MGM 3180 BASIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP (GROUP 9)

Group 6
BookHouse.IO
Lecturer: Dr Rosmah Binti Mohamed

Name Matric Number

Nur Hidayah Binti Roslan 203553

Muhamad Najmi Haikal Bin Rosli 203554

Lim Zhi Kuan 203795

Nur Farah Amelia Soon Binti Hilmi Soon 203852

Zirwatul Ain Binti Bahari 204063

Athiyyah Qistina Binti Abdul Hakim 204249

Sunitha A/P Kanabathy 205190

Muhammad Hanif Izham Bin Shuhaidi 203796

Table of contents

1.0 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………1

2.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..2
3.0 Company Background………………………………………………………………...2
3.1 Vision……………………………………………………………………………………..3
3.2 Mission……………………………………………………………………………………3
3.3 Objectives………………………………………………………………………………..3
4.0 Owner’s / Partner’s Background…………………………………………………….4
4.1 Owner’s Background……………………………………………………………………4
4.2 Partner’s Background…………………………………………………………………...8
5.0 Location………………………………………………………………………………….9
6.0 Organization, Human Resources Plan and Administration……………………..9
6.1 Organizational Chart…………………………………………………………………….9
6.2 Human Resource Plan………………………………………………………………...10
6.3 Administration…………………………………………………………………………..13
7.0 Marketing Plan………………………………………………………………………...15
7.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..15
7.2 Objectives………………………………………………………………………………15
7.3 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………...15
7.4 Target Market…………………………………………………………………………..16
7.5 Market Size……………………………………………………………………………..18
7.6 Competition……………………………………………………………………………..19
7.7 Market Strategies………………………………………………………………………19
8.0 Operational Plan………………………………………………………………………24
8.1 Inventory………………………………………………………………………………..24
8.2 Supplier…………………………………………………………………………………24
8.3 Production Strategies………………………………………………………………….24
8.4 Facilities…………………………………………………………………………………24
8.5 Equipment………………………………………………………………………………24
8.6 Shipping and Fulfilment………………………………………………………………..24
9.0 Financial Plan…………………………………………………………………………25
9.1 Break Even Analysis…………………………………………………………………...25
9.2 Projected Profit and Analysis………………………………………………………….26
9.3 Projected Cash Flow…………………………………………………………………..27
9.4 Balance Sheet………………………………………………………………………….28
9.5 Business Ratio………………………………………………………………………….29
10.0 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...30
11.0 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………..31
11.1 Duty Schedule………………………………………………………………………...31
11.2 Resume………………………………………………………………………………..32
11.3 Competitor Promotions Activities……………………………………………………40
1.0 Executive Summary
BookHouse was founded in 2021, which was established in the form of a partnership.
Our company consists of 8 shareholders who all students of University Putra Malaysia from
different educational backgrounds. Due to virus outbreak, there are many constraints faced
by students to go to the book store and some students possibly have financial problems in
spending their money to buy new books such as reference books. This situation will be
allowing us to take advantage of the potential market. BookHouse is a platform that can be
used by consumers especially students or any individual with educational background to sell
or buy books that are no longer used. Suited to our vision statement “Who needs book store
when you have BookHouse!”, which means our consumers just need to browse to our website
and sell or buy the books through that website. It can be done by consumers anywhere and
anytime. The concept of BookHouse service is self-service where buyer have to deal with
seller for the buying and selling process. Additionally, consumers able to get the books in
lower prices compared to original new books that available at the book stores.
The goal of BookHouse is to provide a specific platform that can be use by consumers
to sell or buy books, since there is no specific platform that focusing on buying and selling
books. BookHouse integrates and manages technology that can solve business problems and
contributes to corporate growth. BookHouse’s managed services, visual communications, and
data infrastructure solutions have been leveraged by our deep technical expertise, and
extensive industry partnerships, especially on website developer. Our mission statement, “To
develop new technology and platform that makes lives of people easier but with smallest
possible cost.”, strengthen our aim to provides our consumers a platform where it can easier
them to buy and sell the used books on a website. BookHouse have used many effective
platforms that able to reach the information to the consumers such as on social media, and
advertisement on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and WhatsApp. By doing this, our services will
be able to reach a wider crowd while implementing various marketing strategies that will be
explained further in this business plan.
The concept of BookHouse services is approximately same with Mudah.com services
and Carousel services. Our services provide cheaper prices and it is more specific platform to
sell or buy used books compared to other online services. The consumers will able to get low
prices and good quality used books all in the same website. BookHouse’s services also
practice consumers to work on their own schedule and revenue, and also navigate the location
of buying and selling session through the website, which means BookHouse is a self-service.
Nowadays, BookHouse’s services have no competition for online second-hand bookseller and
it have become an opportunity for BookHouse to create a brand awareness among the
consumers.
In the first year of BookHouse operation, BookHouse expected to earn revenue of RM
300,00. Over the year, the revenue of BookHouse is expected to increase to RM 347,000 in
second year and RM 450,000 in the third year. The increment in the revenue is due to the
increase in the awareness of consumer towards ur services. People are starting to look up
and use our services to sell or buy their used books. Next, BookHouse’s management
expected the projected cash flows increased over year. The projected cash flows as discussed
further in the financial planning shows that BookHouse’s cash flows increased from RM 70,000
in first year to RM 106,000 in third year. Due to the shortage of capital from the shareholders,
BookHouse are planning to borrow loan of RM100,000 from Maybank Berhad at 6% rate for
10 years. The loan are used to expand the range of BookHouse business and also developed
a more user-friendly system for the customer.

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2.0 Introduction

Ever since the Covid-19 virus pandemic outbreak followed by the multiple Movement
Control Order by the Malaysian government, it is difficult for the people to obtain essential
supplies. Moreover, there are a lot of challenges faced by students that are doing online
learning. One of the challenges is getting learning materials or resources. This is especially
true for students that live in a rural area, students that do not have transportation, or some of
them may not even have time to find a bookstore just to search for books that may not even
there. Then again, it is not only the students, but it is unsurprising for academic staff to
experience this problem as well. So, we came up with the idea of BookHouse to reduce the
issues by offering a beneficial solution. BookHouse is a platform made specifically for books,
with the option to buy and sell by the users themselves. Users who wish to sell their used
books can now have a proper platform to do so, and users who wish to buy books can now
buy them at any price range they want. In a way, BookHouse also operate sustainably since
we offer environmentally friendly ways for users to discard their books without trashing it in
the dumpster. Hence, this platform not only benefits the people but also the environment in a
long term.

3.0 Company Background

BookHouse is an online bookstore service or consumer-to-consumer online platform

company that was founded on 23rd March 2021. Our company headquarters is currently
situated at Taman Wawasan, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan. We are a form of
partnership company with multiple shareholders consisting of Universiti Putra Malaysia
students with various academic background. Our organization consists of the general
manager, administration director, marketing director, operation director and financial director.
Our revenue streams come mainly from commission and advertisement by other parties on
our platform. We can be reached by contacting our email, hello@bookhouse.com or the
headquarters’ number, +6021550276. BookHouse also has our own social media where we
post our updates; BookHouse.IO Services on Facebook and @bookhouse.io on Instagram,

The idea of BookHouse was inspired by the surge of e-commerce industry during
Covid-19 pandemic. It is inspired by certain platforms such as Mudah.com and Carousell. Our
idea developed into book-wise after looking at how most students struggle to get hold of their
academic materials and some cannot find ways to sustainably trash their used books. The
sole purpose our company is to provide top service platform with simple means to use it. We
operate as a bridge between users who wants to sell their old or used books and users who
want to get hold of good quality books at affordable price. Although the service is mainly aiming
at people with academic background, our service is accessible to all because we believe that
everyone should has the equal chance to get hold of the books they need.

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3.1 Vision

“Who needs bookstore when you have BookHouse!”

We aspire to establish a platform that is easily accessible and will cater to our users at anytime
and anywhere that will certainly guarantee contentment.

3.2 Mission

“To develop new technology and platform that makes lives of people easier but with
smallest possible cost”

Our mission focus on providing service to the people by giving them the simplest option to sell
and buy their desired books at a low-price range.

3.3 Objectives

Some of our long-term goals include increasing the web traffic to the BookHouse online
platform by at least 50 percent by the end of the year. Our company will achieve this by doing
short-term goals like make research and hire web consultant for a month to propose and
implement changes to make the site appeal to broader audience. We will also advertise our
platform on other online platforms to achieve more exposure. Another long-term goal for the
company is to achieve at least 95 percent positive customer feedback. To do this, we will do
customer service research process by including questionnaires. Users who take the time to
respond will gain rewards as incentives like free discounts and special service.

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4.0 Owner’s / Partner’s Background
4.1 Owner’s Background

BookHouse.IO was founded in 23 March 2021 by eight of us where we are all students of
University Putra Malaysia. The owners of the company are unique as we all come from
different faculty where four of us are from Faculty of Science, two from Faculty of Design and
Architecture and the other two from School of Business and Economics. We believe that the
power of us teaming up can reinforce our skills and ability to produce a successful company
soon to be one of the popular eCommerce sites in Malaysia.

General Manager

Name Muhammad Najmi Haikal Bin Rosli

Matric Number 203554
Date of Birth 11th October 2000
Age 21
Permanent Address No. 14 Taman Himiran 23000 Dungun Terengganu
Email Address najmi4675@gmail.com
Handphone Number 017 8758381
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology at UPM
Skills - Strong leadership skills
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Excellent interpersonal skills

Administration Director I

Name Sunitha A/P Kanabathy

Matric Number 205190
Date of Birth 9th March 2000
Age 21
Permanent Address Lot 2032 SL 64 Taman Duras Batu 16, Jalan Kuching
Seriam 94200 Kuching Sarawak
Email Address 205290@student.upm.edu.my
Handphone Number 011 14063517
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) at UPM
Skills - Strategic thinker
- Excellent communication skills
- Excellent critical thinking skills

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Marketing Director I

Name Nur Hidayah Bt Roslan

Matric Number 203553
Date of Birth 12th June 2000
Age 21
Permanent Address
6-G-14, Lintang Sungai Batu, Taman Teluk Kumbar,
11920, Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang

Email Address Nrhdyhrsln12@gmail.com

Handphone Number 017 5641059
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology at UPM
Skills - Strong attention to detail
- Excellent networking skills
- Excellent planning and commercial awareness

Marketing Director II

Name Nur Farah Amelia Soon Bt Hilmi Soon

Matric Number 203852
Date of Birth 12th November 1999
Age 22
Permanent Address 53, Lorong Sutera 4, Taman Sutera, Seberang Jaya,
13700 Perai, Pulau Pinang
Email Address 203852@student.upm.edu.my
Handphone Number 012 4759182
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology at UPM
Skills - Excellent creativity
- Excellent teamwork skills
- Excellent IT skills

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Operation Director I

Name Muhammad Hanif Izham Bin Shuhaidi

Matric Number 203796
Date of Birth 1st May 1999
Age 22
Permanent Address NO 51, Jalan KP 2/4, Taman Kota Perdana , 43300 Seri
Kembangan, Selangor
Email Address Hanifizham15@gmail.com
Handphone Number 013 4973707
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science in Architecture (Honours) at UPM
Skills - Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent team-oriented
- Strong client-facing skills

Operation Director II

Name Athiyyah Qistina Binti Abdul Hakim

Matric Number 204249
Date of Birth 2nd May 2000
Age 21
Permanent Address Lot 6015 Batu 6 Bukit Naga Seksyen 32 40460 Shah
Alam Selangor
Email Address 204249@student.upm.edu.my
Handphone Number 011 23787611
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics at UPM
Skills - Excellent communication skills
- Excellent problem solving skills
- Excellent people-management skills

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Financial Director I

Name Lim Zhi Kuan

Matric Number 203795
Date of Birth 23rd January 1999
Age 22
Permanent Address 12, Jalan Sama Gagah 21D Taman Teluk Gedung Indah
42000 Pelabuhan Klang Selangor
Email Address Zhikuan1999@icloud.com
Handphone Number 012 998 9219
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Science in Architecture (Honours) at UPM
Skills - Strong math skills
- Excellent decision making
- Excellent commercial and business awareness

Financial Director II

Name Zirwatul Ain Binti Bahari

Matric Number 204063
Date of Birth 28th February 1999
Age 22
Permanent Address Ladang Tabung Haji, Sungai Tenegang, Beg Berkunci
No. 12, 91109 Lahad Datu, Sabah
Email Address zirwatulain1@gmail.com
Handphone Number 012 8208464
Marital Status Single
Academic Qualification Bachelor of Accounting (Honours) at UPM
Skills - Strong math skills
- Excellent analytical and enquiring mind
- Excellent prioritisation

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4.2 Partner’s Background

To ensure a smooth operation of BookHouse.IO, we have established a long-term partnership

with 8 reliable and competent business partners. They are chosen carefully and proved to give
the best fast services to our sellers and customers.

Third-party Logistics Providers Company Name Partnership

Pos Malaysia Provide delivery

Berhad services

CollectCo Provide delivery and

collection services

J&T Express Provide delivery

services

Ninja Van Provide delivery

services

Payment Services Company Name Partnership

Visa Provide secured and

easy digital payment

MasterCard Provide secured and

Malaysia easy digital payment

7-Eleven Malaysia Provide easy cash

payment

TNG Digital Sdn Bhd Provide secured and

easy digital payment

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5.0 Location

BookHouse.IO is located at Cheras, Kuala Lumpur where it is convenient and a prime location.
The location gives best network coverage and conveniently near to various eateries. This can
help increased worker productivity and promote good working environment in BookHouse.IO.

Map of BookHouse.IO Business Address

13, JALAN 14/192 TAMAN

WAWASAN, CHERAS
KUALA LUMPUR

6.0 Organization, Human Resources Plan and Administration

6.1 Organizational Chart

Human resources management is a crucial part of BookHouse to follow a proper delegation
of tasks of each employee which will result in a clear direction for the company. This plan will
act as a tool to address each job scope throughout the operation of the business.

Figure 1 below shows the organizational chart of BookHouse:

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6.2 Human Resource Plan

6.2.1 List of Administrator Personnel

Table below shows the manpower allocation for BookHouse.

Position Number of personnel
General manager 1
Administration 1
Marketing 1
Operation 1
General manager 1

6.2.2 Job Descriptions of the Positions

Position Name of Job description

employee(s)
General manager Muhamad Najmi  Lead and work with different teams
Haikal Bin Rosli to ensure all the business/marketing
plans run smoothly
 Smooth communication channels
among competent departments
 lead the company's social public
relations activities, establish a good
corporate image, and lead the
establishment of good internal
communication channels within the
company
 Explore market opportunities, and
lead innovation and manage growth
and achieve business targets
 Execute different business
strategies to support company
growth and business expansion
 Evaluate performance, productivity
and competitiveness
 Spearhead policies, strategies and
directional growth
 Manage budgets and sales revenue
efficiently
 Focus in increasing revenue and
income while reducing
expenditures, safeguard the
interests of shareholders and
employees in accordance with the
law, and correctly handle the

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Marketing Nur Hidayah Binti
Roslan
Nur Farah Amelia
Soon binti Hilmi Soon
relationship between employees
and customers.
 Market information collection
analysis and feedback.
 The formulation and implementation
of the project marketing plan.
 Plan and create content (short
tutorial videos) on company’s social
media platforms (Tiktok, Facebook,
Instagram)
 Producing marketing and promotion
materials
 Statistics and analysis of sales
information.
 Establish and maintain the
company's corporate image.

Operation Muhammad Hanif  Coordinate and manage

Izham Bin Shuhaidi subordinates, facilitate
interdepartmental communication
Athiyyah Qistina Binti and allocate and resources as
Abdul Hakim needed.
 Gather and link information, resolve
discrepancies and make strategic
recommendation.
 Engage and work with engineering
professional
 Develop, implement, and review
operational policies and procedures
 Create documentation on existing
and new process
 Conduct continual analysis and
evaluation of strategic information
(revenues, installation margin,
manufacturing operation, etc.)
 Prioritize and manage several tasks
simultaneously

Administration Sunitha A/P  Update and maintain database with

and Human Kanabathy accurate client. Manager
Resource information.
Management  Controlling the financial expenses
for administration department.
 Identify and inform the duties every
department.

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  Management of staff’s salary
payment, bonuses and incentive,
EPF and SOCSO
 Solve office issues

 Implement the company’s rules and

regulation
 Responsible for the attendance of
employees

Finance Lim Zhi Kuan  Participate in the formulation of the

company's financial system and
Zirwatul Ain Binti corresponding implementation rules.
Bahari  Participate in the company's project
credibility research and financial
analysis in project evaluation.
 To be responsible for the
compilation of financial data
required by the board of directors
and the general manager.
 Responsible for external
communication related to financial
work.
 Responsible for fund management,
scheduling, reporting the company's
operation.
 Responsible for sales statistics and
review
 Be responsible for the preparation
of monthly transfer voucher and
summarize all accounting vouchers.
 Responsible for annual accounting
statements, bookbinding and
accounting data storage.
 Responsible for safekeeping and
handling bank collection and
payment business.
 Responsible for the payment of
employees' salary and cash
payment.
 Responsible for the management,
audit the original receipt and
payment voucher.

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6.3 Administration

6.3.1 Human Resource Management

Human resource strategy, purposeful hiring by looking at the company strategies and know
what needs to be done and types of employees the company need to achieve objectives.
Besides that, frequent communication to bring the organisation together for an all- hand
meeting to share updates about the organisation. The People Managing People blog, podcast,
and community exists to help you become a better leader of people and catalyst for healthy
company culture. Our community is a space for experienced people managers and culture
creators to develop as leaders and connect with other like-minded individuals. Human
resource management will organize seminar to train employees to work as a team, build up
team spirit and deal with customers. In addition, we can build a good environment and together
achieve organisation goals. Finally, HR strategies also to integrate with the company’s goals
and business plan. Whether the company uses strategic management software, their strategy
has to be integrated within HR.

6.3.2 Marketing Strategies

Our marketing strategies are used to market our service and reach the target customers which
for BookHouse.IO, the main prospective customers group would be students and teaching
staffs. With our strong and well-planned marketing strategies, we aimed and able to generate
higher sales, wider customers reach as well as engage the constant customers, gain more
revenue and improve our place in the competition within the target market. Four strategies
used to boost our services to another stage are product, price, place and promotion strategy.
Along with the development of time with the increased power of social media amidst the
pandemic, we take advantage of the digital marketing strategies such as digital advertisement
and content and video media postings in various well-known social media. BookHouse.IO
aimed to provide fuss-free website but adaptable for all types of customers to buy and sell
books.

6.3.3 Operational Strategies

We provide a page for consumers can upload the books at our online second-hand bookstore
which is BookHouse.IO to buy and sell their unused books. It is platform for the seller and
buyer for ease their dealings. When the purchased and payment made by the buyer is
complete, our store automatically sends the order to the drop shipping supplier. They will
prepare the customer order and it takes at least two until three days only for the book posted
to reach the buyer. However, we also ensure that the buyer will be satisfied with the packaging
of the parcel delivered. For the unexpected spike in demand or busy season, we will handle it
properly such as keep providing and keep updating the tracking number for the customer
references so their level of trust for BookHouse.IO will be higher. Our customer service will
serve inquiries provided by customer.

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6.3.4 Financial Strategies
For BookHouse Sdn Bhd, it is a start-up from young talents. The cash and borrowing
has a total of RM200,000 to start-up the business. The money is utilized with proper manner.
For the first few years, the expenses like payroll, sales and marketing expenses are controlled
well to manage a healthy cash flow in the company. For the first few months, we have the
negative cash flow as we are concern about expansion for the company. Since BookHouse is
a company that act as middle person that provide services for the users to buy and sell book,
the service charge is very cheap to make sure everyone is affordable to use our service, hence
the profit margin is relatively low. To get more profit, BookHouse need to get a big volume of
customer from transaction, as service charge to expand it well. Not only that, the expenses for
advertisement are averagely higher as a start-up company to make sure this apps are well
known and everyone on the street use it to buy or sell book. The projected sales are growing
drastically since the second year of operation because we expect the volume of users that
use Bookstore apps is increasing drastically too. BookHouse aim to gather all types of users
(from all age) to encourage the users to read book and get cheaper book for our services,
from there, we can gain the maximum profit and our aim is expand to worldwide.

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7.0 Marketing Plan

7.1 Introduction

One of the most significant components in preparing and sale boosting a business is the
marketing strategies. Marketing plan is done in order to produce or deliver a service that can
fulfil the demands of customers and bring profit to the business as well because it helps us in
understanding the target market and competition before any marketing decision is made. We
believe that marketing plan play the most important role in attracting customers via various
platforms through realistic, concrete, well-planned and appropriate marketing plan. Consistent
marketing strategies allow researches and analysis done thoroughly depending on the target
customers and the demand within the market. Many contents activities and tactics can be
delivered to influence the customers according on the marketing plan.

7.2 Objectives

1. To build a solid relationship with existing customers as well as future customers by

improving our services according to their preferences.
2. To create brand awareness by providing great and excellent services to customers.
3. To increase sales and revenue by promoting our services without spending high cost
through marketing plan.
4. To grow the target market by applying great marketing strategies to convince the
customers on the quality of our services.

7.3 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is used as a framework for our business in order to conduct a strategic
planning and analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This framework
provides clearer and organized insights on our best traits and opportunities to take on the
advantages for success and to observe what our business is lacking off and the external
threats so that we can minimize any risks occur within the business.

Strengths Weaknesses

 There are many ways and platform to
reach us including the main website,
Instagram, Facebook and HQ phone
number.
 We allow customers to directly deal
with the sellers upon price
negotiation.
 We provide advertisement
commission for other business to
promote their products/services.
 We provide cheap and only good
quality books on our website.
 Our online website is only for one
product which is books.
 We do not provide direct business
order with the HQ; the HQ number is
only for inquiries.
 All of the organization members in
BookHouse are new to
entrepreneurship therefore we have
limited knowledge and experience on
business.
 This is a brand-new company, so we
have to build the reputation of the
brand from scratch.

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 Opportunities Threats

 We provide an e-commerce platform  There will be scammers selling fake

to help customers in selling and books or deal with customers outside
buying interaction amidst the the BookHouse chat to trick them.
pandemic where there will be no  We do not own a delivery courier
SOPs invalidated. therefore, the condition of books
 We build an online community for upon arrival depends on the
booklovers, students, teaching staffs wrapping made by the sellers and the
and for all to have access to cheap delivery processes.
second-hand books.
 We provide easy-to-use and fussy
free platform for busy students and
teaching staffs.
 We create and encourage a
sustainable purchasing trend among
social media users.

7.4 Target Market

To deliver a solid and effective marketing plan, we determine the ideas and execute them
according to our target market segmentation. By understanding and defining our specific target
customers, we can have the ideas for improvement, solutions to the problems and ways to
reach them according to their preferences. In result, we can build a better reputation, high
sales and gain together with stay connected to wider target customers in affordable and
efficient methods.

Customer Description
segmentation

Our target customers are grouped according to qualitative and distinct

Demographic
traits of a population such as age, occupation and education level.
These characteristics, we believe, play an important role in determining
our target customers.
 The target market of our business ranging from the age of 18
to 30 years old. This is because the range lies within the typical
age of students. Students prefer cheap books to save more
money and the books may not be used for a long term.
Meanwhile for teaching staffs that their age may lies between
31 to 60 and they have stable income where they can afford
new and pricey books.
 The target market also may come from various type of
profession but the main one would be students, teachers and

16
 lecturer. Our platform provides a variety of genre for the books
but it is a trend that used books are usually academical because
of the expensive retail price of them.
- Our biggest customers group is students. Majority of them
are unemployed or have low income. Therefore, they can
sell the used books and buy books with reasonable price on
BookHouse.
 BookHouse is established by a group of undergraduates and it
is an advantage to have higher number of customers from
undergraduates and post-graduate level. Plus, higher level
of education usually involved research-based books,
international author books and also academic text which can be
expensive.
 Our business is suitable and open to every part of the
community regardless of gender, nationality and ethnicity.

The marketing strategies are executed according to the area of our

Geographic
target market. It is grouped into categories such as state and education
institution.
 BookHouse is an online service that is accessible to all places
in Malaysia.
 The third-party logistics provider with partnership with
BookHouse provide delivery service that cover most part of
Malaysia.
 However, our customers are likely to be from academic
institution such as schools and universities where they are likely
to buy books from us.

We believe that psychographic segmentation influences the genre and

Psychographic
books’ preferences of our target market. The customers are grouped
according to their personalities, interest and hobbies and lifestyle.
 Students and academic staffs use book for academic purposes.
Many of them require more than a genre of book and some of
them are not going to be used for a long term. Therefore, used
books are a great option for them especially for the money
conscious people.
 We also target book lovers who love to collect books like novel,
literally and entertainment books such as manga and comics.

17
7.5 Market Size

Market size determine the total number and the potential target market of our services. It is
also to estimate the total revenue from sales that can be generated. Through market size, we
can calculate the potential earning and the number of investments for the business. In result,
we can come out with marketing strategies that suit the market.

Services Commission rates Estimated total

(%) number of Market size (RM)
customers (monthly)

Seller 5% 40 (Price range for

books is between
RM10 to RM100)

(RM0.50 to RM5)
x40

RM20 to RM200
(applicable if one
seller sells one
book)

Payment service 2% 60
fees (RM0.20 to RM2)
x40

RM8 to RM80
(applicable if one
seller sells one
book)

Advertisement 5% 10 (RM 50 to RM150) x

10 per month

RM 500 to RM1500

18
7.6 Competition

BookHouse provide services that is rarely found in Malaysia but it is not new therefore, it is
natural for competition to exist as there are a number of business that may have the same
services and products within the market. The market competition can bring negative effects
on our business if their offerings and benefits to customers surpass us. However, competitors
can motivate us to come out with better ideas to improve our sales and to convince the
customers to choose our services by implementing market strategies. We can define and
recognize our strengths, potential and weaknesses of our services as well as observe the
market pattern of the competitors. Competition also proved that there is market for the services
that we provided.

A table is attached to Appendix B to compare the difference of the services within the market
by the competitors and BookHouse.IO.

7.7 Market Strategies

7.7.1 Product Strategy

Since our service is used as transaction between sellers and buyers, we will ensure that every
book that are placed on the platform have good quality materials that will satisfy customers’
expectations in term of using the platform. We will set specific criteria or standards for the
users as a guideline before selling their used books on the website. Every book will go through
the selection and must be approved before selling it on the website. This is to make sure that
all the books are in reusable good condition before in the hands of the buyers.

Besides that, our strategy to maintain users’ satisfaction and contentment will also include
questionnaires in customer service research process. There will be incentives where the
responders will gain rewards such as free discounts for the buyers while sellers will gain free
vendor tools for limited days. This will make sure that our users are always enthusiastic to
interact with our platform by giving feedbacks. Our company will also benefit by recognizing
our flaws and will strive to make constant improvements to satisfy our users.

We will make continuous changes to the BookHouse site so that it is appealing to all sorts of
audience. Our service will also be advertised on other platforms and social media to gain
visibility and recognition.

7.7.2 Price Strategy

BookHouse aimed to be an online platform that allows the customers to purchase second-
hand books at cheaper price. Since we only provide used books, the price of the books must
be cheaper than the retail price. The sellers are the one whom decide the price of the books,
however, to maintain the qualities of every book sold, sellers are required to provide pictures
of the books as to prove the good condition of the used books on the product descriptions.

The price of the commission rate is decided based on how much we spent on the cost structure
which are service platform development and the marketing expenses which involved the
salaries of marketing department and digital marketing.

19
For the price of the books, we decided to maintain the price range between RM10 to RM100
because there are varieties of books sold in BookHouse. For examples, local books,
international academic books, magazines, novel, poem, literature, entertainment books as
well as encyclopaedias. These books may cover many fields including science, medicine and
health, computer science, finance and business, law, personal development and art. Each
book also has different physical looks such as hardcover, various thickness and the colour as
well as the illustrations. We believe the price points are reasonable and affordable for low-
income customers such as students to purchase from our platform.

7.7.3 Place Strategy

BookHouse.IO focused on the online platform including the main website, Instagram,
Facebook and WhatsApp for brand’s building.

Platform Strategy

Instagram and These 2 platforms are the most used platforms for promoting our
Facebook business to the target market nowadays. Our business is
conducted through online platform and we are in pandemic to top
on that. Through our official accounts, potential and loyal
customers can view our contents, products information and we can
converse with them via direct messages features on both social
medias. This results in building a relationship with our customers
where they can ask us for inquiries, leave reviews and give
feedbacks that can boost our credibility and brand reputation.

WhatsApp For WhatsApp, we do not receive orders through it but it is

provided to answer customers inquiries. We created a business
account with automatic generated response to give quick replies
to them.

7.7.4 Promotion Strategy

Promoting our services through digital marketing is always our priority because it is very
effective to reach larger potential customers group through cost-effective and measurable
methods compared to traditional advertising. Digital marketing is a form of marketing that
connect and engage the customers with sellers via technologies and electronic devices where
digital channels such as social media, search engines, email and website. Digital marketing
also grants us to identify the specific potential customers and refine our research on reaching
them.

There are many features available now in each of the platform and social media that can
market and promote our service to larger and wide recognition. Social medias used are
Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp with these suitable marketing features.

20
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is a way for a business to rank higher in Google search result where it can
escalate the search engine traffic to our websites and social media account. The
feature also available on Instagram and Facebook where it will display BookHouse
business account as one of the top results on the search engine results page. We
believe that this feature helps us in building the brand awareness as the top results on
search engine are likely to have better quality and relevant content that the searchers
or the potential market are looking for their keywords. Ways to boost our SEO rank is
to come up with better content marketing, good link structure and deploy keyword
targeting.

Figure 1 shows search engine result for ‘BookHouse’ on Instagram

2. Social Media Marketing

Three different social medias used to connect us with the target market in order to
increase the revenues sale, receive feedbacks, drive website traffic and build the brand
awareness. Using these social media accounts, we approach strategically to our
customers by delivering creative, convincing and relevant postings consistently. For
Facebook, we make use of the automatic scheduled posting feature which allows us
to make regular scheduled posts without having problems like forgetting to post while
for Instagram, we posted them manually.

Through these accounts, we are able to attract customers via planned content that
match the psychographics of the target market. The timing and frequency of the
postings matter a lot as we want to maximised the reach of social media according to
the preferred time of the target market.

21
 Moreover, potential customers will comment on our posts, share them or tag us in their
post and even direct message us. We analyse the growth of our accounts analytical
data like the views, likes, tags and comments to follow the progress of insights of our
digital marketing. Using these data, we can build better plans to move forward the
contents that can generate more engagement with the customers.

Figure 2 shows social media platform; Instagram and Facebook

3. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach that focused on the relevant,

creative and consistent posted contents on social media that were created and
published on social media to attract and form a sustainable communication line with
audiences. The content can be infographic posters, marketing video and product
promotion which can likely make the visitors of our business accounts a purchaser.
The better engagement and effective the contents are, the higher rank of our SEO on
the search engine result that can lead to high sales.

Content marketing is a long-term strategy where we build the image of our brand over
the time so that they can bring more potential target market to visit our business
accounts. Through this marketing strategies, we want the customers to view the social
medias of us as a resource of information within the market.

We posted the products and services description, sale information and marketing
campaign with fixed colour codes for each of the infographic with catchy illustration
and graphics. These postings will likely attract and make our page visitors spend more
time surveying our posts. We also use simple and persuading caption to promote the
business. Each sentence is short but we insert some elements that are related to them

22
 according to psychographic segmentation as to build some connection with the
readers.

We used three types of sale postings which are teaser technique, soft sell and hard
sell. For the teaser technique, we posted ‘Coming Soon’ poster to keep our audiences
enthusiastic for our offerings. The soft sell includes the poster of our services’ benefits
and used books’ advantages as to create trust and brand awareness. In result, they
would prompt to become a customer without being forced. Unlike soft sell, hard sell is
when we use direct posters for our sale that is mainly aimed to strongly encourage
audiences to become customers. The caption tends to be more aggressive and
straightforward but these methods are less used compared with soft sell.

On Instagram, we include famous hashtags like #secondhandbooks #usedbooks

#supportlocals as well as a hashtag specific for BookHouse which is #bookhouseio to
classify the postings and make the searchable. The hashtags allow users to find our
page on relevant hashtags.

On Facebook, we use copywriting technique to attract the customers in giving

feedbacks and share their thoughts on our services and include questions at the end
of the caption to encourage interactions. We also pinned some of the most important
posts on the top of the page like the sale announcement for that post to be the first
thing to see for the customers. We also locate our audiences based on demographic
segmentation through Facebook Insights.

4. Video Marketing

We produce an advertising video that contain the descriptions as well as services’

benefits to promote brand awareness and increase recognition within the target
market. The video is short, simple, creative yet easy to be understood We posted it on
Instagram and Facebook to let the target market aware on what on our business is all
about. The link to YouTube is also mentioned in the bio of each social media where
potential customers can click on it and directed to the video on YouTube.

This is the following video but in YouTube form.

https://youtu.be/Bk9PNL_Cu98

Figure 3 shows the screenshot of the advertising video

23
8.0 Operational Plan

8.1 Inventory

All dealings are between the seller and the buyer so the BookHouse.IO will not store the stuff.
Customer can purchase the book at BookHouse.IO from any application like Shopee and
Lazada. The seller will post the book to their buyer when the purchased and payment made.

8.2 Suppliers
The dealings are between the seller and the buyer so products are sent directly from the seller
to the customers. Step one, the customer places an order from our online BookHouse.IO. Step
two, BookHouse.IO automatically sends the order to the dropshipping supplier. Step three,
our dropshipping supplier prepares the customer’s order. Last step is the dropshipping
supplier ships the order directly to the customer.

8.3 Production Strategies

We provide a page for consumers can upload the books at our online second-hand bookstore
which is BookHouse.IO to buy and sell their unused books. It is platform for the seller and
buyer for ease their dealings. When the purchased and payment made by the buyer is
complete, our store automatically sends the order to the dropshipping supplier. They will
prepare the customer order and it takes at least two until three days only for the book posted
to reach the buyer. However, we also ensure that the buyer will be satisfied with the packaging
of the parcel delivered.
For the unexpected spike in demand or busy season, we will handle it properly such as keep
providing and keep updating the tracking number for the customer references so their level of
trust for BookHouse.IO will be higher. Our customer service will serve inquiries provided by
customer.

8.4 Facilities
There will be no facilities place provide for any team members to work because our
BookHouse.IO products will be sold online then all dealings will be handled by the seller and
the buyer themselves.

8.5 Equipment
For the equipment, we will use an application such as Shopee or Lazada which is can easily
access by the customer using the smartphone or laptop to buy the book.

8.6 Shipping and Fulfilment

Our company focuses on online purchasing through Shopee, Lazada, Mudah.com, Carousell
and online bookstore. We provide an online purchase through those application or website so
the customer can get their books. By this way, the buyer can get their books more easily which
is they just have to pay the book cost through online banking and wait until the book delivered
to their house. We also make sure the seller wraps the book neatly to make it secure.
Customer will also get tracking numbers for them to track the position of their books and make
it easier for them to get the items.

24
9.0 Financial Plan

Bookstore expects to raise RM100,000 to raise its own capital, and to borrow RM100,000 from
Maybank Berhad at 6% rate for ten-year loan.

9.1 Break-even Analysis

Break even analysis entails calculating and examining the margin of safety for an entity based
on revenues collected and associated costs. The analysis shows how many sales it takes to
pay for the costs of doing business. The break-even analysis determines what level of sales
necessary to cover the company’s total fixed asset. Break-even analysis is used broadly, from
stock to options trading to corporate budgeting for various projects.

Break even analysis

Monthly Unit Break-even 20000
Assumptions:
Average Per-Unit Revenue RM 2
Average Per-Unit Variable Cost RM 0.50
Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost RM 30,000

FORMULA OF BREAKOUT SALES VOLUME

= fixed costs

Contribution margin (Price – average variable costs)

= RM30,000 = 20000

RM2-RM0.50

25
9.2 Projected Profit and Loss

As the profit margin for the BookHouse is very low, it needs high volume of users to use it in
order to take profits and growth.

PRO FORMA PROFIT AND LOSS

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Sales RM 300,000 RM 347,000 RM450,000
Direct Costs of Sales RM40000 RM 46,251 RM59,985
Other RM0 RM0 RM0
Total Costs of Sales RM40000 RM46,251 RM59,985
Gross Margin RM260,000 RM300,749 RM390,015
Gross Margin (%) 86.67% 86.67% 86.67%
Expenses
Payroll RM180,000 RM200,000 RM244,000
Sales and Marketing and RM30,000 RM35,000 RM45,000
Other Expenses
Depreciation RM20,000 RM22,000 RM24,000
Utilities RM1500 RM 2000 RM3,000
Payroll Taxes RM8,000 RM9000 RM11,000
Other RM0 RM0 RM0
Total Operating Expenses RM239,500 RM 268,500 RM327,000
Profit Before Interest and RM29,500 RM32,249 RM63,015
Taxes
EBITDA RM48,500 RM63,749 RM98,015
Interest Expense RM10,000 RM9,000 RM8000
Tax Incurred RM 3000 RM5000 RM6000
Net Profit RM16500 RM18,249 RM49,015
Net Profit / Sales 5.5% 5.25% 10.89%

***Note:

EBITDA = gross – payroll – sales expenses – utilities – payroll taxes (Payroll taxes is
excluded)

Profit before taxes = gross margin – total expenses

26
9.3 Projected Cash Flow

The cash flow projection shows that provisions of ongoing expenses are adequate to meet
BOOKSTORE needs as the business generates profits and provide a good cashflow to the
company. However, it took at least 3 months to recover to positive cash flow as it need time
to generate business.

CASH FLOW AND CASH BALANCE

150000

100000

50000

0
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month Month Month
10 11 12
-50000
Net Cash Flow Cash Balance

PRO FORMA CASH FLOW

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Cash Received
Cash from Operations
Cash Sales RM 300,000 RM 347,000 RM450,000
Subtotal Cash From Operations RM 300,000 RM 347,000 RM450,000
Additional Cash Received RM0 RM0 RM0
Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST RM0 RM0 RM0
Received
New Current Borrowing RM0 RM0 RM0
New Other Liabilities ( interest- RM0 RM0 RM0
free )
New long Term Liabilities RM0 RM0 RM0
Sales of Other Current Assets RM0 RM0 RM0
Sales of Long Term Assets RM0 RM0 RM0
New Investment Received RM0 RM0 RM0
Subtotal Cash Received RM300,000 RM347,000 RM450,000
Expenditures Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Expenditures from Operations RM0 RM0
Cash Spending ( Payroll ) RM180,000 RM200,000 RM244,000
Bills Payment RM50,000 RM80,000 RM100,000
Subtotal Spent on Operations RM230,000 RM280,000 RM344,000
Additional Cash Spent RM0 RM0 RM0

27
 Sales Tax, VAT, HST, GST Paid RM0 RM0 RM0
Out
Principal Repayment of Current RM0 RM0 RM0
Borrowing
Other Liabilities Principal RM0 RM0 RM0
Repayment
Long-term Liabilities Principal RM0 RM10,000 RM15,000
Repayment
Purchase Other Current Assets RM0 RM0 RM0
Purchase Other Long-Term RM0 RM10,000 RM20,000
Assets
Dividends RM0 RM0 RM0
Subtotal Cash Spent RM230,000 RM280,000 RM344,000
Net Cash Flow RM70,000 RM67,000 RM106,000
Cash Balance RM70,000 RM137,000 RM243,000

9.4 Balance Sheet

The following is a projected Balanced Sheet for BookHouse

PRO FORMA BALANCE SHEET

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Assets
Current Assets
Cash RM70,000 RM137,000 RM243,000
Other Current Assets RM20,000 RM20,000 RM20,000
Total Current Assets RM90,000 RM157,000 RM263,000
Long-term Assets
Long-term Assets RM60,000 RM80,000 RM90,000
Accumulated Depreciation RM45,000 RM120,000 RM130,000
Total Long-term Assets RM15,000 (RM40,000) (RM40,000)
Total Assets RM105,000 RM117,000 RM223,000
Liabilities and Capital Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Accounts Payable RM13,700 RM15,300 RM17,800
Current Borrowing RM0 RM0 RM0
Other Current Liabilities RM0 RM0 RM0
Subtotal Current Liabilities RM13,700 RM15,300 RM17,800
Long-term Liabilities RM30,000 RM30,000 RM30,000
Total Liabilities RM43,700 RM45,300 RM47,800
Net Worth RM62,000 RM71,700 RM175,200

28
 9.5 Business Ratio

The following table represent key ratios for the BookHouse.

RATIO ANALYSIS
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Industry
Profile
Sales Growth 0% 15.67% 17.29% 7.60%

Percent of Total Assets

Other Current Assets 19.04% 17.09% 8.97% 35.60%
Total Current Assets 85.71% 134.19% 117.94% 43.70%
Long-term Assets 14.29% -34.19% -17.94% 56.30%
Total Assets 100% 100% 100% 100%

Long Term Liabilities 68.65% 66.25% 40.36% 28.50%

Total Liabilities 41.61% 38.71% 21.43% 61.20%
Net worth 59.05% 61.28% 78.56%

Percent of Sales
Sales 100% 100% 100% 100%
Gross Margin 86.67% 86.67% 86.67% 60.50%
Selling, General & 76.67% 80.69% 76.44% 39.80%
Administrative Expenses
Advertising Expenses 12.50% 13.05% 13.76 3.20%
Profit before Interest and Taxes 55.93% 56.59% 77.78% 0.70%

Additional Ratios Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Net Profit Margin 5.5% 5.25% 10.89%

29
10.0 Conclusion

People have recently begun to appreciate more the privilege of having access to books
and the ability to read. Since last year, the current epidemic has been found to dramatically
increase the demand for books in online stores and the hobby of reading. This is due to the
fact that people are remaining at home and are more likely to shop online to avoid being
exposed to the Covid-19 virus. Not only that, but the rise in the number of individuals taking
up reading as a pastime could be related to the fact people are more inclined to finding hobbies
that they are able to carry out at the comfort of their own homes.

We believe that our efforts to dive in the booming market is going to be beneficial and
successful as people are willing to spend more of their time in shopping online and reading to
unwind since the pandemic has taken away their freedom to go out freely. The market is still
open for improvement in which we have come up with various justifications and value
propositions to fill in the gaps in the market by providing exceptional services and quality
products as well as building a strong community, which is what the world needs right now.

Management at BookHouse is optimistic that we will meet our sales targets.

Furthermore, BookHouse management has carefully examined its market, potential customer
base, and size in order to apply the marketing techniques described in this business plan. We
are glad for the opportunity to create this business plan and go through the process of running
a firm in theory. The process had really allowed us to discover the numerous levels of starting
a business and making it a viable one, from market analysis, brainstorming, and developing
services to financial planning and strategic executions.

30
11.0 Appendix

11.1 Duty Schedule

31
11.2 Resume

32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
11.3 Competitor Promotions Activities

Carousell is a Singaporean multinational consumer and business-to-consumer

smartphone and web-based marketplace for buying and selling new and used goods.
Carousell is a competitor of BookHouse. Despite the fact that Carousell is not a site for selling
used books, many students chose it as a platform for selling their used books to another user.
Carousell offers a variety of promos to entice customers to use their platform. Customers can
save 50% on their first CarouPay purchase, for example, as shown in the image above.

40
 Next, BookXcess Online is a book store that widen their business range to online
bookstore. They offers many promos to their customers to attract them buying books from
their online stores. For example in the picture above, they give promos up to 80% off for all
books in their store.

41