Business Project Proposal

Description
Booming Boutique is a retail establishment that will open in July this year. It is a woman-owned business currently organized as a Sole Proprietorship. It will be located in downtown Pleatsville, Florida, a popular tourist and retirement destination. Though the initial goal is to initially open one boutique, expansion plans include building a well-recognized brand name and franchising the retail store. This will in turn help to penetrate a substantial portion of the online retail market.
Executive Summary
Booming Boutique will carry designer and contemporary apparel as well as accessories and will exclusively be the U.S home of the Dutch line, De Kliek. In addition to this line, we booming Boutique will feature other selections by European and American designers such as Tosca and Herr Frau. Through extensive research, we intend to follow the overly youth focused fashion and retail industry and tailor our inventory to meet the unique needs of our clientele. By following our customers’ purchasing preferences, we aim at focusing on styles, fits and colors that flatter our wide range of customers and making the meeting of their personal needs our specialty.
We intend to provide our customers with unique and innovative services such as personal shopping, special ordering as well as Style Assessments done by style concierges trained within the Image Industry. Style Assessment, our major innovative service will help our customers develop their own personal styles and enhance our reputation as a truly unique retail store.
The store will be financed with $20,000 of the owner’s money with additional $40,000 from a business loan. Sales are estimated at $ 150,500 per year by the first year with a positive cash flow being produced by this time.
Introduction
Our goal is to find customers and keep them coming back by helping them improve their look without necessarily having to buy a whole new wardrobe, by helping them purchase clothing and accessory pieces to add to what they already have. As a result, customers will rely on our expert advice on their personal styles which will help establish a strong clientele. This will help customers save money while at the same time enjoy shopping in a well inventoried and service-minded store. We will cater for all types of customers for all occasions and provide unique clothing pieces and accessories.
The total sales reported in the United States retail industry in 2009 including automotive and food service was estimated to be over $4.5 trillion. In Pleatsville, the current population is around 40,000 with 54% of this population being women with a median age of 40. With majority of the stores focusing in youthful, we seek to tap into this population with a larger focus being on the mentioned group. Though we will initially seek local customers, we aim at increasing our reach as we continue building our brand and securing our image.
With over 10 years experience in marketing and retail and a degree in finance from Yale University, the owner, Michelle Bell has gathered the necessary required to complement and grow the business. The research and advisory team holds expertise in retail merchandising and accounting, legal contracts as well as fashion and design. Plans are already on schedule with a detailed project plan already created. Based on the data collected from the research, preparation for the buying for the winter season is underway with the marketing elements and store design currently being finalized.
This business project is set to be started out with a lot of research. The first step will be to acquire information about the fashion and retail industry in this state as well as its influencers. In order to conduct the research, we will design a questionnaire guide that will cover all the variables and collect all the data needed in fulfilling our research objectives. This is bound to be an imperative task as the questionnaire is not meant to disclose the purpose of the visit to the subjects but at the same time prompt them to answer accurately as they form a pivotal part of this project. This research is aimed at giving significance to three attributes: obtaining feedback, identifying the influencers, Booming Boutique Vs other retail clothes stores in Florida.
Interviews will also be conducted from the general public and other retail clothing store shop owners. These interviews will be conducted in the major areas of Florida and will be analyzed with the objective being to identify the clothing needs of majority of the population. Analysis will also include general inferences drawn from personal observations as well as responses given during the survey.
Research will also include collecting already existing data from fashion magazines, books, as well as the internet which will be carried out by the research team. This will carefully be evaluated as it will also be used in decision making.
The web plan Summary
Booming Boutique plans on simultaneously holding the official launch of the boutique with the launch of its website. This site will serve as a source of information for online visitors and will also include the development of editorial content. By the end of the second year of operation, Booming Boutique will have worked out strategies on the inclusion of e-commerce into its business model.
The website will be developed so that users can have all information they need and will feature the unique services as well as key items in the boutique. Reservations forms for Personal Style Assessment and Personal Shopping appointments will be available from the site.
The website will leverage the brand personality and corporate identity of Booming Boutique- elegant and simple. The nomenclature will mirror Style, Concierge and About, the ideas which will be articulated throughout the boutique. The overall strategy of the website will be to provide the users with a clear and simple architecture that will allow them to obtain all the information they may need.

Mission
To offer our customers with quality, well-constructed fashions in an assortment of styles and sizes that accommodate all varying body styles and shapes.
To offer top-notch exclusive and innovative services that will generate buzz and create and boost sales.
Vision
To deliver quality products and services to our customers as well as maintain financial balance.
We also seek to provide fair compensation and a rewarding work environment to our employees, ultimately providing a fair return to our owners and an excellent value to our customers.
Objectives
To create an elegant yet comfortable shopping environment that caters to the clothing needs of the whole population, regardless of age, size or gender.
To earn 75% market share and become the leading retail clothing store in Pleatsville, Florida and achieve name and brand recognition within the local community.
To have a customer base of more than 1,500 customers by the end of the first operating year with a profit margin of 50%.
Proposed Products and Services
Booming Boutique will offer designer fusion lines as well casual clothing for the whole family. With our ready-to-wear lines from De Kliek, Herr Frau, Tosca and other American and European labels, we offer to provide a variety of clothes with different styles to fit our target market base. A greater majority of our merchandise will be in apparel, with hats, gifts and accessories from other lines such as Achoo Panto, Vince and some of our branded items.
We also aim to offer exclusive personal services such as Style Assessment, a one-page quiz developed by Booming Boutique’s owner, Michelle Bell that will help people; especially women determine their appropriate personal styles that match their personality. The assessment will help a customer develop their personality by providing style words to choose from along with tips on what clothing works well with their personal styles.
Organizational Structure
Being a small business, Booming Boutique requires a simple business structure. Michelle Bell, the owner will make all decisions which will be in-line with the company’s objectives. Tasks will be delegated to employees based on their creativity, level of expertise, strengths and weaknesses. Employees will benefit for a one day paid holiday every month and a one week long vacation every year. Medical benefits will not be offered to employees at the beginning but as profits increase medical as well as other benefits will be offered to all employees.
The general manager, Chandra Miller will be responsible for inventory control, administrative functions as well as purchasing and promotion. With her extensive background in purchasing, she will also act as part-time sales representative. They will also be helped and advised by a team of advisors who will also be responsible for carrying out the research work.
Expected Revenues
Booming Boutique aims at bringing in annual sales of $500,000 with an operating profit margin of about 25%. Gross margins are expected at 51%, which though is 5% higher than the retail industry average, is in lie with the retail boutique averages. Overall, we project to reinvest net profits of 10% into the company for growth initiatives and service enhancements.
Due to the cash-based business of Booming Boutique, cash flows within the first year of operation are expected to be positive. The store is hence expected to remain very liquid, with no Current Liabilities with startup costs estimated at $60,000 with more than half of these costs going to startup inventory.
Market Position
Booming Boutique is a business-to-consumer retail company with our target customers being the locals as well as the tourists. With our peripheral products such as scarves and handbags, we are likely to attract younger women. It’s important that we do not offer products that are only exclusive to the older audience hence a portion of our products will be tailored to catch on the younger generation.
Pleatsville is a retirement destination hence majority of the population are in their mid 40’s and late 50’s. This group is more conservative and values convenience, uniqueness and quality with price being a major factor in decision-making. At the same time, they are a generation of the “buy now and pay later” philosophy hence it will be difficult to implement a cash-based approach.
Relevant Competitors
There are no direct competitors in Pleatsville offering unique services such as ours. There is only one super-store within a 50-mile radius of Pleatsville which is similar to Wal-Mart as it sells lesser quality items at a lower price. The two chain department stores sell men’s, women’s and children’s clothing along with electronics, home accents and appliances.
Though familiarity is comforting, research indicates mounting frustration with the subpar customer service, vastness and inferior quality of super-stores. Not to forgetting the lack of selection and inept sales staff often found at departmental stores.
The lack of a similar store in Pleatsville as well as the vast experience of the managing team is therefore a distinct competitive advantage for the store. Though there is no guarantee that a competitor will locate within the area, there is no doubt that the quality products and outstanding customer service will quickly establish the boutique as the ideal place to shop for clothes.

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