Secondary market research or customer analysis on Octopus Card (a Essay

Secondary market research or customer analysis on Octopus Card (a product from Hong Kong) - Essay Example e-payment gained momentum. Now a growing number of transactions are occurring via electronic payment systems that serve as alternative to cash. This growth in e-payment has been fueled largely by smart card technology. Smart Card technology evolved in the mid 80’s but initially it was not much in use. During the last decade of 20th century, there was rapid increase in its use for diverse activities. Nowadays people are recognizing the potential of smart card technology for e- payments and are becoming more dependent on smart cards for their transactions. â€Å"Nowadays, most popular payment methods are based on cards i.e. magnetic cards, smart cards, contactless cards† (Ondrus and Pigneur, 2). E-Payments experienced a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 % globally during 1999 to 2004 (Global Electronic Payments Market Study and Forecast, 7). Today consumers, banks, merchants and retailers prefer electronic transactions. In U.S. alone, e-payments accounted for more than two-thirds of non cash transactions in 2006. In U.S. the electronic payment methods including debit and credit cards are displacing paper checks and cash payments at an accelerating pace (Wall Street Journal). Electronic money transactions are carried out mainly by three methods: credit, debit and stored value prepaid cards. Credit Card: Credit cards are based on buy-now-pay-later strategy. Examples of credit-based payment are Visa, Master and American Express smartcards. Credit cards are most popular payment method in the U.S. Debit Cards: Debit cards have a similar cost structure as that of the credit cards. But unlike credit cards, the amount from the account of the consumer is debited immediately. Consumer needs to enter a PIN in debit card transactions that proves time consuming for micro payments. Contactless Stored Value Cards: Third type of e-payment method is stored value smart cards. The stored value smart cards may be single purposed cash cards, multi-purposed payment

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Business Plan - Essay Example There are three types of business structures to choose from. The three business structures are sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. A sole proprietorship is a business owned by a single person. Most owners of sole proprietorships are also the managers of the business. One of the cons of sole proprietorships is that the owners are personally liable for the debt of the business. Two advantages of sole proprietorships are absolute control over decision making and the owner gets 100% of the profits. A partnership can be defined as the relationship existing between two or more persons who join to carry on a trade or business (Irs, 2012). Partnerships share in the profits and losses of a business based on the partnership agreement. Some of the advantages of partnerships are flexibility, greater human capital, and transferability. The third form of business is corporations. A corporation is a legal entity that exists separate from its owners. Three advantages of corporations a re limited liability of stockholders, continuous life, and the ability to acquire capital. Some of the cons of corporations include separation of ownership and management, governmental regulations, and additional taxes. The business structure chosen for Pizza Heaven is corporation. ... The business will start by opening a restaurant facility. After one year of operation the company will start selling franchises. The franchise will sell for under $100,000. Investors interested in a smaller investment will be able to buy mobile units franchises for $30,000. The business will sell personal pizzas, medium and large pizzas, calzones, frappes, mozzarella sticks, nachos, breadsticks, sodas and sandwiches. The company’s products are going to be priced to compete with the industry leaders. Accounting is going to play a very large role in the success of the company. The corporation seeks to have a franchising model. It is imperative to keep track of the sales of all the franchises due to the fact that the company will charge a 5% royalty on all sales. To attract investors the accounting books of the company must be up to date following the generally accepted accounting principles. Pizza Heaven must release its financial statements on a yearly basis. The four financial statements are the income statement, balance sheet, statement of return earnings, and statement of cash flow. Once the company becomes public it must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). All companies register with the SEC are mandated to release trimester and yearly financial statements. Hiring the correct accounting staff is very important because accountants play a key role in the administration of a company. All members of the accounting staff must have a minimum education credential of a bachelor in business administration in accounting. Applicants that have an MBA degree or have a CPA license will be given preferential treatment in the recruiting process. The members of the accounting staff must have at least one year of experience