Executive Summary
A team of MKT **** students have come up with an idea for a start-up company which would secure host-family accommodation for primarily European college students who flock to Cape Cod (MA) to work each Summer. Summer employment is plentiful at this beautiful New England vacation spot, in contrast to limited and expensive summer housing. Each summer, thousands of eager students cram hotel and motel rooms throughout the Cape and spend up to several weeks attempting to secure more affordable longer term accommodations. Such space is at a premium as well paying vacationers are the preferred customers of both the hotel, motel and vacation home rental market. The result is a tourist industry desperate for a labor pool that it cannot easily house. Essentially, we would be summer housing brokers for J1 visa students.
Homestays USA (the working title of the proposed company) plans to introduce the popular European concept of the "host-family" to the market, and in doing so, intends to develop an inventory of host families.
Figure 1
Cape Cod Wedding
Cape Gull (Larus dominicanus vetula)These host families will provide suitable accommodations (and possibly some meals depending on plan offered) for individual or small groups of students for reasonable remuneration. The service would solicit accommodations primarily in the greater Hyannis area which would be convenient to the main summer employment locations for pedestrian and bicyclist students. This idea has already received strong support from the Small Business Administration (MA)1 and the Hyannis Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors2 following an initial approach in Spring 2006. We recommend re-opening dialogue with both these agencies in conjunction with executing the marketing plan. We are proposing a service that requires a high degree of relationship building and maintenance, and we will require a staff that understands this criticality. Next, lets examine our target customers;
A. Who are...