Academic Assistance is a LLC created with the intention of helping students throughout school. Our mission is to foster the improvement of students' performance during test taking by means of tools that would help them perform more efficiently and effectively. We decided to form a LLC to get all the benefits of forming a corporation and avoid drawbacks such as double taxation and excessive paperwork.

Our reason for existence is the constant need for students' academic improvement. Nowadays, advertisers would have you believe that through study techniques and/or nutritional supplements, students are able to study for a test within a night, take it in matter of minutes and still get an A or B grade. Unfortunately, the reality for many students is different. While many students can finish their test in an average of twenty minutes, others are not able to finish it within the time given. Some students would study really hard for days and still would not get a good grade. We felt that students within this segment were under-represented and not given the attention that they deserve. We feel that with the use of the Precise Pencil, their needs will be more fully met and we would be solving a test time problem.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Precise Pencil

The Precise Pencil is the first product of our company. It intends to replace the No. 2 pencil, normally used on tests that require the use of a Scantron sheet. Eventually, we hope that the Precise Pencil will become the standard utensil for test taking. The Precise Pencil is very user friendly. When the student is ready to fill in the blank circles, all he/she needs to do is to place the pencil right on the circle he/she wishes to fill in and then push down. The mechanism inside the pencil will make the graphite lead twist down, applying enough pressure to leave a solid mark, simulating the action of a stamper.

The concept of the Precise Pencil is one that is a little difficult to create because it is the first one of its kind. In order to perfect and utilize the Precise Pencil to the fullest, the prototype works along the same concepts as the mechanical pencil. The Precise Pencil takes the traditional mechanical pencil model, and alters it so that instead of the user clicking on the top part of the base unit, there is another tubular base that fits within the original base, which makes it possible for the user to push down to activate the movement of the pencil lead out of the base. Additionally, one of the primary modifications made to the prototype is the twisting action as the pencil lead descends from the base unit, which accounts for the way the mark on the Scantron sheet is made. In order to make this possible, the Precise Pencil has a spring loaded twisting action that occurs when the inner base is pressed inward. One of the other key differences in this product is the 3 mm lead required to operate the device. This is the size needed to fill in the entire Scantron bubble. A common question that comes to the floor is if it will be possible to replace the lead within the Precise Pencil. At Academic Assistance, we have figured out a way around that. Each time the pencil deploys lead, the track holding the lead returns to approximately half of the original length of deployment. This will cause the lead to continue to move closer and closer to the bottom of the base, until the time is needed for a replacement of the lead.

After running several test-trials, we realized that the majority of students focus most of their time in the actual test and leave little time to fill in the blanks of the Scantron sheet. We also found that on average, a student takes between four to seven minutes to fill in the circles of a Scantron sheet of a fifty question test. Time is an important element during test taking and we hope that the Precise Pencil helps reduce this time down to one to two minutes.

In order to manufacture this product, any pencil manufacturer that makes mechanical pencils would suffice because of the similarities in the design. Some of the companies that have facilities already set up that could handle a product like this are: Kingways Stationary Company Ltd (China, Taiwan), Guangdong Genvana Stationary Company Ltd (China), Shenzhen Acme Pen Co Ltd (China), Blue Bond Technology Industry Co Ltd (Taiwan). Because there are more parts involved in the creation of the Precise Pencil, Academic Assistance has to charge a mildly higher price based on complexity of the prototype design.

This product is very revolutionary because it is the first one of its kind to do something this userfriendly. The Precise Pencil is so easy to use that all a user has to do is place the base over the desired Scantron bubble and push down to fill in the necessary bubble. The Precise Pencil is a practical and time saving solution to long Scantron tests, which could greatly benefit anyone.

MARKET ANALYSIS

The pencil industry is comprised of numerous producers which include, but are not limited to: Paper Mate, BIC, Faber-Castell, Musgrave Pencil Company, General Pencil Company, Dixon Ticonderoga Pencil Company, Liberty Pencil Company Limited, and the American Pencil Company. Although all of these companies and more manufacture pencils as well as other writing utensils, there is not a single business in the industry that creates a Precise Pencil or similar product, which is a void in the market that we hope to fill.

Currently, the pencil industry is growing every year. Although more and more people are using word processors instead of using a wooden pencil (which dates back to over 400 years ago), the industry is still experiencing growth. The industry has about a $220 million dollar market, and some companies have been increasing production, some by up to 12 percent from 2006 to 2007. In 2007, it is estimated that over 15 billion pencils were sold worldwide. Some financial numbers in the industry are as follows:

Industry Average Annual Sales: $6,263,945
Cost of Sales: $3,679,442
Gross Profit: $2,584,503

Clearly, the pencil industry is one that can offer high profits and large growth. At Academic Assistance, we feel that entrance into this large market, especially with our new product, will not be associated with high risk or threat of failure.

Customers

The market for our product is mainly focused on students at institutions that use Scantron exam sheets. We could market our product to students as well as schools, which may opt to buy our product to offer to their students for no cost. This would be especially beneficial to schools in low-income areas where students don't have the disposable income to buy our product. Across the United States, there are 56,888,700 million students in 128,300 public, private, and chartered primary and secondary schools. About $489 billion will be spent per year related to their education. As far as post-secondary schools, there are eighteen million two and four year college students in private and public institutions and full-time and part-time programs. There are 4,314 post secondary schools which includes private, public, two year schools and four year schools. The market for our product is clearly very large and, if properly marketed and manufactured, our product has the potential to help any of the aforementioned students with test taking.

Academic Assistance has the option of marketing the Precise Pencil to schools or to the students themselves. Marketing to schools may provide our business with more sales since schools may like to provide this product to all of their students, as to give all of them a better test-taking advantage. Marketing to students, however, may provide our company with the option to create a ''hot trend'' in the school supply market. When back-to-school shopping, many students race to get the hot new products, and we believe that our product had the potential to become one of the latest back-to-school trends.

Another potential market that Academic Assistance may have for the Precise Pencil is to sell to office supply stores. Some office supply stores that we may focus on selling our product to include, but are not limited to: Office Max (900 stores), Staples (2,000 stores), Office Depot (1,600 stores), Target (1,500 stores), and Wal-Mart (6,900 stores). The benefit of marketing our product to office supply stores is that Academic Assistance would not need to focus on direct sales to the consumer, but rather sell in bulk quantities.

At Academic Assistance, we have also been researching selling our product to Scantron, who would then be able to sell our product with their Scantron sheets. Approximately 80 percent of schools across the country at all levels use Scantron sheets, which is about 59,910,960 students. If Academic Assistance can effectively market to these students and can earn sales from even one half of one percent of them, there is the potential to sell 299,544 Precise Pencils. By selling our pencils to Scantron, they can use the market ties that they have already established and sell our product to supplement theirs.

Strengths and Weaknesses

A thorough analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our product can be seen below. This analysis demonstrates areas that are positive to our company as well as possible limitations or areas in which to improve.

Strengths

No product like this on the market
Potentially raises students' grades by giving them more time to focus on the test itself
Students are becoming more competitive with academics and want to have the best scores possible

Weaknesses

Possible lack of need for product since it hasn't yet been developed
Unsure about darkness of the lead mark left on Scantron sheet
The No. 2 pencil has been around for over 400 years and has survived the introductions of ball point pens and computers
Poor economy encourages people to be thrifty rather than frivolous (Precise Pencil may be considered a frivolous item)

BUSINESS STRATEGY

In order to determine what we needed to do next in terms of our future action plan we turned to Stanley Rooke. Stanley Rooke is the Associate Director and head of Intellectual Property at Suburban University. We went to him to discuss how to keep our idea safe from being copied, what procedures we would need to go through, and any other information that he could give to us.

After meeting with Stanley Rooke, our next step is to apply for a utility patent (1.16A1). A utility patent protects any new invention or functional improvements on existing inventions. This can be to a product, machine, a process, or even composition of matter. The basic filing fee for a utility patent is $150.00. The process to be granted a utility patent takes anywhere from six months to one year. Once we are granted a utility patent it is good for twenty years.

Once we have filed for our utility patent, our next step will be to create non-disclosure agreements. These are extremely important to create because they ensure that, while our patent is being processed, nobody that works on this project can steal our idea. We will draft a document that anyone that has any interaction with this project will have to sign. These could be our engineers that we have physically creating the product, attorneys that are helping us with legal issues, or counterparts. We will make sure not to discuss this project and/or idea with anyone that has not signed or that refuses to sign our non-disclosure agreement.

In congruence with the non-disclosure agreement, we will be contracting a mechanical engineer. Once again, before the engineer begins working on this project and before we discuss it with him/her we will have them sign a non-disclosure agreement. We are contracting a mechanical engineer so that they will be able to design and build our initial prototype. We will then be able to take this prototype with us to explain how our product works, to help gain more funding, and for our sales pitches. Once we have a prototype it will be much more feasible for us to be able to gain investor interest and expand our product. This way we will allow people to see and use the prototype so that they are able to gain a better understanding of how it works.

Once we have our prototype, we will apply for a design patent (1.16B1). A design patent protects the ornamental design, configuration, improved decorative appearance, or shape of an invention. A design patent also grants the exclusive right to manufacture or sell your design. The basic filing fee for a design patent is $210.00. The process to be granted a design patent takes anywhere from six months to one year. Once we are granted a design patent it is good for fourteen years.

Once we have filed for all of our patents and we have our initial prototype completed, it will be time to conduct some market research. We want to conduct market research in order to gauge the response to our new pencil. We want to be able to make sure that consumers like it, that universities find it to be a beneficial tool, and that people would actually use it. In order to conduct this market research we are going to conduct focus groups. These focus groups will consist of eight to ten people. We will give them a questionnaire to answer on a Scantron sheet and also provide them with our new pencil. Once they are finished using it we will be able to talk to them and see what they thought of it. Throughout the time they take the test we will also be observing to make sure that the pencil is working properly and that nobody is having problems with it. We will also conduct surveys and hand out prototypes in classrooms since our main target market is to universities and students.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

In order to fund our costly endeavor we have come up with various outlets. We plan to apply for United States' grants that are geared towards education advancement. We feel that our product can enhance the achievement of students across the nation with their education and, because of this, we feel that we would be the perfect candidates to receive a grant that is geared towards educational advancement.

We also plan on getting in contact with the Educational Testing Service. The Educational Testing Service is the organization that proctors tests such as the SAT, GRE, and TOEFL. We hope to present our prototype to them to be able to form some type of a partnership. Many of the tests that this organization proctors are administered on Scantron sheets, which are what our new pencil is compatible with. We hope that the Educational Testing Service will be interested in a partnership in order to make their testing methods easier for those taking the test.

Lastly, we would like to talk with university investors. With the help of the Educational Testing Service, high schools and universities will gain interest and invest in the product of their respective schools. All schools are interested in ways to advance their level of education and we feel that this would be an appropriate use of their funds. One set of university investors that we especially would like to get in contact with are the Investors of Suburban University (ISU). Seeing that we are all students at this university, we feel that we would have a good chance of gaining funds from them for a product that was not only developed by their own students but that will benefit their students for years to come.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, once we have the funding that we need to cover the start up costs for the Precise Pencil, we will find a low-cost manufacturer to mass produce the prototype. Then we will find a distributor to distribute to the office supply store chains, such as Office Depot and Office Max. We also plan to market the Precise Pencil to universities in order to further the advancement of educational tools. We will market to Scantron as well, in hopes to create a bundle package. Anyone that would purchase the Scantron sheets and machines from the company would then be able to get the Precise Pencil as well.

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