1) Using a Web search, find potential competitors within the industry your business venture will compete in. Use the attached template to assemble a list of your competitors. Provide the Web address to cite the source you used to gather information on potential competitors.
2) Go to www.csimarket.com and type in one of your potential competitor’s names from #1 above to see if it is a publicly traded company. Do this until you find one that is traded publicly in order to complete the balance of this exercise. A) Once your company appears on the Web page, then click on the “Competition” link and look up Competitors Growth Rates. Record the REV. Y/Y and INC. Y/Y (revenue and income year-to-year rate) for the competitor and 2 of its competitors listed on the Web page. You may need to select the relationship: Peer ♦ to show more entries for competitors. Record your findings in the table provided in the attached template.
3) Look at your potential competitor’s financial statements from www.csimarket.com to gain insight into elements that you can use in your business venture’s financial forecasting process. A) Click on the Financials link, choose Income Statement and change the period to “Annual”. Compare the relationship between Total Revenue and Cost of Goods and Services Sold for 5 years using the ratio COGS/Total Revenue = %. Provide your comparison in the table provided in the attached template. • Example: COGS/Total Revenue =% $12,415/$18,450 = 67%; for every $1.00 of sales revenue the cost to provide the product/service is $.67. The gross profit on every $1.00 of sales revenue = $1.00 – .67 = $.33 B) Next, using the Financials Link, choose Balance Sheet and change the period to “Annual”. Compare the relationship between average Accounts Receivable and Total Revenue for the 3 most recent years using the ratio ((Current Yr A/R+ Prey. Yr A/R)/2) /Current Yr Total Revenue. Provide your comparison/calculations in the table provided in the attached template. • NOTE: Understanding the relation between A/R and total revenue will help you to assist your team in setting up the A/R balance in your venture’s pro-forma Balance Sheet in Part 3 of the Project.
4) Look for comparable competitor pricing for your venture’s product/service to help establish a sales price per unit for your business idea. This research will assist your team in projecting revenues for your pro-forma Income Statement. Provide at least 3 comparison prices at the bottom of the attached template. Cite your source for these prices.
Along with a template for this Internet Activity, an example in a separate Word document is provided using the toilet paper industry to answer the above questions.
If there is more than one activity, your answers for each Internet Activity should be typed into the same Word document using complete sentences. Submit your completed Word document to this assignment drop box by the due date listed in the course schedule.
