We live in an era of digital innovation, where everyone is looking to come up with that

next idea, circling around the world of technology, that can take an individual, a team, or a

business to the next level. For example, retail brands, which in general have taken a hit over the

last decade or so, have been looking for new ways to “keep retail alive”. According to Forbes

Magazine, “Physical retail is not dead. Far from it, in fact. But, to be sure, boring,

undifferentiated, irrelevant and unremarkable stores are most definitely dead, dying or moving

perilously close to the edge of precipice” (Dennis, 2018). Typical retail stores have not been

expanding and customers have grown tired of the typical way of shopping, which includes

staying on long lines, getting sold on unnecessary credit cards, attitudes from employees, the list

goes on. Right now, though, Nike has taken charge of changing the retail game through Digital

Innovation, even if it means they are the first to do so. I’m sure they’ll make mistakes along the

way and learn from them. Nike’s new retail environment brings some of the perks consumers

enjoy while shopping online, things consumers enjoy about technology and mobile devices,

along with the traditional mesh of product available for consumers to buy. “Nike NYC makes

real our vision of living retail – a dynamic and active shopping experience in an environment

that’s as responsive as digital” (O’Neill, 2018). Some of the digitally inclusive offers they have

for consumers to utilize are instant checkout, a speed shop, and services where consumers can

get their shopping bags delivered to their hotel or home straight from the store. (O’Neill, 2018).

Nike’s House of Innovation Store is set to open on Thursday, November 15th, 2018.

I decided to briefly speak about Nike and its present and future, to reiterate the fact that

todays consumer thinks differently than the consumer of ten or twenty years ago. So much can

get done from the palm of our hands in today’s age, that there’s no chance consumers are going

to settle for mediocre service that they can do better themselves. (Barcelona, 2018). I am a huge
automobile hobbyist and have been paying attention to the ups and downs of the auto industry

for years. Just like retail, in this era of digital innovation, automobiles are becoming so

digitalized and electric that it’s requiring a change of thinking for anyone involves in it from a

leadership and business standpoint. From the purchasing point of view, there are so many online

sources of information that allows the consumer to know the near exact prices that an automobile

should cost, that it cuts the once huge profits the auto selling industry had for a pretty long time.

Truecar Inc, which is a company that provides consumers with information on inventory, prices

and fees of vehicles at dealerships to avoid the chance of dealer employees using past practices

that gained them huge profits, such as lying about the original price, adding fees that truly do not

exist, and negotiating from a price way higher than MSRP (Treece, 2016).

Another bad sales tactic by automobile dealerships was in their service section. When

cars came in to get serviced, they’d try to expand profits by claiming certain things weren’t in

warranty, forcing the consumer to pay full price for the repair. Also, they’d claim that these

services would take a lot more hours than it actually does, forcing the consumer to pay more in

labor hours. With cars having more and more electric features year on year, the reality is that

repairs on vehicles can be diagnosed and done in way less time than in the past. Eddie Cathey, an

instructor at Excel, mentioned that “instead of taking eight hours to diagnose a car, you can do it

in 30 minutes” (Halzack, 2018). One of the reasons for that is a portable computer that costs

about seven thousand dollars, used to collect data from the vehicle’s master computer. Using the

process of elimination along with that collected data allows the automobile worker to figure out

the vehicles problem in significantly less time than without it. The leaving your vehicle at the

shop for 8 hours or even up to 2-3 days is becoming obsolete, the dishonesty is becoming easy to

tell, and the responsibilities of an auto repair technician are expanding outside of the physical use
of their body. “As the cars on our streets have become more computerized, so, too, has the job of

maintaining and fixing these vehicles. And so, a trade that was once largely mechanical is today

primarily technical, and therefore requires workers to be skilled computer users, strong readers

and able mathematicians (Halzack, 2018).

What is your business?

This leads to the focus of my business plan, stemming around the automobile service

industry. I’ll be providing a mechanic/repair service for consumers that stems around the focus

of honesty, integrity, and putting consumers first. To ensure that consumers feel like our workers

are honestly working on their vehicles as quick as possible, they are allowed to see the repairs

happen live, either through a camera on our mobile app, or on designated safe spots to view

inside. Also, because of the research done to determine that with the use of the latest technology

in cars and in-service machines, that determines that repairs take a lot shorter of a time than in

the past, our company will have an attached recreation center with a basketball gym, a game

room(ping pong, pool, television) just to start with a chance of other things down the line being

developed. Consumers will be able to stay in the facility while their car is being attended to, and

have the options to either watch what’s happening, or go enjoy some recreation while you wait.

The competition we face is massive, this includes small “mom and pop” shops around the

surrounding areas, and big auto repair and parts companies like AutoZone, Pepboys, and

O’Reilly Automotive. Also, can’t forget of course, the service/mechanic centers at the top

dealerships themselves, such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, FCA (fiat Chrysler) and

Toyota, just to name a few. It’s expected that the high-end vehicles like Mercedes Benz and

BMW will have all types of service and repairs done in their internal service center, as that is the

culture they’ve established as a high-end retail vehicle brand (Wong, 2016).

Competitive Advantage

What differentiates us from our competition is the face that we will not be afraid to have

our consumers see our work happen live. It avoids the bad reviews that are constantly being

posted by customers online about how they wish they could see what was going on because they

took their car back after it’s been “fixed” only for it to immediately break down again. Other

problems that competition faces that we’ll aim to nip in the butt are problems like the bill being

much higher than the estimate, causing a problem that did not need repairing, or causing a

different problem through mechanical or autobody damage. Another advantage we have is truly

just being aware of the new market of vehicle owners/leasers. The typical auto mechanic worker

needs to be more book smart than previously necessary; they need to be aware of technology

trends in the industry and adjust as they are implemented. We will make sure, through a vigorous

recruitment and selection process, that the auto repair mechanics we select have a great

background of success, and the education behind it to support that. In return, we will pay them

above the average salary per year of about 47,710 (Halzack, 2013). Lastly, we have the

advantage of having that recreation center in the same area as the repair shop to ensure loyalty

and retention. We will have so much to offer that customers will look forward to coming to get

their car serviced or repaired every time, or if they choose to come in and participate in the

recreational activities available, that can be done as well.

The Team

My team will consist of leaders with a love for vehicles, a love for sports, and a strong

educational background necessary to make the decisions in this industry. Starting off with
myself, Amiicar Barcelona. I’ll be the CEO/President of Car Nd’ Play. I’ll be handling making

major corporate decisions, managing overall operations and resources of a company, and act as

the main point of communication between the board of directors and corporate operations. I have

a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University at Albany, that degree has given me the

ability to become a truly effective communicator, something that is very necessary in today’s age

of misconstrued messages. It’s also allowed me to see certain situation from a critical thinking

lens and understanding the socioeconomic factors of why certain things happen from a macro

scale, before working on it from a micro scale. I’ve worked in the automotive industry for over 5

years and learned the ins and outs of how to approach the business from the lens of a sales

manager, sales consultant, service manager, and auto repair mechanic. My experience allows me

to bring a competitive edge to our company that most may not have. My MBA Degree from

Mercy College taught me in detail, the necessary knowledge and grit it takes to run a business.

My focus in operations and managerial analytics allows me to see and understand blocks of data,

turn it into plain English for the rest of the team, but not before extremely challenging the data

obtained from the eyes of a hands-on worker. My team’s Vice President of Facilities and

Services will be a great friend of mine named Chris Mitchell. Chris has experience in real estate

and has been selling properties in his spare time for the last 8 years. Still to this day he has not

received a single complaint about his properties or the way he handled his consumers. He’ll be

able to handle the ins and outs of our state-of-the-art facility with relative ease. Chris’ main focus

in in the auto repair industry, as he graduated from Atlanta Technical School and had a previous

job as the director of service for the biggest Toyota dealership in Atlanta, Georgia. I have a lot of

confidence in the abilities he brings the table. Carlos Ignacio has a bachelor’s in business

administration and has spent the last 8 years running an extremely efficient and profitable
recruitment agency that focused on the recruitment of technicians in the auto repair industry.

Toward the final three years of his employment there, the company switched their focus towards

the IT industry, recruiting for developers, architects and etc. It was not something he wanted to

stay in, so this opportunity is perfect for him to use the experience he’s gained to further expand

the business of Car Nd Play as our Vice President of Business Development and Marketing.

Marcus Miller has a degree in Accounting, has spent the last 10 years as an accountant for a

fortune 500 company, and will now use his experience as the Director of Accounting for Car ‘Nd

Play. Finally, our Chief Financial Officer and Controller will be Donald Lash, a Fordham

University Graduate with over 35 years of workplace experience. Currently, Donald is the

President of Sinergia, Inc. They are a non-profit company that services adults with mental

disabilities. I’ve personally known Donald for a long time while volunteering at Sinergia, as I do

have a passion for serving those who need the help. Donald has done it all in his career, from

handling the financials and operations of a company, to starting companies of his own, as well as

being the face and focal point of contact for various companies. His “Jack of All Trades” way of

thinking will surely help excel Car ‘Nd Play to new levels throughout the years. There will also

be key personnel we’ll add as time goes on, including a receptionist, office manager, an

environmental manager, operations manager, and someone to handle shipping and receiving.

Market Analysis

Car ‘Nd Play’s target market will be in rural/suburban areas close to cities. The focus will

be in a city close to downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Examples of those cities are Suwanee,

Alpharetta and Decatur. Atlanta is a slowly becoming the next tech hub, and there is expected to

be massive changes and population increase in the next five to ten years that needs to get taken

advantage of (Nieves, 2016). Business in Atlanta is “booming for financial technology

companies; nearly one-third of the country’s high-growth companies are in technology. So, it’s

no surprise that they are opening a lot of startups in the fintech industry in preparation for people

to start moving down south”(Nieves, 2016). Atlanta is also a city that does not rely on its public

transportation. The struggle use of public transportation comes from the fact that the stations are

so far from most residents’ homes. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, most

Atlanteans would like to take the MARTA (name of Atlanta’s public transportation system)

more but because they have to walk or drive on average two miles to the nearest station,

everyone would just rather drive their vehicles when it comes to going to work or getting

anywhere (Wickert, 2018). “Transit use in Metro Atlanta and across the country is declining – a

phenomenon fueled by the rise of telecommuting, ride hailing services like uber, Lyft and other

factors. More research I found that could lead to the success of Car ‘Nd Play is the fact that there

are so many cars on the road in the city of Atlanta. I’d assume these Georgia drivers would like a

cool, modern way to get their cars serviced and/or repaired. According to data collected by the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta has some of the world’s worst bumper to bumper traffic,

considered eighth worst traffic congestion in the world. Drivers wasted an average of 70 hours in

traffic congestion during rush hour, and 10% of their driving time in congestion (Wickert, 2017).

Congestion cost drivers nearly $305 billion dollars in 2017 (Wickert, 2017). The latest auto

repair technology also has ways to improve gas efficiency in cars, so having that available in our

center might attract customers to come in and pay for our services to help their inevitable times

in car congestion.

In terms of the type of person we are looking to attract with our services, it’s the

millennial driver. According to Forbes, Millennial-aged car owners are more likely to spend their

time downloading playlists for driving around than to research car parts and inner workings.
Since they’ve grown up with sophisticated technology, Millennials just expect stuff to work and

re less interested in figuring out how it works. Some don’t even know how to unlock the hood of

their vehicle (Faw, 2012). Knowing that this generation of people do not want to go out of their

way to get the details on maintaining their vehicle, our app that will not only allow them to see

the work happen live, but also have a step by step guide on the bottom of what’s going on and

why it’s being done, will put millennials at ease from an honestly standpoint. On top of that, it

will give them some new knowledge that might be appreciated and lead them being repeat

customers. Millennials seek vehicle advice online on forums and social media before ever

reaching out to a local auto shop or even the vehicle manual (Faw, 2012). And although they are

going through these means to seek advice, it’s only to sound like they know what they are talking

about when coming into the repair shop. “It’s unlikely that Millennials will ever crawl under

their vehicles to do it themselves like the Baby Boomer generation (Faw, 2012). Being a

Millennial myself, it makes perfect sense. Anytime my father sees a problem with mine or my

younger brother’s vehicle, he goes under the hood and tries to fix it himself. Me and my brother

call him or head straight to the shop without trying anything else first.

Sales Projections

In terms of sales projections, we are looking to have each customer sign up for a monthly

membership, which will give them access to the gym and recreation center, unlimited oil

changes, and standard work, discounts on inspections and registration, battery replacement,

roadside assistance, engine mileage maintenance, and more. We’ll have a system where we have

card information stored to automatically take out the money from their account on the 1st of each

month. The plan is to have the capacity to store up to 60 cars at one time, with schedule and

appointment technology being installed to avoid overcrowding. The payment will be somewhere
between $125-300 dollars a month based on the level of membership you choose. Hoping to

have 200 members signed up in the first two months for the auto service side, 300 members for

the recreation center and 300 who will sign up for both, I expect to sell 1.95 million dollars in the

first year. As everything expands and we have more cash flow to play with, I’d like to make the

facility bigger to hold more people and double the profits year of year. Year three we’ll make

around 8 million dollars, Year Five, sixteen million dollars. In terms of expenses for employees,

facilities and maintenance, and the cost to build a basketball court (which is around $40,000

USD) (Kelly, 2013) is around One million dollars. First year should have about 960,000 in profit

to use towards the next year. Being that all of leadership is well off already, they’ll take minimal

salaries.

Marketing Plan

In terms of marketing, social media will play a huge part mainly because it’s a free

platform for use to show the benefits and features of Car ‘Nd Play’s services. We’ll use social

media to invite people in the area to events where we explain our services and what we’ll be able

to provide the community. And maybe offer one-week free trials to the recreational aspect of the

business for the youth in hopes that their parents will be ware of that the auto repair services we

provide too. We’re going to reiterate the honestly, we bring to the auto repair industry. The fact

that we’ll have vetted professionals, and an app that allows you to see everything that’s going on,

should distinguish us from our competition very clearly. We’ll also invest in signage and

billboards along the most crowded highways in the Atlanta area. While our consumer is in

traffic, annoyed and trying to figure out how they can cut gas costs, they’ll see our sign offering

the latest gas saving technology for vehicles.

Strategic Alliances
 I will be looking to combine strategically with a reputable car parts shop. Options include

Amazon, and Pepboys, but because they are considered our competition I will want to go direct

to the auto parts company and not their third-party distributors. These companies include Actron

technology Corp, Amalgamations group, and Munjal auto industries. I’ll be sure that we have all

of the necessary licensing, that includes the licensing to be an LLC, ASE certifications,

Insurance, specialty tools, and other licenses and permits like a Certificate of Occupancy, and

Tax Registration, necessary to avoid hefty fines or complete shutdown.

With regards to an exit strategy, the hope is that within 5 years the major market players

will acquire our company to become their own for a hefty price. With amazon trying to but boots

on the ground again, I could see them wanting to buy us in five years as their first auto repair

shop. They already have a good success selling auto parts online, bringing that along with the

recreation/auto service of Car ‘Nd Play would definitely take the automotive part of their world

domination aspect of their business plan to the next level. If not, I’d file for an IPO to become

public and open facilities across the country, starting with prices of about $45 a share.

Last but not least, to all reading this, I’m hoping you see the vision I see. There is a huge

opportunity here for this to be successful. In rural areas next to big cities, one thing won’t

change, and that’s the fact that people want to live in peace and quiet, but the big city is where

the jobs are. People will have to drive to get to where they need to go, the need for vehicles in

this area are higher than ever before, thus will continue the need for auto service workers. Our

mission of keeping our service honest and having countless things to do in the facility while you

wait should easily make us the most attractive auto repair shop to ever exist. People do not mind

paying money for good service, every time. With that being said, I ask for 25% of equity for a $5

million-dollar investment.
 References

Dennis, S. (2018, March) Physical Retail Isn’t Dead. Boring Retail Is. Retrieved from:

Halzack, S. (2013, May 26) How Innovation has changed the job of an auto repair technician.

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O’Neill, H. (2018, November 12) The Confidence of Nike Retail. Retrieved from:

Treece, J.B. (2016, March 27) TrueCar hits resets, drops practices that riled dealers. Retrieved

from:

Nieves, M. (2018, August 6) Atlanta is becoming that high-tech hub other cities dream about.

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Wickert, D. (2018, June 8) Atlanta takes a gamble on transit expansion despite declining use.

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Wickert, D. (2018, February 6) Report confirms Atlanta has some of the worlds worst traffic.

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