Sporting Goods Retail Store Business Plan

Owner John Johnson will act as President and CEO and will be responsible for all aspects of managing and operating the company. Mr. Johnson spent almost 20 years leading research and development efforts for high technology stalwarts such as Lucent Technologies and Motorola Systems, and was a founding employee of a high-tech start-up. As the Vice President of Development for the start-up, he built the research and development team from the ground up and developed it into an 80 person team which produced leading-edge software technology that enticed Motorola Systems to purchase the company. In late 2002, Mr. Johnson made the decision to apply his entrepreneurial experience and drive to a business of his own and founded Johnson Enterprises, LLC. Johnson Enterprises is a leader in the design and construction of custom indoor and outdoor sports recreation facilities, and specializes in game courts (basketball, tennis, etc.), synthetic putting greens, and sporting goods products. Mr. Johnson also started Johnson Investments, LLC in 2004, a company that specializes in residential and commercial real estate investment.

Mr. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree from Stone College in Boulder, Colorado and a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. He is married with two sons, 10 and 14.

Mr. Johnson’s high technology and sports business backgrounds, coupled with his entrepreneurial experience, makes him the ideal leader to drive this sporting goods retail/internet endeavor. 

Overhead for management will be kept to a minimum and all managers will be “hands-on” workers. There is no intention of having a top-heavy organization that drains profits and complicates decisions. At the zenith of this five-year plan, there will be managers for Warehouse/Shipping and Receiving, Team Sales, and two Retail Store managers. John Johnson will be responsible for overall Retail and Internet Sales management, although the Store Managers will also be responsible for sales performance and will have sales-based incentives. Accounting functions could potentially be outsourced. The website management and computer systems management and maintenance will be initially be managed by Mr. Johnson, but will be outsourced in the future. Mr. Johnson will be directly responsible for purchasing, inventory management and control, and marketing (although some marketing will be outsourced).

Currently the company has 10 employees: two warehouse/shipping and receiving clerks, one accounting person that also does internet phone sales, two internet phone salespeople, 4 part-time retail salespeople, and a clerk that does retail sales and is also responsible for answering the retail store phone. The number of employees will grow progressively over time to 25 by the end of year 5.

7.1 Personnel Plan

The Sportsuchtig retail store and phone sales hours are currently Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and closed on Sunday. These hours will be evaluated, with the hours most likely being changed to 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and open on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Personnel Plan, as detailed in the table following, has been developed to support these store hours and expected volumes, as per the Sales Forecast section.

Assumptions regarding personnel have been made for year 1 through year 5 as follows:

• Year 1 Ending October 2005 – The number of employees inherited from the previous owners are sufficient to operate the business in order to reach the Year 1 sales goals – which is equal to the previous year. John Johnson will be acting President and CEO and will take $60,000 salary in the first year. The support of a trusted and experienced employee will be needed to enable John to be away from the store when necessary and to manage coordination of the planned store relocation, the website redesign/implementation, and to sell products. In January of 2005, a Store Manager will be hired or promoted to fill this need.
• Year 2 Ending October, 2006 – Based on sales volume, it will be necessary to add another Retail Sales person. Salary for John Johnson will increase to $75,000 beginning in November 2006. Current full-time and part-time employees will be provided salary reviews and given appropriate salary increases – 5% has been factored in. In November 2005, a Team Sales Manager will be hired to take over Team Sales from Mr. Johnson and to start aggressively targeting the team segments.
• Year 3 Ending October, 2007 – Salary for John Johnson will increase to $100,000 beginning in November 2007. Current full-time and part-time employees will be provided salary reviews and given appropriate salary increases – 5% has been factored in. Increased sales volume will drive the hiring of 6 new employees. Another Retail Salesperson and an assistant accounting/retail phone clerk will be hired. Increased sales from the website will drive the hiring of an additional Warehouse/Shipping & Receiving clerk and also an additional Internet Phone Salesperson. An additional Store Manager will be hired to relieve Mr. Johnson from day to day store management tasks. We will also hire an additional Salesperson for the Team Sales team.
• Year 4 Ending October, 2008 – Salary for John Johnson will increase to $125,000 beginning in November 2008. Current full-time and part-time employees will be provided salary reviews and given appropriate salary increases – 5% has been factored in. Increased sales volume will drive the hiring of 2 new employees, another Retail Salesperson and an Internet Phone Salesperson.
• Year 5 Ending October, 2009 – Salary for John Johnson will increase to $150,000 beginning in November 2009. Current full-time and part-time employees will be provided salary reviews and given appropriate salary increases – 5% has been factored in. Increased sales volume will drive the hiring of 4 new employees. Increased sales from the website will drive the hiring of an additional Warehouse/Shipping & Receiving clerk and also an additional Internet Phone Salesperson. An additional Retail Salesperson and an additional Salesperson for the Team Sales team will be added.