The business plan aims to expand Travancore Coir Company's export network to new foreign countries and then enter the domestic market. It proposes increasing local sourcing of raw materials to reduce costs, enhancing employee benefits to ensure cooperation, and establishing contingency funds to manage risks. An aggressive marketing strategy including trade fairs and showroom displays is suggested to raise brand awareness and grow market share both internationally and domestically. The company vision emphasizes social commitment and environmental stewardship along with business growth.

1. TRAVANCORE COIR COMPANY
- A BUSINESS PLAN
By
Hanie Salim
Kevin Toms Skaria
N Vinayak
Nandu Raj
Anoop Kumar K T

2. Objective
Enhanced quality through innovative and aesthetic design
with a societal obligation.
Vision
To become a company, deeply rooted in societal
commitment, with a strong global and local presence,
churning out quality products that are innovative, viable
and handy and; in the process earning a due profit for the
benefit of our stakeholders, employees and shareholders.

3. Executive Summary
• Founded in 1878
• Symbolizes the entire coir industry in full bloom
• Deeply rooted in ethical conduct
• Concerned about environment even while chasing dreams
• Company aims at large-scale expansion:
– expand export network
– venture into the domestic market
– enhance funding to its R&D Department

4. SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
– Sound legacy of the Company
– Strong balance sheet and finances
– Eco-friendly nature of the product
– Durability and easy handling of the raw material
– Newer processing technologies
– Support from the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises) Ministry and the central, state governments
– Huge popularity of coir décor products in foreign
countries

5. SWOT Analysis
Weaknesses:
– Lack of availability of good quality coir pith locally;
increased production cost
– Lack of awareness amongst local consumers
– Brand image (misconception) of an ultra-luxury product
– Lack of cohesion among manufacturers; poor lobbying
power for the sector
– Fluctuating currency rates leading to random profits and
uncertain buying costs

6. SWOT Analysis
Opportunities:
– Growing buying power of the Indian consumer.
– Substantial increase in the size of the target market
segment (Middle-class and above)
– Growing interest of the new Indian consumer in
‘affordable’ luxury
– Virtually untapped rural and semi-urban markets
– Rising awareness among consumers about eco-
friendliness of products
– Absence of strong market rivals in the domestic segment

7. SWOT Analysis
Threats:
– New market niche exploration
– Growth of coir sector in foreign countries (Sri Lanka and
ASEAN members)
– Lowering of import duties on coir and rival products
– Worker unions clamouring for hike in pay
– Inflation leading to greater input costs
– Substitute man-made materials
– Challenge from newer entrants into the domestic
segment

8. Stage I
• Garner necessary financial resources
• Set up an ultra-modern coir processing, coloring and coir-
extracting unit
• Set up an excellent R&D team
• Source coconut fibre, even from Tamil Nadu initially
• Train the workers at regular intervals and revise their pay
time-to-time so as to nip the ‘union-menace’ in the bud

9. Stage II
• Participate in global coir fests in 5 robust markets: China,
USA, UK, Hong Kong and Japan
• Put up stalls offering a veritable feast of coir products to the
viewers - engage good interlocutors and do retail trade
• Identify and penetrate newer foreign markets
• Bag tenders for franchises from local investors
• Closely monitor transactions and advise corrective measures

10. Spreading our wings domestically
• Set up exclusive company show rooms in big cities
• Constantly approach the big business houses with excellent
aesthetic methods to enhance the office atmosphere
• Engage in retail trade in cities
• House a designer at each store to do exclusive coir-décor in
customers’ houses
• Maintain servicing facility at such stores
• Set up permanent stalls in Duty-Free space of airports and
replicate domestic model in foreign markets

11. Resource gathering front
• Encourage Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to process coir in its initial
stages
• Set-up a Smoothening Fund to buttress the sourcing units
• Set up collection-units in rural and semi-urban areas
• R&D team should concentrate more on the design domain.
• In case of failure on any front, hotly debate the possible issues and
come up with remedies. Closely monitor competitors and ‘beat
them in their trade’.
Pricing strategy: Fix price on all fronts for a stipulated period.

12. Stage III
Developing niche market to a comprehensive market segment
• Main focus of R&D team on innovation
• Expand international presence. Keep monitoring
• Enhance number of domestic outlets and set-up independent
design studios exclusively for coir décor
• Expand into more cities
• Foray into owning plantations for self-reliance
• Raise value for quality-coir; augment local supply to reduce
costs

13. 4 Ps
Product
• Products of unparalleled quality
• Recruit fresh graduates from design schools and fashion
institutes
• Linking products to the Company’s strong brand name
– E.g.. Mercedes Benz, ITC Classmate, Indica Vista etc.
• Aim to increase the variety of products – onus is on R&D
• Smart and attractive packaging
– E.g.. Electronic equipment, modern soaps etc.

14. 4 Ps
Place
• Find new untapped foreign markets and locate local distributors
• Ensure good initial visibility – floor space in showrooms
• During the spreading out stage, slowly set up own exclusive
retail outlets in cities
• Sense the local pulse and market products by door-to-door
aggressive marketing
• E-marketing - we propose to put up a website where people can
actually design the coir products they need; e-advertising
– E.g.. www.naturalrugstore.co.uk , luxury car websites, DELL

15. 4 Ps
Price
• Special significance to indigenous pricing
• In the initial stages, the price should be based on cost-plus
mechanism
• After stabilizing our position, we should try to milk the demand
for our product and raise the price
• At our company outlets, we should lower the price a bit
• Resort to differential pricing (during maturity stage and
beyond) since competitors can catch up fast

16. 4 Ps
Promotion
A three stage plan has been devised:
 Stage I - creating awareness about the product among
customers
 Stage II - familiarizing customers with our product line and
convincing them about their superiority
 Stage III - rising as the market leader of the niche with a
strong base of loyal customers and customer evangelists

17. 4 Ps
Promotion Cont…
Stage I
• Organize trade fairs in at least 4 of the hub cities of the target
foreign market to attract the attention of the local customers
• Ensure sound operations in at least 3 new international markets
• Local focus: Channel this profit towards opening small outlets
in other interior décor and furniture showrooms; initiate
advertising
• A fully functional interactive state-of-the-art web page has to
be designed to lure the tech-savvy customer

18. 4 Ps
Promotion Cont…
Stage II
• Fully functional mini outlets which exclusively deal with coir
products in at least 80 % of the home decor shops
• Employ catchy slogans and visual aids for publicity
• Concentrated marketing effort:
– Grant fat discounts on items to the uber-rich
– Conduct a Gala dinner for independent designers and the elite to make
them aware of the Company’s products and their quality e.g. Tiscon
• Door-to-door marketing with credible marketers to attract the
upper middle class
• Social events to win crowd support and trust

19. 4 Ps
Promotion Cont…
Stage III
• Upgrade the retail outlets to stand-alone ones
• Go for tie ups with construction firms and take up the entire
interior decoration (coir-themed) of multi storied structures
• Approach big business houses to revamp their workspaces on
coir theme; trendy and ‘green’ buildings
• The international markets should be further expanded - at least
4 independent foreign platforms (cluster of nations) in all
• Regular social events should be organized under the firm’s
banner to ensure the continued loyalty of the customers

20. Company Hierarchy

22. Summary
• Aim: Expand export network to a few more foreign
countries and then foray into the domestic market
• Source raw materials locally to reduce production
costs
• To ensure employee co-operation – enhance perks
and set up pension fund (General Reserve spin-off)
• Contingency Fund to buffer out fluctuations in
currency rates and to build faith among suppliers
• Go for aggressive and innovative marketing
• Stay deeply rooted in values and work for the larger
interest of the society, stakeholders and
beneficiaries