Executive Summary
Company Overview
Book Hook is a company that intends to provide readers with a compatible reading experience achieved through the application of innovative tools, encouraging customers to read more (which is reflected in the company’s name). The company is going to introduce two new products. The first one is called the bookholder and provides the most comfortable way of holding a book through sliding fingers in the hole and placing them on the book. It also has lights to allow reading in the dark. The second product is the tri book, which is an upgraded version of a bookmark, making it possible to retrieve the page you are in it quickly.
Industry, Target Market, and Competitors
The company is going to compete in the wood, reading, and luxury industries. Our ideal end consumer is a recent college graduate aged 24-30, a female (as they are willing to spend more on such-like products and have a tendency to read in public and before bed). Our main target customers are retailers, who will see our product to end costumers. We are building a contract with the Jareer book store as a retailer for our product. The main competitors of our tri hook model are makers of the classic bookmark manufacturers. The original book hook has competitors like holding a book manually with no tool to help. Our indirect competitors are tools or ways people use to avoid such problems while our direct competitors are other carpenters who can build similar products.
Marketing Plan
Our major marketing objectives are to
- increase awareness of the products and services;
- reach new customer segment on the long run;
- develop a word of mouth trend,
- attract both potential and existing customers;
- increase the loyalty of customers.
Our product will be available in book shops, reading clubs in schools and outside schools, and through social media such as Instagram. We choose to sell our product by 110 Qatari riyals. We will discount half price for the first ten buyers. For people who bought from us more than three items will get the fourth for free.
The survey of public opinion revealed that most customers are willing to purchase the products online and from a store and would like them to be customized.
Operation Plan
The store location will be online and in public bookstores. The hours of operation will depend upon the retailer’s store hours of operation. The only required facility now is a place to base our products (our garages). We will manage the process ourselves. When the company expands, we will hire 1 accountant and 2 salespersons.
Both products will be made of wood. However, after developing the BookHolder, we will turn to plastic or rubber with lights inserted inside. Therefore, the major suppliers will be the carpenter company, the LED light company called DECORATOR, and Al Rashid Plastic Factory.
Development Plan
The product is going to be manufactured in different sizes, upgraded with lights, and customized to ensure the customer’s satisfaction. The first step in our development plan is to purchase a good quality of wood like oak, teak, or mahogany. The second step is to hire the best quality workers, who will undergo special training from time to time. Next, we will have to find the best model that will meet our consumer needs. Then the product will undergo painting. After all these operations, it can be distributed and promoted.
The Team
As we are just starting, our team will consist of us and 3 employees responsible for accounting, sales, and inventory.
Financial Plan
According to the income statement, in year one, Book hook Company sustained 270 000 in producing goods. The figure increased to 1 680 000 in the second year, and 2 940 000 in the third year. In the first year, the gross profit was 60 000 while in the second and third years, the figure was 408 000 and 714 000 respectively. The company has also reduced its operating expenses marginally.
Company
Book hook is a company which is willing to provide readers with a compatible reading experience, we create new tools to encourage our customers to read a book. The name “book hook” is because we want to encourage more and more people to read by providing unique reading tools so we “hook” them to read more.
Problem and Solution
Due to the problem which is faced by the majority of readers while reading, which is the unstable pages of the book and forgetting where you stopped last, we provide two reading products to enhance the reading experience.
Products
Reading has numerous positive effects on the set of mind and ever since Qatar have shown a growing number of people who are reading in a daily basis, either for the fun of it or for education purposes. Therefore, our main goal is to provide readers with a product that facilitates the reading process and makes reading more enjoyable. As well as producing products that will be appealing to consumer taste while at that same time being useful and practical.
Our objective is to produce a product that brings value to the customer and leave them satisfied and pleased. All of our products are of high quality, hand-made from the best natural materials and are manufactured in Qatar. We offer customized options to our customers. For example, the customer can get his or her name engraved on one or more of our products.
The first product we are introducing is called the bookholder (left) which will help the readers to hold the book most comfortably through sliding their fingers in the hole and placing it on the book for easy holding and since it is light and comfortable there will be less pain in the arms. It is a small tool that helps customers to hold their books easier rather than using their both hands while reading, it’s considered a simple solution to those who enjoy reading a book before bed or in a moving car.
It may also be used as a tool to track what you are reading. We have a sketch of the original bookholder, The basic shape of the original bookholder is a straight line with a curve in the middle to put your finger in, on the side we have lights which allow readers to read in the dark before bed or at night under between the whole for your finger we have to curves that allow smooth access when reading and will let the user hold the book easily.
The Trihook
The second product we are introducing is called the tri book (left) which will be an upgraded version of a bookmark, but in the book holder, you will not have the problem of losing it every time because it is small and can be lost easily. On the other hand, the book holder is an appropriate size to be placed on the table or nightstand and will never be lost, so every time you place your book on it you will not lose the page you are in it and you will retrieve the page you are in it quickly.
Also, the book holder will be designed in a way that is considered an excellent modern decorating product for a room a lobby, or an office because it includes a small drawer to store other tools you have, like glasses, pen, notes, and tissues. The shape of the tri hook is triangular as the name suggests with 60 degrees even angle. This angle is proven to be the best angle that will not ruin the book. The main function of this tool is to act as a bookmark that will not be lost and will not ruin the book.
Industry, Target Customers, and Competition
Targeted Industries
We compete in several industries including the wood industry reading industry and the luxury industry.
- Wood industry: the price of wood is lower than before as the demand for it decreased and the supply is high.
- Reading industry: more and more people are reading in general. According to, Qatar Statistics Authority figures confirm an increase in book-reading habits
- Luxury industry: book hook tools are for people who have the extra money in their pockets and are willing to spend it in purchasing comfortable reading tools. With the overall booming economy locally and internationally we have a high rate of success.
Target Customers
- Consumers. Our end ideal consumer is a recent college graduate whose age is between 24-30, A female because they are willing to spend more on products and who reads in public while waiting for her food or public libraries or in privet like in a moving car or before bed.
- Retailers. Our main target customers are retailers, who will see our product to end costumers. We are building a contract with the Jareer book store as a retailer for our product, which is considered one of the popular book stores known in GCC countries. We choose Jareer as a retailer because we are targeting the same customers, Moreover, they have several branches which makes it reachable and attainable for other customers. Our first order is by Al-Safa hotel who ordered 100 units of our triangular hook for their luxury suites and our second order is from Alrawaq which is a reading gift box company that has the same goal as we do which is to encourage more and more people to read books. Other retailers we have connections with and are going to contact include Hamad international airport, schools, pre-Schools, libraries, local bookstores, other stores
Competitors
Slipping and dropping the reading sign belongs to the past because the book hook will remain exactly the side opened, which gives the reader a quick and easy option to go back to the point he/she was reading. The main competition to our tri hook model are makers of the classic bookmark manufacturers, who are manufacturing a piece of paper with inspirational quotes on, also the regular page twist people do may act as a competition however tri hook will not damage the book and the book will stay sustainable years to come. The original book hook has competitors like holding a book manually with no tool to help, however, this will give discomfort to the user.
The book hook company lets the user enjoy easy and comfortable reading with no damage to their books. We have a competitive advantage being the first of this kind in the MENA region. For this reason, our indirect competitions are tools or ways people use to avoid such problems and our direct competition are other carpenters who can build similar products.
Marketing Research
Marketing Objectives
- Increasing awareness of the products and services.
- Reaching a new customer segment in the long run.
- Develop a word of mouth trend.
- Attract both potential and existing customers.
- Increase the loyalty of customers.
Targeting and Positioning
We targeted in general people who loves to read from both gender females and male we choose a simple color that both genders can use it such as wood color such as teak color however we target mostly females. Who is educated and who enjoy reading. Our product will be available in book shops, reading clubs in schools, and outside schools and through social media such as Instagram. We will use some Qatari celebrities as Fatima Al-Thani, lady Aisha, and Drhamood to promote our product.
Market Penetration
We will use a market penetration strategy so more and more people can afford and buy our products.
Pricing Strategy
We choose to sell our product by 110 Qatari riyals because its affordable and the manufacturing product was 90 Qatari riyals so we will have some profits moreover the price is suitable because we choose a good quality of wood that is not heavy and convenient for the customer to use.
Marketing Mix
- Product. Our product is a wooden metal that helps the reader to hold the page in the book. It’s really easy to use just put the thumb in the middle whole in the wood and put it in the bottom of the page.
- Price. Its an affordable product that is useful to the reader. We do discounts for a student at Qatar University as 20%
- Promotion. We do discount half price for the first ten buyers. And for people who bought from us more than three items they can get the fourth for free. We will also use Instagram to promote because it is one of the most used social media sites in the GCC, by far we have 128 followers and an average of 40 likes per picture. We are also constructing a Facebook page to attract the ex-pat market
- Place. We will sell our product directly online through Instagram and our website. Also through some stores such as Virgin, Jareer, boarders, and Rowan company.
Customer Validation
First, for customer validation, We went to the Qatar university library and we showed a sketch of our product to 30 random students who were passing by. We asked them how likely are you going to buy if this product if it was real and at what price. our results were extremely satisfying as 27 out of 30 said that they are willing to buy either online or directly from a store.
Second, we invited 5 of our colleagues who have a graduated fall 2016 and spring 2016 to try our products and made a focus group. Our findings show that that the ideal price people are willing to pay between 100 to 150 QAR for our products. They want it in different colors and options and 4 out of 5 said they are going to buy it if they saw it especially if it was customized. They also agreed that they can get it as a gift as well for a friend or a family member.
Operational Plan
Location
The store location will be online and in public bookstores like Jareer bookstore, Virgin Mega Store, and Rowan.
Hours of Operation
the hours of operation will depend based upon the retailer’s store hours of operation. For example, In Jareer bookshop, the starting hours till the end is from 9 am till 9 pm. In the Virgin Mega Store, it’s from 9 am to 10 Pm. However, Rowan will be distributing it at the begging of every few months.
Required Facilities & Equipment
In the meantime, the only facility we need to base our products is our garages. After expanding, we will lease a warehouse sufficient to our customer needs because leasing at first will bare our high costs.
Employee Hiring & Training
In the first year, we will be dealing with our sales and track our company progress based on our accountant knowledge, after expanding we will take a step ahead and hire 1 Accountant and 2 Salespersons. The accountant will have two duties, the accounting procedures, and also the inventory count. We will send him to a training program and learn by experience how to achieve our required goals.
The required job description will be as follows:
- Bilingual, Arabic and English.
- For the accountants:
- Diploma degree in accountant and finance.
- for the sales manager:
- Diploma degree in marketing and management.
Product Description
Both the BookHolder and the Tribook will be made of wood. However, after developing the BookHolder, it will be made of plastic or rubber with lights inserted inside. The Tribook model will go through more customer validation before changes to know a better perspective in developing it.
Suppliers
Since we are a business to business startup, our main suppliers will be the carpenter company in the first year. In the second year, we decided to make the product into a plastic that has lights in it. So our suppliers will be the LED light company called DECORATOR, and the other one is Al Rashid Plastic Factory.
Development Plan
Detailed Timeline
Product development: We are producing different sizes of our product to accompany the customer desire. Furthermore, to make sure our product is unique We will upgrade our product by adding lights in the bookholder so night reading becomes less hectic and damaging to the eye by adjusting your position to the lamp every time you want to read a line, also to make our product more distinctive we will have customization to our product so customers will have a product that they will like and will be made to their personal preference.
For example, they can carve their names on the book holder or a phrase, quote they like to make it more personal. We can also do a simple drawing on it if they want a certain picture. In exchange, we are getting customer loyalty and commitment to our product. Also by customization, we are reaching different generations especially the younger one because it will be eye-catching and valuable to them.
The first step in our development plan is to purchase a good quality of wood like oak. teak or mahogany to make sure that our product is in high-quality condition and will have no flows, also we will have more regular kinds like cedar to go with people’s budgets. the second step is to hire the best quality workers we made a contract with a carpenter company to manufacture our products, since our product is handmade we will pick the best shop in Qatar specialized in wood carving because we want our product to be made with high quality.
As we are just starting we will have 3 employees working for as at the time each responsible for different job accountant, sales and inventory and to make sure that our workers can provide what our customer need they will undergo special training from time to time, because we think it is a very important part of whether or not our business will be successful.
Our product at the time at the model and customization process. Therefore, trying to pick the best model that will meet our consumer needs. Then the product will undergo the painting and finishing product, using the best quality paint to guarantee long-lasting finish and smooth surface. After we are done with the production process will do build a contract with Jared bookstore to distribute our product at their store Our product will be unique from other products in the market because it is light, easy to use and comfortable while using.
We will promote our product through social media because most of our customers are using Facebook, and Instagram therefore targeting them will be much easier through it. When the customer buys our product they will guarantee that our product will provide them with the value and quality the perceived at the purchase.
Financial Plan
The income statement, also known as the profit and loss account, the statement of operations, or the statement of earnings, is a financial statement that indicates a company’s revenues and expenses. The income statement is important to investors as a tool to gauge the financial performance of a company. It is written quarterly, in all four quarters of a financial year. Our company income statement is equally useful as an indication of the business’s profitability and future growth.
The operations section of the income statement indicates that the company has a steadily improving performance. The sales of the company have grown consistently from the first year to the third year. In year one, the company made sales worth 330, 000, which increased to 2 088 000 in the second year, and 3 654 000 in the third year. In the second year, we decided to use plastic that has lights rather than wood, and we expect that the sales will dramatically increase and we will increase the price of the products, in the third year we will expand to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Nevertheless, the increase in sales is also accompanied by growth in the cost of goods sold.
The cost of sales is the direct expenses incurred by a company in producing the items for sale. In year one, Book hook Company sustained 270 000 in producing goods. The figure increased to 1 680 000 in the second year, and 2 940 000 in the third year. That is an indication that the volume of goods produced by our company has increased, which is a positive potent for the company’s future growth. Due to the increase in the number of goods produced and the accompanying increase in sales, the business has experienced constant a continuous rise in gross profit over the period. In the first year, the gross profit was 60 000 while in the second and third years, the figure was 408 000 and 714 000 respectively.
The operations section of the income statement shows that the company made an 85 percent growth between the first and the second year, and a 42% growth between the second and the third year. Even though the profits are marginally high, the reduction in the profit percentages may also show a corresponding shrinkage of the company industry or an increase in competition from substitute products.
The company has also reduced its operating expenses marginally. Between the first and the second year, the operating costs grew by 94 percent. However, this followed an expansion of company sales, the cost of goods, and gross profits. In comparison, the change in expenses between year 3 and year 2 is only 4 percent, with an increase in gross profit of 42 percent. Furthermore, the slight increase in expenses at 4 percent resulted in a 67 percent increase in net profits, which indicates company efficiency.
We increased the human resource charges and the costs of rent while maintaining the overhead costs at the same value for the three years. Specifically, the figures for utilities, phone, and mail have barely changed. In comparison, the marketing expenses reduced lower than it had been in the two previous years. These changes in expenses indicate that the company has enhanced its performance and improved its competitive capacity.
Through the income statement, we can learn much about a business’s operating capacity, the nature of the company industry, and even the nature of competition experienced. Our company is an efficient business due to its constant improvement in sales and growth, accompanied by a general reduction in operating expenses and low overhead. From the statement, one gathers that the company has a general reduction in profits compared to the previous year, which may show that the industry is becoming more competitive or faces a reduced growth.