Stayinathens Company Business Plan

Business Plan

I. Summary of the Business Plan

StayInAthens, a company founded in 2007, began its activity by displaying furnished apartments on the internet and aiming at the accommodation of foreign students, who visit our country through student exchange programs (mainly through the program "Lifelong learning" Erasmus)

The StayInAthens business idea resulted from the long-standing, continuous and active participation in the activities of the Erasmus Students Association (ESN) within the Athens University of Economics and Business regarding the reception and the support of foreign students during the last ten years. Thanks to our participation in student exchange programs and to the reception of foreign students in Athens, we have gained rich experience in the lifestyle of foreign students and how it can be improved through our actions.

After carrying out a relevant research to our customers, we aspire to integrate the following activities in 2012 -in addition to our main activity in finding accommodation to Erasmus Students-:

1. To ensure traineeship to Erasmus students who receive accommodation services from us with the assistance of our partners who are managing relevant programs.

2. To provide courses of Greek language in cooperation with specialized language centers at reduced prices for our members.

3. To organize cultural and educational activities in collaboration with clubs-associations, organizations and the relevant ministries (e.g. Ministry of Tourism).

We also seek to expand our costumer base through our collaboration with other agencies (www.anixi.eu, www.celt.edu.gr), offering our services not only to Erasmus students but also to other groups of foreign visitors staying in our country for an approximate period of 2-10 months,

All the above activities are part of our short-term programming. Our long-term goal is to create a residence for foreign students with facilities appropriate to cover all their needs. The time limit that we have set for the completion of this grandiose plan is five to six years. Consequently, our goal is this residence to be able to function properly in 2017.

Behind our business idea the values that lead us are associated with quality, reliability and solvency. We consider the development of tourism as a great opportunity for our country especially nowadays that the economic situation of the country hampers the development in other areas and requires higher initial investments. The StayInAthens company can improve the image that the foreigners have at this time for Greece by providing an excellent service even on issues beyond housing responbilites of the company. Parents and students trust the company on various issues which concern living in Greece and their daily transactions. Young students who come to our country are those who will spread the word for Greece to their families, relatives, friends and fellow citizens when they return back to their country. Consequently, we see them as potential opinion leaders as well as long- term customers for the touristic product.

We believe that the future of our company is very favorable and we also believe that our company's services add value to what we call "Love for Greece".

II. General Description of the Company

"StayInAthens" is essentially a platform which enables every foreign student to choose the suitable apartment through the website of "StayInAthens" for a period of 3 to 12 months. The company is not the owner of these apartments. They belong to different partners (mainly to individual and property owners). The apartments have the necessary furniture and all appliances needed by students during their stay. The rental rates include all living expenses related to student housing (electricity, water, internet use, common building costs).

The company was founded in 2007 on the legal form of limited partnership and deals mainly with finding housing for foreign students. The location- headquarters of the company is on the street Asimaki Fotila 28, in Neapolis Athens

The company's vision is to create a sustainable community of Erasmus Students where foreign students come into contact with the culture of the host country. On an academic level this is partly achieved through the actions of the Athens University of Economics and Business which welcomes about 300 foreign students every year. The Economic University of Athens is also responsible for about 300 Greek students who go abroad to continue their studies in universities with which the Greek University collaborates. (They have signed bilateral Agreements)

Beyond the accommodation for students, the company aspires to become, within the next few years, a successful unit with social status and loyal customers for a lifetime. This means that it will offer to its customers a more holistic service which surpasses finding housing and which will cover various aspects of life of foreign students in our city. In particular, StayInAthens will provide Erasmus students with the opportunity to follow Greek courses before the start of the semester and to participate in internships in Athens after the end of academic year. During their stay, "StayInAthens" plans to provide a variety of cultural and other activities

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the long-term goal of our company is to find a building near the Athens University of Economics and Business which will act as a residence and will include a dining room and an events room for Erasmus students. As we consider "Erasmus" a way of living, we want to create infrastructure for activities not just for our current customers but also for all those who have already completed their study period in our country and wish to return. Our basic value, being volunteers for so many years, is that "there is nothing you can achieve unless you have first experienced it and loved it. Our website, the main tool of our contact with customers and suppliers, is interactive and the student-users are able to import data into our system by any location. Once entered into the system of StayInAthens, they receive a personal password which can be used to browse in several areas of the site. The users have the ability to make a booking in their name. Then they receive a message informing them of the deadline within they have to pay (by bank account) so as to confirm the booking which will be activated on the website. Our website is linked to other social media-network like Facebook, and has special application for immediate support and response to various requests from students regarding operational problems through the use of e-mail and mobile phone applications.

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