Market research and business plan services provides roadmap for new logistics company.

As an aspiring giant in the haulage company, PJV Logistics aims to build a company that will use its unique proposition with the aid of technology to bridge the gap in the FMCG haulage industry. Although they had a good idea, they knew that they required a well-articulated business plan with a robust market research in order to commence their business activities.

As the business founder of PJV Logistics, Ms. Bamike’s need was to launch a logistics/haulage business that will specifically service the FMCG industry and at the same time act as an intermediary between the wholesalers and retailers by selling to the latter at a better margin as a benefit of their relationship with the wholesalers.

“Our aim is that the business idea we have is clearly articulated in a business plan that also informs us about the current status in the market, the key players, their pricing models as well as advise us on our penetration strategy”. Ms. Bamike stated.

The logistics industry is already saturated, however, there is a similar structure spread across the entire country. The company’s intending Operations manager also stated the fact that they needed a good technology platform to monitor the drivers as well as goods being transported at all times, which is a major challenge the industry current faces.

“Although it is a new business, the company has the vision to start from the South West region of the country and then expand to other geographical zones within the space of three years and be known as the preferred choice for Haulage services in the retailing industry of the country”.

The Principal Business Consultant at Elvaridah had a discovery meeting with the founder of the business to discuss its vision and direction as well as understand the unique proposition of the company before it is launched.

We understood the business was aimed at providing logistics services specifically for the FMCG industry but also had a unique proposition of also acting as a sales intermediary between the manufacturers and the retailers. The business owners were interested in having several income generating channels that ensure that the business is strategically positioned for growth and continuous economic activity.

“A friend referred us to your company as you had in the past helped her develop a business plan for her now existing business. She was able to raise a start-up capital of $6M which was possible because of the intense research, documented strategy and financial projections included”.

Our business plan service is one, which we develop with a lot of meticulousness because we understand how important the foundation of a business is and we build to ensure we provide the best road map possible to guide execution.

To get started, we sent out a brief after the discovery meeting as well as a questionnaire to be filled by the business owners to enable us get as much information about the intended business, their own profiles, intended budget amongst other determining factors.

We commenced the market research immediately this information was received to determine what exactly currently exists in the market, after which we organized a focus group to test out the several hypotheses we were developing for the business.

The business strategy was also being worked on to determine the direction the company should proceed as well as the recommended structure, staff strength, location and other key deturmining factors.

We also worked on the financial projections to determine the cost of trips, cost of items as well as recommended operational costs, salaries, break-even points and required budget to commence operations.

With this business plan / road map, we were able to go in-depth into the proposed business as well as the minds of the business owners to build a robust plan that encompasses all of these to ensure the business runs seamlessly and is profitable.

The Elvaridah team worked to ensure the plan included all the outlined objectives agreed with the business owners for clarity and insight on the intended market and the entire business as a whole.

We documented the business plan on a Word and PDF document, we created bullet points for the pitch deck and then included the financials in PDF and excel format. The business plan was built to kick-start the business for the first five years as we considered inflation, exchange rate fluctuations and inevitable pandemics. We also included templates for staff contracts, appraisals, vendor forms and inventory templates for use once business commences operations.

“Elvaridah really understood my vision and was able to adequately articulate the plans we have as individuals looking to start a business. Once we received the final business plan, we were certain that we were indeed ready to commence business and were more than convinced we knew how to go about it because all we had to do was follow the recommended steps. We are indeed very satisfied”, concluded Bamike.