Opportunity
Problem
Women enjoy the outdoors the same as men. They are capable of hunting, hiking, fishing and many other outdoor activities. Why should women have all the fun when men can do it? Women don’t like ugly clothes, corsets and tools that rely on men’s strength. Women are just as equal to men. They do not need be identical to men.
Solution
Liquid Culture will offer creative women’s outdoor clothing, online, that is both functional and beautiful. Larry Wilson and Maggie Granger, co-owners of Liquid Culture, will create a cost-effective operation that will eliminate the cost of inventory by having a third-party, Magic Clothing Company, handle all manufacturing and shipping of clothing to the customer. Liquid Culture can process your order and receive payment online. Magic Clothing Company will take the order, fill it and ship it. Liquid Culture’s focus will be on clothing design and the marketing of its product.
Market
Women’s outdoor wear is now a $1.2 billion market. The popularity of the Internet has launched a number of online stores for women’s outdoor wear but no women’s outdoor company we know of is exclusively selling their products online. Yet.
The key is to increase word of mouth via social networks, with an emphasis on content and opinion leader related to outdoor fashion as well as women’s health and fitness sites.
Our messaging will emphasize the elimination of compromises and the rise to Liquid Culture. And of course social media will also be an important marketing tool in bringing customers to our website.
Competition
- The women’s offerings at major online outdoor offerings including REI, Columbia, Patagonia, LLBean, and others.
- Amazon.com is one of the largest sellers generalized clothing. They also offer women’s outdoor clothing.
- We also offer women-specific competition at titlenine.com
Why Us?
Liquid Culture’s mission is provide clothing that can be used to energize any outdoor activity. Liquid Culture makes comfortable, durable clothing for all outdoor activities, including running down the beach or drifting down a river.
Expectations
Forecast
Liquid Cultural’s Year 1 range features the best fabrics, designs and styling. Larry Wilson, Maggie Granger, and co-owners Liquid Culture each have 15 years of combined experience in the outdoor apparel industry. Maggie has been a senior designer at Manic Woman Clothing for seven years. Larry has been South Face’s website administrator for the past eight years.
Our projections here indicate we are generating unrealistically high cash balances. While we won’t discuss it here, we know the truth that actual results may be significantly different from what we projected. We are certain it will happen. We keep the assumptions as they are with a lot of cushion for the real expenses.
Financial Highlights for the Year
You will need financing
$460K funding includes $260K from $130K each from the two founders, plus a $200K loan.
We estimate $58.5K startup expenses and $401.5K cash reserve to support deficit spending over the first few weeks.