Caitlin Gobert Chris Thorson Brady Heatcoat Curtis Dunnington

1. Caitlin Gobert Chris Thorson Brady Heatcoat Curtis Dunnington

2. Introduction • SGP will be based out of Saskatchewan. • The owner will operate the business out of his home. • Grain prices will be sent to local producers via text messages • Farmers will sign up and be charged a monthly fee for their monthly subscription

3. Objectives • Get commodity prices to farmers on a daily basis via text messaging • Will result in no phone tag • Prices come to producers rather than producers looking for prices

4. Industry Overview • Currently there is no other service like this in Canada • There is a similar service through Farms.com in the USA. Farms.com only provides future prices from the CBOT.

5. Operations Plan

6. Owner/General Manager • Part Time Marketing Rep/Accounting • Potential Part Time Accounting Employee Organizational Structure

7. Location/Site Plan • SGP will be based out of SK • The office will be the owner’s home • 150 sq. ft office will be used

8. Work Plan/Flow of Work • will receive commodity prices from cooperating companies • Daily prices will input into the database program before the daily deadline • Text messages will be sent to subscribed customers • Subscriber’s information will also be put into the database

9. Sign up customers for the service Receive commodity prices from companies Enter information into computer database Information processed and a text message is sent to customer Flow of Work

10. Average Business Cycles • Daily activities will remain fairly constant from day to day • The business will be operating 5 days a week, 52 weeks of the year (stat holidays are an exception) • Each day the prices will be text messaged to the customers at a specified time • The marketing rep will also work to attract new customers and promote the company

11. Capital Budget • has a fairly small start up cost • The primary investment will be the cost of the database program • Other costs include a computer and other office equipment, an accounting program, and office furniture

12. Capital Budget

13. Cost of Sales

14. Cash Conversion Cycle • doesn’t have anything that will be inventoried • Customers will be billed on a monthly basis • Some payables will be paid monthly and some will be paid cash on demand

15. Cash Conversion Cycle

16. Human Resources

17. HR Plan- Job Descriptions • Owner/General Manager • Ensure that data is received and input before the daily cut off • Oversee other employees • Assist with data input • Marketing Rep/Accounting Manager • Oversee all financial transactions • Assist in data input • Promotion/advertising for SGP

18. Labour Cost- Owner/GM

19. Marketing Rep/Account Manager

20. Future Human Resources • When it grows and the work load becomes too much for the current 2 employees a 3rd may be hired • The potential 3rd employee would be to assist the accounting manager in accounting activities and data input

21. Marketing Plan

22. Products and Services • SGP will be marketing a service that provides customers a text messaging service. • The service consists of grain prices from local elevators

23. Pricing • Pricing will not have to be set at a competitive level as there is no direct competition • Results from a survey we conducted suggests that farmers that would use the service are willing to pay $10-$15 per month • $10 will get producers up to 5 prices and $15 will get up to 10

24. Promotion • will get interviews with local agricultural publications • Advertisements will be placed in local media • Booth at local trade shows across the province will be purchased

25. SWOT

26. Strengths • Low capital cost • Low human resource requirement • Marketing Rep has extensive public relations knowledge

27. Weaknesses • Lack of experience and knowledge of the market • Unsure of the workload that the database program requires • The GM has limited experience of managing a company of this nature

28. Opportunities • Potential to expand into other Western Canadian provinces if successful in Saskatchewan • SGP has no direct competition • First mover of such a service • Expansion of service to include futures pricing is possible

29. Threats • Very easy for other companies to enter the market • needs cooperation from grain companies • Aging population unaware of technology

30. Market Analysis

31. Analysis • Past performance – Little to no info. on past history. Farms.com from the US. Text message future prices to customers. • Market – Service will be sold to local farmers with the younger generation being the primary target. A survey was conducted to see if and what producers are willing to pay. • Competition – No direct competition, Farmers who have access to the internet may get prices for free online from grain companies.

32. Analysis (cont.) • Target markets and Customers – Grain producers. Customers will have to subscribe on a monthly basis. • Product Features – Commodity prices send out 52 weeks per year at a specific time. Producers don’t have to look for prices they come to them. • The opportunities – Great opportunity for producers who are on the go, they can receive prices while in the combine, tractor etc. Opportunity to expand if sufficient interest is developed.

33. Survey Results • Total farmers surveyed 50 • 48% would use the service • 10% would not use the service • The remaining 42% said maybe • 44% would spend $6-$10 on the service • 38% would be willing to spend $0-$5 • 11% would spend $11-15 on the service • 7% would be willing to spend $16-$20 on the service

34. Segmentation Targeting and Positioning • Segmentation – Prospective customers can be segmented in several categories such as Large, and small farms or Young <55 and older >55 years of age. • Targeting –will target the younger generation more than the older, and larger rather than smaller operations because of more commodities and busier lives. • Positioning –has an advantage over Grain companies that have online access because producers can receive prices on the go. Also no computer is required for text messaging.

35. Channels of Distribution • Grain companies will submit commodity prices, who will then enter them into a database. Information from the database will then be sent out to subscribing producers.

36. Marketing Strategy • Selling and Advertising –will initially try and get interviews with local publications. SGP will also attend Trade shows to promote there service. Advertisements may also be placed in local Publications. • Marketing Plan Budget

37. Financial Plan

38. Critical Variables • 2 critical variables • Selling Price of the Service • Volume of Sales

39. SGP Financials • IRR of 42.7% • ERR of 36.1% • 1st year has a net loss, but other years have net income • No long term debt because SGP has no assets that can be used to secure a loan • All financing for the company is done through owner’s equity

40. Conclusion • This plan is based on the fact that it is not paying for the information received from the grain companies, provided the grain companies will even give out the information. • If it can receive the prices, it has great opportunity for success throughout Canada.