(1) Provide a brief discussion on your expected cash-to-cash cycle. Create an excel spreadsheet (you may use MS Word if you do not have Excel) showing a simple cash-to-cash cycle. Be sure to show the calculations. The spreadsheet is to be an attachment at the end of the paper. (2) Provide a discussion of your product mix, now that you have decided to add this product to your company. What type of product mix is this?

PAPER:

Product to be introduced : Soap company (Pure Bliss)

Strategic Positioning : The key element in Purebliss initial strategy is to sell the fading dye soap in Portlands day care facilities. Our executive team will build loyalty for our products with decision-level managers of the organizations in the target markets, and create awareness and support of the benefits of the innovative fading dye attributes of our soap.

Strategy Pyramid

Our ultimate strategy is to build Purebliss products into the standard for home and workplace hand washing safety and cleanliness, first regionally and eventually nationally. Our tactics to increase compliance through the use of our product include continual and progressive expansion into new markets and a strong branding campaign in coordination with promotional contracts with the government and possibly insurance companies.

Marketing Strategy

For our initial target market of day care facilities, the company will implement two parallel marketing efforts, aimed respectively at day care facility decision makers, and the parents of young children who use these facilities. We will create a push factor by effectively convincing the decision-level managers within the organizations that our product provides an ideal solution to the hand washing compliance. A first to mind branding campaign will build CHILDassure as the leader in increasing hand washing compliance. Significant parental support will encourage organizations to implement CHILDassure in environments involving their children.

Positioning Statement

CHILDassure is valuable to day care managers who need effective control solutions to ensure frequent child and child-care worker hand washing to keep the environment clean and to minimize preventable illness. No other product on the market serves the hand washing compliance aspect of workplace safety with such an affordable, direct and complete solution. Unlike traditional soaps, our product provides conclusive evidence every time an employee washes his or her hands for only a marginally higher cost than traditional soaps, and significantly less than gloves or other hand washing compliance systems.

Pricing Strategy

Retail pricing for CHILDassure will generally be around $90/case for four gallons and will command a 25-30% price premium over conventional liquid soaps. The value of our product will not be attractive to extremely price sensitive customers. The market for soap is generally inelastic, but our product offers significant differentiating benefits over current soaps that justify the price difference.

Promotion Strategy

One of the most important aspects of a successful launch is positive publicity for our product. We will develop an awareness campaign to promote our product through several avenues. Our management team will fiercely pursue positive public perception through government endorsements promoting the benefits of our products. We will also attempt to capitalize on the novelty of the solutions provided by our product by actively seeking local news and media coverage to help spread awareness. Buzz will be developed in social hubs by distributing samples to parties with potential interest. Parental support of the product will be garnered through free trials, demonstrations, and direct mailings to the day care parent roster lists, parent groups and PTAs.

At washing stations in client facilities we will spread awareness with stickers targeted towards children, showing them the process of washing to turn their hands different colors and emphasizing how fun it can be. Pamphlets will be sent to the family homes through the day care roster mailing lists, to calm fears regarding a new product in their childs environment, explain the benefits and encourage the parents to respond and build feedback for the benefits of the product to further increase implementation.

Some of the government programs of interest are the various compliance and workplace hygiene programs supported and funded by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Center for Disease Control (NDIC). Programs such as the Health Protection Research Initiative implemented by the CDC demonstrate an invested interest by government programs in increasing the overall health of Americans.

Distribution Strategy

Our initial distribution strategy will involve a combination of distributor and direct sales. Relationships with local Northwest distributors will be established to increase promotional reach and potential users. The first orders will be available immediately through direct delivery by our executive team. Outsourcing distribution entirely in the future will allow Purebliss, LLC to focus its efforts on marketing and expanding as quickly as possible.

Distributors will pay for the inventory up-front, and although this cuts our profit margins it helps Purebliss, LLC to maintain a more flexible structure. By the start of 2007, distribution will be entirely outsourced to distribution companies, and direct deliveries from the executive team will cease

Sales Strategy

Sales strategy will initially address local and regional managers with ordering authority for the establishments in that area. The prospective clients will be supplied with a professional product information packet and moved into the sales funnel to begin closing prospect, followed up with a direct mail brochure and a phone call.

There will be no initial direct compensation or commission for closed sales. Proceeds from sales will be invested back into developing and expanding the business. As the company begins to increase its initial sales force, commission-based incentive programs will be implemented.

Sales Forecast

• If we are able to distribute our product through existing distributors, it will provide us a significant financial advantage, as well as the ability to meet the quick increase in demand for our product.
• Beginning with an initial monthly sale of $1,250 for our day care soap product , we predict sales will increase by 45% per month for the first year. We then calculate a growth rate of 90% yearly. Cost of Goods Sold is approximately 47% of sales. However, COGS grows at a yearly rate of 88%, which is less than the sales growth rate in order to represent the economies of scale that we hope to achieve as our operations grows.