Business Plan 2018-2019

3160 Skillman Ave. Suite 204

Oceanside, New York 11572

Telephone: 516-678-8501

Email: Bramachocolates@gmail.com

Website: https://bramachocolates.weebly.com/

Twitter: @BramaChocolates

Instagram: @bramachocolates
 Table of Contents:

Information about Brama:

 Executive Summary………………………………………………….. 4

Business Rational:
 Customer Empathy……………………………………………..……. 5
 Problem Statement…………………………………………………… 5
 Ideal State………….…………………………………………………. 5
 Company Goals………………………………………………………. 5

About the Business:

 Mission Statement……………………………………………………. 5
 Company Overview…………………………………………………... 5
 Company Flowchart………………………………………………….. 6
 Company Management………………………………………….......... 7
 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………. 8

External Environment:
 Current Economic Conditions……………………………….. 9-10
 Real Industry Analysis……………………………………… 10
 Virtual Industry Analysis……………………………………. 11
 Competitive Analysis………………………………………. 11
Marketing Plan:
 Goal………………………………………………………… 12
 Target Market & Market Segmentation……………………. 12
 Demographics/Geographic’s/Psychographics……………… 13
Marketing Mix
 Marketing Mix: Product…………………………………. 14
 Marketing Mix: Pricing…………………………………… 14
 Marketing Mix: Placement……………………………….. 14
 Marketing Mix: Promotion……………………………….. 14
 Marketing Mix: Positioning…………….………………… 15

Financial Planning:
 Business Risk………………………………………………….. 16
 Break-even Analysis…………………………………………... 16
 Sales Projection Summary…………………………………….. 16
 Summary Profit & Loss Statement……………………………. 17
 Balance Sheet………………………………………………….. 18
 Financial Write up……………………………………………... 19
Appendix:
 Angel Investors
 Business Contract
 Bank Statement
 Bank Balance
 Contract for out of network sales
 Executive Summary
In 2016 Americans consumed over 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate. That’s 11 pounds per
person. Two problems have come up within the sector of chocolate from a consumer standpoint.
“Cheap chocolate is bland” and “Expensive chocolate is good quality but I can't afford to keep
buying it”. With this idea the students of our Virtual Enterprise class created Brama. Brama is a
locally started company in Oceanside, New York.

It Started out of our passion for quality chocolate, our frustration for bland chocolate,
and paying too much for such an indulgence. Brama offers a variety of high quality luxury
chocolates at a more affordable price than our competitors. We import our chocolate from only
the finest sources around the world. We at Brama are dedicated to providing our customers with
only the best and that is our goal. With Chocolate sales totaling $106 billion USD within the last
5 years we believe that Brama will be able to emerge within the chocolate sector and yield high
revenue.

Founded in October of 2018, Brama started business as a C corporation, with $20,000

and two angel investors each contributing $50,000. This money we will be able to pay our start-
up costs, pay for advertising expenses, and pay for our inventory. We are an E-commerce
company dedicated to providing our customers with only the finest chocolate. With a variety of
flavors and assortments, alongside the ability to customize your packages. We believe that
Brama can provide the highest quality and the best taste when it comes to chocolate. This is our
goal, to provide only the best chocolate, for you. Now, will you give into the desire? Invest in
Brama.
 Business Rational
Customer Empathy: We at Brama value our customers and their wellbeing is always on
our mind. We know what it’s like to anticipate buying chocolate, paying a high price and being
disappointed with the taste and price. This is why we ensure that all of our chocolate comes from
only the finest sources. We guarantee that all our chocolate is meets standards making every bite
of Brama chocolate a smooth sensation to satisfy your cravings. This is why we created Brama to
bring our beloved customers a better quality chocolate without costing a fortune.

Problem Statement: Our company solves the issue of bland chocolate, and the
expensiveness of high end chocolate. People are often frustrated and disappointed with settling
for lower quality chocolate and not satisfying their cravings. This comes from company’s cutting
their cost by getting average chocolate and selling it to the consumers. Other company’s charge a
fortune for good chocolates.

Ideal State: We at Brama believe in the best of both worlds, a low cost with high quality.
Partnering with outside source Chocolate works we are able to get high quality chocolate and the
variety of flavors at a low price solving the problem of price. We chose Chocolate works because
of their high standard of quality chocolate that we believe in.

Company Goals: We believe in putting our customers first here at Brama. That’s why we
center them on our goals. Our goals at Brama are to establish brand awareness for our company
so people can recognize who we are so we can bring quality chocolate to everyone. We will do
this through social media and buying advertisements on the VEI website. Our next goal is to start
generating revenue as soon as possible so we can satisfy our valued customers with our irritable
chocolate. We hope to turn a small gross revenue of $10,000 in the month of December.

About the Business:

Mission Statement
Brama’s mission is to provide, with enthusiasm, our customers with a high quality
chocolate that emulates luxury and is irresistible to the taste. This smooth, irresistible taste will
be felt in every bite of Brama chocolate as we import from only the best ensuring we meet the
needs of our customers for all occasions.

Company Overview
Luxurious, smooth, and excellent. These are what define our irresistible chocolates and
what makes Brama Chocolates special. Our renown chocolates are imported from only the very
best to ensure a smooth quality taste in every box, and in every bite. Brama Chocolates offers a
variety of flavors and ways to personalize your box of chocolate. Perfect for any occasion or
simple craving, give into the desire and treat yourself with the finest chocolate. Give into the
desire, with Brama
 Company Flow Chart
CFO
COO
Robert
Statler Jillian
(Jillian Cascio)
Cascio

Human
Controller Relations
Director of
Ryan Marketing Connor
Downing O’Sullivan
Jack Forbes
Melanie
Diminico

Accounting
Associates Marketing Associates
Justin Mikayla Carlins
Brooks
Taylor Puleo
Joe Amir
Nick Fiumara
Maia Jerchower
 About the Business
Company Management
Chief Financial Officer (CFO):

The Chief Financial Officer, CFO, is liable for the financials of the company and to help the
development of financial strategies. The CFO works hand in hand with our Controller and the
Accounting Department. The CFO is a key member to our administrative team and will split the
duties of a Chief Executive Officer, with our Chief Operating Officer.

Chief Operations Officer (COO): The Chief Operations Officer, COO, is responsible for the
efficiency of business. Our COO works hand in hand with our Human Relations Department and
works closely with our Director of marketing and the Marketing team. The COO is a key
member of our administrative team and will split the duties of a Chief Executive Officer, with
our Chief Financial Officer.

Controller: The Controller oversees all associates in their department and assigns tasks. They
take on difficult tasks and make executive decisions for the company. The Controller is a
member of our administrative team.

Director of Marketing: The Director of Marketing oversees all associates in the Accounting
Department and assigns daily tasks. They also take on difficult tasks and make executive
decisions for the company and with regards to selling and marketing. The Director of Marketing
is a member of our administrative team.

Human Resources Associate: The Associates in our Human Resources associates are
responsible for tracking attendance, benefits, training, and employee relations. They are also
liable for managing meetings, directing and regulating departmental functions of the company.

Marketing Associate: The Associates in our Marketing Departments are responsible for
promoting our company and our products. They are required to take a visual approach to inform
and captivate our customers.

Accounting Associate: The associates in our Accounting Department are responsible with
regards to accounting procedures and financial statements. They produce financial reports, pay
bills, maintain payroll, keep record of stock transactions, direct investment activities, and
develop strategies and plans for long term goals.
 S.W.O.T Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 Management  New Firm
 Large Marketing Team  Lacking Brand Awareness
 Strong Networking Skills with  Limited source of funding
outside VE firms

Opportunities Threats
 Large Market  Economy
 High Demand  Competition
 Variety of Options with chocolate
 Room to expand
Strengths: Brama has two leaders that have experience as leaders and are known for their time
management, accounting, and marketing. These qualities set exampels for all employees. Also,
having two leaders in place allows both the CFO and COO to take on more tasks more
effectively and bring more creative ideas to the table. Secondly, we have a large marketing
department. This allows us to divide and conquer. We are able to set up multiple marketing
campaigns at once and work together to get a larger project done in a timelier manner. We are
also able to successfully run two social media accounts that are allowing us to finally build brand
awareness.

Weaknesses: Brama is a new company, therefore we are relatively unknown. Much of our
marketing efforts will be to establish brand awareness to start. Also, without sales we have
limited funding to start. We’ve invested only $20,000 in seed money and we are capped at 3
investors with only $50,000 invested.

Opportunities: Throughout the school year, many opportunities to create a network, increase
sales, and find new customers will arise. One of these will be at the trade shows in January and
April. At these we will create a booth that attracts not only new customers, but business partners.
We will also be able to visit other firms’ booths to network and create relationships with other
companies in the Virtual Enterprising world. The market for chocolate is one of the largest
especially in America, being in the top 10 consumers of chocolate.. This is beneficial to us
because this is where we plan to make most, if not all, of our sales and generate a majority of our
revenue.

Threats: Other popular chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt, etc. that have the same
type of goal as Brama and already have success in this market. This means it will be harder for
Brama to infiltrate the market and generate a large profit, or any at all. Since we are an
Ecommerce store, we will have to establish our place and compete with other companies that
have websites to purchase chocolate goods. With the economy doing fairly well we will be able
to thrive and create more sales. However if there is a downturn in the economy this would be
harmful to Brama. Since we are a discretionary item we aren’t essential to people’s ways of
living and sales would then decrease.
 Current Economic Conditions

External Environment:
Domestic Product, GDP is the total value of goods and services produced within a country for a
specific time period. A high GDP indicates that a country is increasing the amount of production
that is taking place in the economy and that people have higher incomes; therefore, are spending
more. Our luxury chocolate company offers higher end chocolate that is more affordable than
other chocolate brands like Godiva and Lindt. The current American GDP is 3.5% as of 2017
increasing in quarter 3 this year and has been steadily rising in the last 3 years. This means the
economy is soaring and people are spending their disposable income, which is good for Brama.
We are a confectionary item we are nonessential to consumers’ needs people will have more
money to spend on items like chocolate.

The Graph below shows the GDP in in USD for the past 5 years with a steady
upward rise within the economy. Currently the GDP is at 3.5% increasing in quarter 3.
 Current Economic Conditions
Unemployment: Unemployment measures the amount of people not working and seeking
unemployment. Currently the national unemployment rate is down compared to last year at 3.7%
and in the past 5 years it has been it has been one of the lowest. This is good for Brama because
we are I high end chocolate company that caters to people of medium to high income as a
confectionary and non-essential item. With this people will have more money to spend on
chocolate. This is a sign of a strong economy when more people are working, they will have
more money to spend on discretionary items like chocolate.

Federal Government and Interest Rates: With the economy going in an upward
trend, GDP’s high and unemployment low, the government hasn’t raised taxes or interest rates
on producers. From a consumer standpoint this is good because it keeps money in their pocket
and allows them to spend their money on other things. Recently the federal government has
lowered rates for businesses saving them money as well. This is good for Brama because we will
be able to help us save money and put more of our focus towards the consumers allowing us to
keep our prices low ultimately saving them money as well.

Real Industry Analysis: Brama operates in the luxury chocolate business with other
competing companies like Godiva and Lindt. These companies have a large E-commerce
presence and offer high end chocolate for more money. We at Brama offer better chocolates for
lower prices. The chocolate industry is steadily growing, $20 billion-a-year in the United States
alone centered on the sale and consumption of chocolate. People will always want chocolate and
the market of chocolate will continue to increase. This graph below shows that the United States
is within the top ten countries in the world for most consumption of chocolate.
Virtual Industry Analysis: The virtual enterprise chocolate industry is different than
the current real world industry for luxury chocolate. There are many companies in the real world
that sell luxurious chocolate products, like Godiva and Lindt. However, in the Virtual Enterprise
chocolate industry, there are no real competitors to Brama that strictly sell luxury chocolates that
you can customize. The closest competitors that Brama faces are candy companies or cookie
companies, but pose no serious threat.

Competitive Analysis: Brama Chocolates operates in the luxury chocolate business with
other competing companies. These companies offer higher end chocolate for more money, just
like we do at Brama Chocolates. The chocolate industry is steadily growing, $20 billion-a-year in
the United States alone centered on the sale and consumption of chocolate. The prediction is that
it will be well over $23 billion the end of this year and a steady rise from there. The virtual
enterprises chocolate industry is different than the current real world industry for luxury
chocolate. However, in the virtual enterprises chocolate industry, there are no real competitors to
Brama that strictly sell luxury chocolates that you can personalize. The closest competitors that
Brama faces are candy companies or cookie companies Like Carolina sweets but no serious
threats that can devastate Brama. The graph below shows the annual sale of chocolate in the US
in billions within the past 5 years.
 Marketing Plan:
Goals: Our fully loaded website will be up and running by the second week of December.
This will help us generate revenue and help create brand awareness and provide our customers
with a more efficient way of buying products. We plan to get our company’s name out into the
public so people can recognize our brand and product. This will help them understand what
makes us different and why we are better. We plan to use social media to inquire sales and create
steady revenue. We plan on creating regular everyday customers. In our very large yet socially
involved community we find creating these kinds of customers very easy. Creating sales is
handled by our strong experienced marketing team. They are the best at what they do and know
how to put our business on the map through the use of advertisements. Our advertisements
include commercials, social media & fliers. Lastly we want to raise at least $10,000 in gross
revenue by the end of December of 2018. If we do not achieve this we will reevaluate our
marketing strategies to promote our brand and lower our costs as much as possible.

Target Market: Our target market is young adults 25 – 50 years of age, both male and
female with middle to high income levels living in the vicinity of New York City who enjoy a
high quality chocolate. This is because most of our market is adults who are already established
in life and have disposable income to spend on chocolate. These people typically range from the
income level of $43,000 to upward of $90,000.

Marketing Segmentation: The target market for Brama is young adults. Brama has
made an effort to focus the majority of our marketing campaigns towards adults who have
medium to high income. We Plan to target this group by using social media which is becoming a
more popular trend with adults. Along with online marketing and physical word of mouth we
plan to also market to them in person with our personal relations campaign by going out into the
real world and letting people try our smooth luxurious chocolate.
 Demographics
Demographics: The average household income in the United States is $59,039, of this
number about $22.4 billion was spent in 2017 alone is spent on chocolate. We specifically chose
this range because chocolate is a discretionary item. This means it is not essential to people’s
ways of living. People from the ages of 25-50 typically are more mature and have more income
they can spend on confectionary items. This is beneficial to Brama because this helps us to direct
our marketing campaigns towards people who will buy our products without wasting our finite
amount of resources.

Geographic’s: Our Company is located in Oceanside, New York and will have the ability
to ship product all over the world for our online sales, but the majority of our sales (40%) will
come from local trade shows. Therefore, we will be targeting individuals in the vicinity of New
York City. The medium income for Long Island is $88,123 and for New York City it is $58,738.
With these high income levels we believe that we can penetrate the market and bring Brama to a
good start.

Psychographics: Brama provides people the opportunity to enjoy luxury quality chocolate
so we have decided to target people in the middle and upper classes. According to
Fieldbloom.com, individuals are comfortable financially, and, though, they do not spend money
recklessly, they do like the “finer things in life” and are not afraid to buy what they want. When
they buy chocolate it is either an impulse buy or a craving that they must fulfill. They want to
have a smooth elegant taste in their mouths and want to savor each bite and enjoy what they
bought. Most people who buy chocolates in the New York City area buy these chocolates for the
same reasons. When they are shopping or in a rush but in the mood for a sweet snack to fill their
cravings they will buy chocolate.
 Marketing Mix
Product: We at Brama sell a variety of personalized, luxury chocolate assortments for all
occasions. These are sold in many different quantities and, as a result, at many different price
points. We strive to fulfill the cravings of all of our clients no matter what their budget. We are
selling every day and specialty arrangements that are designed around the holidays like chocolate
Christmas trees, Santa’s for December. For spring, chocolate bunnies and eggs for Easter.
Another way to make our chocolates more appealing to customers is allowing them to customize
their boxes for a flat rate per box. Each flavor is set at a certain price and from there our
customers can make there box perfect for them.

Pricing: Brama benefits customers by allowing them to customize their very own box for a
reasonable price. Our base price for the box is $4.99, with each flavor chocolate costing a
different amount the average price per truffle is $1.25 and to purchase each one is $.49. These
prices are based off of our real world competitors like Godiva and Lindor. We also plan to offer
stylized, holiday treats like chocolate bunnies and Christmas trees. With the variety of holidays
throughout the year Brama can maximize its profit margins by raising its prices surrounding
holidays, letting us charge more for seasonal items. A seasonal item like our chocolate Christmas
tree would cost us $4.40 for the chocolate to make and would go for around $14.99, however
since it is a seasonal item we can charge $29.99 covering our cost of production to make it with a
profit margin of almost $25. We are a competition based company competing with other
chocolate company’s by lowering our price and offering better quality chocolate and the ability
to allow our customers the option to customize their order if they choose.

Placement: Brama offers all of its products online through an easy buying process at
https://bramachocolates.weebly.com. We will also make sales through our trade show booth and
partnerships with other companies. Our limited edition chocolates will create additional revenue
during the holiday seasons such as Christmas and Easter. We will also sell personalized
chocolate that will cost extra, generating even more revenue. Both of these things increase the
price and popularity of our chocolates. We predict that a majority of 40% of our sales will come
from local trade shows and the rest from our online e-commerce website, and out of network
sales. We will be available online by the second week of December the latest.

Promotion: Brama’s promotional objective is to appeal mainly to our target market and
create memories that will last a lifetime with our signature pieces for those special occasions.
Brama will continue to promote itself by staying active on Instagram, Twitter and our website.
We use these platforms primarily because our target market has moved onto social media to stay
with the trend of the younger generation. By staying active, this will draw attention to our
company and promote our products and establish brand awareness. We will also use direct
mailing, email blasts, sales discounts, and promotional codes to increase sales. This will also
help increase our followers on social media which will help us gain a steady source of income
and increase sales.
 Marketing Mix
Positioning: Unlike other chocolate companies, Brama will not only sell delicious,
luxurious chocolate, but will also sell and create memories that last forever. We are able to do
this by creating one of kind chocolate assortments for a special time in your life, or for a special
someone. Our seasonal items are a perfect gift for any occasion created with only the finest
chocolate to give our valued customers a high quality chocolate, and a memory that will last
them a life time. We at Brama are view by our customers as a luxury chocolate brand that is
more affordable and better quality then other chocolate company. We value our customers and
strive to make each customer feel special, that is why we allow customers to pick and choose
what they want. Allowing them to fulfill their desire and achieve our goal of satisfying our
customer with a fond memory of Brama chocolates.
 Financial Planning
Business Risks: Starting a new business comes with many risks that a company has to face
in order to make it successful. A big risk that comes with starting a new business is having
startup money and customers. You first need money to get the business up and running, without
some money, it would be hard to make any progress. Also, a company needs to have customers
to make profit and continue expanding their business to achieve success. Without brand
awareness we won’t be able to get customers thus affecting our revenue. Lastly, competitors can
quickly shut down a business if the opposing business was seriously thriving. If two companies
sold the same product and one was that much better, than it would be hard for the less popular
company to earn money.

Break-even Analysis: Brama offers many different varieties of quality chocolates that
are sold at different prices and cost different amounts. Because of our wide selection we took the
average cost of each assortment of chocolate, and how much we sell our products. The average
cost to produce a box is $8.11 the average box price is $29.99. To break even Brama must sell
600 boxes to start generating profits. We believe this is obtainable to reach with our sales
projection.

Sales Projection Summary: We predict our quality chocolates and our lower prices
will emerge and establish ourselves in the candy market. With the launch of our website we
predict that 50% of our sales will come from it and we hope to gross upward of $10,000 for the,
month of December due to the holiday time. With the upcoming trade shows we predict that 30%
will come from trade shows and will help us promote brand awareness. With the potential to now
acquire out of network sales up to a certain amount we predict that we will able to sell up to 20%
of our income from this. We predict that our sales will revert to regular steady flow up until
Valentine’s Day when candy is prominent for giving alongside Easter.
 Financial Planning
Summary Profit & Loss Statement: Since Brama is a new company that just started in
November so we haven’t had any sales. This was because our website was not up and running
and our company did not have inventory. Since receiving this information we have gotten our
website up and running, and have begun to purchase inventory. We have begun an aggressive
marketing campaign to establish brand awareness.
 Financial Planning

November’s Balance Sheet

 Financial Write Up

With many risks in starting a business, two of the major risks were finding investors and
entering an already established market. With investors you have to pitch your company to them
to secure the desired amount you require. With any new company raising capital is hard.
Throughout the course of 2 months we were able to raise $100,000 in capital by selling stocks to
2 different angel investors. Each received 5,000 shares at a $10 par value in preferred stock for a
total investment of $50,000 each. We hope to get a third investor of $50,000 by the end of
December. This money was used to start our company and help pay for the initial starting cost of
office equipment, rent, utility, labor expense, advertising expenses, and everything else.
The second risk we dealt with at Brama was entering an already established market place.
We will have to further establish brand awareness in this sector as well as continue to try and
lower our cost because we are lowering our price to compete with other companies allowing for
a greater influx of customers.
As A brand new company we don’t have any sales as of now, however, we plan to do
$10,000 in gross revenue within the month of December through trade shows, out of network
sales, and through our online website. We hope to increase sales drastically and by the end of
January we should double our gross revenue to $20,000. We plan to raise this money by having
multiple advertising campaigns leading into February. This is where we will focus our marketing
around Valentine’s Day in order to increase sales. Chocolate is a necessity for Valentine’s Day,
knowing this we hope to raise upward of $45,000 gross revenue from this.
Towards the end of the VE year we hope to rise over $125,000 in revenue. With
chocolate a common theme in many holidays we can focus our marketing strategies towards the
holidays in order to gain sales. Through promotional codes we hope to attract more customers
into buying our chocolate. If we do not meet our goals we will reevaluate our marketing
strategies and look at ways we can cut our prices to save us and our money.
 Appendix
 Angel Investors…………………………………………………………. A1-A-2
 Business Contract……………………………………………………… A3-A4
 Bank Account Balance……………………………………………….. A5
 Work Cited………………………………………………………………. A6
A-1
A-2
A-3
A-4
 A-5

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