesReview'May'month'expenses 6/1/14 7 6/8/14Analyzed'Trans.'Costs 6/1/14 7 6/8/14Review'June'Expenses 7/1/14 7 7/8/14Review'July'Expenses 8/1/14 7 8/8/14Review'August'Expenses 9/1/14 7 9/8/14Review'September'Expenses 10/1/14 7 10/8/14Review'October'Expenses 11/1/14 7 11/8/14Review'November'Expenses 12/1/14 7 12/8/14

Appendix  E  

 

Obtain  Financing  

Website  Design  

Select  Freight  company  to  

Hire  Administrative  Staff  

Solicit  feedback  from  

Hire  Webmaster  

Annual  Reviews  

Analyzed  Trans.  Costs  

Review  July  Expenses  

Review  September  

Review  November  

Startup  

Activities  

Operations  

Activities  

Financial  Activities  

BusinessConnect  Schedule  of  Operations  

Activity   Planned  Start  Duration  (Days)   End  Date  

Appendix  F    

                                                                                       

   

Appendix  F    

     

                                                                             

   

   

Appendix  F    

   

                                                                                     

 

Appendix  F    

                                                                                   

       

Appendix  F    

                                                                                 

         

Appendix  F    

   

                                                                               

       

Appendix  F    

 

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