Business Plan

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Greekconnection.com Business Plan

Michael Bright

Carol Thompson-H (Zinke) Rebecca Johnson

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Overview We are creating a website for students who are apart of Greek systems across the nation. This site will be something that members of Greek life can use to make contact with other Greek organizations. It will be an easy and fun way to communicate. Also, if a student from a certain Greek community wants to come to a specific college, they can converse with other students in Greek living at the college they would like to go to, and make arrangements for a place he/she could stay. It will be great for setting up parties and invites to other Greek communities to partake in. In general, our site will be a fun, interactive, socially exclusive site for students living in the Greek systems; as well as alumni. Not only will students in Greek systems and alumni be able to use this site, but we will provide a guest log-in for those whom are interested in Greek living but not sure whether they want to be involved yet. They will be able to communicate with Greek life (anonymously), ask questions, and view descriptions about different houses, events, and images of fraternity’s.

To get this website off the ground we will contact the social chairs of each organization in order to get approval for using the schools name and Greek symbols on our website. We will propose the idea to the chair heads and identify why this will be beneficial for their house. Also, in terms of revenue we will place advertisements on our site. We will get beer companies and t-shirt making companies to advertise on our site to bring in revenue because those are two types of advertising Greek living will be interested in.

Another idea for our site, in order to keep the interactive aspect of it, is to have contests or competitions between Greek communities of different schools. The contests could consist of who can create the most creative logo for their Greek system, or the best photo from their latest party or event with rules that apply. And, the prizes for such contests could be 200 free t-shirt designs for their Greek community, sponsored by a t-shirt company, or sponsors for their next formal party event.

There are over nine-million Greek members nationally (thefraternityadvisor.com/greek-life-statistics/), and we project to have at least 18,000 Greek members using our site by one year’s time. Revenue is dependent on the amount of individuals that are signed up with our site, therefore with more traffic the pay per-click rate of advertisement, as well as banner advertisement, and revenue will directly increase. The average click-rate is $1/click so we project that with 18,000 users we will make roughly $14,850 in pay-per-click advertising, and we will make $8,400 in banner advertisement; accumulating roughly $23,000 in advertising revenue for year one. We started giving ourselves a salary in month six of the first year. In year two our revenue will increase so we increased our salary‘s from $300 to $1,000/person/month. In year two, we will not have an office, due to travel. In year three our revenue will increase therefore we will increase our salaries from $1,000 to $3,000/person/month.

Our competitors focus on one of our most important points, being private and exclusive, with this they leave out important information about the content of the site, which is a negative feature because the structure of the site begins with only a log in. We will provide an about us section on our homepage that describes what exactly they’re signing up for. Some Greek sites also have a monthly user fee, which we will not do, and are often difficult to navigate which makes them not user friendly. Our website can connect with university Greek systems more personally through an appointed member from each house that will control the content of their house page, including updating us on events, blog stories, and future concerns of their house.

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Marketing Analysis Our business will serve the college educated demographic ranging from freshman to alumni in every state. There are over 9 million active Greek members and alumni that we will serve. Our demographic is concerned with exclusivity, traditions and friendship.

Key Differentiators Greekconnection.com aims to fully connect every fraternity and sorority in the under one easy to use social networking site across the nation. Greekconnection.com is unique because not only are we exclusive but our members will be able to communicate and plan events with other Greek houses, universities and individuals. Our site will be free to join and we will have a guest page for students who are looking at colleges and housing options. Our site will attract users with an easy to use layout with advertisements that are directed to their wants and needs.

Technology The host we are using our website is http://www.squarespace.com/; the platform and the host are tied together. The host provides all the software and coding for our digital start-up. The site runs their business off of the same system. This means that if squarespace.com crashes, our site will crash. Because of this they will work as hard as they can to get their site back up. Also, should we need an upgrade on the programs; squarespace.com updates all programs for their users. In terms of making sure our site pops up in search engines, new features are constantly being added/updated to ensure our site will be found. The cost for our host/platform is $16/month. Other technology costs will be $50 a month for a phone bill and $25 a month for internet.

Revenue sources Revenue is dependent on the amount of individuals that are signed up with our site, therefore with more traffic the pay per-click rate of advertisement, as well as banner advertisement, and revenue will directly increase. The average click-rate is $1/click so we project that with 18,000 users we will make roughly $14,850 in pay-per-click advertising, and we will make $8,400 in banner advertisement; accumulating roughly $23,000 in advertising revenue for year one. As our site continues to get more members/traffic then our revenue will increase by traffic x 10 percent (average click through rate) equals our monthly revenue.

http://www.squarespace.com/

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Competitive analysis Our competitors allow users to have privacy by making people have a log-in. But, the issue with that is members cannot talk to everyone, as well as the fact that anyone can be a member, not just Greek life individuals, therefore it is not exclusive.

Our biggest competition is http://greeklifeedu.com/ because they are very organized and structured, except a down fall to the sites structure that only allows Greek members to communicate within their own university.

Another website we found is http://greeklifeonline.com/ and its homepage is entirely exclusive to the point where you do not know what the website is about, it’s visually un-appealing, confusing to log into. Also, while you get to personalize your own page, you do not have the ability to talk to other houses. (It’s basically a Facebook page) This sites weakness can become our strength. One of our group members, who is in a fraternity, tried to log on and get confirmation onto the site, he then logged on with a fake university and house, but still received a confirmation.

http://www.greekchat.com/ is also an online Greek connections site that we found, which is structured like a personal add in a newspaper. It has two ads and information is categorized under a giant information base that is called ‘recent threads,’ and it is chronologically ordered after that. Basically it is very confusing for uses, and not appealing to look at. Professionalism is not apparent in our competitor’s websites, which is something of focus for us on our site.

All social media networks such as Facebook provide competition because they are already used by millions of users, they are easy and free to users, and they are used to accomplish many of the same tasks we strive for. However, these sites are open to anyone and do not have selective groups.

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Leadership/Staff Carol:

Social network savvy, such as: Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Knows how to create accounts for each social networking site, as well as, has knowledge on navigation through the site and its usage.

Has experience in using Microsoft software. Such as: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

Has experience with photo and video editing, using programs such as: iMovie, Adobe Photoshop and Final-cut pro.

Mike:

Social network savvy, such as: Facebook, Wordpress and MySpace. Knows how to create accounts for each social networking site, as well as, has knowledge on navigation through the site and its usage.

Has experience in using Microsoft software. Such as: PowerPoint, Word and Excel

Has experience with editing photos, using the program ‘picnic.’

Rebecca:

Social network savvy, such as: Facebook and MySpace. Knows how to create accounts for each social networking site, as well as, has knowledge on navigation through the site and its usage.

Has experience in using Microsoft software. Such as: Word, PowerPoint

Has experience with video editing using the programs: iMovie and Final-cut Pro.

With comparable qualities we will be working as a whole. We will all share the same responsibilities and tasks.

Intern:

We will offer an internship position where any University of Idaho JAMM major can apply for. This intern will be in charge of gathering and screening all news from Greek houses and Colleges to post on their page.

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Financial summary There are over nine-million Greek members nationally (thefraternityadvisor.com/greek-life-statistics/), and we project to have at least 18,000 Greek members using our site by one year’s time. Revenue is dependent on the amount of individuals that are signed up with our site, therefore with more traffic the pay per-click rate of advertisement, as well as banner advertisement, and revenue will directly increase. The average click-rate is $1/click so we project that with 18,000 users we will make roughly $14,850 in pay-per-click advertising, and we will make $8,400 in banner advertisement; accumulating roughly $23,000 in advertising revenue for year one. We started giving ourselves a salary in month six of the first year. In year two our revenue will increase so we increased our salary‘s from $300 to $1,000/person/month. In year two, we will not have an office, due to travel. In year three our revenue will increase therefore we will increase our salaries from $1,000 to $3,000/person/month.

Launch budget: Operating expenses

• Staff payroll/benefits: $0 • Legal fee: 3 hours=$600.

o Legal patent/business registration: $324 • Education fees: $36/unit=$432

o Mandatory health fee: $34 • Rent/utilities: $0 • Web/technical support (software/apps etc.): $0 • Operational expenses (website start-up) : $16/month=$192/year • Distribution expenses (ISP, bandwidth, etc.): $0

Narrative:

We will have no benefits or salary. We are going to use a lawyer initially, at $200/hr for 3 hours, which will use $600. Our next fee will be for education, which will teach us how to design our site. The web design certificate takes 4 classes to receive. Each unit cost is $36, and they are 3 units each, 12 total, which is $432 dollars, plus a mandatory $34 total for health fees. We will be using a home office, so this isn’t in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions,

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and they will help us build and maintain our site. All contact will be with personal phones and/or vehicles if needed. Right now that is not listed in our current expense, but we will include it in our tax return. We are not distributing anything at this moment. Registration fees will be noted in our tax withhold forms also.

Total operating expenses at launch: $1,582

Operating revenue

• Other (user donation, family): $3,000

Total operating revenue: $3,000

Cash needed at launch: $1,582

Assets at launch: $1,418

First Year Budget

Operating expenses for September: Staff and payroll benefits: $0 Rent/Utilities: $0 Web/technical support:

internet fees $25 host/platform $16

Operational expenses: cell phone $50

Distribution expense: $0 Total = $91

Revenue: Traffic is 1,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $150 Narrative: We will have no benefits or salary at this point in time. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be

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using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund (this month we will not travel). We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating expenses for October:

Travel $100 Staff and payroll benefits: $0 Rent/Utilities: $0 Web/technical support:



Distribution expense: $0 Total= $191

Revenue: Traffic is 3,000 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $300 Narrative: We will have no benefits or salary at this point in time. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for November:





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Operating Expenses for December:






Operating Expenses for January:

Travel $200 Staff and payroll benefits: $0

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Rent/Utilities: $0 Web/technical support:




Revenue: Traffic is 12,000 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $1,200 Narrative: We will have no benefits or salary at this point in time. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for February:

Travel $200 Staff and payroll benefits: $300x3 Rent/Utilities: $0 Web/technical support:



Distribution expense: $0 Total= $1,191

Revenue: Traffic is 13,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $1,350 Narrative: We pay our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our

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cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for March:





Revenue: Traffic is 15,000 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $1,500 Narrative: We pay our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for April:





Revenue:

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Traffic is 18,000 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $1,800 Narrative: We are paying our employees $300 dollars a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for May:





Revenue: Traffic is 22,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $2,250 Banner ads: $2,100 Total= $4,350 Narrative: We are paying our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads on our website, and starting this month we will place banner ads on our website as well.

Operating Expenses for June:

Travel $0

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Staff and payroll benefits: $300x3 Rent/Utilities: $0 Web/technical support:




Revenue: Traffic is 22,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $2,250 Banner ads: $2,100 Total= $4,350 Narrative: We are paying our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads, and banner ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for July:





Revenue: Traffic is 22,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $2,250 Banner ads: $2,100 Total= $4,350 Narrative: We are paying our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help

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us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads, and banner ads on our website.

Operating Expenses for August:





Revenue: Traffic is 22,500 x 10% click through rate = advertising revenue $2,250 Banner ads: $2,100 Total= $4,350 Narrative: We are paying our employees $300 a month. We will be using a home office, so this is not in our budget. Our technical support is provided to us by our website, where you can ask questions, and they will help us build and maintain our site. Internet usage is included in our budget. We have a business cell phone that is included in our monthly budget, which we will put into our small business tax refund. Also, we will be using one of our cars as a business vehicle, for transportation, and this will be put in our business tax refund. We are not distributing anything at this moment. To generate revenue we will place pay-per-click ads, and banner ads on our website.

Total Revenue: $25,050

Previous Assets: $1,742

Total Operating Expenses: $9,016

Remaining Assets: $17,776

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Operating expense for year two:

Travel $5, 020

Staff and Payroll/ Benefits $36,000

Web/Tech support:

Host/Platform $192

Operational expenses:

Internet fees $300

Cell phone $600

Distribution $0

Total= $42,112

Revenue:

Traffic is 70,500x10% click through rate= $61,800

Banner Ads: $25,200

Total= $87,000

Previous assets from year 1= $17,452

Remaining year 2 assets= $44,888

Total remaining assets= $62,340

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Narrative: We started giving ourselves a salary in month six of the first year. In year two our revenue increased so we increased our salary‘s from $300 to $1,000/person/month. Currently, in year two, we have no office, due to travel. Because of our travel we have included rental car and air fare expenses into our budget. Our business phone expenses include a data package, which we use for internet. Our technical support is provided to us by our host where you may ask questions; they will help us build and maintain our site (host/platform fee of $16/month). We will include cellphone and travel expenses in our small business tax refund. And, we are not distributing anything at this time. To generate revenue we have pay-per-click ads and banner ads on our site.

Operating expenses for year three:

Travel $0

Staff and Payroll/ Benefits $108,000

Web/Tech support:

Host/Platform $192

Operational expenses:

Internet fees $300

Cell phone $600

Distribution $0

Total= $109,092

Revenue:

Traffic is 70,500x10% click through rate= $132,300

Banner Ads: $25,200

Total= $157,500

Previous from year two= $62,340

Remaining assets from year three= $48,408

Total remaining assets= $110,748

Narrative: In year three our revenue increased so we increased our salary‘s from $1,000 to $3,000/person/month. Our business phone expenses include a data package, which we use for internet. Our technical support is provided to us by our host where you may ask questions; they will help us build and

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maintain our site (host/platform fee of $16/month). We will include cellphone and travel expenses in our small business tax refund. And, we are not distributing anything at this time. To generate revenue we have pay-per-click ads and banner ads on our site.

Launch Plan To get this website off the ground we will contact the social chairs of each organization in order to get approval for using the schools name and Greek symbols on our website. We will propose the idea to the chair heads and identify why this will be beneficial for their house. Also, in terms of revenue we will place advertisements on our site. We will get beer companies and t-shirt making companies to advertise on our site to bring in revenue because those are two types of advertising Greek living will be interested in.

First steps to launch our site will include: contacting schools/greek houses, traveling to schools/houses, and/or Skype with schools, launch website through www.squarespace.com, and accumulate advertising.

Executive Summary Our website is for students and alumni who are apart of Greek systems across the nation. This site will be something that members of Greek life can use to make contact with other Greek organizations. It will be an easy and fun way to communicate and make arrangements for future planning. Not only will students in Greek systems and alumni be able to use this site, but we will provide a guest log-in for those whom are interested in Greek living but not sure whether they want to be involved yet. They will be able to communicate with Greek life (anonymously), ask questions, and view descriptions about different houses, events, and images of fraternity’s/sorority’s. Our major aspiration is to connect every greek community across the nation as a collective whole.

Documents

Business Plan