Genappeal Business Plan

1 Table of contents 1 Table of contents _____________________________________________________________________ 2 2 Executive summary ___________________________________________________________________ 4 3 The product and sales concept. _________________________________________________________ 5 3.1 Scientific basis ___________________________________________________________________ 5 3.1.1 The T-shirt experiment. ________________________________________________________ 5 3.1.2 From gene to passion __________________________________________________________ 6 3.1.3 The concept __________________________________________________________________ 6 3.2 The sales concept.________________________________________________________________ 7 3.2.1 The product/service combination of GenAppeal ___________________________________ 7 3.2.2 The target group ______________________________________________________________ 8 3.2.3 The distribution concept. _______________________________________________________ 8 4 The market __________________________________________________________________________ 9 4.1 General description of the ‘singles’ market __________________________________________ 9 4.2 Strong increase of the number of singles. ___________________________________________ 10 4.2.1 Age distribution _____________________________________________________________ 11 4.2.2 Marriages and divorces _______________________________________________________ 12 4.2.3 Number of potential clients in Europe. __________________________________________ 13 4.3 Agencies ______________________________________________________________________ 13 4.3.1 Dating websites ______________________________________________________________ 13 4.3.2 Trends for online-dating ______________________________________________________ 13 4.3.3 Marriage agencies ____________________________________________________________ 14 4.4 Sales volumes __________________________________________________________________ 15 4.4.1 Assumptions ________________________________________________________________ 15 4.4.2 Dating website _______________________________________________________________ 15 4.4.3 Marriage agencies ____________________________________________________________ 15 4.4.4 Singles ______________________________________________________________________ 16 4.4.5 Overview ___________________________________________________________________ 16 4.4.5.1 Realistic/basic scenario ___________________________________________________ 16 4.4.5.2 Optimistic scenario ______________________________________________________ 17 4.4.5.3 Pessimistic scenario ______________________________________________________ 17 5 Marketing strategy __________________________________________________________________ 18 5.1 Whom do we serve ? (segmentation) ______________________________________________ 18 5.2 What do we serve? (our product) _________________________________________________ 18 5.3 How do we provide this successfully? (our business concept) _________________________ 19 5.4 What is our value proposition? (The added value) ___________________________________ 19 5.5 Pricing ________________________________________________________________________ 19 5.6 Market penetration _____________________________________________________________ 20 5.6.1 Direct contact ________________________________________________________________ 20 5.6.2 Advertising _________________________________________________________________ 20 5.7 Future sales ____________________________________________________________________ 20 5.8 Protection _____________________________________________________________________ 20 6 How GenAppeal will evolve. _________________________________________________________ 21 6.1 First phase _____________________________________________________________________ 21 6.2 Second phase __________________________________________________________________ 21 6.3 Several supporting activities _____________________________________________________ 21 6.3.1 Privacy. _____________________________________________________________________ 21 6.3.2 Quality label. ________________________________________________________________ 21 6.3.3 Security. ____________________________________________________________________ 22 GenAppeal: Where technology meets biology… GenAppeal: Business plan – Confidential disclosure to Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School – 3 6.3.4 Legal. _______________________________________________________________________ 22 7 The enterprise: GenAppeal ___________________________________________________________ 23 7.1 Structure of the organization _____________________________________________________ 23 7.1.1 First phase __________________________________________________________________ 23 7.1.2 Second phase ________________________________________________________________ 23 7.1.2.1 Department of genetic analysis ____________________________________________ 23 7.1.2.2 Department sales and marketing __________________________________________ 23 7.1.2.3 IT department___________________________________________________________ 23 7.1.2.4 Department general services ______________________________________________ 23 7.2 Management of the company _____________________________________________________ 23 7.3 Legal structure of GenAppeal ____________________________________________________ 24 7.4 Board of directors, Management team and Science advisory board ____________________ 24 8 Financial Plan _______________________________________________________________________ 25 8.1 Company structure _____________________________________________________________ 25 8.2 Assumptions ___________________________________________________________________ 25 8.3 Revenues ______________________________________________________________________ 25 8.4 Fixed assets ____________________________________________________________________ 26 8.4.1 Investments _________________________________________________________________ 26 8.4.2 Amortizations _______________________________________________________________ 27 8.5 Evolution of the working capital __________________________________________________ 27 8.6 Financing (Capital and Debt) _____________________________________________________ 27 8.7 Tax on profit. __________________________________________________________________ 27 8.8 Profits _________________________________________________________________________ 27 8.9 Cash Flow statement (Base scenario) ______________________________________________ 28 8.10 Income statement (Base scenario) _________________________________________________ 28 8.11 Balance (Basic Scenario) _________________________________________________________ 29 8.11.1 Conclusion ________________________________________________________________ 29 8.11.2 Valuation: Discounted cash flow method applied on GenAppeal _________________ 29 9 List of figures _______________________________________________________________________ 30 10 List of tables ________________________________________________________________________ 30 GenAppeal: Where technology meets biology… GenAppeal: Business plan – Confidential disclosure to Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School – 4 2 Executive summary This document describes the business plan of a new company, named GenAppeal. Extensive research in the field of genetics and biology has shown that physical attraction between men and women is strongly correlated with certain patterns in their DNA. The more different, the stronger the attraction between two people and the stronger the sex appeal. Hence the name of the company: GenAppeal. This business plan focuses on how we match by means of database searches these differences and compare them with other individuals in our database. We offer this bundled via our dating web site. We deliver as a product an electronic key corresponding to the unique information of the customer. This enables them to find their perfect matching partner in our database, giving the best opportunities for success. Looking at demographic trends in Western countries we observe an ever increasing number of singles actively looking for a partner and in doing so, spending huge amounts of money on agencies and dating services. New technologies such as the Internet, webcam and chat channels are extremely popular and instrumental to the ways singles communicate and get to know each other. Social networking sites are increasingly attracting a huge number of people and are becoming a large part of the social interaction between people in western societies. Also, psychological barriers for finding dates via the internet have completely vanished. The synergy that exists between these new technologies and state-of-the-art biotechnological genetic tests creates an innovative and powerful business opportunity: The GenAppeal concept. GenAppeal will sell its service through channels such as our own Internet dating site and e.g. via marriage agencies. GenAppeal will give access to customers to the proper software algorithms to find the perfect matching profile through our website. A verification of the unique key is performed through an electronic certificate guaranteeing the authenticity and content. A sensitivity analysis has been performed and 3 scenarios have been elaborated on in this business plan: one based on realistic numbers, one on optimistic and one based on pessimistic numbers. In the realistic case, after 3 years of operations, GenAppeal generates an EBITDA of about 53.000.000 €. GenAppeal: Where technology meets biology…