Operations
Identification of location
The location chosen for the described business is Ultimo, one of the inner-city suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ultimo is located 2 kilometers south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the city of Sydney. This suburb is one more to have undergone redevelopment; it is very close to the central station, light rail, and the University of Technology. All this shows the favorable position of the business – being located in such a densely populated area, it is highly probable to become successful and profitable quicker. Besides, it is clear that under the conditions of the favorable business location, it will be much more probable to obtain stable fee-paying clientele and become financially stable (Ultimo, New South Wales 2009).
As it is also stated in the guidance for students of the USYD, Ultimo is a region that is undergoing the reconstruction process, which will make it attractive in many aspects in the nearest future – the facilities available in Ultimo make it extremely attractive for visitors and residents:
This suburb is within walking distance of Darling Harbor and Chinatown, which are popular entertainment areas in Sydney with shopping and dining…There are many apartments, terrace houses and units available in this area (Suburbs 2009).
Advantages
The business will be located close to the Building Technology Supply Center, which is the biggest advantage for us because of a plenty of opportunities this center offers to its potential clients. It is “a corporate function center’, as the creators call it, and it offers space for exhibitors who will obtain an opportunity to display their products at a competitive price.
The company is highly attractive for customers; it offers innovative solutions to traditional business problems, thus becoming a good choice for entrepreneurs wishing to grasp the customers’ attention. The Building Technology Supply Center promises to be an active promoter of its clients through a set of strategies that have already been outlined: ”other funding will be used towards advertising on the Internet, in trade and architectural publications, and other radio and promotional work” (Building Technology Supply Center 2009).
Zoning
Speaking about the zoning of the Ultimo-Pyrmont region, it is necessary to identify three main types of zones distinguished there – they are residential residential-business and residential-business (for non-residential development). The region has access to four bays that are the zones of business and recreation. The main residential areas are concentrated in the center of the region, farther from the bays occupied by enterprises and hotels. So the areas of Bayview Street, Bowman Street, Harris Street (the longest street of the region) concentrate business and residential areas. Another densely populated region is the one of Saunders Street, Jones Street, Mount Street etc. The business area of the region is located in Pyrmont Street, Edward Street and Bridge Road (Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2005).
Taxes
According to the taxation legislation of Australia, small businesses have to pay 30% of the income tax. Every company has to establish its tax liability, which applies to total income. However, there is a set of regulations that allow companies to claim tax returns. The amount of tax return, as well as the amount of paid tax, will depend on the income the company will gain from its activity (Tax Basics for Small Business 2008).
Proximity to supplies
The business plans to use hardware equipment manufactured in China, with the game components sourced from a specialized supplier and branded as “Guerdon”. The elements needed for the business are the following:
- Head-mounted glasses for virtual reality experience -3D with built-in speakers and headphones;
- 2* wrist and 2* ankle bands (with wireless signal);
- Computer (XP-PRO or MAC) with broadband internet & wireless access point;
- Computer speakers
3D glasses with also be sold complete with the head-mounted displays equipped with built-in speakerphone and headphones to enrich the experience of users from the game and to enrich their impressions, thus increasing their satisfaction.
Equipment Required
Speaking about the equipment required for playing the game, there will be a virtual shop to increase the customer’s comfort and convenience. It will be located at the main page of the game website to give the initial idea of all necessities the potential customers will have and how they may satisfy them with the help of the site’s range of products.
The system of purchasing the equipment will be the following: the customer will click on this shop to order and buy the equipment; the order will go automatically to the supplier, following the supplier’s shipping the equipment to the customer. At the beginning of its functioning, the company will take 15% revenue from the sales from the Manufacturer. A reset will be generated for every sale from the manufacturer, so at the end of each month they will issue the payment at the amount of 15% to the account of the described company
Access to transportation
The region has a good transport network including roads, rail. There are different options to use to get to Ultimo – they include train stations, buses, and taxis. Actually, according to the information provided by the local administration, the region is self-sufficient, thus the need for transportation is not that high. However, the encouragement of infrastructure development is in the process of its implementation, so in the nearest future, more advanced infrastructure is awaited. The reconstruction is planned to be consistent with the potential of Ultimo’s roads and with the needs of pedestrians, but it still leads to the intensification of traffic, which is favorable for the company ensuring the greater flow of residents between the regions of Sydney.
Management
Management team — key personnel
In the context of discussing the business structure of the described enterprise being launched, it is necessary to remember that the organizational structure should be agile at the initial stage of its development. The company needs to be rapidly developed, so the individual contribution of every employee, multi-faceted encouragement of creativity, consideration of all suggestions that may arouse while starting the work. It has been long ago proved that the employee activity and participation in decision-making play the decisive role in the discovery of the company’s potential. Thus, it is necessary to introduce the mentioned techniques of arrangement of activities in order to succeed at the stage of launching the business.
Looking at the structure of business planned for launching, it may be seen that the head of the structure is the president of the company. He deals with the three major aspects of the company’s operations: administration and finance, sales and marketing, web development. The company is not intended to have a strict hierarchical structure because of the adopted strategy of multi-faceted cooperation and engagement of the staff in the working process. Teamwork is the major structure on which emphasis will be made in the process of the work. The strategic power given to the staff is freedom of decision-making, initiative, and innovation in the business sphere in which the company functions. This way it will be possible to make a breakthrough in the sphere and not only achieve success and gain the market share.
The team of the company is planned to be as follows:
- 1 permanent graphic designer
- 1 Casual graphic designer
- 1 Game developer (Permanent)
- 1 Game developer (Casual)
- 2 Sales/Marketing people
- 1 Software Engineer
- 1 Accountant Manager
- 1 Finance Manager
A permanent graphic designer is essential in the company that is currently being discussed because of the specialization of the company’s functioning. It is a digital computer game that involves much computer graphics; this is why it is of vital importance to make it user-friendly, lively and picturesque to attract more customers and to raise the company’s revenues. For this reason, a permanent graphics designer will be the key person in the production process, i.e., he will have the most responsibility concerning the visual aspect of the game the company is launching.
A casual graphics designer can be necessary for three different reasons. First of all, it is possible to engage casual designers in the working process when the permanent designer has run out of inspiration and creativity, thus risking reducing the level of quality of the game offered to the users, which may affect the revenues of the company negatively. Secondly, there is a possibility of the permanent designer’s temporary inability to work for some objective or personal reasons, so the casual employee may become a temporary assistant to keep the flow of work going. And finally, there may be too much essential workload for the permanent designer necessary to be accomplished within a short period of time, so a certain amount of insignificant technical work may be entrusted to casual workers.
A permanent game developer is a strategic position that ensures the success of the game the described company is currently launching. It is a fact that every game needs development and innovation; it requires some new elements, stages, and issues to be introduced – in other way the clientele of the company will be temporary, and the administration will not be able to interest clients on a permanent or longer-term basis. So, there should be a person whose direct responsibility is to keep the game interesting and attractive for users.
Casual game developers may be engaged to work on the game for the same reason as a graphics designer may be necessary – as soon as the permanent employee lacks inspiration and experiences problems with the development of the game, then fresh ideas can be used by means of including other people in the team on a temporary basis.
Sales/marketing people are responsible for another sphere of the company’s functioning that is as important as the development of the game itself. These employees are directly responsible for the game’s bringing profit, so there should be two of them to create a team on promotion and selling the game to consumers.
Since the company is solely based on internet functioning, arranging sales and communication with the customers on the basis of a computer network, it is of key importance to sustain a well-functioning internet system. It is also significant to provide the company with the latest software applications to enhance the work of the staff and the cooperation with consumers. It is equally important to constantly offer new solutions and suggestions for the customers to keep them interested in the product of this definite company. For this reason, the position of software engineer should be placed on a high level within the structure of the company, since these are his/her main responsibilities.
Accountant manager is responsible for the legal side of the company’s functioning. In order to remain legally acceptable, successfully functioning and having no problems with the law enforcement structure, the accountant manager should submit timely and credible reports to authoritative institutions and assess the level of profitability of the company guided by its statistics.
The financial manager’s position is meant to assess the company’s potential in the market, to plan allocation of costs, and to forecast changes in the market awaiting the sphere of functioning of the company. It is necessary to keep track of the market to remain financially profitable and not to become a loss-making enterprise, which are the main functions of the financial manager.
Legal structure — stock agreements, employment agreements, ownership
Ownership and employment agreements depend on one another directly. If the company is founded by four people taking the defined positions within the company, they should establish a legal partnership not to concentrate the power of decision-making in the hands of one person. Employment agreements should be legally concluded with all other employees and should be based on a long-term relationship since this is the founding premise of the employees’ commitment to the joint action and their work.
Stock agreements should also be concluded at the very beginning of the company’s functioning since they will first of all ensure the capital inflow in its budget and will ensure the adequate allocation of power in the company. The major share of stocks should remain in the hands of founders, and a smaller part should be sold to investors interested in the business being created.
Board of directors, advisers, consultants
The Board of directors consists of 4 people who will be the owners. Those 4 people are the Co-Founders of the business – , CEO, CFO, COO. Besides, it is necessary to involve independent experts in the process of decision-making at the initial stage of the company’s launching, since expert advice will help avoid the common mistakes all entrepreneurs make at the beginning of their activity, and in addition it will add efficiency to the structure and the arrangement of main principles of their functioning.
Milestone schedule
Timing and objectives
The whole period of the establishment of the ready product is 12 months. The main objective to be achieved during this period of time will be the development of the game for primary school children with further launching of a site for a broader public.
Deadlines and milestones
As it has already been mentioned, the overall stipulated deadline is 12 months. The project implementation for schoolchildren is likely to take 3-4 months, the next 4 months will be occupied by gathering money for the completion of the project, and the rest of time will be taken by launching of the site for all customers. The following Gantt chart illustrates the deadlines planned for the completion of the present project:
Relationship of events
The first step is the creation of the first stage program for schoolchildren. As soon as it receives acceptance and becomes popular, the financial stage of the project will come into force. Further on, as soon as enough capital is gathered, the work will involve the creation of all relevant software for launching the site and launching the site itself.
References
Building Technology Supply Center 2009. Web.
Suburbs 2009. Web.
Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2005. Web.
Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2005-REG84 2005. Web.
Tax basics for small business 2008. Australian Taxation Office. Web.
Ultimo, New South Wales 2009. Web.