seahorn EPublishing STUDIOS
Owner: Phillip Seahorn 3104 Everett Spokane Washington 99217 Voice: (509) 701-9429 Phil Seahorn’s Email: philseahorn@gmail.com Twitter: “Seahorn Epublishing Studios” Date Prepared: March 12, 2018
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ………………………..
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Introduction ………………………..
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Strategy ……………………….
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Mission Statement Objectives Environmental Analysis Marketing ………………………..
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Target Market Product Price Place Promotion Competition 2
Sales Forecast Location and Layout ………………………
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Site Selection Layout Operations ………………………
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Inventory Productivity Human Resources ………………………
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Job Analysis Job Evaluation Recruitment and Selection Financial Statements
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………………………… Pro Forma Income Statement Capital Requirements Controls 3
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Quality Costs Crime Risk Insurance Computers
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Executive Summary Seahorn Epublishing Studios will start as a homebased business, specifically in the creation of a database of local businesses in the Spokane, Spokane County, and immediate west Idaho areas for social media marketing needs and to introduce local businesses to Google’s assorted tools for ecommerce, marketing, and database creation. As this will be a sole proprietorship and a home based service, Mr. Seahorn will get a Limited Liability Company (LLC) coverage and other laws and licenses for ecommerce in Washington state.Mr. Seahorn has 21 years’ experience in creating online content, and will now sell the content to online portals as well as local Internet related businesses, adhering to the laws for ecommerce in Washington State. The mission of Seahorn Epublishing Studios is to offer local Spokane and surrounding counties opportunities to expand on whatever online presence that these companies and services may have at the time. By creating social media marketing plans (sold for $250 each and specifically designed for the business or service) I will also create “upskilling” events with each new client, learning not only how I can better service the marketing of their online content, but also allow the local Spokane business community the very latest in online social media marketing tools and social media marketing analytical tools. But the most important service that Seahorn Epublishing Studios will offer local businesses is the chance to utilize GSuite and other Google platforms. In establishing a relationship and database of local Spokane businesses and services this will allow Seahorn Epublishing Studios the opportunity to fill a niche that exists in Spokane and other areas of Washington: supplying small businesses and private entrepreneurs and opportunity to fully utilize their online content for the best and most effective social media marketing campaigns, thus enhancing the companies and services bottom line. The target markets for Seahorn Epublishing Studios will consist of folks 18-99 who shop online, who look for local Spokane services and businesses online, and for local companies and services who already have an online presence, but want to make that presence into a marketing tool, a better customer service portal, or a point of sales online portal. Or all three. Competitors in the local Spokane and Spokane county areas are the already established social media marketing companies in the area. Also, the creation of social media marketing services by individuals exactly mirroring Seahorn Epublishing Studios. At present, (according to YP.com) there are 124 local social media marketing companies and services in 2018. The other added value that Seahorn Epublishing Studio will offer to the community of Spokane and Spokane County is a new portal for local videographers, ebook authors, musicians, and graphic artists opportunities for freelance work as Seahorn Epublishing Studios expands.
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Seahorn Epublishing Studios will have to use traditional print, television, radio and online adverting to attract customers locally. This will be done thru utilizing a local media marketing database that has already been developed by Seahorn Epublishing Studios. Seahorn Epublishing Studios will be strictly a home based business for two years. As demographics play absolutely nothing in marketing Seahorn Epublisng Studios, whatever the amount of rent for the apartment (added utilities and other amenities) will be the total cost of office and working space, with plans on renting a three room office that will house the video studio suite, a graphic artic department, and music studio, each consisting of 1,200 square feet for each room. All operating data for Seahorn Epublishing Studios will be housed on the cloud, with only minimal data stored on three laptops and one desktop computer. As this will remain a sole ownership, the needs for staffing and recruiting will not exist, even when there is expansion in business. Pro Forma Income Statements and Capital requirements are estimated based on the social media marketing business model that exists today in 2018.The costs for startup and all other operational costs are determined by these statistics. Seahorn Epublishing Studios will fill the niche for social media marketing for Spokane and the Inland Northwest small business and individual entrepreneurs who may think that these types of services are way out of price for stat ups and small business in the Spokane and Spokane county areas. Seahorn Epublishing Studios will be successful because of the niche market that exists in Spokane, the proximity of Seattle, and the proximity of social media marketing and Internet giants Google and Amazon, and the growing need and understanding of businesses and service that, good or bad, they will have to establish and nurture their online presence.
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Introduction Description of Business Seahorn Epublishing Studios will be an online and physical based social media marketing studios and reseller of GSuite Google service.
Company Background Seahorn Epublishing Studios is a sole ownership, and will be located at 3104 Everett, Spokane 99201.
Management Team Phillip Seahorn is the sole owner. He is bringing 38 years’ experience in customer service, sales, sales support, telemarketing, marketing research, political phone recruiting, fundraising, and marketing skills to the table.Mr. Seahorn is also bringing 21 years of creating original online content and surfing the Internet as experience..
Form of Ownership Seahorn Epublishing Studios will form as sole ownership and as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and any other legal filing for business in Washington state .
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Strategy Mission Statement The mission of Seahorn Epublishing Studios is to provide the businesses in the local Spokane area access to social media marketing, especially marketing tools from the Google GSuite Partner Program. I will also be creating original video, eBooks, and artwork to sell online. At this stage, it will be essential to establish a database of local businesses first, in establishing probable markets that would be far more receptive to not only social media marketing, but also to become acquainted with the use of a complete virtual business environment. This would mean entire communication with local Spokane business via video streaming and email. And I will also provide direct access to Google services to local Spokane businesses.
Objectives The objective of Seahorn Epublishing Studios is to corner the local markets for social media marketing, supplying a local niche market with social media marketing service and Google services as well. I can’t really make any economic predictions as the market is that new.
Environmental Analysis Strengths: Seahorn Epublishing Studios will bring 21 years of experience with online content creation as well as written content creation, and combined with 38 years of customer service and sales experience, be able to create a database of five local Spokane clients, serving their needs completely in terms of social media marketing. The added advantage of creating content locally
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will also offer an income stream in reselling the originally created content to amazon, YouTube, and other online mediums that purchase online related content.
Opportunities: There is one market in particular in the Spokane area that is being notoriously underserved. And with new guidelines from the Federal government on this industry, it will make marketing for the industry very difficult and will require a creative edge in servicing this local Spokane market. At present, there is only one online portal in which this market is encouraged to be a part of, but very little individual social media marketing is being done for the local businesses in the sections of Spokane where the business are located. Also, will expand a local market in Spokane for the Google GSuite Partner Program.
Weaknesses Since the Internet is still rather daunting to some businesses even in 2018, the problem of “upskilling” local businesses on digital marketing will be a learning curve that in the Spokane market, can prove extremely challenging. However, in looking at the overall climate of the business community in 2018, and especially with a President that is literally providing millions of dollars in advertising for Twitter, and this may prove to “detoxify” many hesitations that local Spokane businesses will have toward social media marketing.
Threats Any threat to my service at this point is rapidly changing social media marketing tools and strategies, as well as tech and hardware.
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Marketing Target Market
Location of Target Market: Spokane, Washington What is the Size of The Target Market: 36,392 local businesses What is the Age Range of Your Market : 18-65 What is the Income Ranges of Your Target: $5,00-$150,000 Annual What Is the Educational Level of Your Target Market: High School College Grad What Other Characteristics Does Your Target Market Have In Common: Basic understanding of the Internet (circa 2018) What Competitive Advantage Does Your Product (Good or Service) offer: Offering local companies an opportunity to not only utilize social media marketing , but to also learn the importance of social media marketing to the business community, especially here in Spokane.
Product (or Service)
What unmet needs of your target market does your product good or service satisfy? The local Spokane market is just now embracing social media marketing, and the climate of a president using Twitter has literally galvanized social media on the national and even global level, which has created more attention, if not more of a realization, of the importance of social media marketing to the traditional Spokane business community. What are the distinguishing characteristics of your product or service? Even though social media marketing has tools that are readily available for use online and at a very cheap price, it’s the knowledge of how to use the online social media marketing tools effectively without incurring additional costs or manpower and time commitments that are a major concern for businesses in 2018 who are still on the fence whether to even use social media marketing, let alone make an investment. What steps have you already been taken to develop your product or service? I have been talking to local business and captains of industry here in Spokane since I first came here from St. Louis, 10
Missouri in 2014.I also researched the “SPOKANE DOESN’T SUCK” campaign which was a success here in Spokane for social media and crowdsourcing, but completely disappeared by 2014 from the Spokane business diaspora. What do you plan to name the product or service? Seahorn Epublishing Studios. Will there be a warranty? No.
Price
Will you use a penetration, skimming, or follow the leader pricing strategy for your product or service? Undetermined, but probably penetration. How will your pricing compare against your competitor’s pricing structures? As I will be a reseller for Google products as well, I can increase rates, but generally it will be $25 an hour consultation, with a $250 straight fee for the development of a social media marketing plan. How will your company react if your competitors lower their prices? I will have to lower my prices as well to stay competitive.
Place
How you will distribute your goods or services? The social media marketing will be done online; my goal is to create a completely virtual interaction with clients locally via video chat applications like Facetime and other video conferencing tools. All Internet content will be distributed digitally as well as video (via online portals like YouTube). Will you export to other countries? The ultimate goal for Seahorn Epublishing Studios is to create and sell digital content globally, while handling the social media marketing consulting from Spokane. Do you plane to import from other countries? As the Internet offers global access, the issue of importing will not exist for my company.
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Promotion
How will you advertise to promote your product or services? Thru the same services I will market to clients, as well as traditional print, television, radio, and cable advertisement. How will you use personal selling? I will initially have to make personal, one on one contact with potential clients in the Spokane area, but eventually will use online only contact, creating an entirely virtual experience from the business as well as from client standpoint. How will you use sales promotion? I will use social media portals for sales promotion in the local Spokane area. How will you use publicity? I will create a press kit for local media in the Spokane area, based on projects that I have in mind for the local Spokane area. How much can you spend on promotion in the first year? I will immediately launch crowdsourcing campaigns to raise capital, as well as traditional outlets in the Spokane area to generate income to spend on local Spokane marketing and promotion.
Competition
Who are the direct competitors for your target market? My direct competitors are local established online and brick and mortar social media marketing companies and services in the Spokane area. What approximate percentage (share) of the target market does each of your competitors currently have? %100 percent share of the local Spokane market. What needs are currently not being met by your competitors for your target market? I have researched the lack of Google products and services marketed locally in Spokane, as well as more proliferation of social media marketing campaigns and crowd sourcing activities in the Spokane area.
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Estimate of Market Share Percentages First Year (2018)
Undetermined
Second Year (2019)
Undetermined
Third Year (2020)
Undetermined
Omission of Market Share Estimates Based On Tech Start-Up
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Location and Layout In the layout plans for Seahorn Epublishing Studios, I initially will have this as a home based business. However, a brick and mortar location is the ultimate goal, so the planning for a four room, one floor office are would be the ideal choice. In looking at the physical location of the business, anywhere in Spokane would be a good bet, as Spokane does not seem to have a neighborhood themed business district, even though there are a lot of separate neighborhoods in the city of Spokane. Each room will be 210 square feet, with a central room being the reception area, and three rooms containing the art studio, recording and music studio and mixing suite, and a computer room with multiple monitors to gauge online activity and cable television activity. No choice of location would be any better, as this will be a social media marketing company. Will look at the “flavor “of a Spokane neighborhood, with Browne’s Edition or the Garland Theatre areas.
What is the major objective in your facility layout? My major objective of the facility layout will be for the best production space available to create art, video, and ebook content.
If you are planning for a manufacturer business, what combination of product line and function layouts will you use and why? Not applicable.
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If you are planning for a retail business, will you use a grid, boutique, or free form interior design and why? Where will you place high and low demands and why? As this will be a studio, I will use a free form interior design, with emphasis on the very basics like clean white walls and high ceilings. Also will look at one very large window in the reception area, to maximize on solar heat during the winter in Spokane.
If you are planning for a service business, what special layout will you use and why? I researched basic layouts for a four room reception and studio spaces, and a basic design for this is all that is needed. Preferably, street level.
What type of equipment do you need for your business? The type of equipment needed would be:
Computers Monitors Printers and scanners Basic office furniture Video Camera and equipment Drones with audio and video capabilities
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Software Van
What type of machinery will you need? I will need tech related machinery and computers themselves.
What types of office equipment will you need (phone system, counter, shelving, desk, computer, copy machine paper cutter, calculator, cash registers, etc.)? I will need all the necessary office equipment.
What type of signage will you use and why? I have a sign in mind that would be four feet by six feet, and would contain the symbol I designed for the company based on my Scottish last name.
List the type of insurance and taxes that are required for your business. In researching the need for insurance, I have concluded that I will need limited Liability (LLC), as well as property and equipment insurance.
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Operations Seahorn Epublishing Studios will establish an online database using contact management software and other marketing software. Seahorn Epublishing Studios will not have stock inventory, as all materials created by Seahorn Epublishing will be digital. Promoting productivity for Seahorn Epublishing Studios will be done thru establishing solid leads and creating a vetted database for future social media marketing campaigns. In creating the database, this will allow future repeat sales of services provided by Google G Suite Reseller programs. Once the database for potential clients for social media marketing plans (and possible social media marketing consulting starting at $25 an hour with a minimum four hour contract) is completed, the database will be mined for marketing purposes as well. As content is created for potential clients form the database, a new database will be created solely for the marketing of content and potential web content creation (ebooks, videos, and music), which will be cross data mined with the social media marketing database. Data mining both databases and cross data mining; this will create additional projects and future assignments in the Spokane area. The content database will be used for selling content to markets here in Spokane as well as Idaho and Seattle. Bulk of income will come from videos produced and sold directly to Youtube.
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