Warsha: Company Analysis, Personnel and Marketing Plan Report

Executive Summary

Business Description

Warsha was founded by Fatima. Warsha is the Arabic word for workshop; it is a multi-disciplinary studio working out of Dubai, UAE. The services that Warsha provides range from producing corporate identities, wedding cards, brochures, and varies to web design, uniform clothing design, and event movie editing.

As well as producing artwork, Warsha facilitates an easy and hassle-free printing service, which is done through a reliable printing press that produces high-quality eco-friendly prints. Everything that is produced by Warsha is produced with regard to the good of the environment.

Realizing a void in the market in terms of recycled goods, Warsha is planning to undertake an expansion that will include The Warsha retail store. Warsha retail store will be a concept store that provides a variety of handcrafted products that produces 100% recycled goods (manufactured by a stay at home ladies and mothers). Consumers will now have a store they could rely on, they will find a large range of products through our product line.

Business Contact Information

Phone + 971 – 50 – 777 – 7777

Email [email protected]

Owner

Fatima

Dubai, UAE

Phone +971 50 777 3777

Fatma, founder of Warsha has been a designer for years. She has produced a number of campaigns nationally and has worked in several design backgrounds. Fatima has won the United Nations Development Program Design Award 2 years in a row, once for an AIDS design campaign, and the second time for an illiteracy design campaign.

Fatima is highly motivated and creative. She finds herself in any field where there is space to create. One of the most things she enjoys, she says is to work alongside creative talents and to encourage them to utilize this talent to produce and develop themselves.

One of the biggest achievements she has accomplished is producing the Knowledge without Borders campaign. She also produced and/or as part of the team that produced many of the significant brands in the UAE. Some of those projects were; Café Loop in Dubai World Trade Center, Qamardeen, and alManzil Hotels in downtown burj Dubai. She finds joy in seeing her work on building fronts and billboards that are even bigger than her own home!

Her need to find a product that speaks on it’s own. A product that was not mass-produced and one that was manufactured in a green way pushed her to establish Warsha. Fatima has gained industry experience through working at Fortune Promo 7. One of the most prestigious design firms in the Middle East. She has worked in a team and handled big projects and accounts such as coca cola, masafi, MTV and many more. She also worked in a smaller design firm called Flair advertising and Marketing, where she was the senior designer of creative and advertising.

Proffessional Relationships

Printing Services Print Well – Suzeeta Pillai

Product Supplier fifty seven (silkscreen t-shirts) Shahad

Product Supplier Protégé (handmade jewelery & carved soap) Meera Hamad

Product Supplier ilmoz (handmade bed linens) Moza Obaid

Product Supplier straightline (handmade furniture & wooden frames) Maitha Ali

Legal Status

Warsha is a solo proprietorship company in Dubai and owned and managed by Fatima the founder of Warsha. This kind of license was chosen for various reasons such as:

• Very affordable and inexpensive compared to other kinds of license.
• Full control over the business.
• All the profit goes to the owner.

In order to start up Warsha handcrafts a legally issued license is needed as a requirement. Furthermore the business needs to be registered in the Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Through this license and registration the owner is privileged to full copy right and owner ship of the business.

Mission

The mission of Warsha is to become directly associated with social and environmental causes Through providing jobs to stay at home ladies who will produce a variety of quality handcrafted everyday goods.

Status

Warsha is an on-going business that provides design services. Warsha has been founded 2 years ago and has maintained an annual income increase of 34% annually. Warsha it is willing to expand in order to provide handcrafted goods that range from but is not limited to handmade Furniture handmade bed linens, handmade clothing, handmade T-shirts, handmade Jewelry, hand curved wooden frames, and hand curved soap. Through providing those goods Warsha aspires to become directly associated with social and environmental causes and fulfill the needs of the environmentally conscious client.

Business Type

Warsha is a retail store and studio that operates Saturday – Thursday 9.00 am to 10.00 pm.

Products and Services

Warsha will be providing but will not be limited to the following products and services:

• Handmade Furniture
• Handmade bed linens
• Handmade clothing
• Handmade T-shirts
• Handmade Jewelry
• Hand curved wooden frames
• Hand curved soap
• Design services

Goals

Overall Business Goals

• Establish a brand awareness
• Provide a job for stay at home ladies, especially mothers at the convenience of thief home.
• Raise awareness about environmental issues in the community.
• Reserve a place in the market.
• Retain a consistently growing annual income rate.

Short-Term Goals (3 Months – 1year)

Warsha handcrafts plans to achieve the following short-term goals:

• Breakeven within the first 6 months of operation
• Add 2 – 3 team members
• Research

Long-Term Goals (1 Year – 5 Years)

Warsha plans to achieve the following long-term goals:

• Achieve international exposure.
• Become the leading brand in the production of green products.
• Be involved in cause related activities.
• Increase the number of employees to serve the expansion.

On Going Goals

• Focus on cause-related marketing as the main kind of marketing.
• Become the leading brand in the production of green products.
• Have a trusted number of suppliers and customers and maintain an honest open relationship.
• Keep the business in constant growth.
• Provide a large number of products that are used on day-to-day bases.
• Make Warsha more of a hang out place by introducing monthly workshops, an art café and a theatre where amateur films would be produced.

Industry Trends/Outlook

The Gulf region, United Arab Emirates, and especially Dubai are expanding too fast and becoming energy obese. As a result, pollution levels are increasing, diseases rates and levels are intensifying, and cities are becoming less livable. An intervention is needed to help reduce the effect of this problem. Today our community is at its highest awareness rate regarding environmental threats. A significant number of the community are environmentally conscious people who are in search of a retail store that could provide green products but unfortunately there is a lack of such store, Warsha intervenes here, and provides those products.

A great proof of the environmental movement happening in the UAE is the announcement of H. H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid of Dubai’s new resolution on the implementation of green building specifications and standards, consultants and contractors adjusted their strategy to comply with the new requirements. With that announcement, a large number of green building consultancy firms were founded. An example of those firms is Badaail green consultancy.

Although in the past 2 years a large number of green building companies were founded, there is still a huge market gap in the industry in terms of recycled goods. Between now and then a company would launch a few items that would use bamboo wood, or would be made with the good of the environment in mind. However, the consumer still doesn’t know of a place that selling things that we use daily which are eco-friendly, and that’s because a store that provides those products still doesn’t exist, not in the UAE.

Management and Employees

Warsha Inc.

Sole proprietorship (retail store and design studio)

Management

Personnel plan

Operations and Suppliers

Product

Warsha retails a wide range of products that are not mass-produced. All the products retailed by Warsha are produced using recycled materials, are made out of items that other people consider as waste. Warsha has found a big gap in the market of recycled products and used it as an opportunity to establish Warsha handcrafts. The fact that one of the most important properties that Warsha believes in is giving back to the community, Warsha relies 100% on suppliers who are stay at home ladies.

Selecting Products

During the first few months of the business a monthly an assessment of the customer satisfaction survey will take place and the sales will be analyzed. According to the results of those studies a brainstorming session with the suppliers will take place in order to make the proper product selection.

Placing Purchase Order

Once the products have been selected, an order form will be filled where the item will be described in details, the dates the products should be delivered, the quantities requested, and the prices that were agreed upon. The order form will then be sent to the supplier (who has been briefed about the order form contents) via email, who in return will send a confirmation email back and that will mark the beginning of the product production.

Receipt of Products and Quality Control

Once the supplier delivers the orders, the retail prices will then be marked onto the tags. The items will then be checked for the following:

• The items were in fact ordered.
• Items delivered match the description in the order form.
• Accuracy of quantities
• Quality of goods are as specified and none of the items are damaged.
• The items were delivered on the requested time.

If any of those points were not fulfilled (or the supplier has broken any other rules and regulations on the order form or contracts they have signed) Warsha has a right to return the order, and issue penalties to the supplier.

Disposal of excess inventory

If for any reason a certain product was marked as a poor-selling product, it will follow the disposal of excess inventory cycle. The items will be placed in the promotion pile where the marketing team will decide what kind of promotion will best suit those items.

Facilities

Retail Store: Warsha Handcrafts will be located in Dubai. There is no cost associated with using the space (the space is owned by the same owner of Warsha Handcrafts). It is reflected in the cash flow statement.

Distribution Channel

Place an order

On the 5^th of every month warsha places an order to the suppliers based on the requirements and customer feedback.

Suppliers prepare requested products

On the 25^th of every month Warsha sends a truck to the different suppliers it supplies from and start the collection of the products.

The Truck is rented by Warsha handcrafts once a month. A plan of supplier’s locations and timings is sent to the bus driver 5 days before the collection date.

The Truck costs 100aed per month.

Inventory arrangement and record keeping

On the 25^th of every month at 5 pm the truck delivers all the supplies to the retail store. The customer service and sales coordinators receives the supplies, label them and prepare them for display in the store for the clients at the beginning of the coming month.

Suppliers

Listed are the suppliers that Warsha will be dealing with initially:

• Fiftyseven
• Protege
• Ilmoz
• straightline

Marketing Plan

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• A product that is made by the consumer.
• Founders experience in the industry.
• Personalized hand made products.
• Out sourced team, no salaries or training required.
• Utilizing the skills of stay at home mothers and ladies.
• hand craft manufacturers will be encouraged to produce quality products because it directly affects the sales of those products, hence it directly affects their share of profit.
• No manufacturing expenses.
• Multiple locations, retail store in Dubai, Online presence on etsy.com, and other popular websites in order to increase awareness (example facebook.com).
• No rent fare. Retail store owned by Warsha founder
• recycled environmentally friendly materials.

Weaknesses

• First experience in entrepreneurship
• Large and undefined variety of products.
• Multiple manufacturers lead to quality variation from a manufacturer to another.
• New concept in the region that means that a lot of marketing needs to take place to inform and create awareness about the concept.
• No extra people to cover if someone is ill

Opportunities

• Market vacant by an ineffective competitor.
• Online store provides a developing market.
• Online store provides international consumers.
• Anticipated government support backing up the environmentally friendly initiatives.

Threats

• International and online competition

Buyer Profile

Warsha mainly targets the highly educated and environmentally conscious segment of the community and people who are interested in art aged from 17 – 35. Our customer type breaks into three main groups:

The Environmentally aware

Maitha, 35

Working in a green consultancy firm

Always looking for an alternative green way to living, Maitha is subscribed to many of the collaterals that mail to the UAE. She is in constant debates in trying to convert people into her green ways.

Income 300,000+ aed

Creative people looking for unique pieces

Aziz, 23

Designer in a leading advertising agency in the UAE

Has the urge to create for a living. Aziz appreciates things that are creative and made with love. He spends a large portion of his time socializing in art galleries and art events. He is known having a good eye for seeing interesting and original things, and his friends always take his advice when placing an important purchase.

Income 150,000 aed

Highly educated

Rawda, 19

Highly educated

Rawda had the most general knowledge amongst people of her ago. She is well informed about the political scene, environmental issues, and local news.

Income 15,000 aed

Product

Warsha offers a wide range of products and services. Those products are produced according to the rules and regulations of environmental organizations.

The products will be supplied through stay at home and unemployed mothers and ladies.

Benefits: Consumers will be given the choice or purchasing a product that is one of a kind and does not harm the environment. They will also be doing that while helping to support stay at home mothers and ladies.

Differentiation: Our merchandise offerings are characterized as creative, unique, and environmentally friendly. The main feature that substantiates our products is its positive contribution to the community. Warsha gives the consumer a product that is one of a kind, produced with high quality standards, care, environmental consideration, and very competitive prices.

Price

• Selling price per unit 180 aed
• Cost of goods sold 74 aed
• Gross profit per unit 106 aed

Place

Warsha handcrafts will be placed in Dubai UAE. It will precisely be located in the midst of the community in Jumaira where the founder of Warsha already owns a retail store in that area.

Promotion

Through research it was concluded that word of mouth is the most affective form of exposure. Therefore, Warsha has come up with the bellow measures in order to reach exposure.

• Focus on cause related marketing.

Warsha was a sponsor of al Qasba World Environment Day Celebrations; where they were in charge of producing all the artwork that was affiliated with the event.

Warsha will annually continue to sponsor and produce all the artwork related to the annual Al Qasba World environment day event.

A budget of 10,000 is allocated for the production and sponsorship of this event.

• Focus on online social community website.

There is a huge exposure in the online field for any business. Today social website are considered important tools that could insure brand exposure. Warsha is subscribed in facebook, twitter, deviantart, and etsy.com. Subscription to all of those networks is free of charge.

• Circulations and mailing list.

Monthly promotions and advertising emails are sent to clients to notify them with the updates that are happening.

All the online circulations are going to be free of charge.

Publicity

Warsha aims to be publicized and featured in newspaper, magazines and other media for that focus on local news and community updates. As mentioned above Warsha would rather depend on word of mouth and other peoples reference than to advertise on its own. Bellow is a list of media forms that Warsha aims to be featured in:

• Emirates today
• The National
• Time out magazine
• Etsy.com

Philanthropy

Warsha was always interested in being part of cause-related marketing. One of the campaigns that warsha was part of was the annual Environmental Day Celebration where they have produced all the artwork for the event. Part of Warsha’s plan is to also host workshops for different age segments to teach them how to make things from waste, useful things as well as decorative art things.

Competition

Through research it was concluded that Warsha’s competitors are Etsy, S*uce, and Natoof.

Warsha’s Competitive Advantage

Warsha sets itself apart from the competition by creating a more personal product and emphasizing on the exclusivity of the product. Warsha’s distinctive competitive advantages are:

• Exclusivity of the product;
• Product Variety;
• Emphasis on eco-friendly produced goods.

Warsha’s philosophy is to provide the consumer with a large variety of green produced goods. As well as spreading awareness regarding the environment that in turn will create cause-related marketing for Warsha and therefore raise the brand awareness in the public and increase sales.

Short-term Tactics

• Increase subscriptions in online social networks such as twitter.
  • The increase popularity of those social networks creates a great marketing opportunity for any business. One of the advantages of being part of those social networks is the financial facilitation, for most of those websites facilitates a free of charge subscription.
• Sending monthly newsletters via e-mail.
  • Updates on new products, and environmental news and tips will be sent to our registered clients.

Long-term Tactics

• International exposure

Warsha Plans to have a solid based website that is not only known within the region but also internationally.

Financial Request: Capital to Expand Warsha to Into Warsha Handcrafts

Amount requested: 80,000 aed

The most important factor that contributes to any business is the ability to secure financing. The start-up capital of establishing Warsha was the owner’s contribution of 25,000 aed. The start-up capital was used for the following:

• License
• Office supplied
• Equipment
• Cash for operation

Having used the funds aforesaid, the company is interested now in the development of its facilities, production capacities and sales rates. The search of funds for such a purpose is not an easy task as far as the company is relatively new and has no actually shaped image in the area of international business.

The amount needed is also rather important for Warsha as the company has the clearly outlined plan of its short- and long-term strategic goals with the steps necessary to take to carry them out and the funds necessary for those steps. The outcomes of the possible additional funds, in case if Warsha finds an investor, are also approximately calculated. According to Warsha analysts, the funding required will allow more than a double growth of sales and income of the company.

Thus, Warsha seeks 80,000 aed in capital to support an expansion in the business. The expansion will include a retail store that will provide unique, eco-friendly products and design services. It is anticipated that this expansion will result in an increase in sale at a scale of 65% in the first year.

Revenue Model

Currently, the primary revenue generator of Warsha is the production of wedding invitation cards. Because weddings in the UAE are relatively big, and a large number of people are normally invited (ranging from 600 -1000 guests per wedding), invitation reach a large number of people. Invitations are normally labeled at the back with Warsha’s logo and contact information. However, through the research work it was concluded that a large number of people expressed hesitation when they learn that the cards are made in a design studio and not a proper retail store where they can visit and make their design choice. Therefore going forward, Warsha anticipates an increase in sales in terms of wedding invitations. The factors that will contribute this increase are:

• Displayed designs in store.
• Wider audience exposure.
• Increase brand awareness.

The first point will allow the closer cooperation of the company with its direct customers, i. e. people who either order the wedding invitation cards or receive them as guests. As far as the customers prefer the easy access to the objects of their choice, the placement of the possible variants of wedding invitation cards in various, mostly large retail, stores will provide for better feedback from the customers as for their demands and preferences.

This step will also allow Warsha to expose its goods to the wider audience as far as the customer bases of retail stores are the largest among all the kinds of trading enterprises because retail trade is what all customers need to satisfy their daily requirements. Finally, the shift in revenue model will allow the company to become more aware of the recent market trends not only in respect of huge orders for wedding invitation cards, but in respect of every single customer’s likes and dislikes as well.

Startup Expenses

Warsha

Sources of Capital

Owners’ Investment.

Buildings/Real Estate.

Capital Equipment List.

Income Statement Warsha

For the Year Ended December 31, 2008.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Financial Ratio

Growth and Exit Strategy

Growth

• Increase target audience to reach a younger age generation. It is easier to generate a community that is environmentally conscious when you target a younger generation.
• Join venture with an international company.
• Involve more suppliers and produce a more diverse range of product.
• Make Warsha more of a hang out place by introducing monthly workshops, an art café and a theatre where amateur films would be produced.

Exit Startegy

Warsha will use a simple and close to home exit strategy. Warsha will be divided into shares, which will be distributed, to the suppliers according to their contributions to Warsha across its time line.

Elevator Pitch Letter

Target Customer

Thus, Warsha is an environmentally friendly company whose activities are aimed at satisfying the demands of the specific social group that includes three distinctive sub-groups, i. e. environmentally aware people, customers with the delicate artistic taste, and the highly educated people. These are mostly the people with high income levels and the specific requirements towards the goods and services they want to obtain. Therefore, Warsha tries to provide its target customers with environmentally friendly and unique pieces of goods.

Products/Services Offered

The basic sphere of the company’s activity is the production of the wedding invitation cards and the supportive details that can be used in the wedding ceremonies or preparations to them. The wedding invitation cards are made out of the environmentally friendly, recycled materials through the procedure of handcraft. The ideas of cards’ execution are mostly creative and unique in their essence, meaning that there is no wedding card with the similar subject or idea of creation. Every customer ordering a card obtains a unique piece of handcraft aimed at both satisfying people’s artistic tastes and protecting the environment.

Size of the Opportunity

The recent financial initiatives carried out by Warsha are aimed at taking the great opportunity of expanding the handcraft of wedding invitation cards making to the mass production process that will benefit both the company and the environment. Finding the necessary 80, 000 aed for its modernization and improvements program, Warsha will be able to increase its production capacities and facilitate the protection of the environment through the use of larger amounts of environmentally harmful materials for recycling and producing its goods.

Company’s Competitive Advantage

Obvious from the above mentioned points is the fact that the competitive advantage of Warsha lies in the exclusivity of the goods and services it offers to its customers. In other words, what the company does is it produces the unique pieces of handcraft that can be neither reproduced nor copied by other companies dealing in the same segment of the market, i. e. services and goods related to family, wedding, etc. Therefore, Warsha is basically out of competition due to its uniqueness and the lack of companies in the market that can execute the same goods and services through the same technology as Warsha does.

Company’s Ability to Execute

The latter point adds to the credibility of the company’s ability to execute its business. In other words, the specific position in the market, where Warsha is almost out of the competition and has numerous competitive advantages, and the clear appeal to the specific, highly educated and artistically-aware audience, prove the fact that the company has a precise strategy and knows for certain what steps should be taken to fulfill the strategy mentioned. Clear understanding of goals and means of their achievement adds greatly to Warsha’s mastery in executing its business.

Quality of the Company’s Management Team

To the large extent, the aforesaid advantages of Warsha are ensured by the qualified and rather industrious management team of the company. The first point here is the ability of the management to follow the most updated market trends in respect of supply and demand, customers’ preferences and requirements, competition conditions, and the ability to find the additional funding for the expansion and modernization of Warsha’s production capacities. The recently planned increase of funding of the management and sales representatives’ teams constitute other pieces of evidence of the high quality of Warhsa’s management team.

Amount of Investment and Type They Are Requesting

Therefore, currently Warsha seeks for the additional funding and investment to achieve its strategic goals for the near future. The amount of the investment that Warsha needs equals to 80, 000 aed, while the type of the investment should be the direct investment with the opportunity presented to the company to have the full disposal of the investment provided for its strategic goals.

Funds Use

The very directions in which the additional investment will be used include the expansion of the business through the opening of a retail store to present Warsha’s goods and services to customers, the employment of additional number of workers, modernization of production processes and of the equipment used in the design studio of Warsha.

Exit Strategy

The exit strategy planned for the use in Warsha is the technique of simple and close to home exist that lies in the distribution of the company’s shares among the executive board, management, and ordinary employees so that to ensure that every person related to the company’s success obtains the respective share of income in case of company’s dissolution.

Potential Returns and Equity

Accordingly, the investment in Warsha is associated with the certain amount of potential returns and equity transactions. Thus, 65% growth of sales rates is foreseen by Warsha’s management in case if the required 80, 000 aed are found shortly. The investors are to get the respective part of Warsha’s shares according to the amount of money they invest and the further participation they are busy with in the performance of Warsha.

Financial Summary

The recent changes in the company’s strategic goals demand the additional funding of 80, 000 aed to be found to facilitate the expansion of Warsha’s business and open a retail store for the company’s work with its retail customers. Moreover, the planned increase in the numbers of managers and sales representatives and the sum for their funding (from 54, 000 in 2009 to 66, 000 aed in 2011 for managers, and from 60, 000 to 72, 000aed for sales representatives respectively) demand investment from outside as well.

The fact that the profit Warsha obtains from selling every unit of its production for approximately 180 aed equals 106 aed does not provide the company with enough funding nevertheless. Accordingly, Warsha seeks for the investment of 80, 000 aed to develop the business and achieve the expected growth of sales rates fro more than 65% already the next year.

Financial Summary. Warsha.