Executive Summary
Company Summary
Around 2.3 million couples get married every year in the United States. That is nearly 6,200 weddings a day! Americans who choose to tie the knot are willing to make a significant investment in the once-in-a-lifetime experience which is according to the latest Mintel survey is an estimated $53.9 billion market. 86% of respondents to the survey agree that a wedding should personally represent the bride and groom, which clearly states the importance of a customized, highly personal wedding. Magnefique! makes the wedding preparation experience memorable and fun. Magnefique! is a boutique location in New York where couples can have their pictures taken by a professional photographer utilizing 3D technology. The 3D photos are then customized by the bride and the groom and are printed in the form of 3D printed magnets. The result is a unique wedding preparation experience and an invitation that guests will never forget.
Product/Service
Magnefique! offers an innovative product – 3D printed magnetic save-the-date invitations printed from a 3D photo file of the bride and the groom. Our technology allows us to transform digital images into 3D design files and enables customers to create their colorful and high quality magnets.
Customer Problem
There is a strong trend toward more casual weddings with a greater focus on extending wedding activities and enhancing guest experiences. Couples in the US agree that customizing wedding details to reflect the personalities of the bride and groom is more important than how much is spent. It is common to send paper save-the-date invitations that end up in the trash can; magnetic 2D photo invitations do not deliver the wow factor that 3D magnets do. For decades there has been no innovation in the home magnets industry, although according to a recent CBS News Poll more than eight in 10 Americans (87 percent) have magnets on their refrigerator, including more than half who keep five or more magnets on their fridge. Thirty percent of Americans say they have more than 10 magnets on their refrigerator. Magnefique! offers couples an unprecedented level of customization and makes their invitations unforgettable.
Management
The company’s founder and the CEO is Alexandra Kovalenko, who is a junior finance major at Baruch College. Alexandra has expertise in finance and accounting as well as experience working in a startup company. We are planning on initially filling two main positions: Chief Business Development Officer, who will be responsible for facilitating business growth by working together with clients, suppliers and technology providers and Chief Marketing Officer, whose responsibilities will include sales management, product development, market communications and distribution channel management.
Target Market
According to Mintel survey the market for weddings appears to have stabilized in 2011 with an estimated market value of $53.9 billion for 2013. Slow growth is expected to continue due to an only modestly increasing number of annual marriages. From 2013-17, the projected wedding annual growth rate is 1.6% and the market will reach a total value of $57.3 billion in 2017.
Changing views of marriage result in declining marriage rate. However, couples that are waiting longer to get married focus on extending wedding activities and look for new ways to make their experience special and memorable. On average, couples invite 178 guests to their weddings which create ample opportunities for Magnefique! magnetic wedding invitations.
Customers
Our target customers are primarily the millennial generation (born 1977 to 1995). According to the wedding statistics in the US the average age of a bride in the US is 25.3 and the average age of a groom is 26.9. According to Barkley the 80 million members of the millennial generation represent 25% of the U.S. population and more than $200 billion in annual buying power.
Marketing Strategy
Because we target a younger generation, who are active internet users and social media founders our marketing strategy will heavily involve advertising on social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin and MySpace to bring awareness to the company. We plan on creating our website that will include product description and pricing as well as blog section to keep in touch with our customers. We also plan on advertising in popular magazines specializing on weddings such as Premier Bride, Wedding Style and Brides.
Business Model
For our company we see single revenue stream as the most profitable way of running the business. We expect to have Volume or Unit-Based revenue model in place that best fits out tangible product – 3D magnets. One of the main costs of running the business will be production cost, as we plan on leasing 3D printing equipment to be able to manufacture our own product and avoid intermediaries.
Competitors
According to the IBIS World the competition in the wedding industry is high and the trend is increasing. This may be explained by the fact that the wedding services industry has traditionally been made up of many small players that provide specific goods or services. It is important to note that the industry concentration is low; there are no identifiable major players in this industry and the top four players account for less than 5.0% of industry revenue. This means that the barrier for entry is low and our small business model has a high chance of succeeding in this environment. Our competitors’ research showed that there are many indirect competitors in the online space offering personalized 2D photo magnets: Savethedate, Vistaprint, Snapfish, Shutterfly, just to name a few. Retailers Walgreens and Walmart offer personalized photo magnet printing services in stores as well as online. Our indirect competitors are also multiple photo studios offering wedding photo services. Although the indirect competitors in the online space offer a variety of magnets, none of them yet offer 3D photo magnets – a unique business growth opportunity.
Competitive Advantage
Our company will gain the first-mover advantage through offering innovating service and highly customizable niche product – 3D magnetic wedding invitations – to the couples who are about to get married. Our technology that allows us to transform digital images into 3D design files, our innovative product coupled with superb customer service will separate us from competitors in the wedding services space.
Financial Request
Magnefique! plans to raise $30,000 in initial capital through a crowd funding campaign for a proof in concept. We will then seek $500,000 investment to cover annual costs such as acquiring photography equipment with 3D lens, leasing 3D printer, online platform creation and operation as well as rent and salary expense for our boutique store in New York.