TechReturn Platform Business Plan

TechReturn Platform is a private freelance organization that connects highly qualified freelance workers with clients who want quality work at an affordable price. The business plan aims to secure funds of SR. 1,500,000 from investors and a bank loan of SR. 1,125,000. The plan explains the company ownership, products and services, market analysis, marketing plan, management plan, and financial plan.

[TechReturn Platform]Second

Table of Contents
1 Executive summary.................................................................................................................6
1.1 Executive summary.........................................................................................................6
1.2 Objective of TechReturn platform..................................................................................6
1.3 Business Concept and Mission Statement......................................................................6
1.4 Keys to success...............................................................................................................7
1.5 Operation Plan Summary................................................................................................7
1.6 Company ownership Summary.......................................................................................8
1.7 Products and services.....................................................................................................8
1.8 Market Analysis Summary..............................................................................................8
1.9 Marketing Plan Summary................................................................................................9
1.10 Management Plan Summary...........................................................................................9
1.11 Financial Plan Summary..................................................................................................9
1.12 Investor consideration..................................................................................................10
2 Business description.............................................................................................................10
3 Business Project Description.................................................................................................11
3.1 Purpose of the business project....................................................................................11
3.2 Products for the business project.................................................................................12
3.3 Products’ market..........................................................................................................12
3.4 Customers for TechReturn............................................................................................13
3.5 Information needed to start the business.....................................................................14
3.6 Company ownership.....................................................................................................14
3.7 Mission and vision.........................................................................................................14
3.8 Objectives.....................................................................................................................15
3.9 Role of TechReturn platform.........................................................................................15
3.10 Matching with the demand...........................................................................................15
3.11 Revenue for TechReturn...............................................................................................16
3.12 Competitors..................................................................................................................16
4 Business environmental analysis..........................................................................................17
5 Industry Background.............................................................................................................17

6 Market analysis.....................................................................................................................18
6.1 Market analysis summary.............................................................................................18
6.2 Demographics and segmentation.................................................................................18
6.3 Target market...............................................................................................................19
6.4 Market need.................................................................................................................19
6.5 Barriers to entry............................................................................................................20
7 Marketing plan......................................................................................................................21
7.1 Marketing plan summary..............................................................................................21
7.2 The objectives and goal of the marketing plan.............................................................22
7.2.1 Financial goals of the plan.....................................................................................22
7.2.2 Non-financial goals................................................................................................22
7.3 PESTEL Analysis.............................................................................................................22
7.4 Core competencies.......................................................................................................23
7.5 Situation analysis..........................................................................................................24
7.5.1 SWOT analysis.......................................................................................................24
7.6 The marketing mix........................................................................................................26
7.6.1 Product strategy....................................................................................................26
7.6.2 Distribution Strategy.............................................................................................26
7.6.3 Promotional Strategy............................................................................................27
7.6.4 Pricing Strategy.....................................................................................................27
7.7 Budget, Schedule and Monitoring................................................................................27
7.8 Market analysis.............................................................................................................28
7.9 Consumer analysis........................................................................................................28
7.10 Unique selling proposition............................................................................................28
7.11 Pricing and Positioning..................................................................................................28
7.12 Distribution plan...........................................................................................................29
7.13 Offers............................................................................................................................29
7.14 Promotional strategy....................................................................................................29
7.15 Value chain...................................................................................................................30
8 Operational plan...................................................................................................................30
8.1 Location........................................................................................................................30
8.2 Operation Procedures...................................................................................................30

8.3 Facilities and Layouts....................................................................................................31
8.4 Purchasing and Distribution..........................................................................................31
8.5 Inventory Management and Control.............................................................................31
8.6 Quality Control and Customer Service..........................................................................32
8.7 Break-Even Point...........................................................................................................32
8.8 Successful operations of the company..........................................................................32
8.9 Sources of Revenue.......................................................................................................32
8.10 Customer Base..............................................................................................................33
8.11 Financing the Business..................................................................................................33
9 Management plan.................................................................................................................33
9.1 Managerial structure..........................................................................................................33
9.2 Managerial as a team..........................................................................................................34
10 Competitive analysis.........................................................................................................34
10.1 Competitive analysis summary.....................................................................................34
10.2 Current competitors.....................................................................................................35
10.2.1 Strength of competitors........................................................................................35
10.2.2 Weaknesses of competitors..................................................................................36
10.3 Potential new entrants.................................................................................................37
10.4 Indirect competitors.....................................................................................................37
11 Sales strategy....................................................................................................................37
12 Business Model.................................................................................................................38
12.1 Successful operations of business.................................................................................38
12.2 Revenue sources...........................................................................................................38
12.3 Customer base..............................................................................................................38
12.4 Financial detailing.........................................................................................................38
12.5 Business model diagram for business revenue.............................................................39
12.6 Diagram........................................................................................................................40
13 Financial Plan....................................................................................................................40
13.1 Start –up Capital requirments.......................................................................................40
13.2 Financial Projections for the Business...........................................................................41
13.2.1 Financial projections for the business in three years............................................42
13.3 Breakeven Analysis for the Sales...................................................................................42

13.4 Risks and Rewards........................................................................................................43
13.5 Premium Services.........................................................................................................43
14..................................................................................................................................................43
14 References........................................................................................................................43

1 Executive summary
1.1 Executive summary
The Business plan herein will demonstrate how TechReturn Platform will use its
investments in coming up with a profit of over SR. 202500 within one from the period of its
start-up. The plan’s main agenda is to be used by the owners to secure funds of amounting SR.
375000 from willing investors and loan of about SR. 1125000 from a bank which will be paid in
five years term. The funds that the plan aims to collect are for covering the costs of starting the
business.
TechReturn Platform is a private freelance organization that is aimed to connect highly
qualified freelance workers with clients who want their job done in a quality manner. The
company going to be specialized in connecting qualified freelance professional with clients who
want quality work at an affordable price. The business will be based in Saudi Arabia because
many scholars have done research and found out that the freelance market in this country can
rise up to SR. 1687.5 and above by the year 2020. Therefore, the owners of the business want to
take advantage of the raising market. Currently, Nabbesh.com and Freelnace.com are the
platforms providing the same products at a higher price, however, TechReturn Platform has
come to provide more quality services at an affordable price.
1.2 Objective of TechReturn platform
 The first objective of the business is to attract 50 freelancers and 2000 service receivers
at the first year of action.
 To offer quality freelance professional to clients who perform quality job for an
affordable price
 To create employment for the people of Saudi Arabia who are professional but do not
have jobs.
 To create positive income from operation, and somewhere around 10 percent net
benefits to products sold.
1.3 Business Concept and Mission Statement
The mission of TechReturn Platform is to offer job opportunities to freelancers and provide
quality professionals to its clients. The organization has a commitment of delivering quality

professionals who will not let the customers down. The company will use all its resources and
staffs to ensure that it clients are satisfied with its operations. The vision of TechReturn
Platform is to become the biggest freelancing platform in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the
world and also to be a respected platform by its clients, its staffs, other stakeholders and Saudi
Arabia as a whole. The values of TechReturn Platform define who they are, differentiate them
from their rivals and define how they offer their products. The values include honesty, integrity,
teamwork, responsibility, and performance excellence. The operations of TechReturn Platform
are driven by the core values that have been mentioned above, they drive how decisions are
made and how activities in the organizations are run.
1.4 Keys to success
Any business must create keys to success which will guide help it in meeting and
accomplishing its objectives and visions. Therefore, for TechReturn Platform to record successes
in their business operations and meet their vision, they must have keys that lead them to
success in the operations. The keys to success for TechReturn include providing excellent and
quality services and products that will help in building and maintain the customer’s loyalty
towards the organization. Second, TechReturn Platform will develop a web platform that will
make it easy for clients to assess the products and services offered by the platform. Third,
TechReturn Platform will come up with skilled management to ensure that the business is run
successfully and lastly, the organization is committed to continuously provide quality services as
per customers’ reservations. The figure below shows the highlights how the business will be
successful.
1.5 Operation Plan Summary
In the wake of spending a while hunting down an advantageous area, the proprietors chose
to rent a business space in a thickly populated zone In Saudi Arabia Capital. The capital for
starting the business will be used in registering the company and other legal expenses, creating
website for the business, insuring the company, paying rent, employing staffs and advertising
the business to customers. The owners of the business have estimated that it will cost them
almost SR. 1875000 to start the freelancing business. The owners will contribute SR. 375000 for
starting the business while the rest of the money will be from bank and investors. Therefore,
this plan has the sole purpose of convincing the investors and bank to provide TechReturn
Platform with the remaining SR. 1,500,000. If any person wants to invest in TechReturn

Platform, he or she will be asked for SR. 375000 for 31.01% equity. TechReturn Platform also has
arrangements to secure a long term loan of SR. 1125000 to be paid in five years from an
interested bank in Saudi Arabia. The cash flow analysis of the company shows that they have
ability to repay the secured loan in five years.
1.6 Company ownership Summary
The TechReturn Platform will be a private organization owned by its partners and the new
investor who will have contributed the required amount to start the business. The company
plans to issue 31.08% shares to investors who. The authors will get 68.92% of the company
shres. The owners will contribute SR. 375000 as shown in the start-up cost and funding section.
The investor and the owners will have a detailed discussion about the ownership and running of
the business before sealing the investment deal. In business, it is important to discuss the way
forward before entering into any financial deal hence preventing emergence of conflict.
1.7 Products and services
Products and services are core items in a business, therefore, a business plan should
explain the products and services the concerned company will be offering. TechReturn Platform
Company will offer a number of quality products to its customers who include professionals in
video producers, qualified photographers, graphic designers, web development, and many
more. The organization will also offer web designers, copywriters, advertisers, and many
professionals from different IT field. The products and services that TechReturn Platform will
offer are better than those that its competitors offer because of their quality and quantity. For a
company to effectively compete with other organizations, they must produce unique products
which have more quality that those of competitors and that is one of the missions of TechReturn
Platform.
1.8 Market Analysis Summary
Saudi Arabia is one of the states that have technologically grown in the Middle East.
TechReturn Platform is a technological platform and needs countries that are technologically
ahead. Therefore, the choice of Saudi Arabia to be the first market to launch the platform is
strategic and also beneficial. The education level of Saudi Arabia is increasing and thus it will be
easy for the company to link with professionals that clients’ need Saudi Arabia is one of the
highest paying states compared to other four states in the Gulf Cooperation Council. The people
there earn an average of SR. 32100 per month which is 2.9% higher that the state in the United

Arabs Emirates. The high income of the citizens of Saudi Arabia can allow them to hire
professionals for different purposes.
1.9 Marketing Plan Summary
The strategy of TechReturn is based on offering qualified professionals to their clients at
affordable prices. The company also has a strategy of making the payment transparent in that
every person involved in the business will feel satisfied. The company is creating its marketing
strategy so that it can reach all the citizens of Saudi Arabia by the end of its first year in business.
The company is focused in making sure that both the freelancing professional and clients are
satisfied with the services and products delivered. Both the low income and high income
persons are targeted by the marketing strategy of TechReturn. Other strategies that the
company will use in their day to day operations include SWOT analysis, Marketing and
advertising strategies which have been discussed in details in section three of this business plan.
1.10 Management Plan Summary
The management of TechReturn is expected to make right decisions for the business and
use the business resources in a wise and ethical manner. The management is to ensure that the
debts are paid including the loans that a bank will offer and also warrant that both the
professional freelancers and the clients are happy. The organization can ensure happiness by
making sure that the freelancers have provided quality work and the clients have paid good
money for their work. The management of TechReturn will be handled by its owners who are
experts in both technological business management and professional freelancing. The investor
will be always included in critical business decision making processes and profit sharing.
1.11 Financial Plan Summary
Looking at the conservative estimates that TechReturn have calculated, the company is
expected to have good cash flow and healthy business transaction through the next five years.
The research done by the founders of the business suggest that, the company may even start
recording good transactions at the first fourth month of business activities. The business wants
to reach all Saudi Arabians within the first year, therefore, it is expected to make some
reasonable profits for its owners. The main objective of the first profits that the business make is
to pay a fifth of the money that TechReturn will own the bank, pay its bill including rents and
pay workers. The ratio analysis that has been done indicates that the business will have strong
financial background once it starts because there is a lot of demand for freelancers. The other

sites that are providing the services are not giving quality services to clients and they are also
paying the freelancers less money compared to TechReturn. Therefore, when the business
decides to enter the market, it will threaten other sites producing the same services in a low
quality.
1.12 Investor consideration
The investor who will invest his or her money in the business that is $100,000 will receive
the equity of 31.08%. The value means that the investor will own for 31.08% of the company
hence he or she will hold a quarter of voting in terms of decision making in the company. If the
organization gets two or more investors who have agreed to partner at that same percentage,
the owners will still accept. The investor will have significant powers in terms of voting in the
company’s decisions due to the equity the owners have granted him or her. The dividends will
be paid to the investor every month of the year and the conservative estimate has shown that
the investor will receive more than SR. 1012500 in five years if the business booms. The
company has drafted the best laws according to the investor’s law of Saudi Arabia so that the
interests of both investor and the owner of the business are protected. The company has
measures to ensure that the investor gets profit from the money that he or she has invested in
the business. If the business goes South, TechReturn will use the Saudi Arabia constitution to
settle the both investor and the owner.
2 Business description
TechReturn is a new freelancing platform that allows freelancers to get clients who want
their services at good wages. TechReturn will act as an intermediate between professional
freelancers and clients who want various services. The section herein gives details about
TechReturn platform a private owned company located in Saudi Arabia capital. The owners of
the company have experience in technology, business management and freelancing, hence they
are very qualified to handle online freelancing business better than any of the business’
competitors. The owners of the business have high expectations of satisfying customers who
have been disappointed by other freelancing companies and they also want to introduce other
people in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world to the freelancing idea. The organization will
serve all the citizens of Saudi Arabia who are interested in working as freelancers and who will
want the services of freelancers.

The location the company has chosen as its headquarters is advantageous because most
of the populations there are developed technologically and most of them are economically well.
Another advantage of Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh is that the cost of renting commercial
premises is not high and the taxes there are favorable for investments. In terms of competition
the company has very powerful competitors and therefore, to outshine theme, the managers of
the organization should come up with strategies which are advantageous over other institutions.
TechReturn has also planned to focus on offering more quality services to both its clients so that
there can be constant flow of customers through the years of its operations. The owners of the
organization know that they cannot use the price only to compete with their rivals, rather they
should have great marketing strategies and plans as discussed in the sections below in this
business plan. The delivery process of the company’s products is online which means that
everything is done online but money transfer will be highly secure and fast. TechReturn has
developed a payment platform which will fasten payment system bring solution to late payment
by other freelancing platforms.
3 Business Project Description
3.1 Purpose of the business project
The main purpose of the business project is to understand the freelance used by the IT
platform TechReturn. It will act both as platform and software market. TechReturn will let
people to develop the skills and ability for fulfilling the demand or can ask the custom software
in order to fulfill the demands from next end. TechReturn is going to be a simplest and
convenient way for a freelance business, allows anyone to work with them in order to increase
their income, and can work freely while continuing to their official job by requesting to the
TechReturn platform. Moreover, from the list of freelance in the platform one can choose
anyone and can start further process including negotiation for a price, requirements, etc. This
business idea will increase the employment rate over the Saudi Arabia country. This project is
based on for creating job opportunities through online, so that they can income without any
physical disturbance. In addition, they need to agree on the requirements to deliver and finish
the demand made by the requester. This will create job opportunities and will also increase the
productivity for the freelancers.

3.2 Products for the business project
The products and services that TechReturn Platform will offer include creative designers,
web designers, writers, photographers, video producers and many other professionals that are
available in Saudi Arabia and needed by the customers. The customers will just have to go the
company’s website interface and chose the profession they want its services and place an order.
The customers and professional freelancers will just have to sign up to TechReturn’s account
and get the services.
The main aim of the proposed freelancing TechReturn is to provide their companies
with a wide range of freelance search. This will provide customer with different variety of
effective and efficient software’s and its services, so that they can utilize it while working with
the freelance. There are many products available in the fields of IT freelancer. This product is
different and new, as it will open a variety of job opportunities for viewers and every employee
will able to find their specialization-based job. The IT freelancing will include gaming, chatting,
website creation and many more. This provides a huge range of projects according to the skills
the person possess. The main focus for the proposed framework is that, one need to search
properly about the details. If an individual is quite confident and competitive in the field the
person has expertise, this is the best way to showcase the abilities and talent to the clients.
According to the specialization, the freelancer will get projects from the clients and will
efficiently deliver the project within the given deadline. For this they will get paid directly.
TechReturn is fully dependent on people who joins and are subscribed with this platform. In
future, TechReturn can also expand the business by appointing head for each department, so
that the work done can be managed smoothly. This is quite easy , only the clients need to do is ,
post the job that is required to be get done and with this bidding will start from freelancers
within minutes, does not matter what the demand is the freelancer will get it done anyhow,
starting from mobile app development , web design , virtual products , graphic design and many
more.
3.3 Products’ market
This product will hold a great market , as they are not only provides job to many
unemployed people but also helps the people who wants to be their work done urgently
without any delay. In this freelance, TechReturn will also provide secure payment and provides
thousands of professionals to choose from the TechReturn. In order to analyze the market of

Saudi, it has been known that there are big requirements by both sides. For this matter,
TechReturn would initially start to open business in Saudi Arabia nation.
The reason this approach will attract huge business in the market, as this is simplest and
easiest way to get the work done online. The features that will attract people:
 The client is needed to pay only when work is done and once the clients feel 100%
satisfaction with the work. If the client is not satisfied with the work, the freelancer will
be told to redo the work. If the freelancer still does the wrong thing the work will be
reassigned to another freelancer. The client can ask for his money if he is not entirely
satisfied.
 The freelancers will bid for the assignment and the respective client will chose the
freelancer of his choice.
 Every service will have a minimum amount that the client needs to pay and maximum
price that the freelancer needs to ask from the customer.
 TechReturn is always there to help whenever needed. The support for the client is
available 24*7.
 The client and freelancer can constantly chat to talk about the work progress. There will
be also a page where both freelancers and clients can communicate with the platform’s
support team.
 The TechReturn requires freelancer to provide mobile number so that the
communication department can call them whenever a matter arise and they are offline
 It is also about the client that which freelancer they want to choose, and can trust every
professional by viewing their profile reviews and can assign them with the task.
3.4 Customers for TechReturn
TechReturn will attract the customers who are interested in joining the platform. They
will be required to subscribe with the platform for getting the access to their type of jobs.
TechReturn will take orders from their customers and will response accordingly. This is basically
the one who are in need with the work done .The main motive of the TechReturn is to attract all
types of people by providing people with huge categories, so that they can work according to
their choice and will earn on the basis of the requirements. It freelancers includes many
departments with graphics, development of software and many more.

3.5 Information needed to start the business
 The legal procedures required for starting a business in Saudi Arabia.
 TechReturn should have a good knowledge of the region.
 TechReturn should be aware of the terms and conditions of the country and should have
done extensive research before entering the sector.
 A better business plan might attract the attention of the government and local people.
 TechReturn should also focus on the size of the business. They will need the information
about the market and needs to create the product as such, so that it becomes feasible
for the market.
 How the government will further authenticate the people are in the freelance so that
there does not arise any case of fraud in the future.
 How much capacity and capital it will require for gaining profit with the emerging trend.
 TechReturn might need to have a domestic partner who will hold similar interest
towards the company. Once the TechReturn is registered, they need to show the
Ministry of Commerce that, the freelancers holds a massive sum of money to invest.
3.6 Company ownership
TechReturn will be a private company and largely owned by its founders who will own
most of the shares. The company has planned to issue 31.08% of its shares to the investors who
will be willing to invest in the business. The owners will own 68.92% of the company shares. The
shares have been calculated by equating the total capital needed to 100%. Therefore, the
percentages of the shares have been reached at by multiplying the contribution by 100% and
dividing the answer by the total capital needed. The investor and the owners will have a detailed
discussion about the ownership and running of the business before sealing the deal. In business,
it is important to discuss the way forward before entering into any deal hence preventing
emergence of conflict. The company ownership has been decided as per the state of Saudi
Arabia ownership regulations.
3.7 Mission and vision
A company without a mission and vision can never grow therefore every business must
have a strong mission and vision that can drive its success. Also suggest that the mission and the
visions should be SMART. The mission of TechReturn Platform is to offer job opportunities to
freelancers and provide quality professionals to its clients. The vision of TechReturn is to

become the biggest freelancing platform in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world and also to
be a respected platform by its clients, its staffs, other stakeholders and Saudi Arabia as a whole.
3.8 Objectives
 The first objective of the business is to attract 50 freelancers and 150 service receivers at
the first year of action.
 To offer quality freelance professionals to clients who perform quality job for an
affordable price
 To create employment for the people of in Saudi Arabia.
 To create positive income from tasks, and somewhere around 10 percent net benefits to
products sold.
3.9 Role of TechReturn platform
TechReturn is going to be a simplest and convenient way for a freelance business, allows
anyone to work with them in order to increase their income, and can work freely while
continuing to their official job by requesting to the TechReturn platform. Moreover, from the list
of freelance in the platform one can choose anyone and can start further process including
negotiation for a price. This is quite easy, only the clients need to do is, post the job that is
required to be done and with this bidding will start from freelancers within minutes. Does not
matter what the demand is the freelancer will get it done anyhow, starting from mobile app
development, web design, virtual products, graphic design and many more. TechReturn will thus
create various opportunities for the IT employees. According to the specialization, the freelancer
will get projects from the clients and will efficiently deliver the project within the given deadline.
For this they will get paid directly. TechReturn is fully dependent on people who join and are
subscribed with this platform. In future TechReturn can also expand the business by appointing
head for each department, so that the work done can be managed smoothly. The services
TechReturn will provide will attract the customers and many people will love to work with this
platform.
3.10 Matching with the demand
Advertisement will attract new customers and will bring suppliers who will provide
revenue towards this platform. The customers will be updated towards these freelancing
platforms through advertisement. TechReturn platform will provide maximum opportunities in
order to meet the demand in the market. The IT expertise will get a platform on which they will

be able to highlight their talent. They will earn according to the work they did. Thus, every IT
expert will work efficiently to fulfill the demands of their clients.
3.11 Revenue for TechReturn
Online business must be trusted so that they can generate revenues. Likewise,
TechReturn platform must have ways of generating revenues so that the investors can invest
their money without worries. First, the company will build trust with its clients through reviews.
The organization will have few pages showing the pictures of services it offer, testimonials form
clients who have enjoyed the firm’s services, and positive reviews from freelancers. The
organization will also link with Google AdSense to advertise its products and show its positive
reviews to potential clients. Second, the firm will advertise its products on Facebook for a low
cost. Third, the organization will use all sales strategies to ensure that the products are bought.
Marketing is the key for revenue generation in an organization. Hence sales and marketing
strategies will target all the residents of Saudi Arabia. The profits of the business will be from the
fees that both freelancers and clients will be charged. First, freelancers will pay SR. 56.25 to
have an account with TechReturn. 10% of the money paid for a service will also to the
company’s account. The company will also ask the client to pay 20% of the money for the work
they are seeking. If the service is SR. 187.5 the client will pay SR. 225 and the freelancer will be
paid $45. The company will also generate revenue from the fines it will levy on the freelancer if
they do not follow instructions. The criterion of how fines will be applied is in the terms and
conditions of the business. For example, SR. 56.25 will be deducted from freelancers who are
late with the work of client.
3.12 Competitors
The competitors are the one who are offering same freelancing opportunities in these
platforms. Several sites offer the same. To beat their competitors, they need to provide better
facility and flexibility towards their clients. As a CEO, several measures can be suggested
towards the TechReturn in order to increase the revenue and to attract more customers. These
are as follows:
 Flexibility should be maintained.
 In case of further changes required by the customer should be done by the freelancers.
 Clients should get orders within the deadline provided by them.
 The money transaction should be safe.

 Should gain trust of their clients.
4 Business environmental analysis
Any start-up company should know who he or she will be competing with before even
executing the business. Knowing the competitors can help a business learn their disadvantages
so that it can use them in fighting them in a healthy manner. Even through Saudi Arabia is a
good place for starting freelancing platform for business, there are competitors who started this
business ten years ago and are known in the market. They include Dubizzle, Laimoon, Utalenta,
Nabbesh and Freelancer.com. In a business there must be competition so that the clients get
products which are of high quality. What TechReturn Platform will do is make good use of the
disadvantages of the services offered by the competitors to outshine them in the market.
Competition is inevitable so it is up to any business to make to use of their marketing strategies
in luring customers to their side. More of the competition in the market will be discussed in the
competition analysis in this business report.
5 Industry Background
The freelancing started in Germany where professionals had freedom to work for as
many employees as they chose. In modern era, freelancing became by the support of computer
innovations. People came up with websites which act as a link between freelancers and clients
who need the services. In Saudi Arabia Freelancer.com and Nabbesh.com are the first platforms
to be opened as business freelancing websites. Freelancing industry in Saudi Arabia is highly
competitive and has a lot of liquidity.
The freelancing was done by agencies before the emergence of computers and internet.
The English were referring to freelancing professionals as people who could not work for a
constant employer for a long time. A study shows that Saudi Arabia positively embraced
freelancing business and is one of the liquid businesses in the country.
5.1 Industry competition
Saudi Arabia has grown faster in terms of online businesses and freelancing hence
competition is inevitable. TechReturn Platform will have a lot of competition because they want
to be the world’s most recognized freelancer platform. Currently, there are about 50 freelancer
platforms that provide freelancer jobs like the one TechReturn wants to provide. Some of the

platforms include Dubizzle, Laimoon, Utalenta, Nabbesh and Freelancer.com. The mentioned
platforms are the best and highly recognized platforms in Saudi Arabia. Nabbesh.com is the
largest freelancer platform and it is the organization that started to provide freelancing services
to people of Saudi Arabia.
5.2 Industry Development and growth
The freelancing business in Saudi has grown drastically. Studies show that about 25% of the
youths in the state are engaging in freelancing business. Studies also show that Saudi Arabia has
made close to SR. 1.5 billion in 2017 which shows that the freelancing industry in Saudi has
grown. There are also laws created by the government of Saudi to restrict scam from invading
the industry. There are new technologies that have also assisted in the industry development.
6 Market analysis
6.1 Market analysis summary
Market analysis is one of the core components of a business plan, it shows how the
market is attractive from a financial view point. Therefore, this section has discussed the market
analysis for TechReturn business so that the bank and investors can know the future of products
offered by TechReturn Platform. If the investor and the bank see that the market is on
TechReturn’s side, they will give financial assistance without any hesitation. The Saudi Arabian
capital has more than seven million people who are technologically educated, hence the choice
to start the business there was based on the population who are the potential customers.
According to the research done by Morgan (2012), Saudi Arabia is one of the leading states in
freelancing business in Middle East making the state a strategic place for the freelancing
business.
6.2 Demographics and segmentation
The main customers of the products and services offered by TechReturn are both the
professional freelancers and the clients who want the services of these freelancers. Most of the
populations of Saudi Arabia’s capital are employed and busy hence find it hard to search for
people who can work for them therefore, TechReturn will be started to act as the middle man
between the freelancers and the people who seek them. Another reason why the owners of
TechReturn chose Saudi Arabian capital is because there are fewer competitors in the town

compared to other towns in Saudi Arabia. There are only two competitors who are
Freelance.com and Nabeesh.com while the other towns in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East
states have more than five competitors. TechReturn wants to become an international
freelancer company in five years however, the first year of its opening, the organization will be
focused in attracting its potential customers in Saudi Arabia state as a whole. The market value
for freelancer business in Saudi Arabia is SR. 1.5 billion hence the owners of TechReturn have
decided to take advantage of the market value and open the business in Saudi Arabia.
6.3 Target market
The target market for TechReturn Platform includes both the low earning and high
earning population. In other words, TechReturn is targeting both the high class and the low class
residents of Saudi Arabia. According to the research and survey done by the owners of
TechReturn business, most of the residents in Saudi Arabia like ordering work to be done for
them through online freelancing companies. Saudi Arabia citizens do not trust professionals
they meet on the streets because there have been a lot of cases of fraud. Most of the
professionals who have been hired through agencies do not conduct quality work and that is
why the residents of Saudi Arabia like posting orders they want done at freelancing site.
TechReturn will try and advertise its products to all the residents of Saudi Arabia so that they
can be its potential clients. TechReturn also conducted a research and found out that most of
the freelancing platforms are charging its customers a high price and the work is of low quality.
TechReturn will cheap in and provide the residents with high quality products at an affordable
price. TechReturn owners know that they cannot only attract the customers with just affordable
price, they must also ensure that the orders their clients post are done in a quality manner. The
owners of TechReturn estimate that they will be receiving more than 10,000 orders in one
month which is 10% of the market share. However as the company continue with its image
branding, the market share will increase.
6.4 Market need
Before any company or organization decides to venture into any business, it must first
analyze the needs of that particular market. To understand the market needs which can help a
business person who want to venture into a business must know what he or she is expected to
deliver to the market which is different from what the competitors are delivering. According to
the research, market need analysis involves researching to find out what the customers want in

the products, investigating who your competitors are, extermination of market patterns, and
some essential inquiry into affinity to buy an item that satisfies the buyer’s necessities.
TechReturn owners have done research and find out that the clients want high quality work at a
good price. After reading the reviews those clients who have acquired the same services from
other freelancing platforms, TechReturn owners have found out that the customers are not
satisfied with what they are getting right now. They want more than just professionals, they
want people who love their job and do it to their last ability.
The products that TechReturn Platform will provide will overcome the challenges that
the customers are getting now include poor quality work. There will be well coordinated
communication system between the clients, the organization and the freelancers so that work
can be of high quality. The freelancers of other site are complaining of payment delays because
those platforms have poor payment systems which delay the payments for freelancers after
they have accomplished orders by the clients. Therefore, TechReturn will come up with system
which will be paying freelancers after every two weeks after they have completed the orders by
clients and the customers are also satisfied with the work done. TechReturn will try hard to keep
the money the freelancers have worked for safe and pay them on time.
6.5 Barriers to entry
Mason and Brown (2013) have defined barriers to entry as the monetary term
portraying the presence of high start-up costs or different impediments that keep new
contenders from effortlessly entering an industry or territory of business. The ones that benefit
from barriers to entry are businesses that are in existence since they ensure that the profits of
these companies are protected and intact because it is hard for other people to venture into
that same business. Some researchers highlighted some barriers to entries which include
benefits of special taxes that the current organizations are enjoying, licenses, solid brand
personality or client faithfulness, and high client exchanging costs. There are two types of
barriers to entry they include one, government barriers to entry and natural barriers to entry.
The barriers to entry caused by the government are the laws that the regimes have put in place
to regulate the way freelancing business is conducted in that particular state. For example, the
Saudi Arabia state has created regulations that guide how business people can open and
conduct the freelancing business to prevent frauds. Natural barriers include how the existing
companies have branded their business and how customers are loyal to the existing platforms

(Kumar et al., 2012). For example, an existing company can decide to make available resources
for marketing and branding its products and services the way Freelancer.com and other
platform have done. Another example of natural barrier is where customers are loyal to existing
organizations hence giving new companies hard time of convicting these clients.
The challenge that TechReturn is facing is the high costs of registering an online
freelancing platform in Saudi Arabia. The government together with the existing stakeholders in
freelancing business, passed laws that raised the fees of registering online companies in Saudi
Arabia. The increase in fees was to prevent frauds from taking advantage of the citizens of Saudi
Arabia who love ordering jobs to be done or them from online professions. Another barrier is
that most of the existing organizations have strong customer base in Saudi Arabia therefore, it is
so difficult for new companies come and take customers away from the existing platforms. The
existing platforms have invested heavily in advertising and marketing and hence they have made
it hard for new platforms to publicize their platforms. The last barrier is the cost of creating a
website and the legal requirements needed to create the sites. The state of Saudi Arabia has
made it difficult to create websites to prevent frauds from flooding the market. The legal
requirements have even affected the genuine business people who want to invest in freelancing
businesses. However, TechReturn must just have strategies to break the barriers in order to
make it in the freelancing business.
7 Marketing plan
7.1 Marketing plan summary
Marketing plan is an essential document that should be included in a business plan. It
shows how the organization is prepared to market its products and services to its customers so
that it can outshine its competitors. A researcher shows that a good marketing plan is the key to
success and prosperity of any company in the world of business. The marketing plan herein is
part of the business plan that the owners of TechReturn Platform will use in convincing the
investors so that they can get the additional capital they want for the business. The marketing
plan will also be used to show the employees who will be working for TechReturn Platform the
status and the direction the will going in terms of business prosperity. Although the organization
has not been launched yet, a lot of people need its services because the current companies
providing the products that are not satisfying customers in Saudi Arabia. TechReturn Platform

wants to expand it businesses to the other parts of the world form Saudi Arabia in the next five
years.
7.2 The objectives and goal of the marketing plan
The goal of this marketing plan is to give detailed strategies that the markers of the
company will use in conducting their day to day marketing activities. The plan will ensure that
the company is on the right track in terms of marketing services it is offering to the clients.
TechReturn Platform wants to inspire and provide employment for those professionals who are
qualified for jobs but it is difficult for them to find jobs in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the
world. Therefore, this marketing plan can help in fulfilling the goal of TechReturn Platform.
7.2.1 Financial goals of the plan
 To create enough capital that can be used in expanding TechReturn business to other
parts of the world in five years after it is opened.
 To earn profit of which will be increasing by 5% after every one year.
 To ensure that the TechReturn Platform has paid its debts to the bank by the end of the
fifth year.
7.2.2 Non-financial goals
 To come up with a system that will accurately measure the quality of the freelancers
TechReturn will be signing up to work for its clients.
 To take over the Saudi Arabia market by the first year of operation and expand to the
rest of the world in five years.
 To sign up more than 200 freelancers and more that 500 buyers in the first year of
operation.
 To increase the team that will be handling the company so that the operations may be
efficient.
7.3 PESTEL Analysis
Marketers use the A PESTEL analysis both the external and the internal environment of
a business and its productivity. The factors that will affect TechReturn Platform include political,
economic, social, environmental, technological and legal factors. Political factors are how the
government impacts the business. The state of Saudi Arabia has fully supported online business
hence TechReturn Platform will have easy time in the region. There are less trade restrictions,

political stability, and lenient laws in the state. Second, economically, the interest rates,
inflation, exchange rates and taxation policies support online business in Saudi Arabia. Third, the
citizens of Saudi do most of their transactions online hence they can support TechReturn
Platform socially. Saudi Arabia is one of the technological oriented countries in the Middle East.
Therefore, TechReturn Platform will have the best technological equipment to supports its
services. TechReturn Platform does not pollute any environment hence it will not be affected by
the environmental policies in Saudi. The legal requirements for starting the business are so
expensive. The current online companies agreed to the laws so that they can block people from
starting the business.
The economic graph below show online business booms in Saudi more than other states in the
Middle East (Zahra & Nambisan, 2012)
7.4 Core competencies
TechReturn Platform pursues to use its core competencies in having sustainable
advantages against their competitors, in that the services provided it will not be the same as
those of the rivals. TechReturn has already developed core competencies which are offering a
high caliber, branded services, whose picture is unmistakable among the clients. Second, making
a feeling of network among the clients who buy the services and third, building the reputation of
the freelancers who will be working for TechReturn so that the company can get many orders
and good reviews form the clients. By shaping solid associations with customers and freelancers,
TechReturn Platform trusts that it can make a feasible upper hand in luring customers against

current and other future opponents. No other freelancing organization considers the interests of
its stakeholders the way TechReturn does.
7.5 Situation analysis
Situation analysis has been used to give the insights of TechReturn’s marketing
environment. The situation analysis can be conducted well by using the strategy called SWOT
analysis which shows the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In addition, the
situation analysis can be used to determine relationship between the business and other
stakeholders. The owners of TechReturn have done research and found out that there are
overwhelming opportunities in the marketing environment of the company. Situational analysis
of TechReturn’s marketing environment can best be described through the SWOT analysis.
7.5.1 SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis exhibits a thumbnail draw of the organization’s situation in the
market environment. TechReturn Platform want to provide quality services once it is open and
also increase the numbers of products offered when the new chances emerge. The organization
will hire committed professionals to work for it in order to find and win over faithful clients in
the market. The company has a number of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to its
business.
Strengths
The first strength of TechReturn Platform once it enters the market is that most clients
of the current platforms are complaining that those platforms are not producing quality work.
However, one of the objectives of TechReturn is to ensure that the clients get quality work
which is in line with the payment they made for the work to be done. Secondly, the owners of
the company are experienced and highly qualified to run the company. Other companies that
provide the same services are run by people are not professionally qualified to manage those
businesses that are why clients are complaining of poor quality work. The owners of TechReturn
on the other hand have been freelancers for quite some time, they are also qualified in business
and management and information technology. Third, TechReturn has been cited in the best
location where they can easily advertise the institution in Saudi Arabia’s capital billboards.
Weaknesses

Weakness is part of business and good managers should always point out the short
comings of the company and find solution towards them (Chang, Park & Chaiy, 2010).
TechReturn has three weaknesses which include first, insufficient capital. The organization has
less capital to run the business and the capital is one way of ensuring that an industry grows.
However, the owners of the TechReturn business have put measure in place to solve the capital
issue and one of the measures is to write this business plan to be used in convincing willing
investors to invest in the company. The company owners have also made plans to go and
acquire loan from the bank to boost the capital they have at hand. The second weakness that
TechReturn will have when it opens is that it will have few personnel who will be performing
business’ daily activities. However, the business plan has included the expansion of
management after first financial year capital will be there. The last weakness is that the business
is still new and it will be challenging for it to get the customers from other competitors.
However, there is a good marketing strategy to overcome the challenge.
Opportunities
The opportunities that the TechReturn business has are that Saudi Arabia is one of the
countries where citizen love working online. A Research shows that freelancing business have
contributed to over SR. 1.5 billion Saudi Arabia’ economy in 2018 which means that the business
is booming in that Saudi Arabia. The second opportunity is that there are unlimited numbers of
customers in Saudi Arabia and lastly is that most of the people in that region are not educated
therefore, they need the services of professionals outside the country. TechReturn will make
good use of these opportunities in improving the business.
Threats
The threats to freelancing business and TechReturn Platforms are one, the taxes laws
that keep changing from time to time in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian government has
increased the rate at which the freelancing businesses should pay the taxes which have threated
the companies in a big way. The second threat is emergence of frauds, some people have
developed platforms with the motive of stealing from the people of Saudi Arabia hence making
them loose trust with freelancing business. The third threat is that there people who want to
duplicate the products that will be produced by TechReturn. The management should be alert in
case such people emerge. The last threat to TechReturn Platform when it opens is the strong

branding that the competitor companies are practicing. The existing companies have capital and
they are using it to strongly brand themselves so that they can frustrate the new organizations
that want to enter the freelancing business.
7.6 The marketing mix
The marketing mix is the combination of strategies that will be used by the TechReturn
Platform management to market, advertise, distribute and sell the services they offer. Marketing
mix include product strategy, distribution strategy, promotion strategy, and pricing strategy that
companies use in marketing the products.
7.6.1 Product strategy
TechReturn Platform will offer variety of services ranging from high quality writers,
professional photographers, producers, and creative designers. The orders that the company
will assign to freelancers will bear the logo of the company. The website of the company will
have the colors the clients will enjoy looking at while browsing through the TechReturn
Platform’s website interface. TechReturn will invest in a high quality website that will not give
clients and freelancers hard time while posting orders or bidding for orders. The company
management will provide a strategy where the client and the freelancer will talk through
messages for the client to interview the freelancer to see whether he or she is capable of the
task. The organization wants to ensure that they provide the best products to customers and the
freelancer get the best payments for their quality work.
7.6.2 Distribution Strategy
In online business distribution is done through the internet therefore, an online entity
should invest heavily on internet materials. TechReturn will provide platform where the clients
can chose which profession or work they want to be done for them after they have logged into
TechReturn’s system. After choosing, they will find a space where to post the work as instructed
in the website. The freelancers who have signed in though a detailed verification will have to bid
for the assignment and after an understanding with the client, the work will be assigned to
them. Freelancers then will be given deadline on when to submit the assignment and before the
client takes the work, the management of TechReturn will go through the assignment to see
whether it is as per the customer’s instructions. The TechReturn will highly observe the deadline
and will require all the freelancers to respect the deadline. In case for professions like lawyers,

the institutions will connect them with the clients but payment will be through TechReturn
because the work must be checked by TechReturn management before paying the freelancer.
7.6.3 Promotional Strategy
TechReturn will from time to time communicate with both the freelancers and the
clients about its services in various ways. First, the company will come up with platform where
the clients and freelancers will be giving their reviews about the services it is offering and in case
both the freelancers and clients want a certain change, the management will discuss and
implement it. Second, the information about the company and all the services it is offering will
be availed via the internet, messages, and direct mails. TechReturn’s promotion is mainly to
distinguish its services with those of its rivals and opponents. Other promotional activities will
include giving bonus to loyal customers and freelancers, providing free transport to freelancers
who require transport, and advertising the company through media houses in Saudi Arabia,
social media, and other media platforms.
7.6.4 Pricing Strategy
In fact, the organizations should be careful when they are coming up with prices for their
commodities because prices can either tarnish the image of those organizations or build their
picture. TechReturn’s aim is to become the best freelancing platform that provides quality work
and reasonable prices. Therefore, there will be a system that calculates the prices of services
they considering the requirements of the clients and the nature of the assignment. Providing
low prices are not a strategy, it is degrading the brand of an organization. Hence, prices will be
described according to the way economy of Saudi Arabia is growing an also the competitors
must also be included in determining the price. The pricing also be varying with the seasons, the
management can decide to lower the price due to holidays such as charismas and New Year
celebrations.
7.7 Budget, Schedule and Monitoring
Marketing plan requires capital to ensure that all the strategies are met including
promotional and distribution strategies. Most of the operations in the marketing plan will be
done within one year of operation they include increase the management, promotional strategy,
and situational analysis. The total of $15,000 is required for promotional strategy and $15,000 is
required in employing and expanding the management of the company. Monitoring of the plan
will be done by the owners of the business and after every two weeks they will be meeting to

talk about the progress of the company. The details on how much money is required for the
business has been mentioned in the finances part in this business plan.
7.8 Market analysis
The Saudi Arabian market has ample of freelancing platform and the platforms like
Laimoon, dubizzle, Utalenta and Nabbesh. Furthermore, the platforms like Freelancer,
Truelancer and other international sites are also available in the Saudi Arabian Market.
TechReturn will face competition from the above-discussed freelancing platforms. The
international freelancing platform have well established buying base while the national
freelancing platforms are aware of the regional needs. Hence, the market is full of opportunities
for both the buyers and sellers however, the proposed organization will overcome the
challenges and will earn competitive advantage.
7.9 Consumer analysis
The freelancing market of Saudi Arabia is expected to reach over SR. 1687.5 billion by
the year 2020. The figure cited above is not just figures for the sellers but also the recruitment
done by the corporate world of Saudi Arabia outside of their regional domain. Hence, it would
be justified to state that the freelancing market of Saudi Arabia is huge and could be utilized.
The platform will focus at the local freelancers who does not avail enough opportunity and pay
due to the outsourcing of the services. Furthermore, the platform will offer free learning
tutorials which will attract the freelancers who are willing to learn in the process of earning.
7.10Unique selling proposition
The Unique Selling Proposition of the TechReturn will be the services that are focused
on the local job seekers and will be supportive for them. Furthermore, the specialization as well
as the provided quality of service that provide a level of customer expectation would satisfies
the next end. Furthermore, The USP for the buyers would be to the effective and efficient
services that they will get at an efficient price. Furthermore, the delivery of the services will be
on time and any further changes requested by the buyer would be made by the seller. The main
USP in terms of the clients will be development of a strong bond of trust.
7.11Pricing and Positioning
As discussed in the sections above the pricing of the services will be developed by
keeping the competition in mind. The aim of the platform is to develop itself as a brand is not

aimed at presenting itself as a prestigious or luxury brand. Furthermore, the platform is also not
of the objective to downgrade its quality by offering very low prices. The platform will pursue
the technique of value pricing and as part of it, the services will be priced accordingly to the
level of specialization they deem. The aim is to satisfy the buyer and seller at the same instance
over-hyped price will disturb the buyer while very cheap services will affect the motivation of
the freelancer and it will reflect on the quality of the service provided. Hence, the choice of
value pricing could be justified.
7.12 Distribution plan
The offerings that will be offered by TechReturn are services in nature and hence, the
distribution of the services will be done through electronic means. According to the needs of the
clients, the freelancer will fulfill the requirements such as website, mobile application, graphic
design and multiple other. The deliverables will be converted in a zip format to ensure its safety
and alignment and will be delivered to the client through electronic means. However, the option
of physical delivery for large sized delivery will also be kept available for which the client will
have to pay some additional amount.
7.13Offers
The firm will provide offers according to the client because as clients will be different
entities and hence their requirements might differ from each other. Hence, the first step would
be to develop a portfolio for the client and according to the same offers for the clients will be
made. Furthermore, a review on the clients past orders and period of association with the firm
will be assessed to offer more exciting offers. Additionally, the firm will also focus on the
freelancer and based on the reviews they receive from the clients who have used their service
felicitating rewards will be provided to them.
7.14Promotional strategy
As discussed above the aim of the firm is to develop a bond of trust with its buyers and
sellers and hence, the firm will aim at making a direct communication with them. The
advertisements on the social media will assist the firm to the potential sellers who will sell their
services. The social media promotions will also enable the firm to communicate and tackle the
queries of the buyers and sellers which will help them to develop a sense of trust towards the
firm and hence association. Furthermore, the firm will also initiate a referral program which will
offer certain award for referral.

7.15 Value chain
8 Operational plan
8.1 Location
The business will be located at Saudi Arabia’s capital. The business will lease a building
where all the transactions will be happening. Majorly, all the business activities will be done
online. Hence at start the business will leas relatively small premises.
8.2 Operation Procedures
The business will be operating online where it will advertise for both the freelancers and
the clients to register with the company. After, registration and the clients have availed orders

to done, the business will require the freelancers to bid for jobs of their choice and agree in
price with the clients. However, the company management will be monitoring all the
communication and regulate minimum and maximum price. The freelancer will do quality job
and submit it before the deadline. After submission, the client will check the work and approve
payments. Payments will be released to the clients after every two weeks.
8.3 Facilities and Layouts
The company facilities will include the website, the leased building, computers, and other
equipment that it will have acquired in the course of its operations. The layout of the company
facility is shown in the figure below
Facility Layout
8.4 Purchasing and Distribution
The business’ products will display on its website interfaces. A client purchasing the
services will pay through Upwork or PayPal. The business I an online hence, distribution is done
online where the freelancer who has successfully bided for an order is assign the project.
8.5 Inventory Management and Control
All the company asses and other things that form inventories will be managed highly. The
business will manage its inventory to ensure that the company assets and capitals are secure.

Inventory will be managed by providing proper services to all the organisation departments,
creating policies that curb corruption and employing competent managers. The organization will
also invest in a high secure website and payment system to prevent cyber theft.
8.6 Quality Control and Customer Service
The company has terms and conditions that ensure that the freelancers provide quality
work. If the work if of low quality, the freelancer will be fined. Customer service centre has been
provided where both the client and the freelancer will commination and reach the business.
8.7 Break-Even Point
It is the point at which a business is not making profits or losses. TechReturn Platform will
reach break-even point six months form launching date. At this point the money the business
will make will reclaim the capital used to start it. The tabl below shows the breakeven point of
the company.
8.8 Successful operations of the company
The business operations of TechReturn Platform are going to act as the link between the
online freelancers and the clients who are buying its services and will ensure that both the
freelancer and the customer are satisfied will the services. The operations will ensure that the
clients pay a good amount of money for his or her work to be done so that the freelancer is also
paid well by the company. The company will only pay the freelancer if the customer is with the
work, it will also monitor the progress of the assignment. TechReturn has put in place the tools
that it will use in measuring the quality of work by freelancers.

8.9 Sources of Revenue
As mentioned above the first sources of revenue to open the company will come from
the owners, an investor and the bank. From that point on, the organization will be sourcing its
revenue from the charges taken form freelancers and clients for using the website.
8.10 Customer Base
TechReturn’s customers will be both the freelancers who have no jobs and the clients
who want their work to be done on a quality manner. So that the company gets its customers,
the organization will use all the marketing strategies which include advertising. The organization
has allocated enough money in marketing so that it gets almost all the customers in Saudi
Arabia.
8.11 Financing the Business
The organization will be registered with a network in Saudi Arabia that connects start-up
businesses with investors within Saudi and other parts of the world. The platform is known as
Angel Investment Network and has a branch in the Middle East, it will help TechReturn’s owners
to meet the investors who are ready to finance the business (Bocken, 2013).
9 Management plan
The management is one of the important features of a business because it is the body
that manages all the day to day business operations of a company. A business plan must
describe how the management of the new business will look like in the future after it has been
opened. TechReturn Platform will not have a big structure at the first year of opening because a
rich management structure requires a huge amount of capital.
9.1 Managerial structure
At the first year, the company will have the chairman and the chief executive officer
who are both owners and founders of the business. The chairperson together with the chief
executive officer and the investor will be in charge of making critical decisions for the
organization. They will be also in charge of hiring and firing employees in the institution. There
will be a marketing department headed by a marketing officer who will be in charge of all
marketing activities. The activities include advertisement, publicity, and many other operations

which will be marketing TechReturn Platform. The image below show how the management will
be like.
Image by (Baker, 2016)
9.2 Managerial as a team
The company will also have the accountant who will be in charge of all financial
activities including paying taxes, calculating the amount of money to pay the freelancers and the
bookkeeping roles. The communication department must be there to monitor the
communication between the clients, freelancers and the organization. For the next four years
after TechReturn Platform has grown other departments will be added to help in smoothening
the operations of the organization has its expands across the world. At the moment TechReturn
Platform will not afford to employ a huge management due to insufficient funds and it also has a
small office which cannot accommodate a big structure.
10 Competitive analysis
10.1 Competitive analysis summary
Competitive analysis is an important part of a business plan because it allows a person
who wants to open a company to understand who he or she is going to compete with. If
another corporate emerges besides the current competitors, a person who wants to venture
into the same business can know where his or her company will be positioned in the market.
Every business must have competition therefore, it is the duty of the person who wants to start
the business to identify and understand who the competitors are and his or her position in the
market if he or she decide to venture into the business. A research also argue that if a new
business person do not calculate the position of his or her company when a new company

emerges in the future, he or she can fail. Therefore, it is important to know and understand who
competitors are. A report shows that competition can never be avoided in a market setting so it
is up to business people strategies how they can outdo other people who are conducting the
same business. Likewise in freelancing business, there are a lot of competitors who are so strong
and if not treated carefully can bring other businesses down. Additionally, a researcher also
added that conducting competitive analysis might be tiresome and take a lot of time but
business people have no choice, they just have to do it anyway. They also continued that
business people can conduct competitive analysis through identifying, analyzing and
determining the weaknesses and strengths of the competitors.
10.2 Current competitors
The competitive analysis must be conducted by identifying the current competition in
the market. TechReturn Platform will have a lot of competition because they want to be the
world’s most recognized freelancer platform. Currently, there are about 50 freelancer platforms
that provide freelancer jobs like the one TechReturn wants to provide. Some of the platforms
include Dubizzle, Laimoon, Utalenta, Nabbesh and Freelancer.com. The mentioned platforms
are the best and highly recognized platforms in Saudi Arabia. Nabbesh.com is the largest
freelancer platform and it is the organization that started to provide freelancing services to
people of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, in order to outdo Nabbesh.com, the owners of TechReturn
must invest heavily in marketing. Nabbesh.com provides jobs like creative designs, writers,
photographers, movie and music producers, marketing managers, advertisers, copywriters’
editors and many others. We found in their research that the more perfect plan also has errors
in which enemy can take advantage on therefore, Nabbesh.com also have weakness. Therefore,
this business plan will help the owners of TechReturn learn the weaknesses of Nabbesh.com and
other competitors in the freelancing market.
10.2.1 Strength of competitors
One of the importance of conducting a competitive analysis is to find out the strengths
of the rivals so that the one who wants to enter into the business must come up with products
and services that exceed those strengths (Baker, 2016). After a long term research on the
competitors of TechReturn the owners find out that one of the main strengths of Nabbesh.com
and other competitors is that they have many customers who are loyal to them. The existing
companies have devoted a lot of their resources on marketing and advertising their brand.

These companies were started long time ago and over the years they have been marketing their
products vigorously. In the research the owners of TechReturn found out that marketing is the
strongest tool of Utalenta, Nabbesh and Freelancers.com. The second strength of these
companies is that they have a lot of capital in running there day to day activities. Capital is an
important feature in business. In order to provide customers with quality products, there must
be enough capital and the more a business person spends in improving the business, the more
the company records an increase in profits.
The third strength of these competitors is that they have investors who are well
connected and have money to support the business. Well-connected investors can help a
business in getting new customers and the business can also be boosted in terms of marketing.
The last strength these competitors have over TechReturn is that they have good computers for
running the business and they also have enough personnel to help in the daily business
operations. The strengths of the competitors have challenged the owners of TechReturn a lot.
TechReturn owners have learned that if they invest in marketing and advertisement, they will
also conquer a lot of competitors. The owners have also learned that providing quality products
is important in business.
10.2.2 Weaknesses of competitors
The owners of TechReturn decided that they will start freelancing business because they
wanted to bring solutions to the competitors’ weaknesses. First, most of current competitors
have poor communication with their clients and the freelancer professions. The present
companies have ignored the importance of communication in business. For example, the
reviews of customers who have used the platforms suggest that the companies have poor
communication system. Almost three million customers of different platforms complain that the
customer care of those platforms is not doing their work appropriately. Massages are not
replied on time if the clients or the freelancers want clarifications. Therefore, TechReturn will
out shadow the competitors by building and structuring a strong communication channel were
clients and freelancers will be getting instant feedback for their clarifications. Second, most of
the competitors have concentrated in marketing and forgot to monitor the work that
freelancers are doing. Most of the clients complain of poor work done by freelancers of those
sites. TechReturn will be very strict with the quality of work, the company will not accept shady
and poor work. There will be editors and other managers to monitor and go through all the

works sent by freelancers. Another weakness of some competitors is price, some charge clients
high prices and pay freelancer low wage because they want a lot of profits. TechReturn will have
the interests of both the clients and the freelancers at heart. The company will ensure that
everybody is satisfied with the services it is providing.
10.3 Potential new entrants
Apart from the current competitors in the market, a business can suffer from the hands
of new companies that can enter the market in the future. Therefore, before starting a business,
a person should also analyze the potential future competitors so that he or she can be ready for
them. TechReturn Platform’s owners have done research and found out that it is hard for a
person to open the same kind of business in the future. They argue that the requirements
needed to start freelancing business in Saudi Arabia are difficult to meet. In other words, they
say that the barriers to entry for freelancing business are demanding. Therefore, new potential
competitors will not be many for the next five years.
10.4 Indirect competitors
Indirect competitors are those business ventures that provide services which can be
substituted to what the person entering the market is going to offer. So, any person who want
to start a business must also do research on the number of indirect competitors in the market.
In Saudi Arabia there are a number of businesses that provide alternative services compared
with what TechReturn will be offering. There are agencies which are not online but connect the
freelancers with clients. However TechReturn Platform will be able to outdo these indirect
competitors because the platform can be easily assessed by clients. TechReturn owners have
done research and found out that it is hard for clients to assess the indirect competitors because
the clients must visit the businesses at their offices. Therefore, TechReturn Platform has some
advantage over the indirect competitors in terms of availability.
11 Sales strategy
TechReturn will sell its products online by posting them in their website for the
freelancers to bid and get assignments. TechReturn Platform is purely online thus sale will be
through online platforms. When starting the business TechReturn will hire three marketers to
market the platform in all media house and online platform. However as the business continue
to grow, the number of marketers will increase to 10 so that TechReturn can compete with its

rivals favorably. The products that TechReturn will sell to clients are numerous services
freelancer professional who are jobless have which include copywriters, producers, professional
writers and many more professionals that clients will ask.
12 Business Model
12.1 Successful operations of business
The operation of the business is to act as a bridge between the buyer and the seller. To
attain the discussed measure, it will be ensured that the needs of both the parties are met. The
discussed measure could be attained by ensuring that the buyer is paying adequate amount and
the quality offered by the seller is at par level. Hence, the seller will only be assigned work when
the buyer will pay the amount and the seller will be monitored for the quality by equipping
different tools that measures quality.
12.2 Revenue sources
The source of revenue will be the charges that will be taken from the seller and the
buyers for using the platform as a service. Furthermore, the advertisements will also act as a
source of revenue for the platform. The other revenue sources include the founders’ capital,
investor, and loans from the banks.
12.3 Customer base
The intended customer for the platform will be the clients who are looking for platforms
that are capable of outsourcing their business processes. To attain the discussed objective, the
organizations headquartered in Saudi Arabia will be contacted and will be offered with suitable
offers to gain their attention. Additionally, the freelancers who are looking for earning
opportunity while learning will be recruited as the potential seller.
12.4 Financial detailing
The financing for the platform will be done by registering on the Angel Investment
Network’s Middle Eastern branch that offers a platform for interaction between the start-up
owner and the investors. The platform will help TechReturn company in meeting with potential
investor who will offers. 375000. The company will also need SR. 16875 from freelancers who
register to work for the firm. The other SR. 1125000 will be capitated from asking loan from the
bank. The owners will come up with remaining SR. 375000.

12.5 Business model diagram for business revenue
The model shows how the business will generate its revenue. The buyer’s payment
includes the seller’s fee and the service charge; the seller’s payment includes the deduction of
service charge. While, the deducted service fee from the seller’s pay is extended to the firm’s
bank for deposit.
12.6 Diagram
13 Financial Plan
Every business person must have projections of where he or she wants the company to
be in terms of finance because when a business is opened, the sole purpose is to bring profits to
its owners. TechReturn has projected where they will be in terms of finance in five years to
come. TechReturn wants to conquer the freelancing business worldwide in five years and to be
one of the best and most recognized freelancer platforms in Saudi Arabia. The company has
calculated that it might even start recording good cash flow within the four months of
operation. The owners of TechReturn will invest the total of SR. 1875000 in starting the business
and are expecting that by the end of one and a half years of operations, TechReturn would have
gotten back the capital used to create the business.

13.1 Start –up Capital requirments
To start an online freelancing business in Saudi Arabia requires the business person to
have a minimum of SR. 1500000. Hence TechReturn want to invest SR. 1875000 in starting a
new freelancing business. Apart from money, the company would require professional
accountants, legal permit, experienced freelancer manages and communication specialists. The
owners of TechReturn decided to choose Saudi Arabia as its main office of business operation
because of the many advantages that comes with it. The capital for starting the business will be
used in creating website for the business, registering the company and other legal expenses,
insuring the company, rent payment, employing staffs and advertising the business to
customers. The table 1 below shows how the capital will be spent in opening TechReturn.
Requirements needed in starting TechReturn Platform:
Requirements Costs in SR
Rent 48750
Registration and other legal issues 5625
Employment of staffs 750,000
Insuring the business 9375
Advertising the business 562500
Designing an E-commerce website 76875
Purchasing computers 37500
Purchasing WiFi network 13125
Purchasing office Phones 7500
Purchasing airtime for phone communications 6750
Other expenses for recurrent budget 357000
Total 1875000
13.2 Financial Projections for the Business
All businesses must analyse and project if they will make profits or losses in the course of
their business. Financial projections for TechReturn are as follows. First, the business founders
found out that demand for freelancers’ are still high in Saudi Arabia. The business has projected
that it will have returned the money spent for start-up. About two thousand clients need online

freelancing services. Suppose all of them will pay SR. 37.5 each for project in one month, the
company would have made SR. 75,000 before paying the freelancers and the employees.
However, the firm will spend SR. 48750 to pay freelancers, all the staffs and other expenses. The
company will also pay SR. 112500 the bank for loans it has for ten years. Hence the firm will
make the profit of SR.16850 in one month. It means that in one year the profit will be about SR.
202500. However, the profit will be used to recover the start-up capital for the first six months.
The graph below shows the financial projection of the firm for one year in business.
13.2.1 Financial projections for the business in three years
Year by year profit and loss assumptions
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Annual Cumulative price (revenue) increase 1.00% 3.00% 6.00%
Annual Cumulative Inflation (expense) increase 1.00% 2.00% 4.00%
Interest Rate ending on cash balance 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Gross revenue SR. 1,485000 SR.1,529550 SR. 1,621323
Cost of goods sold SR. 900,000 SR. 927,000 SR. 982,620
Gross margin SR 585,000 SR. 602550 SR. 638703
Other revenue SR - SR - SR -
Interest income SR - SR - SR –
Total revenue SR. 900,000 SR. 927,000 SR. 982,620
Operating expenses
Sales and Marketing SR.56,250 SR.225,000 SR. 281,250
Payroll and Payroll taxes SR. 150,000 SR.225,000 SR. 300,000
Depreciation SR. 3750 SR. 4500 SR. 5063
Maintenances, repair, and overhaul SR - SR - SR -
Total operating expenses SR. 1110000 SR. 1179000 SR. 1563870
Operating Income SR. 210,000 SR. 252,000 SR. 581250
Interest expense on long-term debt SR. 5006 SR. 3687 SR. 3488
Operating income before other expenses SR. 204994 SR.248313 SR. 577762
Loss (gain) on sale of assets SR 0 SR 0 SR 0Other
unusual expenses (income) SR 0 SR 0 SR 0
Earnings before taxes SR. 62494 SR.76575 SR. 87394
Value added tax 5% SR. 3124.69 SR. 3828.75 SR. 4368
$1165.25
Net income SR. 59370 SR. 72746 SR. 83026

13.3 Breakeven Analysis for the Sales
Breakeven analysis is significant to see whether a business will make profits or not.
TechReturn make profits according to the financial projections shown above. However, these
profits will vary from one season to another. For example the season when students are session
profits will be high. In the business there are orders which will have fixed prices while other will
vary in price from time to time. The varying prices will depend on the season when the project
will be availed. The operations will breakeven in June.
13.4 Risks and Rewards
The risk for investing in this business is that the firm might not get the clients as it has
anticipated. There are more powerful competitors who might ensure that TechReturn does not
make any profit. However, the business is worth investing because in ten years it will have
growth widely. The business is anticipating financial returns by the end of ten years.
13.5 Premium Services
The organisation has received premium services form the communication firms in Saudi
Arabia. The firm has received airtime of close to SR. 13500 so that it can advertise those
companies’ products on its website. The services will be used to offer premium services to the
TechReturn’s customers.
14 Conclusions
The main purpose of this business plan is to be used in sourcing for additional funds to
start TechReturn platform. The plan will also be used by the owners to know how they will use
the finances ones they are sourcing for. The plan also has all the operations that TechReturn
platform will follow so that its customers may be satisfied. There are other sections that have
been included in the plan including marketing plan, sales plan, competitive analysis and many
others.

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