cyberficial biz plan

8/6/2019 Cyberficial Biz Plan

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive Summary

Gaming Futures, LLC, provides Windows

application development/support,PlayStation2 development, XBox development, 2D and 3D art and visual effects, and

project guidance. Gaming Futures is a game development studio formed by veterans ofModicum On-Line and Axiomatic InterRational. As developers of the best-selling andcritically acclaimed "DremWhyrks" series, Gaming Futures' talented core team membershave produced five titles together, and have individual experience with dozens more. GamingFutures is committed to creating high-quality, innovative, successful games and software.

We offer the following:

y Game concepts and development for PC, PS2, XBox, Pocket PC.y Game platform ports: PC/PS2/XBox/Game Boy.y 2D and 3D art, programming, libraries to spec.y Interface design and software enhancement.y Cohesive, talented development team with years of experienceshipping products

together.y Proven track record: DremWhyrks series has over 3 million units sold to date.y On time and on budget shipping.

The company is forming out of the ashes of Axiomatic InterRational which shut down lastJune. Gaming Futures is the core group of the last DremWhyrks project at Axiomatic. The

DremWhyrks line has shipped over 3 million units. The production team has four years ofsuccessful product development as a team. Individually, the group has over 30 years of

experience and has contributed to over 40 software products.

Bill Kerl, Project Manager for Gaming Futures, believes the company is well positioned to bea valuable resource to gaming companies that are seeking cost-effective ways to implement agaming design mission that will meet projected completion dates. One of the greatestobstacles is the ability of the production team to perform without wasted effort andresources. Gaming Futures has a documented history of completing its projects under budgetand on time.

Currently, the company has been successful in acquiringthree contracts with the followingcompanies:

y Clear Mountain Productionsy Weaver Farm, Inc.


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1.1 Objectives

Gaming Futures' objectives are as follows:

y Achieve sales goal of $200,000 during first year of operation.y

Achieve a customer base of 40 companies.y Increase sales by 15% during the second year of operation.

1.2 Mission

The mission of Gaming Futures is to provide the highest quality service through thedevelopment of innovative, exciting productsto the interactive entertainment industry.

COMPANY SUMMARY

Company Summary

Gaming Futures, LLC, is a game development studio providing Windows applicationdevelopment/support, PS2 development, XBox development, 2D and 3D art and visualeffects, and project guidance. The company will be organized as a Limited LiabilityCorporation.

2.1 Company Ownership

Gaming Futures, LLC is owned by its team of developers:

y Bill Kerly Diane Hubery Marcus Hathcocky Jillian Daleyy Jeremy Lang


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2.2 Start-up Summary

The start-up expense for the Gaming Futures is focused primarily onequipment and officespace. William, Diane, Marcus, Jillian, and Jeremy will each invest $35,000. In addition,Gaming Futures will secure a $100,000 long term loan.


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Table: Start-up


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SERVICES

Gaming Futures' cohesive, talented development team offer their clients:

y Game concepts and development for PC, PS2, Xbox, Pocket PCy Game platform ports: PC/PS2/Xbox/Game Boyy 2D and 3D art, programming, libraries to spec.y Interface design and software enhancement.y On time and on budget shipping.


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MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY

Market Analysis Summary

According to a new report from DFC Intelligence, recent sales indicate that the video game

market is poised for impressive growth. The report forecasts that annual unit sales of videogames and PC games in the U.S. is expected to grow over 40% from 2001 to 2006. Thesuccessful introduction of four new game systems in 2000 and 2001 meant that the industrywas able to avoid the major downturn in sales that has occurred in past platform transitions.According to DFC Intelligence, the industry should experience another year of record sales in2002.

The interactive games industry is a major economic force. With an estimated global value ofsome $10 to $20 billion, the industry rivals Hollywood in revenues and is now recognized asa propulsive force behind the creation of markets for information and communication

technologies. Games account for nearly one-third of consumer software sales in NorthAmerica.

4.1 Target Market Segment Strategy

Not only was the video game market not slowed by a softening economy or the terroristattacks, but 2001 turned out to be the best year ever for the U.S. video game industry. Thetotal U.S. video game industry grew from $6.6 billion in 2000 to $9.4 billion in 2001. The

previous all-time record was $6.9 billion in 1999.

DFC estimates that by 2006 the three leading games systems, the Sony PlayStation2, theMicrosoft Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube, should have combined U.S. sales of over 60million units. The report forecasts strong sales for all three systems. There are currently 3,000gaming companies that are producing games for one or more of the leading gaming systems.While strong market growth is predicted, there are also many challenges facing theinteractive entertainment industry.

Sales of the total U.S. interactive entertainment software market, which includes PCentertainment and video game software, approached $6 billion in 2001 versus $5.4 billion in2000, DFC found. Console and portable software sales rose 8.3 percent in unit sales,compared to 2000, while PC entertainment software experienced a unit increase of 3.8

percent. The main challenge is that while unit sales are expected to rise rapidly, developmentand marketing costs are also soaring.


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4.2 Service Business Analysis

Companies are combating development costs by outsourcing segments of the developmentproject. Currently, it is estimated that 30% of project work is outsourced. There are a numberof advantages to this strategy.

By outsourcing, companies can take advantage of a tremendous gaming experience basewithout paying the personnel price tag to retain the talent on payroll. By negotiating a pricefor the outsourcing, companies can also cap development cost. More importantly, as fewlarger companies compete in the marketplace for dominance, a number of service firms willemerge to fill the demand for quality developers that arenecessary for specific projects, muchlike the rest of software industry. It is estimated that product development in the softwareindustry can save upwards to 30% of development costs by outsourcing key elements of thedevelopment process.

4.2.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

The interactive game industry is based on the hype that is created by core players. The abilityto create product that satisfies the gaming demands of core players is a critical considerationwhen outsourcing opportunities emerge. This unique cultural aspect of the industry influenceshow companies outsource. Technological expertise is secondary to the ability to createa

product that the target group will immediately be comfortable with. Companies are lookingfor production track records with products with similar play devices that were focused onsimilar target users. Typically, a selected group of firms are asked to submit proposals for theoutsourcing assignment much like an ad campaign. The firm with the best ideas and the besttalent to implement the idea gets the contract. Over 80% of the interactive game companieshave outsourced segments of game development. This represents a client base of 400companies.

Currently there are 100+ firms that compete for outsourcing contracts in the interactive gameindustry. Because of the unique cultural aspect of the interactive gaming community,companies specialize in gaming devices or user groups in order to gain advantage in the

proposal process.

The team's track record is the most important pivotalissue when competing for outsourcingcontracts. A firm that has an intact team that has achieved past project goals has an advantagein the bidding process. Production companies are looking for assurances that deadlines will

be met and the quality will be there. The production of a game is on a tight schedule and anymissed deadline will ripple effect over the entire project, and could result in missed revenuesand increased expenses.


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STRATEGY AND IMPLIMENTATION

SUMMARY

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Gaming Futures' developers, William Kerl and Diane Huber, have extensive connectionsthroughout the gaming industry. They will be responsible for marketing the company's

services to potential customers.

5.1 Competitive Edge

The competitive advantage of Gaming Futures is always bringing in a project before theprojected deadline. As noted in the Market Analysis Summary, oneof the greatest challenges

will be production costs. Nowhere is this more critical than with outsourced projects. If acompany can produce by deadline, they will get more work.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

William Kerl and Diane Huber will approach the 120 production companies that are currentlyproducing video games. A marketing CD has been created for these presentations.

William and Diane have begun the process of presenting their company's services to gamingproduction companies. The team has created a presentation program that will be the

centerpiece of the marketing program.

Currently, the company has been successful in acquiringthree contracts with the followingcompanies:

y Clear Mountain Productionsy Weaver Farm, Inc.

The company will continue to aggressively pursue new contracts.

5.3 Sales Strategy

Gaming Futures anticipates that sales will start during the third month. The first two monthsof operation will have flat sales. After that point, sales will increase.


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5.3.1 Sales Forecast

The following is the sales forecast for three years. The owners have agreed not to take asalary for the first three months of the operation, and during this phase all five owners will beinvolved in sales.


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5.4 Milestones

The accompanying table lists important program milestones, with dates and managers incharge, and budgets for each. The milestone schedule indicates our emphasis on planning for

implementation.

What the table doesn't show is the commitment behind it. Our business plan includescomplete provisions for plan-vs.-actual analysis, and we will hold monthly follow-upmeetings to discuss the variance and course corrections.


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PERSONNEL PLAN

Gaming Futures staff is as follows:

Bill Kerl- Producer/New BusinessStarting out with games in 1993 programming on the 3DO, then programming and producingDremWhyrks games since 1995, Bill is driven to get things out. Planning for success is themost important part of any project.

Diane Huber - Lead EngineerDiane has been programming computers for over 25 years and has been making great gamesfor the last 15 years, including DremWhyrks, Mighty Quinn, and Fire Mountain.

Marcus Hathcock- Programmer/GamePlayMarcus is a software engineer who has 5 years experience implementing interfaces and

gameplay; most of this time was spent working on the DremWhyrks series at Axiomatic.

Jillian Daley- Senior Software EngineerWith 11 years programming experience building games, tools, and technologies, she's beeninvolved in all aspects of several full 3D sims includingPenthesilea and the DremWhyrksseries.

Jeremy Lang- Software EngineerJeremy has specialized in using artificial intelligence to simulate physical events. For the pastsix years Jeremy's projects at Axiomatic have included the DremWhyrks series, MightyQuinn, Fire Mountain, and Storm Warnings.

Personnel Plan Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Bill Kerl $27,000 $42,000 $50,000

Diane Huber $27,000 $42,000 $50,000

Marcus Hathcock $27,000 $42,000 $50,000

Jillian Daley $27,000 $42,000 $50,000

Jeremy Lang $27,000 $42,000 $50,000

President $0 $0 $120,000

Total People 5 5 6

Total Payroll $135,000 $210,000 $370,000


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6.1 Management Team Gaps

Currently, the firm doesn't have a corporate leader to manage the anticipated growth of thecompany during its third year of operation and beyond. As sales grow, the focus will be on

production. The management of the company'sresources and decisions on how to effectivelygrow the firm will demand an individual with extensive management expertise as well as

experience in the interactive gaming industry. This is critical vacancy will be addressedduring the third year. The firm will hire a President to fill this role.

FINANCIAL PLAN

Financial Plan

The following is the financial plan for Gaming Futures. The various topic tables display

annual figures for the first three years. Monthly figures for the first year are presented in theappendix.

7.1 Break-even Analysis

The following table and chart show our Break-even Analysis


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Break-even Analysis

Monthly Revenue Break-even $16,971Assumptions:

Average Percent Variable Cost 0%Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost $16,971

7.2 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table and charts highlight the projected profit and loss for three years.


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7.3 Projected Cash Flow

The following table and chart highlights the projectedcash flow for three years.

Table: Cash Flow


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7.4 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table highlights the projected balance sheet for three years.

Table: Balance Sheet

7.5 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 7371, Computer Programming Services, areshown for comparison.


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Table: Ratios


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APPENDIX

8.1 Appendix Table: Sales Forecast

8.2 Appendix Table: Personnel

8.3 Appendix Table: General Assumptions


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