Confidential

2017 BookExchange LLC, Westerly RI

May 4, 2017

Kyle Couillard

BookExchange LLC

33 Whipple Ave

Westerly, RI

(978) 895- 2679

kyle@bookexchange.com

Executive Summary

Bookexchange.com is an internet based classifieds service positioning itself to become the market leader in college student book listing service. The company offers free use of their site for college students to list their used books for sale, so other students at their college can purchase them. The company utilizes the free service approach due to its target market generally having limited income. By creating a new service category and utilizing the first-mover advantage, Bookexchange.com positions itself for rapid growth and gains a strong opportunity to raise entry barriers for possible competition.

Mission Statement

We are dedicated to creating an environment where students can help each other, by selling and buying textbooks at reasonable prices.

Management Team

Manager’s Name: Kyle Couillard

Postion: CEO

Kyle Couillard will act as CEO of the company, and handle day-to-day operations, advertising negotiations, and hiring. He has 10 years of industry experience, having held management positions in Amazon, Verizon Wireless, and Sears Roebuck and Company.

Prior to founding BookExchange LLC, Kyle Couillard was Regional Manager of Verizon Wireless’s Northeast Region, where he was responsible for managing all aspects of operations for over 50 retail locations. Prior to Verizon Wireless, Kyle held multiple positions at Amazon, spanning from supply chain management to advertising and marketing. Kyle holds a B.S. in General Business from the University of Rhode Island, as well as a B.S. in Economics from the University of Rhode Island.

Manager’s Name: Amanda Mumford

Postion: CFO

Amanda Mumford will act as the Chief Financial Officer for the company. She will be responsible for managing all of the companies finances, as well as financial planning and maintaining financial records. She has 6 years of experience in finance, having worked at Hasbro, CVS, and Citizens Bank.

Amanda has held multiple positions through her 6 years of experience. She began her career as an auditor for CVS, and worked her way to financial analyst. Amanda holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island.

Manager’s Name: David Ballinger

Postion: Marketing Manager

David Ballinger will act as the Marketing manager for the company, and handle marketing strategy and implementation. He has 8 years of experience, having held positions with Bass Pro, Nike, as well as Walmart.

David has extensive experience in marketing, with his most recent position being with Bass Pro as the eCommerce Marketing Director. He has extensive knowledge in SEO and has a proven track record improving customer interaction as well as conversion rates. David holds a B.S. in Marketing from Boston College

Product Offering

Free classified ads, with specific pages for each college in the United States. Students will list their used books, with specific class information, as well as a desired price. Users must have a valid .edu email address in order to register for the site to ensure student safety. We recommend that students meet in a safe public place, such as the school library in order to process the sale of their materials.

Target Market

Key customers for the company are college students. This company is specifically designed for them, but could also be used by some professors, or private high schools. By promoting an alternative to the university’s book store, we are creating a situation where the students selling the books will make a larger profit than selling directly to the book store, and the students purchasing will pay much less than buying from the book store.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Simple website that is easily navigated. Inexpensive entry to market. High profit to operating cost ratio. Skilled workforce. Innovative. No direct competition.

Weaknesses: Do not have any brand recognition and scale compared to other classifieds sites. Limited financial resources. Could be seen as an unsafe transaction. Limited target market.

Opportunities: Further development for other services to provide. Integrate features where students can all of their classes and it will result in contact information with the best matches and the lowest cost goods they need. Integrate course information from university catalogs for students to be sure they are looking for the correct text books. Global markets.

Threats: Lack of adaptability and change. Safety problems.

Advertising Strategy

We will be looking to business that want to be able to advertise to every college student in America. Companies that focus their target markets on young adults.

Competition

Through our market research we have identified 3 major competitors that hold nearly all of the current market share of textbook sales.

College Campus Book Stores

Status quo. Students get a list of books needed based on their schedules, and the book store will get all materials you need for you to purchase.

Advantages: Instant gratification of walking into a retail location and walking out with the materials you need same day.

Disadvantages: High cost for books. Low return value when selling back to the store.

Chegg.com

College textbook website specializing in semester long rentals.

Advantages: Lower cost than book store. No retail spaces needed. Low operating costs.

Disadvantages: Students must wait for books to be shipped to them. Books could come back in damaged condition.

Amazon.com

Becoming a common place for text books to be purchased by students. Offers student discounts.

Advantages: Huge customer base. Fast shipping options for amazon prime customers. Lower cost than book store.

Disadvantages: Must wait for book to be shipped. Higher cost than Chegg.

Pricing

At BookExchange.com our entire philosophy is based on saving college students money, and our services will be entirely free for our users. Our philosophy is deeply rooted in the company, and we vow to always keep our service free.

Start up costs

Promotion

Internet Marketing: The objective is to obtain enough college students to generate positive word of mouth through social media, with emphasis on the company’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube profiles. The company believe that social media will be critical to the success of its customer acquisition strategy, as each incremental gain in social media will increase overall profitability.

Flyers and Posters: The company will seek to employ 2-3 college students per college campus to pass out flyers and hang posters in and around their campuses. These students will be paid per referral generated

Example Flyer

By utilizing the power of the internet we aim to connect students on college campuses looking to purchase or sell a textbook needed for a specific course. By giving each college campus their own dedicated web page to list their used books, students in that same college can easily search for the class they are taking to see if anyone has listed the book for sale.

Adverting Sales Strategy

Google Adsense: The sales of the adverting space on the website will be conducted in a variety of ways. The majority of sales will be conducted through google. Most of todays internet advertising is conducted through Google Adsense, making selling advertising space simple. Google’s algorithms automatically populate advertisements based on the visitors recent web history.

Cold Calling: For users that are not connected with google, advertisements will be shown based on current companies paying BookExchange for advertising space. There accounts will be acquired through cold calling to companies whose products are geared towards our target market of college aged students.