Business Proposal

Information:
Executive Summary
Farmers in The Gambia, Africa face issues such as famines, droughts, and
floods throughout the year from an unreliable climate, causing it to be very difficult to
grow any crops. According to the Rural Poverty Portal, Over 60 per cent of all
Gambians and an even higher proportion among poor and extremely poor people
depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Our organization, LiveGreen Africa, has made
it a goal to help farmers in The Gambia find prosperity and success through their crops
and to show compassion and selflessness, while providing them with the resources they
need. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to achieve prosperity. That
is why we have provided Gambians with an affordable way out. `Our solution is to
provide Gambian families with greenhouses, information, and resources that will help
them grow their crops to the best of their abilities. Greenhouses will provide a
completely controlled climate for Gambians to grow their crops by circulating moisture
and sunlight to keep the plants alive. The goal of this is to help them grow enough crops
to feed their families and earn enough money every year.
Our solution is very unique because it is a system, rather than a hand-out. We
are the only organization that provides information, resources, and a greenhouse over
time to help solve the problems of hunger and poverty at the source.We designed our
solution so that it will grow over time, which grows the community of The Gambia as
well as growing individuals. Starting out, we will work with two or three families and by
the end of 5 years, we should be working with 20-30 families in The Gambia. We
believe that our organization has the potential to expand to other countries in Africa by
the end of 10 years, meaning that we will be working with 100-150 families.
Market Analysis
LiveGreen Africas main purpose is to help farmers in The Gambia create a
sustainable, reliable food source to improve their livelihood. We are still taking the first
steps to become sustainable, but our plans to further develop our organization include
expanding the area of our solution and increasing the amount of farmers in Africa that
are in use of our service. We plan to do this through workshops about farming that will
draw people into our services. We hope that this will bring in most of our customers. To
find our target market, we did some research. On The Rural Poverty Portal, we found
that, Underlying the high poverty rates is the country's relatively lack of economic
diversity, which makes The Gambia highly vulnerable to increasingly erratic rainfall, food
price volatility and financial crises. Based on this information we chose to target our

services towards poor farming families in The Gambia. We have chosen this group
because they struggle the most with the constantly changing climate and are very
manageable for our brand new organization.
The critical need of our target market is a way to adapt to constant climate
change. In an article talking about a project created in The Gambia by The Global
Environment Facility it states, The main problem facing the Gambia currently is a high
vulnerability to climate change, exacerbated by a low capacity to address and adapt.
These needs are not being met due to lack of resources needed to adapt to their
climate. As found on the The World Bank website, in The Gambia over half of the
population is under the poverty line. We believe that our solution will benefit the
population. Providing greenhouses to Gambian farmers will keep them from being
victims of crop loss due to climate change.
The annual purchases that are made for our solution include the price of the
glass and metal used for the greenhouse and any repairs needed. On average, recycled
glass costs from $70-90 per ton. We will also be using recycled metal which costs about
$280-300 per ton. If a greenhouse is in need of repairs we will provide resources as
needed until they can get back on their feet. What we hope will happen with the families
we help is that they will gain a sustainable food source and be able to be above the
poverty line by selling their crops. We expect to start off helping two or three families
and grow to at least 20-30 by the end of 5 years. Starting small allows us to take smaller
risks and to test how cooperating well with each family will work. After refining the
process we will be able to expand from there.
We supply our customers with the resources and information they need to grow
crops for sale and also for consumption. From this, we receive 15% of the money they
make from selling their crops. 10% will go towards the company to be able to expand
and have a sustainable flow of cash and the 5% will go to the expenses of the services.
The family keeps the other 85% as a regular flow of income for themselves. The
services of LiveGreen Africa will include allowing the family to purchase the seeds with
$120 we will give to them, a greenhouse, and other resources necessary. When the
family has enough money saved up, they can build a greenhouse.
Currently, we are the only organization using the system we have created.
Because we provide information and materials, our system is very unique. So far, there
have been no secondary competitors and we do not expect to encounter any. Some
barriers we might encounter are if a family does not want not want to invest the 5% and
instead have extra money or if a family does not wish to sell their crops, but our system
can be tailored to the needs of the families.
As a company, we have to enforce restrictions on some areas of our solution to
ensure that it is carried out properly. One of those restrictions is that our customers
have to use the money we provide for agriculture. However, there are no government
regulations that apply to our solution. Our goal is to better the lives of our customers

and in order to do that we must be willing to work with them and they must be willing to
work with us.
Service or Product Line:
At LiveGreen Africa, our main goal is to supply Gambian citizens with education,
resources, and greenhouses that will allow them to control climate for their crops in a
sustainable and environmentally friendly way. With many different steps to our overall
solution, we radiate compassion and selflessness to provide opportunities for people
who have no access to the things they need. Our service benefits many figures in the
Gambian society. With over 60% of people in Gambia relying on agriculture for their
livelihood, our tailored solution addresses the problem of unreliable farming that
negatively affects the income of the average Gambian. We will help many people with
education and climate control.
Our service line LiveGreen Africa, has no competitors that come close to
distributing the same ideas as us. Greenhouses are a worldwide used product, including
in Africa, but no other organization, particularly in The Gambia, has provided a
greenhouse along with resources and education.
Our solution at LiveGreen Africa is a two step plan. Our first step is educating.
We start by visiting Gambian villages. Once we have found a community in need that
has figures interested in our solution, we will host a workshop or two. These workshops
are free and open to the public. At these workshops we address the problem with
Gambian farming; unreliable climate (drought and rain) through a well rehearsed,
educated presentation. We take in feedback from attendees about local farming habits
and distribute advice. We then describe what our program does and how they can take
part in it. If they sign up for our program, which is free, we then schedule another
meeting for the next step. At this meeting, we will begin educating on how to effectively
farm. This process can range anywhere from speaking of breeding plants to watering
correctly, and is tailored to the problems of the area. This can help these people by
stabilizing their source of income.
The second part of our solution is to provide the families with resources to
improve their crop yield. We ask for 15% of profit from the crops sold by these farmers
and set it aside. 10% goes to our program to create our sustainable funding stream, and
5% goes to their own agriculture savings fund. Once enough money is raised up by the
families, we help them to create their own personal greenhouses. These greenhouses
can help them to grow crops to sell locally, or just to put on their own tables. We
continue to take 15% from these families every year, whether they are using a
greenhouse for a source of income, or they are just farming as usual and our education
has had an affect on them. The money set aside after they already have their
greenhouse is used for buying seeds or fertilizer, depending on how the family would
like to spend their money.

As of now, we are creating a scaled down model because we are at the very start
of creating our organization. This model of a greenhouse is about the size of a tissue
box with a roof. We are using plastic from soda bottles as our glass and popsicle
sticks as the metal. This model will give an idea of what the real greenhouses will look
like.
We do not have any patents right now and are not planning on getting any
patents in the future for our services. We, as an organization believe that this service
should be spread and we will not try to keep other individuals or groups from using it in
places where they see a need. However, we do hope that it will be used in the best
interest of other people.
Research and development is an area that is very important to our organization.
Our research plan in the future includes a study 5 years into the project. This study will
include looking at all of the families that have taken part in our solution and those who
have not. We will look at monthly income of farming from non greenhouse families, and
greenhouse families. From this, we will be able to measure how much of an impact we
are creating; if one at all. From the information we gain, we will try to refine our solution
to make it better.
Marketing Strategy:
We will be selling information, resources, and a greenhouse to the people of The
Gambia. The purpose of our product is to provide Gambian farmers with a reliable and
controlled setting in which to grow their crops. In order to achieve our goal of being able
to provide our greenhouses, we need our project to be known and recognised.
In order to successfully introduce our project to the public and into the business
market, we will use an extensive social media campaign. Social media will be a key
component in making our project known to both the public and to possible investors. We
will advertise our organization on facebook and instagram, explaining what our solution
is. We will also have a commercial that promotes our plan. With these, we will be using
the slogan, LiveGreen, grow green. This is how we plan to find people who are willing
to help us with start-up costs.
The problem we will be addressing is unreliable climate. Gambia has extreme
weather, including often droughts and floods, both of which can destroy a farmers
crops. Farmers in The Gambia do not have a controlled and safe place to grow their
crops, which is what we will provide them with. To start out, farmers in The Gambia will
be provided with training to breed and grow their crops most efficiently. We will ask for
15% of the money they make from their crops. 5% will go into their savings, and we will
receive the other 10% as profit. The 5% will be put towards resources and a
greenhouse.
By receiving 10% of the profits from the Gambian farmers, we will have a
continuous and constant profit. With the profits we make, we will hire and train more

people to work with the farmers. We will start with a very small number of employees,
each specially trained to educate the Gambian people. When we start to grow our
company, we will hire and train Gambians in order to produce a larger clientele, provide
jobs, and to reach more people.
As we expand to other areas, we will continue to provide the same services and
products. The glass and other materials needed will be bought from recycling plants in
and around The Gambia. We will build the greenhouses with our clients in The Gambia.
By purchasing the greenhouse, they will also receive training on how to maintain them.
Our employees at the LiveGreen Africa HQ in The Gambia will be able to reach our
customers on a daily basis, creating good relationships with them, as well as providing
advertisements through free workshops and lessons. These workshops will provide
information on farming techniques and greenhouse benefits and will double as
promotion for LiveGreen Africa.
Management Plan:
Organizational Structure:
Owners/Roles
Hope
Frihauf -25%

Dana Stahl25%

Skylar
Schultheis-25%

Annie
Wyrick-25%

President, CEO

President, CEO

President, CEO

President, CEO

Customer Support

Financial Sales

Business Architect

Service Manager

Ownership Information:
LiveGreen Africa consists of four owners and founders; Hope Frihauf, Dana
Stahl, Skylar Schultheis, and Annie Wyrick. Ownership is split up equally between all.
25% of the company belongs to each owner. Each one of our owners has a different
role within this business, these stated in the above chart. Our organization has a
partnership ownership. There are many factors that play into this kind of ownership. We
have more than two owners and our business doesnt have a separate legal entity from
the owners, but can represent itself in its own name.
Where our business is right now, we do not have any warrants, or convertible
debt.
Currently, our business doesnt have any common stockholders, because we do
not have a board of directors. Once our organization advances with employees, and we
have enough people to make up a board, we will have common stock. This will most
likely be 5-7 years in the future.

Ownership Profiles:
Hope Frihauf
Position: As the customer support representative, it is my job
to make sure that customers are pleased with our services
and to see if there is anything else that can improve their
experience. I make sure that the customers are using our
service as efficiently and easily as they possibly can in order
to help our system run smoothly and ensure that the
customers needs are being met.

Primary Responsibilities and Authority:

Talk with customers

Provide advice and information for customers
Improve the service provided
Training some employees and Gambian families

Education: High School Education

Prior Employment: The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Special Skills: My special skills include building experience, working with other people,
problem solving, and public speaking.
Past Track Record: N/A
Industry Recognition: N/A
Community Involvement: I have 270 hours of community service hours. 240 of those
hours were from volunteering at a church camp over the summer. 30 of those hours
were from mission trips in Florida and Oklahoma.
Number of Years with the Company: I am new to the company because it is a new
organization.
Compensation Basis: Volunteer until 2 years into the program. In 2 years it will be $7
and will continue going up as the profit for the company goes up.
Dana Stahl
Position: As the financial sales consultant, my job is to manage financial needs of our
organization, my fellow employees, and our clients. I am working on getting a license,
so that I can go to financial markets and promote our entrepreneurship. I organize the
size of each transaction that is made and create a custom plan for each family that we

partner with in Gambia. I am not employed by a

banking facility, as I am one of the four owners at
LiveGreen Africa. I am in charge of all of our financial
decisions.
Primary Responsibilities and Authority:
Oversee transactions between our
organization and others
Oversee transactions between our
organization and families
Ensure a sustainable profit stream for our organization
Ensure financially safe partnerships
Education: High School Education
Prior Employment: Purgatory Ski Resort Ski and Ride School
Special Skills: My special skill set includes critical thinking, problem solving, innovation,
initiative, communication, and teamwork.
Past Track Record: N/A
Industry Recognition: N/A
Community Involvement: I have worked in community service at the local homeless
shelter in Durango, Colorado and volunteered at P.A.C.K., a childrens camp for kids at
Purgatory Resort.
Number of Years Involved: This will be my first year since this company is just starting
off.
Compensation Basis: 2 years of volunteer work until LiveGreen Africa has a stable
base, and then 7$ an hour with a rising hourly wage as time goes on.

Skylar Schultheis
Position: As President, CEO and Business Architect, my main role
is to maintain capabilities of the company and relative to the
organization. As one of the Presidents, CEO I will have equal
authority with the other three.
Primary responsibilities:

Maintain capabilities of company

Organization

Education: High School Education

Prior Employment: Still owner of 1% of Hotel
Special Skills: Critical Thinking, Logical Thinking, and Collaboration.
Past Track Record: N/A
Industry Recognition: N/A
Community Involvement: No Community Involvement
Number of Years Involved: Just started work with company
Compensation Basis: Starting off as a volunteer for the first 2 years and after that
earning $7 an hour. This will grow as the company grows.

Annie Wyrick
Position - As the Service Manager, my job is to get the business
out the door,and work with the consumers to build, test, and come
up with the requirements for the product.
Primary Responsibilities and Authority:
To work with the consumers
To build and test products
Create requirements for the final product

Education- Animas High School

Unique Experience and Skills- Organization
Prior Employment-Restaurant

Special Skills-Leadership,Critical Thinking,Collaboration

Past Track Record-N/A
Community Involvement- Volunteered to help wrap christmas gifts for families in need
Number of years with company- just started
Volunteer until 2 years into the program. In 2 years it will be $7 and will continue going
up as the profit for the company goes up.
Financials:
There are a few costs that we will have as a company while carrying out our
solution. For example, we will have to pay for recycled glass and metal for the
greenhouses. This will cost from $70-90 per ton for glass and from $280-300 per ton for
metal. Along with the initial cost for greenhouse materials, we will also pay for any
repairs that the family might need. After we have gotten materials for the greenhouse,
we also will have to provide the family with $120 for whatever seeds that they would like
to grow. Another cost that goes into all of this is how much we pay our employees. We
will start out with only the CEOs/Presidents of the company. We will be volunteers for
the first 2 years and then be paid $7 an hour, not including weekends. This number will
increase as our profits increase and we will gain more employees. The employees that
we hire will be from The Gambia and will be payed as much as we are.
Start-up costs will be the price of transporting recycled materials and the $120
we give to the families for seeds. Start up money will come from investors. The cost of
transporting the greenhouse materials ranges from $20-70 per ton, depending on the
materials. The overall price of this for ten years will be about $14,000-28,500. This startup cost will allow us, as an organization, bring the best materials and resources to the
families we are helping, which will also increase our profits.
Most families in The Gambia make from $456.25-1,095 U.S. dollars annually, so
our system might take a while. The family would have from $22.81-54.75 put in their
agriculture savings for the first two years. This amount should double with our services
within 2 years. Within 5 years it should expand to 15 times the amount, and by the end
of 10 years the amount the family makes should expand to 50 times the amount that
they were making to begin with. It will take a while for the family to have enough money
in their account to get a greenhouse, seeds, or fertilizer, but once the system is built up,
they will start making more money.
Based off of the money the family makes, our profit as a company should
increase over time. Within the first 2 years of starting the company, we will only be
making $45.63-109.50 annually. At the end of 5 years, assuming that we are helping 2030 families, our organization should be making $13,687.50-49,275. By the end of 10
years, assuming that we are helping 100-150 families, then we should be making

$228,125- 821,250. We should break even by the end of ten years, then we will start
making money. Our profit should increase as our company grows. Eventually, with our
companys help, Gambians could flourish.

Works Cited
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of Gambians.
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http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/09/how-to-write-an-executive-summary.html>. This
source gave me information on how to write an executive summary.
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<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ruralpovertyportal.org%2Fcountry%2Fhome%2Ftags%2Fgambi

a>. This source gave me information on poverty, economy, and climate change in The
Gambia.
Series, E- Book. Guide to Writing a Killer Marketing Plan. (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
-helped me write the marketing strategy and helped with format