spot brooklyn business plan

7/26/2019 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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spot brooklyn business plan

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