5. Operational Plan

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The daily operation of the business, its locations, equipment, people, processes, and environment will be distributed in locations around the world. Existing equipment, processes, free services, volunteer support will be the foundation of Smart People Magazine in the Beta Year.

Administration and Production

Administration will be provided by Associated Professional Services (APS), Sun City Center, Florida, US.
At the beginning, APS will shoulder responsibilities of

• Quality control
• Customer service
• Inventory control
• Product development

Ideally some of these functions will migrate to volunteers and eventually be outsourced to paid providers.

Magazine production will be provided by:

• APS and or
• Volunteers with ability and resources to produce and publish a quality magazine layout.

Location

Smart People components will be located in several places on the Internet – Facebook, Blog, Wiki, Website. All functions should be aggregated to one place – likely the Website which would become “Smart People Central” where most business functions such as subscription applications and payment can be arranged, the latest copy of SP magazine can be read or downloaded and archives can be accessed. Links to the Facebook Group, the Wiki or other SP functions can be found on the Website.

The HQ in Sun City Florida can be accommodated in the present location of APS. However, as work volume grows and staff expands, a separate location will be needed.

Legal Environment

There will be no particular legal requirements in the Beta Year. Smart People Magazine will be a product of Associated Professional Services, which holds all the necessary licensing and permits and its staff people are self-employed, self-insured and file personal taxes separate from the business. APS is insured.

A domain address has already been obtained for SP magazine. The name Smart People Magazine is open for trademark and the process has been started.

Personnel (internal)

As mentioned earlier, all personnel including the publisher, editor and production manager are unpaid volunteers until enough revenue allows reasonable and customary pay.

As the magazine grows, additional employees or contractors will be required and this plan expects that to not be possible until at least the end of the Beta Year. Projections as to number, type, skills, training, tasks, pay will be deferred until the 2010 planning process begins.

Personnel (external)

Technical support will be provided through a mix of volunteer and contract services. During the Beta Year payment for services on a combination of fee for service and profit-sharing.

Marketing personnel will be external to the magazine staff. In the Beta Year, they will be acquired as volunteers where possible or hired on a contingency or profit sharing basis.

Writers will be commissioned by invitation or acceptance of submitted drafts and compensated by an author's credit that will include name, title, organization, URL and email address if desired. Reprints from other publications will also contain similar information.

'Stringers' will be used as the 'eyes and ears' of Smart People magazine who provide story ideas and links as suggestions. Stringers may also be commissioned to cover events or write stories and compensated with free press passes and author's credits. (Special stringers may be listed regularly in each issue as covering certain 'beats' and including information for local contact.

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Cover • Table of Contents • Executive Summary • General Company Description • Products and Services • Marketing Plan • Operational Plan • Management and Organization • Personal Financial Statement • Startup Expenses and Capitalization • Financial Plan • Refining the Plan • Appendix A: Competing Publications