SKYBUS, LTD.BUSINESS FEASIBILITY PLAN.PartII.Section1

THE BUSINESS

1.      Business Objectives & Aims

·         Sky Bus mission is to provide safe, affordable, reliable and all-day driving service directly towards Dublin Airport. The company plans to become a profitable provider of transportation to big Dublin areas and in year two, Sky Bus intends to increase number of vehicles as well as expand its services covering the following areas: Blanchardstown, Palmerstown, Maynooth, Santry and Finglas.

·         After Sky Bus is successfully established in those areas we would like to expand our service to other major areas, for instance such as Celbridge, Swords and Bray.

• Achieve sales for a first year in excess of €300,000
• Increase the number of employees to 30 by the end of year 2;

2.      Business Idea and its Unique Selling Point

Problem

More than fifty thousand of people visit the airport every day, where 10% of visits, according to the research by Dublin Airport, falls between 21.00 and 7.00 hours. Every second individual of those 50 thousand faces the problems of getting to and from Dublin Airport. Hence raises a gap in the transport market in the form of an infrequent routes passing through the particular areas, where suburbs, notably, experience the difficulties of this kind.

The lack of transportation is also due to many other variables, for instance such as people, who are without a driving license, have no access to a vehicle, or simply do not wish to leave their cars at the airport car parking while they are away for a long period of time.

In addition to above there is a lack of a high quality services as well as of reasonably priced rides down to the airport, especially during the night time (according to IrishTimes, 2012). For instance, currently, the cost for using a taxi service is between 40 and 50 Euro, depending on the location of the customer's dwelling. As for the public transport, such as Dublin Bus or Airlink, their operational time runs between 05:00 and 23:30 and operates only from City Centre to Airport, where its route covers a small area between these two destinations. The both types of coaches, private and public (Eireann), cover only limited parts of suburbs which usually include the main roads.

According to the census 2012, the Dublin areas such as Clondalkin, Tallaght and Liffey Valley have about 25% of foreign residents, who very often during the holiday periods travel back to their home countries. Hence they will require a fast and most important a cheap ride towards Dublin Airport (Appendix I.A).

Solution

Following this problem where a big percentage of the Capital dwellers have a difficulty to go to and from the airport it was decided to found a bus service.

Sky Bus is a company that will provide transportation for people requiring a quick and easy way to get to and from Dublin Airport. As it was already mentioned above, the services of SKYBus will cover the following suburban areas: Dundrum, Tallaght, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley. Thus it could indicate that a new entrant company, such as SKYBus, can capture a significant part of the current transportation market.

Why this is the Solution

Initially operating two, seventeen seats busses, the company’s goal is to provide affordable, reliable, and safe transportation to its customers, allowing them to avoid the numerous inconveniences that come along with a driving.

Sky Bus services enables both as frequent and non-frequent travellers to avoid the hassles of parking and traffic, giving them a comfortable, easy and affordable way of getting to the airport.

Opportunity

A lack of private bus services, absence of public transport, expensive taxi service will make our company beneficial and very popular among flight travellers coming from Dundrum, Tallaght, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley as well as it will improve the transport services within these demographic areas.

3. Strengths of SKY Bus:

Sky Bus had only one company to compete with in Irish transportation industry of this kind. It is Airport Hopper, which is a business, providing its services for the last 30 years. However it concentrates mainly on operating during the day, whereas SKY Bus intends extend its services to 24 hours a day.

It is believed that SKY Bus will also have a unique selling point in the following:

·      Flexible hours - operating seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year.

·      Cheap fares comparing to the prices delivered by the main competitor.

·      Time saving service - SKY Bus will provide a fast transportation to and from Dublin

Airport

·      Convenient - delivering of a direct driving service that requires no transfer and hence no extra expanses in order to get to the airport.

·      Expanded Demographic area - SKY Bus will cover a huge are of Dublin which will include driving via Dundrum, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan and a big range of hotels that are located along this route (Appendix I.A).

·      Quality and Comfort - SKY Bus will be providing a comfortable service with a free Wi Fi and snacks on board.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
Experienced specialists	Little experience
Frequency & regularity	Aging vehicles
24/7/365	Imperfect ticket system
Lower and calibrated prices
Opportunities	Threats
Improve flexible ticket system	Competitor Airport Hopper
Launch a new route	Economy in the country
Improvements to training and recognition of staff value.	Appearance of companies that provide similar services
Increasing number of employees	SKYBus is at the stage of start-up,
Acquire more vehicles

Strengths:

1. Experienced specialists - SKYBus intends to recruit the employees with an experience of minimum of 5 years. Also on regular basis every employee will sit the Health & Safety and Competence in both Road & Bus Passenger Transport Operations Management exams that are provided by The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT).

2. Frequency & regularity - SKYBus will provide frequent and regular rides throughout the year.

3. 24/7/365 - our company will work 24 hours a day. The vehicles will also operate during the holidays, which means SKYBus will operate 365 days without any exceptions.

4. Lower and calibrated prices - we will charge less for our services than our main competitor. Also we broke down the prices list, making it fare for those passengers who do not start their ride from the first bus stop.

Weaknesses:

1. Little experience -unlike our competitors, such as Airport Hopper, Night Link and Taxi we have little experience in a bus market

2. Aging vehicles - due to a small financing the company was unable to obtain new brand vehicles and hence was forced to purchase the used minibuses. And because the constant rides will have an impact onto the vehicles it is expected that in three year times there will be a need in obtaining new buses.

3. imperfect ticket system - on board of the vehicle the tickets will be issued manually by the driver. Hence the cash handling and ticket issuing may cause some delays

Opportunities:

1. Improve flexible ticket system - on acquiring the ticket machines SKYBus will make it easier for its personnel to handle the cash as well as issue the tickets to the passengers.

2. launch a new route - creating a new route, for instance connecting such areas as City Centre, Cabra, Blanchardstown, Santry Finglas and Dublin Airport, SKYBus will increase both and popularity and its sales.

3. improvements in trainings and recognition of staff value - by introducing more training sessions to all vehicle drivers our company will create a positive image of the company as well as ensure the passengers safety

4. increasing number of vehicles - by obtaining more vehicles of different sizes SKYBus will be able to conduct the rides more frequently as well as too take more passengers on board

5. increase number of employees - by recruiting more specialists, SKYBus will be able to increase its productivity as well as identify and solve any problems in time.

Threats

1. Competitor - SKYBus has one main competitor, Airport Hopper, and this means that appearing in the same type market it will become difficult for us to beat an already existing experienced service as well as gain popularity and trust over it. Airport Hopper, in order to raise its sale, might reduces its prices or expand the served areas to Dundrum, Blanchardstown, etc

2. Economy in Ireland - The difficult economic situation in the country constitutes constant threats

3. Appearance of the companies that provide similar services - Other companies who provide similar services or products might appear on the Irish market of transportation, hence it will reduce the profitability and saes of SKYBus

4. SKYBus is at the stage of a start-up - because it is a start-up year, therefore no data is available so to compare with, and hence there is no feedback to make improvements.

PEST ANALYSIS

Political

The politics on local, regional or national scales can exert strong forces on businesses. Unlike the transport company, Ryanair, which operates in many counties SKYBus will operate within the Dublin area. However, it must keep track of the political developments that may affect its business. For example changes of regulations within the transport industry or any enhancements of Road Traffic Acts may affect SKYBus. With the change of the Irish government the company needs to anticipate which policies may shift.  The start-up period is the best time for SKYBus to lobby for any policy changes regarding the company’s interests and the business environment.

With regard to the employment legislations, the government encourages all businesses to provide a mix of job opportunities from flexible, lower-paid and locally-based jobs to highly-skilled, higher-paid and centrally-located jobs (Employment rights, justice.ie). Also to meet the demand from certain population categories such as students and senior citizens.

Economic

The economic climate is also important for SKYBus to analyze, in order to predict when its business may face challenges, as well as when it can seize an opportunity for growth. Due to a difficult economic situation SKYBus might feel some negative effects; therefore it will be crucial that the company plans for any crisis impacts.

As it was mentioned already Economic factors are of concern to SKYBus, because they are likely to influence demand, costs, prices and profits. One of the most influential factors on the economy is high unemployment levels, which decreases the effective demand for many services, adversely affecting the demand required to provide such service. The example of this is FlyBus that stopped operating in early 2011.

The economic factors, outlined earlier, are largely outside the control of the company, but their effects on performance and the marketing mix can be profound. Although national transportation business starts growing at a slow pace and is expected to contribute great amounts of profits over the next few years, the company is still highly dependent on the Dublin market. Hence, SKYBus is exposed to market concentration risks and in a case of any slowdown on the Irish transportation market it would be badly affected.

Socio -Cultural

Socio-cultural environment is composed f various class, structure, beliefs, values, social institutions, accepted patterns of behaviour, customs of people and their expectation. Hence any industry must take into consideration the socio-cultural environment for developing its policy and strategy. Socio-cultural environment influences the demand and supply of goods and services.

Social trends are one of the key factors affecting a business. People's buying patterns and service utilizing pattern are determined by trends. Just as the demand for some popular clothes are determined by fashion, demand for mean of transport is determined by social trend and income level. Transportation means are always changing. Also as a result of 2013budget planning campaign the income of families will fall, hence a bigger percentage of population will start choosing public transportation over the private one.

Currently most medium class people are attracted towards car and motorbike. But due to highly increased fuel prices people are shifting towards public transportation.

Society's habits and tastes are changing. Nowadays, people, being more educated and aware of importance of the environment and health are becoming "green consumers". Preferring services/goods that are environmentally friendly the "green consumers" choose travel by bus or cycle.

Technological

Technological environment refers to all the technical surroundings that affect business. It includes skills, methods, systems and equipment. Technology consists of the forces that create new technology, creating innovative services and market opportunities. The most dramatic force shaping the people's lives is technology.

The new technologies benefit both customers and the company: customer satisfaction rises because goods are readily available, services can become more personalised and travel more convenient.

An example of the change in the technology is busses that have a disability trap available on board. Because our company's policy is to cater for our passengers, the company will consider obtaining the lower floor busses as well as utilising disability runway on board so to ease the enter for disabled and elderly population

It is also important to take into considerations such fact as nowadays a large population demands free or cheap access to the internet. Hence availability of WI-FI hotspot on board of every vehicle owned by SKYBus will have a positive impact on our consumers.

4. Trading Status

Company Registration

Sky Bus will be Limited structured business with Mr x as a sole proprietor.

Considering a line of beneficial aspects and such fact that Limited-type business allows capital to be raised by issuing shares as well as organization may have an unlimited lifespan, Sky Bus was decided to carry Limited Status.

Before SKY Bus will start operating, the company will be registered with Companies Registration Office (CRO) and in the future the company reports and accounts will be returned to the CRO each year (Appendix I.B).

Domain Name Registration

Because it is known a strong brand presence is becoming increasingly vital to commercial success it was considered to adopt the following URL:

http://www.skybus.ie

Because SKY Bus starts up in Ireland, the company will register an Irish domain (.ie), due to an importance in brand growth as well as for the protection of name and brand.

In order to obtain and register its domain, SKY Bus will use the services of Blacknight Solution Hosting Company, which is accredited by ICANN (Appendix I.C). Blacknight Solution offers a comprehensive domain name registration and also provides a management service which covers the majority of international domains.

SKY Bus will require a good hosting provider, therefore Blacknight Solution company was chosen for this job. It is reasonably cheap and most important is an excellent service provider of this kind. Blacknight Solution is believed to be a most reliable and is a number one Irish domain registrar. Blacknight Solution offers great value e-commerce hosting packages and according to start-up calculations the cost of its service will start at €99/year excluding VAT for a standard 256 bit SSL certificate.

Blacknight Solution offers a package of .ie domain registration for €19.99 a year. However, because SKY Bus will also be using a range of hosting services of Blaknight Solution it is expected to have a discount.

Website Appearance

Based on the name of the company, the logo of the website will be in a form of the "Bus flying out from the cloud". The main colours of the site will consist of blue and light purple. These colours will also cover the busses acquired by the company.

The structural layout of the website will contain:

·         Home page - involving a history of the company, the names of the drivers and the director of SKYBus and also a description of services provided by the Co.

·         News - it will display the last news happening within SKY Bus Co, any changes in the near-future routes and time/day operating during the upcoming holidays;

·         Special Offers - It will include a section with promotions, special offers, etc

·         Timetable - it will display a detailed table of arrivals and departures from every stop along the bus route

·         Bus Stop Information - a detailed description of every bus stop whereabouts to make it easier for the passengers to locate it

·         Fares - a detailed list of fares

·         Online booking - the page which will allow every user to book a seat as well as to pay for it beforehand.

·         Hotels Served - the list of the hotels that the SKY Bus serves as well as the links to their main webpage;

·         Contact - contact details of the company head office, direct number of the head manager as well as contact form in order to ask the questions.

·         Private Coach Hire - allowing the customer to research the information on how to hire the coach, areas served and the prices for this type of service.

·         Feedback - users will always be welcomed to leave feedback on the services SKYBus will offer, as well as to share their experiences with others

Sky Bus is expected to target every age of customers and therefore those who are not very friendly with computers, especially with payment online, the website will provide an instant help. For example the user always will be able to click a Help button and access another window with FAQ as well as enter in a search box his own question and find an answer to it.

Interaction with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is also considered. The users will be able to access the SKY Bus website and do online booking or simply research the information, not leaving their Facebook or Twitter homepage.

5. Business Regulation

According to the Citizens Information Board start-up companies may get tax relief on the first 3 years of corporation tax. It is also known that the value of the relief is linked to the amount of employers’ PRSI paid by a “company in an accounting period subject to a maximum of €5,000 per employee” (citizensinformationboard.ie). Therefore SKY Bus might look to get tax relief.

The Companies act 2003 imposes an obligation on employers to register the company and its employees. Therefore Form TR2, which is Tax Registration Form for the employers who are setting up the company, will be filled in and submitted to a local Revenue office. This application will be used to register for the following:

Corporation Tax

Employer’s PAYE/PRSI

Value Added Tax

Contracts Tax

As an employer it will be my responsibility to ensure that the people I employ receive their basic employment rights. For instance such entitlements as: written statement of terms & conditions of employment, minimum wage, written statement of "pay or payslip", matter with regard dismissal and notices before dismissal, maximum number of hours worked per week, full- and part-time regulations as well as allowance for day-breaks, driver hours on the road and annual leave from work (NERA).

There are five main aspects of legislation that are involved into the proposed business:

Health & Safety:

One of the important regulations that SKY Bus will be obligated to comply with, is Health & Safety Authority. It will be my responsibility to develop a system in place and ensure that my employees are road safety compliant with Driving for Work activities. Health and Safety regulation will also be covering the matters with regard to safe transportation of the passengers on board. With accordance to RSA and HSA I will also have to consider the three main types of law that apply to driving for work in Ireland. These are: Road Traffic, Health & Safety and EU rules on driving time;

Road Passenger Transport Operator's Licence

Based on RSA regulations, SKY Bus, in order to operate legally on the road will be obliged to acquire a Road Passenger Transport Operator's Licence as the busses of SKY Bus Co. will be "carrying nine or more passengers on board for reward" (RSA.ie/Operator Licensing);

Drivers Hours and Tachographs:

Driver fatigue is a known risk factor in road collisions. Fatigue can cause loss of concentration or even lead to a driver falling asleep at the wheel, which eventually will become a cause of a crash.

EU law regulates the driving time of professional drivers using goods vehicles over 3.5t (including trailers) and passenger vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats.

The key requirements for every driver are that he/she must not drive:

·         without a break for more than 4.5 hours. After driving for 4.5 hours, a break of at least 45 minutes is mandatory.  The driver can distribute that break over the 4.5 hours.

·         for more than nine hours per day or 56 hours per week. This may be extended to 10 hours no more than twice during a week

·         more than 90 hours in two consecutive weeks

There are also strict regulations regarding the average working time and the amount of rest that must be taken daily and weekly.

Tachographs - instruments that measure the amount of time a driver is on the road.

There are two kinds: digital and analogue. Both are fitted in the cab of trucks and buses and are used to monitor compliance with driver hours’ legislation.

Digital Tachographs became mandatory in new commercial Lorries and buses in May 2006, hence all of the busses acquired by SKY Bus will imbedded with this type of Tachographs.

Insurance

Published in 2004 Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Bill imposes greater responsibility on all business to insure the commercial vehicles of all types and the Irish Risk Management Centre has recognised this through the launch of a Safety Statement tailored particularly for bus and coach operators.

Motor Tax

It is a legal requirement in Ireland to pay motor tax once an individual wishes to drive a vehicle in a public place. Motor tax is a charge imposed by the Government on some motor vehicles and is collected by local authorities. The amount of motor tax paid for a vehicle is determined on the basis of seven CO2 emission bands with lower emissions resulting in lower charges.

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