Sustainable Marketing Plan:
Quadra Chemicals

Trevor Yarema
Margaret Osborne
GBM 802: Green Consumerism and Marketing
December 5th 2013
Proposal Overview:
In the chemicals sector, sustainability is often viewed as the domain of the manufacturer but it is becoming an increasingly critical differentiator for distributors as well as the school of thought grows and more knowledge for business is available. Quadra Chemicals Quadra is very proud to be in the Select Platinum Club of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. It prides itself on its strong customer relations developed over the past 38 years in business. The company holds many long committed relationships and are proud to be an exclusive distributor to many different chemical manufacturers in the Canadian market place. Quadra is an industry leader in sustainability as they are the first chemical distributer in North America and first small medium sized firm worldwide to produce a GRI report in 2013. In an industry where more than 50% of companies confirm they have some sort of sustainable practice or policy in place, it is evident that the industry itself is moving toward a sustainable direction. However, as an industry leader in this sector Quadra can capitalize on their advanced knowledge and systems already in place for sustainability by venturing into new business, where they offer a service where their ideas and processes are sold to other firms who do not share the same know how in sustainability. This new venture will expand the company’s business practices, improve there already superb customer and supplier relations as well contribute to a more sustainable industry.

I. | Objective | 3 | | Value Proposition | 5 | | Positioning | 6 | II. | Target Market | 7 | III. | Product | 10 | IV. | Place | 15 | V. | Promotion | 16 | | Sample Press Release | 20 | VI. | Price | 21 | VII. | Appendix | 23 |

Objective:
As, one of the chemical industry leaders in North America in sustainability the new service will allow Quadra Chemicals to capitalize on their already outstanding sustainable practices by; aiding growth to their business in alternative methods never ventured prior, as well help improve the overall sustainability of their industry. The program will set out to assure in the short term that Quadra will raise revenue and add growth to their bottom line, as 34% of companies in the market do not practice sustainability in any form yet. This will allow Quadra to capitalize in a market that has yet matured within the short term future. (Appendix C)
In the chemicals sector, sustainability is often viewed as the domain of the manufacturer but it is becoming an increasingly critical differentiator for distributors as well as the school of thought grows and more knowledge for business is available, making this sort of service a key factor in the company establishing and given brand value. (Appendix C)
Once they have established this service in the sector the company can then use the metrics of this business idea to differentiate themselves in the market for customers, (both for the new service and the customers base for traditional business) as this service will increase their presents and brand in the market as being sustainable.
This program will also benefit the industry as a whole in the long term; cutting costs and raising revenue for clients but more importantly will lower the impact the chemical industry overall has on the environment, as the industry is considered one of the least sustainable. So with this new business venture Quadra can help propel themselves at the fore front as the company who is helping clean up the image.
Not only does this service offer some great short term and long term goals to improve the company as a whole, but as well stays true to the criteria that allows it to be a sustainable marketing opportunity. As the service itself aims to lower the impact abroad in the industry all gains brought forth by this service in sustainability will offset any loses along the way. As, Quadra itself is an industry leader in sustainable practices with years of practice and knowledge, assuring all stakeholders that no offsets will out way the gains in the market.
There is great flexibility with this program in the future as it is service that is completely custom to each client. The program itself will be very adaptable as it will require constant maintenance annually to keep the program up-to-date, so any changes externally in the market can be combated quickly as it itself is a program constantly changing.
This program is expected to yield and ROI of 2.1 years with a capital start-up cost just over $300,000 in the first year. Having a good ROI is a necessity for any company and this investment is well within a range of acceptable good ROI for any investment. They are breaking into a market where investment costs are some of the main concerns as sustainability pressures are growing substantially A good ROI will allows the company to implement the program in a rapid manor in hopes to retain their first customers quickly as they can fulfill the need of their customers perfectly. (Appendix A)

Sustainable Value Proposition:
This service is for firms within the chemical industry
Who struggle or do not have the experience in sustainable practices We offer in providing sustainability planning, strategy, and implementation services to these under-resourced organizations. This service will increase and become a driving force for sustainability in the market and help the industry clean up the dirty image in quick efficient manner.
This service offers functionality for their customers, as it will help their clientele benefit in multiple fashions in the improvement of their own triple bottom line. This service will be quick and efficient, as firms themselves can take up to 5 years to establish a well-developed system in their own business. There are other consulting firms and internal actions that can be done by potential clients to fulfill this need to become sustainable but Quadra’s is service is unique as Quadra itself is not a consulting firm but a business in the industry performing similar tasks. So, their knowledge will be based off of firsthand experience of the last 38 years in the market. This service can provide a good symbolic benefit for customers as well. As, it is not necessarily much different than other alternatives on the market but will attract customers based on the principal of strong prior relations and the company relating to a firm from being in the industry. (Appendix C)
Positioning:
The new service will appeal to a clientele looking for high quality in-depth suitability consulting. Capitalizing on the customer base looking for a hands on personal experience guiding them every step of the way oppose to a data based quick fix solutions. These new services will be a one stop solution for all customers sustainability needs, that might not necessarily beat competitors on price but will try and create a high quality program that not comparable or duplicated in the market. They will be able to offer this unique experience when compared to other sustainability consulting firms and other chemical companies, as they already conduct pre-existing sustainable practices and are highly involvement in the industry unlike most firms in the industry.
Here is a graph to show how unique Quadra is in the respects of sustainable practices and industry involvement:
Figure 1.

Target Market:
This service is strictly a B2B service as it is only available to firms, and firms that are specifically within the chemical industry. The core market that will be examined are Small/Medium Organizations in the Canadian chemical sector. This market can be then divided up into 5 sub categories as followed:
The target market in this particular segmentation scheme that our team will be focusing on; will be the two segments labelled Stragglers and Recent Sustainability Followers. These segments we believe to be perfect for our program as they are organizations who are not up to par with Quadra in sustainability and have fallen behind most others in the industry as well. These segments work for the service as there are as well open to the idea of sustainability making them a key point of interest. The market itself is fairly substantial accounting for 34% total of the small/medium sized organizations in the Canadian chemical sector. (Appendix B)

This segment can further be broken down into submarket of potential customers inside this market that Quadra’s service is applicable for, as followed:

Customer Profile: ChemCan Ltd.
ChemCan Ltd. is an Agro-Chemical small manufacturing company in rural Quebec, they have an expected revenue of just under $20 million annually, the kind of chemicals they produce include fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides. The Company itself has been in operations for over 20 years with the same family now running the company as when the day it was founded back in 1991, the St. Croix’s. Current CEO and President Claude St. Croix has been there since day with many other members of the family working throughout the organization. The company has customers spread throughout North America, and has seen its business grow substantially in the last 5 years as they have expanded its business to accommodate 2 manufacturing warehouses one in Quebec and one in Ontario, with over 100 employees. However, despite the growth the company has been guilty of not following in the footsteps of other manufactures in the sustainability aspect, and currently feeling the pressures from customers from both distributers and end users to offer a more sustainable practice. The St. Croix family have had discussion on the subject matter for a couple of years now; how they could start implementing new practices and initiatives in the business but have a hard time figuring out how they will do it without hurting their bottom line, wasting time and resource. Especially into practices that is new to them and something they never dealt with before and into cannot guarantee it will stay course and will be beneficial.
The potential market size for this segmentation, accounts for 34% of the Canadian market in the small/ medium chemical industry, as of 2010 according to Statistics Canada, there are 2730 manufactures and 109 distributers in total in Canada, So in total there are a minimal of 926 in the market that Quadra can potentially sell their service to over the next couple of years (Appendix B). The company plans on entering the market first through existing customers as well suppliers. The company prides themselves on having strong supply chain relations prior to this and it is our belief that these companies will become the early adaptors in the market. Primarily those whose operations are conducted in the 4 Provinces that Quadra operates out of convenience and ease of accessibility, for both Quadra and the client. These Provinces (Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia) combined have more than half of companies in the industry operating within, especially in Quebec and Ontario where Quadra will try and focus most of its attention on within the first year, in attempts to retain the highest number of clientele. Quadra will try and aim for sales to reach $200,000 annually on average over the first 3 years, this will equate to around 2814.52 hours charged to customers in a year, or on average 14 customers a year under a 3 year contract (Appendix A). This will require much needed resources for the company as each individual customer will require a substantial amount of attention and human resources for themselves.
Product:
Quadra Chemicals will offer a sustainable program that they will help implement with their customers organization based off their own experience in the chemical distribution field. This will require a team to work closely with members of their client’s business to review systems and practices conducted internally by these firms. Through the use of onsite visits, conference-videoing, and training Quadra will then take part in assisting each company strategically by implementing new practices based off their industry knowledge to become more sustainable. Programs that can possibly be implemented include waste disposal options, alternative ways to reduce waste, and GRI reporting assistance. This service will offer multiple different approaches for sustainability and will help the overall engagement of a company with new implications. This will be a well-defined Business-to-Business service that will rely on their knowhow from their existing business their existing business, to retain those who would redeem the benefits of this such program. Do to the nature of the program customers will demand results, as they will only be buying in sustainability can be guaranteed as an ends mean. As a result this service at its core satisfies then needs of being a result service for businesses. As this service will give our customers the knowhow and step required to be sustainable without exhausting the resources and time themselves.
This is service is nothing substantially new in the market, as there are many already pre-existing firms that work with companies to help them become sustainable. Such as, Green Enterprises, Strategic Sustainable Consulting and Energy Advantage Inc. However, this kind of service is unique in the sense it is coming from an industry leader and unique in the sense it is still in development stage in the chemical industry. This service is still currently in the introductory stage of its Product Life Cycle (PLC) in regards to Quadra and the market currently. Down the road as the amount of customers in Canada will shrink as it a fairly niche market as of right now and only will see the market size shrink as sustainability catches on to more and more firms. Quadra is aware of this and they do have plans for expansion in the future to include all of North America as in their Target Market, especially the firms in the U.S they have pre-existing good relations with. They are willing to redefine this service in the future as well, to better suit the times as what is sustainable today might not necessarily mean there will not be a better alternative in the future. Inevitably though if the market continues to shrink, as sustainability grows in the industry, Quadra will only be forced to phase out this program eventually. This service has its limits, so it is important for Quadra to make sure that they are prepared, cautious and monitor the market to be prepared to slowly phase out this service down the road, as it is a temporarily form a business anyway as it is not something they will see as a core competency to the overall business of Quadra. The goal of the program is to establish a true presents in the industry as sustainability experts, if that is attained this service has served the company well.
Quadra are experts in sustainability, as they are leaders in this respected field, the company is well aware of the environmental implications themselves associated with the service and the contribution it also will have for a more sustainable world. Assuring that the product stewardship of this service is vital as its very nature is to contribute to a sustainable world, if its stewardship are offset the Company itself can see a hit as being an industry leader and be accused of green washing. So developing this service to have as much product stewardship as possible is key to the Company’s success with this service. As, a “service” however there are far less concerns regarding it stewardship, but nonetheless Quadra will assure that the stewardship is being meet to the best of its ability. What we were able to conclude was that, the biggest concern form this program will be the GHG emissions associated with travel, as Quadra employees involved in program will visit most of our customer’s via plane or company car, which comes during the use stage. There is also a very minor concern in regards to resources used during all the stages; such as paper usage and increase in energy use.
Quadra knows how all these can be a major concern of the service to all its customers and it is this concern that Quadra assure their customers that they will take into account the framework of The Natural Steps (TNS) in the overall realm of the products strategy. To combat the potential Quadra has taken into account these steps to assure its stewardship is met, it promotes the use of the least amount of plane visits possible as there use is by far the worst offender to the stewardship of the service. The Company has also developed in the past, a state of the art video-conferencing technology that the promote customers to use with the team as much as possible. Furthermore, the company has assigned all members involved in the Sustainability task force who will be involved in customer visits, Toyota Camry Hybrid vehicles which have a much high fuel efficiency then none hybrid vehicles. The company has offices in 4 Provinces that geographically contain more than 70% of the potential clients, it only makes sense for the company to drive instead of fly (Appendix C). Lastly, the company tries to promote the use of electronic documents with their customers to the best it can to assure paper waste does not end up becoming an issue and synthetic material goods being produced are not relied on in this process.
Quadra also assures that the morale and safety of its employees are always its number concern with this service, as all employees involved in the service will be paid a sufficient amount to live, $60000 average wage for those on the task force and $37500 as an average starting wage at Quadra for office workers (Appendix A).
Quadra already has a strong brand name in the industry, as they are already perceived sustainable industry leader with great customer relations, this allows the company to brand this service much easier. As the Company already has most of the prerequisites aligned with the overall realm of the product, the company can easily showcase and display how they have incorporates all 5 principals to a sustainable brand to guarantee their brand image is aligned with what their product brings forth on the table. These are some of the highlights that assure the product is sustainable;
Quadra Chemical’s mission through this service it to; contribute to a more sustainable world by supplying those in the industry with the knowledge and assistance from their leading practices in sustainability. At Quadra all members strive to be an industry leader in environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the realm of chemicals, but all aspects of this planet. As, a company within the industry for over 30 years they will assure that they can offer the proper insight and direction as a business that understands their needs.
What has started at the company as initiatives to better their own triple bottom line and belief by many in the Organization as contributing to a better world, has allowed Quadra to become a leader in sustainability in the sector a core competency that they will be able to sell to others in the future on. The company is aligned with this service as they are the only chemical distributer in North America that has a GRI report and plan on doing so every year in the future. The firm has already established a well-developed list of green products it sells, as well as a better choice products list available to customers, which is updated every quarter. The GRI report and their Green products list are all eco-certified or third party certified to assure that these claims are truly a credible.
The Company has established a well-developed sustainability committee that constantly are reviewing and trying to improve internally the company’s stewardship. The company as well will switch all current employees, who have a company vehicle, from optional hybrid vehicles to mandatory vehicle. The company as well takes pride in having a team at Quadra that not only works for a sustainability leader but vow for sustainability and thrive for working for an organization that is as sustainable as Quadra. The company engages its employees on the regular as; there are many paid lunches, movie nights and events outside of the office with employees. The company as well plans developing a Heart & Stroke program for employees to assure their employees’ health is their concern and keep their employees engaged at work (Appendix C). These initiatives plus new ones that will be implemented shortly will allow Quadra’s image to be perfectly aligned with the service they offer as they will and are leading by example in the sustainability field and this service will challenge their customers follow in the same footsteps.
Quadra’s is dedicated to the response thoughts of all their stakeholders with this new service, to better serve and properly adjust the program, the company is planning on developing a new portion of their website for the purpose of their customers, mostly FAQ options but also where they can share feedback for better or worse of their experience with Quadra with their products, services and the brand.
The average cost per unit for each customer for this service will range based upon the involvement and in-depth Quadra is in each customer’s need. A break down however into per hourly cost for a yearlong contract equates to $66.91 an hour per unit (Appendix A).
Place:
This particular service that Quadra will offer will be a completely custom and dependent on each individual customer needs. This is a system that requires different delivery methods of knowledge and consultant for every customer. However, this service is sought out to work with the customer closely so it will require our team to, to visit our customers on site throughout an annual year. A typical yearlong contract, a customer can depend on our team visiting their location at least 4 times, dependent on the customer each visit can be upwards of a week long. Our team will either have to fly via plane to location or drive via company vehicle to reach these destinations. This service will also offer a video-conferencing and online video option as well which can easily be accessible via the Company’s website, and availability for video-conferencing is entirely up to the customer when what time works best for them. The total cost on the environment from this service equates to on average 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per trip by plane and 0.022 tonnes of CO2 by car, both numbers are for a single round trip. Which is why it is emphasized by the company that travel is done in most cases by car as it offsets their CO2 emissions by a significant amount if they are able to drive instead of fly (Appendix A). With most of their clientele with in a drivable range from one of our 5 locations this should not be a problem to fulfill. Based off of customer being visited on average 4 times a year for a week, including; hotel and transportation (twice by plane and twice by car) the cost can equate up to $8100 a year per customer (Appendix A). Each customer can be assured that there will be 2 representatives at all times working on their profile to best serve them and assure that, someone is always available to cater their needs.
Promotion:
Leading up to and during Quadra’s service launch, the Company plans on using a variety of promotional tactics to assert their business service in the industry for all to know. What makes their new service so appealing is simple, they are a local fellow chemical company that offers an insight and advise on sustainability in the industry, as they lead by example to for their customers to thrive to become.
Quadra first strategic strategy in its promotion of its debut, is to have the service advertise across the industry in Canada so all those who are within the target market are fully aware of its capabilities and presents. In this case as a fairly new service in the industry it is appropriate for the company put up a lot of capital into the promotion leading to the launch to reassure and insert into customer heads that this service is now available and is easily accessible. Possibly using a stacking or a repetition techniques to get the message across to potentially formulate an association with the service and brand. The company will first set up advertisements in the Industry magazine “Chemiculator”, a magazine most every organization has access to and has an issue ever quarter within the year. The company will explore advertisement in this magazine as it will be the most efficient way in advertising in the industry as it has high percentage of potential customers are already subscribers. An ad of a half a page for 4 entries a year will cost the company $2320 or $1160 within the first 6 months of promotion, the ad will simply be a small introduction to the service, as it will be something new on the market for Quadra and something the customer will have to be informed about (Appendix A). The company will assure that this ad is on one of the first few pages in the magazine, and will pay a premium to have so. To coincide with this particular ad the company will have the same ad, in the Corporate Knights magazine for a 6 months period at the start of the calendar year, a cost that will add up to around $3480. Quadra will implement their service as soon as the first quarter is over in 2014 and the first issue of Chemiculator is released. These two campaign initiatives will be the only form of advertisement the company will have as the internal cost of implementing development of the program will yield to be costly in its own to develop. However, they will be certain that the service will still be successful based off other forms of promotion they plan on informing the market with. The only down side this ad campaign is the environmental implications that are associated with a printed ad. However, these Magazine’s are is fully recyclable so it is dependent on each individual whether or not it is diverted from landfill.
In sync with this ad campaign, Quadra well as well formulate a well thought out PR campaign to promote the release date of the service at hand. Which will include a $625 press release through Business Wire, immediately the day after the service is up and running fully. For the Company the main components of the release will focus on how Quadra is a local business looking to serve other local Canadian businesses in the community, in the release their will be an emphasize on how Quadra has a strong desire and passion for sustainability and the main driver in this service is to better the world and contribute to the over sustainability of the industry.
The company will as well go through a system rejuvenation of their website over the next few months to incorporate a customer login system. Where paying customers of the service will have access to information, but as well encourage existing customers to sign up for free to have access to all promotions going on regarding the company and the newly implemented program. This will also be something that will be displayed through the company’s Facebook and twitter account, where it will be announced and promoted periodically, with a countdown to launch when this service will be available. Here it will also serve as a place where it can inform and keep customers/followers up-to-date with any new promotions going on with this service. This PR campaign is going to be strictly electronic, translating into a very low impact environmentally as no paper will be during this portion of the campaign
As, the ad campaign is going on for the start of the New Year, the company will also being endorsing promotions with existing customers and suppliers. As, an incentive the company will offer discounts for existing customers and suppliers prior to service’s launch if they sign up with the program before launch in April. Promotions will be launched via twitter and Facebook for companies as well, who decide to sign up before launch date; early registration can amount for 15% discount of the total cost normally. Quadra will also include a free one session of consultation within the first 6 months of the services launch. Which only down side includes an excessive amount of travel and emissions a year by the sustainability team. These strategies will hopefully increase the number of trial coming in and hopefully equate to an adoption of the program, this strategy is what Quadra sees as the best method in retaining and having a high conversion rate of customers wanting to buy into to service program.
To further promote this service all sales personnel and those involved in the program, will undertake a training program to inform them about all the environmental implications that arise from this program and how as a company they plan on combating any offsets that arise from its creation. This way Quadra’s employees are all on the same page with regards to this programs environmental impact, so no one person will be blindsided by any claims or questions.

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Contact: Trevor Yarema
Tel: 905-872-9000 ext. 3577
Cel: 647-894-1480
Email: tyarema@quadrachemicals.ca

QUADRA CHEMICALS LTD. NEW ALTERNATIVE FOR SUSTAINABILTY
New Venture For Company Aiding To A More Sustainable Planet

The small Canadian chemical distribution company Quadra Chemicals Ltd. is attempting to extend its reach for a more sustainable world by offering assistance to others in the industry. By offering this wonderful knowhow that the company already possess, Quadra’s intent is to help out fellow chemical companies in their communities across Canada in the attempt to guide them into their own sustainable practices. The company is trying to make a big splash in cleaning the bad image the chemical industry beholds on the environment. With over 50% of companies in the industry already adopting a sustainability policy it is clear the demands in the industry are growing. There is room however for the company it capitalize on as there is still a huge portion of the market that is new to the whole idea.
Spokes Person of Quadra Tommy Whitfield has stated that this program is, “ Revolutionary in the chemical industry”, and that “Quadra is only setting itself up for more to success in the sustainability field if they keep pushing the envelope” With a sustainability program growing with the intent to conquer the company’s offsets from conducting business in the industry,
Quadra Chemicals LTD. is Canadian wide chemical distributer however, they are one in a kind as they are industry leaders in sustainability, as the company takes into its bottom-line all environmental and social aspects of its business decisions.

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If you would like more information about this topic, or would like to schedule an interview with Trevor Yarema please contact John Smith at J.smith@Quadrachemicals.ca.

Pricing:
In order to best serve our customers and allow for a fair price on the market it is our belief that a cost-based pricing will be the most fair form for the Company as well the clientele. As, the cost for these services will easily be cost a firm thousands a dollars it is important to Quadra we keep the prices to the minimum price it can possibly charge, as it will be the only way the company can stay competitive and be a viable option for its customer base. The service will vary in cost as well, depending on each individual customer, with things like travel and number of personnel as assigned to each account. However, based off the expected average travel and personal per account, the fixed pricing can be put into a fix cost as simple as $71.06 an hour for the service based off a 10 hour day, 20% margin and two representatives present at all times during service and a 3 year contract with customer (Appendix A). This price is based off of the overhead cost and workers’ wages over an annual period of time. This however is just the average going rate as the price can fluctuate dependent on terms of agreement with customer. Besides the promotional savings associated with launch of 10%, the service will allow also offer a discount for the length of term signed on per contract; for a year-long contract will receive a pricing similar to the one above, anything less than a year contract equates to $80.29 an hour but any company looking to sign up on for a long term contract will save on top of the standard pricing above. A year contract will receive an additional 5% off the price and a 2 year deal will receive 10% off the original price, which equates to $78.16 and $74.61 an hour respectively (Appendix A).
The actual price of this product is not something the Company believes in externalizing as they try and keep their profit margins low as possible, all pricings below 30% profit margins, as in the case for most consulting firms. The actual price of this service varies year to year and can equates to thousands of dollars year for the Company but at the same time they are charging what we believe to be a fair price to compensate for this, huge expense no externalizing is found through this pricing.
The only additional cost our customers will have to incur is the investment requirements that are attached with our program as we look to bring change in the organization’s processes. As a service promoting and assisting sustainable practices, it will require extra capital from the company to assure that this service is actually being maximized to the fullest. It is a cost most customers will expect to be paying as a return from our service’s help. This service’s price however, is susceptible to competitive barriers when being priced sustainably. Other firms and other Companies can easily externalize the cost of a similar service as such things as much lower wages, as well as a much high profit margin then Quadra. So Quadra will rely on their pricing to bring value to their customers, as they believe their clients will pay a premium if need be to work with an expert like Quadra.

Appendices:
Appendix A
Start-up Costs:
This program will take around 8 weeks to fully develop and implement it into the business available for full service. This will eventually be one of the largest cost of this program is it takes many resources to get this program running.
8 weeks for, 4 IT professionals in the company to develop and implement; a new system update to include the program and new department as well update website and develop customer access. 4 employees at 1/6 of average salary of IT department at Quadra of $45,000 = $7500, x 4 employees = $30,000 (Quadra Chemicals).
Sustainability task force will have to work and develop school and training program, through the development of PowerPoint, different training modules. This as well will take around 8 weeks to develop and with 6 employees average salary of $60,000 = $15,000, x 6 = $90,000 (Quadra Chemicals).
Training in the period will cost the company $1500 (Schnotz 2013) per new employee and a new employees per location equates to 5 total or $7500. New employees will be needed to make hired on full time to fill the departments new needs all the time. This will require an annual new investment of $187,500 annually by Quadra for these new employees, based off the average salary the company gives for new employees. Those already part of Quadra’s Sustainability task force will have to go through some new training as well from outside sources to teach train employees and familiarize them with the new system of the service and educate them on overview of program cost, and environmental costs on how to teach, averaging around $600/person or $3600 (Schnotz 2013).
Quadra will also make a database worth of resources available for customers to access as well, on sustainability in the workplace. Building a database is never free; it will always cost at least time if not direct money. But there are certainly many ways to manipulate the budget so the costs are not directly represented. Quadra will start off with a relatively small database around 1000 entries but peruse to grow it over the years. On average it can cost around 52 cents per entry in a database which will equate for Quadra $520 additionally to the start-up (Schnotz 2013).
They as well plan on developing videos over this time period to have as an alternative to their in house training program for clients. This as well will end up costing the company a significant amount as, training videos can cost up to $5000 dollars per video (What Is The Cost To Make A Video). As each portion of pre-production, shooting, and editing can cost thousands of dollars depending on how much time is needed. Quadra will develop around 10 videos to another $50,000 in start-up cost which equates
Lastly Quadra will have expenditures on the promotions during the first year in service, annually in the first year of the program $2320 and $3480 on marketing through the Chemiculator magazine and Corporate Knights (Magazine Advertising Rates).As well a $625 dollars for a press release through Business Wire (Business Wire).
Additional $10,000 for building upgrades and renovations
Total start-up cost = $198045 annually before new employees’ salaries. $385,045 after incorporation of new salaries.

Maintenance and annual cost Will vary from how man y clients are obtained to how many times Quadra’s team visits site and teaches program. However the most basic annual cost can be broken down as followed;
2 IT professionals required for system updates 4 weeks a year at $45,000 annually / 13 = $3460 x 2 = $6920 (Quadra Chemicals).
2 Sustainability department individuals to update modules and keep content up to date for the needs of today 4 weeks a year at $60,000 annually/ 13 = $4615 x 2= $9230 (Quadra Chemicals).
Training updates for employees will = $300 per person being trained x 10 employees = $3000
Database will attain 10 new entries a year plus edited and deletion of old ones (avg. 10 edited) = $10.40
Chemiculator magazine ad $1160, will only post ad twice year instead of all year round.
2 new videos a year = $5000
Per visit of customer = $2025 based off of hotel, transportation, plan and car (plane cost within province, Toronto to Ottawa - avg. $550 roundtrip business class) 4, week long visits a year =avg. $8100. (aircanada.ca) (fueleconomy.com)
Minimal maintenance fees, not including salaries and before travel = $25, 320.40
It will be established that the price for the service will cost $$$$$ annually to access all the resources available in this training program, based off of other training programs available plus video charges on the market and the overall internal cost for Quadra.
The company can expect them to grow business currently based off no inflation rate of 2% over 3 years, with the company annual profits hits an upwards amount of $30,000,000 annually. This will mean the company will be able to generate $600,000 over this period of time from the program. Meaning the ROI on the start-up cost will take less than 3 years to pay off. As the annual profits from this program will average out to $200,000 a year in this time frame.
$385,045 +$25320.40 + $8100 (travel expense) = 418465.40/ $200,000 = 2.1 years to return the investment.

Fixed Cost
Calculated per unit, using the typical consulting firm based product pricing which is the principal that overhead + employee salary+ profit = hourly charge according to Forbes.com.
In this case the overhead created from the service is the 25,320 + 8100/ 161 (percentage spent with client in a year 62% according to Forbes a firms employee will occupy their time with. 62% of 260 days in a working year equates to 161). = 207.58
2 employees per account = $120,000 annual/260 = $461.53
20% margin = $41.51
Charging Cost = $710.62 per working day or $71.06/hr on a three year deal with Quadra.
Units of volume sold = $200,000 at $71.06/hr =8443.56 hours or on average 14 units a year (based off an average of 20 hours per customer).
CO2 Calculations
All CO2 calculations were based off the website Offsetter.com, plane CO2 average the traveling distance an employee would fly in province; between Toronto and Ottawa, as this would seem to be the furthest any employee would travel inter-Provincially. The emissions from the car vehicles took the average trip of 100km’s per customer, as most in the industry are with in a 100kmradius to one of the firms sites, using a 2012 Toyota Hybrid the total emissions were able to be calculated.
Appendix B:
Industry Trends
Regional Distribution of Establishments, 2009 Canada (percentage of total) STATCAN

In 2010, there were about 2730 small/medium establishments in Canada in the chemical industry. This generated shipments valued at $42.4 billion and employed 77 670 people (STATCAN). All 109 Chemical distributers were found through the World Chemical Distribution Directory online.

Figure 10. Importance of Sustainability Issue
(Baker 2013)
Regional Distribution of Establishments, 2009 (percentage of total) ------------------------------------------------- Regional Distribution of Establishments, 2009 (percentage of total) | Region/Province | Percent of total | Source: Statistics Canada | Atlantic | 3.6 | Quebec | 27.4 | Ontario | 41.4 | Prairies | 15.8 | British Columbia | 11.8 |
(STATCAN)
Appendix C:
Market
In the chemical industry worldwide, multiple chemical manufacturer, distributers and other related practices; 17% of the firms in the industry have only recently developed a sustainable policy and another 17% say they will likely have one developed in the next few years. Overall, 34% of the chemical industry are either new to the sustainable realm internally or soon to be new (Baker 2013). These are exactly the clients Quadra’s new service would have the greatest impact on. They are organization’s that show they have the same concern towards sustainability but do not yet have expertise as an organization on sustainable practices. On average, 60% of businesses in the chemical industry worldwide take over 5 years or longer to use sustainable processes at a commercial level within a company. 71% of people within the chemical globe advise that energy usage and waste production are very important in the improvement overall business (Baker 2013).
Quadra Chemicals has had a sustainability department since 2007 and over the course of this time have been able to strategically implement many sustainable initiatives and practices (Quadra Chemicals). For fellow organizations in the industry who are just currently looking into sustainability or those who will be in the short term future, this process on average can take up to 5 years to get establish and implement a sustainable practice within.
The Global Chemical Distribution market is influenced by a number of growth drivers such as the rise in demand for bulk and specialty chemicals for the Oil and Gas, and Petrochemical industries, especially in the Middle East region. However, the rise in demand from the APAC region remains the main growth driver for the chemical distribution market. Supported by strong economic growth, the APAC region has seen a shift in consumers' demand for higher quality and more varied products (Baker 2013).
Existing alternatives
In the chemical industry worldwide 53% of companies have stated that they have implemented and have formed initiatives already to combat sustainability, whether it is through GRI reporting or implementing tasks force the industry knows the pressures of becoming sustainable and have already responded prior to this program (Baker 2013).
There are many consulting firms already in existence in Canada that help companies become more sustainable some of them include; Green Enterprise, Integrated Sustainability, Energy Alternatives Inc., all were found on their respected website to source where their operations currently operate. All offer world-class front-end project consulting and delivery teams to execute sustainable Water, Waste and Energy solutions. Both have already been contracted by companies involved in the chemical industry for consulting.
Quadra has a long history of acquiring new business and markets from the purchase of other business’ pre-existing in them. Recently Quadra expanded their distribution to include food ingredients and now is a crucial part of the business as it makes up half of the space in their warehouse, and accounts for 25% of sales as of 2012 (Quadra Chemicals).
Resources
Quadra already has many resources in place to make this programs cost and efficiency run more smoothly. Quadra has in each office at least 3 board rooms, which is more than enough space for internal training. They also have already developed a secure videoconferencing system internally which will be perfect for electronic meeting with customers and will save company a lot of money from implementing one, and on travel expenses. As it costs thousands of dollars in the past already to develop for other internal purposes (Quadra Chemicals).

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