Farm Machinery Manufacturer Business Plan

Emphasize Customer Service
Kouros Brothers Ltd. has already differentiated itself from other manufacturers and importers of agriculture machinery and implements by offering a spare parts and service maintenance to their maintenance, professional advice to customers and custom solutions depending on customer demands.

Build a Relationship-Oriented Business
Build long-term relationships with clients, not just selling the equipments. Let them become dependent on company’s assistance to help out in many situations. Make them understand the value of the relationship.

Focus on Target Markets
The company plans to rapidly develop marketing alliances with agriculture consulting offices. The market strategy is to capitalize on Kouros Brothers Ltd. ever-increasing customer base and contacts by offering the latest products and after sales service.

The company’s goal in the next year is to exhibit its products in the Agriculture state fair that will take place at Nicosia next October which will allow for expanding the product service area with up-to-date servicing equipment.

Even more so, the company is planning to participate to the 2006 Agriculture machinery fair-exhibition at Thesalloniki, Greece at 28.1.2006 – 1.2.2006. The company as a sole Agent and sales representative of innovative new forbidden for Cyprus, Greece, and Syria will promote its latest wheat planting machine (to be patented in February, 2005), which is not only the latest technology in this field but also can reduce the operating costs of the wheat producers by 50%.

5.1 Competitive Edge

Our competitive edge is our positioning as a strategic ally with our clients, who are clients more than customers. By building a machinery based on long-standing relationships with satisfied clients, we simultaneously build defenses against competition. The longer the relationship stands, the more we help our clients understand what we offer them and why they should both stay with Kouros Brothers Ltd.. In close-knit communities like Cyprus, reputation is extremely important, and word-of-mouth advertising is invaluable.

The following differentiate Kouros Brothers Ltd. from its competitors:

• Wide Range of Machinery and Implements.  The company’s machinery series satisfy all needs and wants of the Cypriot crop producer. Our latest technology systems and implements allow farmers to produce higher-quality products and give them a better competitive edge into European Markets.
• Low Overhead Cost. The company’s machinery systems provide a unique, low-cost production which was estimated to range from 30-70% of the crop operating cost.

5.2 Milestones

The following table lists important program milestones, with dates and managers in charge, and subjective budgets for each. The milestone schedule indicates our emphasis on planning for implementation. The most important programs are the sales and marketing programs listed in detail in the previous topics.

Company also is attributing a great emphasis on the 2005 Agriculture Fair which takes place every 2 years in the International State Fair, Nicosia and the Agriculture state fair at Thesalloniki, Greece in late January 2006.

5.3 Marketing Strategy

The overall marketing plan for Kouros Brothers Ltd. products and services is based on the following fundamentals:

• The segment of the market(s) planned to reach.
• Distribution channels planned to be used to reach market segments: radio, sales associates, and Post cards, direct marketing, mailings, etc.
• Share of the market expected to capture over a fixed period of time.

Market Responsibilities
Kouros Brothers Ltd. is committed to an extensive promotional campaign. This will be done aggressively and on a broad scale. To accomplish initial sales goals, the company will require an extremely effective promotional campaign to accomplish two primary objectives:

1. Attract quality sales/service personnel that have a desire to be successful.
2. Attract customers that will constantly look to Kouros Brothers Ltd. for their marketing.

In addition, the company plans to advertise in magazines, newspapers, television, radio, and on billboards throughout the country.

Promotion
In addition to standard advertisement practices, Kouros Brothers Ltd. will gain considerable recognition through these additional promotional mediums:

• Press releases sent to major radio stations, newspapers, and magazines.
• Radio advertising on secondary stations.
• Incentives. As an extra incentive for customers and potential customers to Kouros Brothers Ltd. name, the company plans to distribute coffee mugs, T-shirts, pens, and other advertising specialties with the company logo. This will be an ongoing program for the company, when appropriate and where it is identified as beneficial.
• Brochures. The objective of brochures is to portray the company’s goals and products as an attractive functionality. It will also show to customers how to use the latest  technology of innovations or what it relates to agricultural and Livestock sector.

Investment in Advertising and Promotion
For the first year of operation, advertising, and promotion is budgeted at a combined total of £10,000. A fixed amount of sales revenues will go toward the Kouros Brothers Ltd. advertisement campaign.

5.4 Sales Strategy

We will be offering a unique solution that will be introduced to the market through targeted advertising and direct sales. The direct sales force will consist of Mr. Kouros and Mr. Panayiotis Stella with coordination of their seasoned sales associate offices. 

Mr. Kouros Stella will manage the direct sales through personal sales calls and direct visits to villages and customer premises. This market is a long term, repetitive business where relationships are a key component to success.

We will promote the company and its ability to act as an ally to agriculture producers and livestock farmers. We will make marketable  Kouros Brothers Ltd., and keep the reputation as the industry-leading manufacturer it represents.

Pricing

Currently, Kouros Brothers Ltd. maintains a commercial credit policy for business customers with a net 30-day limit. Most of Kouros Brothers Ltd. customers choose to deal with their own financial sources.

The company offers competitive prices, which are subject to review when necessary. Knowledge of market and competitor prices gives to the company the advantage of pricing in-line with competitors. The Kouros Brothers Ltd. suppliers have and will continue to supply products that enable the company to meet the customers’ price ranges.

Most companies have a 15-20% markup on their merchandise. Having worked for most of the larger companies in the area, Mr. Kouros Stella has an advantage of knowing which companies are firm with the prices and how much others will decrease their prices.

5.4.1 Sales Forecast

The important elements of the Sales Forecasts are shown in the chart and table below. Our sales are based on Government approval of funding for Agriculture and Livestock industries at the end of 2004, which will allow our customers to purchase more new equipment to remain competitive within the new EU market. Our exclusive contracts with European equipment manufacturers, our own patented designs, and our knowledge of the local Cyprus agricultural market and buying tendencies will allow us to capture a large part of that new funding. We project a sales increase over 50% next year. Beach Creation projects include a 10-12% commission.

Direct costs vary by category; in-house items like the potato mechanization equipment will have a lower direct cost than other equipment. We project an increase in gross margin as we gain market share and develop better contracts with our suppliers. Farmers buy equipment seasonally, so sales vary by month.