Coastal Culture

Sparks Strong

Group Members:

Bric Prahst, Owen Kilton, Dillon Sickels, and Josh Stobbe

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Table of Contents

Section 1: Executive Summary 2

Section 2: Management team 3

Section 3: Company Description 6

Section 4: Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Core Values 6

Section 5: Product Information 7

Section 6: Industry and Market Overview 8

Section 7: Market Research and Analysis 11

Section 8: Marketing Plan 15

Section 9: Operational Plan 17

Section 10: Organizational Policies and Standards 17

Section 11: Financial 19

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Section 1: Executive Summary

Summary:

Our company, Coastal Culture and Sparks Strong, is owned and operated by a partnership structure. This

partnership consists of four hard working members that each own 25% equity of the business. Our

company, Coastal Culture, sells sweatshirts. These sweatshirts are all white with a custom design on the

middle back. It is a design made by a combination of our group members' thoughts and the help of Mrs.

Baehmen. We are considered different from our competition because our design is extremely unique and

different from others and stands out. Our other idea/company, Sparks Strong, is a t-shirt. These shirts are

mostly black with Sparks on the back and it’s designed like a jersey. We wanted to do this as a

remembrance for Jackson Sparks and all of our profit goes to the Sparks family.

The problem that was identified in the shirts and sweatshirts is the cost and quality of the shirts. We

realized as the more we wanted to focus on the quality of the shirts, the higher the cost was. We had to

come to a fair-even that kept our customers comfortable and happy with the product, but we needed a

good price that we could pay for the products. However, there was some good that came from this

because now we can say how our main focus was on quality and comfortability, which helped draw in

customers.

Section 2: Management team

Bric’s Bio:
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Hi my name is Bric Prahst and I feel that my credentials back up why I

am capable of being head of design and co-owner of Coastal Culture. I

have experience in customer service as well as apparel sales. My

customer service background is through my job at Ace Hardware.

There I have to problem solve and know just about exactly what the

customer needs or else they have to come back and that never makes a

happy customer. I have sold many pieces of badger, packer, brewers,

and bucks apparel in my career with Bucky’s Locker Room. I am very

good with communication to customers and digging until I know

exactly what they need and what will satisfy their needs. I put these

skills as well as my heart into building this company and to ensure the

customer is left happy and drippy.

Owen’s Bio

My name is Owen Kilton and I am head of design for the Coastal Culture

company and I fit the role of being co-owner alongside Bric Prahst. I bring many

strengths to the table and have made a big impact on the company already. I

problem solve and need to quick-think all the time so I am used to the pressure

that comes with that. I already have past experience in the clothing industry and

that has helped me a lot throughout our business. One of my best skills is my

communication. I am good at building relationships with customers and getting

them interested in the product. I have high hopes for the business and I know that we can take this far

with the help of all of us.

Dillon’s Bio
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My name is Dillon Sickels and being part owner of a company has been my goal my whole life and I

finally am able to put my skills to test. I know that when it comes time to start being able to advertise our

product, people will be interested in our design because it is very creative. I am a hard worker, when I was

a sophomore I worked 50 hours a week frequently. I have strong skills in working with others and

building ideas to make a strong design and have a good relationship with my team. I also care what

customers have to say or any questions they ask, I help to the best of my ability. Being the head advertiser

my job is to present this product to the community and get the word around that there are some pretty cool

sweatshirts being made. My goal to contribute to this company is my time, hard work, and my dedication

to make this business successful

Josh’s Bio

My name is Josh Stobbe and I am the head of Advertisement and also the

co-owner of Coastal Customs along with Bric Prahst, Manning Kilton and

Dillion Sickles. I bring many strengths to the table. I am quick thinking

and able to work with others very well. I know what to do and how I will

be able to help promote and advertise this company. I am able to listen to

others very well and listen to what they have to say and any ideas or

opinions they may have. I care what people say and I will do my best to

help make this company grow and rise to the top.

Mission statement:

From the start of our organization, our purpose is to create a product that will satisfy our consumers by

giving them comfort and high fashion. We are going to be serving the teenagers of the world due to our
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design which fits the teenage lifestyle. We will be selling sweatshirts around the middle of December so

we are expecting our product to sell very well because our quality tops the competition.

Vision Statement:

In the near future we aim to provide every person in need of a sweatshirt to purchase Coastal Culture’s

apparel.

Section 3: Company Description

Company Description:

We have a partnership ownership structure, we have four group members which all put in work

and effort. We all equally are responsible for 25% of the company. We chose this breakdown

because we all put in an equal amount of time and effort so it’s the best decision for us to all have

an equal amount of equity. Our startup capital invested into the business will be $120 for the

team. We will equally divide that by 4 and each invest $30.

Section 4: Mission Statement, Vision Statement,

and Core Values

Value Statement

We aim to provide every person in need of a sweatshirt to purchase Coastal Culture’s apparel. We will

make a quality product that satisfies the needs of our customers.

Our values:
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● We care about how our customers feel about the product

● Respect and listen to our people

● Keep high standards for our product and future

● Trusted by our people, keep our promises and committed to do business the right way

● Focus on the goals

● Have fun working

Code of Ethics

Committed - We as a group all agreed that if we want to succeed, we need to stay committed to

the project and keep focused.

Fairness - We all have very good ideas that we put into the group as a whole, however we all

agreed we have to do the same amount of work and contribute to the project.

Respectful - We expect each other to respect one another’s ideas and opinions for this project,

although some may not be as good as others.

Communication - For us to succeed as a group, we need to keep communicating with each other

and give out ideas. Communication helps the group drastically.

Section 5: Product Information

Product Information:

We are going to be selling custom printed logo sweatshirts. We chose this product because we are selling

our product around the middle of winter so people will be in need of sweatshirts. We all agreed selling

sweatshirts will make us the most profit especially with our custom design. The benefits of our product is

that there will be a super soft material that will make the sweatshirt feel more comfortable. Our soft

material will be perfect for the winter time because it will give them the warmth they’re in need of. It will

also have a great design that was made customly by us. Our product solves the problem that people are
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going to be cold and in need of a warm, comfortable and fashionable sweatshirt. The product will cost

$120 to make and the price will be $20.

Break-Even Point

The breakeven point will be $120 and we wanted to make our product at a fair price that most customers

would be willing to work with. A lot of people will have $20 so if they consider buying the product, the

price will be fair and willing to be bought. Our product differentiates from others because our design is

like no other, we are also focusing on the comfortness of our sweatshirt which will beat out any

competitors. We are doing pre-orders so our break even point cannot be calculated because we

don’t exactly know how many we are going to purchase.

Price X Quantity Sold = Sales Revenue

Is it better to sell 30 units for $20 each or 20 units at $25 each?

Section 6: Industry and Market Overview

Our direct competitors would be companies like Swoothy and Mr. Darren’s face t-shirt. The level of

competition intensity is most high with Swoothy because they have a lot of saturation and many

customers already. We are going to need to do something different from them if we want our product to

sell, which will be difficult. Our indirect competitors are companies like the sticker’s and lanyards. We

don’t feel very threatened by these competitors because they are obviously very different items and our

product will be much more unique. In our industry, what is trending is more plain and nonschelant

designs. That is why we tried to keep our logo and design simple to try and draw in customers.

Venders:
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As a group we have decided to try and stay local and get our product through either DragonFly or

Topline. We like to support our local businesses and this seems like the most trustworthy route to go

with. If there is one aspect we can pay more money for, we will focus on comfortability and that part of

it. We’re going to try to call and stay in contact with either DragonFly or Topline as much as we can. It is

nice to have a local business because they will hopefully support you as well and help you out, this is

another reason we went with choosing a local business.

Quantitatively (Quantity):

The market share leader in the clothing industry is Nike with a share of only %2.8. Adidas followed close

behind with a share of only about %1.8. In third place there is H and M with a share of only about %1.4.

The fashion industry has continued to grow and will continue to grow. There has been about a total of

$1.9 trillion made in the apparel industry which is crazy.

Overall economic health:

The economic health for the clothing industry is continuously increasing at a steady rate. The clothing

production has approximately doubled in the past 15 years driven by a high demand of new clothing

products every year. The average yearly clothing expenses are about $1600 and that is only expected to

grow. An expected 400 percent growth in world GDP by 2050 will mean an even greater demand for

apparel and increase the overall economic health. This is a good and bad thing because there will be a

high demand but there will also be a lot of other` competition. If we sell at a decent price and give the

customers what they want and what is hot right now, consumers are only willing to spend a lot of money

for good sweatshirts. The overall sweatshirt industry is a very successful and competitive industry so that

makes it a tough industry to be in. Because it is so successful that makes the industry difficult to compete

with but if you are successful, then you will most likely make a big profit and make a lot of money.

Competition

Direct Competition
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Tilly’s

Zumiez

ASOS

H and M

Pacsun

Indirect competition

Nike

Adidas

Under Armour

Romwe

Substitution Competition

Food, Mcdonalds, Culvers , etc.

Sports game

Movie

Market Overview

Most people are willing to spend $20-$24 dollars but a good amount are still willing to spend $25-$29.

However, 55% of potential customers said the comfortability of a sweatshirt is the most important feature,

so if we try to make our sweatshirt as comfortable as possible, many people would be willing to buy it. It

was mostly a split between blue, black, and white for the color options so we will continue to get more

information and find out what people want. Many people said Adidas was their favorite and most

trustworthy company that they go to, so we want to try and be a lot like Adidas and run it like how they

do.

Markup Pricing: Our product price is much below the trend of sweatshirts that fit our style, most

sweatshirts like ours go for $50 and we are only selling them for $30.
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Barriers to entry:

The main barriers to entry in the clothing/sweatshirt industry would be economies of scale, getting your

hand on the product, and staying financially stable. We are having problems with finding a vendor that

will suit our cost and help us and that is giving us problems with allowing us into the business. We are

trying to make our price a little lower which would hopefully increase the sales and customers. The

clothing industry is a very difficult business to get into and get your name out there but if successful it can

go very well.

Section 7: Market Research and Analysis

Identify Information Needs:

What color of sweatshirt do people prefer?

How much are people willing to spend on a good quality sweatshirt?

What material do people like best?

What kind of design will people most likely want to purchase?

Survey Intro:

Hi, we made a survey about our product we are selling for our Entreupenurship class, would you be

interested in filling out the survey?

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Sweatshirt Price The data shows people would be willing to pay

more for a black sweatshirt than any other. This

Black $20-$24 tells us if we were to sell black sweatshirts, we

can sell them for up to $24, but that doesn’t mean

White $18-$22 everyone will buy it. The price range is pretty

large so we will have to narrow it down. The

Teal $10-$14 relationship is that a black sweatshirt would sell

for more money than any other color.

Red $15-$20

Feature Response This data tells us a lot about what we are going to

Comfortability of 51 % (very likely) want to focus on for our sweatshirt. If we focus

sweatshirt mostly on the comfortability of a sweatshirt then

more people will be willing to buy it, if we focus

Design of sweatshirt %35 (somewhat likely) on the design or how it fits, less people will be

willing to purchase it. The relationship is that if

How the sweatshirt %10 (Not very likely) we focus on the comfortability, we will have more

fits of a chance of getting more potential customers.

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This data tells us a lot of what the past data told us

except for the fact that we deleted the data that

had no chance of purchasing an item. The

relationship of all this tells us that if we focus on

the comfortability of our sweatshirt and use either

white or black for the color scheme, the odds of us

being successful increase. However, we decided

as a group that white would be the best because it

costs the least amount to produce and people are

still willing to pay $18-$22 for it.

According to the form we analyzed that most of

the people who filled out the form were

Sophomores and Juniors. That means those grade

levels are the most familiar with the product and

know what it is, so it will be easiest to sell to these

grade levels mostly because many of them have

already filled out the form. If we try to target

Juniors and Sophomores, I think that we will be

more successful because most have filled out the

google form and are already familiar with our

brand. We plan to do pre orders so we can find

just about the exact amount of sweatshirts to buy

and see if people like the color and design.

SWOT analysis
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Strengths Weaknesses

● Selling sweatshirts in the winter time ● Many competitors

(high demand) ● Amount of money we can put in

● High quality, people like that ● Team cooperation

● Unique design (gives summer vibes) ● Risk to reward

● Many possible customers ● Resources

● Work good as a team together

Opportunities Threats

● Profit in money ● Financial issues

● Recognition to ourselves ● People purchase new clothes before we

● Winter time (higher demand for warmth) sell

● Christmas time, people will want new ● Lose customers

clothes ● Warm weather

● Bigger business ● Getting the right amount of sweatshirts

Strengths: Our strengths are pretty good because they can help us get our small business to grow and

become bigger. Our strength’s are our unique design and high quality. We are going to focus on these

because we think that these qualities will be able to take us the farthest with our business. From our

survey results, we concluded that this is what people most want from the sweatshirt’s, so if we focus on

these qualities then we will be more successful.

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Weaknesses: Our weaknesses do not frighten us that much because we think our strengths will be able to

outweigh them. However, one weakness we do fear a little is the amount of our competitors. If other

people like different designs and don’t like ours, then they will purchase other peoples. But, we have

enough confidence that our business will be successful.

Opportunities: From starting our business there have been many opportunities for us and we think we will

be able to achieve many of them. One of our most important opportunities is profit in money because we

are putting our own money in and we want to make our money back. We also think that selling around

Christmas time will be very good for our business because people will have a high demand for warmth

and new clothes we will be able to provide.

Threats: There are many threats to starting a new business and things that can go wrong. However, we

think our biggest threat is financial issues and getting the right amount of sweatshirts. We are going to do

pre-orders to solve this problem so we can make sure we purchase the right amount of sweatshirts and

don’t waste any money.

Section 8: Marketing Plan

Target Market: Mukwonago High School students and staff, of any age. Both males and females. Lives

in Mukwonago and nearby towns. Low to middle income. Would like unique clothing and comfortable

sweatshirts. Sparks Strong, would like to support the Sparks family and cause.
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60% - $20-$24

7% - $30 - $34

32% - $20-$24

We should aim for $30 max

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Section 9: Operational Plan

Our sweatshirt product will be made by Topline and the materials and equipment needed are obviously

money, communication with the company, and cooperation. Our t-shirt product will be made by Alleson

which is a printing company up towards the Wisconsin Dells. For this to workout we will obviously need

much communication with the Sparks family and the printing company because they are so far away. It’ll

be very hard but will be doable if we just cooperate with everyone.

Section 10: Organizational Policies and Standards

● We are going to check to make sure all of the shirts and sweatshirts are good and have everything

that we need. We don’t want any of our customers to be unhappy with the product

● We are also going to check the sizes and make sure all of them are correct

● There are no spelling and grammatical mistakes on the shirt or sweatshirt

● We will make sure nothing is smudged and all of the colors are right

If any of these issues do occur, we have a way to resolve these things. First, we are going to talk to the

customer and see where their head is at. Secondly, we’re going to talk to Alleson and see if we can get

another item to give this to the customer. If it comes messed up again, we are going to give the customer

their money back and then give the incorrect item back to DragonFLy or Topline. We want to try and

make the customers as happy as possible and we don’t want them to be angry with us at all.

Section 11: Financial

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Market Day Partnership Agreement

Entrepreneurship

DIRECTIONS: This is a mock legal document so all concepts should be written with
complete sentences.

For your Agreement, be sure to include the following information:

❏ Listing of Individuals Involved: 9/10/21 Owen Kilton, 102 Chestnut Court North
Prairie Wisconsin 53153. Bric Prahst, S90 West 32800 Granite Trail. Josh Stobbe,
S76W26515 Mount Everest Road. Dillion Sickels, W267S8585 Rustic View Lane.
❏ Name of Business: Coastal Culture
❏ Nature of Business: Apparel
❏ Term: One semester long
❏ Capital Contribution & Ownership Interest: Owen: 25% Bric: 25% Josh: 25% Dillion:
25%
❏ Profits & Losses: We all split the profit equally and we all equally pay for the losses
if there are any.
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❏ Day to Day Operations: a description of how the partnership will be managed. Here
you will describe the roles of each partner and who is in charge of day to day
operations (how will each person contribute to the business?) Owen and Bric will
be head of design and Josh and Dillion will be head of advertisement.
❏ Withdrawal: provide legal language to support if/when a partner should retire
❏ Non-Compete Agreement: make sure no partner conspires to compete against the
business
❏ Signature Lines: provide an area for partners to sign and date
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