Educational Software Business Plan

Our financial plan is based on our assumption of achieving desired levels of sales. Our first-year revenues (projected at $360,000) will probably be insufficient to turn a profit in the first year. However, we plan to generate net profit starting in year two. Our initial cash reserve should be sufficient to keep us afloat during the first year. Subsequent years’ cash flows generate a cushion that will allow us to further develop our business.

8.1 Important Assumptions

Our main financial assumptions are summarized in the table below.

8.2 Break-even Analysis

The main development costs of the product will be our staff costs. Our variable costs are solely those related to packaging (5% of sales), since our staff costs are monthly payroll numbers, reflected in the P&L forecasts later in this document. Our Break-even Analysis is summarized in the table below.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

First-year revenue is generated primarily from curriculum and content development services. The first-year gross income goal is $360,000, which represents a development objective of at least three full MA programs or training programs (10 courses each) or a combination of comparable curricula. It is the intent of the partners that every development project will yield re-usable learning objects that can be subsequently re-packaged to meet the needs of additional clients. The partners also intend to solicit co-ownership agreements that allow Third Degree I.D. to re-license courses and curricula to institutions other than those for which they were first developed.  The reusable learning objects and content re-licensure will provide a low-investment revenue stream that will contribute an increasingly large percentage of gross corporate revenue in subsequent years.

On the expense side, our staff costs are going to be our main cost. These are, technically, are our product development costs, as all three partners will be directly involved into the development of products for our clients. During the first year, we also plan to utilize services of outside consultants and contractors on the product development side. As stated earlier in this document, as our business grows, we plan to add additional staff. We also plan to utilize our CEO’s home office for the remaining part of 2004 and move into a new office space in January 2005.

Overall, we plan to end our first year of operations with a loss. Subsequent years wil show increasing profitability, as summarized in the table below.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

Our cash plan is based on the assumption that we meet our sales objectives and collect receivables within 60 days. This will be especially critical during our first year of operations, during which our cash balance will also depend on the initial cash contributions of the three founding partners and a two-year $30,000 loan. The combination of the two should be sufficient to keep our cash balance positive during the most critical first year of operations.

The table below summarizes our cash flow forecasts.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The table below summarizes our forecasted balance sheet. For the first two years of operations (i.e., until we generate a sufficient cash reserve), receivables represent our main current asset. Our fixed assets should be mostly limited to the computer equipment that we depreciate over 5 years. With manageable liabilities, our accounting net worth should steadily grow over the projected period.

8.6 Business Ratios

The table below summarizes our key business ratios, with comparisons to standard ratios for our industry, Educational Computer Software (SIC Code 7372.9903).