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Smart Design
Get more for less space.

Written by:
Maha Aladdin 120521
Samar Mahanna 118911
Menna Yousry 120360
Smart Design
Get more for less space.

Written by:
Maha Aladdin 120521
Samar Mahanna 118911
Menna Yousry 120360

Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Company Description 3
Company Profile
Description
Mission and Vision
Company Ownership/Legal Entity Product Description 4 Industry Analysis 4
Industry Description
PESTL Analysis Market Analysis 5
Market Segmentation, Target Market, and Positioning
Buying Decision
Competitors
SWOT Analysis
Competitive Analysis Grid
Product-Branding Strategy Marketing Plan 11
Products
Distribution (Place)
Price
Promotion Strategy
Sales Process and Sales Tactics Operations Plan 12 Design and Development Plan 13 Management and Personnel 14 Schedule 15 Risks and Overcome 17 Financial Plan 18 Appendix 19

Executive Summary
This document will be discussing the different aspects of the business plan for a new startup company which is about creating a unique furniture manufacturing shop in Egypt. This company would like to be the first to introduce the idea of expandable furniture in Egypt. Expandable furniture is based around the idea of making essential pieces of furniture which can be folded or expanded so it can fit in relatively small spaces without compromising the design of the furniture or using a large space at the same time. Moreover, expandable furniture is about using a certain piece of furniture for several different purposes. The name of our shop would be “Smart Design” which means creating furniture with smart multi-purpose designs that fit in small spaces. The idea was brought up since it is believed that it is certainly a good opportunity to have a startup project that is highly unique and also highly required in the Egyptian market and is very likely to grow and nurture in the future.
The company’s main value intention is producing high quality furniture that is to be used for more than one purpose in order to save space in houses and that is what distinguishes Smart Design from its other competitors in the market. Moreover, the main objective is to raise awareness to the products which Smart Design offers since it is recently introduced to the Egyptian market. Therefore, several promotional ways that will be used to achieve this objective will be discussed throughout the paper. Moreover, the market will be analyzed thoroughly with all opportunities and threats in order to develop the best tactical business plan based on the company’s and customers’ needs and requirements.
Company Description
Company Profile

Description
Smart Design is the next new solution to deliver luxurious and smart solutions to small residential spaces, to fully take advantage of the available space without having to give up on buying some of the essential furniture pieces because it would occupy a large space. The company provides customers with different designs for expandable furniture that is made to fit small places, with some beauty aspects in the furniture design to make it appealing even if it is folded or not used. Customers would be able to choose from furniture catalogs made by the company, or provide the sizes, dimensions, and design of the furniture piece they would like to buy in order to be created for them.
Mission and Vision
Mission
“To provide, smart, affordable, and unique designs to people who wish to cleverly manage their houses and/or offices.”
Vision
“Luxurious and smart designs for every small space.”
Company Ownership/Legal Entity
The company would belong to the private sector of the market, it would not be operated by the government and would be operating by the three original founders of the business.
Product Description
The idea behind the business is using expandable furniture to save space, or to smartly manage small spaces. The designs for expandable furniture had a very modest start, appearing along with furniture shops that provide modern furniture that is usually imported from Europe or the US. The company would introduce the idea of modern designs of expandable furniture in terms of the needs and preferences of the Egyptian community at very competitive prices. The most important aspect is that people with small spaces can have modern furniture designs that would fit the spaces they have. Products that the company offers varies from wall bed sofas, coffee-to-dining tables, to modular wall shelves and extra storage spaces beds and folding chairs. * Coffee-to-Dining tables

* Console-to-dining tables

* Wall bed sofa

* Revolving wall bed

* Folding chairs

Industry Overview
Industry Description
According to Furnex Egypt-Egypt’s international furniture and furnishings trade fair -the furniture industry is one of the vast growing industrial sectors in the Egyptian market, with a seven folds increase in exports in nine years starting 2004. With an organized structure that includes other complementary industries that contribute in the furniture industry. In addition, the furniture industry managed to accommodate the growing local market needs, embracing almost 120,000 establishments, and a productive labor force of more than one million skilled workers. Furthermore, furniture industry in Egypt is now operating on the same level of European standards, with two technology and testing centers in Egypt obtaining accreditations from FIRA of UK and CATAS of Italy. While Egypt now has strong roots in the furniture industry worldwide, there are also plans to maintain the local growing market in terms of real estate communities under construction, satellite cities, mega projects and touristic developments. For example, in the last three years many new factories were constructed in the cities of Damietta, 10th of Ramadan and other suburbs of greater Cairo.
PESTL Analysis * Politics:
The political situation in Egypt has been unstable for the past six years, especially after the revolution of January 25th, 2011, and what was followed by several events and clashes between security forces and the rebellions. This instability was never a nourishing environment for investors or new businesses to emerge. * Economic:
The Egyptian economy has been suffering from the outcomes of this period, and it was very clearly noticed in the first eight months of 2011, the imports of American hardwood lumber has fallen by 45% compared to the same period from January to August of 2010, given the fact that Egypt’s furniture industry is the primary end-user of American hardwood lumber. However, in the past three years this situation has changed due to the contribution of Egyptian manufacturers in many worldwide furniture exhibitions, and the openings of more factories and establishments that support the furniture industry in Egypt. * Social:
As globally known, Egypt is one of the countries reputed with its historical culture that is strongly present in the designs of classic furniture, modern furniture, and antiques. However, the vision towards the future of furniture industry is aimed to modern design ideas that can fit the needs of the community. The vast increase in population in Egypt, and the number of adults who are beginning their lives whether by marriage, or living independently from their families, or who are starting new businesses, are the targeted customers with the profiles that would be open to the concepts of modern design, and smart solutions to manage small spaces. * Technology and Legal:
Egypt’s furniture industry has expansion is mainly due to the assistance of favorable government regulations and strong support from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. These business friendly policies have provided a strong support for Egyptian furniture producers and play a critical role in the sector’s continued development as a global leader. Two of the entities are of particular importance to the Egyptian furniture sector’s emergence: the Industrial Modernization Centre and the Egyptian Furniture Export Council. The Industrial Modernization Centre, funded by the Egyptian government, the private sector, and the EU, provides technical assistance to producers, in the form of improving productivity, training manufacturers, and enhancing sector output and exports. (According to Egyptian Furniture Sector Development Strategy Detailed Report, December 2010).
Market Analysis
Market Segmentation, Target Market and Positioning
Segmentation
Geographic Segmentation: * Cities: The market is divided according to the geographic criteria into two segments: a segment which includes people in Cairo and Giza and another segment for those who live in other governorates other than Cairo and Giza.
Regions: Moreover, Cairo and Giza can be divided into regions. Such as, Zamalek, Mohandesin, Nasr City, 6th of October, Al Sorouk City, Maadi, Heliopolis and New Cairo.
Demographic Segmentation: * Age: The age range of the customers are 1. 20-30 years old 2. 30-40 years old 3. 40-50 years old 4. 50+ years old * Family Size: Our targeted families are 1. Singles 2. New married couples 3. Small Family with 1-3 children 4. Large Family with 4+ children * Income: The market can be divided into people who get affluent income, moderate income or low income. People who earn low incomes are mostly regarded because their income can barely afford buying a lot of furniture and so needs better solutions for their houses.
Psychographic Segmentation * Social Class: We have also divided the customers into low, medium and high social class. The low social class is our main focus so they will be able afford to buy our high quality and somehow inexpensive products. * Lifestyle: The market is also divided according to the different characters of people. Our concentration will be on people who are willing to try new types of products and try out different living lifestyles. Furthermore, the market can be divided into people who have an eventful work life and they want to end the stress and tension as they reach their home. Hence, Smart Design will be a stress reliever when having stressful life full of work and problems.
Targeting
Our main location that we will target is New Cairo. Moreover, according to CAMPAS, the age range of 20-30 years old represents more than 40% of Egypt’s population which is definitely a large percentage. Therefore, the main target customers would be young newly married couples who are between 20 to 30 years old who are willing to find good affordable design solutions for their relatively small living space.
Positioning
We are generating an impression of the highest quality and customizing the design by combining two different types of functionalities in one piece of furniture and putting that idea in the minds of our customers.
In summary, the main key benefit that we offer to the target market: * Unique high quality expandable furniture and home accessories (the first to exist) to serve young adults as there are many of them who cannot afford living in apartments with a lot of space and so are looking for appropriate type of furniture that can fit in small spaces. Thus, our product will represent adolescence and respect for our customers.
Buying Decisions
There are three main ways to understand the customers better. One is to put yourself in their place and try and look at your business from their point of view. The second way is to collect and analyze data in order to shed light on their buying behavior. The third way is simply to ask them what they think by interviewing them or making them fill out survey forms.
The customer’s buying decisions are often influenced by the strong brand image of the company. For example, one of the indirect competitors which is IKEA rely on its brand image and loyal customers; after it opened in Cairo which is not long ago, it held top of the mind awareness for many customers in the area of Fifth Settlement. Smart Design products can only be purchased by visiting our store located in Fifth Settlement, New Cairo and the customers can honor us with their visit at any time. The payment of the products is done either by credit cards or by cash.
Competition Analysis
Through “Smart Design ", the plan is to offer the target market unique, distinctive and efficient type of furniture. Smart Design could make certain pieces of furniture much more useful by combining more than one functionality together. Furthermore, the concept of crafting expandable furniture in which the customers would be able to choose the design and the material to be used will provide Smart Design with a competitive edge from all other places. The main objectives are to know who the competitors are, what strategies they are using, how competitors might respond to the company’s actions, and how to influence the competitor’s behavior to our advantage. A research was conducted by studying the Egyptian market for competitors, who they are, what they provide and their strategies. Moreover, the competitors’ websites, if they had one was studied; and also their Instagram and Facebook pages was studied and some articles on them was read. Furthermore, their pricing and variability were analyzed by visiting their shops and checking them out. A survey was even handed out to some of their customers so it would be easy to analyze the design, appearance, quality and price aspects and how they differ from each other. Based on examination from the research, the direct competitors, are businesses that offer fundamentally the same products or services. The direct competitors are “Expand Furniture” that is located in Vancouver, Canada, and IKEA since they are the only place that offers expandable furniture. Nevertheless, Expand Furniture doesn’t have a branch in Cairo. Therefore, Expand Furniture is distant from Smart Design chosen target market and would not directly affect the company. Furthermore, there are also indirect competitors that may be able to compete with the company. The indirect competitors would include Ashley and In and Out. Ashley Furniture and In and also sell various types of furniture; however, Smart Design is distinctive because none of those places offer furniture that can be folded or expanded , it would be the first shop in Egypt that provides this type of furniture. Therefore this will give Smart Design an advantage as its customers would be coming for unique, distinctive and efficient furniture or home accessories.
Competitive Analysis Grid

SWOT Analysis

Product Branding Strategy
Brand Identity
Smart design is going to be the first furniture store in Egypt that is specialized in providing modern furniture for small spaces. Smart Design is all about finding the smartest approach to furnish residential spaces with the newest designs and best materials.
Brand Experience
The store will be a live demonstration of usage of expandable furniture, all furniture pieces would be put in a setting that customers can visualize it in their own houses or offices.
Brand Personality
The company aims to explore the additions of modernization on people’s lives, and help them realize that every problem has a solution, it just needs to be a smart enough one.
Marketing Plan
Product
Smart Design is offering something that is newly introduced to the Egyptian market which is expandable furniture which means making essential pieces of furniture which can be fold or expanded so it can fit in relatively small spaces. First, Smart Design team will ensure that the furniture are always recently crafted to verify to the customers that they are of highest quality. Moreover, the production team plans to offer a wide and ever-changing range of furniture pieces that are not offered by the competitors here such as multi-purpose tables, hidden beds, folding chairs, shelving and storage and much more. The products will be available in different colors and sizes because the bigger the variety of furniture Smart Design offers; the more customers it will appeal to. Finally, Smart Design will be giving the option of customizing the products, in which the customers can choose the piece of furniture, equipment to use, and the design. This certainly gives Smart Design a competitive edge because none of its competitors does that.
Distribution (Place)
It was nominated that Fifth Settlement, New Cairo is the best location for the first branch of Smart Design. According to the survey and research that was conducted this is where most of the target market is located thus, it would make it easier for the company to raise awareness of itself and induce trial. For the shop itself, it would be decorated in certain eye-catching ways with furniture-related decorations to make it appeal to the customers.
Price
Based on their category, the products’ prices ranges are * Coffee to Dining Tables: EGP. 3500 - EGP. 12000 * Console to Dining: EGP. 2000 - EGP. 10000 * Wall Bed Sofa: EGP. 3000 - EGP. 6000 * Revolving Wall Bed: EGP. 2500 - EGP. 4000 * Folding Chairs: EGP. 600 – EGP. 1000 * Shelving and Storage: EGP. 800 – EGP. 1500
Advertising and Promotion It is very important for a business to announce the benefits of its product to the customers. Promotion tolerates businesses to reach out to buyers in the most effective way. Hence, Smart Design will use different sources to communicate with its target market in order to promote its products and make them known.
Marketing Tools: * Social Media/Internet: We will use the Internet based advertising by creating Facebook and Instagram accounts. Nowadays, those social media websites have so much visitors every day. Therefore, we found that this is a very efficient way to reach our customers easily and that it is the most effective way of advertising for our products.
Website: We will develop our own website: www.smartdesign.com “Smart Design” that would include all the information about the company. * Experimental Marketing: free demonstration and on-the-spot trials.
Sales Process and Sales Strategies
In this process, we made sure to clearly identify our customers’ needs in order to ensure that they concerned in buying our products and this can be done by marketing research. The customers need to know that we are distinct from other competing business and that we can still satisfy their needs. Moreover, we will discover new solutions and ideas that they are seeking in order to implement them. After selling our first product, it is a very important thing to ask our customers about their feedback. Therefore, it will give us knowledge of how to increase our sales and enhance our products.
Sales Promotion: * Coupons or Vouchers: We will give out coupons to our customers when buying our products. With this coupon, a customer have a probability of winning one of our exclusive prizes. Therefore, the number of customers will definitely increase. * Discounts: In certain times of the year, we will give some discounts on our products in order to get more customers easily.
Operations Plan
The company would run according to the following specifications:
Product Venture: * Raw material would be provided by manufacturers of wood and textiles chosen by the company’s expert designers. * Experienced labor force of carpenters would make the furniture piece according to the design provided by the company. * Furniture order is sent to the selling venue.
Service Venture: * There would be a store (venture) that has the offered pieces of furniture, in a setting which it supposed to look like when installed. * 24/7 hotline for customers who are facing troubles installing the furniture piece or have any enquiries regarding their orders, or any complaints regarding the shipment status.
Design and Development Plan
Smart Designs Company is mainly target a specific type of customers, customers who want high quality customized furniture. Smart Design Company should keep itself on track with the competitors and must have a development plan. The development plan of Smart Designs would add new designs for the current products and add new products to the market.
Marketing Strategy:
Smart Designs has its own marketing strategy that is mainly based on making the target customers have the right information about the company and its products. Smart Designs’ marketing strategy consists of two categories which are; Local marketing strategy and online marketing strategy. The local marketing strategy consists of business groups in which, one of the marketers will be in contact with a number of local business groups to be able to make contacts at local companies and through these contacts, it will be a good opportunity to build a relationship with new customers.
Online marketing strategy will be done through a website; this website will include some features that will make the customers able to spread our pages by sending it to their friends.
Sales Strategy:
Sales strategy can be divided into two regions, the first one is local sales and the second one is the online sales. A completely different method for selling the products is selling the products online. Local sales will be dependent on the salesman of the company. The mission of the salesman is to be in contact will local businesses and providing them with detailed information about Smart Designs Company and all products that are provided by it. Online selling will mainly depend on the company’s website, in which each product will be provided with its description. And also the website will be the way for answering customers’ questions about any product. An e-mail is attached to the website and a mobile number for answering customers’ enquiries that the website cannot answer.
Management and Personnel
Company Management Structure
Smart Design will have a small structure since it is a new startup business. However, this structure will expand and have more and more team members when Smart Design enlarges and becomes very well known in the Egyptian market.

The Team
Being a startup corporate, the business will be managed by the three individuals who founded it in order to avoid extra costs and use the extreme effort at the beginning to support the business base. Each and every one of the founders comes from a different background and so every member will be responsible for planning and developing the fragment that is related to their knowledge and understanding. We will spend likewise to run the business and there will also be a rational amount for investments, which will be saved in the bank in case of any emergency.
Owners:
1. Samar Mahanna 2. Menna Yousry 3. Maha Aladdin
Personnel Plan
Smart Designs’ staff company consists of Assistant Manager, office manager, accountant, production staff and stockers. The high board of Smart Designs Company consists of; the President of the company, marketing manager, sales manager and finance manager.
The company’s manager has a personal assistant, and also each department manager has an assistant. The three assistant managers graduated from the faculty of Commerce English section and should have studied marketing, financial and sales skills. Three office managers graduated from faculty of Business administration and an accountant who is responsible for the financial statement of the company. The company has two professional designers, graduated from faculty of Applied Arts, and they are responsible for sketching the designs of the company. The production staff consists of a group of craftsmen who are working on performing the designs. And the stockers who are responsible for packing and delivering the products. Personnel | Dec 2015 | Consultants | 60,000 | Craftsmen | 40,000 | VP Marketing | 150,000 | Sales People | 50,000 | Office Manager | 20,000 | Secretary | 2000 | Other | 30,000 | Subtotal | 325,000 |

Overall Schedule
The schedule illustrated below is an overview of Smart Design’s timeline of when the business plan will be finished in December 2015 up until the grand opening of the store which will take place in July.

Risks and Overcome
Risks are there in any business especially the startup businesses. Risks can be financial, economical, and each business must choose the best way to deal with each potential loss. Critical risks are highly expected to occur with Smart Designs Company being a startup type of business. The main risks were discovered to be: Risk | Probability | Mitigation Plan | Raw material: Delay of suppliers at providing them. | 50% | Suppliers will have to pay money as a penalty clause for any delay in the delivery of the material. | Slowdown: The workers might sometime slowdown from their work. | 20% | In that case, we would have to carry out an emergency action of trying to get them back to work. | Advertisement problems | 30% | In that case, we would make some campaigns to pull through from this risk | Poor management | 30% | In that case, we would have to recover it immediately by trying to increase our management strength. | Natural Disasters | 50% | We stock some equipment for future production to recover the risk of any natural disaster | Belated delivery of the product to the customer | 10% | Making a deal with craftsmen to deliver the products at an appointment earlier than that made with the customer to avoid late delivery. | Financial Plan
The following represents the company’s financial plan, and the company would obtain funds and generate profit. First, setting up the business would be costing the following:

For the location and premises:

The total fund required to establish the business would be as follows:

Next, we calculate the profit/ loss for the first 12 months since the opening of the company, since it is a star-up and has not historical data to anticipate how profit should be. As known for any new business the first year is not going to provide an income that does not equal the funds added to the business in the beginning, as shown in the results of the profit/loss forecast: The following tables shows assets and liabilities details of the company:

Appendix
Survey Form
What is your age? * 20-30 * 31-40 * 41-50 * 51+
What is your income level? * <1,000 * 1000-5000 * 5000-15000 * 15000-25000 * 25000-35000 * >35000
What is your gender? * Male * Female
Which member of the family usually makes the decision when buying furniture? * Father * Mother * Sons/Daughters * Friends * Husband/Wife * Alone
Have you ever heard of expandable furniture? * Yes * No
Would you be interested to buy expandable furniture in Egypt? * Yes * No
Do you think Egypt offers good places that sells furniture? * Yes * No * I don’t know
What do you look for when shopping for furniture (1: very important, 2: important, 3: neutral, 4: slightly important, 5: not important)? * Price * Design/Appearance * Quality * Variety
What’s your favorite place to shop for furniture? * IKEA * Ashley Furniture * In and Out * Others
How often do you visit furniture shops? * <1 week * 1-2 weeks * 2 weeks-1 month * 1 month-12 months * 1 year or more
How much are you willing to pay for expandable furniture?
Where would you like to find our furniture store? * Zamalek * New Cairo * Maadi * Nasr City * Heliopolis
Do you like the idea of designing and sketching your own piece of furniture according to your preferences? * Yes * No * It doesn’t matte
Survey Results
What is your age? * 20-30 (40%) * 31-40 (30%) * 41-50 (20%) * 51+ (10%)
What is your income level? * <1,000 (15%) * 1000-5000 (20%) * 5000-15000 (40%) * 15000-25000 (10%) * 25000-35000 (10%) * >35000 (5%)
What is your gender? * Male (50%) * Female (50%)
Which member of the family usually makes the decision when buying furniture? * Father (20%) * Mother (30%) * Sons/Daughters (20%) * Friends (10%) * Husband/Wife (10%) * Alone (10%)
Have you ever heard of expandable furniture? * Yes (30%) * No (70%)
Would you be interested to buy expandable furniture in Egypt? * Yes (60%) * No (40%)
Do you think Egypt offers good places that sells furniture? * Yes (60%) * No (30%) * I don’t know (10%)
What do you look for when shopping for furniture (1: very important, 2: important, 3: neutral, 4: slightly important, 5: not important)? * Price (40% -> 1, 50% -> 2, 10% -> 3) * Design/Appearance (50% -> 1, 50% -> 2) * Quality (40% -> 1, 30 -> 2, 20% -> 3, 10% -> 4) * Variety (50% -> 1, 30 -> 2, 20% -> 3)
What’s your favorite place to shop for furniture? * IKEA (40%) * Ashley Furniture (30%) * In and Out (25%) * Others (5%)
How often do you visit furniture shops? * <1 week (20%) * 1-2 weeks (10%) * 2 weeks-1 month (25%) * 1 month-12 months (25%) * 1 year or more (20%)
How much are you willing to pay for expandable furniture?
Where would you like to find our furniture store? * Zamalek (10%) * New Cairo (40%) * Maadi (10%) * Nasr City (30%) * Heliopolis (10%)
Do you like the idea of designing and sketching your own piece of furniture according to your preferences? * Yes (40%) * No (30%) * It doesn’t matter (30%)