Avocadough, Ms. Tracie LongNew York Management Core (NYMC)

Ali D Larijani, Paula Vallina, Gabriele Miranda, Louis Ghanem, Alyssa J. Ford

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Dear Ms. Long (Avocadough),

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you have done for

New York Management Core. We greatly appreciate the opportunity you gave us to be a part

of your company, this allowed us to gain a comprehensive understanding of your industry

and issues faced by startup companies. We understand that it can be difficult having outsiders

come in to your workplace and take a very critical point of view of everything your do. For

that, we thank you for being understanding and welcoming. As much as the engagement is us

working with you to find functional areas in need of development, your company and

yourself has taught our team as much as we have helped you.

We hope that these recommendations greatly help you take your business to the next

level. Our hope is that in the future, when we come back and check in, your company can still

use the tools our engagement team has provided to continuously grow and expand your

business. With our focus on those areas of your company in need of the most development,

we hope that one day, Avocadough will be ‘unfortunate’ enough to have the issue of growing

too fast.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or information you may need. We

look forward to hearing how the company grows.

Regards,

New York Management Core (NYMC)

Ali D. Larijani ____________________________

Paula Vallina ____________________________

Alyssa J. Ford ____________________________

Gabriele Miranda ____________________________

Louis Ghanem ____________________________

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Summary:

April 23, 2015

Re: Emerging Enterprises Consulting Engagement

Dear Ms. Long,

NYMC would first like to thank you for participating and supporting the Emerging

Enterprises Consulting course. Our goal from the beginning was to focus on enhancing and

contributing the growth and sustainability of Avocadough while also making this unique

experience smooth and rewarding for both sides. We look forward to working with you and

using our time together to gain knowledge and experience with working with a small start-up.

From our research, we understand that Avocadough’s focus is making baked goods using

avocados as the primary dough bass. The competitive advantage here is focusing on making

healthy baked goods while also keeping the delicious flavors of the products. Currently,

Avocadough faces the challenges of staying financially stable, enhancing brand awareness

through digital media outlets, obtaining proper packaging, and obtaining proper standardized

nutritional facts. However, you have already successfully entered various restaurants and

shops while developing strong client relationships. We believe our focus should be on

enhancing your company’s presence in order to penetrate larger outlets.

In the Emerging Enterprises Consulting course, the main focus is to develop tangible

deliverables for you to use. Over the course of the semester, we will be working closely with

you to gain further insight into you and your company. The first step will be to establish your

main needs and determine what can be realistically done within the two months we have

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together. To help us understand your current situation and set our priorities, we will be using

the Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Model.

We have established four deliverables we plan to develop and implement during our time

together:

1. Establish a line of credit to make Avocadough more financially sustainable.

2. Develop a strong digital media plan through social media to increase brand awareness.

3. Obtain proper packaging in order to keep Avocadough’s fresh for a longer amount of time.

4. Obtain standardized product nutritional facts to enhance the professionalism of

Avocadough to help penetrate new markets.

The goal here is that we work closely with you to produce solutions for you to implement as

quickly as possible to improve operations while also helping you understand critical needs to

support a strong business.

Our main goal is to understand and serve your needs and build a transparent relationship with

you. One of the main foundations of the EEC course is to build a strong, mutual relationship

where both parties benefit equally. Our main requirement is your time. It is crucial that we

meet at least once a week for a minimum of two hours over the next two months. We

understand your time valuable and we will be flexible in order to meet your schedule. It is

also crucial that we become heavily incorporated into your business. In order to do this, we

need access to your records, bookkeeping information, costs, and other aspects of your

business for us to do our job to the best of our ability. This information will also be shared

with us and only us as we understand that this information is strictly confidential to only us

and you.

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Our engagement will last until August 23, 2015. Our team will meet regularly every week

and with Professor Tihic as he will be working closely with us to facilitate and help us in any

way he deems fit.

Throughout our time together, we will work closely with you to develop and implement the

deliverables as our engagement unfolds throughout the semester. A final presentation will be

made to you, faculty, and the rest of the EEC class. The presentation and final report will

cover the primary deliverables of the consulting engagement.

We look forward to working with you and make this experience a truly memorable and

rewarding one. Thank you again for your time and support. Please feel free to contact us with

any questions or concerns if they arise.

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Table of ContentsCase Analysis……………………………………………………………………8

CIE Support Model……………………………………………………………...9

The Entrepreneur………………………………………….…………...9

The Business Concept…………………………………………………10

The Opportunity……………………………………………………....12

Internal Infrastructure………………………………………………...13

Marketing Effort………………………………………………………14

Company Financials………………………………………………….16

External Network...................................................................................17

Deliverable Introduction……………………………………………………….19

Deliverable 1: Financing – Line of Credit……………………………………..20

Current situation…………………………………………………………….20

Recommendation……………………………………………………...20

What to do after……………………………………………………….22

Deliverable 2: Standardize Product Nutritional Facts…………………………23

Background…………………………………………………………...23

Market Demographic…………………………………………………23

The Contact…………………………………………………………...25

Implementation……………………………………………………….25

Sustainability…………………………………………………………26

Deliverable 3: Obtain Proper Packaging……………………………………....27

Background…………………………………………………………...27

Recommendation…...............................................................................27

Benefits………………………………………………………………..28

Deliverable 4: Strategic Plan…………………………………………………..30

Major Retailers……………………………………………………….30

Future Company Culture……………………………………………..30

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Digital Marketing Plan..................................................................…...31

Website……………………………………………………………..…32

Recommendations………………………………………………………….…..34

What We Learned……………………………………………………………...35

Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………..37

Appendix 2……………………………………………………………………..39

Appendix 3……………………………………………………………………..50

Appendix 4……………………………………………………………………..52

Appendix 5……………………………………………………………………..53

Appendix 6……………………………………………………………………..56

Appendix 7……………………………………………………………………..57

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Case Analysis

Avocadough is a baked goods company that was established in March 2014 by

founder, Tracie L. Long. Residing in Camillus, NY, Tracie bakes her healthy alternatives in a

local church, where she is able to adequately keep up with demand. Though the company has

managed to market their products through trade shows, small stores and gyms, and social

media, Avocadough has hit a plateau and has just managed to break even.

Along with a limited reach to the CNY area, Tracie personally funds Avocadough

with no outside investors or loans. This has inevitably led to a cap on potential growth as well

as a strain on Tracie’s personal account. Lack of funds has also caused two other issues for

the company including the absence of standardized product nutrition labels and adequate

packaging. Avocadough shows a lack of nutritional facts, this is a major downfall as the

companies target demographic is a ‘health/fit conscious’ customer. Due to the ingredients

used in each baked good, with the current packaging Avocadough uses, each product only has

a shelf life of about 10 days. Both of these issues have prevented the company from moving

into larger retailers.

These issues target four major areas of the company including finance, nutrition,

distribution, and marketing. The New York Management Core will be providing Tracie with

connections to better assist with marketing and reaching her target audience and in creating

nutrition labels for her products. The team will also assist with providing and implementing

alternatives for personal financing of the company along with more organized financials.

The New York Management Core strongly believes that these deliverables will enable

Avocadough to gain the expansion and growth it desires.

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CIE Support Model

The Entrepreneur:

Tracie Long is a middle-aged self-made entrepreneur residing in the city of Camillus. Tracie’s motivation to start a company like Avocadough came after the passing of her father. Due to a family history of cardiovascular problems, Tracie has taken it upon herself to maintain a physically fit and heart friendly lifestyle. Combined with Tracie’s love of baking, she started Avocadough in 2014.

Ms. Long is a wife and mother of 4. Both Mr and Ms Long work full time positions. Mr. Long is self-employed and works in financial planning, annuity’s, and life insurance. Since Mr. Long has a successful sustaining business. Due to this, the Long family welfare is not based on the success of Avocadough. Tracie is also the sole owner of the company with no family members or friends having any stake.

Tracie went to Hudson Valley Community College where she was studying respiratory therapy. After a year and a half Tracie left shy of a few credits for a degree. Tracie left to work for Travelers Insurance as a claims representative. Ms. Long had started Avocadough while still working for Travelers and continues to be in a contractual agreement with Travelers until June of 2015.

After NYMC’s background research on the client, we believe that Tracie is very adamant about her company and believes in Avocadough’s success. After starting the business from scratch, Tracie has completed many projects bootstrapping. Ms. Long has shown a very professional and yet emotional touch to her company.

With proper market expansion and Ms. Long’s customer service skills and culinary skills, Avocadough is looking to expand to become a national product. Tracie’s main goal is to bring her products out to a national market so that everyone could have the opportunity for a healthier alternative.

Tacie spends her week at the current time doing 4 major things. 2 days a week (Monday, Wednesday) Tracie devoted to production and packaging of her products. She spends roughly anywhere from 5-8 hours a day on average, mainly depending on the order sizes. Another 2 days (Tuesday, Friday) are devoted to delivering her products to Avocadough’s retailers. This consists of a few stores within the local area. During this time Tracie also spends time speaking with clients. This is where we see a major skill set with Tracie is speaking with clients. Another major skillset of Tracie is her networking. Usually one day a week (Thursday), sometimes more, Tracie devotes to attending marketing events. Any extra time Tracie has left is spent with her family.

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Tracie Long's Time Allocation

Production

Distribution

Networking

Family

The Business Concept:

Avocadough offers a variety of avocado based baked goods that are separated into four categories: cookies, bars, diet specific and seasonal. The cookie section includes classics such as chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookies with walnuts or pecans, white chocolate macadamia nuts and double chocolate chip cookies. They also offer more creative cookies such as chocolate chip with cocao nibs, ginger, oatmeal raisins, almond white chocolate with cranberries cookies and chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. The bars include fudge brownies, frosted fudge brownies and chocolate raspberry oatmeal bars. The diet specific section is for individuals with any dietary restriction such as gluten free and vegan. Those include gluten free oatmeal raisin, vegan chocolate chip cookies, gluten free chocolate chip, vegan gluten free double fudge brownies and vegan gluten free chocolate raspberry oat bars. Finally, some of the seasonal products that they offer are pumpkin spice muffins, molasses cookies, pecan pie bars and graham milk chocolate and marshmallow cookies.

Cookies Bars Diet Specific Seasonal

chipchocolate

Fudge brownies Gluten free oatmeal raisin

Graham, milk chocolate and marshmallow cookie

chocolate chip with walnuts

Frosted fudge brownies

vegan chocolate chip cookies

Pecan pie bars

chocolate chip with pecans

Chocolate raspberry oatmeal bars

gluten free chocolate chip

Molasses cookies

chocolate chip with cacao nibs

vegan, gluten free double fudge brownies

Pumpkin spice muffins

chocolate vegan gluten free

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chocolate chip chocolate raspberry oat bars

chocolate peanut butter chip

ginger

oatmeal raisins

almond, white chocolate with cranberries

white chocolate macadamia nuts

The products are packaged in a variety of ways such as plastic packaging and party platters. All have the Avocadough trademarked logo on them, usually in the center. See below for example.

In current time, Avocadough is sold throughout the Syracuse area but the owner, Tracie, wishes to expand her geographical market to other health conscious states such as California and Colorado.

Because Avocadough offers premium products and is the only avocado based baked good in the American market, the prices are higher than mainstream baked goods.  Besides their differentiation in the product itself, one of the unique aspects of this venture that allows them to be premium priced products are the sales and networking skills of the business owner Tracie Long. As an extremely personable and charismatic individual, she delivers her own products, which allows her to form business-client relationships. Another unique factor is that these treats have less cholesterol, low saturated fat, no trans fat and higher fiber in order to promote healthy eating. However, although the prices are considered high, the volumes of the products sold are relatively low. This is how the business makes its money, with high margins and low volumes.

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The Opportunity

There is a large opportunity for Avocadough in the healthy food industry there are currently very few tasty vegan and gluten free baked goods on the market. The forces that inevitably created this opportunity is the fact that the company owner’s family has a history of heart conditions, causing the owner to want to create a dessert that would be healthy and more nutritious. There are many people across the country who have these same issues, gluten allergies, and people who are constantly striving to have a healthier lifestyle. Thus, having a baked good that is gluten free and extremely healthy in the market is very necessary for this particular market. A few success factors that Tracie Long already managed to capitalize thus far on included marketing towards the diet and health conscious and getting into local Syracuse stores such as Natur-Tyme, J&J Pizza, NY Deli and Cafe Kubal. However, to maximize success, Avocadough’s products need to make their way into major grocery stores such as Wegmens and Whole Foods, which will increase both credibility and sales of its products.

There are several barriers to entry for this company. The first is that Avocadough’s website does not have a shopping cart where people can shop online, limiting accesibility to the products. The next barrier to entry is that the shelf life for Avocadough’s products are limited to ten days. This becomes a problem when it comes to getting into different stores because many grocery stores require a longer shelf life for products that they carry. One of the last barriers to entry is that Avocadough’s products lack nutritional facts. This is especially problematic because health conscious people tend to look at nutritional facts before buying or eating anything.  Currently, competitors have the advantage in areas of size and packaging. It is also extremely difficult to find out where the competitors get their packaging. On another note, due to the fact that many of her Avocadough’s competitors are extremely large,  if Tracie Long were to patent her process, the process would be shown to competitors and they could easily copy it and buy her out. Fortunately for Avocadough, though her competitors surpass in many aspects, their products do not have a mass college appeal like Avocadough does.

To better help expand the company and fill future orders, Tracie Long is looking to hire interns to assist with things such as packaging and delivery. In the future, she will be then looking to find interns who have skills in cooking to assist with the baking of products. She will have to train these interns in her baking process for each product. Avocadough is inevitably looking to scale upwards and expand its reach to health conscious places such as California, Colorado, and Vermont.

Below is a table outlining the ‘moment of truth’ for Ms. Long’s clients. This is the point where Avocadough’s customer will make a judgment about Ms. Long and her business practices.

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Moment of Truth

1. Promotional Material

a. Business Card

b. Post Card

c. Website

2. Order Contact

a. Customer will contact Ms. Long through email

Internal Infrastructure

Ms. Long currently produces her baked goods at St. Ann’s Church in Northern Syracuse although her office is in her home. The kitchen facility has a food processor and two ovens that allow Ms. Long to produce up to 250 goods per week. She is charged by the day, not by the hour. This allows Ms. Long to save hundreds of dollars. She is the only employee of Avocadough, however she is looking to hire someone to take over the responsibility of deliveries. She currently does deliveries in her own car and does not have a company van.

Ms. Long received her LLC for Avocadough in March of 2014. She currently keeps all of her records in her home office. She has no official database, only files and records of information. Ms. Long currently uses Quickbooks to do her accounting and budgeting and is looking into receiving some further insights on how to use Quickbooks more effectively. Avocadough currently has an in depth website detailing all of the baked goods Avocadough has to offer and the history of the business. Ms. Long will be looking to partner with Pay Pal in order to offer online ordering.

Operational Flow Chart

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Moment of Truth

1. Promotional Material

a. Business Card

b. Post Card

c. Website

2. Order Contact

a. Customer will contact Ms. Long through email

Order emailed to Ms. Long over email

Ms. Long accepts or declines the orderdepending on quantity and date needed

Takes Ms. Long a day to bake the orders

Ms. Long delivers the products to customers

Networks with customer on delivery

Follow-up to see how product sale went,as well as any re-supply

Marketing Effort

Ms. Long has positioned Avocadough in a very niche market segment. The company is aimed at adults and children with a health conscious mind set. Specifically females around the age of 30 to 50. This demographic would be individuals in the upper middle class income range that are interested in a better quality snack product. Avocadough also focuses on a consumer who has had cardiovascular problems or is physically fit and like to enjoy a snack post-workout.

Avocadough’s brand is very bold and memorable. Through primary research NYMC was able to find out that the average consumer who has seen Ms. Long’s product once will continue to remember it. The distinctive bright green avocado is a landmark logo for individuals who have seen the product before. Avocadough’s name also stands out. Since the core concept of the company is to use an avocado based dough the name makes the consumer understand the product.

Ms. Long has utilized bootstrapping methods when it comes to advertising and promotion of the company. Through multiple free networking events she was able to set up a very strong network of business professionals that also act as advisors to Ms. Long and Avocadough. Various magazines have featured Ms. Long or her company and that has increased her social media presence. Avocadough also does co-op projects with her retailers, such as Urban Life Athletics, in order to increase her market exposure. Ms. Long has been very successful in marketing her products and logo to various companies and consumers. She has a very strong networking skill and is able to build relationships with different people.

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The current marketing channels that Avocadough utilizes is wholesaling to retailers that order through email. NYMC is working with Ms. Long to open up more marketing channels. Through primary research we were able to determine that dough distribution to food service companies can bring in more revenue. Also, with the implementation of the online cart coming out on Avocadough’s website Ms. Long will start to see a spike in purchases. Through consumer research we’ve seen that many individuals wish to make a purchase through Avocadough’s site, but don’t know how. The online-cart will change that and bring in more orders. Avocadough is currently distributing it’s products to various consumers in and around the Syracuse, NY area. These retailers are:

Natur-Tyme, Urban Life Athletics, Green Planet Grocery Cicero, J&J Pizza & NY Deli, Edge Strength Conditioning, Bike Loft North, Broadway Cafe & Arctic Island, Green Planet Groceries, Lofo - Love Food.

The pricing structure for Avocadough’s products are high margin revenue with medium volume sales. Avocadough’s products are prices at the competitive market price allowing Ms. Long to have a fair advantage with other products in the same category. For example if we take two products from Avocadough’s product mix we will be able to see the margin which it gets priced at.

Cranberry Almond Cookies: This product costs Ms. Long about $0.55 cents to make. It is then wholesaled to the retailer at $1.92, this is a $1.37 mark up for Ms. Long. Ms. Long makes a 70% gross profit on her mark up. The retailer then resells the product for $2.75 to $3.75 depending on the retailer.

Brownie: Ms. Long produces her brownies at about the same price as the Cranberry Almond Cookie, $0.55 cents. The product is then wholesaled at $1.35 to the retail, this is a 60% gross profit on her mark up of $0.80 cents. The brownie is then resold by the retailer at $2.50 to $3.95 based on the retailer.

Ms. Long constantly is looking at her competitors within the business in order to determine how her company compares. With the utilization of IBIS industry reports and various research done by NYMC, Ms. Long is able to structure her company competitively compared to competitors. Currently the only local competitor Ms. Long has is a company called Hunka. After looking at Hunka, NYMC with Ms. Long determined that their market share is quite small. Hunka does not have a strong social media presence and does not distribute too many retailers. Currently, Avocadough is the only avocado based baked good in the US. Ms. Long was able to determine that through a search with the Small Business Association (SBA).

Ms. Long does not do any customer screening at the current moment. If an order is large enough and within a reasonable geographical area Ms. Long will distribute the product herself. Ms. Long will even ship the product to the consumer as well depending on the order amount. Avocadough’s retailers work on a pay on delivery basis for in-person deliveries. Natur Type however runs late when payment is needed. Most companies are given an invoice and sign the invoice to indicate they have received the order. This lowers risk for Avocadough for bad debt.

Avocadough’s customer buying habits and process consists of: determining the products which they wish to purchase through Avocadough’s product mix online. The customer then contact’s Ms. Long to fill out an order request. After the order has been

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accepted and filled the customer will meet with Ms. Long on delivery. If the customer (retailer) liked the product and their customers purchased it, then the customer will re-contact Ms. Long for another order. Avocadough customer’s current trend is to increase the order amount with each purchase. Through financial research we have seen Ms. Long’s customers increasing their order amount monthly.

Company Financials

Avocadough’s financials are being recorded on QuickBooks Intuit program. This allows people developing small businesses to input their financials at a fraction of the cost of utilizing an accounting firm. Ms. Long records all her purchases, invoices, product costs, and so on into QuickBooks. QuickBooks is a user friendly platform that allows various inputs to be logged in as well as invoices to be sent to other companies. It also has a accounts receivables section that allows the customer to properly asses the timeliness of when a customer pays for their purchase. Ms. Long has never dealt with a customer who hasn’t paid on time except for one current retailer. However, that retailer always ends up paying just a little later than the date requested.

The costing structure of Avocadough is highly variable at the current moment. Ms. Long spends most of her fixed cost expenses on advertising and promotion as well as any professional fees or internet fees. Her rent is very minimal and is on a use basis, instead of by month. Ms. Avocadough’s variable expenses however are quite high, due to the specialty of the products.

The breakeven point for Avocadough has not been obtained yet. In order for a break even to be calculated each product would need to be broken down by ingredient. Each ingredient would then need to be divided by the amount of the average purchase of that ingredient. Then you would need to multiply that price by the average amount it costs to purchase that ingredient from the store.

Ms. Long has no proper cash flow charts to determine what the company is actually bringing in. An income statement determines what the company has brought in and spent money on, however income statements usually come out positive while a cash flow takes in other figures and can come out negative.

Ms. Long doesn’t have a background in finance. NYMC had to revise a few of Avocadough’s transactions due to misread figures. Ms. Long either needs to go through training to properly input her financials or a professional needs to come in and properly asses her figures on a monthly basis. Due to Ms. Long’s strong networking and baking skills NYMC believes the best suit for her would be to obtain a professional firm to help her with Avocadough’s financials.

Through proper assessment of Avocadough’s records, NYMC will be able to perform proper benchmarking ratios for the company. After assessing the company’s revenues, Avocadough has seen a compounded monthly growth rate of ~50%. As sales have increased at a high scale, Ms. Long has decreased variable expense by buying non-perishable items in bulk. Most of Ms. Long’s fixed expense goes into marketing, which helps drive sales up.

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External Network

Avocadough’s current supplier is Regional Access located in Ithica, NY. Ms. Long is in contact with Hillcrest suppliers based out of Saratoga Springs. However, this supplier does not offer a competitive pricing structure compared to her current supplier. Ms. Long will also go to grocery stores for purchasing certain supplies. Through experience Ms. Long noticed that grocers like Wegmans will offer a lower price than her current suppliers. The only problem with this is that through her suppliers all her purchases are delivered to her door. This also allows for Ms. Long to spend more time on other tasks of the company.

For any legal advice Ms. Long works with a firm called Hancock Estabrook, LLP. At Hancock Estabrook there are two lawyers that work for Avocadough. Ms. Long has both an intellectual property lawyer for patenting, trademarking, and any other help she needs. Ms. Long also works with a corporate lawyer who helped Avocadough become and LLP as well as help Ms. Long with any consulting advice she needs.

Avocadough currently does all it’s banking through SEFCU a credit union firm that operates in the CNY area. The reason Ms. Long decided to go with SEFCU is because her family’s personal accounts are with the firm. However, Ms. Long is not happy with her current business banker. SEFCU is also based out of Albany, NY. Ms. Long is working with NYMC and currently in the process of obtaining a micro loan from Cooperative Credit Union. Ms. Long, with NYMC’s support, believes that moving her finances into CCU would be more beneficial for Avocadough since they are also based out of Syracuse.

Distribution of Ms. Long’s products are all done by her. NYMC is working with Ms. Long in identifying a proper packager and distributor for Avocadough. At the current moment NYMC is in contact with Perimeter Brand Packaging to identify the proper channels for Avocadough to go through.

All of Avocadough’s accounting recording is done by Ms. Long on QuickBooks Intuit program. This is a very user friendly program that lets Ms. Long input her financials in a basic process. With market expansion and an increase in revenue, Ms. Long will be looking for an employee to come on and work on Avocadough’s financials or Ms. Long will be looking into proper accounting firms to take care of the work as this is not Ms. Long’s strong suit. For tax work Avocadough deals with Morrison Tax Service. This is both Ms. Long’s personal tax person as well as business. Morrison Tax Service has advised Ms. Long on other opportunities free of charge.

Ms. Long works with other advisors as well. Her mentor, Peter Hess a successful entrepreneur and CEO, has helped Ms. Long with any information within building a business that she was confused with. Ms. Long also has advisors within WISE, Women Succeeding in Entrepreneurship, as well as South Side Innovation Center.

Avocadough has utilized many sources for free publicity and cheap advertising. Ms. Long has been in Syracuse New Times, Baked Magazine, Women of Syracuse, as well as on Citrus

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TV. Avocadough’s social media sites are also very successful. The companies Facebook page has over 800 likes and continues to grow. Ms. Long is constantly using her social media pages to implement promotions and giveaways as well as promote her companies name.

Deliverables

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Introduction

Through the use of our support model outlined above, NYMC has identified four

functional areas of the business that we believe are in need of the most development:

financing – line of credit, nutritional facts, product packaging, as well as a strategic plan

established for future growth.

In identifying the deliverables, our consulting team has considered various factors that

could potentially impact the business in a positive or negative way. Each deliverable is

assessed and rated based on a cost/benefit relationship upon implementation, as well as

sustainability of that deliverable into the future. After having identified each deliverable with

Ms. Long prior, NYMC feels confident that we have provided the tools necessary for

Avocadough to succeed.

Avocadough continues to expand through Ms. Long’s business practices. These tools

provided by NYMC are built to make sure that growth is sustained. If properly implemented

and monitored, Avocadough will increase its retailers and increase the amount of revenue the

company brings in.

Deliverable 1: Financing – Line of Credit

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Obtaining financing sources, or a line of credit, through various channels in order to

increase production, workforce, and help expand into major retailers.

Current Situation

Avocadough started through self-financing by Ms. Tracie Long. This has been a strain

on Ms. Long’s personal life; being a wife and mother of four Tracie needs to keep her

personal finances separated from her company. Mr. Long is unable to solely carry their

family in the current state of comfort they have been accustomed to. Ms. Long is also unable

to personally finance her company anymore, due to reasons with her previous employer.

Obtaining additional financing, a company needs to have proper financials.

Avocadough’s financials are currently being inputted into QuickBooks program called Intuit.

This program is primarily suited for individuals as well as small business owners, making it a

key attribute to Ms. Long’s financials. However, after being reviewed by our team we noticed

there were multiple areas within the financial statements that were inaccurately done.

Ms. Long continues to show charisma and is continually active within her company.

This includes entering Avocadough into multiple business plan competitions. By entering

into business plan competitions Ms. Long has been able to obtain a large network of

individuals to help her as well as the experience these competitions give an aspiring

entrepreneur.

Recommendations

There are various ways for a company to obtain proper financing. They could go to a

bank and obtain a business loan, seek out angel investors and offer equity, and many more.

NYMC believes that Avocadough should seek two forms of financing, a line of credit that

can be obtained through Cooperative Credit Union, as well as obtaining funding from

winning business plan competitions.

Cooperative Credit Union offers business loans to local small businesses in the

Syracuse area. These loans can be taken out as a line of credit, term loan, business home

equity, and a commercial real estate loan. Avocadough however is looking for a line of credit.

This line of credit will be for the sum of $20,000 to $30,000 depending on the amount

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Avocadough wishes to take out. NYMC has already presented Avocadough with the proper

documentation for this process. There are two main requirements in order to obtain the line of

credit. Avocadough needs to have proper financials as well as a proper business plan. NYMC

has gone through Avocadough’s financials and changed any improper inputs that were done

[Appendix 1: Financials]. Our financial experts have also gone through and calculated any

proper financial ratios that Ms. Long can use when presenting her information to the bank,

this includes things like the compounded annual revenue growth rate and Avocadough’s

gross profit margin. After editing the financials NYMC had to work on updating and editing

Avocadough’s business plan [Appendix 2: Business plan]. This task took the entire team to

split up each section and re-edit her plan with Avocadough’s current stance as well as where

the company will be going in the future. The company’s business plan is vital to have. A

company with a strong business plan will never lose track of where their company is going.

Once Cooperative Credit Union has gone through and reviewed Avocadough’s information,

NYMC is sure that Avocadough will obtain a line of credit through them. However, there

should always be a backup choice.

NYMC believes that in the situation that funding through Cooperative Credit Union

does not work out, Avocadough should obtain funding through business plan competitions.

Ms. Long has shown she has the presentation skills of a true public speaker and that she

knows her company very well. Ms. Long has already entered into various competitions. Her

most recent competition InnovateHer by the Small Business Administration (SBA) has

shown to be a success. Ms. Long was required to pitch her competition to a panel of judges

and she was very successful in this. This has led her to go into the competitions next round

where out of all the regional finalists (approx. 120), 10 will be chosen based on the business

plan alone. Those 10 will then go to DC to pitch their business to a panel of judges where

Avocadough could be in the run for a $30,000 purse split between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Ms. Long

should continue to apply to various business plan competitions. A good resource,

www.bizplancompetitions.com, provides users with various business plan competitions that

range from various requirements, geographical locations, and prize pools. Business plan

competitions are a hassle free way of obtaining capital for a company with no equity given

up. Business plan competitions also offer a good network of individuals to meet. A great

example of a strong business plan competition is Cartier Women’s Initiative award.

Avocadough has fulfilled all the requirements to enter into this competition. For more

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information on the competition feel free to visit their site at,

www.cartierwomensinitiative.com.

What to do after

Proper financing is key for any business to grow. With enough capital a company can

expand various parts of their business segments. Avocadough needs to spend their extra

capital on growing the increasing the company’s workforce. Bringing on new employees will

help the company produce more products and will give Ms. Long more time to work with

current clients and obtain new retailers to sell her product in. The extra capital can also go to

improving the company’s current packaging options. Proper packaging brings in major

retailers, Avocadough’s current packaging does not have the suitable lifespan required to be

shipped to national retailers. Proper packaging is explained in deliverable number 3.

Avocadough should also look into bringing on a proper accountant. Financials are a key part

of a business and Ms. Long has multiple strengths within her business, however her financials

are not as strong as an experts. Improper financials can show an inflow of cash when the

company might be losing money. Through proper capital management Avocadough will be

able to utilize the company’s finances to see market expansion and sales growth.

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Deliverable 2: Standardize Product Nutritional FactsBy providing proper nutritional facts, Avocadough will see a spike in their target customer

demographic, as well as be able to acquire major retailers.

Background

Health foods acquired a high level of importance in the society and it mainly

happened because of the obesity statics showed in the last years. This is a concern among

people from all over the world and the health food industry has taken an important space in

the food industry in general. If you look for nutritional information on the internet, you will

be guided to look up for the product’s package and see the amount of protein, carbohydrate,

and general information to compare with what a typical person is supposed to ingest daily.

Most of them come with an announcement saying the amount of calories per package and

they try to make very clear that their products are lower in calories. From this, we may

conclude that this type of information on the packaging of any product that wants to be in the

competitive health range of foods is highly valued.

It came up to Avocadough’s products because the only information was in the

website, that is not quantitative due to not saying its nutrition facts neither easily accessible

due to not having this by hand. Following this, the idea of putting Avocadough’s product in

major retailers came up, but it didn’t have the correct packaging and information about the

goods. After these notifications, NYMC decided that was vital to have nutrition facts.

Market Demographic

Even though health food has been a phenomenon among all the world, it has a

specific group that is the most interested in buying those. This selected group composes

bodybuilding, individuals that practice a healthy lifestyle, and those who are trying to lose or

maintain their weight. These people research and usually already know which components

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they are looking for. They will not consume a product only because it states it is healthier, or

for the amount of calories that comes written in the package. This consumer would look for

the information that the product presents on their nutritional facts, not their marketing

information. It is normal to have misleading information labeled on the package so

consumers nowadays require a product to have factual nutritional facts. This group also has

different goals. For example, bodybuilding usually has a diet based on the amount of protein

they consume, so they would rather chose the Avocadough’s snack with the highest amount

of protein and lowest amount of fat. The marketing of having these information is not limited

by the information, but also when those people find a very interesting healthy snack, they

usually share by social media and by talking with people close to them too.

It doesn’t stop with health conscious people, it also comes for those who are

beginning a physically fit or heart friendly lifestyle listed above, or even for normal people

that want to try something new. People who just heard about Avocadough know that it is part

of the health food industry, but they don’t know anything about the product, so the

attractiveness is the good nutritional facts it comes with. New customers are seeking

information on the package that matches with the instructions they are following from their

nutritionist, books, or the internet and the nutrition facts conduce, indicate and make them

buy that product to give a chance for this new product.

People with diseases/allergies need to carefully pay attention to certain ingredients in

Avocadough’s products and be certain the nutritional information is accurate. Some people

need to control the amount of sugar and cholesterol they consume and it’s bigger and even

more common when allergies are mentioned. People are allergic to a lot of different

substances and they may avoid buying products without all these information to protect their

health.

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The Contact

For all those reasons and for recognizing the importance of applying this to the

product, NYMC contacted Syracuse University’s nutrition department and saw a great

opportunity to have a cheap, high quality, and easy access to the nutrition facts to

Avocadough’s products. NYMC got in touch with one of the professors of the schools

nutrition department. NYMC was aware that only the head of the department would allow

non-nutrition students to do this work. A meeting was scheduled with Kay Stearns Bruening,

program director, NYMC partnered and obtained nutritional facts at no cost for the company

[Appendix 3: Nutritional Facts] [Appendix 4: Ms. Bruening contact information] .

Ms. Long, NYMC, and Dr. Bruening met one afternoon in Sims Hall, where the

nutrition department is located, properly analyzed and evaluated the nutrional information of

each product with proper instruction from Dr. Bruening to certify all the nutrition facts were

being correctly searched and applied. After a whole afternoon of group work and due to all

the cooperation of the director, all the nutrition facts of Avocadough’s recipes were

successfully made.

As a great addition, the head of the department asked for a picture with Tracie, the

owner of Avocadough, to show how the department has been helping small local businesses.

This was a great and free promotion for Avocadough to have a visible connection with

Syracuse University, insure the quality of the nutritional facts, and a free and important

marketing to Syracuse students and also residents for the area around Syracuse.

Implementation

Once Avocadough has its nutritional facts, this will allow Ms. Long to implement the

information onto her products packaging. Avocadough will have a better brand name for

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being healthy, with all its properties and ingredients well described which will certainly give

more credibility for this products conceptions.

This information will allow the product to reach different retailers and customers with

their own objectives and necessities. The company will be allow to enter in markets that have

the necessity to show this information to consumers. Another possibility is the hospital

sector. A lot of components of Avocadough are extremely good for people who need to take

care of their health. Avocado, the main ingredient present in all the recipes, is a heart-friendly

and lower fat substitute to current doughs.

The marketing from the nutritional facts also works with social media. It is a great

way to promote from the internet once the product’s information is available in flyers,

Facebook, Instagram, and all the media outlets Avocadough has to promote its products. With

this easy information, the product gains more visibility from the customers.

Sustainability

Concluding this deliverable, the project was even more successful because a contact

was established between Avocadough and Dr. Bruening. Tracie is allowed to come back to

Bruening’s office to visit the computer lab that has the program which NYMC used to

develop the nutritional facts. The program is very simple to use making it easy for Ms. Long

to visit the computer lab at any time.

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Deliverable 3: Obtaining Proper PackagingDetermining the best packaging for Avocadough’s products to give the company the longest shelf life possible while also gaining a marketing tool to enter new markets.

Background

During our meetings with Ms. Long, she explained that the majority of her ingredients

were all natural as to make her products as healthy as possible. She also uses basic plastic

containers to store and send her products to consumers or shops. The issue with this is that

organic ingredients expire twice as fast as food products with preservatives. Furthermore, the

plastic containers Ms. Long currently uses do not preserve her products past a seven to ten

day shelf life. After beginning Avocadough in July of 2014, Ms. Long has not had the

resources to get better packaging to obtain a longer shelf life. Ms. Long also understands that

if Avocadough has a chance of entering major retailers such as a Wegman’s or a Trader

Joe’s, the shelf life of the product needs to be longer than seven to ten days.

Tracie Long currently spends two days a week preparing and baking her products and

two days a week delivering these products to either consumers directly or to shops that buy in

bulk from her. Tracie loses a day of freshness from the time she bakes the goods and when

she delivers her products. If Tracie would like to keep her weekly schedule the same, it would

be essential for her to get better packaging to preserve the products for a longer period of

time.

Recommendation

The current packaging Tracie has for her Avocadough products is not the proper

packaging major retailers want to see of potential business partners. We believe that

obtaining new and more effective packaging is essential to help Avocadough grow as a

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business. Our team researched potential companies that can help Avocadough get better

packaging to preserve the products better.

Our criteria for finding Ms. Long a packaging company was affordability, appealing,

and effectiveness of the packages. Competitor products last for months giving them a clear

competitive advantage over Avocadough. The current design of the packaging is also very

dull and lacks appeal. It is either a cookie sheet paper for the cookies or a plastic container for

the brownies. The packaging does have Avocadough’s unique logo on the front.

Through contacting various advisors who have experience within the packaging

industry we plan on determining the best possible approach to identifying the path

Avocadough should follow. We advise that Ms. Long contact and order packaging from

Berry Plastics. Berry Plastics offers a wide variety of food film which is a perfect fit for what

Ms. Long needs for her food. Specifically, the converted packaging and the

frozen/microwavable film would be ideal for the type of products and segments Ms. Long

wants to penetrate. The converted packaging would work well for her cookies, brownies, and

bars while the frozen film would work well for her frozen dough she plans on selling to

consumers and retailers.

Benefits

After discussing the needs Ms. Long requires for her business, we believe Berry

Plastics meets her primary needs and offers more benefits that we think can help Avocadough

grow. Along with offering effective film packaging that can sustain the freshness of

Avocadough’s products for an extended period of time, Berry Plastics can also print company

logos on all products and offer convenient pricing options. Currently, Ms. Long prints her

own logos and tapes them on all her packaging herself. With the help of Berry Plastics, they

can print out the logos and use adhesives to post them on the packaging. This is not only

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convenient, but will also make all of Avocadough’s products look professionally done, giving

Avocadough another marketing tool to enter retailers. Berry Plastics also requires a minimum

printing order of 30,000 dollars. However, they offer an individual option for 100 dollars a

package of printing labels that is more affordable for Ms. Long. We spoke to customer sales

representative, Robbie, who can be reached at 812-250-3731.

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Deliverable 4: Strategic Plan This plan will provide Avocadough with a guideline to follow in the following years

Major Retailers

The first part of the strategic plan is to aid Avocadough get into major retailers.

Obtaining a spot into a Wegmans or Wholefoods for example, will drive the sales of

Avocadough’s products considerably, allowing Tracie Long to manage a profitable business.

NYMC got informed on the process of how to put a local product in a local Wegmans and

informed Tracie on it. The process involves submitting company introduction, the products

information and how to be contacted back in a file through mail. The address would have to

be addressed to 1500 Brooks Ave, PO box 30844, Rochester NY 14603. After doing so, it is

a waiting game. If the corporation likes your product and thinks it would be a good fit for

them, they will contact you back. The next step would have to be to send samples to the same

address. Tracie will not have to present her products and all steps are done by mail. This can

be a challenge as one of Tracie’s core competencies is her personality and her networking

skills, however, that can be overcome by making the company introduction and product

information extremely memorable.

Future Company Culture

The next valuable strategy is to start organizing how the company structure will be

arranged when the workforce increases. As the company grows, more employees will have to

be employed and the company culture will have to be created. We suggest making this

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company culture a collaborative and open one, where people work together instead of having

a clear and distinct hierarchy. This will encourage the employees to stay within the company

and will decrease the likelihood of turnover rate.

Digital Marketing Plan

NYMC encourages the focus on development of a feasible digital marketing plan that

would allow Avocadough to increase brand awareness and inevitably expand outside of the

CNY area.

Upon meeting with Tracie L. Long for the first time, NYMC found that she was

running all of her social media outlets by herself. Though she has little marketing experience,

Tracie’s digital marketing tactics left her with just over 600 followers on Facebook, 500 plus

followers on Twitter, and about 300 followers on Instagram. Between these three social

media outlets, some of her marketing tactics included moderately frequent postings of her

products as well as small contests that got users engaged. For example, one day, Tracie took a

picture of one of her cookies and posted it on her social media outlets. The first person to

guess the location of the cookie had the opportunity to win the cookie. It was content such as

this where Tracie gained the most interaction from her customers. Another approach Tracie

had implemented prior to meeting with the NYMC was having her products featured on other

people’s social media outlets. By having her product on the page of someone with thousands

of followers, Tracie was able to gain new customers with free advertising.

In digging deeper into Tracie’s digital marketing history outside of social media, the

NYMC found that she and her products were featured in publications in the CNY area

including Syracuse Woman and Syracuse University student run food magazine, Baked.

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When it came to looking at Avocadough’s website, www.avocadough.com, the

NYMC found that the site was extremely professional and due to the presentation of the

baked goods on the first page, looked like it was extremely inviting and intriguing to

customers. However, upon further examination of the website, the NYMC found that there

were some major glitches, one of which was hindering sales. The first issue was that the

website was not easy to navigate due to the fact that once one tab was clicked on, you could

not click on another. However, the biggest problem was that the shopping cart for the website

was not functional. Not only did this limit Avocadough’s sales, but it also limited the

company’s reach outside of the CNY area.

Website

While Avocadough’s website is up to par, it is extremely necessary that a designer

look at the “back office” of the website to fix both the issue with the tabs and the

dysfunctional shopping cart. The NYMC plans on providing Avocadough with such a

designer as Tracie is having a difficult time getting in contact with her.

By implementing some of the tactics presented above, as of April 1st, Avocadough has

grown its Facebook followership by 350 people, its Twitter followership by 150 people, its

Instagram followership by more than 100 people. The NYMC has also successfully gotten

Tracie and Avocadough’s products on Citrus TV and also gotten Tracie featured in a food

application called The Slice. Currently, due to the great response from its readers, Tracie is

set to be feature in Syracuse Woman for the next two months where she will be discussing

different recipes. It is through this publication, which circulates bigger than the university,

where Tracie will continue to increase her brand awareness and possibly gain ground-

breaking contracts. As for the website, the shopping cart is in the process of being fixed. Ms.

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Long is in contact with a website designer that will help her pro-bono in reformatting her

website. The company will soon have the potential to expand across the US and provide

quality products to everyone.

Master copies of these materials will all be sent to Tracie to keep for her records.

They will also be included as pdf files and located on a hard drive for her keeping. Tracie is

extremely efficient when it comes to her computer skills and NYMC is confident that she will

continue to implement these tactics that will ensure the success of Avocadough.

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Recommendations

As this course is only one semester, several elements and aspects of the business still

need to be implemented.

Our first recommendation is for Tracie Long to keep doing joint social media

marketing efforts as well as seek out as much free publicity as possible. So far, Tracie has

done a wonderful job networking and obtaining those elements, which is why Ms. Long

should continue doing so to keep up her momentum.

Tracie already has a strong grasp in regards to the current state of Avocadough’s

social media outlets. However, as the company grows, the social media aspect of the

company will begin to see less attention as Tracie directs her time elsewhere. It is

recommended that any intern or employee that Avocadough takes on should have the ability

to post on Avocadough’s behalf. The content of the post does not have to be consistently run

by Tracie, however, there should be a standard formatting or content necessary for each post.

To review this social media plan please refer to Appendix 5.

Another simple and achievable recommendation would be to implement a steady

accountant as soon as the profitability allows the business to do so. It is extremely important

for a new business to have the correct numbers at hand, especially the break-even point, the

overall costs and the final profitability. Although programs like Quickbooks is helpful for

accounting purposes to Avocadough’s business owner, a paid and trustworthy accountant will

be more beneficial to the business.

As Tracie Long is growing her business, more employees are going to have to join the

venture. Tracie should start thinking of how she wants her organization to be structured in

terms of hierarchy. She should also understand that, the more people are working under her,

the more important the company culture will be. Similar to Tracie’s personality, we

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recommend setting up a company culture that is open and transparent with each other to build

trust and relationships between employees and owner. This will entice people to stay in the

venture and decrease future employee turnover.

Finally, New York Management Core advises Tracie to set up realistic goals for

the year. These goals would include getting in 3 more retailers within a year, with one of

them being a large-scale retailer such as Wegmans or Wholefoods. Setting up this goal will

encourage Tracie to achieve it as well as keep her in track with her expansion plan. Part of

deliverable 3 was information on how to put a product in a Wegman’s shelf, Tracie Long

should follow up and send her information in. She should also be attentive of people she may

know that work in large retailers by using her networking skills and websites such as

LinkedIn.

What We Learned During our time in the EEE 443 Consulting course, New York Management Core

learned a number of different lessons.

The first lesson we learned is that as you start a business for the first time, you will

not have all the answers right away, but that should not prevent you from moving forward. It

is impossible to make all the decisions before starting the business, as entrepreneurs learn as

they go and are constantly making various business decisions.

It is also easy to think that successful entrepreneurs knew how to create a prosperous

business from the beginning and that they made all the right moves, however, that is not

correct. Entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes and consequently adapt. The lesson is to do

your research to minimize your initial errors but once you make a mistake, learn and adjust.

Another lesson the consulting group learned is that if only one individual is starting a

business, there are areas of that business that will be lacking, as someone cannot possibly be

excellent in all areas. However, that is perfectly acceptable, the main point is to know which

areas you need help with, and seek help and information in order to grow. In terms of Tracie

Long, her core competencies are clearly her people skills and her marketing skills. This is

excellent for her as she is able to easily connect with potential clients and keep relationships

with current clients, which is a key aspect of a business. However, as she has never had

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formal training in accounting, her skills in that department are lacking. Ms. Long understood

that, and seeks assistance, which helped her grow as an accountant as well as grow her

business.

Finally, and possibly the most important lesson, all five of our team members

learned how to communicate with a client. New York Management Core discovered how to

build trust and a long-term relationship from a new client as well as learned how to be

comfortable managing a client. The team succeeded in being themselves and open as well as

respectful and considerate, which was partly thanks to having a wonderful client with the

same openness and respectfulness.

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Appendix 1: Profit and Loss Statements Summarized w/ Edits

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Appendix 2: Business Plan (formatting is altered after pasting the document)

For the Health of it! Foods

Avocadough

Business Plan05/16/14

109 Joel Ln

Camillus, NY 13031

315 373 3945

tlong@avocadough.com

www.forthehealthofitfoods.com

www.avocadough.com

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tr

Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents…………………………..

2. Executive Summary………………………..

3. Business Description & Vision…………….

4. Definition of the Market……………………

5. Description of Products and Services………

6. Organization & Management………………

7. Marketing and Sales Strategy………………

8. Financial Management …………………….

9. Appendices…………………………………

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Executive Summary

I have had a sweet tooth for as long as I can remember, with a fondness for cookies, bars and brownies; though I don’t discriminate and love all food! My enthusiasm is apparent when I talk about food. It is just as much an emotional experience as physical, incorporating the senses while nourishing the body. As my family can attest (with a sigh, as we are on our 3rd stop or going an hour out of the way) when we travel, I research beforehand and have bakeries and restaurants mapped out. Since my teen years, I have been in the kitchen, baking at least once or twice a week. As time has passed, this has not changed, but I began to recognize the importance of what I put in my body. If I ate processed foods or foods containing refined white flour, sugar and preservatives, I could feel the difference. So many times in my life, I have said to myself that I need to cut back and eat less baked goods to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. Though I just did not have the willpower to curb it!

With a family history of heart disease, a borderline high cholesterol check and my insatiable cravings, I decided to embrace it and continue to make the foods that I love to prepare and eat, but put a healthy spin on them. I modified my recipes so that they deliver health benefits, but don’t sacrifice taste and still satisfy. I recognized that I could replace fats with healthier fats and refined grains with whole grains. I sought out ingredients that are predominantly organic, unprocessed and contain no hydrogenated oils or trans-fat to make my food healthier for the heart and the body. Thus, “For the Health of it! Foods”, with the initial product offering of “Avocadough” was created! Food that satisfies but doesn’t leave you feeling guilty.

The “Avocadough” line offers baked goods, including numerous varieties of cookies, bars, brownies, muffins, breads and cakes. Gluten Free (shared facility), Raw, Vegan and Paleo options are available as well.

This product was developed to provide health benefits over “traditional” baked goods. These products all include avocado, which has many health benefits. It contains phytosterols and Polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols which help to keep inflammation under control in the body. It is low in saturated fat and contains Oleic Acid, a heart healthy monounsaturated fat as well as polyunsaturated fat. They contain potassium, fiber, folate and many other vitamins and minerals.

The non-gluten free options contain whole grains. Research has shown that consuming whole grains instead of refined grains offer numerous health benefits. Some of these benefits include a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and obesity.

Alternate forms of organic, natural sugars are used as well in place of the traditional, processed white sugar.

I want others to recognize that they can still treat themselves and enjoy food but do it in such a way that they consume beneficial calories and are not consuming “empty” calories or high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol. By bringing this product to the marketplace, I will achieve this.

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Business Description & Vision

It is the Mission of “For the Health of it! Foods”Avocadough? to be an industry leader in the use of natural and healthier ingredients to promote a conscious and healthy lifestyle by providing satisfying and delicious food products that are better for our customers. Our commitment to our customer’s needs and expectations are vital to our success and a value shared by all associates.

Our vision is to fulfill the need in the marketplace for healthy choices and continue to help our customers enjoy the foods that they love while incorporating health benefits. Repetition from last paragraph We will continue to add to our selection of items, while utilizing our current ingredients and continuing to explore and seek out additional healthier substitutions and ingredients to better them. Our main goal is to grow from a home based business with no employees that sells fully prepared baked goods to a well respected company with a full scale facility offering baked goods as well refrigerated/frozen dough to meet our growing customer demands.

For our staff, we will offer initiatives within the company to maintain a healthy lifestyle. An on-site fitness center and/or participation in programs such as gym memberships and races will be rewarded. Examples of the rewards offered would be paying a portion or all of their out of pocket health insurance expenses, monetary bonus at year end. In addition to these physical activities, there will be healthy food offerings on-site and incentives to be active in the community.

For the Health of it Foods Avocadough?, LLC was formed as a result of my love of food, baked goods in particular. As someone who wants to be fit and healthy but contends with a family history of heart disease, I decided I would alter my recipes to satisfy my food cravings while making them a healthier option that I could feel good about eating and lose the guilt! I knew that I could substitute some ingredients with a healthier choice to alter the nutrition of an item for the better. Incorporating the health benefits of lower saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, no trans-fat, higher fiber, reduced sugar, increased nutrients and vitamins and a portion of the FDA suggested serving of fruits all while preserving the taste of the food. Providing a high quality, convenient and preservative free product.

Tracie L. Long, Founder and President

Definition of the Market

The health food industry is currently experiencing a lot of attention and consumers are becoming more focused on how their nutrition impacts their overall health and risk of chronic illness. Much research supports that diets that include the consumption of whole grains and healthy fats decrease the risk of the onset of many preventable illnesses. Based on this, the outlook for these product, its profitability and longevity in the marketplace is excellent.

The current geographical market is Central New York. The target for 2015 for the retail customers is to add online ordering, including nationwide shipping. I will then look to expand the wholesale operation along the NYS Thruway corridor throughout New York State, with a focus on the Metropolitan New York area, with a focus on New York, Suffolk and Nassau Counties within the next six months. The plan for long term (12-24 months) expansion will be throughout the United States, North America and possibly expansion to other continents.

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The target audience includes people who are concerned about their health and who are conscious of what they consume. They will likely be middle to upper class that will be willing to pay a higher amount for a product that contains high end, locally sourced and predominantly organic ingredients. They will also likely be active in sporting events and social functions that focus on health causes and support fighting illness and preventable disease. A higher percentage of females versus males.

The baked goods will appeal to customers who enjoy the convenience of a prepared item. The dough will appeal to customers who like the ease of preparing freshly baked cookies at home that are still warm from the oven (and eating raw dough-though we do not condone that) and restaurants, cafes, stores and other retailers that prepare fresh baked cookies to accompany or compliment their other offerings. The dough also offers the option for people to prepare the product based on their preference of “doneness”; controlling the consistency of the product by shortening or extending the baking time.

At this time, there are other products that share some benefits of this product but not all of the benefits in one product, such as this. There are also no other baked goods or dough products that contain avocado as the primary source of oil or fat.

Description of Products and Services

For the Health of it Foods, LLC produces Artisan baked goods, including: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip with Walnuts (see Appendix A), Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies (see Appendix B). Ginger Cookies, Almond Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies, S’ Mores Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Fudge Brownies, Oatmeal fruit bars and Oatmeal Fudge Bars. Gluten free Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal Cranberry, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip , Brownies and Oatmeal Fruit Bars. Vegan and Gluten Free Brownies, Pecan Pie Bars and Oatmeal Fruit Bars. The Pecan Pie Bars are also Paleo.

The Cookie/bar varieties listed above come in 3 sizes: 14 g, 28g and 56 g. The 14 g size is offered in a 3 pack with the 28 g offered in a single or 2 pack. The 56g is a single pack. For retail, the cookies are packaged in compostable, biodegradable cello bags. The 3 pack of 14g cookies is tied with a eco-friendly twine string. The brownie and bars are packaged in a clear, hinged deli container that is made from a minimum of 30% post consumer recycled content and is recyclable after use. For food industry, they are packaged in a larger plastic bin with parchment paper dividing the items, if they opt out of individual packaging. They have a label including the company logo (see Appendix C). They also have an ingredient label.

Custom packaging that will include the logo, nutrition information, ingredients and company information as well as health benefits or key words that will appeal in the retail setting is planned for the future.

Retail pricing varies from $0.90 to $1.63 per ounce depending on the cookie variety, dietary specific items and the ingredients involved in production.

Pricing the competitor’s products, my pricing is in line with the market for similar products in the Central New York Region. These products do not offer all of the health benefits of “Avocadough”. Some contain Non-GMO, Organic or other specialty ingredients, such as my product. Outside of Central New York, in metropolitan areas with higher costs of living (i.e. the Greater New York Metro

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Area, Miami, CA) our prices are lower than the average and could likely be increased to accommodate the higher fees associated with prime shelf space in stores.

There are currently other prepared baked goods and doughs that are purchased to bake at home. Though none compare with the total added benefits and high end ingredients. I feel this is a competitive product due to this. They cannot claim that they are preservative free, unprocessed, non-hydrogenated, sustainable, locally sourced and have whole grains ( most varieties of Avocadough contain 100% whole grains) as well as lower saturated fat, higher mono and polyunsaturated fats, higher fiber and lower added sugars.

Organization & Management

For the Health of it Food, LLC is a Limited Liability Corporation registered in the State of New York. The sole member and President, is Tracie L. Long.

The New York State Department of Agriculture has approved a form FSI-898C for in home preparation of the baked cookies, brownies and bars. A Commercial facility is secured for production, for which a 20-C application will be completed and forwarded to the NYS Department of Agriculture to allow for the addition of the dough to the product line and additional items that are excluded under the FSI-898C.

A New York State Tax Certificate of Authority is on file.

A Liability insurance policy has been secured with $1,000,000 policy limits listing For the Health of it Foods, LLC as named insured and Avocadough as an additional insured.

The Fayetteville Farmers’ Market is full for the season but an application has been completed and returned for the potential of “fill in” spots. Certificates of Insurance listing the appropriate parties are in process with Dryden Insurance via Sefcu Insurance agency.

A trademark application is in process with the United States Patent and Trademark Office being prepared by Attorney, James Youngs, who specializes in Intellectual Property, of Hancock Estabrook, LLP.

A FEIN has also been secured.

Tracie L. Long is the Founder and President. She is an avid runner and foodie but is conscious about her health. The products were formed based on her love of food and baking

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Thus far, with 5 months in the market, there is a good level of brand awareness and recognition as well as a following, the products are sold via direct sales with consumers at the CNY Regional Farmers’ Market with a banner on site (see Appendix D) and to food related businesses, including restaurants, retail locations and special events including: Green Planet Grocery in Syracuse NY as well as Cicero, NY, Broadway Valley Café, Mother Earth Health Foods, Café Kubal, J&J Pizza & NYC Deli, Lofo Love Food and Bike Loft North. The plan is to approach Nature-Tyme, Lori’s

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Natural Foods, Honest Weight Food Co-Op, Green Star Natural Foods Market, Café at 407 and other local establishments.

Participation in Tech Meets Taste, Syracuse First Buy Local Bash, Manlius Mile & Bryan’s Grizzly 5k race, Ladies’ night at Owera Vineyard, Stupid Dumb Breast Cancers and Saunacuse all occurred. Donations of gift certificates and cookie trays to numerous other non-profits and events, including but not limited to: American Heart Association, Ronald McDonald House and Maureen’s Hope. I will utilize my acquaintances, including the SSIC in-house chef and contacts made thus far through networking to gain access to additional retail locations and continue to develop and build relationships with local businesses. I have secured a mentor who can assist me in the growth and development of the company through his experience and knowledge. I will continue to seek out additional mentors and advisors who can offer insight and knowledge.

Possible utilization, if accepted, into Syracuse University’s Hill Communications, a student run PR firm and/or TNH, a student run advertising agency. They offer pro-bone assistance with marketing, development and advertising.

In addition to my focus on health related businesses, I would also seek to partner with some additional local cafes that may cater to students, working professionals and others that may be looking for a healthy alternative. A future goal is to secure a government contract and develop relationships to encourage, supply and support healthier dietary options for our military and government locations. I feel that if School Districts and the Military were to utilize my products it would support healthier habits and lifestyle, which will long term, lower health care costs.

Distribution is currently done by me in my private automobile with assistance by my husband, Tom. As the volume and need grows, I will look to determine whether it would be more cost effective to secure a larger vehicle and an employee to assist with delivery. Longer term, utilization of UPS, FedEx or the USPS and a contract with a trucking company.

Financial Management

EXPENSESCurrent/start-up costs incurred: $4077

$235 NY State filing fee for LLC

$350 Liability Insurance

$925 Trademark filing ees

$700 website and related fees, including domain purchase

$1500-equipment

$500-supplies

$220-Farmers’Market Fees

$99-logo design

$47-banner

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1 year projection- $26,600:

$400/2 years-NY State 20-C $600/year Liability Insurance

$1000/month-production facility

$2000 –upgraded equipment

$300/month-transportation

$8,000 supplies

Income statement

1 year projection:

$25,000 net profit over expenses

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Appendix A

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Appendix B

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Appendix C

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Appendix D

Appendix 3: Nutritional Facts

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Appendix 4: Ms. Bruening Contact Information

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Appendix 5: Social Media Plan

Facebook

The largest social media platform on the Internet with more than 700 million active

users, Facebook is one of Avocadough’s biggest marketing tools it has its deposal. Ideal for

new ventures, this SMO is great for Avocadough’s customer acquisition and brand

awareness. The NYMC recommends that Tracie continue posting daily, creating engaging

content, and promoting other brands (so they can also promote Avocadough) as she did

before. We also suggest that Tracie continues to engage with users and pay attention to what

her customers are saying. The comments section is one of the best ways to receive feedback

for the company outside of focus groups. A new tactic the NYMC wants Tracie to implement

is to invest in Facebook advertisements. By investing in Facebooks ads, Tracie can increase

Avocadough’s brand awareness and she will also have the power to specify her ads to the

point where she can reach her target audience.

Instagram

Utilizing sponsorships through Instagram is a great example of successful use, as

Avocadough has done with the J&J’s Pizza and other retailers that carry Avocadough’s

products. By interacting with customers,

Avocadough has shown that it is more

than just a company, but a local business

that caters to their market. Clear and

appetizing photos along with utilizing

hashtags have also kept traffic on the

company’s page. However, one

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recommendation the NYMC has for Avocadough is to make sure to incorporate key reasons

why the company’s products are “healthy.” When hearing about products such as

Avocadough’s, users sometimes tend to be sceptical, especially if the product is missing a

nutritional label. By outlining or breaking down key ingredients, it gives followers a better

understanding of what makes the product healthy along with its health benefits.

Lastly, in an effort to continue branding Avocadough as the “healthy alternative,” the

NYMC also suggested Tracie posting photos of fitness friendly events or sometimes posting

photos or videos of her working out to reinforce the “healthy” aspect of the product.

Twitter

Avocadough has already leveraged Twitter in way that has built itself a small

community by tweeting about new health-conscious products, sharing links to Avocadough

sponsored/related events, and informing followers about Avocadough’s promotions and

contests. However, to take things to the next level and grow the community, the NYMC

suggests first posting more frequently. Unlike Facebook, Twitter requires a great deal of

posting to happen throughout the day due to the amount of information that goes across this

SMO is a mere hour. Not only does the team recommend Tracie posting more, but the

NYMC also recommends interacting with users more. Whether it be re-tweeting, replying or

even favoriting someone else’s tweet, it builds traffic back to Avocadough’s Twitter page.

Lastly, the NYMC recommends that Avocadough come up with a trendy hashtag for

everything it posts. This way, whenever people enter the hashtag into their search bar, it once

again brings traffic back to Avocadough’s page.

Publications/TV

The NYMC would like to continue getting Avocadough into different publications

both on and off campus. With the campus connections that different team members have,

members of the NYMC can get Avocadough into more on-campus publications that will bee

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seen by thousands of students who are a part of the company’s target market. The NYMC

also plans on leveraging team member’s connections to get Tracie and Avocadough’s

products featured on Citrus TV. This feature would not only have the company’s information

everywhere around campus, but it would also continue to increase the brand’s credibility.

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Appendix 6: New Company Logo

For the Health of It Foods was take off the logo

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Appendix 7: Avocadough Business Card Concepts

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