business_plan_consulting_and_accounting_company

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Executive Summary

Artemide Auditing & Consulting AG (Artemide AC) is in the process of being formed as anongoing sole proprietorship owned and operated by Sandor Artemide AC. The company is aspinoff of Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG. Between the owners of Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoosand Artemide AC there will be 25% cross-participation. This plan is written as a guide

for continuing and managing the business under the new company, and will also serve as thebasis for marketing proposals. The two objectives of Artemide AC are to generate a profit and togrow at a challenging and manageable rate.

The mission of Artemide AC is to provide fast and reliable services in auditing and consulting tosmall and medium businesses (SMB), individuals, and other organizations.

The keys to success for Artemide AC are: visibility to generate new business leads, networkingwith other professionals, responsiveness, and quality.

The initial primary service offered will be auditing, although specialized fields will beconsidered in future growth.

The overall objective is to focus the activities towards the specialized services (analyses,investigations, startups, etc.) and to become a leader in this niche in the Luzern area. Thecompany projects growth to be ~10% of sales in the next three years.

The most important keys to success for Artemide AC are developing visibility to generate newbusiness leads, strong concentration on relationships with clients, and a high level of quality inour services.

The cooperation between Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos and Artemide AC is flexible--with theobjective to change rapidly if the market demands.

The sole proprietorship company "Sandor Artemide dipl. Wirtschaftsprfer" was founded on 8

March 1996. In the first 10-month period, the company generated sales of $50,000.

Artemide AC is established in a separate office from Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG, inLuzern. Secretary and telephone response is assumed by Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos.

There are four major classes of competition in the actual fiduciary business in Switzerland.These include individual proprietors and small fiduciary and accounting offices and mediumfiduciary offices with between 6 and 25 employees, these offices are available for generalfinancial and tax consulting. There are also large auditing and consulting companies. Thesecompanies have several hundred employees. They tend to operate more in the lucrativeconsulting business. Banks, Assurances and other financial consultants are also new competitorsin this field. Banks are now active in start-up consulting, corporate finance, mergers and

acquisitions, and others.

Technology is, of course, very important to the success of Artemide AC. It is imperative that thecompany stay up-to-date on technological developments and it will be important to devote areasonable portion of each year's revenues toward upgrading the equipment and software used innormal operations.

Artemide AC will adopt a focused market strategy. Logical segmentation breaks the marketdown into the following: Individuals, Investors, Small Businesses, Medium Businesses, Large


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Businesses, and Authorities and Public Organizations. For our further development, we considerIndividual persons and Investors plus Small and Medium Businesses to be crucial.

For our business, we do not have main competitors. We have a lot of widely-sized competitors ina vast market of services.This market environment gives ample opportunity for Artemide AC tocreate and expand a niche in the chosen market fields. Finally, worth noting is the growth trend

for the general market, estimated between 5% and 10%, annually.

There are three different major opportunities (needs) in the fiduciary business over the nextyears:

Bookkeeping and other services related to the operative financial management (payroll,cost-accounting, accounting for pension funds, etc.).

Consulting and special mandates such as financial planning, business

evaluation, merger and acquisition valuation, special audits, etc.

Legal Auditing (incl. IAS and other standards) as an independent and responsibleinstitution.

In addition, the company sees three primary market trends which seem to be most important inour business.

Rapid growth in the complexity of business that requires rapid adaptation in the strategy

and structures of companies.

More litigation due to higher percentages of unsuccessful ventures.

The growth of outsourced financial consulting.

All of this provides continuing opportunities for a dynamic company such as Artemide AC.

We believe our business is in a grand change. The competitors must be generalists and specialistsat the same time. For small and medium fiduciary businesses, a focus of one primary segment ofbusiness is necessary. For example, if the "core" business is accounting, the other fiduciarybusinesses like tax, auditing, consulting must be reduced to a general level. In the core business,the company must be current with the services, while having the capacity to innovate (likenew accounting services related to the Internet).


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Artemide AC's competitive edge is in the well-established reputation of Sandor Artemide whohas been in the consulting business for over a decade, and the company's ability to focus in thisniche market.

The company's sales strategy will be based on building long-term customer relationships, whichwill result in repeat sales. The company estimates that revenues will be approximately $232,000

by Year 3, yielding profits. The company will manage its assets and create profits with no debtfinancing. It does not anticipate any cash flow problems.

Sandor Artemide, the majority owner of Artemide AC, will assume strategic managementfunctions. Brigitte Artemide will be in charge of market research and customer support. Since nomajor increases in personnel are expected in the next three years, Mr. Artemide will retain hismanagerial functions throughout these years.

1.1 Mission

Artemide AC's mission is simple and straightforward:

Purpose - Artemide AC exists to provide complete, reliable and high quality services toSMBs, individuals, lawyers, and authorities. Services must give solutions and results! Vision - By providing innovative services, Artemide AC generates a name in Luzern andthe surrounding area.

1.2 Keys to Success

The keys to success for Artemide AC are:

Developing visibility to generate new business leads.

Relationships with clients (developing loyal, respectful, and intensive contact with bothclients and potential clients). Marketing/strategy and networking with other professionals. Collaboration with Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG for generally fiduciary services andIT services. Responsiveness to clients (fast response time for special problems). Quality (especially in reporting information). Excellence in fulfilling the promise. Openness: languages and willpower for creating interregional and international contacts.

1.3 Objectives

The objectives of this business plan are:

1. To provide a written guide for managing this business; a strategic framework fordeveloping a comprehensive tactical marketing philosophy.2. This plan is not intended to obtain financing, it is purely for internal improvements.3. The scope of this plan is to provide detailed monthly projections for the current plan year,as well as yearly summaries for the following two years.


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The objectives of Artemide Auditing & Consulting are:

1. The overall objective is to focus the activities towards the specialized services (analyses,investigations, startups, etc.) and to become a leader in this niche in the Luzern area.2. Cash flow - To generate sufficient cash flow to finance future growth and development,

and to provide the resources needed to achieve the other objectives of the company and itsowners.3. Growth - To expand the business at a rate that is both challenging andmanageable, serving the market with innovation and adaptability. (Growth projected at 10%of sales in the next three years.)

Company Summary

Artemide AC will be an ongoing company from the sole proprietorship company Sandor

Artemide dipl. Wirtschaftsprfer with the following characteristics:

The goal will be to continue the activities on a larger personal and organizational basis,still with no debt financing. Artemide AC will assume operations of one of the Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG'sdivisions. Between the owners of Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos and Artemide AC there will be a 25%cross-participation. The cooperation between Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos and Artemide AC is flexible--withthe objective to change rapidly if the market demands.

2.1 Company History

The sole proprietorship company "Sandor Artemide dipl. Wirtschaftsprfer" was founded 8March 1996. In the first 10-month period, the company generated sales of $50,000.

In the time of general recession, between 1996 and 2000, with a concentrated basis work, theowner created and assured his independent existence. The name Artemide was made known, andhe has established a good professional reputation in Luzern.

Before starting his own business, Sandor Artemide acquired extensive professional experience aslisted below:

5 years ATAG Graff & Altern in Geneva, Switzerland. 3 years Ziegfeld in Bern, Switzerland. 4 years KUGN in Bienne, Switzerland.

2.2 Company Ownership

Artemide Auditing & Consulting AG will be incorporated in the city of Luzern by SandorArtemide, who will be the majority owner. Twenty-five percent of the company will be ownedby Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG, the parent company.


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2.3 Company Locations and Facilities

Artemide AC is established in a separate office from Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG, inLuzern. Secretary and telephone response is assumed by Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos. In the samebuilding, on the first level, is established ATO Geistesblitz (sale and consulting of SMB softwaresage-KHK).

The structure is well established and satisfies the needs of both Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos andArtemide AC. Both companies intend to optimize the office location in the future.

Services

Artemide AC will be the number one company in the Luzern area for specialized andinvestigative services in the modern business environment. Artemide AC also offers both classic,auditing, and general consulting services.

Artemide AC will offer three main services - Auditing, Consulting, and Investigation.

There appear to be four main classes of competition, as indicated under section 3.2. Fulfillment of services will be provided in the future by Sandor Artemide and otherequally qualified professionals. It's important to be current with the classic and special business software.

Detailed descriptions of these points are found in the sections below.

3.1 Service Description

Artemide Auditing & Consulting AG offers three main services:

1. Auditing - Financial data must be checked and confirmed, we consider this normal, as a

service related to auditing. Most of these services are legal audits in the sense of Swisscompany law. A Legal Audit is the most comprehensive assessment of the presentation offinancial data. By contrast, a Review is generally prepared for the assurance of themanagement and as a minimum requirement of financial institutions for the propose ofextending credit. Finally an Analysis is limited on the plausibility and the ratios. AnAnalysis is normally based on audited or reviewed financial statements.

An essential part of all audit activities is understanding the business environment in which acompany operates and to evaluate the risks of financial losses. In fact it's necessary to checkpast financial statements, but the key for a modern audit is to have time to move from anaccounting approach to a planning approach--from present to future.

2. Consulting - Includes business planning, business evaluation, merger and acquisition,start-up planning, restructuring, and business-succession planning, etc.3. Investigation - Our auditing and business expertise provides us with the ability toperform analysis, specialized audits, and valuation of businesses in business disputes, fraud,or other cases of incertitude and disputes.


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3.2 Competitive Comparison

There seems to be four major classes of competition in the actual fiduciary business inSwitzerland:

1. Individual proprietors and small fiduciary and accounting offices. The primary

business of these competitors is accounting and tax compliance (for individuals andcompanies). This offices normally employ between 1 and 5 people. These offices deal in alarge spectrum on a general level, but without specialization. These offices are oftenmembers of the STV.

2. Medium fiduciary offices with between 6 and 25 or more employees. These offices arealso dealing in a large and general spectrum. If there are several partners--with differentformation and specialties--these offices are available for general financial and taxconsulting. This offices are member of the STV or/and the TK.

3. Large auditing and consulting companies. These companies have several hundredemployees. They tend to operate more in the lucrative consulting business. Publiccompanies are normally audited by these companies. Large companies are normally notinterested in dealing with small and medium business. All large companies have aninternational network.

4. Banks, Assurances and other Financial Consultants are new competitors. Financialservices are "in." Banks are active in start-up consulting, corporate finance, mergers andacquisitions, and others.

3.3 Fulfillment

The fulfillment of services was provided in the past by the owner himself. Theultimate delivery was the owner's expertise and problem solving capability, coupled with an openmind and ease of communication. The end result is an established trust with complete customerconfidence and satisfaction.

In the future, the clients must also accept the work of other qualified personnel--it is necessary to

transfer and expand the established personal goodwill into company goodwill. This will onlybe possible with qualified and motivated employees.

3.4 Technology

Technology is, of course, very important to the success of Artemide Auditing & Cconsulting. Itis imperative that the company stay up-to-date on the technological developments in the classicbusiness software like MS-Office, etc. as well as in the special software and tools for auditing,financial planning, business planning, etc.


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In addition, it will be important to devote a reasonable portion of each year's revenues towardupgrading the equipment and software used by Artemide AC in its normal operations.

Market Analysis Summary

Artemide Auditing & Consulting AG will adopt a focused market strategy.

Logical segmentation breaks the market down into the following: Individuals, Investors,Small Businesses, Medium Businesses, Large Businesses, and Authorities and PublicOrganizations. Descriptions are provided below. The largest and most logical target markets for Artemide AC at the present are small andmedium businesses. In a new "Financial Industry" Individuals and Investors become animportant market segment. For our business, we do not have main competitors. We have a lot of widely-sizedcompetitors in a vast market of services. This market environment gives ample opportunityfor Artemide AC to create and expand a niche in the chosen market fields. Finally, worth noting is the growth trend for the general market, estimated between 5%and 10%, annually.

4.1 Market Segmentation

The following chart and table reflect the estimated market segmentation and growth for thisbusiness.

Individual persons and Investors Small Businesses - Defined as businesses with 1 to 24 employees, this is the secondlargest and fastest growing segment in our region.

Medium Businesses - 25 to 499 employees. Large Businesses - 500 or more employees. Authorities and Public Organizations

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

For our further development, we consider the following market segments to be very important:

Individual persons and Investors. Small and Medium Businesses.

Artemide AC will focus its marketing strategy primarily on these market segments.

4.2.1 Market Needs

There are three different major opportunities (needs) in the fiduciary business over the nextyears:


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1. Bookkeeping and other services related to the operative financial management (payroll,cost-accounting, accounting for pension funds, etc.).2. Consulting and special mandates.

o Financial-Planning

o Business-Planning

o Business-Evaluationo Merger & Acquisition

o Startup-Planning

o Restructuring

o Business Succession-Planning

o Coaching in Financial-Managing

o Recovery

o Special Audits, Reviews

o Analyses

o Investigation, Forensic Services

o Other

3. Legal Auditing (incl. IAS and other standards) as an independent and responsibleinstitution.

We think that the need for consulting and other specialized fields has a strong growth potential.

4.2.2 Market Trends

Three primary market trends seem to be most important in our business:

Trend 1- (most important) Rapid growth in complexity of business in an ever-changingmarket and competitive environment needs continuous and rapid adaptation in both strategyand structures of companies.

Trend 2- (moderately important) In the future there will be a percentage of unsuccessfulventures resulting in more litigation, which, in turn, will emphasize the need for specializedaudits, investigation, restructuring, etc.

Trend 3- (least important) Predicted continued growth in consulting because companieswill be unwilling to pay fixed costs of salaries, choosing instead to treat specializedfinancial knowledge and needs as variable costs from external sources.

Economically it is more expedient to acquire specialized services from a consulting firm that hasits own specialized employees.

4.2.3 Market Growth


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As noted in the previous section, several factors are predicted to continue well into the nextdecade, not the least of which we estimate the annual market growth rate between 5% and 10%.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

The fiduciary and consulting business for the local area is already well established, yet still

allows ample opportunity for us. This is supported by the following points:

Already in existence are a large number of firms - we think that most of the small andmedium firms are operating in a limited spectrum of traditional fiduciary services(accounting and tax) and they do not have enough knowledge and/or time for entering thefield of specialized services - so we have new participants like banks, assurances, lawyers,and others entering the market.

Customers in the fiduciary business tend to be loyal, relying on the same consultant for

future needs once a relationship has been established - this fact requires establishing a goodand intensive personal relationship with client. This, in the large, "big 6," firms, is often notrealizable because of staff turn over and inaccessibility of personnel.

The globalization of markets will increase the demands for expansion of new servicesrelated to our business.

We believe our business is in a in a period of grand change. The competitors must be generalistsand specialists at the same time. For small and medium fiduciary businesses, a focus of

one primary segment of business is necessary. For example, if the "core" business is accounting,the other fiduciary businesses like tax, auditing, consulting must be reduced to a general level. Inthe core business, the company must be current with the services, while having the capacity toinnovate (like new accounting services related to the Internet).

For our business, we do not have main competitors: We have many competitors in diversifiedservices. More important than the competitors, is the need to get established in the right marketand to develop this market with a strong and flexible strategy.

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

Competition in the general field of business consulting in the Luzern area is quite intense.

Although numerous established companies offer a variety of services to different customersegments, Artemide Auditing & Consulting AG considers competition in our focus market nicheof small and medium businesses to be modest. Customers in this segment strongly rely on theconsultant's professional qualifications and the ability to come up with viable solutions in a time-and cost-effective manner.

Strategy and Implementation Summary


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Artemide AC will offer auditing, consulting, and investigation services to small and mediumbusinesses in the Luzern area. The company will focus on providing excellent customer service,and that will generate favorable client referrals and increase customer retention.

5.1 Competitive Edge

Artemide Auditing & Consulting's competitive edge is in the well-established reputation ofSandor Artemide who has been in the consulting business for over a decade. Combining hisprofessional expertise with the financial, marketing, and technical support of Daten Riffwald-Ennetmoos AG, the company is positioned to further entrench itself in the growing market ofsmall and medium business consulting in the Luzern area.

5.2 Sales Strategy

The company's sales strategy will be based on building long-term customer relationships, whichwill result in repeat sales. Customer service and 'face time' with clients will be aimed to maintaina high level of customer retention. The charts and table below outline the Sales Forecast for thenext three years.

Management Summary

Sandor Artemide, the majority owner of Artemide AC, will assume strategic managementfunctions. Brigitte Artemide will be in charge of market research and customer support. Nomajor increases in personnel are expected in the next three years.

6.1 Personnel Plan

The following table outlines the two-person management system of Artemide AC.

Financial Plan

The following sections include the annual estimates for the standard set of financial tables.Detailed monthly pro-forma tables are included in the appendix.

7.1 Important Assumptions

This information is presented in the table below.

7.2 Key Financial Indicators

The Benchmark chart below uses index values to compare past and future financial indicators.The bars show relative change, not absolute values.

7.3 Break-even Analysis

With our average monthly fixed costs, Artemide will surpass break even consistently throughoutthe next year of operations.


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7.4 Projected Profit and Loss

The projected profit and loss information is presented in the table and charts below.

7.5 Projected Cash Flow

The projected cash flow and cash balance information is presented in the chart and table below.

7.6 Projected Balance Sheet

The projected balance sheet information is presented in the table below

7.7 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on theStandard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 8721.01 - Auditing services, are shown forcomparison.

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