Business Plan

VC Society
William Hugo, Arsalan Zaidi, Aaisha Memon, and Noor Azab

December 08, 2015

Table of Contents

Business Plan

1. Introduction
2. Executive Summary
2.1. Principle Mission
2.2. Services Provided
2.3. Target Market
2.4. Competitive Advantage
2.5. Growth Plans
3. Mission, Strategies, etc. (Company, Strategy and Management Team)
3.1. Vision
3.2. Mission
3.3. Objectives/Goals
3.4. Keys to Success
3.5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs)
3.6. Strategies
4. Products and Services
5. Revenue Sources
5.1. Paid Per Click Advertising Google AdSense
5.2. Affiliate Program Amazon.com
6. Future Growth Opportunities
6.1. Creating niche Content
6.2. Online Classes
6.3. Books-Short Stories
7. Marketing Plan
7.1. Market Analysis
7.2. Competition
7.3. Customer Profile
7.4. Market Size, Sales & Share Projections
7.5. Advertising and Public Relations
8. Operations Plan
8.1. Location
8.2. Production
9. Management & Administration (Organization Plan)
9.1. Company Ownership
9.2. Managerial Style
9.3. Management
9.4. Administration
10. Financial Plan
10.1. Projected Cash Flow

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10.2. Start-up and Operating Budgets
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10.3. Operating Budget

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10.4. Accounting and Inventory Control System
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10.5. Cash Flow Projections
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10.6. Funding Requirements
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1. Introduction
The purpose of VC Society is to establish content based websites for the purpose of
collecting various current financial related information (i.e. current events that effect
financial markets, start-up info, technology, and community forums) from different
sources (i.e. main stream media, blogs, and other relevant sources), and providing it in a
single location, and generating revenue through advertisements and clicks.
This websites will develop a community of users by offering financial-based content free
of charge. Content will vary according to the "resources" that particular websites
provides; understanding of common financial terminology, articles, photos, illustrations,
videos, open source applications, how-tos, forums, and other yet to be determined
content. The goal of the website is to target as many people as we can to be more
informed about current events and how they impact our financial markets, as well how to
start a start-up business, and succeed for the long term.
Initially, VC Society will establish the following websites:

www.VC-Society.com - A site which will host all various financial

related news, freelance writers, and financial links.

www.VC-Society-finance.com - A site which will offer more advanced

financial related news and documents.

www.vc-society-startup.com - A site which will backup and store

various financial related videos, how-tos, and other related information.
The business is a limited liability company (LLC), which was registered on November
13, 2015. The LLC has four owners, William Hugo, Arsalan Zaidi, Aaisha Memon, and
Noor Azab. VC Society has four principals, each sharing equal interest in the company
(25/25/25/25).
VC Society is located and operated from: 1234 Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 12345.

2. Executive Summary
2.1.

Principle mission

Our principle mission is to develop a website where people of all different financial
knowledge to come to a single place to help them understand, and enhance their
knowledge of financial markets through videos, community forums, current events,
and other related sources. As well as entrepreneurs interested in start-up information
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through community forums, and resources that will be provided through articles and
videos. Our goal to help individuals with the resources from a single location to help
better their own lives as well as those around them.

2.2.

Services provided

The services that will be provided through these websites will range from a number of
different topics: including guides and information about how to start a company,
community forums for individuals of all different experiences to interact and discuss
lessons learned, and current events and news on things that may impact the
financial markets.

2.3.

Target Market

The current target market is all English speaking countries, and individuals from all
different knowledge levels of financial and business. From those that currently have
successful businesses to those individuals that want to start their first company. As
well as those individuals that want to learn more about the financial industry, and
those that have many years of experience in the industry.

2.4.

Competitive advantage

The competitive advantage that this website will have is that it will be a creditable
site resource for individuals to receive news and data from multiple locations all
consolidated in one location. Instead of going to multiple website to research and look
up current events.

2.5.

Growth Plans

Our plan for growth is to expand into the rest of the world, and have segments for
each country, and how their financial markets work.

3. Mission, Strategies, etc. (Company, Strategy and

Management Team)
3.1. Vision
VC Societys vision is to be an authoritative source of information, products, and
services on the web for financial education, news, and guidance. We will earn our
customers trust and following, by offering only the highest quality information,
products and services all free of charge.

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3.2. Mission
Our mission is to develop a website where people can come for free products and
services, which will help them understand, and enhance their knowledge of the
financial market in their professional and personal lives.

3.3. Objectives/Goals
To go more in depth about the project, VC Society, we will be using the SMART
model to lead us to the desired results.

Specific: The goal/objective is to become a trusted reliable

resource in the industry. In order to make that possible, the VC Society team
members: Noor Azab, Aaisha Memon, Arsalan Zaidi, and William Hugo will
build up on the website and companys authority and trust, both on and off site.
Establish valuable content/financial data and unique ways regularly as leaders to
target audience. Primary reason for the project VC Society is to keep the
population up to date with the current events occurring in the financial market
with enough resources to go in depth about the event.

Measurable: The company will know it is successful when this

website is used commonly as a trusted website in financial market. We want the
people to be able to trust the sources we provide referring our sites. Do not have
an exact time limit to how long we wish for this to take place, but we believe
within a year we will have enough sources, and continue to grow on from there
with viewers from not just Texas, but other states as well.

Attainable: Our plan is to create awareness and advertisements

about the services that the website offers. Also, increase the number of first time
visitors to the website by 10% and offer the first one hundred subscribers a deal
to, which it will make them want to visit often and rely on. The deal for the first
hundred subscribers will be a raffle for entry to win a consolation prize at the end
of the first month i.e. ipad, iwatch, or android based device.

Relevant (Realistic): Since the website for starters is going to

be used/published for English language speaking countries. The goal once the
website is created is to have at least up to fifty viewers/subscribers every month
including the clicks per/day.

Time Bound: Intend on going global after the website has

enough subscribers after three years to see the interests. In order to go world
wide we would need to take into account other markets, financial institutions and
not just our own. Also, we will need to have the website translated to be
available and useful to other languages/countries. Therefore, after a year and a
half of going global once the website is established, we will develop the software

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that will make the translation process more efficient with little to no error, or hire
personnel to translate content depending on target country.

3.4. Keys to Success

Keys to success for VC Society are:
High Quality Content. All websites will emphasize content, which is of the highest quality
to the target audience.
Value. People will only go to websites, which offer something of value. All of our websites
will emphasize value in the content and services provided.
Community. The success of this business depends greatly on the building of communities on
the web. Because the revenue sources are from advertising maximizing traffic on the
websites is critical to its success. By building communities around these topic specific
websites the sites will generate traffic and links from other sites.
Credibility. Since the websites being developed are in specialized fields and targeted
towards professionals and students, credibility is a key success factor.
Reputation. The websites need to generate organic traffic on the Internet through referrals
and word of mouth. Establishing a reputation as subject matter experts and providing high
quality services and products is key to the success of this business.
Usability. Providing products and services people want, even if its free, only works if the
users can easily find what theyre looking for. Ensuring the usability of the websites adds to
the likelihood of success in the business.

3.5. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

(SWOTs)

Strengths:
Principals have a combined total of 9 years of experience in website development and
generating traffic (HTML Coding, Website Design, SEO, Link Building and Article Writing
and Distribution).
Experience and knowledge in the subject matters on which the websites will be developed.
These subject matters are; finance, investment opportunities, economy, and start-up.
The content is being offered for free to readers.
Great marketing and financial analysis on hand free of charge.

Weaknesses
Funding is limited for this start-up.
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Used mainly by English speaking countries due to not having the sources for translation.

Opportunities
There are a limited number of websites, which have similar content.
Content-based websites is still at its infancy; this is a growing field in profiting from the
Internet.
As field grows, we will expand to worldwide with different languages.
Attract more users with great deals and reliable content.

Threats
Larger and better-funded companies can duplicate our products and service easily.
Competition to other financial services; however, we will be more effective because it is free
of charge.

3.6. Strategies
In order focus the development of the business; the following strategies will be
followed.
Develop websites with key search terms in the URL.
Develop content for websites. Leverage freelancers through sites such as www.elance.com to
develop content.
Build links through reciprocal links, link-building campaigns, article distribution, newsletters
and blog advertising. One way inbound linking campaigns will be sourced out through
www.elance.com. Blog links will be developed through sites such as www.wix.com. Articles,
which we dont write ourselves, will be outsourced through www.elance.com and will be
circulated through various article distribution websites and newsletters.
Build opt-in email subscription lists through enrolments on each of the websites and
distribute monthly or quarterly newsletters.
Continually add new content.
Continually add new services, features and products.

4. Products and Services

Since the business model is to generate advertising revenue from websites, VC Society
will provide products for free. In order for these free products to attract traffic to the
website they must be of the highest quality. The products the business will provide are:

Document Templates. High quality templates for high

demanded documents, which are easily understood and applied to the visitors

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needs and circumstances. The document templates will include instructions and
explanations, standard verbiage and real-life examples.

Finance Lessons. One of the websites will provide online

finance lessons. The lessons will include both audio and written versions, online
practice program and detailed breakdown and explanations of the finance
concepts. The unique approach to these lessons will be to give the student insight
into the tools they need to learn.

Articles. Articles which offer advice and guidance to users on

relevant topics. These articles will be located on the websites and distributed
through channels such as newsletters and article distribution sites.

Product Reviews. Reviews of products such as books,

applications, and other products will be provided on the websites.

5. Revenue Sources
VC Society will generate revenues through advertisements on the websites and
newsletters. This section identifies the advertising sources along with an estimate of the
annual revenues generated by each advertising source.
Based on the three primary websites identified in this business plan, the total expected
annual revenues starting after the first year is $157,000. This projection is a rough
estimate and will depend greatly on the effectiveness of building traffic to the three
websites. Additional revenue can be generated in the future as other services and products
are developed which leverage the websites.

5.1. Paid Per Click Advertising Google AdSense

Pay-per-click advertising through Google AdSense is expected to generate about
$128,000 per year in revenues. Relevant ads are generated by AdSense based on
the content of the website. The bids for relevant ads vary according to the topic.
We have based the following revenue estimates based on a studying each of the
three websites and determining overall traffic on similar websites. The
calculations for CPM are based from actual effective Cost Per Thousand earnings
as measured through test pages with similar content to what the live websites will
contain.
www.VC-Society.com
Page Views per Day:
Effective CPM:
Annual Revenue:

22,000
$2.50
$20,000

www.VC-Society-finance.com

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Page Views per Day:

Effective CPM:
Annual Revenue:

4,000
$28.75
$42,000

www.vc-society-startup.com
Page Views per Day:
10,000
Effective CPM:
$18.21
Annual Revenue:
$66,000

5.2. Affiliate Program Amazon.com

Amazon is often referred to as the founder of the online affiliate program. They
developed and perfected it at a time when online retail was at its infancy. On each
of the three websites we will include a books section where we will provide book
reviews along with the opportunity for people to purchase the books from
Amazon.
As we didnt have a method to create a pilot to determine projected revenues for
Amazon, we based our estimates on what other people have measured from their
websites. On average, actual revenues where Amazon.com affiliate program earns
about 1/5 of Google AdSense. Based on this we project Amazon revenues to be
approximately $25,000.

6. Future Growth Opportunities

We entrepreneurs know that business is dynamic and in order to succeed we need to be
able to make changes to the business according to market demands. This section
identified areas, which the business can expand into.

6.1. Creating niche content

Providing online questions to subscribers to gather input for possible expansion
opportunities for different content of interest.

6.2.

Online Classes
We will be providing online classes for various topics like finance, economics,
accounting, start-up, etc. By doing so we will have traffic on our website and that
would generate more revenues in the future.

6.3.

Books - Short Stories

Other ways that would make our business generate more revenue and future
growth is by making short stories in many chosen interesting books available for
the visitors to read.

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7. Marketing Plan
Marketing is key to the success of this business. The companys operations will center
around the marketing and image plans. Through our marketing, we will strive to be
visible. Investing in our image and building equity in it will accomplish this. The
company will set standards, which will be adhered to; through these standards the
company will become credible. Becoming visible and credible are the two main goals of
our marketing plan.

7.1. Market Analysis

A market analysis has not been performed; this is not required initially since we
will be selling products, which are already on the market. We will perform
market analysis for new product lines, which we will be developing. Market
analysis for these products will include surveying stores in our area, surveying
consumers, and researching demand for items through other sources.

7.2. Competition
An analysis of the competition has not been performed. During the initial start-up
of the business, an analysis of the competition will be performed. Information to
include in the analysis includes;
Identify the five nearest direct competitors.
How do they advertise?
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
How does their product differ from ours?
We will maintain a file on each of the five competitors. In this file we will keep
copies of their advertising and promotional materials, their pricing strategy, and
any other information, which can be collected.

7.3.

Customer Profile
Each of the three websites will target a different customer with no overlapping of
customers between the sites. Here we provide a high level profile of the customers
for each of the websites.
www.VC-Society.com
This website targets those who want to learn about finance. The target customer
is:
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Adults from all areas that want to learn more about finance to include students
currently enrolled in school such as high school or college
Business People who do business in start up companies, and corporations

www.VC-Society-finance.com
This website targets project managers. The target customer is:
Professionals whose job requires them to develop a finance project plan and are
looking for a starting point to develop the project documents

www.VC-Society-startup.com
This website targets small to medium sized businesspersons and managers. The
target customer is:
Start-up Business Owners who are planning to start a new business
Established Business Owners who own and operate small to medium sized
businesses
Managers both of businesses and corporations

7.4.

Market Size, Sales & Share Projections

The market size for people who want to be informed about financial news, and
tips and tricks is virtually unlimited as long as your able to educate those with
little understanding of the industry. Our market share growth will be limited by
two factors; market demand, and our ability to provide a high level of service and
content to our customers.

7.5. Advertising and Public Relations

The advertising budget will be well funded. Advertising will consist of online
registration with search engines, email and direct mail to established customers,
trade magazine advertisements.

8. Operations Plan
VC Society will operate out of the house of two of the principals of the corporation. This
base of operations is located at 1234 Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 12345. Since this is
an online business, this facility will house only the computer equipment needed to reach
the Internet and the company records.

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8.1. Location
Initially the business will be located at 1234 Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX
12345. It will be located in the residence of the primary principal, thus
minimizing the start up costs.
As the business grows, there is no geographic advantage to locating it at one
location over another. This is because the business is a completely online business
with no requirements to be tied to a specific physical location. As such, it can be
managed and operated from any global location.

8.2. Production
In order to conserve funds, where possible we will be producing our some
services in-house. In areas where we have limited skills, or where it can be
performed more efficiently elsewhere we will outsource to freelancers.

Website Development and Updates. HTML based websites

will be developed in-house, PHP based websites will be outsourced through
Elance.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO). All SEO activities will

be performed in-house except for link building. Link building will be outsourced
through Elance at a cost of $200 per 50 inbound one-way links.

Financial Concept Development. The development of the

Finance Concept lessons will be outsourced at the cost of $2000 per 10 lessons.
This includes the complete lesson along with an video version. Lessons will be
developed at a rate of two lessons per month.

Document Templates. All document templates will be

developed in-house.

Articles. All articles will be developed in-house or outsourced

to Elance.

9. Management & Administration (Organization Plan)

The management team consists of the four partners of the business; Aaisha Memon,
Arsalan Zaidi, Noor Azab, and William Hugo. The management team makes up the entire
staff for the company. Due to the nature of the company, hiring additional staff will not be
necessary.
During the initial start-up period for the company the owners will not receive salaries or
benefits. Salaries will be determined based on cash profitability and at no time will
salaries exceed fifty percent of the companys profit. The remainder of the profit will be
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reinvested into the company and used to pay off any outstanding debt. Salaries will be
equal for all officers of the company. Benefits will be evaluated after the company
becomes profitable, this will likely be outsourced to an Human Resource type company.

9.1. Company Ownership

The company is owned equally by four persons; Aaisha Memon, Arsalan Zaidi,
Noor Azab, and William Hugo. Upon initial incorporation each person will be
granted 25% ownership of the company. Transfer of ownership can be made as
either a sale or gift. All costs associated with transferring ownership will be
incurred by the person from the ownership is being transferred. First choice to
purchase ownership will be given to existing principals.

9.2. Managerial Style

Decisions Making. Aaisha Memon, Arsalan Zaidi, Noor Azab, and William
Hugo will be the final decision maker for all business decisions.
Project Management. Project management will be according to the PMI
PMBOK standards and will follow that process. Gantt charts will be used for
schedule management.
Record Keeping. We will use QuickBooks to manage our financial records.
Other electronic means will be used to track records which cannot be captured in
QuickBooks. Whenever possible, all records should be made web accessible.
Communication. Communication within the company will be primarily oral or
through emails. For any communications for which a record is desired will be
made through emails. Communication external to the company will be primarily
through emails.

9.3. Management
The management team consists of the four principals of the company. Arsalan
Zaidi is the President and Director of Information Technology, Aaisha Memon is
the Director of Finance, Noor Azab is the Director of Marketing and William
Hugo is the Director of Operations.
The President is responsible for overseeing the overall operation of the company.
The President ensures that the companys vision is pursued, that goals are set and
followed and the companys strategy is followed. The President reviews the
Business Plan periodically to confirm that the plan is current, still applies to the
companys needs, and that the company is following the plan.

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The Director of Finance is responsible for maintaining all financial records,

ensuring that the company complies with all tax laws and provides financial
reports to the management.
The Director of Marketing is responsible for the marketing of the company, its
products. Marketing includes product development, creating and distributing
newsletters, link building and any other marketing needs that arise.
Director of Information Technology (IT) is responsible for developing and
maintaining all IT systems including; website, desktop/laptop computers,
applications and search engine optimization (SEO).
The Director of Operations is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the
business. This includes ensuring that inquiries are answered, content is maintained
on the websites and the overall operation of the business continues in an
organized and proficient manner.

Figure 9.1 Organizational Chart

9.4. Administration
Since this business is being managed and operated by four persons, administrative
responsibilities will overlap. Primary areas of responsibility and associated tools
are listed in figure 9.2, Administrative Responsibilities.

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Figure 9.2 Administrative Responsibilities

Administrative Task
Accounting and Inventory.
Payroll and Taxes
Product Development
Link Building
Advertising
Web Page Design
Web Page Development
and Updates
Web Server
Content Updating on Web
Site
Day to Day Administrative
Functions

Administrator
President
Director of Finance
Director of Marketing
Director of Marketing
Director of Marketing
Director of Marketing
Director of Information
Technology (IT)
Director of Information
Technology (IT)
Director of Operations

Tools
QuickBooks
Outsourced
MS Word
Elance
Google Adwords
Wix.com
Wix.com

Director of Operations

Wix.com

Amazon
Wix.com

10. Financial Plan

This financial plan conservatively projects the overall finances of the corporation.
Although many of the projections are based off pilot programs and statistical averages,
the projections are merely approximations. The success of this business is determined by
its ability to offer enough free products such that the websites generate enough traffic to
result in substantial advertising revenue.

10.1.

Projected Cash Flow

The projected cash flow is based on the assumption that there are no sales, but
through Google AdSense, agreements with other sites (forbes.com, economist,
Bloomberg weekly, etc.) for Pay Per Clicks.

10.2.

Start-up and Operating Budgets

The company will be funded by an initial loan of $20,000 from the principal,
Kickstarter. The cost associated with the start-up of the business is listed
below in Figure 10.1, Start-up Budget.

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Item

Category

One Time Cost

Business Incorporation Filing

Register Internet Domain Names (2
years)
QuickBooks Accounting Software
Corporate Seal and Stock Certs.
Web Hosting (wix.com)
Content for website 2 - Website
Design Services (wix.com)
Content for website 1 - First 10
freelance articles
Content for website 3 - archive and
data backup (amazon web services)
Example for Content for website 3
(amazon web services)
Link Building

Legal
Marketing

$200
$0

$25

Software
Legal
Web Hosting
Web Hosting

$200
$100
$25
$25

$25
$25

Content

$2,000

$667

Content

$0

Content

$0

$.007 per
GB
$7 per 1000
GB
$300

$2,550

$1049

Marketing

Total

Recurring Cost
(per mo.)

Figure 10.1 Start-up Budget

10.3.

Operating Budget

The monthly operating budget is based on known operating expenses on a

monthly basis. The costs associated with running the business on Monthly
Operating Budget.

10.4.

Accounting and Inventory Control System

We will use QuickBooks Professional accounting software to maintain our
accounting and inventory records.

10.5.

Cash Flow Projections

Cash flow projections presented here are based on known start-up and
ongoing expenses. The cash flow projection does show the financial
operational health of the company. Expected cash flow projections are
presented in graphical format in Figure 10.4, Cash Flow Projections.

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Figure 10.4 12-Month Cash Flow Projection

Figure 10.4 3-Year Cash Flow Projection

10.6.

Funding Requirements
The principals of the corporation will provide funding for the start-up and first
year of operations. Initially www.Kickstarter.com will provide the $20,000 for the
initial start-up. No additional funding will be required.

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