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AUDIOSHO AudioSho Business Plan Lux Earphones Owner: Byron Biney AudioSho 10 Monoeith Drive Farmington, Connecticut 860-951-8237 [email protected]

AudioSho-Lux Business Plan.pdf

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Page 1: AudioSho-Lux Business Plan.pdf

AUDIOSHO

AudioSho Business Plan Lux Earphones

Owner: Byron Biney

AudioSho

10 Monoeith Drive

Farmington, Connecticut

860-951-8237

[email protected]

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Contents

Executive Summary ............................................... 2

General Company Description .............................. 4

Products and Services .......................................... 7

Marketing Plan ...................................................... 10

Operational Plan ................................................... 14

Management and Organization ........................... 17

Startup Expenses ................................................. 19

Sources ................................................................. 21

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Executive Summary If your music is personal, why can’t your earphones be too?

AudioSho, a new audio acoustic company, answers this question with the presentation of Lux.

Lux earphones are custom-fit earphones with customizable features for fashion and style. This

is all topped by the development of AudioSho pop-up stores which will truly magnify the

uniqueness of one’s audio-listening experience by connecting with various communities to

provide one-of-a-kind art galleries and independent music venues.

Nothing should be considered bland or too general when it comes to listening to one’s music.

One’s earphones should be regarded as unique and they should provide an uninterrupted

experience for the user to truly remember. The audio-acoustic industry has been held back with

a notable lack of customization properties alongside cheap and easily-breakable earphones.

Custom-fit earphones are very difficult to attain, usually requiring one to locate a local

audiologist and undergo an uncomfortable injection of silicone into their ears. This usually costs

well over $500. In addition, many earphones are simply not reliable, in that they can constantly

fall out of a user’s ears and they provide very faulty sound isolation. Byron Biney, AudioSho’s

owner and CEO, deeply considered not only how to provide the exclusivity of custom-fit

earphones to as many consumers as possible, but also considered how to appeal to users.

Byron constructed AudioSho focusing on the notions of individuality of consumers, and the

flexibility of a company in order to properly respect said individuality.

The utilization of 3d printing technology and hard work creates Lux, custom-fit earphones that

are crafted based on a picture of a user’s ear. Users will submit a picture using a mobile app

created by AudioSho. 3D printing software linked to mac laptops will allow for an earphone

attachment to created that matches a consumer’s exact ear. Consumers will also be happy to

find a variety of customization options regarding color schemes and patterns on their

earphones, made possible given the innovation of BotObject Prodesk 3D printers.

Our target market is quite diverse, referring to people above the age of 16. Audio experts will be

delighted to find that the custom fit of our product alongside the presence of neodymium drivers

for sound-production compose an earphone with stellar sound isolation properties and above-

average sound quality. Casual users will be happy to indulge in the wide variety of

customization properties that are difficult to attain using other major brands. In addition, there’s

far more comfort present due to the custom-fit of Lux. Travelers will also find Lux suitable given

the mobility, quality, and comfort of Lux. In order to reach this target market, we focus our

marketing primarily online using social media. We seek the development of social media pages,

blogs, and advertising in order to reach such a diverse market to notify people of the

advantages regarding Lux.

AudioSho also goes a step further beyond competitors with the creation of a pop-up stores.

Pop-up stores are temporary stores that will sporadically arise in different rental spaces usually

in major cities. We have planned out a traveling tour alongside the east coast with traveling

representatives and sales associates holding rental spaces in different cities for 100 days in

total. In pop-up stores, we will also present art galleries and venues that are created by local

musicians and artists. Sales associates will help people use the app to attain a custom-fit

earphone and allow them to test their earphones out in-store. In addition, exclusive

customization offers unique to each community will be available at each pop-up store.

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The audio industry continues to see massive growth given the popularization of mobile

interfaces and computers. With flexibility and passion, AudioSho will continue to stress the

significance of individual customers and respect their preferences. AudioSho intends to reform

the audio industry by bringing back personalization like never before.

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General Company Description Mission statement:

AudioSho Acoustics addresses the individualism of each consumer by bringing a personalized

audio experience. We create versatile earphones with the comfort, fashion, and quality to

maximize consumers’ enjoyment of their music.

Objectives:

● Make 3D printed custom fit earphones, using an app available to consumers that will

allow them to submit pictures of their ears and choose design choices for their

earphones.

● Upon attaining resources to produce the earphones, form partnerships with graphic

designers and independent musicians in different states of the U.S in approximately 4

months. This will result in a creative network of artists as contributors towards music and

visual designs of Lux.

● Establish pop-up shops, which are temporary stores that open up in assorted rental

spaces, and a team that will travel across the east coast to run these pop-up stores and

provide art and music venues for 1 full year.

● Create new lines and branches of earphones that vary in their target demographic and

sound properties. Lux is something that can be made accessible to almost anyone, and

it will respect the audio experience that people seek.

Business Philosophy

With Lux, flexibility is key.

Earphones are a lead-in to sound and music. Music, in and of itself is an extremely

eclectic and diverse medium. The creation of Lux stems in the fact that not only does everyone

seek a good audio experience, not everyone searches for the same audio experience. This is

very much the reality especially for the fit of earphones, but there’s also relevance towards

acoustic technology and sound production. With all of this considered, we are uninterested in

becoming just another acoustic and electronics company that is significantly distanced from the

tastes and our users. We thus seek personalize earphones to every user.

We want to be a flexible and multi-faceted business. We want to be versatile enough to

provide personalization and fashion for our users. We want to be flexible enough to essentially

bring the product to the user, which is why we want to create pop up shops that also provide

venues for local artists and musicians. We are making it very clear that we understand the

individual value of every community, city, and location. Pop-up stores and local venues create a

shopping experience memorable for the consumer, and an audio product that carries one’s

individuality.

We value diversity and passion with our employees. We’re a business that seeks a wide range

of fields, and almost anyone with the creativity and passion is capable of contributing to and

strengthening our business.

Target Market

Our target market is quite diverse, consisting of people 16+. These are people who are

concerned about the comfort of their earphones, the quality of their music, and the fashion of

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their earphones. Be it you’re a casual listener, a critical audiologist, or an active person on the

go, these earphones are meant to cater to the diversity and individualism of consumers. With

this target market, there are a plethora of mediums and locations to catch peoples’ attention to

AudioSho.

Industry Description

Earphones and Headphone Acoustics currently are a $6.6 billion dollar industry, with

306 million shipments made in 2014 according to a recent report from China Market Research.

It is also stated that at the top of the earphone market right now, in order, is Beats followed by

Plantronics, Sennheiser, and Sony. Grand View Research attributes all of the recent growth and

prominence of the earphone acoustic market to the increased demand for electronic devices

such as smart phones, laptops, and tablet. People who purchase these devices will also like to

have earphones for personal use. Whereas China exhibits 95% manufacturing for audio

acoustics in general, the United States contains the world’s largest market. The market in 2014

increased by 11.9%, and by 12.5% in the previous year. Most companies must develop well

constructed contracts with manufacturers, because often times, these companies will make

significant expenditures that limit gross margin and profit.

China Market Research goes on to state that Beats is the biggest company for pop

music, Skullcandy is suitable for sports, and Sennheiser dominate hi-fi sound production. With

regards to all of this diversity in the earphone market, AudioSho finds it desirable to become the

one company that balances all of these different purposes and categories.

Strengths and core competencies

Lux is much more flexible and versatile for earphones. The popularity of Dr. Dre’s Beats

emphasize the significance of fashion for earphones, as well as the importance of sound

technology. Beats have become well known for their fashion, and also provide notable sound

isolation and quality. So the customization opportunities of Lux capitalize on these consumer

wants in a unique and personalized way. The result is more fun than other earphones. It is

much more personal, and much more memorable.

Lux is far more accessible than other custom fit earphones. Typical custom fit earphones

require a trip to a local audiologist and an uncomfortable application of a silicone mold to their

ears for 15 minutes. Not only does this trip usually cost large amounts of money, but the

earphones that are available can cost more than $500, even $1,000. Rather than making such a

laborious trip and paying such a large price. The use of 3D printing creates new advantages that

previously were not available for any audio company. AudioSho is one of the first companies to

begin exploring this new field… And we’re doing more than just providing a custom-fit.

The Pop Up Shop format of Lux’s marketing creates a unique and memorable shopping

experience for customers, and also creates a way for us to connect with communities contrary

to any other electronics brand. Mila Gonzales of E-Commerce University states that pop-up

stores are one of the best ways to leave a customer with a “permanent impression.” Why not

leave consumers with the impression of an audio technology company that will seek not only

common individuals, but also prominent members and artists of one’s community? In addition,

the pop-up store format can serve as a smaller testing ground to simply study and observe

customer interests in a direct way.

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Ownership

AudioSho would be a General Partnership. AudioSho does not present the risks necessary in

order to become a Corporation of any sort. A General Partnership allocates debts and taxes to

multiple partners, making debts more manageable. It also shrinks state fees and restrictions,

allowing AudioSho to be more flexible. General Partnerships also allow us to pool resources

with others (Intuit).

We look towards members and officials from the company known as “BotObjects” as potential

partners. BotObject is the company that we plan on purchasing our printers from, and they have

locations in the UK and New York. Though they are a small company at the moment, a

partnership could be useful in catalyzing both of our company’s success. The creation of the

Prodesk 3D printer demonstrates groundbreaking and creative 3d-printing technology, and it

would be to their advantage to work with a company in their popularization (BotObjects).\

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Products and Services

Product Description

Lux is 3d-printed earphones. These earphones are custom made to match a customer’s ear

shape, which is done by means of having a picture of one’s ear sent to us through an app. This

picture will be scanned by 3d printers and after words, will be printed. The earphones can come

in different designs and shapes, which customers can choose after taking a picture of their ears.

The result is a personalized audio experience.

Our pop-up store tour will last for 100 days, with our rental space lasting from 3 (weekend) days

to 12 days, depending on the affordability and offers availability. Given the temporary amount of

time a person has to enter these stores, we will characterize AudioSho in a slightly elusive

character to lead on consumer curiosity.

A consumer will come in and be met by a traveling representative who will assist them in taking

a picture of their ears in order to create the perfect custom-fit. Settling down to take the pictures

for each consumer at the most should take 5 minutes. At the point, a customer adds in their

design choices, which over time, we hope to make more varied. For our start-up, a consumer

can make distinctive choices on color-coding and even exclusive pattern designs, and the color

of the earphone’s outside wire. A customer can then make the choice to stay at the pop-up store

for production to occur, return another day, or have their earphones shipped out to them.

Afterward, all of the consumer’s choices will uploaded directly into an app that is also

linked to our 3D printers, which are known as BotObjects ProDesk3D printers. This printers are

currently the highest quality multi-color printers available, with an efficient price and notable

speed. The custom-fit pieces of an earphone take under 25 minutes to produce, as stated by a

3D printer representative.

Afterward, other representatives and workers will put the custom-fit piece together with various

earphone pieces such as cnc metal parts, neodymium audio drivers, and multicolored coaxial

wires made available to us and constructed by various Chinese manufacturers. A consumer can

test out and purchase their earphones upon their construction.

It is important to keep in mind that the presence of our mobile app allows people to take their

own pictures of their ears and have their designer choices uploaded.

Competitive advantages

● Lux respects the fact that every users’ ear shape is different. These earphones due to

their custom fit will never fall out of someone’s ear.

● More customization properties relative to other earphone brands, resulting in a direct

appeal towards consumer fashion sense

● The 3d printed custom fit serves as a seal that results in far clearer and better sound

quality relative to other earphones, making this earphone appeal to even the most critical

audiophiles.

● The placement of pop-up stores allows us to bring the product to users, giving them a

very unique and memorable in-store experience

Competitive disadvantages

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● It’s quicker and cheaper to get very typical pairs of earphones when one is on the go.

Some may not feel like taking the time to provide the pictures to create a custom fit

earphone. Some may simply not be informed of the quality differences present.

● All of AudioSho’s future goals will definitely take time.

● With certain giants such as Beats, a great amount of work will have to be put in order to

challenge them.

Pricing structures

$160 for the earphones.

This price is made considering the willingness customers have to spend high amounts of money

on earphones by themselves. Going above $200 is an easy way to make most people consider

generic pairs of earphones. Meanwhile, there are many services that are being considered with

Lux that must be taken into account. This price is a $40 decrease from one of our greatest

potential competitors, Normal, who sell their earphones for $200. Another competitor,

Ownphones, sells their earphones for $300. We feel that this is one of the most feasible and

acceptable prices for earphones of our caliber.

We consider this lower price to be feasible for our expenses. We also, however, consider a low

price to be important for this product. Consumers may find it more incentivizing to switch their

purchase to headphones if they have to pay a large sum for our product. This is an important

way to invite people to our product. A lower price is our way of reconciling and balancing a

customer’s need for affordability and a high quality product.

Balance:

Earphones are a complex field. The creation of this product is based on balancing out three

major traits: comfort, quality, and fashion. Lux assesses how to make earphones very

comfortable for the user, offer them quality sound, and make their earphones stylish. All of these

are important to consumer tastes. Too often do most companies fail to maintain these three

qualities. Often, earphones are very uncomfortable to wear, hurting the user’s ears after

prolonged use. They also tend to fall out of the user’s ear, constantly interrupting their audio

experience. In addition, cheap sound technology and bad earphone design creates consistent

static noise and poor sound isolation even among the United States’ most popular brands.

Finally, there’s often very little fashion in the design of most earphones. There’s other examples

where there’s too much of one quality but not enough of the others. There are earphones that

are incapable of making any use of their good sound quality due to their heavy uncomfortable

weight or their simple lack of fashion appeal. There are earphones that are solely meant to look

good, but have unacceptable sound quality.

The solution for balancing all of these refers to creating a flexible, accessible, and personalized

product. We want earphones to be personalized towards customer demands. We also want to

provide the accessibility of our product to the greatest number of people. We thus have our

earphones custom fit to each individual user, and we take into account their choices for designs

and color. We balance out comfort, quality, and fashion, primarily through means of

personalization.

Business Expansion and Additional Features

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We have crafted features and add-ons that we want to present in the future. As AudioSho

attains money and prominence, all of these features will be made more accessible. These can

distant AudioSho from any other acoustic company immediately.

● Multiple lines of the earphones that vary in sound technology, particularly concentrated

towards certain genres of music

Not everyone’s music taste is the same. Whilst Lux at the moment can lead to generally

enjoyment, it is important to consider audio-acoustic technology to suit different music tastes.

For instance, we could consider a notably bass-heavy line of earphones for electronic dance

music fans. We could also consider a very high quality acoustic line of earphones for rock and

country fans. Also, we could provide variance in designs of earphones. A runner might look

towards earphones with a hook design to provide less sound isolation, for instance.

● Wireless Bluetooth technology

Wireless earphones are pretty popular. The addition of bluetooth technology would help

increase great comfort to one’s music experience, so that we can have wireless earphones.

Bluetooth technology is very expensive at the moment, and it would also limit some of Lux’s

current customization properties.

● Dual driver technology

You can’t find very many dual-driver earphones on the market at the moment without paying at

least $200. A driver functions much like a speaker. Gizmodo cites that most earphones provide

sub-par quality with cheap mono-drivers. Having one driver means that it is assigned all

varieties of sound production; high frequencies, mid frequencies, low frequencies, etc… Sound

quality using dual drivers is much better. The only issue is, dual-drivers are usually expensive

from international manufacturers, drawing on companies to have to produce them from scratch.

AudioSho does not find dual-drivers obligatory or feasible for our launch, however, creating

dual-drivers is a very notable goal that we would like to pursue.

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Marketing Plan Marketing Strategy

The earphone/headphone acoustic market is very diverse. Purchases and use are very similarly

distributed amongst all ages. It has, in the past few years seen increased sales and customer

demand proportional to an increased use of electronics, primarily smartphones and computers.

This increased use has led to greater customer sensitivity towards audio quality and sound

isolation, more so than in the past.

We intend to reach a demographic of 16-35 year olds by creating a unique and memorable

marketing and purchasing process for each consumer. We feel that the best way to respect the

individual is to take our marketing to a personal level, bringing the exclusivity of Lux to the

hands and presence of the customer. We will construct pop-up shops in various major cities of

the country known for artistic presences and youth, collaborating with local artists and musicians

to create showcases. In addition, our advertisements will emphasize both the fashion and

mobility of Lux. We will have, for the most part, a web-based campaign.

Customer Group

● Teens to young adults

● Middle to upper income class. Custom-fit earphones, even given the efficiency our price,

are just barely a luxury good considering some may pick up cheap earphones.

● Primarily within the United States, international expansion will be considered as the

company grows.

● People typically in major cities prominent for music and art

● Casual consumers with a predilection for fashion

● Athletic users interested in mobility.

● Audio critics searching for an acceptable product that won’t break the bank.

Artist partnerships

● Independent artists and musicians

● Modern art and photography, typically pertaining to what a city has to offer.

● Electronic Djs, particularly

Marketing Channels

Social media

Social media is one of the most direct ways possible for companies to come into contact with

their consumers. We find it imperative to use social media to our advantage in order to

characterize the uniqueness and expression behind our product. This will be a significant

concentration for our marketing, especially as we begin to launch. We will have employees

monitor pages on three different websites. Statistics are suggesting that other mediums, such

as television, may not be so proficient in reach the 18-49 demographic.

Facebook should be used as one of our most in-depth means of contact, besides just using our

website or emailing an employee. It’ll be used for more direct notifications of dates and features,

as well as images. Users will also feel invited to leave questions in comments or posts to

receive quick information from employees. Facebook remains as one of the largest social

networks, getting nearly 66% of 14-34 year olds in the United States.

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Twitter is much more targeted towards publicity. There will be brief notifications and dates

presented on our Twitter page. Regardless, this is where we want to create hashtags and

specifically target the specific cities we’re going to in order to create an elusive but interesting

hype behind our product and arrival.

Instagram is very much for art. We intend for our Instagram to have the greatest proportion of

content, this pertaining to sharing music, images, gifs, and more. We will also create in depth

blog posts on notifications for our customers. Instagram often comes in second place as a social

media giant, attaining 43.1% of 14-34 year olds

Online Advertising

It is quite efficient to take to the web for advertising. There are a variety of major news sites and

content-sharing services to look for, in terms of ads.

Reddit is an important place for advertising, with over half of the percentage of users being ages

18-44 years old. Given that Reddit is divided into multiple subreddits of its own, it is important to

look towards reddit’s science and technology subreddits that can be used to provide Q&As for

our product and also for advertising purposes. r/technology, a subreddit, garners over 3 million

users. r/science garners over 6 million users. There are also many other subreddits and

communities available for our product.

Buzzfeed, a news-sharing website, has found recent success, managing to reach over 300

million users. 56% of these users are ages 18-34, and 55% of these users are women. With a

website so prominent for news, product reviews, and trends, Buzzfeed as a marketing partner

would be very useful catalyst for our success

Competition

We face direct competition from some major companies that have existed for a longer amount

time, as well as some very recent companies that are attempting to succeed in creating custom-

fit earphones. These are our most significant competitors.

● Sony

● Skullcandy Earphones

● Decibullz

● Normal

● Ownphones

Both Skullcandy and Sony bring significant lines of electronics and has a large line of

earphones. On the other hand, they fail to present custom-fit earphones at all. They lack the

ability to provide a mobile and uninterrupted audio experience to their customers. The sound

quality brought by our product reaches new capabilities of sound quality and sound isolation due

to the custom fit.

Decibullz is a very recent startup that provides a thermoplastic accessory for earphones that

can be shaped towards a user’s ear. There are some more companies that are attempting to

provide cheaper custom-fit accessories. Decibullz, however, receives complaints of a negation

in sound quality due to their thermoplastic, as well as difficulty in making it fit.

Normal and Ownphones are two very new businesses that provide custom-fit earphones.

Ownphones provides wireless earphones at $300. Normals provides custom-fit and

customizable earphones at $200. Despite some positive reviews, both of these earphones fall

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short in their accessibility at the moment. They remain far more concentrated towards their

single factories and far less diverse in terms of their advertising.

Lux will bring the quality of custom fit earphones to the hands of the customer.

Other Promotion

Besides the usage of paid advertisements, the usage of social media and the showcases

offered at the pop-up stores will serve as significant factors in spreading the word of our

company. In addition, we also hope to forge additional networks and relationships with various

artists in order to create traditional advertising posters and art in high-populated areas.

Traditional advertisements lead to a creative variety differing from any other audio-acoustic

technology.

Niche:

The earphone market, especially with the advent of 3d printers and the growth of smartphones

and other technology, is both growing and open to new ideas. In the midst of the growth and

change of this market, we want to be the most accessible company for consumers. As opposed

to being a massive company concentrated around excessive amounts of audio acoustics, we

want to be a company that all consumers can find approachable and accessible for

personalization, customization, and information.

Pricing:

$160 for full earphone.

As far as custom-fit earphones are concerned, this price is closest to the business, Normal. This

price showcases a $30 decrease from their $200 product. Ownphones, another custom fit

earphone company, offers a price at $300.

This price is crafted with consideration towards our marketing plan and means of production.

With the construction of pop-up stores, as opposed to continuously having to pay taxes and

money to own a factory, we are capable of providing custom fit earphones at a price lower than

that of our competitors.

Location:

Our product will have U.S. accessibility through the internet with the use of an application. In

that concern, location is not as critical.

Regarding the pop-up shops, we need cities with a notable population of youth. We believe that

the best location for our pop-up shops pertain to cities along the east coast. We are looking

towards the following cities as the best prospective locations, providing large amounts of youth.

● Boston

● New York

● Philadelphia

● Baltimore

● Washington D.C.

● Charlotte

● Atlanta

● Miami

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Remaining on the east coast is more imperative in the early days of our start-up. As we grow,

we intend to travel across the country to other major cities.

It is also notable to mention the popular website, “The Storefront,” which presents a network of

opening and closing pop-up spaces all throughout the U.S. This well-known website will likely

be significant in deciding specific locations and durations.

Distribution Channels

Lux requires the consumer to submit usable pictures of their ears in order to create the perfect

fit. We want to sell our product through the use of a mobile app as well as our pop-up stores.

A mobile app is significant in that customers now have a quick and easy way to submit pictures

in order to create an earphone. Through the app, they will be guided to submit their pictures.

Afterward, they will be given customization opportunities pertaining to the color and design of

their earphone. Earphones will then be shipped to their residence.

At our pop-up shops, customers can have employees help them submit pictures suitable to

create the custom fit. They will also have customization opportunities for their earphones, in

addition to incentives from art and music venues, as well as exclusive designs and offers. Given

the speed of 3D printers, customers can remain at the pop-up store or nearby, and come back

to get their earphones in under an hour.

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Operational Plan Production

Our product will be produced using a line of BotObject Prodesk 3D Printers. These printers are

sophisticated enough to work with computer and design technology, and they limit our need for

a big factory location. The 3d Printers construct the shape of the earphone overall. The process

of printing takes less than 25 minutes.

At that point, the 3d-fit and audio technology for the earphone is put together by an employee.

After the custom fit is designed, employees will apply the custom-fit to several earphone parts

and pieces made available to us by Chinese manufacturers in order to construct the earphone.

The location of such production can vary. Earphones may be crafted at our office location in

Roanoke, Virginia. Earphones may also be crafted within our pop-up stores, or even in hotels

and resting areas. Shipment will occur with the use of UPS daily shipment service, alongside

UPS shipments and orders that will be established just before AudioSho leaves an city area.

Location

AudioSho will have an office location in Roanoke, Virginia. This location is very affordable and is

equally distanced to help target people on the East Coast, presented to us by Loopnet. In

addition, a Forbes report cites Virginia as one of the most small-business friendly states in the

past year, due to a myriad of incentive programs present to suit our company. In the future, we

will look towards expansion towards a midwestern location, and developing a factory-store

location for people to not only purchase their earphones, but to also witness some of the work

involved.

Whilst our cities-of-interest have already been stated, we can restate that we target areas with a

notable population of youths and entertainment, a notion greatly encouraged by the E-

Commerce guide on Shopify. Many cities on the east coast meet these guidelines, which

explains why we are concentrating our launch on the east coast and will seek expansion over

time. We prefer to seek rental spaces in or near malls or music venues. We will use the website

known as Storefront, the most prominent pop-up store guide, to help find specific rental spaces.

Legal Environment

There are no majorly restrictive legal requirements for Lux. “We haven’t run into anything

unreasonable,” Community Manager Talia Halperin states from Normal. The only prominent

patent is one maintained by apple for heart-rate detection on earphones, something that is not

relevant to our product. In the end, the most notable legal restrictions all pertain to OSHA

(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) based audio limits.

● Earphones can’t exceed 85 decibels regarding sound production

Earphones are often only significant with regards to other employers listening to music on the

job. AudioSho is not liable for any damages from such a context.

When searching for suppliers, AudioSho puts into full consideration background checks on

health and ethical regulations of each factory. We want to forge legal contracts that analyze the

number of hours, wages, and regulations for each factory.

“Lux Earphones” is not a trademarked name, nor is “AudioSho.”

Employees and personnel

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AudioSho focuses on having a diverse team, not confined to specific educational disciplines, but

simply proactive and passionate individuals.

With regards to employees, AudioSho will need

● Traveling representatives

● Customer resources and management

● Factory manufacturers

These are critical fields. We will also need a fraction of these workers to be educated audio

engineers that can play a role in informing others on earphone construction and properly

manage the business. We will look into a training program for workers.

Education-Portal cites a significant number of well-known audio-engineering programs present

at multiple universities and colleges across the East Coast in major cities, ranging from

Nashville to New York City. In order to find employees, targeting these colleges as well as

towns for potential employees and representatives could lead to creative, charismatic, and

young minds devoted to audio acoustics. In addition, the diversity of such schools gets

AudioSho one step closer to understanding local communities across the country. Forbes also

cites HackerNews, a prominent news website that has built a notable community of young

engineers and students interested in technology. By means of some paid advertising, or even

through use of forums and communication, this would be an ideal place to connect with and look

for young employees. These would be the most skilled workers aligned with the company.

Lesser skilled but devoted workers are more important with regards to manufacturing.

To find the best employees, it is imperative that AudioSho maintains flexibility, and we plan to

have phone lines available for people who are interested to call.

Inventory

The only inventory necessary is for the preservation of earphone parts, which should occupy a

very minor amount of space. To start off AudioSho, we plan to have 2000 units in inventory.

Keep in mind that we can’t fully construct any earphones without a consumer’s order.

Suppliers

Name: Shenza Toufa Technology Co.

Location: Shenzhen, Guandong Province, China

Supply Ability: 15000 pieces per month

Min. Order Quantity: 50 pieces

The Shenza Toufa company provides custom made stainless metal parts of multiple

kinds necessary for earphones. This is signficant in providing the inner framework for electro-

magnets, wires, and drivers, inside of the earphone.

Name: Donguan Hardware Manufacturing Factory

Location: Guandong, China

Supply Ability:

The Donguan Hardware Manufacturing Factory provides technology for the outer portion

of the earphone that connects drivers to the coaxial wire. In other words, it’s essentially the

outer shell of the earphone. With stylish assorted colors, they’re clearly competent in supporting

this business.

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Name: Dailymag Electronics

Location: Zhejiang, China

Neodymium drivers suitable for providing competitive and high sound quality.

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Management and Organization Business Leadership

AudioSho fervently believes that It is imperative for a company leader to develop a culture for

their work place. It’s very blatant that AudioSho intends to become a thriving and popular

electronics company, but culture explains exactly how it is done. AudioSho identifies with the

notion of creating newfound flexibility, expressing this with a custom-made audio product and a

significant stress on versatility and eclecticism.

It is a CEO, rather, the company leader, that must identify not only with AudioSho’s work culture

but also demonstrate it. The key to versatility is passion, and devotion to wanting to find the best

outcome in all situations. There is balance between idealism and practicality that must

addressed. A person who is not afraid to work hard for a dream, not afraid of future obstacles,

and who truly loves their work will naturally develop the pragmatism to become a fervent leader,

flexible enough to turn challenges on their back.

With regards to past education, an AudioSho CEO must have a degree in preferably Business

Management, or another degree pertaining to the business field that will prove significant for the

company. In addition, a minor pertaining to an engineering or social science field is notably

favorable, providing evidence a good understanding of what is scientifically feasible for the

company. In addition, the CEO should be a person that is well acclaimed with traveling and

mobility. Especially concerning the pop-up store nature of AudioSho, a person that is willing to

visit and learn more about new communities is highly favorable. Finally, they should also have

interest in the arts and music. AudioSho connects with communities, artists, and musicians. A

CEO must feel comfortable in being able to make that connection.

This type of education, combined with the previously mentioned ardour and traits will result in a

versatile, commendable, and beneficial CEO, that balances the passion and idealism with work.

For AudioSho, Rome definitely wasn’t built in a day. Starting off, AudioSho is a team of 15

workers. 8 of which will be present at the Virginia office location, whereas the other 7 will be

traveling for the pop-up stores.

Office:

● Chief Technical and Design Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer

● Three manufacturers solely devoted to audio engineering and research.

● 3 Management advisors

Traveling representatives

● Owner (CEO)

● Human Resource Manager

● 2 Sales associates

● 1 Management advisor

We plan to have daily phone calls and meetings between these two groups in order to ensure

that everyone is constantly notified on the state of the company.

Here is an in depth description of different positions and roles necessary for AudioSho.

● Board of Directors: The CEO will be overseen by a board of four officers: Chief Financial

Officer (CFO), Chief Technical and Design Officer (CTDO), Human Resource Manager

(HRM), and Chief Operations Officer (COO). The HRM and CEO are both traveling

representatives, providing to both of them direct contact and work with the public.

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○ CFO: creates and organize financial accounting and balance sheets, presenting

suitable inforgraphics regarding what we need to know. Anyone in this position

should have a major in business or finance.

○ CTDO: Researches technology, coding, and graphic design suitable for our

product. A major in computer science with some background in the fine arts

and/or graphic design is heavily preferable.

○ HRM: Functions primarily for customer service and employment based issues.

Also serves to research and learn about industry association, and seeks out

independent artists and musicians suitable for AudioSho to work with.

○ COO: Coordinates and researches all matters referring to shipment, suppliers,

and packaging, working very closely with manufacturers.

● Management advisory: The Management Advisory board contains a director and a team

of 4 people. This board oversees all parts of the company to make sure standards are

upheld and everything is going smoothly, and is given a great depth of flexibility to

communicate information and access any areas of improvement.

● Attorney: AudioSho looks towards the employment of a corporate lawyer, allowing

AudioSho to succeed within the boundaries of the law. They will monitor regulatory

changes, create and edit legal documents for transactions, and fill out registration

documents concerning AudioSho’s pop-up store as well as the various communities

AudioSho interacts with. They will be heavily affiliated with the (COO)

● Insurance Agent: We are looking toward an insurance agent to help regulate health

insurance and legally required forms of aid for all AudioSho workers. At the moment, we

concentrate heavily on the work of our HRM, but we definitely would like to attain a fully

trained insurance agent who will work closely with AudioSho.

● Consultant: AudioSho does not seek a full-time consultant, however, we reserve money

to contact different community members as we travel to different cities. We heavily value

the advice and work we can get from different community members.

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Startup Expenses

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Sources Source 1

Title: Global Earphone Industry (Headphone and Headset) Report 2013-2014

Author(s): China Research Reports.

URL: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013-earphone-market/global-and-china-

2014/prweb12246483.htm

Source 2

Title: Which Legal Form is the Best for Your Business?

Author(s): Noto.com/inc

URL: http://www.inc.com/articles/2000/06/19438.html

Source 3

Title: Listen Up! Headphones in the Digital Age

Author(s): Aasha Bodani

URL: http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2011/11/listen-up.cfm

Source 4

Title: Headphones Market Analysis

Author(s): Lexicalist

URL: http://www.lexicalist.com/search.cgi?s=headphones

Source 5

Title: Teens, Millenials, prefer Youtube to Facebook, Instagram to Twitter (study)

Author(s): Shea Bennett

URL: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/teens-millennials-twitter-facebook-youtube_b55286

Source 6

Title: How to Create A Successful Pop-up Shop

Author(s): Melissa Gonzales

URL: https://ecommerce.shopify.com/guides/pop-up-shop

Source 7

Title: BotObjects Prices

Author(s): BotObject

URL: http://botobjects.com/prices

Source 8

Title: Lee Highway, Roanoke VA

Author(s): Loopnet

URL: http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19001325/682-Lee-Highway-Roanoke-VA/

Source 9

Title: Tips For Choosing a Business Location

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Author(s): SBA

URL: https://www.sba.gov/content/tips-choosing-business-location

Source 10

Title: How Headphones are Manufactured and Used

Author(s): Saliba Technology

URL: http://www.saillabstechnology.com/how-headphones-are-manufactured-and-the-materials-

used.html

Source 11

Title: CNC Machining Custom Made Metal Stainless

Author(s): Shenzan Toufa Technology

URL: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/CNC-machining-custom-amde-metal-

stainless_1758944833.html

Source 12

Title: Low Cost 3D Printing

Author(s): Itunes, ICTP

URL: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/first-international-workshop/id688831895?mt=10

Source 13

Title: DMDigital World

Author(s): Coursera

URL: https://www.coursera.org/course/dmdigitalworld

Source 14

Title: Bus-types

Author(s): Busrates

URL: http://www.busrates.com/buses/Bus-Types/

Source 15

Title: Glossy Black Electronics Corrugated Box Paper

Author(s): Shenzhen

URL: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Glossy-black-electronics-corrugated-box-

paper_1762355718.html

Source 16

Title: Virginia Tops 2013 list of Best States for Business

Author(s): Kurt Baudenhausen

URL: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/09/25/virginia-tops-2013-list-of-the-

best-states-for-business/

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Source 17

Title: Why You Can’t Get Decent Earphones for Less than $100

Author(s): Matt Buchanan

URL: http://gizmodo.com/5371253/giz-explains-why-you-cant-get-decent-earphones-for-less-

than-100

Source 18

Title: Earphone Parts

Author(s): Wolf hardware

URL: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/earphone-parts_515324501.html

Source 19

Title: High Quality Neodymium Earphone Drivers

Author(s): Dailymag Electronics

URL: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-quality-neodymium-earphone-

driver_60062208519.html