Dream Business: PhotoSAFE. Christina Carrasquilla. Arizona State University at the Polytechnic campus

Transcription

1 Dream Business 1 Dream Business: PhotoSAFE Christina Carrasquilla Arizona State University at the Polytechnic campus

2 Dream Business 2 ABSTRACT This paper will describe my dream business and will include: the company name and what it does, size, funding, the typical employee positions, a sample of possible products/services, fees and typical costs, marketing tactics, and a 5 year plan for expansion. 1) COMPANY NAME AND WHAT IT DOES PhotoSAFE- A multimedia company scanning slides, negatives and photographs into digital files, online photo storage or disk storage and providing archiving services for the originals. The basic idea behind the company is that every family has a box of photos, stacks of slide carousels and/or envelopes of negatives. These items can easily be damaged without the proper care and even then they will eventually degrade into dust. PhotoSAFE will digitize these memories into computer files to be used like the ones a digital camera produces. They will also be stored in our servers and back up servers where they will not only be accessible from any computer with internet access, they will also be safe from a house fire or other natural disaster. PhotoSAFE will also provide museum quality archiving services for the originals. PhotoSAFE preserving your memories Figure 1. PhotoSAFE logo 2) SIZE PhotoSAFE will start out as a small business set up as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLPS) with one sole proprietor and 6 employees. The sole proprietor will perform the Administration duties of Human Resources, Billing, and Budget. One Sales Representative will seek out new customers, service existing ones and facilitate customer service. One employee will ship and receive packages. Two s will be responsible for turning the customers slides, negatives and photographs into digital files. One Post Production will color correct, and perform quality assurance. One Technology Systems will manage the computer maintenance, networking and develop the website. The annual gross of the company will be about $450,000.

3 Dream Business 3 Administration- Human Resources, Billing, Budget Sales- New Customers, Existing Customers, Customer Service PhotoSAFE Shipping & Receiving- Shipping, Receiving, Packaging, Quality Control - Slide, Negative, Photograph, Order Organization Post Production- Color Correction, Quality Assurance Technology- Computer Maintenance, Networking, Web Development Figure 2. PhotoSAFE departments and basic responsibilities 3) HOW ARE YOU FUNDED PhotoSAFE will be funded by bank loans and lines of credit (from the bank, not credit cards) in order to get started and plans to switch to internal funding within the first 5 years. Internal funding will not be available for PhotoSAFE in the beginning and leases and alternative funding such as investors or partners are not preferred. 4) WHAT TYPICAL POSITIONS WOULD YOUR EMPLOYEES FILL PhotoSAFE s will use the Coaching Business Model. This model is the best fit for a this business as it is basically a chain of command that caters to creatives. The coaching model will allow for the structure needed in this production line with the openness and team environment that works so well for creative types. In the beginning, the following positions will be available: Administrator- (this will be the owner) Providing Human Resources functions such as hiring of staff and the set up of their tax forms, pay checks and health insurance/pensions. Also responsible for billing and accounts payable along with the overall budget. Salary $50,000. Sales Representative- Seeking out niche markets of new customers and servicing the existing clients and facilitating customer service. Salary $30,000. Shipping - Tracking incoming orders as they arrive, as well as safely packaging orders for their return. Providing the first and last quality assurance check of each order. Salary $25, Organizing and scanning the order into quality digital files. Providing quality assurance that the digital images are accurate to the originals. Salary $28,000. Post Production - Color correcting and enhancing of the newly digitized images as well as

4 Dream Business 4 quality assurance that the order is properly organized and accurately scanned. Salary $28,000. Technology Systems - Providing comprehensive computer system maintenance for hard ware and software as well as networking and website development and maintenance. Salary $35,000. Administrator Sales Rep Shipping Post Production Tech Systems Figure 3. Starting Organizational Chart 5) A SAMPLING OF POSSIBLE PRODUCTS/SERVICES YOU MIGHT OFFER To Digitize Images Set Parameters Cost Basic Cost 1000dpi scans $0.50/image Optional: 2000dpi scans $0.75/image High 3000dpi scans $1.00/image Resolution 4000dpi scans $1.50/image Regular Pricing % discount Bulk % discount Discount % discount % discount % discount Archival of Originals Set Parameters Cost Protective Sleeves $0.50/sheet Archival Binder $5.00/each Archival Boxes $10.00/each Archival Cases $20.00/each Storage of Images Set Parameters Cost Online Storage $25.00/year CD/DVD $5.00/disk Figure 4. Tables of PhotoSAFE products and prices. 6) YOUR FEES AND TYPICAL COSTS Below are tables detailing the typical costs to run PhotoSAFE as well as the fees we will need to charge in order to cover our Budgeted Hourly Rates. PhotoSAFE will have a Management Information System that will track all billable and receivable items so that we will always know where we stand financially. The system will also track an order s progress throughout our facility and the time it spends in each department so that we can accurately predict turn around.

5 Dream Business 5 Operating Expenses (Our Costs) Set Parameters Cost Payroll/Benefits $224,000 Payroll Taxes $20,000 Insurance $3,000 Rent, Utilities, Taxes, Maintenance $70,000 Equipment: Repairs and Maintenance $25,000 Telephone, Internet and Communications $10,000 Office Supplies, Shipping and Postage $5,000 Promotions, Materials, Advertising $10,000 Travel & Entertainment $2,000 Donations $1,000 Pension Contributions $3,500 Other $1,500 TOTAL $374,000 Budgeted Houly Rates (Our Fees) Set Parameters # Images Per Hour/ Per Person 200 Number of s 2 Daily Hours Worked 8 Days Per Week Worked 5 Weeks Per Year Worked 50 Total Images Scanned per Year 800,000 Yearly Operated Costs $374,000 Price to Charge per Image $0.47 Figure 5. PhotoSAFE estimated costs and fees 7) MARKETING TACTICS PhotoSAFE will start out very specialized as we will be digitizing old media into new digital files, after the first five years, we will branch out to a more generalized market. Our advertising will be mostly through websites like google.com and yahoo.com, and through social networking site like facebook. com or myspace.com, and finally through local newspapers and their websites (azcentral.com). After customers use our service, we will gain other customers by word of mouth (reputation building). We will also do pro bono work such as sending volunteers to natural disaster areas to help recover family photos. We will also target insurance copies with brochures to give to their clients when they are purchasing fire, flood and other disaster insurances. 8) 5 YEAR PLAN FOR EXPANSION Within 5 years, PhotoSAFE will expand by growing in place and possibly relocating to a larger facility. Having found niche markets in medical/dental offices, small photography studios, educational institutions and by word of mouth from families, we will slowly expand our staff base to handle the increased workflow. The increase in orders will make it necessary to hire 2 additional Shipping s (promoting 1 to supervisor), 1 additional Sales Representative, 4 additional s (promoting 1 to supervisor) and 2 additional Post Production s (promoting 1 to supervisor).

6 Dream Business 6 We will also add additional functionality to our online photo storage. Customers will be able to upload and store all of their digital camera photos in addition to the digitized images as well as rename, reorganize and set up folders for easy locating. At this point the photo storage will be too big for our servers, so we will start a collaboration with amazon.com or google.com for virtual storage. Also, new functionality will also include an online movie making program where clients can choose pre-made graphics, title images, their stored images and upload their own music to make movies for any special occasion such as birthday, anniversaries, reunions or funerals. A partnership with Snapfish.com will allow our customers to order a wide variety of prints, calendars, photo cards and novelty items. Due to the many technical advancements, we will also hire 2 additional Technology Systems s (promoting 1 to supervisor). The additional staff will require hiring a Human Resources, an Accountant, and 2 Customer Service. These employees will perform the duties formerly done by the Administrator (owner). The Administrator will now be the managing supervisor for the company. Administrator Human Resource Accountant Sales Rep Sales Rep Customer Service Customer Service Shipping Shipping Shipping Post Production Post Production Post Production Tech Systems Tech Systems Tech Systems Figure 6. PhotoSAFE Organizational chart after first 5 years

7 Dream Business 7 REFERENCES Fishel, C. (2003). Inside the business of graphic design: 60 leaders share their secrets of success. New York: Allworth Press. Foote, C. S. (2001). The creative business guide to running a graphic design business. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.