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Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum 2011Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum

Building a Leading Global Institute for

Online Coaching in Finance

Team Name: FinB

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Executive Summary

Our core idea is to provide online test preparation (CFA, FRM, etc.) and online learning management systems

(for financial or management institutions) focused in the finance domain for Indian as well as international

markets. Currently there is a distinct lack of quality and affordable services for these services, especially in

emerging markets. We launched a beta version of the plan FinBricks.com in late 2010 to test our business

model, customer response and operational challenges.

The target market for this product is global and as an online model it does not suffer geographic stickiness. The

best way to reach the target customer segment (consumers) is through the digital media route. Further the

global curriculum, content created and brand developed can be leverage to undertake consistent high-growth

projects going forward.

Ourbusiness model derivesunique cost advantages through decentralized delivery of live classes. This involves

recruiting faculty through network /contacts of the team qualified working professionals around the globe

delivering lectures over weekends from their home. Thus we achieve cost-effectiveness & efficiency against

delivery through in-house studios. Also, in order to provide affordable services, our low cost model can

effectively deliver services at fees 20% to 50% below competition.

The beta version of the plan FinBricks.com is running successfully, coaching about 30 (including 5

international) online students for CFA level-1 and is profitable in the first year.

We have segmented our future plan into 2 phases: Phase-1 over the next 3-4 years will focus on expanding

online coaching to international markets, as well into other verticals CFA level 2&3, FRM, CFP & CPA. With the

online coaching segment, we expect to reach annual revenue of ~ USD 3 mn by 2015, with an operating margin

of 66%. This would involve an initial investment of ~ USD 160,000 over the next 2 years, and will generate an IRR

of ~130%. Phase-2, starting 2014 would focus on the institutional segment, as we gain credibility in the market

for coaching in finance subjects. We would start with developing a software platform for service delivery in late-

2013, followed by content development and marketing efforts in 2014. We plan to be commercial in this

segment by 2015.

Our management team of 5 members brings in the diverse skills and views required for this venture to succeed.

Sonia brings in the subject knowledge of Finance and education sector experience. Vaibhavs past experience as

a management consultant will help in creating strategies to grow and market. Sourabh an operations expert

would help in the integration of various business activates, Sajid, a senior software developer with Linkedin

would help in product development while Gowrishankar with rich start-up knowledge in the online marketing

space would help create a global brand for our company. Additionally, all members have rich industry contacts

among professionals in finance industry, as well as graduates from IITs, IIMs and global business schools.

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Core Idea / Product

Online test preparation and online learning modules focused in the finance domain for Indian as well

as international markets (we have already launched beta of the plan FinBricks.com)

Live Classes & On-Demand Videos using Adobe Connect (launched) Exam-focused online community through a discussion forum (ready for launch) Online assessment tests with high quality video explanations (Prototype ready) Dynamic & rich content with a personal tracker to optimize learning (pipeline) Holistic Self Assessment tools created through extensive and sophisticated software

programming. Includes peer benchmarking (pipeline)

Our Product FinBricks (www.finbricks.com)Virtual classroom + Interactive Learning Management System

http://www.finbricks.com/http://www.finbricks.com/http://www.finbricks.com/http://www.finbricks.com/

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Growth potential over the next 3-4 years to be driven by growth in

CFA registrations

Core Opportunity:

The distinct lack of quality & economical test preparation solutions for international-levelfinance exams such as CFA, FRM, CAIA, CPA, CFP etc., especially in emerging countries

Lack of online learning modules, self-assessment tests and learning management system inthe field of finance in emerging countries such as India

These exams have high career impact potential for students and willingness to pay for aproduct that works is high

Market Demand:

Americas & EMEA

-High broadband penetration,

highacceptability of e-learning

platforms

-About 25 classroom and ~10 online

coaching institutes globally for CFA +

related exams, charging hefty fees

(~$1500 per student)

-FinBricks will offer services with

comparable world-class quality at more

affordable prices

-Finbricks online classes delivered at

convenient common local time zones,

with a mix of local (International) &

Indian (low-cost) faculty

Asia (India & China):

-Fragmented customer base, looking for reliable coaching; high growth (20%-40%)

-Currently a dearth of organized, quality coaching institutes in Emerging markets

-FinBricks will try to build early mover advantage, and create barriers to entry through a world-

class coaching platform

-Unique cost advantages through decentralized delivery of live classes by faculty home-location

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We believe Online Fin Coaching solutions to

be a high potential market that can be

tapped. Given the current market scenario,

we find it to be a lucrative proposition for us

to pursue

Note: 1. 2009 & 2010 data collated based on actual data provided by CFA Institute; projections till 2015 are estimated based on current growth by

geography; 2. Based on average fees charged for different services by leading providers of CFA preparation coaching institutes

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FinBricks Typical Customer Base

Consumers

Working professional well equipped with technology, hard pressed for time, looking to prepare forexams in spare time

Students in the final year of college or attending an MBA program well equipped with technology,hard pressed for time and trying to multitask efficiently

- Customers are highly fragmented with time constraint demands, thus having physical classroomsessions is an unviable model to scale up in the long term

- Primary Issues Faced by Customers:a. Poor access to quality content at affordable ratesb. Poor access to quality teachers given location constraintsc. Unstructured & inefficient learning methodologies in preparation

- Online classes is a viable option. However, lack of qualified teachers and the complexityinvolved in setting up an effective delivery mechanism are deterrents

-Institutions

Higher Educational Institutions offering courses in management, economics and finance; lookingfor online solutions to support their class-room teaching through pre-term courses and learning

management systems

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FinBricks Value Proposition

An all new smart way to deliver finance coaching at affordable prices

Secret sauce

Unique cost advantages through decentralized delivery of live classes Faculty recruited through network /contacts of the team qualified working professionals around

the globe delivering lectures over weekends from their home

Cost-effective & efficient against delivery through in-house studio

We believe the Online Coaching solutions to be a high potential market that can be tapped. Given

the current market scenario, we find it to be a lucrative proposition for us to pursue.

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Marketing Strategy

Online search volumes for different finance exam keywords (such as online cfa coaching) are onaverage ~40,000 searches (estimates are for Google search engine alone) per month per exam

Since most of our customers are well equipped with using technology and search the internet to

Thus we believe that the best way to spread awareness and gain more customers is through thedigital marketing route

Paid Sources Unpaid Sources

Partnering with the CFA, FRM, CFP

institutes as the registered prep providers

of quality training

Social Media Marketing- FB, Twitter,

Linked in, Youtube, blogs

Obtaining a direct customer mailing list

from the certified bodies offering these

courses

Email Marketing- Newsletters

Conducting market research for

segmenting markets demographically and

geographically to plan phased penetration

and then use

Using Analytics tools, keyword search and

SEO to improve online search volumes,

page rank and understand returns from

paid marketing

A) Google Adwords andFacebook ads for creating target ads

to be placed strategically on various

website. Ad expenses primarily

through cost per click model

Create and participate in online forumand communities for understanding

latent customer demand and improvising

on our services

B) And direct marketingthrough strategic partnerships

Organize free Webinars and counseling

sessions

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Competitive Scenario

Currently there is a dearth of organized, quality coaching institutes (total 5-6 registered onlinetest prep solution providers for international financial exam such as CFA and FRM exist

worldwide). These players charge a very high prep fees particularly when they offer live classes

some even exceeding the examination fees. Players can be segmented as follows:

Premium Segment

~USD 1000 to 2,000

Mid market

~ USD 500-1000

Unorganized Segment

~ USD 300 -500

Kaplan (schweser) Allen Resources Fragmented players/

Mostly run by

individuals

Stalla Elan Guides

Quartic Training Pristine

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Monetization Strategy and Financial Projections

Monetization

Test preparation: Course fees from students for different modules (20% below market price)1) interactive online coaching; 2) lecture videos; 3) Test series

Learning Management System for Institutions: Annual contracts along with variable fee fornumber of students served

FinBricks Fee per Student Planned for 2012 (USD)

Live class CFA L1 350

Live class CFA L2 & L3 400

Test Series 80

Financial Projections

We have included below estimated budget for next 4 years for online test preparation services.We follow a low-capex model, with primarily variable expenses. Major fixed expenses are interms of marketing, content development and administration.

These numbers indicate current funding requirements of ~ USD 160,000. The model wouldbreakeven in 2013, and generate an IRR of ~130% in 4 years till 2015.

Currently, we have not budgeted financials for institutional segment. We believe this wouldinvolve significant investments in content and marketing in 2014 & 2015, and might require a

fresh round of funding.

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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Remarks

Activity Beta

operational

CFA Level

1

CFA Level 2&3

International

launch

FRM & CPA

launch

CFA Test

Series (TS)

B2B content

development &

marketing

B2B

commercial

launch

# Students

India25 200 500 (e-class)

500 (TS)1,000 (e-class)

1,500 (TS)2,000 (e-class)

3,000(TS)

# Students

International

5 25 170 (e-class)

150 (TS)

750 (e-class)

1,000 (TS)

2,500 (e-class)

3,500 (TS)

Revenues

(USD)

7,000 80,000 350,000 1,000,000 3,000,000

Operating

Expenses

(USD) 4,000 115,500 250,500 534,950 1,022,300

Faculty 50,000 90,000 210,000 510,000

* 70 students/batch

* 100 classroom hrs/batch

* $ 50 /hr faculty charges for 2012

Website 1,500 2,000 2,200 2,800

Content

development10,000 12,000 15,000 18,000

*Continued investment in conte

development (coaching material

additional verticals as well as t

series, etc.)

Marketing 40,000 120,000 240,000 360,000

*Marketing expenses are expected

rise by 1.8 - 3 times annually w

reference to that of previous ye

expenses during 2013-2015 in line w

Finbricks' plans to foray internationa

as well as into other verticals

Online infra 5,000 6,500 9,750 19,500

Registration 1,000 3,000 4,000 4,000

Staff Salary7,000 15,000 50,000 100,000

*Staff build up foradmin/mktg/accounting work

* Avg salary of $ 7000/annum/person

for 2012. Added inflation

Misc 1,000 2000 4,000 8,000

Operating

Margin(USD) 3,000 (37,459) 105,156 584,827 1,983,898

Funding

Requirement

(USD)115,500 45,000 - * *

Requirement in 2012 is 50% expenses

of 2013, less 2012 revenues

Additional requirements expected in

2014for B2B launch

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Implementation Milestones

(Beta)

What has been done

Launched FinBricks

(www.finbricks.com)

in November 2010

We have already started online coaching for CFA level 1 and have

given a demo to over 100 students worldwide. We have already

trained 35 students for level 1 (15 online and 20 brick and mortar)

in 2011 and our website pages have received views of about 15000

with over 10000 unique views in just 7 months of operation

We have a strong teacher pool (5 teachers) who not only have

outstanding academic qualifications but also bring domain expertise

as well as have great communication skills

Our class primarily consists of Indians at the moment, although we

do have some participation from International students.

We have partnered with Adobe for the live classrooms that provide

an excellent interactive network for students, teachers and teaching

assistants which is used by global leading players such as Knewton

Although out brick and mortar classes (located in Mumbai) have

received good traction and is profitable we are currently

contemplating on phasing it out and focus completely on Online

which is much more scalable

(Phase-1)

Near term plans(next 3-4 yrs)

Smart Financial Prep Help

expansion

Finish work on CFAWire

(http://excelwebsolutions.net/client/cfawire/index.php ) the

independent discussion forum and begin development of

interactive learning management system

This phase will see us coming up with effective online marketing

strategies for Indian and global markets

We are currently preparing to launch sessions

for CFA Level 2 & 3 and in 2012, intend to expand into other major

areas like North America, Europe and rest of Asia

The next step would be to develop a high quality test series and we

also aim to implement this model for other finance exams like

FRM,CFP,CPA etc

(Phase-2)

Long term plans

(4+ years)

Financial Education

Outsourcing

As growth in CFA registrations flattens, we intend to leverage the

experience, content and credibility developed over the next 3-4years, to launch the second phase of growth institutional

partnerships (schools for MBA, BBA, BCOM, BMS, MS in finance) for

delivering preparatory courses for their students (online adaptive

platform for self-assessment tests, identification of development

areas and delivery of relevant cost-effective online lectures /

courses) in finance and related subjects of accounting &

quantitative techniques

http://excelwebsolutions.net/client/cfawire/index.phphttp://excelwebsolutions.net/client/cfawire/index.phphttp://excelwebsolutions.net/client/cfawire/index.phphttp://excelwebsolutions.net/client/cfawire/index.php

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Key Risks to Business

Inability to hire and retain quality teachers Our estimates are based on consistent growth of CFA student registrations from emerging markets

over the next 3-4 years. Changes in these numbers would impact our projected growth.

Example Marcoeconmic factors such as recession which lead to lower enrollment in CFA programmay create systematic business risks

Increasing competition Change in test structure/curriculum/regulation by CFA can increase costs and may have some

negative impact on our plans

Risk Mitigation Strategy

Our network in the industry and lucrative contracts for teachers will help us overcome the shortageof quality teachers and create a strong pool of quality teachers and content

Train current student network to take up teacher roles going forward Excellent and innovative online advertisements will help us reach global audiences for

diver\\sification of the risks as well as create a strong brand thereby creating entry barriers

Providing a secured online platform for students will help us overcome the piracy threat An independent forum will help us collect consumer data and analyse trends helping us to

consistently meet their requirements and consistently outperform competition

Consistent improvements in technology and ease of use of online material will help us retainstudents for every level

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Our team complements each other, has relevant experience & extensive

networks

Current Team (Also B Plan Competition Team)

Sonia Topiwala

Finance & Coaching Specialist

- Comes from a family of entrepreneurs (leading exporters of footwear

to the Middle East)-Brings in the subject knowledge for this project (Completed CFA level 3

and AFP in Investments)

-Understands the education sector well- Worked with ICICI as lead

equity analyst covering e-learning companies and with KMPG where

she worked on prominent Education sector PE deals

-Extensive network among finance professionals, CAs, IBs, portfolio &

risk management and financial consulting firms

Vaibhav Saraf

Strategist

- MS from IIT Bombay

- 4 years experience in management consulting at Deloitte and Analysis

Mason for global & Indian clients in services sectors of telecom, ICT &

broadband, information services (online & mobile), and mobile OS,

applications & VAS

- Expertise in growth strategies, go-to-market plans, customer value

management and client relationships

- Extensive network among diverse professional groups globally (IITs,

IIMs and global b-schools)

Sourabh Singh

Operations Expert

- 4 years of experience in operation management and operation

consultancy. Expertise in cost management strategies, increasing

operational efficiencies, pricing and project management.

He will be looking into general management and day to day operations

of the firm.

.And believes that

Technology has already revolutionized the way people

connect, communicate, and do business.

Education is about to have its technology moment, and it will never be the same again.

FinBricks as an early mover is about to revolutionize the Fin Learning space and create a

sustainable competitive advantage

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Current Team (Not a part of B Plan Competition Team)

Sajid Topiwala

Tech Guru

-Ex-software development Engineer with Microsoft, Sajid has the

technical depth to quickly develop code for a diverse set of applications,

from production system firmware to sample code to drive performance

analysis.-One of the core team members which developed x-box, Sajid now

works with LinkedIn as senior software engineer and will be a great

asset for developing the revolutionary tech infrastructure for this

venture

Gowrishankar

OnlineMarketeer

-Has over a year of intensive online marketing experience. Gowri has

generated revenues over USD 150,000 (Aug 2010 to Jul 2011) using

different online channels including affiliate marketing(both as affiliate

and product owner).

-Has a keen interest in online businesses and wishes to pursue a career

path along this line. He will handle online marketing of the venture

including traffic generation strategies, search engine marketing and

conversion analytics