CONFIDENTIAL

Makarius Smart Learning

Business Plan
Prepared April 2023

Contact Information
John Andrew Puente Mañacop
[email protected]
+639176544281
Executive Summary

Introduction
If you want to change the Philippines, and ignite a sense of modernization, progress, and growth, you
must really spend time and effort to learning for young students and future professionals. The issue
about education was exposed by the Pandemic and we all know that the traditional type of learning isn’t
effective anymore. We can’t spend classes face to face and modular types of lectures did not solve the
problem but instead increase anxiety and stress to both parents and students. Online learning was
adapted prematurely but not able to cater to what Filipino students need especially since most of them
are preoccupied with social media and other things.

Makarius Smart Learning is an EdTech Startup which envisions to create state-of-the-art and fully
customizable Web and Mobile Review Platform for Professional Licensure, Civil Service, College
Entrance and Certification Program Examination Review Centers across the Philippines. We help review
centers and reviewees achieve efficiency in learning, mastery and high passing rates through our data-
driven applications and adaptive platform which is fully customizable and is built specialized for each
course and program.

Our learning management system aims to convert the traditional types of learning to Blended Learning
and Flipped Classroom. For us, this will increase the efficiency of lectures and become more effective in
training students. Aside from understanding, retention is also important. That is why we plan to change
the time-based type of lessons (where all students need to adjust to the schedule the school has provided)
to Mastery-Based (where the topic will only be switched to the next one when the students are ready).

The purpose of this investment business plan is to help formalize the business strategy, as well as to
provide evidence that Makarius is a worthy investment as a company and the hope of the people in this
organization to obtain support and funding not just for the company's operation but for its vision as
well. 

Objectives

Makarius Learning will serve the needs of approximately 20 large academic institutions and 50 more
corporate and learning clients by the end of the Year 2022. Because of this, the company should grow
from its present number by double to cater and serve the needs of each customers. Of these clients, at
least 50% will have purchased one or more products from the company, and 100% will have purchased
services.

Financial goals are listed below:

 • Within the first year achieve a 42% contribution margin software, learning management system
and virtual platforms

• Keep cost of revenue on service to below 20%.

• Net revenue increase of 350% from Month 1 to Month 12.

• Net profit margin of 40% in Year 1, 49% by Year 2.

  Mission

Never do something ‘good enough’. For if it was done good enough it most certainly should have
been done better.”

• Advancement in Technology - Provide the best software products to make organizations

improve their operations and processes

• Competitive Advantage - Enhance the level of services of our clients by providing them superior
solutions and advanced technology

• Social Responsibility - Responsible and sustainable use of technology to improve lifestyle and
create a better future

Keys to Success

Here are a few important keys to success:

• Focus on the target market: We know our target customers and we know how to acquire and
engage to them specifically.

• High detail planning and execution: We don't stop developing and researching to further
improve our platform. For us, as long as the technology is advancing, our creations should keep
on improving and evolving as well.

• Avail Emerging and New technologies we are open to change and we love innovations, we made
it happen by partnering reliable startups which has great potential to conquer their specific
market.

• Financials must be kept above the highest standards we value integrity and responsibility, we
believe that if you are faithful with little things then you can be faithful with much.

• Best Payment Options we offer light and easy payment terms for clients which is subscription
based to avoid high initial expenses and grow their finance (and payment to us) as their
company grows as well.

• Marketing Strategy since our payment is through subscription, the amount of income that we
can achieve will be based on how much students and clients our partners have so they do the
promotion for us. Another is that we are capable of maximizing the social media and is capable
of maximizing ads through media buying and analytics.
Expectations
Forecast

The company was able to develop a learning management system with no capital at all. Everything was
made from scratch through resources and assets that we personally have and initial payment that our
first client gave.

With more that a year of existence and little to no effort spent on marketing, we were able to generate
₱8,000,000 revenue from the 4 clients that we have for our Learning Management Systems and some
clients we have who availed our virtual event services and web development services. 

With the current resources that we have right now, we are projecting sales of more than ₱ 25 Million
this year once we start promoting and selling our platforms to schools, universities and companies with
a profit margin of 49%. That assumes we can serve about 20 Clients with a total of 50,000 students on
the first year. We are also determined to try our market abroad as well as we connect to some partner
companies that we have in the US, Singapore and India

In order to increase our efficiency and to cater to all clients we will be hiring more professionals and
start to a lot big budget on marketing and sales and business development. Our co-founders will not
draw large amount of salaries so we can reinvest profits on server upgrades and more app licenses. Even
if it will cost a lot to pay for senior level professionals, we decide on hiring them because of higher
returns and ease of processes. 

If we will purse and try our way to more schools and universities, companies and review centers in the
Philippines and abroad, our earning potential should jump way higher but we plan to put a cap on the
number of clients that we have this year because we still want to put half of our efforts in further
improving our systems, applying optimizations and develop new features. With this we know that our
vision is long term and our goal is to convert all of our efforts into great success.

Financial Highlights by Year

Financing Needed

We were able to grow our business based on profit we got from our initial clients and we further grew to
it expand and create additional business segments in addition to us developing our software to make it
better. We don't have any loan so we have the freedom to focus our finances on growth. We decided to
keep our salaries low so we can reinvest profit to growth and that is what we did on our first year.

As we hope for Funding to come in, we plan on spending most of it on having our own office complete
with all equipment which we need to improve our development, hasten our research and increase
efficiency since we are not working from home. We plan on buying office equipment, computers, virtual
machines, servers, air-conditioning and some equipment for relaxation and leisure to wash up fatigue. 

We also plan on migrating all our software into a new platform to for optimization, lower latencies and
capability to handle more users. Since we plan to use a new technology as well, we plan on spending
some of the budget for training and research. We also have IT consultants who help us on the side but
we wish on acquiring their service full time to further grow the business. 

We plan on buying media equipment as well (in addition to what we currently have) to be able to handle
large-scale events and become at par with the leaders of the event industry. Since we have virtual
platforms in addition to the equipment that we will be using, we expect to be better both in service and
output compared to these competitors. 

Lastly, since we lack marketing on our first year, we aim to further increase the market's awareness of
our products and services and goal to connect to schools and universities and companies through sales
agents, market research and data analysis.
Makarius Smart Innovations

Opportunity

Problem & Solution

Problem Worth Solving

Philippines used to be a prosperous nation. But because of several political circumstances and
technological doubts and bottlenecks, it did not really improve much on different areas especially
business processes and education. 

Education is traditional and couldn’t adapt to advancement and technology. Students today are neither
dependent nor interested in books and learning anymore because most of them are very much
influenced by social media and entertainment. If we cannot bring students to learning anymore, then we
should bring learning to them. Learning institutions lack creative and interesting ways to attract
students into learning again and if they do have ideas, they are currently limited by technology. 

Traditional type of learning alone isn't effective anymore. Efficiency and effectivity of education is tested
through National Examinations but based on results and statistics, we know that graduates need
supplementary help to go to the next level because of very low passing percentages.

O
ur Solution

School and universities will be able to deliver effective lectures and perform activities onsite and online
through a learning management system. This learning management system will enable them to analyze
how students learn, reward them for every milestone they reach, deliver quality lectures and videos
using our own system, and enable instructors to focus on the content of their lessons rather having
difficulty using complex systems that are available for schools today.
Makarius Smart Innovations

Makarius Smart Learning developed a platform and program to further enhance review experience of
reviewees before they take the National Examinations. We created a fully customizable platform which
adapts to our clients' (review center) needs. We applied metrics, trackers, and analytics to aid reviewees
in working on their strengths and weaknesses.

These are some of the results we had on our first 2 years.

Target Market
Market Size & Segments

There are also over 30,000 academic institutions with about 30 Million students who is in dire need in
upgrade on how lectures are done and how lessons are absorbed and retained in students. In other
countries, schools started to adapt to blended learning systems and flipped classroom setups and it will
be our duty to educate and encourage them to do the same. In addition to 39.4 Million professionals that
are yet to be trained annually and updated periodically about the company's process, data and workflows
which could increase the company's output. There is a lot of budget allotted on corporate trainings and
we want to promote our LMS with these institutions. 

Market Growth

In the future, it is anticipated that Philippines E-Learning market in terms of revenue will increase at a
double digit CAGR during the period 2018 – 2023E. In Philippines, E-Learning industry is expected to
expand majorly due to rising governmental initiatives to improve the country’s quality of education by
adopting various e-learning systems over the long term. In future, it is anticipated that the demand for
both content and technology services will be further augmented largely due to increasing growth in the
enrollment, public and private spending on education sector. The demand for content services
dominated over technology services in 2018. However, by 2023, it is expected that the demand for
technology services will rise at a higher rate than that of content services. Moreover, increasing demand
from universities and corporate clients is likely to drive future demand for LMS services in Philippines
with companies adopting smarter techniques to provide education and training to students and their
employees respectively in combination with education and training in a physical classroom by teachers
Makarius Smart Innovations

and trainers. Makarius Smart Learning will be a very suitable LMS for schools, universities and even
corporate trainings not just here in the Philippines but abroad as well.

References:

https://opengovasia.com/e-commerce-and-digital-economy-are-key-engines-of-growth-for-the-
philippines/

https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4911931/philippines-e-learning-market-outlook-to-2023

https://mb.com.ph/2021/05/13/making-hybrid-events-the-wave-of-the-future/

Market Trends

The Covid-19 pandemic made a realization for businesses and the government the need to advance and
adapt to digital transformation. Those organizations who weren't able to adapt had difficulty
maintaining their businesses and others unfortunately had to close down. 

Since the world is very much receptive to digital transformation, we know that we will be one of their
best options to go back up and evolve into a new sense of business concepts and processes. Along with
our connections and communications in other countries like (China, US, India and Singapore),
Philippines is not the only country who needs to adapt in both Business and Education. Reliable learning
management systems are still and need and new software and platforms are still a requirement. 

With the experience, talents and skills that we have, we know that we can accompany this institutions to
change and collaborative we can grow together until we reach the best of what innovation can provide
them. We envision to be the backbone of technology and innovation to the country and nations as we
start with further developing and improving platforms that we have then to create new ones that can
solve one problem at a time. 

Competition
Current alternatives

We have a lot to offer in the technology industry. We have strong, talented professionals in our team and
we have already created applications which are competitive not just locally but internationally as well.
Our Learning Management System alone is expected to battle head to head with those which are already
used by schools and universities in the Philippines and abroad. 

Nonetheless, there are numerous IT companies and Innovative businesses that are out there already and
is positioned well in the market. They have created their own applications and has large base of clients
already. 
Makarius Smart Innovations

Knowing that, our team has never been intimidated but became excited instead to prove ourselves
relevant and has a potential to lead the market counting years from now. Aside from the advanced
technology that we have in our hands, we are also champions of efficiency, effectivity and simplicity at
the same time. We put a lot of effort in user experience and visual interfaces so that our platform will be
easy to use but is very much dependable to their needs. 

Some other companies (even the old ones), also tried to develop a learning management system, which
will already have but we are sure that it would take them a lot of deliberations, testing and trial and error
before they reach to what we already have.

Our advantages

Our management team is not just competitive in their respective industries but is also well experienced
in development, creation and solving problems. We believe that even if skills and certifications can be
duplicated, it is difficult to match someone's mindset, values and determination which is what we have. 

We have a lot to prove in the industry but we have a lot of years to offer as well because we are composed
of young and talented individuals who are always open to change and innovation. We can communicate
well with clients and always put ourselves in their position for us to understand their wants and their
needs. We also offer free consultancy and do not just do what they want us to do but suggest better
solutions to them as well.

Our vision is also big and it is not just contained in our country but outside it as well. We envision of
changing how things are done and convert things to what it should be going forward. Our learning
management system will match if not beat existing platforms already not just because of its features, its
customization and potential but also of the type of learning that we want to support and empower, the
blended learning system and flipped classroom.

We are also blessed with people and network that we have today. We have positioned ourselves this past
year on the media, market and government scene. Right now we have clients in emerging industries,
government sectors and even those who are positioned in the executive and legislative branch in the
government. It is our vision to partner with them to further help our country emerge not just as a
developing country but as a more stable and developed country which is so nice and comfortable to live
at.
Makarius Smart Innovations

Execution

Marketing & Sales

Marketing Plan

Although we have obtained lasting and stable clients in the past year, we are planning to up our game by
enabling and establishing marketing strategies for the company. In the past year, we solely depended on
our connections and referrals but this time we want the people to become aware of our existence and
who we are and about what we can do to help them.

Since we are done with our major developments and feel that our services and platforms will be very
marketable already, we plan on hiring/outsourcing a marketing team in order for us to still focus on
development, support and maintenance. We plan on partnering with Marketing firms which has already
name in the industry and has reputation of really adding value to them. We plan to become present on
social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedIn) for brand awareness but we also want to connect to
schools and institutions personally by reaching out to them through email marketing and visits. 

We also want to increase our followings and subscribers by posting trending updates about technology
and education. Along with that, we want to give freebies and giveaways to loyal subscribers and those
who will share and promote our social media.

Since we are already in partnership with some companies which are all marketing firms, we plan on
building an agreement with them whereas the end goal is for them to promote the company in exchange
of our tech services to them. By this we can lower down our expenses but still maximize our connections
to hasten our growth. 

We will also work our way up to be promoted and featured in local television and news as well to further
increase our stature and credibility to different institutions. We can have help from our friends in Media
and we have chances of posting our Company into different platforms available for startups and
emerging businesses. We have already created our website, established our market research and created
a client persona for us to focus on our target clients and target market. 

We based our product pricing on a close study of all of our competitors but we offered a different and
lighter way of payment options. For Makarius Smart Learning, we offer a one-time license and
development fee for future clients and per user subscription for the use of our platform. This will ensure
that they will only pay what they use without having to pay large sum of initial payments.
Makarius Smart Innovations

Sales Plan

For Makarius Smart Learning, there will be different subscription plans for clients (Free, Premium,
Enterprise) whereas free plans will be their entry point with limited time of use and limited features,
Premium which could avail all standard features but limited with a certain number of users and
Enterprise which will require our sales team to contact and build a proper quotation for them based on
their needs and the amount of customizations we will provide. Payments could be made via Credit card,
Bank Transfer, E-wallets or online payments. We also accept cash and check payments but only for
large-billed clients. 

Team
Management team

Our business is not just built with vision and passion but with
friendship as well. Our team comprises: John Andrew Mañacop,
John Allen Mañacop, Keith Rick Piniera, Roy Andrew Garcia,
Jastine Marasigan and Janien Monteron. We met as good friends
and churchmates and we used to go out a lot even before we built
the business together. 

John Andrew Mañacop is the CEO of the company, and he is

currently leading the team for growth and expansion. He also
created the framework and design of our first product which is a
Learning Management System. He is an Electronics Engineer
from Mapua Institute of Technology and became a University
Professor and Review Center Instructor at the age of 21. He spent
8 years of his life teaching and focused on increasing his
proficiency in presentations, lectures and efficiency in
communications and teaching before he became part of Makarius (our business). He is a visionary and is
always excited with change and innovation. He helped a lot of students develop systems and became
adviser on some technological competitions. He also became a judge on
numerous engineering competitions and quiz shows. He
also authored several books for Licensure Exams. He was the head of
campaign, seminars and electronics department before he left his job
and pursue business.

Roy Andrew Garcia is the COO of the company and he is responsible

on execution and implementation of business processes the company
has developed. He also focused on leading our team and connecting
with our clients at Makarius Smart Learning. He is an Electronics
Engineer from Divine World Colleges Calapan and a Vice President of
Makarius Smart Innovations

a learning institution for engineering licensure exams. He graduated as a Latin honor and passed the
board exam as a Topnotcher with a perfect score in mathematics. He is
proficient in teaching engineering subjects and several IT processes
mainly on Linux, Cisco and server management. He is composed
with high sense of values and morale.

John Allen Mañacop is the CITO of the company and is responsible

on making sure that all applications and licenses are updated and
also serves as our quality assurance engineer who does all the testing
of all our products ensuring they will be properly working before we
deliver it to clients. He is also leading the team for Makarius
Software Development which is our business segment for IT
solutions. He is an IT graduate from Central Luzon State University,
a school which has IT as its center of excellence and used to work with
several international companies such as Fluor Daniel Inc. and
Abbott Laboratories. He is an energetic person with a positive vibe
which enlivens the team when we work together. 

Keith Rick Piniera is the CDO of the company who is responsible on

developing new features and creating new processes from scratch.
He is capable of converting ideas into a working prototype. He likes
to study a lot and challenges himself to do things which he had
never done before. He co-leads Allen in Makarius Software
Development as a Senior Full Stack Developer. He is well versed
with different coding languages and is able to learn new things
faster then others. He also graduated at Central Luzon State
University with a degree in Information Technology. Most of the time, he doesn't talk much but one
thing is for sure, he gets the job done.