ExpectingU.com is a new online business providing fun, comfortable and easily accessible collegiate maternity wear via our own site and an eBay store.

Mary Lenton, the owner, has more than 10 years experience in business management, channel market and high-level selling. As she believes in this product, she will be funding the business from her own savings. ExpectingU.com was created because she searched for the product during her pregnancy and couldn’t find any collegiate maternity wear. Over 500 expecting mothers have conducted market research and found that these products are highly sought-after. ExpectingU.com is able to offer ad space on several websites that are expecting mothers, and has many leads for direct sales.

Our targeted market includes pregnant women who are either sports fans or married sports fans as well as friends and relatives of women who plan to buy the shirts for gifts.

ExpectingU.com’s sales projections for the first fiscal year are projected at $1,094,635 in the first year. Net profit is projected at $343 5,517.

The gross margin for products sold directly via our website is approximately 71.5%, while the 67.2% figure for items sold through our ebay store is roughly 67.2%. This is substantially higher than the Industry standard gross margin in maternity wear, since our product’s simple design allows easy (and inexpensive) outsourced manufacturing, while the innovative concept allows us to charge a price premium.

We will not only pay $48,000 in eBay fees the first year, which is roughly $1.30 per item. However, we will make up the difference in savings in marketing costs as well as expenses for maintaining and developing our website. The popularity and brand success of eBay, combined with its built-in tools for new merchants, will help us to build a solid customer base for our new product.

1.1 Objectives

1. Make a unique product for maternity wear and make them available in 75% of the Division 1 football schools’#8217′ collegiate logos before year end.
2. Over $1,000,000 in retail sales generated on our site and via our eBay store during the first year.
3. A gross margin of at least 65% is acceptable.
4. To achieve 100 eBay customer positive feedback comments in one year.

1.2 Mission

To provide fun, comfortable and readily accessible maternity collegiate apparel for women who wish to support their favorite college teams, even while they are pregnant.

1.3 Keys for Success

1. ExpectingU.com will launch a new line of maternity shirts featuring the logo and/or mascot from NCAA Division I football teams. These products are very popular, but are not widely available in mainstream shops.
2. ExpectingU.com will satisfy the demand of maternity collegiate shirts by maintaining inventory levels that will allow for immediate shipping to customers.
3. ExpectingU.com is going to run a targeted advertising campaign to raise awareness of the website’s products.