Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Business Opportunities & Plans

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 The Basics of a BP Why –Keeps everyone signing of the same 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

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 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. TIMETIME

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Dev, Sales, Ops, HR Plan Development Plan Business Plan Marketing Plan Financial Plan Is there an opportunity That makes $$ Business Plan How much & when Can we execute

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Business Plan Contents Executive summary 1.What 1.Your industry 2.Your product & its value (why would someone buy it) 3.Your fit 2.Whom 1.Your market 2.Your customers 3.Your competitors 3.Why 1.Your advantages {where are you unique?} 4.Who 1.Core team(exec, Board, advisory brd, investors, partners, key employees) 2.Company track record, areas of leadership 3.Objectives, goals and culture, mission statement 4.Company ownership

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Business Plan Contents (cont) 5.How much 1.Pricing strategy 2.Revenue model 3.Financial statement {income statement, balance sheet, cash flow} 4.Budget 5.Sources of finance 6.How (& when) to execute 1.Development plan 2.Marketing plan 3.Sales & Business Development plan 4.Human resources (& organization) plan 5.Operations & Administration plan 6.Partners plan 7.Risk and risk management 8.Company objective (size ) vs. time 9.Time line with major milestones

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing 1.Your industry, trends, market drive 2.Your product & its value (why would someone buy it) 3.Your fit (positioning) 4.Your market 5.Your customers 6.Your competitors 7.Your advantages 8.Pricing strategy 9.Public Relations 10.Strategic alliance 11.Customer Technical support 12.Risk and risk management 13.Time line with major milestones

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Your industry 1.Players 2.trends 3.Regulations –Your product 1.Definition (product, service) 2.Compare product to others to help positioning it 3.its value (why would someone buy it) 4.Product line management (portfolio, releases, time line, features.. 5.Entry strategy –Your company fit (positioning) 1.Peers 2.Customers 3.Suppliers 4.Partners customer competitor supplier Industry End user partner Me Regulatory

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Your market: 1.Size in $ {Total market, addressable market, company part} 2.growth 3.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

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Your customers 1.Who are customers 2.Customer health (vulnerability) and purchasing capability 3.Categorize customer (carrier, enterprise, consumer, government..) 4.Current vs. future 5.Value to customer Operation cost –Less staff, less training, less headache Capital cost –Less equipment More with the same equipment 6.Criticality for customers 7.Customer engagement from day 1 to develop your BP 8.Customer internal organization structure and purchasing processes 1.Decision makers (vs. techi) 2.Buying cycle 3.Vendor approval

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Your competitors 1.  Have no competitorswrong 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 & weakness 2.Their product, pricing, pricing structure, market reputation 3.Is not good enough to be as good or slightly better 4.Risk of not knowing un-publicized competitors 5.How do you get competitors’ information ???????

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Your advantages 1.How are you unique and better? 2.Has to be of “clear”, “crisp”, value to customer 3.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 resources 3.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

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Pricing strategy 1.Cost vs. market (competitors vs. customer affordability) based 2.Structure (how much to charge for) 3.Pricing erosion with competition 4.Suggested vs. discount price 5.Margin and own company finance 6.Your customer business case (if not end user)

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing –Public Relations (Marcom) 1.Event Participation (conferences, trade shows, standard meetings,..) for awareness and lead generation 2.public Speaking positions 3.Analysts & press briefing 4.Press releases 5.Branding 6.E-marketing 7.Internal vs. external public relationships 8.Publications and collateral 9.Targeted marketing 10.Campaign timing

Sami Aly Issues in Telecommunications15 January 2002 Marketing Strategic alliance 1.Solution partners 2.Co-marketing 3.Interoperability 4.Sale channels 5.Development partners Customer Technical support 1.Pre-sale (product engineering) 2.Field trials 3.Post sales Risk and risk management 1.Where is the risk in marketing BIG Time line with major milestones