Download - Spot Brooklyn Business Plan
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COMPANY DESCRIPTION
SpotBrooklyn.com is a new website about the community of Brooklyn. Rather than
publish articles about current events, we will build a multimedia library of stories abothe more durable aspects of our community. Our users will be guided through each
story by an interactive map. Each story will include an introduction to a topic, a
collection of spots important to that topic, and the story behind every spot. Spots are
displayed on the map using an icon
Designed to take full advantage of the trends in mobile computing (also available for desktop).
STOR
Y
Old School Pigeon Racing Neighborhood Beer Brewers Where NYC Water Comes From
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Brooklyn Business Owners NeedBetter Advertising Solutions
EXPENSIVE
The cost of advertising
for most local online
publications are too
expensive for for
Brooklyn businesses.
National companies
buy most of the ads.
OFFTARGET
Search burgers
near Brooklyn
delivers an ad for a
tavern in Queens?
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OUR PRODUCTS
MAP ICONS Promote your businesses on the Spot Brooklyn map with a clickable icon
that represents the category and location of your business. Only pay whe
a users clicks to view your business info and promotional content!
SPONSORSHIPS Reach a wider audience with a clickable logo displayed at the beginning of
each story. Users click the logo to view the location of your business on th
map, business info and promotional content.
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Legal
Spot Brooklyn, LLC is a two-member limited liability company registered in thestate of New York. An intent of use standard character trademark has been filedwith the U.S. Trademark Office under Class 35 and Class 41.
PAST
FUTURE
FINANCIALREQUIREMENTS
Of the $25,095we have raisedfrom personal savings and familycontributions, we have spent$18,824. The bulk of this cost went
toward equipment, legal fees, andsoftware services. We havetwocritical finance goalsremaining.
1. Staff
We are planning akickstarter campaignfor
April 2015 to crowdfund ourfirst employee: a full-timewriter to increase our
publishing volume fromoneto three stories per week.
2. Prize Money
If selected, we will use the $15Kaward to pay for operationalexpensesover the 10 monthperiodbetween launch andreaching a profitable level of
visitor traffic.
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MARKET ANALYSIS AND TARGET MARKET
TARGET CUSTOMERS*
We will target Brooklyn businesses in the
following three categories because:
Stores of these categories sell
products that have mass appeal.
They sell mostly to local residents
and visitors.
They operate brick-and-mortar
stores.
1.
RetailTrade
2.
Arts,Entertainment
&Recreation
3.
Accommodation&
Food Services
* As defined by the U.S.
Census Bureau
CUSTOMER CHARACTERISTICS
SMALL
92% of target
customers have
between 1 and 19
employees.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
*data from US Census Bureau county business patterns
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SIGNIFICANT
Our target customers
make up 30% all
Brooklyn businesses*
*US Census Bureau
SHARE OF MARKET
GROWING
Our target customer base
has increased by 28.2%
over five years.
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NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS
TECH CURIOUS
* according to a survey by Center for anUrban Future
56.3%
Believe they usetechnology
enoughto becompetitive
76.9%
Believe that usingmore technologywould increase
their sales.
83.2%
Plan to adoptmore
technology
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ECONOMIC
Advertising in most local
publications is
disproportionately expensive
for the majority of small
businesses.Over half ofbusinesses spend $833 amonth or less on
advertisinga month onaverage, while the average
cost of an ad is $913 amonthin a local onlinepublication weve surveyed.
ADVERTISING EXPENDITURES
YEAR-ROUND
Brooklyn business owners are
somewhat likely to advertise
all year, and most likelyto
advertise in February, March,
September, November, and
December.*
*According to a survey we conducted of
28 members of the Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce.
LIKELIHOOD OF ADVERTISING
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LOCATION:
We will acquire customers in all
Brooklyn neighborhoods.
However, we identified 15 key
zipcodesfor the following
reasons:
1. They contain the highest
quantity of target
customers.
2. They contain important
points of interest.
3. They represent
underserved areas.
BY CUSTOMER ZIP CODES
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Industry Analysis and Trends
INDUSTRY SIZE
LOCAL INDUSTRY
In Brooklyn, our industry
has increased in number
of establishments by
159%
Number of Establishments
*According to the US Census Bureau
LOCAL COMPETITION
According to our observations, there 66
publicationsthat report on Brooklyn. Our count
differs from that of the US Census bureau
because:
- we are including companies operating
outside Brooklyn
-the census classifications are self-appointed,
and notnecessarily inline with how we define
our industry.
BY COVERAGE AREA
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TRAFFIC SIZE
The website traffic of these
key local competitors
demonstrates the size of our
industrys user base.
direct measurements taken byanalytics company, Quantcast
UNIQUE MONTHLY VISITORS
GROWTH POTENTIAL
PRINT TO DIGITAL
* Print ad revenue drops
$25 billion.
* Online ad revenue rises
$2.5 million.
note the NewspaperAssociation of America and
PEW Research Center.
$22.5 BILLION IN AD REVENUE...GONE IN 6 YEARS!
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We BlameLow-QualityDigital Ads
31%of ads weredelivered but
never seen*
*a likely result of aconsumer scrolling pastthe ad before it loaded or aconsumer never scrollingthe ad into view).
15%of campaigns
delivered
outside thedesired geography
such as markets where the advertisedproduct is not sold (worst offenders).
72%of campaigns hadads running next tocontent deemed
not brandsafe*
*by the advertiser.
Reclaim $22.5Billion in Lost
Revenue
1 out of every 4 dollars
spent on advertising
will be on Mobile ads
by 2018, according to
projections.
SPENDING ON MOBILE ADS
73%OF MOBILE SEARCH LEADS TO A PURCHASEIN A STORE*SOURCE TK
Barriers toEntry 1
Generate enough traffic
to attract advertisers.
2
Compete with
well-established
competitors.
3
Publish content at significant
frequency.
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COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS & YOUR STRATEGIC POSITION
5 KEYCOMPETITORS
Based on the following factors:
1. Their primary product or source of revenue is local business advertising.
2. They have a significant user base of Brooklyn residents and visitors.
3. Local news or local mapping is an integral component of their content.
An international
business review site
that is primarily
active in metropolitan
regions.
Strengths
Popularity: 132 million users and 74
thousand active business accounts
Comprehensive: 122,436 listings for
business in Brooklyn
Detail: Dozens to hundreds of reviews
for each business listing
Weaknesses
Poor Reputation: Including a 2010
class-action lawsuits by business
owners, 2,046 complaints to the FTC,
and controversy surrounding fake
reviews.
Price: Costs $300 to $2,200/mo.
Information Overload: The volume,
subjectivity, and contradictory nature ofreviews.
A digital ad agency thats
works with 11
Brooklyn-based publishers
to build their publishing
platforms, and connecting
them with local and
national advertisers.
Strengths
Network:They have publishers
operating in 7 geographic areas,
allowing advertisers a large network.
Market Focus: Their headquarters
and most developed market is in
Brooklyn.
Weaknesses
Innovation: Templated publishing
platforms and ad formats miss an
opportunity to deliver unique user
experiences.
Sales Force: The company does not
maintain an active sales force*
*According to a conversation we had with
Blankslate Account Executive Andrew
Farquhar in April 2014
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A tourism website
launched May 2014 by the
Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce. Part of the
Blankslate network.
Strengths
Comprehensive: 146,647 business
listings
Market Focus: exclusively on
Brooklyn.
Featured Stories: recommendations
for tourists published daily
Weaknesses
Content:Neighborhood guides are
very basic, business listings contain
little information.
Localism:Enhanced listings include
mostly tourist friendly businesses.
Traffic: less visitors each month since
their May launch.
Corner
Media
Publisher of seven
Brooklyn
neighborhood blogs
Strengths
Hyper-Local:Advertising and
editorial content is focused on one
square mile area.
Network: They cover seven different
hyperlocal areas intensively.
Weaknesses
Ad Content:Advertising content
compete with editorial content for
attention.
Revenue: income and expenses are
breaking-even*
*According to the NY Times
Google Business
Listingsis a
sub-service of
Google.com, the most
visited website on the
internet.
Strengths
Popularity: 54% of the worlds
smartphone users used the app at
least once a month.
Value: Free Local business listings.
Network:Appear in Google search
results with opportunity to buy ads.
Weaknesses
Discovery: Googles focus on search
misses an opportunity to provide a
quality discovery experience.
Human Touch:Recommendations
based on user data-mining tend to feel
impersonal and algorithmic.
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WHAT MAKES
US DIFFERENT?
INTERACTIVE
MAP
A single story can
trigger many map zoom
and pans, creating
many opportunities to
display business icons.
NATIVE
CLICK-BASED
ADVERTISING
Advertisers only pay when
users actively engage with
their ad, and users only see
the ads they choose to see.
CONTENT
A fun new way to
learn about our
community and the
world around us!
SWOT ANALYSIS
StrengthsWeaknesses Opportunities Threats
Content Depth &
Quality
Unique publishing
platform
Limited Resources
Lack of Experience
Growing Market Strong Competitors
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Marketing Strategy
SELLINGPROPOSITIO
N
We will offer each
of our three
customers distinct
selling propositions.
1. Visitors
Interactivestorytelling
experience.
Greater
connection to their
community.
2.Local Businesses
Affordable andeffective
advertising
solution.
Personalized
customer
service
3. CommunityPartners
Promote their
causes with an
engaged
userbase
Help shape a
community
resource
BUILDING AWARENESS
Our goal is to reach 60,000 unique monthly visitors and 150 business customers by November
2016. In order to reach these goals, we will target the most active, engaged, and vocal members
of our community. We believe that through these community mavens we will reach the wider
Brooklyn community.
Public Relations
Build brand loyalty and trust
by building relationships with
the most active members of
our community, like:
Cynthia Lopez
Commissioner of the
Mayor's Office of
Media and
Entertainment
Emily Lloyd
President, Prospect
Park Alliance
Danny Simmons
Philanthropist, older
brother Russell
Simmons
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Networking
Events
Face-to-face contact andan element of serendipity.
Expense
Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce
Brooklyn Historical Society
Business Cards
Description
Events with members of
business community
Events & Libraryresources
Nice ones
Yearly Cost
$300
$70
$300
Social Media
Spread awareness byengaging with sociallyengaged members of ourcommunity, such as thesethree key groups:
Press
Nikhita Venugopal
@nkvenugopalBrooklyn Reporter for
@DNAinfo
Leaders
Marty Markowitz
@MartyMarkowitz
Former Brooklyn
Borough President
Business Owners
Brittany's Biscuits
@BrittsBiscuits
The Baking Bandit has
arrived.
FUNDRAISING
Campaign marketing willreach the wider Brooklyn
community as we ask fortheir support.
Campaign
HELP WANTED
If you like our content, help usmake more! Donate to ourcampaign so we can hire our first
full-time story producer and wellbring your 3 new stories perweek!
Prizes
8X10 photographs of Brooklyn asseen by us.
Map of Brooklyn as interpreted bylocal artists.
Special map feature on ourwebsite to thank every contributor!
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Advertising
Targeted social mediausers based on intereststo drive traffic to ourwebsite and gain socialmedia connections
Platform
Facebook
Twitter
Pricing Structure
Cost-per-click
Cost-per-click
Cost
$1.56 (based on ourprevious campaign)
$0.26 - $0.43
Budget
$200
$100
Cold Calling
We will also generate leads based onbusinesses who are currentlyadvertising on other publications andplatforms.
Business Name
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Scottos Wine Cellar
Flatbush Food Co-op
Ad Location
BrooklynBased.com
The Brooklyn Paper
Ditmas Park Corner
SALES FORCE
Lead Generation Responsible for converting the broader communityinto quality leads to feed our Customer Life Cycle.
Sales Operations Responsible for directing sales operation by utilizing the CustomerLife Cycle.
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STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
&
Corner Media
Reach out to the directors
of Brooklyn BIDs to
discover common goals
and for introductions to their
local business members.
Reinforce our companys
commitment to our local
community, and increase our
brand equity by using the Made in
NY logo on our product and
marketing materials.
Outsource part of our sales
operations to these companies in
order to find value in our
competitors.
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PRICING STRUCTURE
MAP ICON When you pay-per-click, you know
youre paying for a customer who is
highly likely to make a purchase in you
store. Thats because users only see
the ads they choose to see!
99 centsper click
STORY
SPONSORSHIP
When you pay-per-view, you know that
the name of your business will stick in
peoples minds. Thats because your
logo will be the only one on the page,
front and center!
$50per thousand views(impressions)
FREE TRIAL Dont take our word for it. Sign up for a
free 3-month trial and see how you like
us. Well send you progress reports
about how your ads are performing as
often as you like.
$0no credit card needed3-months
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Operations
PRODUCTION CYCLES
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LABORREQUIREMENTS
Paid Interns
Recent graduate tolearn ourpublishingworkflow from theground-up
Writer/Producers
Intern turns staffand creates twostories per week.
Developer
Manages day-to-dayweb development for30-hours per week.
OPERATIONSSERVICES
Key services that weuse in our day to day
operations.
Service Name
Evernote
SalesforceAdobeGetty Images
Description
Research organization and
storageCustomer RelationshipManagement SystemImage creation and editingStock photography
Cost
$21.78/mo.
$600/year$49/mo.$199/mo.
COWORKINGSPACES
offers private offices, shared
amenities, and provides
opportunities
cross-pollination of ideas.
Name
Brooklyn
Creative League
Brooklyn Works
Green Desk
Locations
Bedford Stuyvesant
& Gowanus
Greenwood Heights
Downtown Brooklyn& East Williamsburg
Monthly Rent
$1450-1700
$925-1025
$750-1800
DISTRIBUTION
Servers optimized fordifferent features of the site.
Company Name
Mapbox
BluehostBrombone
Amazon S3
Description
Map tile server
Website hostSearch engineoptimizationsContent Delivery
Cost
$49/mo.
$199.88/year$129/mo.
$10/mo
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