12.12.

2019

Mid-Term Project
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Fall Semester
2019-2020

Business Plan
of
İstanbulYeşili

Prepared by

Ahmet Sadık Kara

 İstanbulYeşili My Business & Objectives

1. Business Details

İstanbul Yeşili, is a hydroponic farm company located in Beykoz/Istanbul. It’s a 200m2

Greenhouse structure. Company will sell only 3km close-by restaurants at Beykoz which can value
the freshness and quality of crops. There are two main activities of business:

1) Producing greens. (Basil, Rosemary, Tarragon, Marjoram )

2) Consultancy for other hydroponic farms.

-Making a business plan for customer farms.

-Consulting the purchase of hydroponic supplies.
-Establishment of farm kits.
-Teaching how to grow plants.

Objectives:
Short term (current year):

 Make long term deals with customers to keep capital coming for next half of the year.
 Build customer relationship to have usual customers.
 Advertise products face to face
 Try to reach 60% sales of farm capacity.
 Learn what customer demands and plant them next season.
Medium term (next 1 – 2 years):

 Reach %90 sales of goods

 Reach break-even point in between half and the end of the 2nd year.
 Start consulting 1 farm that grows similar products.
 Reach year-long quality.
 Extend the variety of products with demand.
 Experiment with strawberry and search for other fruits that suits Istanbul weather.
Long term (3 years and beyond):

 Extend the farm with a 100m2 area in first half of the 3rd year.
 Hire 2 employees for consulting and 1 more for farming at the beginning of 3 rd Year.
 Begin to sell close by neighborhood restaurants that are in 6 km distance.
 Train the employees and extend consulting activities to 5 customers.
 Extend consulting at the 4th year to 10 customers.
 Hire 2 more farmers and rent 200m2 more farming land.
 After 5th year try to buy the lands rented and increase profitability.
 If all 500m2 land is bought, invest in to infrastructure of these lands.
 Digitalize production to maximise profitability and quality.
Your Start Up Loan:
 Start-up loan won’t be in cash, it is the contracted purchase of all items below:
 Rent of 200m2 land.
 Hydroponic farming kit purchase.
 Greenhouse building cost. Total should be around 90.000 TL – 100.000 TL

 Note: 20% of the total amount will be given as cash at the beginning and rest will be
divided into 16 months and be paid with the sales income.
 Table below shows the loan, profit, cost of production and payment
(in thousands of Turkish Lira)

Loan Payment and Profit Table

for 5 Years
140

120

100
Thaosand TL

80

60

40

20

0
First Year Second Year Third Year 4th & 5th Year

Axis Title
Loan Income Profit (After Loan Payment) Production Cost
 İstanbulYeşili Skills & Experiences

2. Skills and Experience

Outline any previous experience, employment or other work that you have done that
is relevant to your business:

 I worked as:
 Baker in Seyran and Saray bakeries in 2017 for a month.
 Salesman in GrandBazaar at my fathers’ business for 4 – 5 months.
 Data collector staff at Babil.com for 2 months.
 Translator at Sultanahmet Ramadan Fair for 20 days (English-Turkish).
 These work experiences makes total of 9 months in various business fields.
 I have no long term business experience, I have been continuing my education.
 The works I have done are not directly relevant to hydroponic farming.

Outline any education or training you have had that is relevant to your business:

 Business Administration (In English) - (2018) – Undergraduate In İstanbul Şehir Univ.

 MBA at Ibn Haldun University (2018 – present)

To sum up:
 I’m educated on business plans, advertising, marketing, production, organizational theories
and business analysis.
 I write a thesis on hydroponic farms in Turkey which will show me the general picture including
gaps and opportunities in this field hopefully.

Outline any transferable skills, talents or traits you have that are relevant to your business:

 I have worked as a salesman with my father, I know how to sell and manage customer
relationships.
 I have enough language skill in English, which enables me to follow international outbreaks and
developments in this field.
 Since I have worked as a baker, I know how to measure the quality of food products.

Briefly outline any gaps in your skills, experience or qualifications and explain how you will
address these:

 I’m not experienced in farming.

 I don’t know plant diseases and plant biology which is required to see the problems and make
an intervention.
 İstanbulYeşili Target Customers

3. Target Customers
Demographic details:
Age: Gender: Income: Types: Target regions:
 All Ages.  All genders  £250,000 - £500,000  Businesses  Local

How many potential customers do you estimate are in your target regions for this financial
year?

 Between 7-10 Restaurants.

Briefly describe your target customers and any other distinguishing features, expanding on any
of the areas you have already highlighted above:

 My target is top-notch restaurants in Beykoz who is looking for freshest produces and yearlong
quality for their customers.

What customer need or problem does your product(s) and/or service(s) address?

 Yearlong quality products

 Standardized products
 Freshest greens
 Locally grown
 Easy transportation.
 All time available for the menus of restaurants.

Explain your approach to pricing your product(s) and/or service(s):

 Value–Based pricing, which means regardless of cost; I will price it as customers believe its
value.
 İstanbulYeşili Market & Competition

4. Market & Competition

What research have you conducted to understand your market, including your industry, regions,
customers, competitors?

 Desk or online research

 Trade fairs or exhibitions
 Personal experience
 Family and friends

Competitor 1:
Name, location, website: Average prices:

2n14.com Quality Fresh Produce

Located in Turkey 17,00 TL = Fresh Rosemary (25gr)
https://www.2n14.com 17,00 TL = Fresh Tarragon (25gr)
17,00 TL = Fresh Basil (25gr)
Strengths: Weaknesses:
 Farming know-how  Lower yield/m2
 Settled in Market  Higher cost/m2
 High Capital  Long supply chain
 Loyal Customers  High transportation cost
 Seasonal products

Competitor 2:
Name, location, website: Average prices:

GreenQ
Located in Turkey
http://greenq.com.tr/ Consultancy Fee: Unknown
(Hydroponic Consultancy firm)

Strengths: Weaknesses:
 Experience in field
 Advertisement Capital  High Consultancy Fee
 Existing Customer Loyalty  Being a Foreigner Firm
 Experience from Holland farming systems

Your business:
What sets your business apart from your competitors?
-Yearlong production, a short supply chain due to urban farming, sustainable technique and less
water use.
Your strengths: Your weaknesses:
 Less water  Unknown to market
 Less workforce  High price expectancy
 3 times more yield/m2  Low brand loyalty
 Yearlong supply  No capital for investment chances

Current or future opportunities: Current or future threats:

 Governmental incentives  Opposite propaganda against hydroponic farms
 Low number of hydroponic farms  Wrong valuation/pricing of products
 Turkeys need of food production  Filled market space

İstanbulYeşili Sales & Marketing Plans

5. Sales & Marketing Plans

How do you or will you promote your business?
 Website (information only)
 Referrals
 Events and exhibitions
 PR
Pick three of your key promotional activities and describe how they currently (or will in the
future) help you meet your business objectives:
 Website
Will include videos, descriptions for how we grow the products and a monthly subscription
system for our online newsletter.
 Events
-We arrange or join to public events that includes the restaurant owners to promote the
product.
-We build a hydroponic society of Istanbul by this events and meeting new people there.
 Referrals
Using the network I and my relatives have; we arrange meetings with restaurant owners to
bring them our products.
 İstanbulYeşili Operational Plans

6. Operational Plans

Please provide details of two key suppliers or key relationships that are or will be important to
running your business:

Supplier / Relationship 1:
Organization: Relationship status:

 MayÇelik (http://www.maycelik.net/)  Project-based arrangement

Service provided: Key terms of the relationship:

Greenhouse and hydroponic system -Farming kit provider

establishment and installation.

Supplier / Relationship 2:
Organization: Relationship status:

 Paramount Seeds  No contract/commitment

(https://paramountseeds.com/)

Service provided: Key terms of the relationship:

Organic Seeds USDA approved seed provider.

Other operational considerations:
Do you currently employ staff?
 No, I have no plans to take on staff in the next 12-months.

Outline the key staff roles within your business (e.g. job title, responsibilities, key skills):
 2 Farmers (after extension of farm in the 3rd Year)

A. How many staff do you intend to take on in the next 12-months?

Full time: x Part time: x

Describe the key responsibilities and skills you anticipate giving to these new staff:

 How to plant hydroponic greens.

 How to care and collect hydroponic greens.
 Technology of hydroponic farming.

Where does or will your business operate from?

 Manufacturing unit (Farm)

What laws or regulations have you considered for your business and/or industry?

 There is no specific regulation for hydroponic farming in TURKEY, its’ under greenhouse
regulations announced by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
 Link for regulations: (tarimorman.gov.tr)
What insurance do you currently have or do you intend to have it for your business?

 TSB (Türkiye Sigorta Birliği) offers a greenhouse insurance: called “Sera Sigortası”.
 It mainly covers the damage of hale for greenhouse farmers.
 Also, can be extended for other possible problems such as:
 Earthquake
 Landslide
 Storm
İstanbulYeşili Back-Up Plan

7. Back-up Plan

How will you manage your loan repayments if your business doesn’t go according to plan?
Your back-up plan should highlight:
 Loan repayments
 How to manage these repayments in the case of an unexpected event?
 Why you feel this is a realistic plan?

 Loan repayments will be the income I get from the sale of greens I produce. 5.000 TL
payment each month and we should be finished at 18 months. This is quite common for the
hydroponic farms, since the yield is 3 times higher and all-yearlong. Generally a hydroponic
business is expected to cover the entrance cost in 12-18 months. It’s been like this for
many farmers, they point out the even-break point as 12 Months in the interviews to
Turkish televisions or media.

 If Unexpected Events Happen:

 I would change my target customer and sell products for the prices in the regular food
market.

 I would change the vegetables I grow and produce what market asks for.

 Continuing farming and sell products as cheapest in the market and keep loans payed.

 If business does not work completely and I ran out of money; I may go for a part-time job
or giving music classes to keep my income and farm should provide enough money for the
payments although it does not make a profit and slowly.

 If nothing works, I try to sell my farm to another person willing to go into hydroponic farm
sector. Since greenhouse and kits are ready it’s a good trade and ready for the user. The
money from sale would be enough to cover at least half or %75 of the loans. Then I
postpone the loans and pay them in coming years.
 İstanbulYeşili Supporting Evidence

7. Supporting Evidence

Any supporting evidence you provide should support and strengthen the claims you have made and help
our loan assessment team feel more confident about lending to you.
 Since I will not get cash loan, the products will be the matter of loan.
 We make a deal with notary so their products are secure.
 If the products are well used and the hydroponic farm kits are on place, the firms has no reason
to cancel an agreement.
 Consultancy I get will make the sale easier and logical to make their investment in the eyes of
service providers.
 Istanbul is a huge city, any product with shorter supply chain and low transaction cost makes a
product highly desirable. It’s a good reason for service provider to trust in the investment.