"Failing to plan is planning to fail." -Benjamin Franklin
1. Est. Pop.: 550,000
2. Est. Buying Power: $10 Billion. (Which would average roughly $18,000 annually per person)
3. Area Concentration: Zip Code 30314
4. Median household annual income of Atlanta's African Americans: $41,800 (Black LGBT Households might be lower perhaps half that.)
FROM SURVEY (Currently 23 respondents):
5. 74% are transplants living in Atlanta less than 3 years. (Diverse Values)
(Concern for community loyalty.)
6. 94% see a need in our program.
7. On question about support of Black LGBT businesses replacing consumer needs for same quality: 100% supportive
8. On distance willing to travel: Up to 25 miles 50%. Up to 10 miles 39%
9. 89% believe in entrepreneurship
10. 66% would be interested in starting a business.
11. 83% would support businesses that we promote. 11% more would wait for positive word-of-mouth.
12. 39% are currently saving money.
13. 61% are currently investing (Includes passive investments such as 401k)
14. 89% would be interesting in investing at a level which fits their budget in The Baldwin Project Capital Pool.
15. 83% would promote The Baldwin Project through their social networks.
16. Only 44% believe we act as an integrated community. (We need to work on fostering community loyalty and unity.)
PART #2: Goals, Intents and Strategic Responses
GOALS:
To institute group economics among Atlanta's Black LGBT population to achieve community self-sufficiency.
HOW? #1:
By building community support behind by Black LGBT business existing and providing capital, community, educational and marketing support behind new Black LGBT businesses.
HOW? #2:
Marketing: The Baldwin Project Magazine providing attractive, inspiring, intriguing and educational content to this target market and interspersing it with marketing from Black LGBT businesses and a directory for Black LGBT businesses organized in an index.
Investing: We provide an economic incentive for our community to support Black LGBT businesses by allowing them a share of the profits of the businesses they have contributed to the pool to capitalize.
Networking: Our Networking Mixers provide an opportunity for Black LGBT entrepreneurs to seek out mutually beneficial relationships with each other and to personally engage new clients while building a community movement for group economics by enrolling new contributors into the TBP Capital Pool and our classes.
Education: We provide top notch and specific business trainings and coaching to Black LGBT Entrepreneurs wishing to do business with their own market in how to establish, manage, profit and then give back. By completing the TBP program full cycle, one would have established a new enterprise with a track record of success and profit attractive as a viable investment to individual capitalists who could help them grow and expand to the next level.
HOW? #3:
With Market Size estimated to be 550,000 it should be our goal to capture 1% of that within 10 years which is the percentage of critical mass (5,500). Capturing for our purposes would mean those contributing to our pool. To reach this number, we must capture 550 a year.
HOW? #4:
The 1st step in finding contributors is to get them to attend one of our mixers wherein our business presentations are given to the public and opportunities for enrollments on the spot for prizes. All contributors will get complimentary subscription to our magazines to build our readership base attractive to those willing to market in our magazine by buying ad space.
To capture 550 contributors a year with holding monthly networking mixers, we would need 46 new contributors every month. If we hope to ensure this number in one sitting during our business mixers, we are going to need to entertain close to 500 people to count on 10% of our guests enrolling. The costs of marketing to gain the committed attendance of 500 people and entertaining them with a space, and at least hors d'oeuvres and appetizers if not free drinks can run close to $6000 a month which will be daunting in the beginning and might exceed the capacity of the magazine and our course (our initial funding sources) to cover just starting out. But, we can feasibly entertain the 46 or 50 we need and simply progressively ramp up our transfer rate through our consistency, professionalism, increasing community support through the networking of our DPR (Man Perryman), and enjoyability of the events to attract repeat attendees (Food, Music, Games, the chance to win money through the lottery draw, attractive guests with attractive personalities, a great motivational speech until the next time and perhaps celebrity appearances a little further down the line.)
Given six months to organize from March, we can feasibly launch our first mixer Friday, September 16, 2016 from 7PM-11PM with presentations and the lottery draw occurring from 9PM-10PM with a closing party celebration following leading to the nightclub of whatever club sponsor is willing to assist us with marketing and funds. Our mixers should occur on whatever Friday follows the 15th of the month to coincide with most people pay days which are not hit with the majority of bills.
These are feasible goals of ramping up our transfer rate:
September 2016: 10% (4-5) contributors
October 2016: 20% (10) contributors
November 2016: 40% (19) contributors
December 2016: 80% (38) contributors
January 2017: 100% (46-50) contributors
Once locking in that base, we can then begin to focus on ramping up our attendees to 500 in this fashion:
January 2017: 10%= 55
February 2017: 20%= 110
March 2017: 30%=165
April 2017: 40%=220
May 2017: 50%=275
June 2017: 60%=330
July 2017: 70%=385
August 2017: 80%=440
September 2017: 90%=495
October 2017: 100%=550
Next, after consistently garnering over 500 attendees every month, we should then focus on ramping up our transfer rate with this group by 1% over the next 100 months which will take 8 years. At that time, if you are still with us, it might be a good time to retire to simply the Founder's Committee.
After capturing 1% of the market within 10 years, the next board can focus on ramping that number up by 1% each year to 100% over the following 100 years or as much is possible. However by then all of us are likely to be dead, so our goal should then be to simply set in motion a viable platform for them build upon and you will have sealed your legacy.
The moral of this story is that we must commit to simply STARTING, DOING OUR BEST, and then CAPITALIZING upon our successes. This is called leveraging and it will become easier the further we go along.
HOW? 5:
How do we start the mixers just focusing on getting 46 attendees?
The estimated cost of this is $525 on a very low budget but respectability can be achieved. If we are getting no outside assistance from businesses or organizations starting out for exchange with allowing them time to promote during our presentation segment or leading our mixer into their club, and our magazine is our only funding source, this is how we can raise the necessary capital with any ONE of these goals. Let's attempt to hit them all.
For Whole Page interspersed throughout our magazine= $500
For Half Pages interspersed throughout=$250
For Quarter Pages interspersed throughout=$100
For Business Cards filling up pages interspersed throughout=$50
For monthly listings in our indexed business directory at the end of the magazine (yellow pages style) $10 a month, or $75 a year upfront.
All those purchasing any of the ad space packages get 1 year complimentary subscription.
For those non-contributors wanting a subscription: $10 a year
To raise $500 from our magazine, any ONE of these will work:
1 or 2 whole pages
2 or 4 half pages
5-10 Quarter Page ads
10-20 Business Cards
50-100 business directory listings
50 Non-Contributor subscription
After enrolling students into our classes, when can raise $500 with just 4-8 students. At that rate, our classes can begin by January 2017 with 10-40 students. Class Cost is $250 ($125 goes to TBP operations, $125 per student is to pay our contracted teachers or Harold himself if he is actually teaching.)
If running a $10 lottery and everyone participates in the beginning ($5 goes to TBP operations, $5 goes to winner.) we can raise $500 with 100 lottery entries which is possible if we allow multiple entries with $10 each entry increasing chances of winning. If this ever happens, our next mixer is paid for.
HOW? #6:
How do we simply get started
Step 1. Set up the The Baldwin Project to conduct organization business. Meaning:
A. Incorporation $100
B. Bank Account
C. Full Board
D. Any Necessary Licenses
E. Office Space ?
F. Administration Material ?
G. Marketing Material ?
H. Initial capital necessary to start our first funding source, The Magazine. ?
I. 1st Year Volunteer Stipend by December 2016 $8100
GRAND TOTAL (? We have some blanks to fill in.)
Step 2. Launch the magazine at least 30 days before the first mixer.
HOW? #7:
How do raise the necessary capital to just get started if we may need to wait some time on any grants or loans?
1. We need to establish our starting budget.
2. Next, we need to collect board member investments. We are all owners in this enterprise and the design is for you to get more than you give. However, there is no getting without giving. While your volunteer work and time is important, we're going to need seed money as well. This is how we can fairly and reasonably do this, and I am to be the first practitioner of this suggestion:
1st Year Stipend:
ED- $1300, should donate $130 by December 2016 + .01% of personal income monthly income and .1% quarterly. (For ex: $50K income would be $5 month, $50 quarterly) Come on tax refund!
DD- $1200, should donate $120 by December 2016 and the same small portion of personal income.
EA- $1100, should donate $110 by December 2016 and same small portion of income.
Tres- $1000+ 1% of TBP income, should donate $100 by December 2016 and same small portion of income.
LC- $900, should donate $90 by December 2016 and small part of income.
CMO- $800 should donate $80 by December 2016 and small part of income.
DPR- $700 should donate $70 by December 2016 +small part of income.
Edu- $600 should donate $60 by December 2016 +small part of income.
Pub- $500 should donate $50 by December 2016 + small part of income.
If we do this plan, we raise at least $810 in initial capital which can be used as leverage in generating other forms of seed capital, such as:
*Online Crowd Funding with Thank you Gifts Attached:
$10-Magazine Subscription is the gift
$20-Magazine and 1 Book of their choosing (We can get used books from Amazon for just a few dollars of Wealth Classics such as "Think and Grow Rich a Black Choice" "The Wealth Choice" "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" "Cash Flow Quadrant" Kiyosaki's: "The Business School" "Increase your Financial IQ" "Own your own Corporation"
$30 Magazine and 2 Books
$40 Magazine and 3 Books or T-Shirt
$50 Magazine and 4 Books and Tshirt
$60 Magazine and 5 Books and T-Shirt
$70 Magazine and 6 Books and T-Shirt
$80 Magazine and 7 Books and T-Shirt
$90 Gold Nugget Package (1939 Think and Grow Rich, 1911 The Science of Getting Rich, Business Plan Workbook, Business Starter Dummy Guide and 25% off Course Voucher, T-Shirt in a shoe box wrapped in gold gift wrapping)
$100 Become a Panelist at Documentary Screening (Suggesting "7AM" covering group economics for Blacks)
$10,000 Join the 10 member Legacy Committee, Co-creating a new community with the The Baldwin Project:
*An Award for Business and Community excellence named in honor of you for businesses fulfilling your criteria
*We will groom startup business ventures into viable investments for you to help them expand. We accept the risk in the meantime and you get first investor opportunities once they graduate from our program (paying off loan).
* You get to interview and examine graduates from our course in front of our contributing community to strengthen the voting process (Think Shark Tank)
*For those donating $10K, we can take them out for a fancy dinner with the Founder's Committee to discuss the details of our relationship and these funds should not be collected online but invited to contact our DPR to arrange a dinner. However, building up an investor committee should be a very important part of our services offered to our venture businesses. Part of the "NETWORK"
Other Initial funding methods:
*Monthly Documentary Screenings on the subject of group economics with talk back session: like the film 7AM
1st Month Ticket: $10
2nd Month Ticket: $20 with $5 lottery entry included.
3rd Month Ticket: $30 with $5 lottery entry included.
4th Month Ticket $40 with $5 lottery entry included.
5th Month Ticket $50 with $5 lottery entry included.
*In support of the Arts: Talent Shows for $25 tickets with $5 going to the prize of the winner. 50 attendees raises $1000 which might net $500 after paying the costs of hosting. However, these can be done monthly
*About 6 months out, Cleon forecasted grants could begin coming available.
*At this time loans if we choose to take them can also become available by then.
*I'm sure there are other ideas which would be great. Get creative and pitch them. Once our main funding sources including Mobile Money as we learn more about how that works gets running and pouring in the necessary operations capital, we can decide at that time to drop off some of these initial funding methods or continue them as our needs dictate. So, let's START!
The next step is to begin adding your input to the template Steven is mastering to package all of these ideas into a neat business plan and then nothing else is left to do but immediately begin working our plan.
