1

Group 2: ParkIT
Name Student Number
Muhmmad Wahaj Siddiqui 111 285 169
Joshua Ong 149 965 196
Jason Kim 152 652 194
Johnson Wilson 019 977 199
Ronald Hanna 134 409 192

1
2

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………           Pg 3

Vision Statement ……………………………………………………………….           Pg 4

Mission Statement ……………………………………………………………..           Pg 4

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...         Pg 4

Swot Analysis ……………………………………………………………………         Pg 5

Industry Analysis…………………………………………………………………         Pg 7    

Ownership/ Organizational Structure …………………………………………        Pg 8

Operational Plan ………………………………………………………………..         Pg 10

Finances …………………………………………………………………………..        Pg 12

Risk Management  ……………………………………………………………….        Pg 15

Marketing ……………………………………………………………………….         Pg 15

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………….         Pg 18

2
3

Executive Summary

There is a great demand for parking in the downtown core of the nation's largest cities. As city

centers expand and populations grow, available parking will become increasingly difficult to

locate. ParkIT is the solution.

ParkIT is a reservation service designed to provide driver's with available parking spaces within

the busiest Canadian cities. ParkIT intends to be the most effective parking solution nationwide

providing customers with accessible, yet affordable parking for a trip downtown. Our team will

ensure that customers have a parking spot within close range of their desired destination once it

has been reserved through the ParkIT App.

ParkIT is owned and managed by five general partners based out of the Greater Toronto

Area. Each partner has a twenty percent stake in the company sharing all profits and liabilities.

Our management team consists of owners: Joshua Ong (CEO), Jason Kim (CFO), Wahaj

Siddiqui (CTO), Johnson Wilson (COO), and Ronald Hanna (CMO).

ParkIT operations will be electronically based. Initially, operations will be run through a

home-based location where our staff will monitor our services and rectify any problems if they

happen to arise. Our Customer service and support line enables us to guarantee 24/7 support for

our customers. In order for ParkIT to obtain parking within city centers, business agreements will

be made with parking lot owners to give our customers access to the most convenient parking.

ParkIT has an initial budget of $30,000 CAD which consists of an initial investment of

$6,000 from each of the five partners. The expected revenue for our first year of operations

3
4

(2021) is $43,000 dollars with revenues surpassing $87,000 and $140,00 for our second and third

year.

Company name: ParkIT

 Vision Statement

“Providing the most effective parking solution, nationwide”.

Mission Statement

“Providing customers with accessible, yet affordable parking, a stress-free trip downtown”.

Brief Introduction:

ParkIT is an app-based service designed to connect users to available parking spaces within

Canada's busiest cities. Users can find and reserve parking spots through the app, giving them

guaranteed parking spaces without the hassle. Contracts with both public and private parking

areas will be in place in order to guarantee parking spaces in the most convenient locations

within the city for ParkIT customers. 

Our competitive pricing, ease of accessibility, ability to reserve, providing up to the

minute information about parking spot availability allows us to guarantee our users parking

spaces and give us the upper hand on any competitors. Not only do our customers have a

platform to find open parking spaces in the busiest areas, but once that spot is reserved within

our app, it is guaranteed to be open for the designated duration of time decided by the customer.

There is no need to stress whether a parking spot will be available as the reserved spot will be

available upon arrival. Sensors are installed on parking spots this allows the users and the

business to have real time feedback about whether a parking spot is filled or open.

4
5

SWOT:

Strengths

Accessibility: The ParkIT app can be accessed through any android or iOS device. With a user-

friendly interface anyone can navigate the application. In order to find and reserve parking spots

as well as compare prices, locations and amenities amongst different spots. Using the app will

allow users to map their trip to a single location, as opposed to wasting time looking for a

potential parking space.

Competitive Pricing: Due to the moderate premium that our app charges, users will only have

to pay 10% on top of the regular parking fee.

Reduced Liability: Our liability is limited to payments received, refunds and customer relations.

Any vehicle or property damage is between the vehicle owner and the parking lot.

Reliability: We offer good customer service with a generous refund policy and many special

offers for repeat customers. High quality is ensured by the review system, analysis of statistics,

and overall monitoring of our customer service, website, app, and special offers.

More Accurate Assignment of Parking Spots: With sensors, we can provide the most accurate

and update information about parking spot availability. Far more accurate than any competitor.  

Weaknesses: 

Startup difficulty: There will be initial difficulty in connecting with the parking lots and

convincing parking lot owners to put their parking spaces on the ParkIT app.

Building Trust: Without having a reputation or brand recognition, it may be difficult to attract

customers, potential parking lots, or investors.

5
6

Limited Service to only Toronto at the start: The service will initially be limited to the city of

Toronto this might disappoint potential users who are not within the city or cannot benefit from

the app.

Limited Resources in Startup phase. Since this is a new company, we do not have the

resources that an established company might have to handle any potential problems.

Limited Features as compared to Competitors: The app will not release with all the features

that potential competitors offer.

Opportunities:

Expandability: There is much potential to expand not only within downtown Toronto, but also

to other major Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, etc. There is also be a

potential to expand outside Canada, due to a common need of finding parking spaces within any

city.

Not only limited to parking lots: The business can also cut deals with office spaces during the

weekends and other entities that have extra parking space that they do not use.

Low Saturation: Due to the nature of this industry, there is not one competitor who dominates

the market, which allows our company great options for increased expansion in said market and

greater potential for profit.

Threats:

Competition: There are other apps that offer parking services as well as the ability to reserve a

parking spot. 

Government Regulation: We must follow regulations set by the provincial or city government

on parking. They may also add further regulation on parking within the city. “The Toronto

6
7

Parking Authority is the biggest supplier of municipal parking in North America,” (Warren, Para

6) and they may not want to work with the business

Potential issues with customers: Another potential issue that we may face is the fact that there

may be difficult customers which complicate the process by either finding loopholes within our

system or will take advantage of the system. Customers may leave negative reviews which

influence the decision making of other potential customers.

Changing Attitudes about Automobiles: With people being more environmentally conscious

about climate change. They might elect to stop commuting via cars in order to reduce their

carbon footprint. This would be bad as ParkIT relies heavily on cars in order to succeed 

Overview of the Industry

Within the parking industry, there is a high demand for such services that we provide especially

within the downtown cores of major cities. Another key factor within the industry is the low

saturation. What we are targeting is not an industry in which there are many competitors. This

service is still a relatively new idea and thus capitalizing on this service allows great potentials

on returns and profit. Recently the demand for parking has increased in cities, especially big

cities like Toronto. And available parking spots have also decreased or disappeared. Journalist

Lauren O'Neil (2020) reports that 40% of all downtown parking spots have disappeared between

1978 to 2019 and many more will follow as development projects are slated to overtake them in

the coming years (para 7, 12). People are willing to spend extra money to save time and hassle.

Cities are also moving away from adding new parking lots or spaces in downtown cities (O'Neil,

Para 7). This will increase the viability of the business idea. As the demand for parking spots is

high while the supply is declining or stagnant. Within Toronto, where the app is initially limited

7
8

to, “The Toronto Parking Authority is the biggest supplier of municipal parking in North

America” (Warren, para 6). This means negotiating with the parking authority would be

necessary in order to further expand into Toronto in the future.   

Major Competitors:

Rover: Marketed as the “AirBnB” of parking spaces, it connects users to residential parking lots.

Boasts key features such as affordability, convenience, and good customer service. The service

emphasizes parking in areas in the general vicinity of the desired destination. 

In contrast, our app allows users to park closer to their final destination by reserving lots in

commercial or corporate parking spaces our app lets users reserve parking spots in advance.

ParkWhiz:  This e-parking service lets users book their spaces in advance. One of their selling

points is that users can book the best spaces and save up to 50%. However, there is a lack of

information and transparency as to how they arrived at this figure. When you search for

locations, the app lets you compare prices, locations, and amenities.

In contrast, ParkIT provides more accurate information about parking spot availability due

sensors monitoring the parking spots.

Organizational Structure:

8
9

 CEO (Joshua): Oversea and manage overall company resources. Also crucial in

developing and maintaining the vision of the company. Will also handle seeking and

creating new deals with parking lots and other parking spaces.

 CTO (Wahaj): Managing and overseeing the app development and conducting constant

maintenance of the ParkIT app and website.

 CFO (Jason): Manages and accounts for overall financial statements and transactions.

Will handle future funding and support.

 COO (Johnson): Overseas and manages day-to-day operations such as checking up on

app stability and customer service quality.

 CMO (Ronald): Manage all aspects of marketing such as promotions, deals and offers.

Will work closer with the CFO to check for financial sustainability and will continue to

develop the marketing sphere for the company.

Ownership:

ParkIT is managed by five general partners, all assuming unlimited liability. The reason that

ParkIT has chosen a partnership is because all five owners know each other, with great trust

ability, and have synergistic skills and work ethic. 

A general partnership has been agreed upon, stating that all partners own a 20% stake in ParkIT.

Also stipulated in the agreement is that the presidency has a term of two years but can be voted

out under special circumstances. When the term is over, all founding partners can vote to elect a

new president or re-elect the current president. The president takes the position of CEO and can

assign other partners into position he sees fit 

Although the partnership divides all profits, it divides all risks as well. The partnership

agreement allows all partners to feel safe and understanding of the risk that is associated with

9
10

this type of ownership. Furthermore, having owners who specialize in different areas provides a

major advantage in the efficiency and ability of the company.

Operation Plan:

First Year Operation Plan:

The business is in the service industry rather than the manufacturing industry so we would

implement operations management rather than production management. We will use computer

aided design (CAD) to develop the application and website. Our customer service and support

line will be manned by a rotating shift of the 5 general partners, which can be accessed from 7

am to 12 midnight 7 days a week in order to provide support for our customers without it costing

the company. Since the business operations are mainly electronic in nature, they only require

internet access to complete. That is why the facility location will be at home for the first few

years and employees will be able to telecommute to work. For the facility layout we can set a

dedicated home office room where people can work. Purchasing sensors would be needed in

order to implement certain features of the app. DIGITEN 4 Proximity Switch Sensors will be

bought from Amazon.ca as they match what the business requires and are within the budget

allocated for sensors (see financial statement). Quality control will be implemented in every step

of the process (SQC). The main area to focus upon will be the website and app as they are

customer facing and any problems can inconvenience customers and drive them away from the

service. They will be constantly monitored and improved upon with regular updates in order to

add features and remove bugs.

Business agreements need to be made with parking lot owners in order to get their parking spots

available on the ParkIT app. The process of launching the service from app development, to

10
11

negotiation with parking lots owners, to sensor installation and bug testing is expected to take 6

months starting in mid 2020 the app will launch in early 2021.The process can be seen in PERT

Chart and Gantt chart.  

Future Operations:

After the first year as the business grows more operations will be added. The regular

maintenance and update of the website and app will be required to remove bugs and keep

information up to date. This will fall under the purview of the CTO. Another operation that is

added is a dedicated customer service and support line that will be outsourced to an Indonesian

company. This enables us to provide 24/7 support for our customers without it being

prohibitively expensive.

11
12

Financial Management:

The business starts out with an initial budget of $30,000 CAD where each general partner will

invest $6000 of their own money. The money will be kept in the company’s bank account. The

following table shows the expected revenues, expenses and incomes for 3 years.

First Year Revenue: The assumption of first year revenue is $43,800. The assumption is

everyday of the year the business will process 60 requests for parking that will gross an average

12
13

2 dollars per transaction. For the first year, 60 parking spots will be available through the app.

Each parking spot only needs to be used once via the app in order to meet the daily quota. The

revenue coming from each parking spot will vary due to several factors, so an average of 2

dollars is assumed. Similarly, the demand for certain parking spots will vary as well so it is likely

certain spots will be used more while others will not. 

First Year Expenses: The total expenses for the first business year would be $35,833 and would

include:

Website and App Development: The development of the website and the mobile application

will cost about $10,00 and will be outsourced to a dedicated software developer or company.

Web Hosting and Security: The cost of hosting the website and purchasing the domain name

will be about $144 a year and will be done using google cloud services. Anti-virus, anti-malware

and security software will be purchased in order to protect the website and app and will cost an

additional $180 a year.

Marketing and Advertising: The marketing and advertising of the service to customers is

estimated to cost around $15,000 (see marketing section for more details).

Legal Services and Administrative Cost: A lawyer would be required to draw up contracts

with clients as well as write up the end user agreement for the app. He would also be hired to

write up and ratify the partnership agreement for the business which will cost $3000 for both

services.

PayPal and Credit Card Fees: As the payment processing is done via Paypal and credit cards,

they take a percentage from each transaction which is usually 2.9% plus $0.30. The first-year

projections for these fees are $7884.

13
14

Insurance expense: The business insurance policy will cost $600 a year with a monthly

premium cost of $50.

Sensor Cost and Maintenance: The cost of all sensors will be $1,500 a year at $25 per unit for

60 sensors total in the first year. The maintenance cost for any unexpected problems will be

$350. 

*Taxes: As the business is a general partnership and not incorporated as per Canadian law it

does not file taxes. Taxes will be paid by the general partners as part of their yearly income taxes

separate from the business (Partnership).

*Office Space: The partners have decided to operate the business from home and telecommute

for meetings in order to save money. Thus, removing the need to rent or buy office space.

Therefore, there is no office space expense.

*Salary: In order to help the business, grow and keep costs low the partners have agreed not to

take any salary for the first few years of the business.

First Year Net Income/Profit: The net income for year 1 is expected to be $5,142.

Future Revenue: Revenue is expected to grow in year 2 and 3. The transition costs remain the

same but the number of transitions per day is increased to 120 for year 2 and 200 for year 3. This

assumption is made because in year 2 and year 3 more parking spots will be added thus

increasing the amount of transactions. Revenues is projected to be $87,000 and $140,00 for year

2 and 3 respectively.

Future expenses: In year 2 and 3 the cost related to certain expenses will increase while others

will remain the same. The business plans to implement additional features and expects to do

maintenance on the pre-existing ones.  The total expenses for year 2 and 3 will be $61,924.72

and $78,036 dollars respectively. New costs include:

14
15

Technical Support: As mentioned in the operations section an overseas tech-support company

will be hired in year 2. They will cost $2.23 an hour and provide 24-hour customer service. They

can also forward any issues or complaints. This service will cost the business $17,982.72 a year.

Website and App Maintenance: Regular updates and maintenance will cost $2000 yearly. This

number also includes the cost of implementing any new features into the app and website.

Future Net Income/Profit: Net income for year 2 and year 3 will be $25,675.28 and $62,364.28

respectively.

Risk Management:

ParkIT is a relatively low-risk company, but the possibility of potential loss still exists. One of

our biggest risk-factor is the potential of sensitive customer information such as names and

payment details being leaked or revealed. We can mitigate this by having stronger app security

and better online security system for the website.  Another potential risk is a possible fault in our

technology. A glitch could occur in the application that would display a different number from

the intended price leading customers to believe that a lower price is being charged instead of the

actual price. To mitigate this risk, ParkIT would cover any fees above the original intended price,

meaning the customer will pay for what was advertised on the app and ParkIT would also waive

its own fee.  ParkIT plans to only assume liability through customer relations. In order to

mitigate risk, ParkIT will not be liable for customer vehicles, or the parking lots that they are

being parked in. All liability will be placed on the owners of the vehicles, parking lots and office

building.  Considering ParkIT is a web-based company, the factors associated with pure risk are

limited to the performance of the website and app. As there is no physical property associated

with ParkIT.  All partnered lots have insurance policies to cover damages to their physical

15
16

property and all customers have insurance to cover themselves and their vehicles, thereby

placing ParkIT in a position to be free from potential loss.

Marketing Mix:

Product: The product that we offer is a pure service. This means that we do not have a physical

product. Rather, ParkIT offers a service of providing people the ability to reserve and hold

parking spaces ahead of time. Our business aims to cooperate with parking lots, any toll spaces

and even corporate parking lots during the weekend. Our main objective is to save our customers

time by finding them a parking spot right next to their destination. We believe that our branding

and goals set ourselves apart from the competition. Our initial starting point for parking lots will

begin with 60 lots, increasing the number of spaces annually.

Price: The most attractive feature that our customers enjoy is the pricing on our services. Our

goal is to get our customers a parking space without breaking the bank every time. This

translates to us charging 10% on top of the rate which the parking lot charges. For example, if a

parking lot charges $18 for x amount of time, ParkIT simply makes $1.80 from that specific

parking fee. Our pricing strategy is focused more on quantity rather than retaining a small group

that pays more. This is due to the nature of parking; no one wants to spend large amounts of

money just to park. Therefore, with a cheaper price tag, this allows a retention of much more

customers in order to start making a profit.

Place (Distribution): Aligned with our business model and the industry that we are targeting; it

makes sense to put our advertising strategy in and around parking lots and spaces. This is

because it naturally follows our business model. An example of this is a driver noticing our ads

and using our app to locate a parking spot.

16
17

Promotion: One of the key aspects in promotion especially for start-ups and smaller companies

is the ability to communicate with customers and form proper relationships with them. The initial

plan for the executives to handle customer service during business hours will ensure that any

inquiries or frustrations that customers have are fully answered and leave the customers satisfied

with the response. The team will also work closely with parking lots and corporate spaces for an

agreement to use their parking spaces and create a healthy relationship to help maintain a

positive image; proper communication must be paired with excellent customer service that will

help further the relationship and outlook of this company. Along with the previously mentioned

advertising campaign, in which the team will place ads in parking lots and along congested roads

for drivers to witness, having an initial promotional offer is a great method of drawing in

customers. An excellent promotional idea is that the first park is free of charge. This is a great

way for customers to become familiar with the service and will help them realize the potential

time savings and stress reduction the app brings.

Market Segmentation: 

1. Age: 18-65. This demographic is the age which many drives, so logically this is the best

target audience as it also covers a wide range of drivers.

2. Geographic: Downtown Cities. Due to the business model, downtown urban

environments are the best geographic targets since it is a hub where businesses and social

activities collide, with more parking being needed thus giving us more reason to target

downtown cities.

3. Density: Urban. As previously mentioned, by focusing on urban environments, it allows

our business model to reap the most benefits since many drivers come in and out of urban

locations.

17
18

4. Gender: All. This is logically due to the fact that driving in Ontario does not discriminate

or are specifically focused on one gender, so by focusing on everyone, it allows our

company to gain much more benefits instead of tailoring the business to one specific

gender group.

5. Behavioural: Convenience This app is tailored towards people who seek convenience,

As using the app to find parking is more convenient than finding a parking spot manually.

Bibliography

O'Neil, Lauren. “Map shows how many parking lots Toronto has lost over the last 40 years”

blogto.com, blog to, January 2020, https://www.blogto.com/city/2019/12/map-shows-

how-many-parking-lots-toronto-has-lost-over-last-40-years/. Accessed 29 March

2020.

ParkWhiz. “How It Works” 2020. https://www.parkwhiz.ca. Accessed 29 March 2020.

Partnership, Ministry of Finance, 25 February 2020, https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-

agency/services/tax/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed-income/setting-your-

business/partnership.html. Accessed 29 March 2020.

Rover. “List Your Space”. 2018. https://roverparking.com. Accessed 29 March 2020.

Warren, May. “How turning parking spaces into tiny parks could ease Toronto’s public space

shortage” thestar.com, Toronto Star, 20 August 2019,

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/08/20/how-turning-parking-spaces-into-tiny-

parks-could-ease-torontos-public-space-shortage.html. Accessed 29 March 2020.

18
19

19