Traveling Smarter: Business Plan for Grime Guard's Innovation

1 Traveling Smarter Not Harder Business Plan Allysen Hewette College of Adult and Professional Studies, Charleston Southern University ECBA 309: Entrepreneurship Dr. David Britt

2 Executive Summary This section will be completed in Week 7 after the entire business plan has been written. It should be two – three pages long. This summary should address several of the issues or questions that anyone picking up the written plan for the first time would want to know. It will provide a summary of the entire business plan. Think of it as your “elevator speech.”  What is the business concept or model?  How is this business concept or model unique?  Who are the individuals starting this business?  How will the business make money and how much? This summary will stand alone at the beginning of the proposal. The full proposal will begin on a new page at the end of the summary.

3 Industry Analysis In this section, there will be research regarding the industry that my business will be a part of. In this situation, the business and products being created will be part of an existing industry. It is important to have a clear understanding of this industry, the trends, and the opportunities that exist. The following subheadings are there to help guide my research, communication, and business plan to obtain success. The Industry This product will be a part of the car seat industry. It will be advertised with Graco, Evenflo, Doona, etc. All of the car seat producers will be selling the product of disposable car seat inserts. The company that this product will be associated with is called Grime Guard. This is a company that was established in 2023 and specializes in several different products including seat covers to help protect their seats from spills, kids, and all-around messes. They sell multiple different types and styles are seat covers for the car, but they only have one type of child car seat cover. All of the seat covers they offer are waterproof, reusable and recyclable (Shopify, 2016). The company was started by a family that spent most of their time traveling in the car going to sports games, riding with children, dogs, eating in the car, etc. The founders of Grime Guard were tired of the mess that was being created in their car every time they traveled. After years of adventures, sports or simply traveling with kids and dogs, we realized life is short but messy. We needed a product to protect our cars and our time (Shopify, 2016). All of these characteristics about their products and the goals that they have created makes them the perfect industry to partner with to be able to assist on my business plan. Outlook and Trends

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4 This company was just established in 2023, so their product line does not include much of a variety like other companies do. There are only so many types of car seat cover that can be made. Grime Guard created covers that are waterproof, reusable and machine washable. They have also developed waterproof blankets that would be great for sitting on a wet surface and a camping blanket to protect the little ones from getting wet as they play on the ground. Grime Guard has seat covers for a bench seat, the front seats, and a kid’s car seat cover. However, they also allow the bench seat cover and the front seat covers to be sold as a bundle. Since this company has just gotten their feet wet, it would be the perfect opportunity to partner with them and bring something new to their products. Creating a whole line of disposable car seat covers along with disposable car seat inserts, would show that this company understands what it’s like to have messy children in a car seat. This will attract the parent population by making them feel like we want to help them keep their cars and their kids as clean as possible. Competitors The biggest competitors in this industry are going to be the ones that sell removable inserts on Etsy. These individuals have created removable car seat inserts that are washable, not disposable, but the biggest factor that plays into their success is the designs they are able to put on them. Grime Guard only has solid colors for car seats, but Etsy has been able to install designs on there’s to accompany both genders. Individuals on Etsy work for themselves, they create their own products and their own designs and they just use Etsy to sell their products, like eBay. Grime Guard needs a new entrant to help bring some life to their products. They need something new, decorative, and affordable. The one factor that Grime Guard has over Etsy is their prices. Grime Guard made their products affordable to the public, while Etsy is charging $40 for a car seat cover.

5 Description of the Venture This section will breakdown the details of the business plan. It will include a mission statement, the nature of the business, what I hope to accomplish as an entrepreneur in this business, and a key understanding of the business venture. The Mission Disposable car seat inserts are going to meet the need in several ways. They are going to be designed specifically for each car seat, so they fit perfectly. Being able to buy the product in bulk is going to make customers happy since they will not have to continuously buy individual ones. Clean babies are happy babies, and happy babies result in happy parents. This is going to change the way for new parents. They will be able to travel more with their children and be able to keep them clean longer. Some may think that having disposable car seat inserts is pointless, but whenever their child has an accident and they are stuck scrubbing them to get clean, they are going to wish they were disposable. The Product The idea that I am bringing to this business consists of disposable car seat inserts. Car seat inserts are made of cloth and whenever a child has an accident in their seat, the covers have to come out and come apart to be cleaned. However, if the covers were disposable then they could just be taken out and thrown away. This product would be sold in bulk packaging just like the disposable changing pads are. There would be different designs of this car seat insert to

6 accommodate all of the different car seats. This product is going to help parents on the go, everywhere. The inserts also help ensure that babies fit in the harness, so they can be properly strapped in (Good Egg Safety, 2017). The Reason This product is needed in today's world because of all the traveling people now do with their kids. When going on road trips, there is not always a place to pull over and use the bathroom or to wash clothes, so if a child has an accident in their car seat that causes the insert to get dirty then having a disposable one to just take out and throw away would save so much of a headache. Also, who enjoys doing laundry? I know that I don't, so if having a car seat cover that is disposable could keep me from doing laundry every day that would be a blessing in itself. We use durable materials so that dirt, spills, and food can be removed effortlessly by wiping with a damp cloth and mild detergent if needed. For bigger messes, machine wash and tumble dry on low (for the seat liner and headrest pieces only (Mockingbird, n.d.). I came up with this idea whenever my two-month-old son had an accident in his car seat. He pooped in his diaper, but it seeped out the sides of his diaper and onto the car seat insert. Whenever we got home, I had to remove the insert, scrub off what I could by hand, and then toss it into the washer, praying it would come clean. After this incident, I thought about how nice it would be to not have to worry about cleaning the inserts and just being able to throw them away when needed. Production Plan To ensure this product is successful and created effectively, there has to be a production plan in place. To create these car seats inserts there are several factors needed to make this product come to life. The fabric will consist of cotton and polyester. The size and shape will be

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7 created by a machine that has the layout of every car seat programmed into it. An individual will have to load the machine with the fabric and click the option for whichever car seat they are creating an insert for. There will be several people that work in this factory that do different things. An employee will work the machine, another employee will package the products, someone else will ensure the packages get on the truck for shipment. Some of the most important employees include the one who will be in charge of ordering materials, the individual who will be handling all of the financials, and of course the one that will do all of the marketing and advertising. Operation Plan We will order the fabrics from an outside fabric company and have it shipped to us in bulk. Our products will be sold on the Grime Guard website. We will start off by doing shipping orders only. These will be delivered through the mail by UPS or FedEx. As business begins booming and sales start rising, then we will look into opening up stores locally. If these were to take off with success then we will develop stores in other states. The more business booms and becomes successful, the more locations we will be able to develop stores. Marketing Plan In Week 4 you will be submitting your marketing plan for the business. The industry analysis and competitor analysis that you completed in Week 3 helps provide a good foundation for the work you will be doing this week. Most of this information will come from Chapter 8 of your textbook. Utilize the questions from Table 8.5 – Facts Needed for Market Planning and Table 8.6 – Critical Decisions for Marketing Mix as a basis for your content below. Make sure to develop and utilize appropriate subheadings below. It will help the reader follow your ideas and content. Here are some to help get you started:

8 Product and/or Service Be very clear in the product or service you are providing. If you have multiple product or service options, you need to segment them here. Distribution and Marketplace How will your product or service reach the consumer? What channels of distribution will you use? What marketplace will be your focus? Will you be online, local, regional, etc.? Table 8.7 provides some good questions and ideas. Promotion How will the consumer know you exist? What types of marketing methods will you use? advertising, promotions, PR, social media? Organizational Plan In Week 5 you will share the planned organizational structure of the company. Most of this information will come from Chapter 9 of your textbook. The design and structure of the organization is important. The legal formation of the business has implications on management control, liability of the owners, distribution of profits, taxes, and much more. Table 9.1 provides a very good recap of some of the options and issues. Use this section to describe the organizational design you have chosen. Make sure you clearly describe why you chose this design and what the benefit is for the company. Make sure to develop and utilize appropriate subheadings below. It will help the reader follow your ideas and content. Financial Plan and Source of Capital In Week 6 you will share your financial plan and how you intend to raise the initial money needed to get the business started. Most of this information will come from Chapter 10 & 11 of your textbook. Table 10.3 provides a good, brief recap of a Pro-Forma Income

9 Statement. Use that simple model to share your ideas. Do your best to estimate some of the items. The intention is simply for you to understand the elements that make up gross profit in companies. Before you have operating income, it is necessary to fund the startup of the business. Chapter 11 contains discussions on many of these options. There are some advantages and disadvantages of each option. Here are some suggested subheadings you can use for this section to help your reader follow your ideas: Pro Forma Income Statement Here you will share with the reader how much money you plan to make given all the scenarios you have discussed. Make sure that you provide the numbers, but also provide narrative explanations on what is “behind” the numbers. This will help the reader understand the assumptions you have made. Sources of Capital Here you will be very clear on where you will be getting the startup funding and how much you will be receiving. Be very specific on the requirements for repayment, the implications of the funding on future decisions, and what control you may be giving up when you accept the funds.

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10 Appendix The Appendix includes important supporting information that you used to help build your Business Plan.

11 References Hisrich, R. D., Peters, M. P., & Shepherd, D. A. (2023). Entrepreneurship. Infant Seat Insert. (n.d.). Mockingbird. https://hellomockingbird.com/products/stroller-infant- seat-insert Shopify. (2016, August 25). About us . GrimeGuard. https://www.grimeguard.com/pages/about- us What is a car seat newborn insert? (2017, September 14). Child Car Seat Experts - Good Egg Safety. https://www.goodeggcarsafety.com/blog/what-is-a-car-seat-newborn- insert.html#:~:text=The%20inserts%20also%20help%20ensure,them%20becoming %20'scrunched%20over'.

Entrepreneurship - Traveling Smarter Not Harder Business Plan - Week 3

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