BUSINESS PITCH

This document seeks to project a potential business opportunity that exists within the country that remains mainly untapped; which this definitive proposal seeks to access through the establishment of a production facility for the MAKING OF WHITE CHALK (used on blackboards) to serve identified consumers of the product. Verifiable 2011 data figures indicate a desired monthly local sourcing quota of 50,000 boxes of white chalk for the Ghana Education Service (GES), of which only 18,000 of acceptable make is successfully sourced with the remaining quantity sourced from outside the country being only for the local sourcing quota. The market for the white chalk exists not only with the GES, as it must be noted that white chalk is the main tool for writing on boards in most pre-tertiary institutions across the entire country with the number of schools being conservatively given as12, 130 primary schools, 5,450 junior secondary schools, 503 senior secondary schools, 21 training colleges, 18 technical institutions, two diploma-awarding institutions and five universities. The market is seen to be potentially big, given that the demand for the white chalk is conservatively given as 1.5 million boxes of the product annually, of which for the GES alone can be verifiably stated as sourcing bulk of its stocks from outside the country. With such a seemingly big potential, it is becomes imperative to ascertain the reasons why the potentials that the product seems to offer are untapped, which would invariably prove a vital factor in determining the viability of the proposed venture. Verifiable statements have been made to the effect, providing reasons why local sourcing of the product is minimal. Key amongst them include: Lack of production capacity to meet the market demands, inability to produce to specification (packaging, nature and quality of the product), inability to deliver to deadlines, etc. The proposed business venture seeks to a local sourcing solution or alternative to bridge the gap between the demand and supply o the product. The strategic plan is to identify the key weaknesses in the existing production delivery processes and develop better alternative with the driving factors being basically Lower Production Costs, Improved Product Quality and Client Satisfaction/ Reliability through Continuous Improvement (CI) of operation/ production. A proposed action plan for development of the product is as snapshot below (with initial product timeline Task/ development Activity Project of 3-6mths; progressive production ramp-up of 18-24mths):
Timeline Detailed market analysis Establishing strategic Capital expenditure Initial Pdt. Production & Certify pdt. Acceptance for Full Production ramp-up (incl. Delivery to clients to specs. Payment Receipt Completion 5% 25% 45% 50% 55% 65% 85% 100% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

TYPICAL OPERATIONAL CYCLE & ACTION PLAN FOR PANEL WHITE CHALK