Notes from mEga 100508 workshop

mEga

http://meganode.ning.com/

http://www.mega.org.au/

Workshop 4b – Developing a Business Case

Christine Cromarty
Export Development Executive
ICT Council for South Australia

http://www.mega.org.au/index.php?docid=91

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/a10/353

Product Pitch needs to be about providing a better service or help them to save money. Don’t talk about the technology, talk about the solution.

Relationship building with the customer is very important

SA has very good networks, and networking mechanisms and opportunities

Marketing Plan

Marketing Objectives - who is the customer, how are you going to access them, can you partner with another company who will complement what you do/sell

You need to be the first in the customer’s mind. Might need to create a category if there are already products in an established category. Ie Coke is first in the cola/fizzy drink market, so to enter this market you would need to create a new ‘category’

Be very clear.

The four ‘P’s of Marketing:

Product – functionality, appearance, quality, packaging, what is the brand and how are you going to manage the brand, warranty and service

Price – needs to reflect what the product is ‘worth’, not what it costs to produce. Look at how the product is saving the customer, the more the customer is saving, the more you can ask for. Look at how the current market place is pricing similar products. Will there be a separate wholesale price for distributors. Will you be offering finance and leasing options

Place – how are you going to get to the customer? How are you going to access your ‘channels’? ‘educate’ your customer – offer to put on a free ‘training or demo session’ for the customer. How are you going to make your product stand out and look different from your competitors. Offer prizes or incentives for the sales people/distributors to sell your product. Make your product look ‘exciting’ / sexy. Include an image of what you are going. How will you handle customer support?

Promotion – advertising, print media, know your customer – where are they, who are they, how can you ‘access’ them, using social media/social networking/web 2.0

Other ‘P’ to consider - Partnering Strategy, Positioning

Sales forecasts
Marketing mix to achieve the objectives and reach the target markets
Marketing budge details
Marketing action plan
Market controls
Other relevant marking issues
Ensure you have analysed your competitors

Development Plan

The plan to develop content or application
- team location and layout, production process and plan, scheduling, specs – how long to develop who develops, who is in the team project manger, programmers, what type and how long, equipment needs, production budget, other relevant development issues

Software Development

Waterfall Approach – structured approach to development

Rapid Approach - build on the fly, need a good deployment strategy, more flexible and adapt to change, need a close working relationship with developers,

Project Management

Risk Management is very important

Executive Summary – 3 pages overview

What you can say in 30 secs which will capture someone’s attention enough to want to revisit the idea or want to know more about the idea.

You are ‘filling a gap’ in the market

Be Clear – say what you mean

Be Concise – keep it short and sweet

Be Consistent – not contradict each other – agree upfront about what everyone is going to say - Conventional Wisdom is the agreed upon understanding

Be Compelling – appealing to the logic, emotion and credibility – tempo – speak slowly – comparisons – speak to the level of the audience – “in 10 years time you will have missed the boat if you don’t get involved now” – imagery – drawing pictures with words – tell a story that people can relate – give examples – project to the future about the world with your product in it – make the audience ‘care’ – be yourself – market your ‘brand’ – paint an image of your business – phrase it in a way that the audience can ‘visualise’ like they are watching a commercial – use shock or eye raising statements – buzzwords - How do we make people care? – doing an Oprah opening her show pitch – make them feel like they are the most important people

Access to Grant funding for getting projects off the ground

AusIndustry website has information about Grants as funding

MAP – Market Access Program - MAP is a grants program that aims to:

• assist small and new exporters to develop export capability
• assist these companies conduct market awareness campaigns
• enable local businesses to develop export culture