Business Plan 2019-2020

Contact us at (919)-528-5576
Email: cookiekings.nc@veinternational.org
Instagram: cookiekings.ve
Twitter: KingsCookie
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary……….………………………………………….……...…………………...2
Business Rationale………………………………………….………….……...………………….4
Customer Empathy……………………………………….………....…………....……….4
Problem Statement…………………………...…………...……...…….…...……...….….4
Solution Statement……………………………………...…………...….……….…….….4
Company Goals…………………………………….………………………….………….4
About the Business…………………………………………………..…..…….…...…….……….5
Company Overview……………………...………….……....………….……..…………..5
Mission Statement……………………………………………..………………….…...….6
Organization………………………………………………………………………..……...6
SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………..……......…….…..6
External Environment……………………………………………...……….……………….…….8
Competitive Analysis……………....…….……………….…....…...……....…….…....….8
Current Economic Conditions………………………………………....….……...….……9
Industry Analysis - Real & Virtual………...………...…....……………………........…..12
Marketing Plan……………………………………………...………………………….………..13
Target Market & Market Segmentation…..…………….……………………….……….13
Marketing Mix……………………………………………...…………………………....14
Discussion of Business Risk……………..………………………………….…...………17
Financial Planning…………………………….…………………...………….…...…………….18
Break Even Analysis……………………………………………...…….…….………….18
Summary Profit and Loss Statement……………………………………….…..………...19
Balance Sheet……………………………………………...…………………....………..20
Sales Projection Summary…………………………………....…………...…….……….21
Financial Statements and Charts…………………………………………………......….22

Executive Summary:
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Cookie Kings is a new business that was created to give any and everybody a delicious

treat for all occasions. Our mission is to widen the variety of flavor offered by companies selling

baked goods as well as providing a product that can be bought for any occasion. Feeling sad?

Buy a cookie. Have a big party but no desserts? Buy a cookie tray. Don't know how to reward

your workers? Buy all types of delicious cookies we have. There is never a time that people are

upset when a cookie is brought into the mix. With our large variety of flavors, we ensure

happiness and excitement with each cookie.

As all businesses do, we have small and big goals. Some of our smaller goals include

1. Us becoming a household name locally. By selling to neighboring families, we will begin

to build brand recognition and loyalty. Once established as a local vendor of choice, we

will begin to branch out and sell more on a national then international level.

2. We want to keep designing more extravagant cookies products to stay ahead of our

competition. Our competitors do not have as many flavors as us and it is our goal to

create new, never thought of flavors.

The larger goals that our company has that will be worked towards throughout the

whole year.

1. We have a financial goal of making 2.2 million dollars by May 2020. We will

meet this goal by using several strategies to reach our customers and market our

product.

2. We want to sell not only to the states in the US, but we want to expand to other

countries as well. It would be a lot of dedication to make our brand a worldwide

name but it would maximize our target market.

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By conducting thorough market research on the VE hub we were able to see the lack of

delicious treats and a fulfilling taste for all kinds of people. Using a 100% research-based

approach to our product lines we are able to consistently keep our customers interested and

excited for a new taste. We are excited to have cookies available online for purchase as well as

traveling to tradeshows to show the world what we are.

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Business Rationale

Customer Empathy - Cookies in the VE marketplace are dull, plain, and lacking exotic flavors.

That is the problem that Cookie Kings is solving. Delicious, baked with love, cookies that

maintain the gooey centers that people love in their cookies. We are replacing the bland and non-

original “cookies” with something unique and mouth-watering.

Problem Statement - The bakeries in the VE marketplace do not produce enough cookie varieties

to satisfy the cravings of true cookie fans. The cookies these bakeries produce are lacking in

appeal, flavor, and the attention needed to make a great cookie.

Solution Statement - We plan on solving the lack of easily accessible, plain, and boring cookies

by creating unique varieties for customers to choose from. We make all of our cookies from

scratch, using only the freshest, locally sourced ingredients from trusted vendors.

Company Goals

● To create delicious cookie treats and to start selling to local businesses but grow to sell

our cookies around the world. We want to expand our business as the year goes on.

● We want to have a total revenue of 2.2 million dollars by May. To do this we are making

several different cookies to appeal to all customers.

● Making special addition and holiday cookies to increase our profits at different points in

the year. Lastly, we are going to have better prices than our competitors to build our

customer base, then raise prices at tradeshows.

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About the Business:

Company Overview

At Cookie Kings we are inspired to create unique cookies for every occasion and craving.

If you are wanting a cookie that is warm, soft, and freshly baked just for you, this is the place to

be. We have all kinds of cookies from traditional flavors like chocolate chip, to deluxe flavors

like a caramel fudge brownie cookie. We also make cookie cakes in any of our flavors as well.

Cookie Kings offers online ordering, phone orders, as well as in-store ordering. You can pick up

your cookies or have them delivered (when unpacking your cookies, we recommend 10 seconds

in the microwave). We guarantee to get what you want when you want with our quick delivery

system. At Cookie Kings we can give an authentic experience that none of our competitors can

offer.

We are a company based in Matthews, NC and we love this town and the nice people

who live it in. The founder and CEO of our business grew up in Matthews and loved to bake

with her grandmother after school. As the young girl got older she wanted to share her

grandmother's cookie recipes because of how special they were and she especially wanted to

share the joy that she remembered feeling with each bite. To do this, she decided to open up a

cookie shop which is called Cookie Kings. Now grandma's recipes can be shared and exciting

new flavors can be tested out and sold to the people of Matthews.

Mission Statement: We haven’t seen a problem our cookies can’t solve

Organization:
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SWOT Analysis:

Strengths: One of our strengths include our brainstorming ability. We are always coming up with

fun and unique cookie ideas to try and sell to improve our crazy combinations of specialty, and

basic cookies that include a wide variety of sweet and savory flavors.

Another one of our biggest strengths is our customer service. We pride ourselves on how well we

interact with our potential buyers and those who have already purchased from us.

Weaknesses: Our biggest weakness is that we are strictly a cookie business, selling only cookies

and cookie-related products. Our competitors, while they sell cookies, they also sell various other

types of desserts, such as brownies and cupcakes and chocolates. This allows them to have a

larger market and target a wider variety of consumers.

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Opportunities: Good opportunities for us to get our name out beside the work we do in the office

is through trade shows. Trade shows will allow us to actively sell to other consumers and to

utilize our biggest strength, customer interaction. Doing well in the national online competitions

will allow other VE students to build brand recognition with Cookie Kings.

Threats: Like all businesses, we have threats that we have to consider when making a business:

● One threat is having bakery companies create a wider variety of cookie flavors than what

we have.

● Another threat is not selling our products at a constant rate. If we are not selling at a good

rate, then we will have to throw away cold ingredients that way we making fresh cookies

with fresh ingredients.

● Lastly, negative customer feedback. With all of our crazy flavors, there will be people

who may not like them. Getting negative feedback, can cause other customers to not want

to buy from us.

External Environment

Competitive Analysis:

Our first biggest direct competitor is Portside Sweets. This company is based out of

Brookhaven, NY. At Portside Sweets, they sell worldwide cookies as well as brownie and

chocolate treats. We consider them a direct competitor because of the variety of cookies they
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offer to their customers. What differentiates ourselves from them is that we have a larger variety

of cookies and we switch up our flavors several times throughout the year. Our second biggest

competitor is Bake-ology because they are a bakery that sells dessert sweets. This bakery does

offer more than we do because they have cupcakes, donuts, and more. Our company Cookies

Kings only sells cookies but we ensure to create a wide variety of flavors and we want to know

what our customers want. Also, our customer service is unmatchable.

Some of our indirect competitors include Marauder Enterprises, Split, Twirl & Swirl, and

Kophi. First is Marauder Enterprises, which is a company based in Gibraltar, Michigan. This

company is a bakery that sells cake-pop treats of various flavors. What makes them different is

that they focus on cake treats but Cookie Kings focuses on a traditional dessert that everyone

loves. Also, Marauder Enterprises has their prices extremely low for their treats being the only

source of income where we sell a large, pack and have higher prices to ensure we are making a

profit.

Next is Twirl N’ Swirl is a cotton candy selling company. We consider them an indirect

competitor because they sell dessert treats but we made sure our deserts are a more appealing,

simple treat for any and all occasions.

Lastly, we consider Kophi to be another competitor because they are a cafe but sell

muffins/cupcakes. What sets us apart from Kophi is the number of flavors that we offer. Since

we offer a large amount of cookies flavors for our customers, we are put ahead of this

competitor. Lastly, instead of having many different foods, it is easier to focus on one item and

expand to extreme flavors.

Real World Current Economic Conditions:

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The US unemployment rate has dropped by 0.4% since February of 2018.

Since there are more people getting employed around the country, more people are getting a

steady income and therefore, there are more people who can afford to purchase our products.

VE Employment Rate:

The current employment rate in the VE economy is 100%. This is because all students who are

enrolled are automatically employed within the new firm.

Real Life Economic Conditions:

The graph above shows the global cookies market share by region as of 2018. North America has

the largest percentage of cookie market because of the availability of flavors (chocolate, peanut
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butter, buttercream) that other countries do not have direct access to. This is a positive factor

because we are able to use these resources to expand our cookie flavors which will increase our

customer base.

Real-World Inflation Rate:

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The current global inflation rate has come down this year from 2018 by 0.06%. Going into 2020

the projected inflation rate is up by 0.04% from 2019’s 3.58%.

Real World Profitability Rate:

Total and Estimated Revenue From 2010 to 2023

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As you can see in the top graph, there is revenue for the cookie industry in the United States.

From 2012 to 2018 there had been a slow decrease in revenue in the cookie industry. However in

2019, the trend seemed to rise again and in the future, the revenue is projected to keep

increasing. This is a positive factor because more people are buying cookies and more kinds of

cookies are being made therefore helping the industry increase.

Real World Interest Rate:

The US interest rate was sitting still at less than 1% before gradually increasing around 2016 to the

current 2%.

Marketing Plan

Target Market & Market Segmentation

Here at Cookie Kings, we plan to target those of the ages 14 through 18 years old. The age

group we target is also known as “Generation Z,” those that were born in the mid- 1990’s to the

early 2000s. We are targeting this generation of people because “Gen Z” is known for being on

their cellular devices and social media platforms more than any other generation. We will be

primarily advertising our company on social media platforms, with the age group we are
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targeting they have a much better chance at discovering us than any other group of people as

their consumption rate is higher and will grow more as time goes on.

The chart above shows the submitted responses of people who identify in “Generation Z” and

what different social media platforms they use the most. This chart helps us with our company to

show what social media platforms we should be focusing on for publicizing our company for

brand exposure. We ourselves are a part of this group, so we somewhat have an idea of how they

think, what they do, and what platforms utilize the most, which will, in turn, help us reach our

target market.

Marketing Mix:

The products we will be selling our made from scratch cookies. We will sell our cookies in

boxes of up to two dozen. We also will be offering a specialty platter that holds three dozen

cookies. We will be providing specialty cookies each month that corresponds with the season of

the year that we are currently in a period such as Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. We will

have our regular cookies that will stay available year-round. Satisfying our customers is our top
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priority and we will do everything in our power to fulfill a customer’s needs and wants. One of

our cookies could satisfy just about anyone’s craving!

Regular Cookies Seasonal Cookies Deluxe Cookies

Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies Coffee Cookies

Sugar Cookies Gingerbread Cookies Macaroons

Snickerdoodle Pumpkin/Apple Spice Bacon Chocolate Chip

M & M / Reese’s Hot Cocoa PB & Chocolate Chunk w/

marshmallow center

Peanut Butter Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Cookies

Double Chocolate Kiss Cookies Salted Caramel

Oatmeal Raisin Molasses Cookies Caramel Chocolate Fudge

Brownie

White Chocolate Chip Turtle Cookies Fortune Cookies

Chocolate Chip Oreo® Halloween Cookies (cutouts) Ginger Snap Cookies

Cookies

Here at Cookie Kings, we pay more attention to quality over quantity. We would rather have

decent prices and amazing product than anything else. For our pricing strategy, we have decided

to partake in doing a value pricing strategy. We have much lower prices than our competitor’s

demand but we have the best quality cookies. We plan to sell more cookies at a lower price than

very few at a higher price. We plan to sell our year-round cookies from $150 a dozen while our

seasonal/deluxe cookies will be selling for $225 a dozen. We will be selling our cookies based on

the value of the cookie itself, along with great and affordable prices compared to our

competitors. We have priced our cookies like this because we sell packs of a dozen cookies and
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we have extraordinary flavors that take a special hand to make. We want nothing but the absolute

best for each and every customer.

Cookie King’s plans for our customers to be delighted by the direct contact from us to them

with their cookies. We want to mail our customers cookies out directly. Customers can purchase

our cookies on our website or when we set up at trade shows. We have determined that 60% of

our sales will come from trade shows while 40% of our sales will be made on our website. We

plan on selling deluxe, seasonal and our Cookie Kings year-round cookies, we have also

projected percentages that each amount will sell. We have determined that 40% of our sales will

be our year-round cookies, 45% will be our deluxe cookies, and 15% will be our seasonal

cookies. We have recently provided a survey for potential customers to determine our sales

percentages.

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When repeat and future customers hear or see the name, Cookie Kings, we want them to

think of us as the place with great prices and excellent cookies. We want customers to see our

logo or name and to have a mental image of our delightful treats and our warm atmosphere. We

provide fresh and tasty cookies with exceptional prices that will satisfy any craving. We plan on

marketing our cookies towards potential customers who live on the east coast, specifically

around where we are located. We would love to eventually expand our brand and sell nationwide.

We target those who are in the age range of 14-18, who are enrolled in school and who love

cookie treats. Many people relate low prices to bad quality but we are the opposite, low prices

and excellent quality and those who have that same mindset. We will also target those who do

not require a specific diet such as only eating extremely healthy foods. We hope to target those

who are happy-natured people, who love to try new things (like our new monthly cookies!)

People who are motivated, driven and know exactly what they want. We love having new

customers and people who enjoy our products!

To make future customers aware of our company, we are going to promote ourselves on social

media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. We will also have a store website with alluring

designs and our products advertised too. On our social media, we will update our Twitter every

day keeping our customers up to date with our products and upcoming sales. On our Instagram

account, we will post every other day to display our cookies and keep our non-Twitter customers

updated too. We are going to offer our customers a one-day-a-month sale towards the end of

every month to clear room for our next batch of cookies that will come out the next month. We

will participate in holiday sales such as Christmas, Black Friday, Easter and Valentine's Day.

Discussion of Business Risks

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At Cookie Kings, we take every customer into consideration and deeply care for each and

every one of our consumers. We would love for each of our cookies to be presented and is a

reflection of our company overall. That is why delivery is important to us. Lost, stolen, damaged

packages are uncontrollable and not the customer’s fault, so we have figured out a way to

communicate with our customers. Using email to send confirmations to our customers and have

an open customer service option will help our customers if their products have been damaged,

lost or stolen. If the customer receives their products and it’s undercooked or overcooked, broken

or damaged in any way, or lost we will happily replace the items at no cost!

Allergies and preferences are extremely important to us and cross-contamination is a

potential problem that we pay special attention to in order to minimize risks. Cross-

contamination is where food is mixed and could cause allergic reactions to some of our

consumers. We ensure to pay extreme attention to this because we have employees with specific

allergies to peanuts as well as other ingredients. It is important to us that employees and

customers are not worried about ingredients being mixed into the wrong cookie. We will make

sure to clean every one of our supplies used for each batch of cookies we make. We will have

separate baking and mixing areas just for this specific reason so no customer is harmed. We will

not allow product cross-contamination and will keep our machinery and items clean and up to

date.

Making perfect, delicious cookies is very important to us, running out of supplies would be a

risk that we have to face. When demand is high for our cookies, we will have to keep up and

keep track of all the supplies used. We will have an inventory sheet to keep track of the amounts

of supplies we have at the moment, and order more when we are too low. Although all of these

risks are very important and something you need to keep an eye on, we will do everything in our
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power to prevent something from happening.

Financial Planning

Break-Even Analysis

In our break-even analysis, we must sell 3,284.39 units to break even with our total costs. These

total costs equal to $676,354.71 dollars. Our average selling price per dozen of our cookies is

$208.33. The total cost of the goods is $2.40 per dozen cookies. This makes a profit percentage

of 98.85%. Our break-even sales point will be at $684,237.25. The break-even chart below

shows our revenue, variable costs, fixed costs, and total costs in relation to each other.

Summary Profit & Loss Statement

According to our profit & loss statement, our projected total revenue is $2,250,000.00, with

$1,100,000 from online sales and $1,500,000 from trade shows. Our cost of goods sold,
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calculated from our initial inventory and purchases, is $123,536.31. Our Gross Profit, our

projected sales revenue minus the cost of goods sold, is $2,126,463.69, and our Gross Profit

Margin is 94.51%. Our operating expenses are approximately $972,168.44, and our total income,

after taxes and expenses, is $723,732.37, as shown in the chart below.

Balance Sheet

Our total current assets, including inventory, accounts, receivable and supplies, are $23,210. The

total amount of fixed assets, minus depreciation, is $10,176, making our total assets, $33,387.

Our total current liabilities, including accounts, salaries, payroll tax, 401(k) and corporate tax,

are $1,216,929. Our only long-term liability is loan payable, which is $175,000. Without any
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stockholder’s equity, our total liabilities are $1,391,929.

Sales Projection Summary

The majority of our sales will be made from the Tennessee trade show and the North Carolina

trade show. We plan to make $550,000 from Tennessee in November and $500,000 in April.
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During non-trade show months, we project to make anywhere from $100,000-200,000. The

charts attached show the percentages of profit made and the actual money earned.
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Bank Account as of 10/31/19

Citations:

“Generation Z: Latest Gen Z News, Research, Facts & Strategies | Business

Insiderider.” Business Insider, Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com/generation-z.

Frankenberger, James. “Gen Z & Social Media- Should Digital Marketers Be Worried?”

MediaVision, MediaVision, 18 July 2019, www.mediavisioninteractive.com/social-

media/gen-z-social-media-should-digital-marketers-be-worried/.
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