Executive Summary for Benhaven's Learning Network

Yale School of Management Business Plan Competition

Benhaven, Inc. a non-profit agency that has been providing services to children, adolescents and adults with autism for 35 years, has established a consulting practice called Benhaven's Learning Network. The practice will focus on providing consultation and technical assistance to public school special education programs throughout Connecticut. This new enterprise originated through requests by our target clients. It began as a pilot in July 2001, and this past July, the group was more formally established, with its own budget, office, staff and management.

The mission of Benhaven's Learning Network (BLN) is to provide the various kinds of support school system personnel may need as they develop their capabilities to serve students with autism effectively. BLN's distinguishing characteristic is the range of services provided as well as the availability of in-district technical support. By starting the consulting practice, Benhaven, Inc. greatly enhances the scope of its mission, affecting many more students than it ever could in its own facilities. Benhaven, Inc. is eager to support the success of this enterprise for several reasons. Educating students with autism in public schools, as opposed to special private schools, fits the mission and philosophy of Benhaven. The new venture will also provide a positive financial contribution to the parent organization and give professional development opportunities for Benhaven, Inc.'s staff.

The practice has been started to meet tremendous market demand. Information provided to us by the Connecticut Department of Education indicates an increase in the number of students with autism in Connecticut alone has gone from 151 in 1991 to 1,700 in 2001. Most public school systems are struggling to provide appropriate educational services for students with autism. Much is still unknown and uncertain about autism. Remediation approaches and teaching strategies are constantly evolving. The field is also one that seems to inspire many new ideas, ranging from some that are grounded in sound practices developed in the traditional fields of psychology, psychiatry and occupational therapy to others from the fringes of alternative medicine and psychotherapy. Given our 35-year history in the field, BLN consultants are able to promote "Best Practices" and bring clarity of instructional techniques to those charged with educating autistic children. During the pilot year, the feedback from the school systems was extremely positive. This led to Benhaven's decision to invest the resources needed to establish the venture on firm footing.

During the first year, the group has six full-time consultants, including a managing consultant and administrative assistant. Four consultants will be added for the second year and three more for the third year, making a total of thirteen. Additions to staff are projected to fulfill anticipated increased demand for educational services as well as the need for so-called transitional services as the population ages and goes from school-to-work. Our survey of market demand shows that 30% of school districts have already contracted for BLN services and 100% of school districts could use our services. We also determined that within the next two years, the State of Connecticut Department of Education intends to raise the standards related to educational services for students with autism, which cannot be met through internal resources alone.

Three other consulting groups are doing similar or related work with school systems, but the field is not highly competitive. Each of the four groups has more requests for services than can be accepted and they appear to each be gravitating toward different segments of the market. BLN's preferred clients are those public school systems that wish to invest resources needed to have high-quality educational services. BLN has a market advantage for this segment of the market in that its staff is made up of former teachers and administrators with a great deal of experience and expertise in education for students with autism. It is BLN's objective to work only with school systems and avoid engagements with families and possibly lawyers who are pursuing recourse through due process provided under special education statutes. Our bias is collaboration and this can only be through contracting directly with school systems.

The budget for BLN in the first year is $715,000 and is expected to increase 130% to $1,639,200 by Year Three. BLN projects to operate at a deficit of approximately $60,000 for the first year. The Board of Directors of Benhaven, Inc. has agreed to subsidize the enterprise by this amount for the first year. Projections call for BLN to operate at break-even for the second year and generate an operating profit of approximately $90,000 in the third year. Benhaven, Inc. has the financial means to fund start up and working capital costs of the new venture. As of FYE 6/30/02 the audited financial statements show unrestricted net assets of $1,500,000. The financial goal of the new venture is to provide greater financial stability, as the agency gains a more diversified income base and becomes less reliant upon inadequately funded contracts with the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Retardation and Department of Children and Family Services.

BLN is fortunate to have an extremely capable manager, who is highly regarded by the public school special education administrators in the 169 school districts in Connecticut. This manager has recruited a top-notch staff and continues to attract others interested in working at BLN. Furthermore, BLN has a Lead Consultant whose fine reputation in the field matches that of the Manager.

To date, the market response is extremely favorable with 30% of the school districts in Connecticut contacting BLN for work. Various risks to ultimate success have been identified; including staffing and resistance by potential clients to use BLN based on their own financial constraints and / or other limiting factors. However, we are confident that the value-added approach of BLN, combining direct services, problem solving and building capacity will lead us to success. Contingency plans call for looking to other areas for consulting work and/or scaling back the size of the venture.