Events Planning

Executive Summary The Corporate Retreat Professionals (CRP) is an event planning company specializing in corporate customers. CRP will offer two types of services, retreat training services as well as product launch event planning. The retreat training services will be either leadership development training or teaming skills training. For both types of retreats, CRP can take care of the planning of the event, as well as actually hosting the training through the use of one of CRP's strategic business partners. The corporate market for event planning is steady and profitable. For some large companies, economic downturns mean cuts in training. This is, however, only the case for shortsighted companies. The benchmark companies may trim down the workforce during a downturn, but they do not cut funds for training. They recognize that investing in human resources is always a good investment. CRP intends to profit nicely from this. Additionally, even in economic downturns, companies still have product launches and will still need someone to organize these events. In short, the need for corporate event planning/hosting services rarely diminishes, it is a steadily increasing demand that CRP will capitalize on. Corporate Retreat Professionals' projected growth rate is over 100% through year three and will have profits as a function of sales over 11% by year three. By the beginning of year two CRP will have three employees.

1.1 Mission The mission of the Corporate Retreat Professionals is to provide companies with the highest level of event planning. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.

1.2 Objectives CRP's objectives for the first three years of operation include:

1. To create a service-based company whose #1 value is exceeding customer's expectations. 2.

The utilization of CRP's services in 10 of the 100 top performing companies as listed by the Seattle Business Journal.

3.

To increase our number of served clients by 20% per year through superior service.

4.

To develop a sustainable, profitable start-up business.

5. Company Summary 6.

7.

CRP, soon to be located in Seattle, will offer event planning for corporations. CRP will be specializing in training/leadership retreats, team building skill retreats and product launch events. CRP will be located in office space in downtown Seattle. CRP will begin making a profit after month 10, and will grow steadily each consecutive month.

9.

CRP will be a Washington corporation. The sole stock holder will be Jeff Organizer.

8. 2.1 Company Ownership 10. 2.2 Start-up Summary

11. CRP start-up costs will include all the necessary equipment needed for an office, legal fees, accounting fees, advertising fees, and website development fees. 12. The home office equipment will be the largest chunk of the start-up expenses. This equipment includes a 3 computer system, fax machine, office supplies, cellular phone, and pager. The computers should have at least a 500 megahertz Celeron/Pentium processor, 64 megabytes of RAM (preferably 128) and 6 gigabyte hard drive. One computer will become a server with a printer and a writable CD-RW for backing up the system. Microsoft Office will be installed on all the workstations and one computer will need QuickBooks(r) Pro. The

office will require some desks, bookshelves and couches. Two phone lines will be needed in addition to a cellular phone and pager for Jeff. 13. The accounting fees will be used to set up the accounting suite so CRP can do the accounting in-house. 14. The legal fees are used for the formation of the corporation as well as for reviewing/generating standard client contracts. The advertising costs are based on the need to communicate our service to perspective customers. 15. The Web creation fees at start-up costs are for design and creation of the website.

Services CRP will offer event planning for the corporate market. CRP will concentrate on two types of event planning:

1. Corporate retreats- These events are typically used for two different reasons. They are either a leadership training or teaming skills training where employees of the corporations are sent away to develop these skills. In addition to the planning of the events, CRP will be able to host the event as well. While CRP's core competencies are not in hosting, CRP will align itself with a well respected host of leadership development/teaming skills programs and have them assist CRP in the hosting aspect. Using a strategic partner in this case allows CRP to stick with a narrow focus but still offer the service to our customers.

2. Product launches- These are events where the corporation is releasing a product and they have an event that is open to people outside of the corporation. The purpose of the product launch event is to create visibility for the new release.

Market Analysis Summary CRP will serve the corporate customer in the event planning market. CRP will be specializing in two important niches. The first is leadership development and teaming skills development. With the recent trend in corporate downsizing, corporations are ditching their in-house solutions in favor of outsourcing. Even though we are in the midst of an economic downturn, investments in human capital are generally not reduced. Corporations still have the need for leadership development and teaming skills development. These are investments that cost a bit up front but pay nice returns in the long run. These are the services that CRP will specialize in. Additionally, CRP will offer event planning for product launches. Product launches are an integral stage in the release of a new product, communicating to the public about the new "thing" the company has just released. Our customers will be companies seeking to raise awareness about their new product release. CRP will provide a complete service of planning and hosting these product release events.

4.1 Market Segmentation CRP is providing services to corporate customers only. We will not be going after the "social market" which is an alternative market within the event planning niche. The corporate customer is a company that contracts with CRP to plan and typically host an event for the company. Corporations will be turning to CRP to plan the events because: 1.

It is cost efficient for a third party to plan the event. This is the case because the third party only does event planning so they can plan and host the event more efficiently.

2.

The company does not have additional people that can be taken away from their daily job and invest time in this infrequent event.

Our event planning services for corporate retreats will typically be utilized by larger corporations. A larger company can be generally defined as one with more than 40 employees. Smaller companies sometimes will utilize this service of ours, however, it is the larger corporations that typically have the budget for this activity.

For our product launch event planning, we will be servicing companies of all different sizes. Typically the companies that use this service will be product based companies, but we will also offer this service to service-based companies who desire to announce a new service that they are offering.

4.2 Service Business Analysis Competition in event planning is fierce. Look in the Yellow Pages and you will see rows and rows of listings. Lucky for CRP, the majority of the event planning is for social events. There are very few companies that specialize in corporate event planning. There are no companies that specialize in specific types of corporate events. Additionally, with the recent trend of corporate downsizing, the companies that had an in-house solution are abandoning these positions in favor of outsourcing to reduce costs.

4.2.1 Competition and Buying Patterns Currently there are three other companies that offer event planning specifically to corporations. They however, tend to do events that are more general in scope such as parties to reward customers or employees, or events to change the company image. There is no company that specializes in event planning of corporate training and product release events. There are companies that offer corporate training, but these companies provide the actual training and do not do any of the actual event planning/ logistics of the entire event. There are companies that provide product-release services, but they do not specialize in it. Because event planning is a tight market, CRP will benefit from their specialization in this area. In the past, the buying patterns for the larger corporations was in the past to have an in-house solution. This pattern is is disappearing in favor of outsourcing as there is the constant drive for gains in efficiency, something outsourcing can offer.

4.3 Target Market Segment Strategy CRP is targeting large companies for our corporate retreat event planning. The large corporations typically have the budget and the foresight to recognize the value in corporate retreats. In addition, it is the larger corporations that typically use the corporate retreat as a training session for their employees. The training is typically in leadership development or teaming skills. While they do have these retreats at different intervals through the year, it is more cost effective for them to hire a service such as CRP to plan the events when needed instead of paying the carrying costs of having a full-time, trained employee ready to do the planning when it is needed. CRP's product release planning services will be targeted at all different size companies. Companies of all sizes have product release and it is unusual for them to have product release many times a year requiring someone to be a a full-time planner on staff. Therefore, it makes sense for them to hire an outside service to plan the event using their expertise in event planning to drive down the costs of production and hosting.

Strategy and Implementation Summary CRP will be aggressively courting companies to win over future contracts. CRP will offer a superior service at a lower cost due to specialization. By concentrating on a few specific services, CRP will become proficient at these services. CRP will increase company visibility through a website, local Chamber of Commerce networking, and participation in trade shows. Our website will be quite detailed and provide a visitor in-depth information about the services CRP offers, the corresponding high level of quality, and the cost savings that can be achieved by using CRP. CRP will also be quite active in the local Chambers of Commence in the Seattle metropolitan area. Over the years, Jeff has come to realize that a lot of business transacts through the Chamber of Commerce or relationships that were started through that organization.

Lastly, CRP will be active in the many trade shows that come through Seattle. The use of trade shows allows members of CRP to be introduced to a wide range of businesses that otherwise would be difficult to establish an initial relationship with.

5.1 Competitive Edge CRP's competitive edge will be based on two factors, specialization and strategic relationships. CRP will be specializing in two distinct areas of corporate planning. While specializing essentially precludes CRP out of a lot of different markets, it allows CRP to excel in the markets that it has chosen to participate in. Specialization allows CRP to be an expert in the two areas that it is in. Additionally, the expert knowledge allows CRP to provide the service as a cost saving to the company because the fewer services CRP offers, the more they can concentrate on improving the current offerings. Improvements that CRP strive for is a reduction in cost charged to the client and an improvement to the level of services offered. CRP's second competitive edge is based on the use of strategic relationships. CRP clearly realizes that they cannot be good at everything. CRP believes it is better to concentrate on a few things, excel in those areas, and form strategic partnerships with companies that excel in the service areas that CRP doesn't. Applying this philosophy, CRP has decided in addition to planning corporate retreat training sessions, they want to offer the service of hosting/leading these events as well. The service of hosting/leading however, is quite different than planning and CRP believes that it would be more cost effective to form a strategic relationship with an expert in this field instead of trying to become proficient themselves. CRP then is able to offer a top-notch service offering of hosting/leading the training seminars but does not have to invest heavily in developing the program. The use of strategic relationships is unusual in the event planning space. Most event planners are generalists and try to do a little of everything. CRP is following the model of benchmark companies in other industries that have recognized the value of specialization and the use of strategic relationships.

5.2 Sales Strategy CRP will for the most part be using the sale strategy of personal selling. With his five years of consulting for larger corporations, Jeff has formed relationships throughout the business community. Jeff will initially leverage these relationships to form some initial clients. Once things get rolling and CRP has developed some satisfied clients, Jeff will be developing relationships with his network of friends developed through the Chambers of Commerce and trade shows. Jeff's spiel to prospective customers will be based on the high level of service offered and cost advantages by going with CRP. The cost savings can be quantitied and shown to the customer while the higher level of service can be guarantee as well as communicated through testimonials from satisfied clients. Additionally, the website will be used not only to communicate information to prospective customers, but also a method of communication where CRP can provide more specialized information such as cost estimates as well as answering questions through the site.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast The first month will be spent setting up the office. It is unlikely that there will be any sales activity within the first two months. During the first and second month, Jeff will be developing systems to provide a template for future event planning. Once this is set up, CRP should be able to process the service request rather easily. The third month should see the start of sales activity. It will not be until the fifth month that things will really kick in. From month six through 12 sales will steadily increase and the increase should continue well into year two.

Management Summary CRP is a Washington corporation whose sole stock holder is Jeff Organizer. Jeff will be incorporating to protect himself from personal liability.

Jeff Organizer, Founder and President, has a degree in Business from the University of Washington. After college, Jeff spent five years working for Andersen Consulting. During these years, Jeff became familiar with a large number of companies and the important players in the Seattle business community. While working for Andersen, Jeff attended an MBA night program and received his MBA in 1996. After completing his degree, Jeff decided to join Boeing in their PR department. It was at Boeing where Jeff learned the bulk of his organizing and event planning skills. These skills, in conjunction with his MBA education, gave Jeff the confidence to handle a wide range of business propositions. After three years at Boeing, Jeff decided to start his own business. Corporate Retreat Professionals was finally born.

6.1 Personnel Plan The staff will initially consist of Jeff working full time. By month two, Jeff will have brought on board a secretary/receptionist in a full-time hourly position. Month four will mark when Jeff will bring on board an account executive to maintain the accounts of their clients. Jeff will be responsible for the set up of the office, forming of strategic relationships with third party vendors, and turning sales leads into customers.