Business Plan

2018-2019
-
255 Red Gate Road
St. Charles, IL 60175

Phone: 331-228-4400
Twitter: @Brillare_vei
Website: www.brillarevei.com

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Business Rationale
About the Business
Company Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Management Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Organizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-7

Directing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-8
Controlling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

SWOT Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

External Environment
Current Economic Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Industry Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9-10

Real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10

Virtual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Competitive Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Marketing Plan
Target Market & Market Segmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Marketing Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13

Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Discussion of Business Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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Financial Planning
Break-Even Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Cash Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Balance Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Income Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Payroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Appendix
Loan Amortization Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Bank Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Executive Summary
Founded in October of 2018, Brillare is a company dedicated to creating jewelry and accessories
for our customers that they can feel proud to wear. We understand that no one should ever be restricted
from looking their best that is why we believe in providing fair and honest prices for our customers. We
aim to eliminate the stigma that comes with high end jewelry being unaffordable that plagues quality
jewelry on the market today.

The vision for Brillare, when we created this company, was to nurture the environment which
gives us the precious materials we need to create, while seamlessly organizing an easy, efficient, and
enjoyable way to get the best quality jewelry for the best price. This promise is one that we strive to keep
with every piece of jewelry and accessory that we create. We do not believe that our customers should be
forced to choose between either high end jewelry or price at the cost of the environment.

We understand the social and environmental responsibility and the impact that we hold as a
company and want to do everything in our power to protect and preserve our environment and
community, if it be through choosing the use safe and clean sources for our raw materials or speaking out
on a social and environmental issues. That is what sets us apart. There is an abundance of VE companies
that sell high end, quality jewelry; however, where they lack is their affordability combined with eco-
friendliness.

As a new company, our financial team has come up with some projected total revenues for this
year totaling around $985,959.00. We were able to project this number by combining our expected
revenue from online, tradeshow, and contract sales. Our teams work hard to please customers and make
exceptional sales.

Brillare was founded on the idea of uniting people and fostering joy in others’ lives, a cause that
our company still holds dear. With every piece of jewelry we craft and accessory we design, we keep in
mind our customers and what they will be proud to wear. Every day, our entire staff focuses on making
the best choices for the good of our consumers to help them shine smarter.

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Business Rationale
Problem Statement:
Our customer is a business woman looking for a high quality necklace for her upcoming
corporate business meeting. She is trying to find a nice, flashy necklace for a reasonable price, but she
can't seem to find anything that is not overly expensive or that looks too cheap. This is because there is
no market for high quality jewelry for an affordable price which makes our customer feel very frustrated,
and hopeless.

Customer Empathy:
An example of the type of customer needs we are targeting to fulfill: someone who is frustrated
with finding accessible, stylish jewelry within their desired budget. Because of this, we decided to have
three tiers of jewelry (taking into account both price and quality) and, we have decided to make an option
to rent the highest tier (luxury) goods, so that they are affordable and also fit the need of the consumer.

Ideal State:
Luckily for her, our company offers jewelry that isn't only set at affordable prices, but also looks
sleek at the same time. It is crafted out of the finest metals and jewels. Brillare is the true first company
that sells high quality jewelry for an affordable price.

Company Goals:
• Create 2-3 new products each month to keep the product line fresh
• Provide exemplary customer service, with a 90% or higher satisfaction rate.
• Increase revenue every month by at least 15%.
• Hold business meetings bi-weekly to make sure everyone is contributing and to ensure that we
are all on the same page
• We will create a customer feedback system, in order to communicate with our customers and
change anything they see as a negative aspect of our products, in order to ensure they are happy
and willing to return as customers.

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ABOUT THE BUSINESS

Company Overview:
Brillare is a first year company founded in October of 2018 with the intent of selling high quality,
affordable and sustainable jewelry. We aim to never limit our customers from having the opportunity to
look their best, which is why we prioritize our pricing to make it reasonable and fair. Located at 255 Red
Gate Rd, St. Charles, Illinois, Brillare is built by twenty five strongly encouraged and devoted employees
whose only goal is to succeed and leave every customer satisfied with their services.

Mission Statement:
At Brillare, we aim to provide our customers with fashionable and affordable jewelry. Our
promise is to help our customers shine smarter, we pride ourselves on having everything you need for
the price you can afford.

Management Functions:
Planning
Brillare understands the importance of setting company goals. Our goals range from short to long
term that will help motivate further innovation and success. In the short term, we will need to focus on
building up our brand and reaching out into the VE network. We would like to attend the Southern
Regional Trade Show to increase our sales for the start of the year, as well as hopefully meet new clients
and work out our brand strategy. To get the sales started, we are developing a new website that will
feature our wide ranging product line. Within the company, we would like everything to get started off
smoothly. A goal is to develop a company handbook for all employees that outlines the policies and
procedures. In the long term, we are looking forward to incorporating new items into our product lines.
Continuing to expand and grow as a company is a huge focus point.
Organizing
Brillare is organized using a three tier system. The first tier includes the Chief Executive Officer
(Shea Flood). Being the highest ranked executive at the firm, Ms. Flood manages the overall well-being
of the firm. The CEO’s role within the firm is being in charge of the daily management decisions as well
as providing the framework that will lead to the company's’ success. The second tier includes the Chief
Administration Officer (Ryan Swift), Chief Financial Officer (Dom Mastrangeli), Chief Operating Officer
(Dillon Leahy), and the Chief Marketing Officer (Dillon Milani). The role of the chief position includes
guiding their departments with knowledge and resources to smoothly run the business. Each department

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head is tasked with taking care of their own aspects of the firm and answers directly to the Chief
Executive Officer. Chiefs were hired based on their skill sets and willingness to lead. They are expected
to assist their departments in everyday tasks and answer any questions that may arise. The third tier
includes all the Representatives for each department. They continuously drive the firm forward, with
hard work daily that helps Brillare succeed. Throughout the year, some departments may have more
work than others. Brillare tries to maximize efficiency by allowing the flexibility through our tier system
for everyone to work together.

Directing
Brillare employees are expected to work hard and perform to the best of their abilities. Our
company tries to maintain constant communication with each other through the use of a website as well
as company meetings. Chiefs are responsible for creating the agendas for members in their department
at our monthly meetings. This allows each department to assign specific duties to their department
members based off of their strengths. As a firm, we use Google Classroom for announcing information
and tasks as a way to electronically see what we need to accomplish. All employees are welcome and
encourage to discuss with each other since chemistry is important to the advancement of the company.
If our customers have any questions or concerns, we have trained our staff to handle these
matters in a timely and respectable fashion. Customer satisfaction is essential to the success of Brillare.

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Controlling
The firm will monitor employee progress through monthly updates on the employee professional
portfolios. Through this process, it allows the company to assess the productivity of each employee. We
plan on monitoring growth of each employee to see their areas of strengths and weaknesses, as well as
where they can improve upon. Each month, the firm awards an employee with the employee of the
month, based off the employees’ performance and production. If there is a lack of improvement
throughout the progress of the year, the Chiefs will discuss on how to handle the issues in a serious
manner.

SWOT Analysis:
Our firm prides ourselves on providing fashionable and affordable Jewelry. Our potential biggest
strength is affordability and sustainability which sets us apart from other companies. Today’s market
makes customers compromise one of those aspects, Brillare doesn’t. Our firm contains a large number
of employees, enabling us with a variety of skills that separate us from the competitors.
Being a 1st year firm, we have to start from the bottom and build up our customer base. As well
as this, majority of our firm is embarking on their first year in the VEI program. In order to eliminate this
threat, our team of experienced VE students will need to work together will the less experienced
employees to teach them the tasks and skills that they need to thrive.
Brillare provides a wide selection for VE employees to spend their discretionary income. We
bring our customers a unique buying option with buying our jewelry. With the upcoming Southern
Region Trade Show, we will be able to market our product and services to other firms to gauge their
interest. This trade show will allow us to grow our capital for the beginning of the year. With this we will
try to start up and increase the volume of sales to our in person clients as well as our online community.
With creating a new company, time will be our biggest threat. Getting into the flow of work will
take away from the time that we can work on our marketing and promotion of our company. There are
already well-established companies in the world, so we need to establish our brand amongst the
competitors.

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External Environment

Current Economic Conditions:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for September 2018 was 3.7%. This
means that a very high amount of people are employed. With a lot of people having a steady flow of
income, they will be more willing to spend money on accessories like the products we will sell. We offer
the perfect mix of products for when consumers want to up their style and celebrate their
accomplishments at their job. The GDP also increased by 4.2% in the second quarter of 2018. This is
well above the national goal for GDP growth rate, meaning that the economy is performing above the
government's standards. With the GDP growing at such a fast rate, more goods will be produced and the
demand for goods will increase, so our company has a very high chance of being successful in this
market.

“U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
www.bls.gov/.

“United States GDP Growth Rate 1947-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar.” United States GDP Growth
Rate | 1947-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar, 2018, tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth.
In-text Citation
Real
The jewelry industry has plenty of competition ranging from small to large companies. In the world there
are lots of jewelry companies like Chopard, Bulgari, Piaget SA, Graff diamonds, and the list goes on.
Many of the popular companies in the United States included Rolex, Tiffany & Co. and Jared. Jewelry
companies in the US have brought in the most revenue with $17,882,000. The jewelry market is
expected to grow 2% annually; however, we have advantages that other companies do not offer. With low
shipping cost (we ship worldwide) and a wide variety of products that are unique, we stand out to our
customers. Unlike other companies we offer customization options; thus, allowing customers to see if the
product is to their taste. We have products that fits all markets, thus making our products in trend.
Rate of Change of GDP- 4.2% annual rate
Consumer spending- Consumer Spending in the United States increased to 12842.02 USD Billion in the
second quarter of 2018 from 12722.84 USD Billion in the first quarter of 2018.
Rate of inflation/deflation-1.9% through September 2018

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Balance of trade- The U.S. trade deficit increased to a six-month high of USD 35.2 billion in August
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-spending

https://www.statista.com/outlook/13010200/109/jewelry/united-states
Virtual
While there are over 5,000 Virtual Enterprise firms around the world, only 12% of those are
located in the United States. Virtual Enterprise firms vary from clothing to travel to food, WE truly had it
all. There are 63 clothing and accessories firms in the United States, of those 63 firms, there are 2 other
firms that have a focus on jewelry: Bryans Kloset and Cloud 9 Designs are our direct competitors.
Bryan’s Kloset and Cloud 9 Designs have a focus on clothing and other product along with a category of
jewelry on their website. We are dedicated to making sure our customers will have the best jewelry for
the best price. In an effort to cater to our customers that have a multitude of interests, Brillare’s main
focus is to sell a wide range of products from watches to chains and other accessories, to cater to our
customers that have a multitude of interests. With each VEI student making approximately $2,500 bi-
weekly, we’re looking at an annual salary of about $65,000. With a high spending power and a large
interest in the clothing and accessories market, were primed for a successful business year.
Sources- VEI Portal

Competitive analysis:
Brillare is a new innovative concept that is different than any other company. With this being
said, Brillare faces no direct competitors in the virtual business field, only competitors who have sub-
departments in accessories and jewelry. Brillare has a diverse selection of only accessories such as:
watches, glasses, belts, cologne, and etc. In addition, in the virtual marketplace there is also a limited
number of indirect competitors as well. Companies such as Cloud nine designs, Brian's Kloset, and
Waybound all represent the indirect competitors who sell clothes but also some sort of jewelry accessory
as well.
In the real world companies such as Tiffany, Kay, and Rolex are all direct competitors to Brillare
with their related sales of jewelry, watches and other accessories. However, Brillare differs from these
companies by providing a diverse variety in our product line and our effective pricing compared to our
real world direct competitors.
Sources: VEI Portal

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Marketing Plan

Target Market and Market Segmentation:

Demographics: Customers are between 15-18 years old, and earn on average between $10-15 per hour
and $15,000-75,000 in annual salary

Geographic’s: All states with firms in VEI because we are an E-Commerce site.

Psychographics: We will be selling to Generation Z students who traditionally are addicted to their
phones and social media accounts. Most of our customers shy away human interaction, and rely on the
internet for instant satisfaction, so when they do go out to social functions they will want to look good and
look like their role models and things trending in pop culture.

Socioeconomics: Most VE employees within our secondary market are from middle class households
and have incomes of $35,000-$70,000.

Marketing Mix:
Product
Here at Brillare we strive to help our customers achieve maximum confidence through
exceptional clothing accessories. We sell high demand accessories to people in need of a good outfit.
Not only do we only sell authentic items, but we also take the hassle out of finding the right accessory for
the right occasion. Our items are specifically unique as we only sell items with diamonds that are not
blood diamonds or involved in diamond conflict in Northern Africa. We are currently the only VEI firm
in the nation that is actively working to eliminate blood diamonds from the market. When your in a rush
to look good for a special occasion like; a wedding, an anniversary, or even a business outing don’t fret
Brillare has you covered. At Brillare we sell anything from neckties to Rolexes. Anything you need we
can get it for you with a great price and no hassle!

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Pricing
Here at Brillare we made it easy for anyone to purchase our products. As a company we have 3
tiers of products. Each tier is different based solely on the price, and not the quality of the product. Our
tiers include; Luxury, Business, and Costume. Luxury being the highest tier will have products ranging
anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000. This tier is for your top tier spenders, such as chief level employees,
who have the money and are willing to invest in our products to enhance their wardrobe. Next tier we
offer is Business and here our products range anywhere from $250 to $500. This tier is for the person
who is in need of an item for a special occasion or outing, but is not willing to spend to get a Luxury tier
item. The quality of the items will not change but the effect the item has on your wardrobe will. Last but
not least you have the costume tier where products will range anywhere from $100 and below. We
incorporated this tier because we feel as though our competitors miss out on a large market by not
including it. Customers still want to enhance their wardrobes even if they don’t have a large budget. With
the costume tier our customers can enhance their wardrobe without having to worry about breaking the
bank.

Placement
Due to the young age of our firm, we will rely heavily on non VEI contractual sales, in order to
get our products in stores and get a large sum of guaranteed sales. Our projects have non VEI contractual
sales accounting for 75.04% of our sales ($652,500). We are projecting that another large chunk of our
sales will come from online sales. We are looking at online sales accounting for 19.2% of our revenue
this year ($166,992). The final 5.75% of our projected revenue will come from the trade show. We
predict that these sales will equal out at about $50,000. We will not be using an outside delivery firm, as
our HR department will be responsible for the shipping our virtual products via email.

Promotion
1. Social Media - Brillare is destined to promote our diverse products in a more relaxed
environment and ultimately has the capacity to connect with potential customers. Social Media is
the number one source of receiving information and delivering information to people throughout
the world. Our business will post various updates on new products and different discounts on
social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
2. Loyalty Points - Loyalty is a virtue that Brillare values with the utmost respect. We will promote
our various products by using a point system that ultimately allows our customers to gain points
after each purchase and eventually use them to buy a wide variety of products based on the point

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value and price. This will allow customers to come back and purchase more of our products
which helps both us and them in the long run.
3. Commercial/Advertising - Brillare will create multiple advertisements and commercials to get the
word out about the different kind of things we are selling and what discounts we have to offer.
We will make this form of promoting something the customer can hook on to it and remember
so that the information about our product will spread faster to people throughout the world.
4. Commercial (continued) - We will also use emotional appeal in order to entice our customers by
informing them of the issue of conflict diamond mining and blood diamonds and what we are
doing to prevent them. We will inform our customers that buying from us is good for us, them,
and for the exploited diamond miners in Northern Africa. We believe that this will be an
extremely effective campaign and we will be able to give back with portions of our sales.

Positioning
For all high school students looking to shine with their accessories, Brillare is the mixed company
that can provide you any type of jewelry from any ranges of price that helps best fit our customers’ needs.
Accessories can come in many different varieties such as watches, necklaces, sunglasses and frames and
we use a unique pricing strategy of a tiered system meeting the needs of all people. Brillare positions
itself to be the company that can provide both great price and great products in a market with very few
companies that do what we do.

Discussion of Business Risks

As a first year VEI firm we will be needing to take out a loan to cover our early operating costs.
This will cause us to be heavily in early debt, which could cause us to not be able to pay for luxuries such
as office parties and things such as matching 401Ks. This could affect the moral of our employees, but
we will counteract that fact by throwing low budget parties and incentives such as pizza Fridays paid for
by the chiefs when we complete all the work we need to get done, and the use of public praise of our
employees. Although we are taking the risk of taking a large loan out and starting out in debt, we believe
that in the long run, we will be succeeding morally do to our low price strategies to keep employees
happy and taking out the loan will help us to succeed economically.

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Financial Planning:
Break Even Analysis

Cash Budget
Our numbers are based off of
previous years’ financials of similar
companies within the VEI corporation as
well as other existing companies in our
industry, such as Signet Jewelers (Owners
of Kay Jewelers and Jared). These
numbers are also based off of fixed
expenses which will be paid monthly.
Additionally, our revenue fluctuates
because upon when we predict sales such
as during the trade shows we expect higher revenue. Also during the month of
December we plan to conduct a deal with a local jeweler to buy a large sum of product
from our company. For this reason of fluctuation in sales numbers tax revenue and
payments are directly impacted. Additionally, because our sales team has determined
to have a limited inventory our products will need to be bought accordingly causing
merchandise inventory to fluctuate based upon sales.

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Balance Sheet
Our projections are based off of previous years’ financials of similar companies within the VEI
corporation as well as other existing companies in our industry, such as
Signet Jewelers (Owners of Kay Jewelers and Jared). In regards to our
current situation, at this point we have not yet set up channels for selling our
products. This has caused for our assets, liabilities, and equity to be
dominated by money we plan to acquire from other sources. This includes
our seed money in addition to our loan and our seed money. However, we
plan to be up and running soon to start generating business.

Income Statement

Our numbers are based off of previous years’ financials of similar companies within the VEI
corporation as well as other existing companies in our industry, such as Signet Jewelers (Owners of Kay
Jewelers and Jared). Additionally, our revenue fluctuates because upon when we predict sales such as
during the trade shows we expect higher revenue. Also during the month of December we plan to
conduct a deal with a local jeweler to buy a large sum of product from our company.

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Payroll
Our numbers are based off of previous years’ financials of companies within the VEI corporation
such as Mozzafiato. We also based these numbers off of other similar startups in the accessory industry
in our area.

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Appendix

Loan Authorization

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Appendix

Bank Balance

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