Commercial Catalog Sales Business Plan

JTB Industrial Sales Divisions marketplace is comprised of the following commercial and governmental business types

National Market Description:

1. Aerospace Industry – High Tech Manufacturers, and supporting sub-industries
2. Automotive – Automotive repair, and Auto body industry.
3. Automotive – Auto Makers, and their support industries.
4. Primary Metals and Machining Industry – Turbine, Valve, Specialty Manufacturers, and Machining industries.
5. Mining and Contractor Industry – Hole drilling and Utility service providers.

Louisiana Market Description:

1. Aerospace Industry – High Tech Manufacturers, and supporting sub-industries.
2. Automotive – Automotive repair, and Auto body industry.
3. Automotive – Auto Makers, and their support industries.
4. Primary Metals and Machining Industry – Turbine, Valve, Specialty Manufacturers, and Machining industries.
5. Mining and Contractor Industry – Hole drilling and Utility service providers.
6. Military and Governmental procurement. (not projected but available)

The potential clients available in the U.S market 303,964, and the Louisiana market 2,827 are well suited for all of the Industrial products offered by the Industrial Sales Division. Presently they all purchase from specialty catalog companies, Industrial Distributors, and via the Internet. For the purposes of developing this plan, Military and Government procurement is not included in the potential market counts.

4.1 Market Segmentation

JTB Industrial Sales, Inc – Market Segmentation:

• Aerospace Industry – High Tech Manufacturers, and supporting sub-industries.
• Automotive – Automotive repair, and Auto body industry.
• Automotive – Auto Makers, and their support industries.
• Primary Metals and Machining Industry – Turbine, Valve, Specialty Manufacturers, and Machining industries.
• Mining and Contractor Industry – Hole drilling and Utility service providers.
• Military and Governmental procurement. (not projected but available)

Key market segmentation highlights

1. All of the above markets are seeking cost reduction in their daily operations. As the JTB divisions will function as a distributor, and a service provider, we can deliver specialty products faster and more competitively priced.
2. The above markets are seeking longer product life, resulting in higher profitability, all of the above markets purchase similar products and services consolidating our internal purchasing and marketing costs. 
3. All can be serviced via existing modes of transportation, UPS, Fedex, etc.
4. 85% of the potential client base can utilize JTB’s Product and Services Divisions services, and the marketing services provided by the JTB’s Business Development Division as well. Greatly reducing the costs to acquire and solicit potential customers.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

National and Regional Market Strategy for the following industries:

1. Aerospace Industry – High Tech Manufacturers, and supporting sub-industries
2. Automotive – Automotive repair, and Auto body industry.
3. Automotive – Auto Makers, and their support industries.
4. Primary Metals and Machining Industry – Turbine, Valve, Specialty Manufacturers, and Machining industries.
5. Mining and Contractor Industry – Hole drilling and Utility service providers.
6. Military and Government Procurement.

Our marketing strategy for the above markets will vary slightly for each, but will primarily use direct marketing, utilizing the owners’ previous contacts in these industries. When completed, our interactive software systems will further allow our integration into the market as it will be developed to form a closer one-on-one relationship with the client making it faster and easier to place repeat orders.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

JTB’s Industrial Sales Division is part of the catalog sales industry, in a sub-specialty helping manufacturers and distributors choose catalog products, parts, and service conditions. This industry is dominated by a few large players at the national level, but has a fragmented, local, small-scale component numbering in the hundreds. Within our local market, we will be competing largely with other small, local businesses. There are no industry standards for order placement, service agreements, or contract structure, leading many buyers to stick with an unsatisfactory local option simply because it helps them avoid having to learn a new seller’s system.

JTB’s Industrial Sales Division will provide a select market with a variety of industrial products from top manufacturers. As JTB Industrial Sales will work as an agent to sell many of these products, commissions will be made both as a distributor, and as a service provider of specialty services. Our niche in the engineered sales aspect of the industrial distribution marketplace places strong emphasis on providing the right product for the job the first time. As management’s background comes from working as a service provider and an industrial distributor, we can bring the previous twenty-five years of experience to our technical applications. We are highly experienced in CAD design and C.N.C. machining of various other components manufactured to print per customer specification.

As we interacted with these distributors, providing them services to help their clients, we also helped many of their sales personnel, who were not properly experienced in industrial applications. In many cases, we had to rectify the problems that resulted from bad product choices, in addition to salvaging  their relations with the client by making a better, more cost-effective recommendation.

Our unique addition of interactive online marketing and ease of customer access to our services, and a strong commitment to providing a quality service, should provide a strong niche in the industry.

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

JTB’s competition consists of several locally established distributors, as well as three nationally established catalog style distributors. These businesses typically supply the local market with a variety of industrial products to meet the customers’ needs. Local distributorships are reselling some good quality tools and supplies to the local market, generally letting the customer select from the tooling and products they happen to supply, and provide outsourced services to fulfill customer needs.

Our former Missouri business sold to and manufactured for various business all over the U.S and Canada. The business and buying climate is different here in Louisiana as the businesses (buyers) allow themselves to be pilfered by the local distributorships. This seems to be caused by a lack of planning by the buyers, causing a continual rush order type of environment. Needless to say, this opens up very large margins for the distributors, as there is really no time for the customers to have things properly quoted.

Customer buying habits include everything from small dollar orders, large blanket purchase orders, systems contracts, the above mentioned “rush order scenario,” and other types of procurement.  In general, all of the competition is trying to fulfill these requests in one way or another, without any kind of standardization, generally forcing each customer to adapt to the seller’s sales and order placement methods.