A business plan for a small materials engineering consulting company / Ockert Jacobus van der Schijff

Abstract

The Materials Engineering Division of Altran Corporation is an U.S.A.-based engineering consulting company specialising in consulting services related to materials engineering, metallurgical engineering, root cause failure analysis, biofouling, and mitigation, biomaterials, product development, and litigation support. The company is currently experiencing rapid growth from a small business to a mid-size business which necessitates deliberate medium to longer-term business planning. The careful formulation and execution of a business plan will result in the achievement of the following goals: -Steady growth in revenue of at least 20% per year through the year 2002. -Increased profit margin. -Improved management of accounts receivable. -Improved cash flow situation. -Focusing on increasing and diversifying the client base. -Establishment of a fm foothold in the biomaterials sector. -Capitalising on strengths in individual disciplines and the division's association with world-renowned institutes of learning. -Attainment of target revenue of $3.8 million in the year 2002. Following an analysis of the market in which the division operates, four market sectors to be targeted for the development of new business opportunities, were identified. These sectors are: Electronic manufacturing -Light industrial manufacturing -Biomaterials and biomedical implants -Litigation support and insurance claim subrogation The following business plan charts the course for the division's growth and expansion for the three-year period from 2000 to 2002. It lays out the steps to achieve growth in revenue, from approximately $2,58 million at the end of 2000 to $3,83 million at the end of 2002. The resulting net profit will grow from $1 234 or 0,05% of revenue at the end of 2000 to $348 675 or 9,11% of revenue at the end of 2002. In order to reach and penetrate these market sectors, the division will embark on a multi-faceted marketing and promotion campaign by means of which new markets in the industrial sector will be reached. Direct mailings, newsletters, surveys, postcards, press releases, brochures, technical notes, and seminars and workshops will all be utilised as integral parts of this campaign to capture and grow new business. As the division's business activities grow and expand, personnel will be added to effectively serve new clients. A laboratory manager will be appointed as soon as possible to manage the day-to-day administrative activities of the laboratory. Directors for distinctive disciplines will be appointed from within if possible, or recruited from outside the division. Technical support staff will be recruited on an as-needed schedule. In the third year covered by this business plan, a full time marketing professional will be appointed to assume promotional and marketing responsibilities that are currently shouldered by engineering and scientific staff members. Cash flow is set to improve resulting in an increase in the available cash balance from $24 410 at the end of 2000 to $328 777 at the end of 2002. In order to be successful in this endeavour, the following keys to success were identified: -Excellence in fulfilling the promise -reliable, trustworthy, and consistent expertise and work product. -Developing greater visibility and name recognition, both nationally and internationally to generate new business leads. -Leveraging from a very specialised and limited clientele into multiple stand-alone revenue generation opportunities. -Diversification into a number of lucrative market sectors that are very strongly represented in the New England area.