Sami Aly 1 96.503 Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Business Opportunities & Plans.

96.503 Issues in Telecommunications Sami Aly 115 January 2002

Business Opportunities& Plans


The Basics of a BP• Why

– Keeps everyone signing of the same sheet @ all phases

– It is the blue prints for the company’s future

– It is the document you use in fund raising (with investors & possibly partners)

– It is always work in progress

– Good practice: embed BP review in executive team regular strategy meeting

– Not very long (15-20 pages)

– Clear and simple and sharp

– Sensitive document with limited circulation

– How to do it for big multi-product company


BP in a nut shell

1. Opportunity (a big carrot is there)

2. What have you got (your assets, track record)

3. Know how to execute (believable plans)

• At conception, high emphasis is on #1 & #2. Emphasis on #3 increases with time.

TI

ME


Dev, Sales, Ops, HR Plan

Development Plan

Business Plan

Marketing Plan

Financial Plan

Is there an opportunity

Is there an opportunityThat makes $$

Business Plan

How much & when

Can we execute


Business Plan ContentsExecutive summary1. What

1. Your industry2. Your product & its value (why would someone buy it)3. Your fit

2. Whom1. Your market2. Your customers3. Your competitors

3. Why1. Your advantages {where are you unique?}

4. Who1. Core team(exec, Board, advisory brd, investors, partners, key employees)2. Company track record, areas of leadership3. Objectives, goals and culture, mission statement4. Company ownership


Business Plan Contents (cont)

5. How much1. Pricing strategy2. Revenue model3. Financial statement {income statement, balance sheet, cash flow}4. Budget5. Sources of finance

6. How (& when) to execute 1. Development plan2. Marketing plan3. Sales & Business Development plan4. Human resources (& organization) plan5. Operations & Administration plan6. Partners plan7. Risk and risk management8. Company objective (size ) vs. time9. Time line with major milestones


Marketing1. Your industry, trends, market drive2. Your product & its value (why would someone buy it)3. Your fit (positioning)4. Your market5. Your customers6. Your competitors7. Your advantages8. Pricing strategy9. Public Relations10. Strategic alliance11. Customer Technical support12. Risk and risk management13. Time line with major milestones


Marketing– Your industry

1. Players2. trends3. Regulations

– Your product 1. Definition (product, service)2. Compare product to others to help positioning it3. its value (why would someone buy it)4. Product line management (portfolio, releases, time line, features..5. Entry strategy

– Your company fit (positioning)1. Peers2. Customers3. Suppliers4. Partners

customer

competitor

supplier

Industry

End user

partner

partnerMe

Regulatory


Marketing– Your market:

1. Size in $ {Total market, addressable market, company part}2. growth3. segments 4. Distribution (geographical, type of business,..}5. Readiness

– Market sizing: {not a single answer}

• Analysts

• Own homework: Example: DSL modem market size– How many: Take a lead: . . . .

• Potential end users, number of PC, number of phone lines, ..

– How much

• Growth rate


Marketing– Your customers

1. Who are customers2. Customer health (vulnerability) and purchasing capability3. Categorize customer (carrier, enterprise, consumer, government..) 4. Current vs. future5. Value to customer

• Operation cost– Less staff, less training, less headache

• Capital cost– Less equipment More with the same equipment

6. Criticality for customers7. Customer engagement from day 1 to develop your BP8. Customer internal organization structure and purchasing processes

1. Decision makers (vs. techi)2. Buying cycle3. Vendor approval


Marketing– Your competitors

11 Have no competitors wrong answer. You most likely don’t understand your industry yet. Or can’t position yourself.

2. Who would be a competitor of you?3. Due diligence

1. Their company strength & weakness2. Their product, pricing, pricing structure, market reputation3. Is not good enough to be as good or slightly better

4. Risk of not knowing un-publicized competitors5. How do you get competitors’ information ???????


Marketing– Your advantages

1. How are you unique and better?2. Has to be of “clear”, “crisp”, value to customer3. Examples of how you can be unique and better

1. Added features ( additional revenue to customer, or more value)2. X-reduction : cost, power, space, pollution, operation, ..3. my system architecture is far superior .. . .! ! !4. has to be quantifiable ; comprehensive feature set . . . 5. ….

4. Why can’t other do it too ??1. Patents (& other protective methods)2. Talent, cheap resources, other resources3. Exclusive right from suppliers,..4. Brand recognition

5. How to express value proposition• Displace, shift, replace, obsolete for competitors• Cost reduce, revenue increase, pain relief for customers

6. SWOT


Marketing– Pricing strategy

1. Cost vs. market (competitors vs. customer affordability) based2. Structure (how much to charge for)3. Pricing erosion with competition4. Suggested vs. discount price5. Margin and own company finance6. Your customer business case (if not end user)


Marketing– Public Relations (Marcom)

1. Event Participation (conferences, trade shows, standard meetings,..) for awareness and lead generation

2. public Speaking positions3. Analysts & press briefing4. Press releases5. Branding6. E-marketing7. Internal vs. external public relationships8. Publications and collateral9. Targeted marketing10. Campaign timing


Marketing• Strategic alliance

1. Solution partners2. Co-marketing

3. Interoperability4. Sale channels5. Development partners

• Customer Technical support1. Pre-sale (product engineering)2. Field trials3. Post sales

• Risk and risk management

1. Where is the risk in marketing BIG

• Time line with major milestones

Sami Aly 1 96.503 Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Business Opportunities & Plans.

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