Newsagent - Newsstand Business Plan

People’s News will be a new, small chain of newsagent kiosks located in Chinatown, New York City. Prepared to launch in 2010, the business will open subway station newsstands selling a combination of English language and Chinese language periodicals as well as drinks and snacks appropriate for both markets. Customers are expected to be residents of Chinatown, commuters, visitors, and tourists, as Chinatown is both a shopping and tourism destination for out-of-towners and NYC residents from other neighborhoods. People’s News is so-named for the People’s Republic of China, and will seek to offer a taste of mainland China periodicals and products to customers. It will also provide introductions to American publications to increase the exposure of Chinese immigrants to American culture and language and to better serve English-speaking customers. People’s News will be owned and managed by Hui Kao, previously a shop owner in China, along with his son, Zhi Kao.

People’s News will sell the following products at its kiosk locations: Chinese magazines and newspapers, Chinese-American magazines and newspapers, American magazines and newspapers, refrigerated beverages, snacks, and candy. Newspapers will be both daily and weekly and magazines will be weekly and monthly.

The business will have a small loss in its first year of operations, but will use its positive cash flows in the second and third years to expand to three stores within three years and to provide steady income for Hui and Zhi Kao as well as two other relatives or other employees. Revenue is expected to exceed $700,000 per year when three stores are in operation.

Objectives

People’s News intends to meet the following objectives in its first three years of operation:

• Establish three store locations
• >Provide full-time employment for four individuals (ideally members of the owner’s family)
• Reach revenues of $700,000 per year

Mission

The mission of People’s News is to gain a regular, loyal customer base by selling American and Chinese newspapers, magazines, candy, snacks, and drinks to residents and visitors to Chinatown, New York City. The company intends to remain family-owned and managed, provide employment for as many members of the Kao family as possible and create steady incomes for those family members. The business will increase cultural awareness in two ways: by offering Chinese-American residents greater exposure to American products and periodicals than they can get at other Chinatown newsstands and by offering non-Chinese customers recommendations on Chinese and Chinese-American products and periodicals.

Keys to Success

Keys to success for the newsagent or newsstand business include:

• Choosing highly-trafficked locations for the stands
• Offering desirable snacks and beverages as well as reading material for customers who are traveling or about to travel by subway or bus
• Earning better prices from suppliers through greater volume (expanding to additional locations and centralizing purchasing)

People’s News believes that its particular success will also hinge on ensuring that all employees are bi- or trilingual (English and Mandarin at least and English, Mandarin, and Cantonese at best).