Business Plan for “The Arena”

Phil Sack, Matt Slack, Chase Manz, and Matt Longtin

The Future Is Now!

Elevator Pitch

Imagine the Romans and the Coliseum The most glorious spectacle in man’s history Now make it digital, a source of entertainment Video games are a $7.1 billion dollar industry This is the new Roman Coliseum; this is

“The Arena”

Mission Statement

We at “The Arena” promise to provide the best quality experience for all our customers. Our mission is to provide a service for the community, mainly its younger people, and provide them a place to go to be with friends, meet new people, play games and get something to eat. We will also provide a place where other students can come and work in peace and have access to all the latest technologies for research purposes. Our overall goal is to provide a fun and enjoyable atmosphere for all.

Goals

Become a respected and trusted name in the Whitewater area.

Gross 5% profit a year, and grow this amount 2.5% annually.

Create name and brand recognition. Repay our debt from startup costs within 5 years. Expand to new locations and become a franchise

within 10 years. Eventually issue stock to the public and expand

our franchise exponentially.

The MarketThe Gaming Center should attract: Mainly young males ages 13-30 People who like to game (i.e. enthusiasts and competitive gamers) Anyone looking for something to do (Whitewater is drink or go home

otherwise.)The Internet Café should attract: College crowd of any age/gender, who are looking for a quite place to work

and enjoy a coffee. This includes even professors looking for a premium coffee, or at least something better than McDonalds offers.

The Restaurant should attract: People of all ages looking for an alternative provider to what Whitewater

already has. Again, we do not know what that will be just yet, but we expect it to pull in many people on its own.

The Store should attract: Browsers from the gaming center who are enthusiasts People who are looking to build, upgrade, or buy a PC People who need a PC repaired or data recoveredThe Training Lab should attract: Elderly and older crowd who wish to learn how to use new technology. If we were to become a certified program, we could even offer services to

college students wishing to improve their skills and resumes.

Core Competencies With our Just-In-Time inventory management,

we can offer the lowest prices in the area for most technological components.

We provide a clean, well maintained environment.

We will offer the latest in technology to a small community that does not have the resources.

We offer convenient food services that compliment our other services.

We offer superior technical knowledge and resources.

Gaming Center

We offer 24 bleeding edge computers to play the latest and greatest video games.

We also have 6 TVs with the next generation of video game console systems; the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3.

Some games that we would likely inlcude: Battlefield 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter-Strike Source, Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Starcraft, Warcraft III, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, and the latest Massive Multiplayer Online Games. Other games will be added, depending on demand and

popularity

Wireless Café

The wireless café will be a nice place for people to come in and relax.  They can meet here and enjoy a drink while they wait for their friends.  People will be able to catch up on their studies, before they become

engaged in a long night of gaming.  They will also be able to recharge their batteries for their next gaming

session.  The actual café section will be franchised out to a business that provides us

with the chance to attract the most customers, while still providing the best price and quality. 

The wireless access will be 802.11n and will be provided free of charge to all customers.  802.11n provides the latest security upgrades, as well as the speed that are

several times faster then anything currently available.

Retail Store and Repair Shop We decided to go the extra mile and set up a small retail store and repair area within The Arena.

We will minimize inventory and use Just-In-Time. That is, take orders, process them, and quickly have the product ready for the customer. This eliminates having costing merchandise just sitting around. We will try and form a strategic alliance with a major computer manufacturer.

We will also offer the same games used in the gaming center for sale and even liquidate old games and computer equipment.

This will be used as promotion material in the future. As for the repair shop, we are a group of ITI students, many of us with extensive computer

related backgrounds. We are superior to other repair shops such as Geek Squad in quality and price. We provide the customers some piece of mind, and that we are there with continuing support even after the

point of sale. We even may offer in-home care and service calls should the company be successful enough to afford it,

but that is a future matter for now. The store would have standard hours, from around 9am to 6pm on weekdays, and the repair

shop would be the same. If no one is there, someone will be on call to handle emergency problems that might come in for priority

service. On weekends, the store would probably have limited hours like most of the rest of Whitewater, 10am to

3pm.

Training Classes During the off-hours of our gaming center, we can use the computers to off training

classes. These classes will be offered from noon until 3pm.

Programs we should offer training in include: Microsoft Word (levels 1-2) Microsoft Excel (levels 1-3) Microsoft PowerPoint (levels 1-2) Internet Explorer & the Internet (levels 1-2) Email & Instant Messaging

These class levels indicate the complexity of the class. A level one course will be $30.00 dollars A level two will be $40.00 An advanced level three course would be $45.00. The government gives grants for places that offer services such as this to the public.

Therefore, we should pursue certification or enrollment in such a program to reduce our total costs.

Restaurant (via Strategic Alliance) Long gaming sessions always make people hungry.  Without a restaurant at

the location it is possible people will leave or not find it worth their time to come in.  

What they need is place to grab a quick bit to eat that is not messy, so they can quickly get back to gaming.  Since we do not have the knowledge and experience to run a restaurant and it would take away from our core competencies, we will be franchising it out. 

Possible franchises include: Qudoba Chipolte Burger King Noodles & Co. Fazollis Panera Bread Atlanta Bread Company

Raising of Capital & Strategic Alliances Restaurant Coffee Shop Computer Dealer Promotional Materials Government Grants

Marketing “The Arena”

Newspapers Target Enthusiest

ITAAITPWarhawk Gaming

OnlineMyspace/FacebookWebsite

Television Coverage of Grand Opening

Economics

Payment MethodsCredit CardsCashPurple Points

Membership Fee/Cards Computer Building Computer Repairs

Economics (cont..)

Hourly Charges for gaming center

Rental Prices

Hourly Rate

1 hour $ 5.00

2 hours $ 4.50

3 hours $ 4.00

4 hours $ 3.50

5 hours $ 3.00

6 hours $ 2.50

6+ hours $ 2.00

Competition within the Industry

Computer Repair/StoreJaguar Computers KC Computers

Gaming CenterNo real competition in WhitewaterWarhawk Gaming

Promotions

Large grand opening promotion Our opening will have free, open gaming in the

game center and a few select deals in the store. Rewards program that benefits frequent

users

Location

Wheelchair ramps to get around any stairs in public areas

The location is a prime spot for easy access throughout Whitewater

Large enough parking lot The area around the store has been well

maintained and has a very nice appearance. 

Personnel

Person working the counter duties snack sales Welcome charge people as they enter help people understand what they may like to play

For hiring purposes, we will post messages all over campus. This includes an ad in the whitewater newspaper and the royal purple, as well as notifying various student orgs such as ITA, and Warhawk gaming.

Security Policies

Security is paramount Physical security, authentication, and store

policies. Stores policies include:

No sharing of membership cards All purchases must be paid for using either cash or credit card

(online payment also available) You will be held responsible for any damage done Machines will be locked down using deep freeze, so they revert

to their original settings after every restart

Inventory

Offer treats and snacks within the gaming center

Soda machine

Thank You!