Business Plan for Date Help: Online Dating Platform for Single Males and Females

Running head: BUSINESS PLAN
Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation
[Date Help]
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1.0: Executive Summary............................................................................................................4
1.1: Mission and vision..........................................................................................................4
1.2: Background.....................................................................................................................4
1.3: Products and services......................................................................................................5
1.4: Market.............................................................................................................................5
1.5: Competitive advantage....................................................................................................6
1.6: Capabilities......................................................................................................................6
1.7: Objectives........................................................................................................................6
1.8: Strategy...........................................................................................................................7
1.9: Management team...........................................................................................................7
2.0: Background and market analysis........................................................................................8
3.0: Product or service..............................................................................................................10
3.1: Description....................................................................................................................10
3.2: Competitive analysis.....................................................................................................11
3.3: Value proposition..........................................................................................................12
3.4: Business level strategy..................................................................................................13
4.0: Environment analysis........................................................................................................14
4.1: SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................14
4.2: PESTLE Analysis.........................................................................................................15
5.0: Market analysis.................................................................................................................17
5.1.0: Market........................................................................................................................17

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5.1.1: Market segmentation..................................................................................................17
5.1.2: Key performance Indicators.......................................................................................18
5.1.3: Service Range............................................................................................................19
5.1.4: Service Developmental Stage....................................................................................19
5.1.5: Service innovation......................................................................................................20
5.1.6: Intellectual property...................................................................................................20
5.1.7: Product standardization..............................................................................................21
5.1.8: Insurance....................................................................................................................21
5.1.9: Action Plan.................................................................................................................21
5.2: Pricing...........................................................................................................................22
5.2.1: Pricing model.........................................................................................................22
5.2.2: Competitor pricing.................................................................................................23
5.2.3: Distribution and Sales............................................................................................23
5.2.4: Marketing channels................................................................................................25
5.3.1: Purchase process........................................................................................................25
5.3.2: Sales support..............................................................................................................26
5.3.3: Systems......................................................................................................................26
5.4: Promotion and strategy.................................................................................................27
6.0: Operations plan.................................................................................................................27
6.1: Sourcing........................................................................................................................27
7.0: Personnel plan...................................................................................................................30

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7.1: Organization chart.........................................................................................................32
8.0: Financial plan....................................................................................................................34
8.1: Statement Summary......................................................................................................34
8.2: Break-even Analysis.....................................................................................................34
8.3: Profit and Loss statement..............................................................................................35
8.4: Balance Sheet................................................................................................................35
8.5: Cash Flow statement.....................................................................................................37
Reference List..........................................................................................................................38

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1.0: Executive Summary
Date Help will be a blind dating company that will help the single males and females
that are present in an area to interact with each other based on the certain attributes that will
be filled out by them in the form. The company will be based in Australia and will provide its
services in major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, as most of the residents in the area
are busy with work and will provide a platform for them to interact with the opposite gender.
The company will be managed by a team of three owners who will be sharing the profits and
losses in an equal manner.
1.1: Mission and vision
The mission statement for the company will be to introduce the females and males
within a short period of time so that they can be familiar with each other. This will help in
increasing the level of publicity on the company platform. It will also aim to provide the
services at a reasonable price and increase the level of satisfaction towards the customers at
the same time.
The vision of the company will be divided in to two sections where firstly the
company will try to establish its platform in the tourism sector, mobile application and
television as well. Secondly, it will try to provide the platform so that the matches can be
increased.
1.2: Background
In the recent scenario, it can be seen that the lives of the young people has narrowed
down and they are mostly focussed on their work. This has led to the decrease in the
diversified styles of their social lives (Scarborough 2016). Most of the urban residents have a
fast-paced life and get very less time to interact with each other. This has led to a life of
loneliness among them. The use of the online dating platforms will help the people to find

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their perfect matches, as most of them are hooked on the internet and will be easy for them in
operating it (Burns and Dewhurst 2016).
The online dating platforms has been in existence for a long period of time and has
been used up by different countries as well. It has also helped many people to get long-time
partners and has been living together as well. The traditional matchmaking platforms was
hectic and with the use of internet, it has helped in making the interface user-friendly in
nature. The online platforms also provides courses to the people who are inexperienced so
that it can help in finding their ideal matches at a faster rate (Blank 2013).
1.3: Products and services
The services that are mostly provided by the online dating platforms is that it helps
the user in providing their own details so that it can be viewed by the opposite gender and get
a valuable opinion about their partner. The services will be custom made so that it can cater
to the various needs of the customers (Schaper et al. 2014).
The unique feature of Date Help that will be offered to the clients are as follows:
 Competitive pricing packages so that it can increase the number of subscribers
towards the company
 The package will cover the entire cost of matchmaking and setting up the couples for
the first few dates
 It will also provide support to the couples after they have been matched (McKeever
2016)
1.4: Market
The company will be targeting two segments of customers that is people belonging to
the age range of 20-34 years and the other section being 35-45 years. It will cater to the needs
of the younger people, which will help in increasing the growth rate of the company by 10

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percent on an annual basis. The other age group will help in increasing the rate of growth by
5 percent on an annual manner and together it will help in attracting more than 100,000
customers. This will help the company in increasing its opportunity in the market by a great
extent (Wentzensen and Wacholder 2013).
1.5: Competitive advantage
The company will be providing the services at a lower price so that it can help in
attracting more number of customers as subscribers. The customers will be provided with an
interactive platform so that they can chat with their partners in a proper manner and get to
know more about them (England 2013). Another major competitive advantage for the
company will be that the subscription amount that will be taken up from the customers will
be returned if they do not find their perfect match. This will be analysed when the customers
will claim for a refund based on the understanding that they have created with the opposite
gender. It will also provide excellent services to the customers so that they can be loyal
towards the company and increase the number of subscribers as well (Jones and Penaluna
2013).
1.6: Capabilities
The company will be capable to achieve its profits by providing efficient services to
the customers through user-friendly platform. This is due to the fact that the base of
customers will increase to a great extent. The marketing of the company will be done in a
strong manner so that the services that are being provided can gain the maximum reach
among the customers. The operations of the company will be moderate in nature, as it will
help in increasing the level of efficiency on the online interface. The financial aspect for the
company will also be strong, as there will be many subscribers to the company to find their
perfect matches (Ward 2016).

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1.7: Objectives
The main objective of the company will be as follows:
 To be the best dating company in the major Australian cities by providing user-
friendly services
 To increase its success rate by at least 50 percent in the Australian market by ensuring
that the relationship with the client can be long-term
 It will also realise the level of efficiency that can be gained from the assistance of the
computers in services related to matchmaking
1.8: Strategy
The marketing strategy of the company will be to negotiate with the internet service
providers so that they can get a cheaper rate. It will also increase its level of marketing in the
major locations so that the business can be promoted efficiently. The operations plan will
help the company in ensuring that the skilled employees can be hired that will increase the
utility of the firm. The finance of the company will be divided in a proper manner so that the
amount can be divided in to major sections that will result in increasing the level of profit
(Brinckmann and Kim 2015).
1.9: Management team
The company will be managed by three partners who have a better level of skills in
managing different types of projects. They also have experience from other top companies,
which has enabled them in setting up their new company. The use of the right skills has
helped them in making the interface user-friendly in nature so that it can help in increasing
the level of level of interaction among the customers through the online dating platform (Ross
and Byrd 2015).