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Kuwait Cityzens produces customized candles and T-shirts.
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Chief Executive Officer (President): Ahmad Abdulmugni***
Chief Finanical Officer (Treasurer): Manayer Al-Mujalem
Manufacturing Manager:Abeer Al-Ajmi
Marketing Manager: Abullah Al Ajmi
Human Resources Manager: Sarah Shaheen
Corporate Secretary: Aisha Al-Qasai
Purchasing Manager: Abdulrazzaq Al-Anjari
Safety Director: Dalal Al-Muhanna**
Hourly Workers:
Ali Al-Falah
Al-Zain Al Jasmi
Bader Ben Essa
Fawwz Al-Khaled
Farah Al-Rushaid
Faye Al-Duaij
Nardeen Al-Alawi
Nasser Al-Nasser
Rahef Al-Rushaid
Razzan Al-Obeid
Zain Al-Rashed
Company: Kuwait Cityzens
Motto: Lighting Up the City
Al-Bayan Bilingual School
Advisor: Dana Al-Salem
@ Injaz Kuwait, a Member of JA Worldwide
Company President: Ahmed Abdulmugni
A. Executive Summary p. 02
B. Mission statement p. 03
C. Product/service p. 03
D. Marketing strategy p. 04
E. Business Plan p. 05
F. Summary statement of company performance p. 06
G. Summary of: financial results / financial statement. p. 07
H. One Member’s Perspective p. 08
I. Appendix I: Report sent to the Stockholders p. 09
II. Appendix II: Company Records p. 10
III. Appendix III: Six Column Worksheet and Financial Statements
Kuwait Cityzens completed a successful lifecycle. Its mission statement calls for providing custom, high quality goods. After initial decisions about a pair of complementary products, problems in production led to the eventual concentration on custom-made, high quality candles. Through successful sales of these candles, Kuwait Citiyzens returned shareholders 6 KD on 1 KD investment after paying over 10% of its earnings to charity. Due to its harmony, hard-work, and professionalism, Kuwait Cityzens earned the "Golden Company Award."
Our company's mission is to provide quality, creative handicraft products at a quality price.
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After considerable deliberation, Kuwait Cityzens decided to produce cutting edge, unique candles along with customized t-shirts. Whereas people have made candles since the Stone Age, our company tried to bring new life into an old idea by original, creative techniques in terms of design, color, and manufacture, including adding a distinguish Kuwait cultural persona.
There were myriad attempts to try to distinguish our candles from the typical candles we see everyday. Candle-making may sound menial and simple, ironically, that was what we thought too. Reality was like a foul slap on our faces. The first candles we did were so amateur and unattractive that we had to remelt them. We were in a serious quagmire, struggling to find new ideas, but as time passed by, ideas were cascading like a waterfall. As we got habituated to the vast spontaneous world of making candles, what exited our production room was professional looking, succulent smelling, and handmade candles. We attempted adding a unique Kuwaiti persona by using no other than the traditional Kuwaiti "Dihin oud", we also added a little twist by using the colors of the Kuwaiti flag. Flowers, leaves, coins, candle chunks, fruit seeds, multitudes of futuristic colors were an aspect of what distinguished our products. Aside from working our way through hordes of obstacles, we also had a blast working together, learning new things, and giving birth to a new era of youthful one of a kind candles.
Problems with production led to the eventual abandonment of the t-shirt line. This allowed "cutting of losses" and allowed allowed the concentration of efforts and resources on the more successful candle line.
Marketing attempts to build repeat customers through customer satisfaction. It envisions the customer as king. To make sure that the customer feels satisfied requires dedication and, of course, research.
Before beginning actual production, the marketing department put out surveys, canvassing attitudes towards four potential products: T-shirts, caps, polo shirts, and towels. Ultimately, the group agreed that since we planned to sell in Sultan Center we needed more than one product to form a full display. For this reason, surveys ranked all four products. However, considerations of what we could produce and sell quickly led to an eventual concentration on the candles and t-shirts.
Our targeting allowed concentration on two groups of consumers: Kuwaitis and foreigners. The latter we attempted to sell candles at items for use when power shortages failed. To Kuwaitis, we largely sold our candles as an impulse buy/unsought good, something that a shopped just happens to see and likes.
Marketing considers four variables: product, place, promotion, and price.
Our product, as mentioned before, included both candles and t-shirts, but production problems led to the discontinuation of the latter. For the product, we concentrated on candles. Marketing continually researched which kinds of candles sold best and to the effect, influenced the production of some styles and scents.
Place includes physical logical and also time. Since we did almost all of our sales at Sultan Center, we very much designed our items to "fill a table." We also sold on three different Wednesday-Thursday when many customers frequented the place, resulting in sales of about 100 KD per outing.
For promotion, we largely concentrated on on-site promotions. We designed signs and logos, which we displayed. We, however, also used some sales promotions, especially bulk discounts. For example, we sold individuals 5 candles for a price of 4 as a matched set.
Our price variable concentrated on a strategy of price skimming. As a differentiated product, since a candle is, basically, a candle, we tried to differentiate our product via special scents, flowers, and experimental designs. Almost always these candles commanded a higher price, and in effect we could pretty much "price skim," charge 10 times their value in wax. For the uglier, less attractive candles, the markup was nowhere near as high.
Our marketing department relied heavily on personal sales as a technique. As a result, the sales force practiced all aspects of traditional sales: the pre-approach, canned and variable pitch, closing, and suggestive sales. This led to a very competent sales force by the end of the selling season.
Our plan to literally "light up" Kuwait included a plan to physically deal with the frequent blackouts that hit Kuwait during the summer, due to lack of power, by selling candles.
However, our motto principally dealt with selling candles and -T-shirts to light up Kuwait in a more figurative way. Like any other company we figured we would encounter some stumbling blocks, and we solved them as we went with our company work as a team and solving them democratically.
Our initial plan, after considerable discussion and debate, called for selling T-shirts and candles. The T-shirt plan proved unfeasible ultimately, but we wanted to buy polo shirts, cover them with attractive designs, and to sell them. The T-shirts we purchased, while high quality, proved unable to accept the designs. So the iron, the costly special printing paper and the ironing board went to waste; we could not even sell them at cost, resulting in a net loss of about 20 KD.
The other part of our business plan, the more successful part, called for selling distinctive, custom-made candles. It sounded easy to make candles; you simply melt wax, add color, and mold them. It turned out no such an easy job to produce well-made candles. In the end, after initial production problems, we did succeed in making a distinctive product. This proved a good decision, and these gave our company a new name and provided our Citizens with valuable work experience that we'll use once we enter the work force.
When everything was set and agreed upon, we anticipated a budget that included the costs for the T-shirts and the candles. However, the candles provided the only relevant expenses. We bought candles for 12 KD and polo shirts for 20 KD. We anticipated selling each shirt for 7 KD, a markup of 5 KD. For each candle we paid only about 200 fills, and we figured we could sell them for an average about 2 KD, excluding salary and bonuses, which we anticipated at about 1/2 KD.
Considering we only spent about 20 KD altogether in fixed costs, this meant we only needed to sell 28 candles to break even. In fact, we sold a lot more than this.
BEP = FC / Price - AVC = 20 / 2 - .7 = 28
Our performance this year was outstanding. Consequently, we were labeled "the golden company" of the Al-Bayan School, and got that award. What distinguished us most weren’t only our profits and records, but also the experiences we gained and the obstacles we overcame
Our company did make a profit. We planned a budget attempting to hit every corner, and basically succeeded. We had a profit of KD 341 even after taking out money for charity, which is basically a 500% profit.
Beyond this, our company had relatively few problems despite spending quite a lot of afternoons and weekends working together. As it took some time to get going on production, we initially could make relatively few candles, 20 or so per week. By the end of the year, this almost doubled, and we often found special manufacturing meetings, such as those held at our sponsor’s house, extremely helpful in meeting manufacturing goals.
Our company was also able to give money to charity. This is part of our commitment to helping the needy. 14% of our profits were contributed to a local branch of the well-known international charity Free the Children. It strives to eliminate child labor throughout the globe. We found that goal very heartfelt, so we agreed in helping them.
Our Program Director, recognized both the individuals and our company with a number of awards.
Kuwait Cityzens originally incorporated with 59 shares of stock sold to company members, parents, teachers, and members of the Al-Bayan Community. These share grew from a par value of 1 KD per share to a close value of 6 KD per share.
On the year, Kuwait Cityzens sold a total of 632.5 KD worth of merchandise. Almost all of this came from sales of candles.
Its expenses consisted of a number of items. First, it paid a total of 105 KD for materials including fixed assets, such as molds and irons as well as the variable cost, primarily wax, used in candle production.
It also paid a total of 146.5 in employee compensation. Part of that consisted of a basic salary paid to each member. The remainder came from a weighted system of accrediting employee time spent at mall sales, in production, and at extra meetings. The company president and advisor along with the CFO approved the final distribution.
Prior to liquidation proceedings and payment of employee compensation, the company held 570 KD in cash. At this point, the firm elected to take 10% of this amount and donate it to charity. Considering a net income of 295 KD, the amount 57% represented a 19.3% donation of total income to the chosen charity, Save the Children.
After payment of all expenses, Kuwait Citizens still held 354 KD in cash. This went to the stockholders as stockholder compensation. For each 1 KD invested, stockholders received back 6, a 500% gain in stockholder value. This compares very favorably with the NYSE where in the past year the average company share rose only 30%.
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My encounter with Kuwait Citizens was like an enchanted journey with its ups and downs. I was safety director, and my job required a fickle-free person with charge and an earsplitting voice to yell out commands. At one point, I felt like I was drowning from the amount of work that I had to do.
The reason being that it was me who had to teach the other individuals the way of making candles. The turn-out, however, washed away all the negative feelings I had, and replaced them with wide smiles and teary eyes. I'm truly grateful that I made the division to join this company. The amount of knowledge and self-experience that I gained was unthinkable.
Looking back, I see tired eyes, and a myriad of satisfied smiles, all twinkling and staring back at me. Not only that, but this blissful journey also opened my eyes to things I never even thought of achieving, it has proven that yes we youths are able to make a difference, that yes youths do have a place in this vast, hectic world we live in, and that yes its true that we can do anything if we set our minds and souls to it. And now, I can leave this company carrying with me multitudes of memories and permanent knowledge, that I deeply believe will be useful one day when I grow up staring at the golden-brick-road to a better future, whereas people who joined similar actives are the fine leaders who take over. In conclusion, I'm utterly glad, and far from regretful to be a member of this very successful company.
I. Appendix I: Report sent to the Stockholders
Ahmed Al-Abdulmughni: Kuwait Cityzens CEO
Dear stockholders,
During this experience in this year’s Injaz, we have all learned the main reason for success; friendship and direct communication. We have all received various criticisms from all our group members that made us strive to correct mistakes. Yet, we may not have gotten along from the start but at the end we were a magnificent Injaz company with loads of memorable moments and a 500% profit.
Below my vice-presidents and managers will explain some of the reasons for our success.
Meshari Al-Roumi: Vice President
This year our company achieved the global goal every company in the world wants to achieve. That goal is great success. Fantastic results have been achieved due to the great effort produced from all workers and head officers. As the vice president I have been tracking on the workers’ progress, and I can assure you that there’s future potential in this company.
Manayer Al-Mujalhem: Central Financial Officer
In my opinion, our company made a significant amount of money, which was around 632 KD in sales, that resulted in profits of 557.5 or a closing value of 6 KD per share after paying salaries and donating to 10% to charity. We were able to sell our candles very quickly and many people appreciated the fact that they were student hand-made. The only problem we faced in my department was that we had more than one project going at the same time. We could have made much more profit if we had decided to only stick with candles and not divide our focus on both the candles and the T-shirts. We had some complications as printing stuff on T-shirts wasn’t as easy as we had expected. Other than that, I had a great time practicing my accounting skills and being company treasurer.
Sarah Shahin: Manager of Human Resources
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My name is Sarah Shahin, and I worked for the Kuwait Cityzens. As the Vice-Present for the Human Resources Department for the company, my job was to help organize the files and attendances for the company and also keep track of all the actions we take. I also encouraged everyone to show up and to work hard. When there were simple problems, our department’s job was to make sure no one gave up. First of all, when we opened the company, I put each person into a certain department according to his application and request. Then I started our attendance lists and kept track of the workers’ presences at each meeting or extra gathering. Most of the workers were committed to the meetings; there were only 1 or 2 people who were absent at our regular meetings on Tuesdays. We also met at our supervisor’s office a couple of times to make candles. Almost everyone showed up, and we all worked very hard. Naturally, there were people who proved to be more hard-working than others. We had workers who made extra candles at home and who devoted a lot of their time to the company. After we made all of our products, we were able to sell them all at Sultan Center and at the BBS Flea Market. All in all, the company was well organized, everyone did his/her job and we had no major obstacles that blocked our way to success.
Manager of Marketing: Abdullah Al-Ajmi
The marketing department was responsible for handling numerous tasks. We designed a store marquee with a big logo that stated the name of our company. We had to make sure it was professional and that it was attractive to consumers. We also had to use surveys in order to do research on a number of things. Before deciding what to sell, we researched consumer interests of different ages, genders..etc. We also helped out in the production of the products. We also researched through surveys to price the products. Through our experience and knowledge of marketing we positioned the booth we used so that the position was strategic and profitable. It was our task to ensure the greatest number of sales in order to maximize profits.
Corporate Secretary: Aisha Al-Qaisi
Injaz is an after school program that teaches us how to handle and build up a company. It has been a great experience, and successful at the same time. Being the corporate secretary of Injaz made me learn how to handle stock records. Being the corporate secretary is an important job if I lost the stock records the whole company would fall. Therefore the company stands on the stocks done. After closing the company it’s my job to return all the stocks to the stockholders, which makes my job important as part of the company.
Purchasing Manager: Abdulrazak Al-Anjari
My name is Abdulrazak Al-Anjari and I worked for Kuwait "Cityzens" at Al-Bayan Bilingual School. During this experience, I learned how to buy things and how to persuade people. In our company, I was the purchasing manager and was in charge of buying things for our company. Buying things was pretty easy, but finding them on the market was a little hard. I had to talk to salespeople and talk them into decreasing some prices to get a good deal. As the purchasing manager I was also in charge of getting all our products to sell them on time. I learned a lot in this experience and will use the techniques I learnt in real life.
Safety Director: Dalal Al-Muhanna
Throughout the candle making days, things were pretty hectic. Moreover, it was my job as Safety Director to keep everything stable and under control. It wasn’t an easy task. This job needed a fickle-free person with charge, and leadership qualities, as well as an earsplitting, strident voice. Luckily, I had that particular persona. As I stated before, it wasn’t very easy. I had students dropping spoons (and various bizarre objects) in wax; I had students burning their fingers. I had students burning the actual wax itself; I also had students who don’t have a clue about what they were doing. The tormenting part about this whole matter is the accidents that can occur from clumsiness and volatility. Fortunately, all the dangerous fiascos were avoided. The first thing I did, was ordering safety mittens with the hot plates from Ms Bina. Secondly, I demonstrated the right (and safe) way of making candles. Thirdly, I stated the "do's" and "don'ts" of making candles. Fourth, I made sure that I was present while the students are actually making the candles. The typical thing about making candles is that it's very erratic; anything can happen. Anyway, the best part about this completely enchanted, chaotic journey, full of unpredictability and pandemonium, was watching our muddled-looking wax turning into creative works of art. It was incredible. However, watching the happy, pleased tired smiles of the hard working little candle-makers was even better.
Ahmed Al-Abdulmughni CEO:
We thank Injaz for this wonderful project which gave us an opportunity to experience a real life company. Thank you stockholders for your patience and encouragement. Hopefully, we have reached your satisfaction by accomplishing. As the end of this semester looms, our company waits for your support once again next year.
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