Decorative Pottery Business Plan

1.0 Executive Summary

Fat Cat Creations is owned by Mary Baker. Mary has twenty plus years of experience in raku pottery. She creates hanging raku cat ornaments. Each cat ornament is created individually and personally signed. Fat Cat Creations will sell its ceramic cats in galleries and at arts and craft festivals along the West Coast, as well as nationally on the Fat Cat Creations website.

Ceramic art is a popular attraction of art and craft galleries and festivals. There are approximately 2,000 galleries on the West Coast that carry ceramic art. Each year, there are over 250 major arts and craft festivals on the West Coast. It is estimated that, annually, over 30 million shoppers visit these arts and craft festivals. These galleries and festivals represent millions of dollars in sales for ceramic artists.

In addition, Fat Cat Creations will establish a website where customers can buy the hanging raku cat ornaments.

Highlights

1.1 Mission

Fat Cat Creations' mission is to offer consumers one of a kind ceramic art that is fun. Whether the ceramic cats are hanging in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, they will add color and humor to the space.

1.2 Keys to Success

Accessible website that is entertaining to surf. Since there is a variety of Fat Cats to choose from, the customer can have fun picking the cat and the cat's color.
Establishing a strong network of shops and galleries to sell Fat Cats.
Maintain a strong presence in the regional arts and craft festivals on the West Coast.

2.0 Company Summary

Fat Cat Creations will offer customers a series of happy hanging Fat Cat ceramics that will come in assorted colors. Each Fat Cat piece will be unique and signed by the owner of Fat Cat Creations, Mary Baker. These ceramics will be sell in galleries and at festivals throughout the West, as well as on the Fat Cat Creations website.

2.1 Company Ownership

Mary Baker is the owner of Fat Cat Creations.

2.2 Start-up Summary

Fat Cat Creations' start-up costs consists mostly of raku firing equipment, transport containers and website development. There will be two equity owners in the business--Mary Baker will invest $20,000 and her brother will invest $10,000 as a silent partner in the business. In addition, she will secure a $60,000 SBA loan.

Start-up

Requirements

Start-up Expenses
Legal	$1,000
Stationery etc.	$300
Brochures	$1,000
Website	$10,000
Insurance	$500
Transport Containers	$5,000
Ceramic Equipment	$15,000
Total Start-up Expenses	$32,800

Start-up Assets
Cash Required	$30,200
Start-up Inventory	$0
Other Current Assets	$12,000
Long-term Assets	$15,000
Total Assets	$57,200

Total Requirements	$90,000

Start-up Funding
Start-up Expenses to Fund	$32,800
Start-up Assets to Fund	$57,200
Total Funding Required	$90,000

Assets
Non-cash Assets from Start-up	$27,000
Cash Requirements from Start-up	$30,200
Additional Cash Raised	$0
Cash Balance on Starting Date	$30,200
Total Assets	$57,200


Liabilities and Capital

Liabilities
Current Borrowing	$0
Long-term Liabilities	$60,000
Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills)	$0
Other Current Liabilities (interest-free)	$0
Total Liabilities	$60,000

Capital

Planned Investment
Mary Baker	$20,000
Joshua Baker	$10,000
Additional Investment Requirement	$0
Total Planned Investment	$30,000

Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses)	($32,800)
Total Capital	($2,800)


Total Capital and Liabilities	$57,200

Total Funding	$90,000

Start-up

2.3 Company Locations and Facilities

Fat Cat Creations will be located in Mary Baker's home.

3.0 Products

Fat Cat Creations create hanging raku cat ornaments. Each cat ornament is made individually and personally signed. The cat ornaments can be bought individually, or in groups of three or five.

Fat Cat Creations offers five cat faces:

Grinning Cat.
Kissing Cat.
Laughing Cat.
Smiling Cat.
Sleeping Cat.

The cats also come in a variety of glaze colors:

Red.
Teal.
Blue.
Honey.
Gold.
Silver.
Pink.
Purple.

4.0 Market Analysis Summary

Most importantly, it is through festivals and galleries that customers can be introduced to the artist's website where pieces can be purchased directly. This opens the artist's product to millions of potential customers. A recent survey conducted by Craftmaster News, the leading publication for art & craft festivals in the Western U.S reported that 30% of festival shoppers have purchase art on the Internet. This represents a potential customer base of nine million West Coast shoppers.

The key to sales in popular ceramic art is to offer the customer something distinctive, yet affordable. Hanging raku cat ornaments satisfy both of these critical selling points with customers.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Fat Cat Creations will focus on three sales strategies:

Galleries.
Arts and craft festivals.
Internet.

Market Analysis
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Potential Customers	Growth						CAGR
Galleries	6%	2,000	2,120	2,247	2,382	2,525	6.00%
Arts and Craft Festivals	5%	250	263	276	290	305	5.10%
Internet	7%	9,000,000	9,630,000	10,304,100	11,025,387	11,797,164	7.00%
Total	7.00%	9,002,250	9,632,383	10,306,623	11,028,059	11,799,994	7.00%

5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary

Fat Cat Creations has a three-step strategy for developing its customer base.

The first step will be an aggressive plan of participating in the most popular arts and craft festivals on the West Coast. This will serve two purposes. It will introduce the hanging raku cat ornaments to thousands of customers and it will be a perfect vehicle to demonstrate to local galleries the sales potential of the product. In addition, we will begin to plant the seed of Internet sales.
The second step is to focus on marketing the hanging raku cat ornaments to West Coast galleries.
The third step is to focus on marketing the website to potential customers.

5.1 Competitive Edge

The competitive advantage of Fat Cat Creations is the following:

We offer the customer a colorful, distinctive ceramic art piece that is unique, individualized and fun.
The hanging raku cat ornaments are inexpensive.
There are no comparable ceramic art pieces currently on the market.

5.2 Sales Strategy

The focus will be on arts and craft festivals for the first three months of business. During that time, Fat Cat Creations will also be establishing its website and marketing to galleries near the Festival sites. We anticipate that gallery orders will begin during the fourth month of operation. Internet orders are planned to begin during the same time frame.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

The following is the sales forecast for three years.

Sales Monthly

Sales by Year

Sales Forecast
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Sales
Arts and Craft Festivals	$177,000	$200,000	$220,000
Galleries	$110,000	$170,000	$200,000
Internet	$52,000	$90,000	$120,000
Total Sales	$339,000	$460,000	$540,000

Direct Cost of Sales	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Arts and Craft Festivals	$52,000	$70,000	$82,000
Galleries	$22,900	$38,000	$47,000
Internet	$11,540	$20,000	$26,000
Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales	$86,440	$128,000	$155,000

6.0 Management Summary

Mary Baker will manage the staff of Fat Cat Creations. Mary has over twenty years experience in ceramic art. More importantly, she has been a popular arts teacher at the local community college. Her ability to manage people and maintain a disciplined but creative environment is one of her strongest hallmark as an artist and teacher. These skills will be invaluable as she assemble Fat Cat Creations' team of artists.

6.1 Personnel Plan

Fat Cat Creations will have a staff of five:

Manager.
Bookkeeper/website administrator.
Ceramic artists (3).

Personnel Plan
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Manager	$36,000	$40,000	$44,000
Bookkeeper/Website Administrator	$36,000	$40,000	$44,000
Ceramic Artists (3)	$108,000	$124,000	$138,000
Total People	5	5	5

Total Payroll	$180,000	$204,000	$226,000

7.0 Financial Plan

The following is the financial plan for Fat Cat Creations.

Benchmarks

7.1 Break-even Analysis

The following table and chart show our break-even analysis.

Break-even Analysis

Monthly Revenue Break-even	$25,675

Assumptions:
Average Percent Variable Cost	25%
Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost	$19,128

Break-even Analysis

7.2 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table and charts show the projected profit and loss for three years.

Pro Forma Profit and Loss
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Sales	$339,000	$460,000	$540,000
Direct Costs of Goods	$86,440	$128,000	$155,000
Other Production Expenses	$0	$0	$0
	------------	------------	------------
Cost of Goods Sold	$86,440	$128,000	$155,000

Gross Margin	$252,560	$332,000	$385,000
Gross Margin %	74.50%	72.17%	71.30%


Expenses
Payroll	$180,000	$204,000	$226,000
Sales and Marketing and Other Expenses	$18,000	$30,000	$55,000
Depreciation	$2,136	$2,136	$2,136
Leased Equipment	$0	$0	$0
Utilities	$2,400	$2,400	$2,400
Insurance	$0	$0	$0
Rent	$0	$0	$0
Payroll Taxes	$27,000	$30,600	$33,900
Other	$0	$0	$0
	------------	------------	------------
Total Operating Expenses	$229,536	$269,136	$319,436

Profit Before Interest and Taxes	$23,024	$62,864	$65,564
EBITDA	$25,160	$65,000	$67,700
Interest Expense	$5,784	$5,402	$5,004
Taxes Incurred	$5,172	$17,238	$18,168

Net Profit	$12,068	$40,223	$42,392
Net Profit/Sales	3.56%	8.74%	7.85%

Profit Monthly

Profit Yearly

Gross Margin Monthly

Gross Margin Yearly

7.3 Projected Cash Flow

The following table and chart show the projected cash flow for three years.

Pro Forma Cash Flow
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Cash Received

Cash from Operations
Cash Sales	$339,000	$460,000	$540,000
Subtotal Cash from Operations	$339,000	$460,000	$540,000

Additional Cash Received
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Received	$0	$0	$0
New Current Borrowing	$0	$0	$0
New Other Liabilities (interest-free)	$0	$0	$0
New Long-term Liabilities	$0	$0	$0
Sales of Other Current Assets	$0	$0	$0
Sales of Long-term Assets	$0	$0	$0
New Investment Received	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal Cash Received	$339,000	$460,000	$540,000

Expenditures	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005

Expenditures from Operations
Cash Spending	$180,000	$204,000	$226,000
Bill Payments	$147,452	$203,702	$267,209
Subtotal Spent on Operations	$327,452	$407,702	$493,209

Additional Cash Spent
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Paid Out	$0	$0	$0
Principal Repayment of Current Borrowing	$0	$0	$0
Other Liabilities Principal Repayment	$0	$0	$0
Long-term Liabilities Principal Repayment	$3,984	$3,984	$3,984
Purchase Other Current Assets	$0	$0	$0
Purchase Long-term Assets	$0	$0	$0
Dividends	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal Cash Spent	$331,436	$411,686	$497,193

Net Cash Flow	$7,564	$48,314	$42,807
Cash Balance	$37,764	$86,078	$128,885

Cash

7.4 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table projects the balance sheet for three years.

Pro Forma Balance Sheet
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Assets

Current Assets
Cash	$37,764	$86,078	$128,885
Inventory	$7,130	$10,558	$12,785
Other Current Assets	$12,000	$12,000	$12,000
Total Current Assets	$56,894	$108,636	$153,670

Long-term Assets
Long-term Assets	$15,000	$15,000	$15,000
Accumulated Depreciation	$2,136	$4,272	$6,408
Total Long-term Assets	$12,864	$10,728	$8,592
Total Assets	$69,758	$119,364	$162,262

Liabilities and Capital	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005

Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable	$4,474	$17,841	$22,331
Current Borrowing	$0	$0	$0
Other Current Liabilities	$0	$0	$0
Subtotal Current Liabilities	$4,474	$17,841	$22,331

Long-term Liabilities	$56,016	$52,032	$48,048
Total Liabilities	$60,490	$69,873	$70,379

Paid-in Capital	$30,000	$30,000	$30,000
Retained Earnings	($32,800)	($20,732)	$19,491
Earnings	$12,068	$40,223	$42,392
Total Capital	$9,268	$49,491	$91,883
Total Liabilities and Capital	$69,758	$119,364	$162,262

Net Worth	$9,268	$49,491	$91,883

7.5 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 7336, Commercial Art and Graphic Design, are shown for comparison.

Ratio Analysis
	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005	Industry Profile
Sales Growth	0.00%	35.69%	17.39%	8.50%

Percent of Total Assets
Inventory	10.22%	8.85%	7.88%	5.30%
Other Current Assets	17.20%	10.05%	7.40%	44.20%
Total Current Assets	81.56%	91.01%	94.70%	69.00%
Long-term Assets	18.44%	8.99%	5.30%	31.00%
Total Assets	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Current Liabilities	6.41%	14.95%	13.76%	43.70%
Long-term Liabilities	80.30%	43.59%	29.61%	19.40%
Total Liabilities	86.71%	58.54%	43.37%	63.10%
Net Worth	13.29%	41.46%	56.63%	36.90%

Percent of Sales
Sales	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Gross Margin	74.50%	72.17%	71.30%	0.00%
Selling, General & Administrative Expenses	70.94%	63.43%	63.45%	81.30%
Advertising Expenses	3.54%	4.35%	7.41%	1.00%
Profit Before Interest and Taxes	6.79%	13.67%	12.14%	1.70%

Main Ratios
Current	12.72	6.09	6.88	1.60
Quick	11.12	5.50	6.31	1.23
Total Debt to Total Assets	86.71%	58.54%	43.37%	63.10%
Pre-tax Return on Net Worth	186.02%	116.11%	65.91%	3.60%
Pre-tax Return on Assets	24.71%	48.14%	37.32%	9.80%

Additional Ratios	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Net Profit Margin	3.56%	8.74%	7.85%	n.a
Return on Equity	130.21%	81.27%	46.14%	n.a

Activity Ratios
Inventory Turnover	8.78	14.47	13.28	n.a
Accounts Payable Turnover	33.96	12.17	12.17	n.a
Payment Days	27	19	27	n.a
Total Asset Turnover	4.86	3.85	3.33	n.a

Debt Ratios
Debt to Net Worth	6.53	1.41	0.77	n.a
Current Liab. to Liab.	0.07	0.26	0.32	n.a

Liquidity Ratios
Net Working Capital	$52,420	$90,795	$131,339	n.a
Interest Coverage	3.98	11.64	13.10	n.a

Additional Ratios
Assets to Sales	0.21	0.26	0.30	n.a
Current Debt/Total Assets	6%	15%	14%	n.a
Acid Test	11.12	5.50	6.31	n.a
Sales/Net Worth	36.58	9.29	5.88	n.a
Dividend Payout	0.00	0.00	0.00	n.a