Business Plan Sample: Company History

Company History

Five years ago Heather Mitchell cofounded Northwind Traders, an outdoor clothing shop in Seattle, Washington. Over the years, Northwind Traders has extended its product range to include everything the adventurous traveler could want, from tents and sleeping bags to maps, guidebooks, and insurance. The clothing shop has sales of $1,420,000 per year (see Table 1), makes a gross profit of $202,400, and employs seven people, either full- or part-time. A mail-order service is now provided by catalogue and via a new Web site.

Table 1. Northwind Traders Clothing Shop Performance Over Past Five Years

Increasingly, shop customers have asked for advice on adventurous places to go on vacation.

Last year Northwind Traders acquired an agency from Margie's Travel, one of the largest and most respected tour operators in this market, and began to promote and sell their products.

In the six months that we have been selling travel agency products, some 200 vacation packages, at an average cost of $3340, have been sold. Northwind Traders' commission on the sales has been $66,800 (10 percent commission). In addition, 35 insurance policies have been sold at an average price of $167, yielding $1754 (30 percent commission).

Heather Mitchell, one of Northwind Traders's founding partners, intends to sell her shares in the store and to concentrate on setting up the new travel business, Northwind Traders.