Salient points of the business plan

1. a Creative Hospitality Group company
Business Plan Overview
Concept Creative Hospitality Group, Inc. (CCHG) is a portfolio of companies based in
Tallahassee, Florida with an income strategy of revenue diversification. The standout company in
the portfolio is the Cocktail Experience Lounge, which will cater to the mature working
professional between the ages of 25-54 years old. Concept is a green social and business space
dedicated to sustainable hospitality; the establishment aims to meet the networking needs of the
working professional by providing an atmosphere that is conducive to both social and professional
interaction. The mission of the Group is to serve as the hub of business and social activity for the
North Florida professional community.
The urgent need for Concept is supported by Tallahassee’s risk of losing its creative class to a city
with more appealing amenities. The Knight Foundation designated Tallahassee as a participant in
its Knight Creative Communities Initiative to study the recent interest in the development of social
entrepreneurs to promote community transformation based on Professor Richard Florida's creative
class theory to stimulate economic development. Professor Florida designates the creative class as
the group of thinkers, innovators and decision-makers who influence cultural phenomenon and
impact business.
Survey results for the Soul of the Community (SOTC) Gallup Poll of 26 Knight Foundation
communities identified “the main driver of Tallahassee’s residents’ emotional engagement to be
social offerings (such as entertainment venues for people to meet each other).” In the section that
addressed citizen’s perception of the most important problem facing the community, Tallahassee
led all other communities in its group with “need more entertainment/nothing to do/need more

2. a Creative Hospitality Group company
activities” in its responses. Community aesthetics, that is, physical beauty and green spaces, were
among the aspects that received high ratings for the area and should be leveraged, as they have an
impact on the residents’ emotional connections as well. Concept will be the soul of the community.
LaTanya White, the entrepreneur who is diligently working on filling the City’s need for such a
venue, visualizes the establishment as a 4-story building that will seek Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) certification to support sustainable hospitality. Concept’s position
on sustainability and green operating is viewed as a grassroots extension of President Obama’s
“New Energy for America” plan, steadfastly holding a position of energy efficiency and a
minimized carbon footprint along with the creation of at least 25 ‘green’ jobs in the Tallahassee
area. This also supports the City’s recent “Gold Certified Green City” award by the Florida Green
Building Council, the first in the State to receive such recognition.
The ideal location has been identified and is located in the Downtown Tallahassee cluster; it is a
15,000 square foot structure that is conveniently situated a half-mile from the State Capitol
Building; the proposed site for the city’s Center for Performing Arts- a 3,000 seat facility and the
designated site for Cascades Park. The facility is located at 115 W. Bloxham Street, Tallahassee,
FL 32301 and is being offered by Commercial Consultants Corporation; it has been on the market
for 5 years.
Revenue diversification is the Group’s primary operating strategy by exploiting all available
options for revenue per square foot. Six revenue streams have been identified in order to
accomplish this strategy- advertising sales, space leased for shared business services, rental

3. a Creative Hospitality Group company
bookings, For Tastemakers Only Membership sales, and food and beverage sales. The retail and
office space being leased along with the membership fees generated will be structured in a way
that absorbs approximately 10% of the business’ overhead expenses. Concept Creative Hospitality
Group, Inc. will be a sustainable hospitality establishment that will support and maintain green
operating. White’s current business venture, 71 Proof, will also fall under the CCHG, Inc. umbrella
and will serve as the launching pad for the Cocktail Experience Lounge by leveraging the business’
current relationships in the Group’s success.
The Cocktail Experience patron is between the ages of 25-54 years old, holds a professional career
position and has obtained an advanced academic degree(s). They have disposable discretionary
incomes upwards of $15,000 annually and are very technically inclined. Concept will specifically
cater to and court this demographic as many other hospitality establishments court the more
transient population. Anticipated marketing efforts will include focus groups and various
advertising campaigns will be employed to enlist participants. Other marketing and promotional
activities will include the development of a social networking website associated with the brand
and the granting of exclusive, members-only status to loyal patrons.
The lounge area will support social interaction with open, comfortable seating in addition to booths
that allow a slightly more intimate level of social activity. It will be replete with a semi-exclusive
For Tastemakers Only room, 115- where FTO is the social equivalent of VIP status. Concept is
dimly lit with soft seating that includes poufs, banquettes and couches. The interior design theme is
modern-traditionalist with a neutral color scheme highlighted with brightly colored accents. 115 is
decorated with richer colors that evoke an intimate feel without feeling cramped.

4. a Creative Hospitality Group company
The bill of fare for The Bistro will have organic food and beverages, aiming to meet the needs of
the more health-conscious consumer. As Tallahassee is lacking in its offerings of meeting spaces
and facilities available for rentals, the basement floor of Concept will be designed to support the
inherent flexibility needed for such activities; it will serve as a space dedicated to providing green
meetings for citizens and organizations in the North Florida area. The establishment will also be
fitted with a roof-top garden area that will further support social networking.
Concept is Tallahassee’s only creative hospitality establishment, where creative hospitality is the
development of cocktail and food menus that are unique in style, design and manufacture using the
farm-to-table theory of base ingredients in the creation of signature items. The menu is seasonal
and cyclical, debuting at the beginning of the 3-month period and removed at the start of a new
quarter. Concept will have a limited bill of fare that consists mainly of mezze, tapas, heavy hors
d’ouevres and entree-sized salads along with speciality desserts and signature cocktails.
Breakfast will be served at The Bistro only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings from 1 am
until 6 am. Sunday brunch will be available on selected special occasions and will operate from
10am to 2pm on specified dates. The breakfast check average is $8 with 2 anticipated turns for that
daypart, where turns are defined as the number of times a new customer is seated in the restaurant
during a specific meal service. The average check for a lunchtime meal at The Bistro is $12 and
will be prepared only during the hours of 11am to 4pm, operating for a total of 312 days per year.
The number of turns for the lunch meal is expected to 4; lunch is available Monday through
Saturday at The Bistro. The tapas menu check average is $20 and is only available in the Cocktail

5. a Creative Hospitality Group company
Experience Lounge from 5pm to 2am 7 days per week. The average beverage check is $10 with six
turns projected; the preparation and service of these cocktails is available 365 days a year from
5pm to 2am, in accordance with Tallahassee City Ordinance.
Concept’s Cocktail Experience Lounge will market itself as Tallahassee’s premier creative
hospitality establishment, one that provides an atmosphere that caters to the mature professional by
offering a level of service that is currently non-existent in the city. This product differentiation will
be easily identified using carefully crafted marketing messages. Concept’s marketing strategy is to
deploy full sensory branding; that is, each of the five senses will be engaged at the Cocktail
Experience Lounge. Sight and touch will be engaged with the décor and design of the
establishment; the food and beverage menu options will be associated with the guests’ sense of
taste. Opportunities to socialize with peers and enjoy live musical performances are linked to the
hearing sense and scent marketing will be employed to fully engage the Concept customer by
creating emotional connections with the brand. ScentAir, a scent marketing solutions firm based in
Charlotte, North Carolina and a leader in the industry, will be retained to pinpoint which scents
will create the strongest emotional tie to the establishment.
Using Kenneth Clow’s direction in the text he authored, The IMC Plan Pro Handbook, to conduct
the competitive analysis for Concept it was determined that while there are over 100 bars and clubs
that operate in Tallahassee, less than 20% of these establishments will be viable competitors for the
venue. Tallahassee, with its two major universities and large community college, has an extremely
transient population and most of these hospitality establishments cater to the students that comprise
30% of the city’s population. SOTC results also found that the 25-54 year old demographic are the

6. a Creative Hospitality Group company
least engaged group in our City- a need Concept further aims to fill. Venues that consistently target
Concept’s customer are listed below:
101 Mint Lounge
-
2 Chez
-
Café Cabernet
-
Paradigm
-
Top Flight Club
-
The Winery at Red Bar
-
Wednesdays begin the weekend for many of these venues, which, unless they also operate as a
dining establishment, are generally not open for operation Sunday through Tuesday nights. In
efforts to establish Concept’s brand of creative hospitality, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights
will be marketed as invite-only engagements by local celebrities, including well-connected
political officials, decision-makers and influencers of the area. Concept will also differentiate itself
by being operational 7 days a week, Sunday through Saturday.
As Mondays and Tuesdays are typically the slower days for business, they will be designated as
‘reveal’ nights. The FTO: Cocktail Reveal will be the night that a new specialty cocktail recipe
will debut at the Cocktail Experience Lounge and will be available as cocktail flights, or samples.
It will be marketed as an invitation-only event “for tastemakers only.” In order to begin to achieve
the FTO designation, customers will have to sign up on the Concept social networking website and
create a profile. This profile will capture customer data on demographics, drink preferences, food
preferences and will allow the customer to provide feedback to management. The customers will
be tracked to as much detail as possible, including how often they visit the establishment, on what
specific occasions and the duration of their visit; members with the most data collected will receive

7. a Creative Hospitality Group company
the FTO designation and will become eligible to gain access to the most exclusive events at the
establishment.
White has set a soft opening date of Friday, November 27, 2009 as this date will allow for a 34
days of operations prior to the Grand Opening Event to be held on Thursday, December 31, 2009.
The Grand Opening event will be marketed as Tallahassee’s Best New Year’s Eve Party and will
include a special performance by one of the music industry’s most popular artists. The ceremony
will be held in the Cocktail Experience Lounge at 6 o’clock in the evening and will be attended by
local celebrities, loyal supporters and industry experts who have been selectively invited to attend.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) generates financial assumptions based on empirical
evidence and industry averages. These assumptions have been used in the development of the
financial plan for Concept Creative Hospitality Group, which includes the Start-Up Cost Analysis,
Statement of Cash Flows, Income Statements, Balance Sheet and Fund Usage Analysis. The
financial statements that have been prepared are properly aligned with the marketing and operating
strategies set forth by Ms. White. They reflect data from the months of July 2009 through
December 2009 (Year 0), as expenses will be incurred for those months since the first day of
operation is November 27, 2009. The year 2010 marks the first full calendar and fiscal year of
operation.
The NRA estimates that, on average, a hospitality venue will only operate at about 67% of its
seating capacity; this factor helps generate the estimates for food and beverage sales based on the
number of seats, average meal price, number of turns per meal segment and number of days the

8. a Creative Hospitality Group company
establishment operates. Startup costs are a function of the total sales figures and are impacted by
various costs based on square footage. The $750,000 construction costs, $450,000 in décor costs
and mortgage deposits of $275,000 are each dependent upon the total square footage of the
establishment. Square footage is calculated by determining the number of seats needed per seating
style. Office inventory, professional fees, pre-opening advertising costs, printing costs, uniform
and miscellaneous costs were figures based on empirical data; the figures were given and add to
the total startup costs of $2.69 million.
The months of July through December 2009 reflects the near non-existing operating activities for
the establishment. Financing activities for that same period show the most impact as the loan
amount was awarded in the early part of the year. These finances went towards the investment
activities used to secure the building, land and equipment for Concept. Upon achieving positive
income gain in December 2009, the net income amount is categorized into short-term investment
activities, working capital and retained earnings. The net cash flow for 2009 is $689,486.87.
Figures of Years 2 and 3 reflect the decrease in financing activities as any further capital needed
for growth will come from retained earnings and working capital for Concept.
The balance sheet for Concept Creative Hospitality Group, Inc. demonstrates that the
establishment’s major liquidity lies in the food and beverage inventory kept on hand. In 2010, the
$674,521.09 of inventory accounts for over 60% of Concept’s current assets. This is important to
note in the daily operations of the establishment in order to ensure that the proper number of
inventory turns are conducted for the most efficient revenue generators. Of the total assets, the
fixed building and land assets account for just under half of the total fixed assets contribution.

9. a Creative Hospitality Group company
Long-term notes payable account for all of the establishment’s long term liabilities reflecting the
loan amount granted by private investors.
Maintaining a 30% food cost and a 20% beverage cost brings the total cost of sales to $901,541.93,
generating $2.12 million gross profit on these sales with a margin of 70.36% in Year 1. Total
operating expenses, including payroll at 25%, employee benefits at 5% and credit card fees at
2.5%- where each is determined as a function of total sales- amounted to $1,917,836.09. Income
taxes payable, at 4% of the Earned Income Before Taxes (EIBT) of $507,566.51, totaled
$145,216.16 leaving a net income amount of $362,350.36 for the first full operating year. The full
business plan, including the complete marketing and promotional strategy along with all financial
projections is available upon request. White is currently actively seeking investors to participate in
the project.
LaTanya White, MBA
1700 N. Monroe St, 11-171
Tallahassee, Fl 32303
www.71ProofLLC.com
latanya@71ProofLLC.com
850.443.8544

10. a Creative Hospitality Group company
References
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Atlantic Publishing
Clow, K., Baack, D., (2007). The IMC Plan Pro Handbook. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Gallup Inc., Survey Results- Soul of the Community: Tallahassee, FL, 2008
Kawaski, G., (2004).The Art of the Start. New York: Penguin Group
Miller, J., Dopson, L., Hayes, D., (2005). Food and Beverage Cost Control, New Jersey: John
Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Sullivan, R., The Small Business Start-Up Guide, 3rd Edition, Information International
www.creativeclass.com, Creative Class Group, date retrieved February 15, 2009
www.salemiindustries.com, The Cell Zone Product Overview, date retrieved November 17, 2008
www.quickmba.com, SWOT Analysis, date retrieved March 5, 2008