SKILL CUBE

BUSINESS
PLAN

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Address line 2
City
Postcode

Phone
Email
Website

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hiring in the media, entertainment, creative & art (MECA) space has been exceptionally
vibrant, and yet very unorganized and obsolete. In a way the MECA domain sees
significantly higher recruitment activity than any other sector because unlike the corporate
space where people get employed with a single organization for years, artists are very fast-
moving and get employed only for a few days or weeks at a time depending on the nature of
the project.
This increases the overall hiring-velocity of the entire industry and every artist is engaged by
not one but numerous recruiters in say one year’s time. The number of recruitment
transactions we are talking about is unimaginable, especially when we take regional cinema,
television and advertising also into consideration. Given this diverse and intense hiring
dynamics, the need for an organized and reliable online platform was very pronounced.
In this era of modern technology where everything is just a click away, SkillCube introduces
to make the most out of it. Creating a platform that could provide the (MECA) sector an
easier access to talent; a platform catering to the human resource needs of this sector could be
a thriving opportunity to make people’s lives easier while simultaneously making profits.
SkillCube allows recruiters to manage and artistes to participate in the hiring process through
the its web-based dashboards and portal. What used to take weeks and months of slow and
frustrating rigour, can now be achieved with a few clicks: SkillCube aggregates artistes
across categories— actors, models, singers, photographers, designers, graphic artists,
musicians, dancers, etc.—through online marketing and promotional campaigns and offline
activities such as events to build its talent base.
To reach out to recruiters, SkillCube will have a recruiter relations team that apprises them on
the startup’s value proposition. Once we familiarize them with our platform, they will be
quick to join. It will have recruiters on board across categories—television channels, ad
agencies, casting directors, filmmakers, modelling agencies, production houses, casting
agents, event companies, etc.
In a way, the MECA domain sees significantly higher recruitment activity because unlike the
corporate space, where people get employed with a single organization for years, artistes get
employed only for a few days or weeks, depending on the nature of the project
The shorter recruitment periods make MECA a much more dynamic space and an artiste is
engaged by numerous recruiters in an year’s time. This churn will work in favor of SkillCube
since it will help organize talent acquisition for MECA players and process more audition
applications.
The number of recruitment transactions are mind-boggling, especially when we take the
thriving cinemas in Bangladesh, television and advertising into consideration. This makes the
need for an organized and reliable online platform very pronounced and, this is where
SkillCube comes in.

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THE BUSINESS
The Internet came to change everyone’s daily life. It changed the way we communicate and
interact with each other socially and at work; it changed the way we consume news and
among an extensive list of other things; it also changed the way we consume music. In the
early 1990’s, the record industry was doing well with stratospheric numbers in sales revenue
from CDs. With four record labels commanding the market and their CEOs were earning a
salary of eight digits a year, the scenario could not be better.
To organize this chaos of mp3 files spread around the World Wide Web, a 19-year-old
college student, Shawn Fanning, has created a peer-to-peer software, called Napster. It
allowed users to access each other’s library of songs and soon, it became very popular with
rapidly growing users and consequently its catalogue of music. In the following years, it was
possible to choose among several options of peer-to-peer software like Pirate Bay,
Morpheus, E-mule, just to cite a few. For those who were not tech savvy, MP3.com was a
simpler option, since it was a for downloading the music files in the form of links.
To offer an alternative to piracy and taking advantage of the crisis the music industry was
facing, Steve Jobs created iTunes charging $0.99 (USD) per song downloaded. However,
comparing to the vast catalogue of Napster and other similar platforms, iTunes was
insignificant at that time, opposite to the iPod, which was a hit from the beginning. After
some time, the digital sales finally started to grow, and other players entered the market, but
iTunes continued to be the leader.
A couple of years later, as the record labels were less frightened with technology, other
business models that were betting on streaming music substituting ownership by access,
started to arise. One of those streaming music services was the Swedish ‘Spotify’ that had to
pay millions in advance to record labels which make them happy again since they were
dictating the terms in the industry again and getting the control back. A person can access
millions of songs by streaming them paying a monthly subscription fee or have an account
supported by ads. Some rumors might give the impression that Spotify does not care about
artists in their vast catalogue. Some things indicate that the record labels are not
redistributing their gains to the artists after receiving advanced payments from the streaming
music services like Spotify.
The digital format did the job to produce a whole record less expensive, and this became an
encouraging factor to independent artists to pursue their career and let their music to reach
their fans. There has been a growing number of business models focused on independent
artists, also known as indie artists. Those business models recreate the work of several
departments of the analogue (although digital) era of record labels, such as publishers,
distributors and production. The recent changes in the music industry opened new markets,
created new opportunities for new entrants, vanished some companies, merged others and
change the way players are monetizing music nowadays.
Nowadays, an individual artist must take care of many things besides music to manage their
careers - at least until they get a deal with some record label. Because of that, several
companies are offering DIY (do it yourself) tools for musicians to help them to develop their
career reach the next level. Jobs once done by some departments on record labels are now

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available mainly as subscription services. Also, some new services that did not exist in the
recent past, like ‘crowdfunding’ and influencer marketing, now are broadly being used as a
source of income for such artists.

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AUDIENCE AND MARKET
Customer segments Attributes / Size

· Event Organizers, Night Club, Hotel and/or Restaurant

Service seeker
owners, Wedding Planners, Corporates

The
Service audience and market for
provider our business
· Artists, are: Creative People
Performers,

 Our target audience are people who play musical instrument, bands
photographers, artists etc and who tend to pursue art as their career. Our
consumers are also general people of high to middle families who tend to
portray art as a source of entertainment during any sort of functions and also
different organizations.
 Currently There are no common platforms for artists or people who are seeking
to hire artists in Bangladesh people usually hire artists based on their
recognition in the society or if they know someone connected to them.

 We plan to reach the service providers (Musicians, Photographers etc) through

art schools, pad sessions and exhibitions where we will give them detail
explanation of how this common ground can be useful for them to build a
career and gain recognition.

PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS

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THE MARKET

Demonstration of in-depth of the market:

- The current size of market for this scenario is huge as it consists of not only
specialized segment of artists as service providers but also general people
who seek to receive service of these artists.
- Currently there are no common platforms which provides both artists and
people who seek them so there is a visible gap for us to penetrate.
- The size of market may change due to introduction of new competitors and
introduction of modern technologies which are reducing the artistic value of
artists as people seek more precision.
- Currently artists connect with service seekers through various forms of self-
advertisement in social media or real life.
.

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KEY COMPETITORS
Competitor Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities

Trendy and Lack of verification Permanent existence

Although
Social at our initialpreferable
Media platforms stage theredue
aretono competitors
and securities. dueYet
for our business. to prominent
other use
organizations who areease of access.
planning to achieve the ame goal as us can beofconsidered
social media
as an
example: amongst youngsters.

Authentication in Providing To focus more on

providing opportunity to only overall number of
recognition as they the brightest students rather than
Art schools
focus a lot on prospects. any individual which
technical will lead to more
knowledge. recognition.

Abundance of Lack of authenticity To develop the

Local directories information for the and no scope of authentication and
service seekers verification verification process.

Trusted names like Most of the lessons Focusing more on

: Yousician who are not suitable for creating contents for
Applications/Online
already have a novice learners and novice learners.
video tutorials teaching
good recognition intermediary courses
various forms of art
in the market. require a lot of
expenses.

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PRODUCTS /
SERVICES

The services to be provided by us are:

 One stop service for all Event Service needs:

The common and one stop platform where you can seek the service of any
artists in any forms of necessity by you.

 Easy Convenient way of finding a service provider:

The easiest way of finding out your required service provider with just a
touch away and authentic verification.

 Cost Effective way of hiring Service Providers:

The process of seeking the service by the service seekers is completely free
of cost. Our revenue will be generated from the service provider. We will be
cutting a small portion of money which the service seeker pays to the
provider for performing.

 Increase Exposure and Boost Bookings:

This will ot only be a platform to perform transaction of service seeker and
provider this will also be a common ground for artist where they can teach as
well as share their thoughts about the current industry.
 Create platform where artists can share and teach their skill:
Our services will also include providing of lessons of performing of any art
by experts who ar already in their each sector.

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 Marketing budget
Display
10%
Social media
30%

Skillcube’s marketing plan covers a designated area of promotion and distribution.

 Skillcube is the first ever platform in our country accumulating more than 5000
PPC
40%artistsall over the country. This huge number itself is a unique proposition by
ensuring availability of the artist

 For the purpose of positioning our service we will beSEO

dedicated where our target
20%
audience will get benefited in different manners. Our service will vary primary to
secondary audience but the quality would be standard.

 Promotional activity:
- As an online platform it includes the online-offline campaign throughout the
country to connect service provider. We will conduct Talent hunt for various
category of artist and will connect them with commercial and non- commercial
production house.
- We will create a channel for sharing our artist personal attributes and skills
which also encourage other artist from numerous places to show their skills
through our channel in the social media.

 Our distribution process will be

Service Provide Skillhub Customer

MARKETING

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PEOPLE

Human Resources - The Marketing functions within any organization do not exist in
isolation. It is therefore important to see how advertising interacts with other roles
within the enterprise and permeates them. Let's discuss how advertising deals with
R&D, production / operations / logistics, human resources, IT and customer service.
Research and development team constantly improving the means to achieve that
quality and then pushing the potential to do more. Our R&D team will find the gaps
and try to fill in and find adaptive solution. Core objectives of the team

 Find the how well the business can be operated

 Buyers pain point and how to create more better services for them

 Artists’ expectations and how to fulfil them along with keeping proper
balance with our profitability.
Sales and customer support team - Customer service representatives help
customers with complaints and questions, give customers information about
products and services, take orders, and process returns. By helping customers
understand the product and answering questions about their reservations, they are
sometimes seen as having a role in sales. Focus points-

 The team will be maintaining a positive, empathetic and professional attitude

toward our customers at all times.

 Responding promptly to customer inquiries.

 Communicating with our customers through various channels.

 Acknowledging and resolving customer complaints.

 Knowing our artists inside and out so that we can answer questions.

 Processing orders, forms, applications, and requests.

 Keeping records of customer interactions, transactions, comments and

complaints.

 Communicating and coordinating with colleagues as necessary.

 Providing feedback on the efficiency of the customer service process.

 Managing a team of junior customer service representatives.

 Ensure customer satisfaction and provide professional customer support.

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FINANCIALS

Your text goes here.

Key things to include:

 Sales figures, projections and revenue

 Costs

 Cash flow summary

 Profit and Loss summary

  Funding overview

 Accuracy and consistency in the way that you present your figures.

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1,000,000

900,000

800,000

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000
Your text
100,000 goes here.

Key 0things to include:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
 If your business is already operating, include previous
Product 3 Product 2 Product 1
years’ performance.

 Projected sales for each of your products and/or SALES

services (you may wish to consolidate similar lines
into groups). For an online cookware shop this may be FORECAST
pans, utensils, accessories etc. rather than every frying
pan, spatula and egg poacher they sell.

  Include the cost of sales and margins, especially if you

are looking for investment. Don’t forget that margins
could increase or decrease as you sell more. Extra staff
may be required or you could get economies of scale
by buying or shipping products in bulk.

  Add commentary to explain what has generated the

projections.

+34.5 % 85,700 14
Product name Total units
Twelve month forecast from April 2018

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Total
18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19

Product 1

Product 2

Product 3

Total

Two year forecast 2018 - 2019

2018 2019 Total

Product 1

Product 2 +10.7 %
Summary
Product 3 Main points
Take away
Total

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 Costs - Year 1 (£1000)
7

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Assets Wages Products

COSTS

Your text goes here.

Key things to include:

 For the first year, break the costs down by month.

 For the following years, you can show them annually.

 Include both the costs of setting up the business and

the ongoing overheads.

 You may need to include the costs to create or acquire the products, market and
deliver them. Sometimes there may be additional costs too, such as access to cloud
based tools or increased hosting.

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PROFIT & LOSS

Your text goes here.

Key things to include:

 If your business is up and running already, include

previous performance.

 Make sure that everything matches with the data

you are providing in other areas of the finance section.

 Show the figures on a month by month basis for the first year and then for the next
year or two, show the figures annually.

 The data should be split into three sections:

- Revenue (by product/service, or product/service groups i.e. for an electronics
ecommerce business, it may be tablets, computers, printers etc.)
- Cost of sales, including manufacture (if relevant) or buying the stock as well as
processing and fulfilment of orders (by product or product groups).
- All other expenses

 Show gross profit below the cost of sales (revenue minus cost of sales).

 At the bottom of the table, show net profit (gross profit minus all other expenses).

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First year forecasts 2018

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Total
18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19

Revenue

Product 1

Product 2

Product 3

Total

Cost of sales

Product 1

Product 2

Product 3

Total

Gross
profit

Expenses

Purchases
(specify)

Gross
wages

Tax / NI
etc.
Sub-
contractor
costs

Supplies

Repairs

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Advertisin
g

Travel

Accountin
g & legal

Rent

Telephone

Utilities

Insurance

Bank
charges

Interest

Other
(specify)

Total
out
Net
profit

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SOURCE OF FUNDS

Your text goes here.

Key things to include:

Sources
 Where any existing funds have come from, how they
will be used, how long you expect them to last, plus
Source 1 £
if, how and when they will be repaid.

Source 2  Be clear on the type of funding you require. £

Source 3  What investment you require now, how it will be used and any likely
£ returns.

 Any funding gaps you anticipate in the future and how they will£be addressed.
Total

 Anything that may affect how the funds are used and their repayment.
Uses

Use 1 £

Use 2 £

Use 3 £

Total £

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 Congratulations, you’ve completed your business plan!
Before you present this, it might be a good idea to proof read it, double check all the figures and
calculations and ensure it appears slick and professional.

Don’t forget to remove all these advice sections too.

If you need any more help, go to Sage Advice for tips on starting and running a business:
www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/

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