A-Plus Business Plan - APA

Running head: A-PLUS BUSINESS CONSULTING BUSINESS PLAN

A-plus Business Consulting Business Plan Name Institution

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A-PLUS BUSINESS CONSULTING BUSINESS PLAN

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Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................3 The Company...................................................................................................................................3 The Market.......................................................................................................................................4 Financial Plan.................................................................................................................................4 1.1 Mission......................................................................................................................................4 Vision...............................................................................................................................................5 1.2 Strategic Plan.............................................................................................................................5 1.2.1 The Management Team...........................................................................................................5 1.2.2 Market Positioning.................................................................................................................6 1.2.3 Market Segmentation..............................................................................................................6 1.3 SWOT Analysis.........................................................................................................................6 Competitor Analysis.........................................................................................................................7 1.4 Pricing, Distribution and Communication.................................................................................7 1.4.1 Implementation Plan...............................................................................................................7 1.4.2 Products and Services.............................................................................................................7 1.4.3 1.5

Pricing, Promotions and discounts....................................................................................8 Financial Information...........................................................................................................8

1.6 Plan Evaluation..........................................................................................................................8 1.7 Key performance Metrics..........................................................................................................9 References......................................................................................................................................10


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A-plus Business Consulting Business Plan 1.0 Executive Summary A-Plus Consulting is a startup business consultancy firm specializing on the provision of comprehensive business solutions to businesses around the globe. In its specialty, the venture will focus on the provision of IT, Risk Management, Accounting and Auditing, and Project Management solutions to firms operating within the full range business cycle. In its approach, the venture aims at bringing a new breath to business consulting as it will purely focus on working with professionals. In addition to this, the venture aims at working with clients of both the low and the high end with a key focus on the low end ventures requiring such services as described in our core operations (Sloman, 2009). As he notes, the services’ demand is ever high. The Company A-Plus Consulting comprises of a team of five business consultants. Each of the consultants has specialty savvy in a particular discipline: IT, business risk, accounting, auditing, and project management. In addition to this, the services will be offered for sale both offline and online. In its operations, the venture will specialize in offering the clients the forenamed services as enlisted below: a) Provision of IT infrastructure, web designing, hosting and cloud computing, as well as online and offline business security; b) Provision of risk management, risk auditing, as well as outsourced risk management training services; c) Accounting services; d) Financial auditing services, forensic audit services, and financial reporting services; e) Project management and project audit services, project monitoring and evaluation, and the related capacity building services.


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The legitimacy of A-Plus will be based on its registration as a Limited Liability Partnership. All the five partners will further be expected to make equal contribution of the capital required in kick-starting the core business operations. The Market A-Plus’ target is to work with the local market as well as with the larger international market. In its strategy, the venture plans to serve the US market, where it will be headquartered. By the end of the first year, the company targets having operations in Canada, and entering the Brazilian and UK markets by the end of the third year. With the core competitors being large international firms: Earnest & Young and KPMG (Claudius, & Maxwell, 2012), whose market segmentation is mainly large firms, A-plus targets working with small companys and start-ups with the prospect for large market players by the end of the first year. By remaining objective and delivering exceptionally high quality services, A-Plus prospects enjoying a large market penetration by the end of the third year. Laudon and Traveler (n.d) note that this is essential for business success for every start-up. Financial Plan Each of the five partners will be obliged to contribute $20,000 towards the required $100,000 capitation required for the capitation of the business operations. Through this, core business operations will be set on the roll. In addition to this, the venture plans to secure a 10year loan from ABC Bank. The fund will be used in the construction of A-Plus Center where the business operations will be relocated to at the end of the first year in operation. 1.1 Mission To be a premier and proffered business consulting service provider in the region.


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Vision To offer comprehensive services to within the market through creating sustainable business operations in the areas of specialization 1.2 Strategic Plan 1.2.1 The Management Team Mr. Christian San, an IT expert with 16 solid years of experience in the field and past experience at Google and IBM, will head the IT services docket. He will further double as the firm’s CEO. On the other hand, Ms. Edna Surf, a risk management specialist with 12 years of experience at Munich Risk Consultancy, UK, will be in charge of the risk management unit. She will also double as the firm’s deputy CEO. The Accounting and Auditing unit will be headed by Mr. Alex Simmer. Mr. Simmer brings onboard a wealth of expertise in the field with over 25 years in Earnest & Young. At Earnest &Young, Mr. Simmer headed the Accounting unit for 8 years before being moved to the audit unit where he worked for 17 years. On this unit, he will be assisted by Ms. Felmer who brings on board 6 years of experience as an auditor with KPMG. Ms. Felmer will further head the business operations and public relations unit. Lastly, the Project management unit will be headed by Ms. Summer T., whose expertise spans from project management to quality assurance. She will, thus, head the project management docket as well as being in charge of quality assurance. The venture will also recruit the head of human resource unit, 3 professional accountants, 2 auditors, 4 IT specialists, 2 qualified risk specialists, and 3 project management specialists. They will facilitate the running of the core business operations. A company secretary cum receptionist will also be hired.


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1.2.2 Market Positioning A-Plus targets offering its services mainly to start-ups across the U.S with prospects of expanding to new markets by the end of the first year. Our services are in high demand; hence, it is expected that the firm will be able to deliver high quality services in all the areas of specialty. 1.2.3 Market Segmentation A-Plus aims at operating its operations both online and offline. In this regard, its core services will be offered to the clients online in real-time. However, delivery of offline products such as IT infrastructure will also be done. In case of any training, A-Plus will host webinars with its clientele. His will not only cut on its operational costs but also enhance A-Plus’ efficiency. Video conferencing facilities will also be used in reaching the clients. During the first year, the core target market will mainly be composed of start-up companies with less than three years of operational experience. However, A-Plus targets reaching 30% of large firms in its clients by the end of its second year while attaining at least 50% balance between large firms and start-up firms by the end of the third year. 1.3 SWOT Analysis A-Plus has sufficient skills for running all the core business activities. Below is a SWOT analysis matrix. Strength/Opportunities

Weakness/Threats

Availability of highly qualified staffs

Lack of adequate financial resources.

Access to modern and latest technologies in all

Lack of adequate research and market

specialty areas.

feasibility on the core areas. operation.

A-PLUS BUSINESS CONSULTING BUSINESS PLAN Excellent market linkages for the first clients.

7 Lack of adequate human capital/staff.

Existence of many start-up companies in the region. Competitor Analysis Competitors Earnest & Young

Has Global operations and financially stable. Sufficient staff.

KPMG

Has Global operations and financially stable.

Startplex Consultants

Sufficient staff (Claudius, & Maxwell, 2012). Offers similar services. Availability of financial resources.

1.4 Pricing, Distribution and Communication. 1.4.1 Implementation Plan In implementing the business plan, all the stakeholders will be required to contribute their resources as agreed. This will be important as it facilitates the realization of the company’s core mandates and obligations. 1.4.2 Products and Services A-Plus will mainly specialize on the delivery of services in the fields of accounting, auditing, IT, risk management, and project management. In addition to this, the company will also deal in the supply, installation, and commissioning of IT infrastructure.


1.4.3

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Pricing, Promotions and discounts

1.4.3.1 Pricing and Distribution tiers The prices for various services will be set based on the workload assessment by the head of the specific department and also based on the international pricing standards. On the other hand, distribution of the services will mainly be done via web correspondence, webinars, video conferencing, in-house training for the clients, as well as physical delivery of the physical goods/products. Products and services will also be marketed via the company’s website. 1.4.3.2 Communication and Public relations Official communication will be done from the company’s communication center as regulated by the company receptionist. Further authorization of any official communication to external parties shall be done from the public relations unit. Internal communication will be done using both the top-down and down-top approaches. Marketing will be done via online advertising and newspaper advertising in the Buzz magazine. More to this, correspondence through the CRM facility will also be done in tracking customer satisfaction and well as generating new sales leads. According to Smith (2011), online transactions are almost inevitable in the modern day business world. 1.5

Financial Information

1.6 Plan Evaluation Evaluation of the company progress will be done on quarterly basis. This will involve evaluation of the goals met over the period against the target goals set prior to the start of the period. Annual performance review will also be done at the end of every fiscal year.

A-PLUS BUSINESS CONSULTING BUSINESS PLAN 1.7 Key performance Metrics  Improved customer satisfaction  Increased sales volumes especially for the IT infrastructure  Improved customer response towards our services  Increase in sales leads and references

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References Claudius, R.P & Maxwell, G. (2012). Trading the world: Economics of scale and online operations. Journal of Economics and Trade, V.(42). P.134 – 156. Laudon, K.C. & Traveler, C.G. (n.d). E-commerce: Business, Technology, and Society. Pearson Publishers, 3rd Ed. Retrieved May 27, 2014 from http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_laudon_ecommerce_3/. Smith, A. (2011) E-Commerce: A new way of doing business. New Jersey: Prentice & Hall Publishers. Sloman, J. (2009). Business Economics. Princeton Publishers, 2nd Ed.

A-Plus Business Plan - APA

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