Khalil, Nadiah
(2021)
A business plan for a startup of an event e-marketplace and planning solution in Malaysia.
[Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
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Abstract
SumofEvents is a cloud-based mobile application that offers end-to-end social events planning solution, combining E-marketplace platform and event management tools. Nowadays, every single thing is done ‘Online’. However, there is a lack of one-stop-shop for online event e-marketplace and event planning solution, as well as expensive for vendors to do mass advertising and reach customers. Hence, an on-demand social events planning application will assist vendors/event planners to reach customers with more ease and allow customers to search for and incorporate services required within a single platform. The weddings industry in Malaysia is flourishing with 300,000 weddings recorded per year with average transaction value of RM 50,000 – RM 200,000. SumOfEvents present a diversified business which will not only penetrate the weddings industry, but also other small categories of events with the aim of capturing baseline market share of 5% of weddings industry by Year 5 of incorporation.
The company offers two types of services; 1. E-marketplace platform and 2. Event Planning Module to match the needs of the spectrum of customers within the social events stratosphere. There will be three different level of subscriptions for the E-marketplace starting with ‘Freemium’ and elevated to Pro with the increase of functionalities. This is a similar concept for the Event Planning Module with three different levels of subscriptions depending on the number of events conducted. Principal revenue stream will be coming from the commission from vendors based on events booked via the application.
Its competitive advantage is the provision of a convenient, interactive, all-in-one solution for event planning needs. Though there are existing companies offering similar services in Malaysia, from the perspective of pricing, SumOfEvents aims to offer competitive prices in the form of commission rate of up to 12% as compared to the standard 15%. Additionally, in the ubiquitous era of technology, the company will be differentiated by the incorporation of innovative technology that reinvents the event planning process to be more interactive and convenient.
The start-up capital required is RM 789,875 in the first year to enable the development of the mobile application and related infrastructures, as well as the customer acquisition and administrative costs. It will take approximately 6 months to get the mobile application up and running before it is rolled out via the sales channels in the latter 6 months. The company is targeted to achieve RM 1.95 Million of Net Profit in Year 2, whilst experiencing Net Loss in Year 1 of RM 81,575 due to capital needs and half year transition operations.
The company will be incorporated as a private limited company (i.e. Sdn Bhd) in Malaysia. It will not be required to disclose statutory financial statements to the public and is able to raise funds by issuance of shares. This is important to the company at the start-up stage as it will require funding assistance form Venture Capitalist or Angel Investor for the development stage and flexibility to acquire more shareholders for expansion at a later stage.
The team will consist of the Chief Executive Officer, whose role will be held by myself and also double-hatting as the Chief Finance Officer, supported by key personnel in the Information Technology department. The developer and designer may be retained from the development team and are highly qualified with immense experience in developing and maintaining a mobile application, to ensure continuous quality in the services offered.
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