Jarrett Hull

Learning Log Entry #5

November 29, 30, 2017

Time Spent: 3 hrs.

Total 15 hrs.

Mentor Signature:

Meeting with my mentor we started off by going over what we had covered so far and

what the next step is. Considering my next step is the Investment thesis which is a “pros and

cons” of my business. So I have to look at what will make me money and what won’t along with

how each income or expense is created. My mentor wanted me to start off by finding all costs

that associate with a furniture store, and taxes. Along with a sales forecast and a list of all my

assets. He also told me to find my target customers which I already know (families in the local

area), marketing, my staff, possible suppliers/fixers, the financing dept, and product design.

Although I will not use all this information in this section he thought it smart to figure this stuff

out early so I can work around my circumstances.

An investment thesis has three main parts 1.Leveraging an existing sales force more

extensively. 2. Using the balance sheet to roll up and fund an undercapitalized business. 3.

Applying operating skills learned in the radio trade. Considering I have no idea how to do any of

that and I don’t even know what two of those mean I decided I’m going to wait to do that with

my mentor and focus on what he told me to look up. I started with all cost associated with a

furniture store. 1. Rent and Operating Costs 2. Location Improvement Costs 3. Inventory 4.

Miscellaneous Operating Expenses 5. IT 6. Marketing 7. Public Relations. Having a general idea

of what costs I’ll have to account for, I then tried to find all taxes associated with my type of

business. Property tax bills are issued by the municipality where the property is located on either

an annual, semiannual or quarterly basis. Business Enterprise Tax is assessed on the enterprise

value tax base, which is the sum of all compensation paid or accrued, interest paid or accrued,

and dividends paid by the business enterprise, after special adjustments and apportionment.

0.72% for taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2017, enterprises with more than

$208,000 of gross receipts from all their activities, or an enterprise values tax base more than

$104,000, are required to file a return. 8.2% tax is assessed on income from conducting business

activity within the State of New Hampshire. A 7% tax on all two-way communication services.

There is a tax assessed on consumers of electricity in the amount of $.00055 per kilowatt hour of

electricity consumed. A 5% tax is assessed on interest and dividend income. A state education

property tax rate of total equalized valuation is assessed on all New Hampshire property owners.

The tax is assessed and collected by local municipalities. As for a list of assets I have none

maybe like $20 to my name.

As for a sales forecast there are 4 steps Step 1: Define the Terms. Pipeline: Opportunities

by stage and total bookings or revenue based on probability Activity: New Opportunities,

Biggest Wins, Stalled Opportunities, Average Stage Duration, etc. Forecast: “Where will we (or

I) finish this month / quarter / year” Schedule: Line Item detail describing the flight date and all

incremental installments Step 2: Clarify and Communicate Your Sales Stages. Step 3: Make

Sure CRM is THE Only Source for the Forecast. Step 4: Go Beyond Pipeline and Bookings.

Which I am still confused on exactly what some of those are so I am planning on discussing

these with my mentor.

 As for Marketing, given that Keene is a decently small city and all the towns around use it

as a center of culture as long as I advertise in Keene well enough it’ll get around by word of

mouth. Considering this is the 21st Century radio wouldn’t be the best option because kids are

always using bluetooth and aux cords to play their music instead. As for a billboard unless it was

a frequently driven place like the highway I don’t feel that’d it be worth the money. As for

commercials they cost to much. To get the best outcome with the least amount of advertising,

what I would do is only advertise for the grand opening and let the future business be brought in

by the possible success of my grand opening. I would start with Facebook everyone has a

facebook and with sharing and other ways of dispersing the message I feel it’d be most effective.

On average, advertising on Facebook costs marketers $0.27 Cost Per Click (CPC). Along with

instagram, in 2015, the average CPM (cost-per-thousand views) was $6.70 for Instagram photo

ads. This will help me get the younger audiences like young adults that are buying furniture for

the first time.

As for my staff I’ll need people to transport the furniture and unload it, multiple sales

associates, and any other members I may need. I’ll be able to go into depth once I take a good

look at my business’s structure. I’m not going to look at suppliers and fixers of furniture just yet

that’s something I’ll figure out once I get a good understanding of what kind of inventory I’ll

have. As for financing I know that’d I’d have to get a loan although this information is useless

considering I’m not actually going to open this business. Instead I’m just going to find out

roughly how much all of this will cost and how I’ll run it. Product design is another item that I

cannot figure out just yet because that depends on who I outsource to fix my furniture.

Depending on their skills and also what furniture I get, it may vary.