Sugar Shoppe
By Olivia Ingold, Olivia Seitz, and Hannah Ishmael
Six Business Activities
1. Generating Ideas- We noticed a lack of bakeries in the sangamon county and we each have a degree in culinary arts. We want our bakery to be a small local business run with a small staff of us 3. We’ll hire 2 a maintenance man to clean and repair plus a delivery man, 3 kitchen hands, and a receptionist. Our business will do well by catering birthday parties and events as well as just everyday customer sales.
2. Raising Capital- To start our business it is estimated that we will need around $200,000. We, as a group, have $75,000 to invest into our business. We asked our friends and family to help us invest. Between all of our parents we earned $10,000, our friends donated $15,000, and, even though there was a pretty significant amount left, we borrowed the rest from the bank.
3. Employee & Training- We hired 2 maintenance guys who fit the job well. We have 3 kitchen hands who all had to have had previous experience in the business. They all had to prove themselves by creating their own treat and we tested them out. Last but not least we have our secretary/receptionist/event planner who was our good friend that we trusted. None of these employees required any college degrees or extra classes.
4. Buying Goods & Services- We are going to be buying our goods (sugar, flour, icing, etc) from Mae’s Cake ‘n’ Candy Supplies. Mae’s is located in Springfield so it would be easy and accessible to purchase from. We will purchase our ovens, blenders, etc from Bunn-o-matic. We will purchase other supplies such as cleaning supplies from places like Home Depot, Ace Hardware, True Value, etc.
5. Marketing Goods & Services- We start with putting ads in local papers and fliers in businesses around the county. Then we film a commercial. Our logo will be on our delivery van and on benches at popular bus stops.
6. Maintaining Business Records- To keep track of orders we used Microsoft Excel. This organized all of the orders into a spreadsheet for us. To keep track of bills and taxes to pay we used Turbo Tax. To keep track of employee wages we used Microsoft Excel as well. To keep track of our profit (income and expenses) we used Quicken. Lastly, to keep track of our expenditures on goods we used another spreadsheet off of Microsoft Excel.
Business Entity, Why, and Advantages/Disadvantages
Sugar Shoppe is a partnership. We decided to become a partnership because there are three of us involved in this. We all wanted to open a shop together and decided that a partnership would be the best option for us.
There are many advantages to a partnership. Two people contribute to the investment, expertise is given by more than one person, and each partner is responsible for the decisions made by all other partners.
Disadvantages- No protection for personal assets
If a partner leaves or dies the partnership is dissolve.
5 Short-Term Business Goals
Revenue Goal- to make a profit of at least $60,000
Customer Service Goal- improve customer satisfaction by 50% by the end of the year
Employee Appreciation Goal- give out awards such as employee of the month to encourage employees to work hard
Develop good marketing strategies and programs
- Community Outreach Goal- sponsor a few high quality charities and give perks to employees who volunteer outside of work.(time off, bonuses, etc.)