The Pashmina Store

NEED RECOGNITION

The idea for haute-couture stoles/ scarves made of pure cotton and wool came from the young
niche that are brand and style conscious and take the scarves not only as a need but as a style
statement. We recognized the need of our customers as not only a temporal factor hence we
decided to introduce our product as not only a winter wear but for all year round.

SITUATUIONAL ANALYSIS

Haute- couture stoles and scarves come in the category of niche markets in Pakistan especially
in the cosmopolitan city of Karachi which for us is a very small target market who would go out
of the way to buy high priced clothing accessories. In previous decades the concept of scarves
dealt with covering of heads for females while in recent years the concept has drastically
altered into more of a fashion statement.

DESCRIPTION OF VENTURE

As a group of fashion designers, marketers and talented individuals we decided to invest into a
business which will be new to the market even though the consumers are in a way well aware
of the product. The population of Pakistan and women in specific are well aware of the
Pashmina scarves/shawls/stoles that are being made and sold at a very large scale around the
world. But here we are with a little diversification to the product serving the niche that is very
conscious about their status and prestige. Having a crew of designers we will personalize the
designs on the pure pashminas and cotton stoles as per our inspiration. The uniqueness of our
business would the haute couture shawls and stoles that we will make and sell. A single design
will be translated to 3 sizes of stoles and no copies that will make our brand so precious to our
consumers.

The real pashminas are made of baby sheep wool in the N.W.F.P (Swat) region of Pakistan.
Moreover we are adding pure cotton silk stoles as well so that style is no more restricted by
climatic changes. So as to give our product the pure form we are going to have our workers
weave the yarn only as intricately as ever under our nose with detailed supervision for quality
control, uniqueness and perfection in our partner Adeel Khan’s portion of his house that he is
willing to invest. We will set up a small scale workshop because we are haute couture and cater
only to a very small segment/upper class of the market. Firstly because it is a new business and
only after we get a good response we might expand in future. We will place ourselves in the
main shopping area being zamzama: the hub for women. A boutique like the others yet
providing a very different product will shine through the streets of zamzama.

The idea for this kind of business was generated when we saw that women were in search of
originality in the material and design rather than those found at wholesale markets at saddar

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 The Pashmina Store

etc. investment would be made by the four members who have come together to initiate such
a business.

MISSION STATEMENT

To supply Pashmina and cotton silk scarves and stoles of unique designs and high quality to the
Niche market who are brand conscious and fashion conscious and has high living standards.

VISION STATEMENT

To provide quality stoles with wide range of related products, aiming to make a place in the
niche market and gain brand loyalty amongst our consumers.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The newer generations tend to take accessorizing their clothing as a very vital part of their
lifestyle. Our mission is to give their desire a boost and provide them with something that will
not only become a signature style of each customer but also elevate their personalities. We are
targeting the very upper class of our society who would go out of their way to spend on such a
high priced product without second thoughts.

Our stoles will be made of the purest and finest quality of wool and cotton silk with designed
intricately by us, hand woven under our close supervision. And this is how we explain our high
prices.

All the four partners Adeel Khan, Umber Jawed, Hina Bawahab and Sidrah Qureshi will work
actively in the running of the Business and are investing 200,000, 250,000, 242,000 and 200,000
respectively and the profits will be distributed according to the ration of the investment. We
wish to have a peaceful working environment at our workshop as well as the boutique itself
with satisfied work force giving their best to their tasks. Our workshop will be located in phase
two defense market Karachi over an area of 200 square feet and it will be about 5 to 10
minutes away from our shop at Zamzama.

We will have two part time workers who will be attending to the loom. Each one will come 15
days in a month that is alternatively to the other. This way if due to any problem one is absent
the other can take up his day and work does not have to halt. Our third worker would be a
permanent man at hand for minor tasks on everyday basis. Secondly, this will also keep our
salary cost comparatively low and the workers’ interest intact. Because it is very important that
our labor does not get fed up of their work as this would reduce their efficiency.

By using up Adeel’s portion of the house we will save up on the expensive rentals, far off
transportation inconvenience and costs etc. he offered us his house because it was lying idol
and so it was wise to put it to some use. The workers would work from 9 to 6 at regular basis
and hence, Adeel will get Rs 15,000 per month for the place the workshop we are taking up and
the inconvenience we are giving his family.

Karachi being one of the most modern cities of Pakistan is ahead of its times and have people
that are quite capable of accepting innovative ideas. Keeping this in mind, it is the perfect city
to start our business. Our boutique will be open all round the week and will have a very
comfortable yet a luxurious feel to it. It will all be set up as per our customer’s mentality.

We strongly believe in giving the best to people who deserve the best. Our running cost at the
beginning of the business would be somewhere around 450,000

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Businessmen find it hard to start new businesses, borrowing loans from bank is not simple
anymore, a credible background is required along with valuable assets for collateral purposes,
which most new businessmen do not have. Another set back to the economy is that banks are
closing down. They too have bad debts and too many debtors who are unable to pay back their
long borrowed loans and also their unpredictable interest policies. Fortunately, we will not be
borrowing money from banks but we will be contributing our own assets and we will be getting
a few sponsorships to start off with.

Government has also passed new laws which are making it tough for new businessmen to start
their business. Strict credit policies for banks have been introduced. Political instability and
economic uncertainty has left Pakistan with a bleak future.

We are required to consider the tastes and the lifestyles of our target audience since we will be
dealing in the business of clothing and accessories, this leaves clothing businesses with the
threat that there might be some rapid shift in the target audience’s behavior, as they might not
have homogenous preferences but as the USP of our business goes that we offer unique
designs and there will not be many copies of the same design henceforth this saves our
business from any such rapid behavioral changes. Even if a rapid shift occurs in the market we
would not have stock that will go waste and incur us loss.

As our USP is offering unique custom made designs for our customers in pashmina’s, it
differentiates us from other Pashmina sellers; therefore, we don’t have any competitor as such
in Karachi.

ANALYSIS OF COMPETITORS

As mentioned earlier people who are brand conscious would usually buy these scarves etc from
abroad or call for them through someone. In Pakistan the only wholesalers present are the ones
selling unbranded goods at far off ends. They are running on low costs compromising on the
quality and purity of the yarns being used which is very unlikely in our fine product. We justify
our high priced shawls/stoles by the pure silk and cotton yarns completely hand woven finished
product.

Small shops at sadder (zainab market). A shop at forum randomly few pieces available at brands
for less and fifth avenue(not designer wear)

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 The Pashmina Store

ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN

Our firm constitutes four partners, Adeel Khan, Umber Jawed, Sidrah Qureshi and Hina
Bawahab. Returns will be shared among all 5 partners equally.

Roles and responsibilities of members of organization

Our firm comprises of four partners:

Adeel Khan has done Masters in Finance and has served as an auditor for ads agencies and HSBC. He
would be handling the accounts of the business. Along with this he would be looking after the whole
process of ordering and managing of raw material.

Sidrah Pervaiz did her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, then joined an advertising agency for 1 year and
is now a partner of The Pashmina Shop as its Marketing Manager. She will be looking after the marketing
activities including the print ads, poster etc. and budget required for them.

Umber Jawed has done her Bachelors in Advertising; she has also been a free lance photographer. Her
interest in art expanded when she started exhibiting for Pakistan’s famous artists’ master pieces. She
will serve as one of the designers in the business.

Hina Bawahab has done her Bachelors in Fashion Design and a few courses in textile design as well. She
has gained experience by working under a known designer. As she is qualified and has the know-how of
the market she would be serving as the designer of the business.

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 The Pashmina Store

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Quality products: We would be buying high quality raw materials from the suppliers which will
lead to high quality end product.

Uniqueness of designs.

Expert workforce.

Direct contact with customers which will help us know what they want.

The business partners are all related to the art field, which will become relatively easy for us to
identify the arising needs in the market

The capital invested is mainly by the partners which gives our business less risk in case of
liabilities

We are not investing on a workshop space saving us a lot on the cost

Brand and fashion conscious people do not like to copy or copied and our products will provide
them with the uniqueness they are hungry for, as we don’t have duplicate pieces of one design

Weakness

Our target audience is a small market segment and therefore initially we might face difficulties
in attracting customers

We might get great competition if we plan to expand abroad in future

As far as the pashmina stoles are concerned they will only be wearable in winters so sales will
tend to all.

Opportunity

Market attractiveness is higher for our entry as there are fewer stores in Karachi that supply
branded stoles and scarves

We don’t have any competitor as no store provides customized unique designs for stoles and
scarves

Threats

Threat of new entrants is the same in terms of quality and uniqueness of designs

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 The Pashmina Store

High price demand by suppliers of threads

Economic Factors – inflation/deflation

Political Factors– it will affect our business for example introduction of some new policy

Natural factors (like weather) might affect our telecommunication

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FINANCIAL PLAN
START-UP FUNDING

INVESTMENT BY PARTNERS
Adeel Khan 200,000
Umber Jawed 250,000
Sidrah Qureshi 200,000
Hina Bawahab 242,000

TOTAL INVESTMENT 892000

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COST OF BUSINESS

All costs added below are in rupees.

INITIAL FIXED COST of

Shop
Particulars Quantity rate cost

Shop rent (1st 6 months) 30,000 180,000

Renovation:
3 spotlight sets 4 1000 4000
Bulbs(energy savers 15volts) 12 165 1980
Single spot lights 10 315 3150
Wall mirrors 26”X60” 4 1250 5000
installation 350 350
A/C-1 tonne 1 25,800 25,800
-installation 1700 1700
Wooden plank flooring 14ftX15ft 19,000 19,000
Stole Hangers 2.5 FT EACH 4 2000 2000
Transportation of raw
material 3000 3000
Switch board 1 773 773
Paint 5000 5000

Glass door 1 35,000 35,000

Generator petrol + gas 5kv 1 43000 43000
Reception desk 1 4000 4000
Chair 1 1000 1000
Computer with Lcd 1 15000 15000
Stationary supplies 500 500
--- ---
Initial Advertising
Retail signage (12 x 3)ft 1 9500 9500

TOTAL 359753

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RUNNING EXPENSE OF SHOP

Particulars Quantity Rate Total cost

Shop rent 30000 30000
Salaries- 1 10000 10000
Receptionist
Salesman+ 2% 1 7000 7000
commission
Guard 7000 7000 7000
Bills
advertising 1 8000 8000
Electricity 10000 10000
Food 3 people 150 per day 4500
Generator fuel& 4000 4000
transposrtation
Total 80500

INITIAL WORKSHOP COST

Particulars Quantity rate Total Cost

Jacquard loom 1 60000 60000
Raw material
Cotton Silk 500 70 35,000
Pashmina wool 300 80 24,000

Total 119000

RUNNING EXPENSE OF WORKSHOP

Particulars Quantity Rate Total cost

Rent (Adeel Share) 10000 10000
Master weaving 2 600/day 18000
labour
Permanent labour 1 7000 7000
Bills
Electricity 3000 3000
Generator fuel 1000 1000
transportation 2000 2000
Food 3000 3000
Total 44000

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DETAILS OF PRODUCT

Stoles made of pure cotton silk yarn and pashmina woolen yarn.

Stoles at shop will be availabe in 3 sizes.

26” X 60” wrap around neck stoles.

28” X 80” feather light wrap around.

35’’X 80” full size shawls.

Kinds of stoles:

Plain (coloured and shaded)

Semi formal ( our designs and )

Formals (heavy hand embroidred and designed)

Average Cost Per Unit 3 years

Material per stole

Plain

Material (avg) 220

Total 220

Semi formal

Material 220

Design /embroidery 500

total 720

Formal 220

Design /embroidery 5000

total 5220

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Revenue 1560000

Total expense of business 1470000

material 129000

total negetive revenue (30000)

second year sales double to 30 stoles per month = 360 stoles per year

total revenue 3240000

total expense 1470000

material 331200

total revenue second year 2 1448800

year one loss (30000)

net revenue at year 2 1408800

We hit break even after 17months and recover Rs 478753 which was the intital expenses that
we incurred.

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 The Pashmina Store

Marketing Plan
Our main marketing objectives include:

To supply Pashmina scarves and stoles of unique designs

To promote Pure Pashmina to the Niche market who are brand conscious and fashion conscious
and has high living standards.

The Product

Pashmina is the Persian word Pashm meaning finest wool quality fiber, the ‘Soft Gold’ king of
fiber. Kashmiri pashmina shawl is one of the most popular shopping items of the state. The
stoles are adorned with exquisite embroidery and are extremely soft. Since we specialize in only
cashmere and pashmina products we can focus on offering you the very best values on quality
Grade A luxury items. A luxurious pashmina shawl, wrap, or scarf is the perfect fashion
accessory for any season, event or occasion!

Promotion

Promotions are activities that communicate the merits of a product and persuade. Consumers
to buy it are called promotions. Our promotion involves monthly advertisement in ‘Home
Express Magazine’ which carters the elite class. As our target market comprises of mostly
people living in defence and Clifton, Home Express will be the best choice for us as it is only
accessible in Clifton and Defence. Two small Monthly advertisements in the magazine will cost
us 5000. In addition to this, Home Express also advertises on FaceBook which is the largest
social network which is popular within all demographics. The Pashmina Store projects itself as a
product for everyone for both male and female. Usually the advertisement includes both
gender cause of the culture here, only prefer female for Pashmina Stoles, so we will also focus
on males.

Place

We will place ourselves in the main shopping area being Zamzama: the heart for women. A
boutique like the others yet providing a very different product will shine through the streets of
Zamzama. At The Pashmina Store, you will always enjoy fast & friendly service, free standard
shipping and guaranteed satisfaction.

Price

The Pashmina Store is the new to the market with a unique point of customized Pashmina
Stoles/Scarves/Wraps. The high quality of the product and the personalized pashmina gives the

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probability to The Pashmina Store to charge a premium price for their stoles. The pashmina
products at our store will range from 5000 to 30000 in the early stages and then later on with
the response of the customers the partners plan product development with formal and bridal
wear which can reach to 1lakh. With market skimming pricing we communicate the image of a
superior product due to the mind sets of the elite. Our customers are in sufficient number with
a high current demand for the product. In addition, to this the unit cost of producing a small
volume of pashmina is not so high that it cancels out the advantage of charging what the traffic
will bear. Market skimming pricing will allow us to be a monopoly in the market for sometime
as initial high price does not attracts the competitors to market. The streets of Zamzama are
known for its high priced products so there will be no one hold responsible of overcharging
price. There will be psychological discounting will be applied whenever needed, mostly
summers.

The Environment

Micro environment

The actors close to the company

The Company

The Pashmina Store thrives on the pulse of its stakeholders. Internal confederates are key
components that signify the values of The Pashmina Store. In this context the common

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approach has always been to assure the provision of a well designed and comfortable working
atmosphere.

The Environment

The environment at The Pashmina Store has been very cautiously and painstakingly developed.
Through successive transition, honest effort has been made to provide an optimum balance
between personal life and work enabling employees to enjoy work and personal time with
families and friends.

Numerous policies and practices assure the provision of this balance. The Pashmina Store
strictly adheres to an 11:00 am to 10:00 pm working day. The Pashmina Store operates on a 5
day working week, meaning a reasonable weekend with Saturday’s and Sunday’s off. The Work
shop operates 5 days a week with timings of 10:00 am to 05:30 pm so that there is least
interference in the Family life of Adeel Khan. In summary, all team members are given every
opportunity to manage their time intelligently while at work so that a relaxing and productive
mode is maintained throughout their personal and professional lives.

Suppliers

The Pashmina Store is dependent on the workshop which is vertical integration done by the company
which enables to keep a check on the stock and the quality is ensured. Other then this the Raw material
which is the Yarn needed to make the Pashmina Stole is supplied by Ali Haroon, a merchandiser. The
suppliers are very limited in the market so the Pashmina Store has to adopt friendly policies with them
so they can serve The Pashmina Store in much better way.

Customers

The customers are relatively less customers in the market firstly, because it’s a new brand in the market
but we are hoping to increase our market share in the upcoming years. The customers usually includes
female as most of the females are in search of originality in the material and design rather than those
found at wholesale markets at Saddar etc. Pashmina are very traditional and they attract the attention
of the tourist in Pakistan which will ultimately make a good international impact. Since the climate thru
out the year is moderate to hot, we are also offering Cotton Pashmina Stoles which will be available at
The Pashmina Store that can be worn thru out the year, giving our customer a distinctive variety to
choose from. The customer will be the elite class which is ready to pay a high amount for high quality.

Competitors

In Pakistan the only wholesalers present are the ones selling unbranded goods at far off ends. They are
running on low costs compromising on the quality and purity of the yarns being used which is very
unlikely in our fine product. We justify our high priced shawls/stoles by the pure silk and cotton yarns
completely hand woven finished product.

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 The Pashmina Store

Publics

The publics include the financial, media, Government, Citizen publics, general public, and internal public.

In the financial sector, things don’t look too good in Pakistan. The stocks are down at the lowest and the
State bank does not have any backing for the falling banking sector. Media is one of the most important
factors in a company’s success or its failure. In Pakistan, media is very strong. The organization which
controls the media well becomes the successful one. It is the best medium for marketing as it is a great
attraction for the potential customers.

Macro Environment
Political Element

Any change in the policy of the business related product will have an effect on The Pashmina Store over
all.

Economical

Pakistani are going through the most crucial period of their economic conditions. The inflation rate of
Pakistan is ever rising effecting the price of the raw material, transportation, labor and then ultimately
the final cost of the product.

Socio Cultural

The Demographic of our target market is mainly the females, age from 18 above. As part of our culture
that women are suppose to cover their self and it add to their decency. Now it is in trend to wear
Pashmina Stoles on jeans too, entire suit is matched by the pashmina. Fashion keeps changing but The
Pashmina Store has the advantage of the direct contact with their customers, therefore, the
requirements of the customers will be fulfilled all year round.

Technological

Initially our workshop will have a jacquard which is manually used by a person to weave a Pashmina
Stole. Its takes about 3 hours for a simple pashmina stole of 12 x 80 inch to weave. The quality of Real
pashmina is best on jacquard rather than any expansive machine.

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 The Pashmina Store

The Product Life Cycle

The product life will be long as compared to other products cause they are very limited people who will
be entering this market and the market share of The Pashmina Store will be a competitively higher than
the others cause of the services that are being offered at The Pashmina Store are very unique. In theory
the Product life cycle is the same for each product. After a period of development it is introduced
or launched into the market; it gains more and more customers as it grows; eventually the
market stabilises and the product becomes mature. In the beginning, The Pashmina Store sole aim is
to capture the market of Karachi. If the response from the Karachi is good then The Pashmina Store
might start opening up other branches in different cities of Pakistan and then in international market.

Initially, The Pashmina Store is relying on the advertising package of Home Express which will monthly
advertise in the magazine and FaceBook direct to our target market. s. The Pashmina Store will be
running different sales promotional schemes at different times of the year depending on the sales of the
company.

The Pashmina Store is back by planned strategy implementation and followed up with affective
communication in the subsequent years with a higher budget. Its advertising and promotion is touching
all aspects of media and market opportunities.

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Summary
As a group of fashion designers, marketers and talented individuals we decided to invest into a
business which will be new to the market even though the consumers are in a way well aware
of the product. The population of Pakistan and women in specific are well aware of the
Pashmina scarves/shawls/stoles that are being made and sold at a very large scale around the
world. But here we are with a little diversification to the product serving the niche that is very
conscious about their status and prestige. Having a crew of designers we will personalize the
designs on the pure pashminas and cotton stoles as per our inspiration. The uniqueness of our
business would the haute couture shawls and stoles that we will make and sell.

In future after the settling of the business we wish to expand through Lahore, Islamabad and in
the international market as well. If progress begins to increase at a faster pace we see no
obstacle in expanding.

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