1.
Describe your idea, what does your business do? I feel there is a need to bring the aesthetics and simplicity of today’s high-end entertainment furniture market to today’s high-end executive furniture. The company would design executive desks with stealth monitor lifts and peripherals, and sell them as limited edition runs to highnet-worth executives. This would allow a high-design, high-margin business model that can trickle down to lower margin, higher volume product lines as the market opens.
2.
What problem/unmet need does your business solve? This type of executive desk would eliminate technology clutter and allow executives to have a clean, sleek desk at a moment’s notice for meetings, presentations, paperwork, etc.
3.
Who is the team solving this problem and why are you uniquely capable? The team at this point is just me. I have been collaborating with Trevor Orrick, a custom installer for luxury homes, on the technology side of things. However, I would not presume to call him a full-time team member as he has many other responsibilities as it is. I am also working with Ron Meritt, a local entrepreneur who has been very helpful both as a mentor and a source of connections. Again, however, I would not presume to call him a full-time team member as at last count he had 16 different products in various stages of growth. A start-up team in the future would consist of me, a salesman, and a tech guru with electronics and computer expertise.
4.
Who are the customers, why would they buy your product or service? The customers are high net-worth executives. Executives in an image-conscious environment would be even more apt to purchase such a desk, as it is design-oriented. They would buy this desk to simplify their work environment, present a more sophisticated image to others, and give themselves something to show off to their friends and visitors.
5.
How big is your addressable market, what about other markets you would sell to? I do not currently know how large the addressable market is. This is currently the most critical information to find out.
6.
How will your business make money? This business will make money via the following plan: 1. Create yearly desk designs. 2. Send designs to China for limited production with high tolerances and high-end materials. 3. Sell via indirect selling (interior designers and architect specification) and direct selling (advertisements in Robb Report, Architectural Digest, etc. and direct mailing) 4. Repeat yearly while branching out into other office-related furniture (i.e. End table with constant-on Web access touch screen )
7.
Who competes directly with your business? What about other indirect competitors?
The only direct competition I have found in the past 5 years is Truvia Luxury which dropped off the radar 2 years ago. I feel this is because they had an extremely high markup, charging at minimum $50,000 for a simple design. Indirect competition would be other high-end desk makers such as Henkel Harris, DMI, and Bush.
8.
What makes your product/service stand out? What differentiates yourself from your competition? Our product stands out through its focus on the aesthetics and ergonomics of technology use. Every product is intended to be eye-wateringly gorgeous and intuitively usable.
9.
How much money do you need to start and will you need more? I will need about $200-250,000 to start and will need more during product line expansion.
10.
What will be achieved with that money and when? A rough estimate of capital usage would be as follows: Prototype R&D, build, and test Traveling, networking, manufacturer relationship establishment Advertising cost in Robb Report: $3925 x 6 months Advertising through blogs, press release Infrastructure and order system Subtotal Multiplied by Murphy’s Law Factor of 2
$50,000 $10,000 $25000 $400 $10,000 $95,400 $190,800