ONLINE VENTURE BUSINESS PLAN

1. Line of Business

Assistant Editors is the name of the company.  The name has been selected because the company will be specializing in the provision of editing services to their customers which will be inclusive of proofreading, editing, and translation. The name is decided after a thoughtful activity  concerning the products that the website is going to provide which are all affiliated to editing. Because of the nature of the service, the company’s primary work will be that of online editing support, and hence the name Assistant Editors was found to be the most significant name for the company.  

The domain name of the company will be Assistanteditors.com.au. The domain name is available as seen on https://www.domainregistration.com.au/domains/ and illustrated below;

Assistanteditors.com.au. is a company that will primarily deal with the provision of editing services. The organization realizes the immense need for editing services in a vastly growing world where there are lots of business engagements that need formal writing. Formal writing requires being excellent because it concerns critical business matters and which should be realized. The company, however, recognizes that even with the need of excellent communication, people still encounter errors or are not in the position to make their business ideas be aired in print as they would like it.  

The actual nature of the business will be a simple one. The company will hire ten editors who will be required to sign up with the website. The editors will be expected to have experience in editing and will be needed to at least have a Master’s degree preferably in Literature. Once a customer places an order on the website, the website managers will scroll through the list of the editors and find a convenient editor who will be assigned the work alongside the timeframe that the order should be completed. Once the editor is through with editing, proofreading or translation, one of the website managers will assess the work, ask the customers to release payment and then mail them the completed work upon payment.

2. Purpose of introducing e-commerce

By nature of the business, the online platform helps the company in many ways. However, the most outstanding ways where in which being online can help the business is first in the process of tapping customers. As a provider of editing services, the company needs to reach a large group of people or customers who may deserve such services. Therefore, the business cannot be localized or to the least, it cannot be limited to a local group since they would not be a fulfilling market for the company. Being online therefore allows the organization to reach and tap as many customers as possible. The customers can be tapped in many ways such as through advertisements. The introduction of the online platform will, therefore, be essential in improving the ability of the business to draw as many customers and consequently, make higher profits.

Proofreading, editing, and translation are academic and formality-inclined processes that require such a hefty investment in research. Being online therefore not only helps in tapping customers but also supports the organization to conduct their primary business. One of the most sophisticated approaches that organizations use is the use of the internet to help in the provision of quality output. In this case, however, the internet is the sole dependence of the organization for research, receiving the jobs and also sending them back to the owners. Were it not for being online there could not be an avenue for communication between the clients and the company. The main purpose of the company would therefore not be fulfilled which shows that the internet is such an immense necessity for the company and hence the introduction of the online platform not only increases competitiveness but also ensures effectiveness.

3. Marketing Plan

Proofreading, editing, and translation are services that are provided to individuals in their higher levels of education, working individuals, individuals who are seeking employment and at least and those in international businesses for the case of translation. In that essential view, the company finds it that the individuals who are going to be served are those who are business-oriented. One of their characteristics is that they are interested in the way that their write-ups inclusive of essays, thesis, and formal business applications among others are made. Such individuals, in general, are people who are busy in their various fields of work or have personal engagements that deny them enough time to write their essays and reports perfectly. While they could have the ability, such individuals need help in proofreading and editing their works as the quality of their presentations determines their grades if they are in school or other factors such as appraisals for those seeking employment. For other professionals still, quality business reports are also their desires, and hence they will need their works edited for the case of the best performance in their field of practice. 

One of the prominent group that the company will be working with is that of professionals responsible for making business reports to their respective companies. This group comprises of highly experienced individuals who have worked with their specific organizations for some time. Therefore, it is a group that is expected to have adequate information and which is expected to make complex business reports within short periods. It is a group with a commendable income level of more than $12,000 per annum and thus one that can afford proofreading and editing services. An outstanding interest of this group is that it is concerned with the quality of their output as it is composed of people who are seeking quality output for the case of appraisals. The company, therefore, expects that the group will be one that will make a huge market for their services. 

  Assistanteditors.com.au is however not the first company that offers general editing services in Australia. There are scores of other organizations that have continually invested in the editing industry. Some of the most noticeable competitors are www.eliteediting.com.au and http://syntactix.com.au/. The two organizations are some of the widely known organizations that provide editing services to needy clients. They, however, have some weaknesses that can be utilized to place Assistanteditors.com.au at a competitive advantage. One of the weaknesses that both of the companies have in common is that they have a poor graphical interface on the homepage of their websites. Both homepages lack an attractive graphic that can be used to attract clients and build confidence in their ability. Utilizing this very notable occurrence, Assistanteditors.com.au will create an attractive logo that creates more attention thereby drawing more clients as opposed to the case of the other competitors. Again, the two competitors strictly state that they are mainly involved in thesis and academic essays editing. Such an introduction, however, makes the websites look as if they are meant to destroy academic integrity. To avoid such a notion and place the company at a competitive advantage, the company’s description of the services offered will be about business, and general editing which will place the organization at a competitive advantage as it the notion of the organization being one that kills academic integrity will be done away with.

To make the website readily available to the customers, the organization will make an effective investment in SEO marketing. SEO marketing is an advertising strategy whereby companies use Google optimization strategies. The optimization strategies that are used in SEO marketing are those that are able to place the website at the top of Google’s search engine. Using this approach, the website will appear in the very first pages when a potential client posts anything concerned with editing. The other advertising strategy that will be used by the company is making discounts for new clients. The website will, therefore, have an online support department that bargains with the potential clients, listen to their concerns and offers considerable discounts to those who find the prices higher than their expectations. This approach will be a strategy for setting up confidence in the clients who would have otherwise left if the prices were not discounted for them. 

4. Revenue Model

a). Setup and Maintenance Costs

Setting up a website in Australia is a costly affair that starts with the costs of the site itself. Most of the website developers in the country often charge hefty amounts while developing the websites depending on the traffic that the website is set to host. Since the website is configured to handle e-commerce issues, it will be a super-site which can be classified as a geek site on hosting. At the exposure of the organization, there are two most outstanding website hosts mainly Siteground (www.siteground.com) and Panthur (https://www.panthur.com.au/). The two sites are some of the most renowned website hosts which are convenient regarding pricing and also in their dependability.

As for their hosting plans, the companies have almost similar plans. For business oriented websites, the best plans provided are higher than those of personal business plans. Siteground offers a $34.95/month plan for business websites especially those where e-commerce is the basic way of operation and where they expect that intensive activities are being carried. As for Panthur, they have three plans for hosting business intensive plans. They have the bronze, silver, and gold plans. The bronze plan goes for $20/month, the silver plan goes for $30/month, and the gold plan goes for $60/month. Owing to the nature of the business that the company will be conducting, the silver plan that is provided by Panthur will be an ultimate choice as it is an intermediate plan and hence the organization can choose whether to upgrade their offer of use a lesser costly plan going forward. For the first year of operation, therefore, the company will encounter a $360 cost on website hosting. 

Estimates of labour costs

For the first year of operation, the company will have three website managers whereby I will be personally one of the managers. Unlike for the editors who will receive their payment as per every single order that they handle, the website managers inclusive of me will be paid a stable $450/month every month.  The website managers will be required to fathom the desires of the customers, note and present them to be addressed from where future website management will be required to address. The company, therefore, expects that every month, the website will require exquisite maintenance as there are expected customer concerns to be addressed along the line of operation. As for the maintenance costs of the website, therefore, a $15 monthly fee will be set aside for minor updates that will be carried out on the website. Due to the delocalized nature of the business, the company will hire an accountant who will be responsible for making calculations of the total income against the total costs from where tax calculations can be made. The monthly salary for the accountant will be set in the first year at $400/month, but the figure could rise higher over time depending on the way that the business will perform in the first year.

Other than the general costs of operations that are inclusive of salaries, the company estimates that there will be as many as 500 editing orders per month that will be handled in the first 12 months. Every editor is expected to make $15 from every order which means that on a rough estimate, the general costs to be paid to the editors on a monthly basis are $7500. The hefty payment that is paid to the editors is to ensure that they provide quality work to the clients. The costs are subject to increment or fluctuation depending on the monthly turnout of customers. However, using the advertising strategies in place, the company only estimates that the number of customers can only increase with time. 

Other costs 

By nature of the business, there are scores of other expenses that will be covered. One of the essential costs that will be incurred is internet cost. By nature of the business, the company will be required to have an online 24 hours support to the clients. Considering that clients come from different time zones, offering them 24 hours support means tapping as many customers as possible since their concerns will be adequately addressed. In the case of urgent orders, the website managers will also be able to determine the readily available editor who can work on the order. In that view, therefore, the company will incur immense costs in internet costs which are estimated to be at least $300/month.

A local office for the website managers is also required where the rent will be paid. The office will not be an expansive one but is approximated to cost at least $100/month. Other approximated costs are electricity costs which will be assumed to be $50/month, insurance costs which are at least $400/ year, and advertising will be costs are approximated to be $100 per month. 

Other costs that the organization is set to incur are in the purchases of equipment such as computers and desks, the purchase of office supplies and other costs such as hiring office security among others as illustrated below; 

Type	Yearly Cost	Amount/ Number	Total Yearly Cost
Website Manager’s Wages	$5400	3	$16,200
Accountant	$4800	1	$4800
Editor group	$90,000	1	$90,000
Website Maintenance	$180	1	$180
Internet Costs	$3600	1	$3600
Rent	$1200	1	$1200
Electricity	$600	1	$600
Insurance Costs	$400	1	$400
Equipment Costs and office supplies	$2000	1	$2000
Office Security	$1000	1	$1000
Advertising Costs	$1200	1	$1200
Transaction Costs	$1000	1	$1000
Total Cost/ Expenses			$122,180

b) Income

Being a provider of proofreading, editing and translation services, the company has just a single source of revenue which is the attracted clients. In the first year, the organization purposes on attracting as many as 700 clients and at least maintaining 200 clients on a monthly basis. Every client is approximated to at least place 2 to 3 orders on the website per month. In that view, the website is approximated to at least manage 500 orders every month.  The average cost of every order from the approximation is $35.  The clients will be required to pay for the orders before they are delivered to them so that the editors will be paid. In that case,, therefore, the following general approximation of the monthly and yearly income from the made sales is as follows;

500*35*12= $210,000

Profit= Total Income-Total Expenses

= $210,000-$122,180= $87,820

From the general expenses approximation on an annual basis, the total expenses are expected to trade at $122,180. For the first year, therefore, the company approximates to make a profit of $87,820. The profit is a sustainable profit in the first year since it is enough to sustain the operations as well as ensure adequate preparations for the future.  

From the editing and translation services that the company will engage in, a total sum of $210,000 is expected to be made in the first year of operations. The revenue will be collected from the customers in various manners, but all the collection will be made on electronic payment systems. Since the nature of the business is one that is delocalized such that the website managers may never meet the clients and at the same time, they may never meet the editors. The clients are the underlying source of income for the company, and hence should they fail to pay for orders that are completed by the editors, the company could be susceptible to losing some of its editors and business could be hard to transact. To ease the mode of payment, the company will use electronic payment methods such as sendwave, paypal, payoneer and skrill. The payment methods and the accounts will be inscribed on the website such that a client can be able to choose the most that they are convenient with way before placing their order on the site. Such an approach will help in ensuring that payments are done by the clients and will ensure that the chain of work progresses with ease for the company, the editors and the customers.

To attract more customers, the company will be in some instances be requesting customers to refer them to their friends and families who are in need of editing services. Invites will be reciprocated by doing one or to orders for the customers for free. After being referred and receiving quality services, the visitors are likely to turn into dependable customers alongside the older customers who will ensure an increasing number of customers to the site. Using the approach, the income string to the company is set to increase and more visitors to the homepage turned into clients.