Friends and associates please critic my summary of my business plan to enter this competition for Black Enterprise. It’s an elevator pitch competition that could grant me the resources I need to take this idea from paper to actual product. Give your brutally honest opinions. Thanks



This is the Conference I will be attending and the competition is Thursday May15th 2008 http://www.blackenterprise.com/events/beec.asp




Stephen Gilmore
Schere Inc
Startup business
1541 Cedarbluff Trail
Marietta GA 30067






Summary of elevator pitch:

I have a wonderful concept for fusing African American art and shower curtains. The dynamics of this would revolutionize how you decorate your bathroom. Picture this if you will your favorite piece of artwork 60”x60” in your bathroom on a shower curtain with matching bathroom accessories. The cost to produce this product is 2.50 the retail value for this product would be $20.00 to $40.00. Let me detail how I would get this started.



Proposed business idea: Specialty African American Art designer shower curtains and bathroom accessories.

I plan to manufacture and sell vinyl Shower Curtains with African American Art Designs along with matching African American art design accessories in the bathroom, ie: tumblers, toothbrush holder, soap dispenser, waste basket, tissue dispenser & toilet bowl cover . I would use a 5 gauge vinyl that’s mildew proof and guaranteed to last up to 5 years adding value for the product. Given the Artwork would be interchangeable with other designs of artwork the use of the shower curtains and its accessories would be an attractive cost effective purchase for consumers who love and appreciate artwork. There is a plan to expand to the genres of artwork to include all cultures but the foundation of the business will begin on the shoulders of the African American artist and the representation of the African American culture.

I plan to further the Schere-Inc business empire by expanding my line of shower curtains to include fabric shower curtains ie.. Polyester, cotton, terry cloth also branching into the bedroom with comforters, pillow cases, sheets, borders, wall paper and into the kitchen with fine china.

My approach to get sales and distribution for these products, I would take advantage of the Minority distributor programs that are offered by Target, Walmart, bed bath and beyond & linen n things. Also with the e-commerce culture I would push for online sales through radio, print, and word of mouth marketing. I would setup kiosk at local malls and present my product as a specialty product within the Atlanta area where my demographics are favorable for the type of retail business I’m conducting.

After I gain further knowledge on how to manufacture my products I would then purchase land to build a manufacturing plant to produce these products stateside infusing into the local economy a flourishing job market.

As well as providing jobs and a means to help people sustain a way of life this company focus will be to produce ever changing designs in the home bathroom décor business, keeping Schere in the forefront of home bathroom décor design & innovation.

This business venture has the potential to bring more than a dream to fruition it has the potential to create a company that could be as profitable and well known as linen n things, bed bath and beyond, home place and other noted leaders in the home wares industry.

Before even getting through it, you need some grammatical, technical stuff improved...more later!

quote:

Originally posted by Ms MEAC:
Before even getting through it, you need some grammatical, technical stuff improved...more later!

What Ms MEAC said. If you want, I could give it a once over, and send it to you in a Word document, with Track Changes. If you're interested, PM me. I scribble words for a living in case you're interested.

You guys really don't know how much this means to me. I really apprecaite your help and welcome all to help and give me more feed back. SpartanGhost & Ms MEAC class acts

You need to show that you have done the market research such as how much money is currently spent on bathroom decorations locally, regionally or whatever. Specificly how much do AA spend (quantify your target market). What drives someone to purchase bathroom decorations, and how often would they be purchasing (any recurring sales themes)? Who or what are your largest competitors? Risks?Etc...

I'm not too sure of what the contest is asking for, but a descriptive, thought out execution plan including projections as opposed to being general would be helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by lil_rattler:
You need to show that you have done the market research such as how much money is currently spent on bathroom decorations locally, regionally or whatever. Specificly how much do AA spend (quantify your target market). What drives someone to purchase bathroom decorations, and how often would they be purchasing (any recurring sales themes)? Who or what are your largest competitors? Risks?Etc...

I'm not too sure of what the contest is asking for, but a descriptive, thought out execution plan including projections as opposed to being general would be helpful.

Thanks LIL Rattler, I have a couple of websites that i'm getting that information from http://www.4rmg.com/Housewares_Trend_Tracker_2002.pdf

I agree with what Lil' Rattler said...the more information you provide showing that you know what you are talking about, the better.

Having attended part of last year's Conference in Orlando ...

From what I gathered, you may want to approach this as more of a "Speed Date" than an initial elaborate business presentation ...

The Kicker is that essentially you have just two minutes - the equivalent of taking an elevator ride - to push your product or service, and convince the prospective venture capitalist(s) in the elevator with you that what you've got is worthy of immediate consideration, and hearing more.

"Do you think you could effectively get all of what you've proposed above across in just two minutes?"

Although the panelists you will face will want some of the particulars you've mentioned eventually, the key is going to be condensing this Thang into an immediate sales pitch that's eventually going to "perk up the ears", and interest the person riding with you that it's worthy of hearing even more about what you're proposing when those doors open up.

Not that using 5 guage vinyl isn't going to be great to keeping your product around a while, and that helping in enriching the lives of folks in the community isn't going to be a noble endeavor ... The BOTTOM Line is that you've got but TWO minutes to tell someone how what you plan to do is gonna make 'em some !

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FAMUVenom,

quote:

Originally posted by FAMUVenom:
Having attended part of last year's Conference in Orlando ...

From what I gathered, you may want to approach this as more of a "Speed Date" than an initial elaborate business presentation ...

The Kicker is that essentially you have just two minutes - the equivalent of taking an elevator ride - to push your product or service, and convince the prospective venture capitalist(s) in the elevator with you that what you've got is worthy of immediate consideration, and hearing more.

"Do you think you could effectively get all of what you've proposed above across in just two minutes?"

Although the panelists you will face will want some of the particulars you've mentioned eventually, the key is going to be condensing this Thang into an immediate sales pitch that's eventually going to "perk up the ears", and interest the person riding with you that it's worthy of hearing even more about what you're proposing when those doors open up.

Not that using 5 guage vinyl isn't going to be great to keeping your product around a while, and that helping in enriching the lives of folks in the community isn't going to be a noble endeavor ... The BOTTOM Line is that you've got but TWO minutes to tell someone how what you plan to do is gonna make 'em some !

Valuable information. I read the contest rules and in the last week i've been practicing this spill on everyone and anyone who will listen and not listen. Capture the selling points push the bottom line and paint a picture of realistic goals. So far what you have read is being tweeked.

I do have a business plan if I get to present in it's entirety after I win the competition. But I do need help with some portions of the business plan.

Brother Gilmore, you have to explain how you obtain the rights to the artwork. Does your estimated $2.15 cost include securing the rights to reproduce the artwork? How would you go about contacting all the artists?

You might get around this sticky issue by stating that you will be introducing new artists, since they are the ones most likely to give you reproduction rights for a percentage of the sales.

Also please don't assume that because you are a minority that Target and Walmart will place your product. The buyers at these stores see many different products in there stores. You have to have a compelling story. Remember these are value stores.

Also check your retail price point. The 20-40 dollar range is too wide. Walk into Target and Walmart and see what price range they are offering on curtains and set yours accordingly.

And, may I be the first to order a Paul Goodnight "watch my back" shower curtain?

FTR ...

I just heard a commercial that Donny Deutsh's show "The Big Idea" will be doing an Elevator Pitch show this evening on CNBC at 10:00pm.

Hey FAMUVenom thank for that information. I caught the show. It gave me some information that I needed. Good looking out.

Here is just one of my many practice run thrus for the Elevator Pitch Competition. Black Enterprise now wants a video submission along with the a written outline of the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZTYKkGbOP0

Hey there MEACers this is my final video submission for the Black Enterprise Elevator Pitch competition please give any and all feed back. I know with the expertise we have here on this site you can only make me better. Thanks for your support

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu3XrirsZco