Contact Information Business Name: iCardTouch LTD Address: Alexandrou Svolou 53, 54621, Thessaloniki Primary Contact: Philotas Kyriakidis Role of Primary Contact: CEO Phone Number: +6948044283 Email Address:
[email protected]
Section 1: Who are you? The executive team of the company comprises three highly professional individuals, each one succesful in his own previous and current endeavors. •
Philotas Kyriakidis, Founder & CEO, possesses experience in research, analysis and strategic planning through more than ten years of business development, project management and IT consulting in various Information and Communication Technology sectors throughout Greece. From coordinating and managing educational and e-learning projects to business development and forecasting, from expanding company operations towards being established as a force to be reckoned with in the EU technological leadership arena, to providing business intelligence expertise in the wireless communications market, he has shown time and again a strong leading hand in driving forth the success and ultimate goals of his business ventures. He holds a MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, Canada, and a Diploma in Mathematics from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Dimitris Dimitriadis, Business Development and Marketing Director, is a leading expert in eBusiness Consulting with a proven track of succesful business accomplishments. He is also an established Public Speaker and Information Technology Columnist. He is actively involved in writing numerous articles for the Greek and International Media about Internet Marketing Media and Web 2.0. Being a web developer with more than six years of succesful projects in his portfolio, he has consolidated a sturdy foundation on which he launched his Internet Business Consulting professional skills, repeatedly manifested through independent collaborations in the web & mobile sector business development as a Business Developer and Account Manager. He holds a Master of Arts in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art, London, UK, and a Diploma in Desktop Publishing from the DEI Foundation Institution of Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Thomas Tziros, CIO & Human Resources Director, has been a technology expert all his professional life. As a Microsoft Certified Professional he has been on the steering wheel of
many start-up enterprizes. His technical skills cover an astounding spectrum, while his Project Management expertise, as well as his acute business sense, span more than two decades in succesfully delivering the end-product of his business ventures. Being a Certified Expert in Vocational Training has smartly honed his communication dexterities: Team Facilitation, Staff Management, Motivation & Training, Event Coordination & Planning, Customer Relations are just some of the Human Resources skills that make him an established professional icon only a few can match. He holds a Degree in Applied Electronics from the Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Greece, and is currently studying towards a Master’s Degree in Adult Training at the Hellenic Open University in Thessaloniki, Greece. Since the company is in its inception stage, we are seeking investment funds to help us rapidly escalate operations. Section 2: What are you going to sell? (Product mix definition) We are going to develop, produce and sell a smart business card, codenamed iCard. The iCard is the familiar business card with enhanced electronic ink properties. It comprises a typical 9cm by 6cm by 1cm plastic card, on its front side covered with a transflective capacitative touch screen, a Human Interface Device (version 3.0 Universal Serial Bus micro-USB micro-AB receptacle, 8mm) on one side, an internal microSD memory card and an internal Lithium-ion polymer battery (Li-poly). •
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The iCard will contain enough memory in its microSD memory card to store any information the owner wishes, such as professional qualifications, curriculum vita, research interests, business affiliations, inventory, website information, pictures, manuals, documents, software updates. The large touchscreen capability can, upon selection, bring forth a photo of the owner as well as vital information like contact details, business title and interests, inventory new products or updates and patches. It will employ a standard commercial USB version 3.0 connection for laptop or desktop interaction. Upon plug-n-play, a screen will be coming up with a nice user interface that will allow for updating, storing, editing, writing, deleting and saving any information. When saving is perfomed, the updated profile will be uploaded and stored to a central web server, ready to update any other client iCards anywhere in the world. The small battery embedded in the iCard will be able to draw power directly from the USB port and consequently last for a very long time, since the e-ink interface has ultralow power consumption. The transflective interface will allow for any angle, outdoor, bright light viewing experience.
Functionality principles of electronic ink. The principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the user. This makes the surface appear white at that spot. At the same time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which now makes the surface appear dark at that spot. To form an e-ink electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of
plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid "carrier medium" allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper. Target group. The target group for the intended product can be unlimited. Virtually anyone can be a potential customer. From business professionals to store owners, from artists to individuals, we now offer a unique and pleasurable experience that will revolutionize the way to do business. Apart from unique features and a familiar technological trend, which renders the ease of use almost immediate, the smart business card offers two distinctive and highly appreciable qualities: one, never lose track of your business aquaintances no matter if they live thousands of miles away, no matter if they embarked on a different career path and their status has changed completely. Two, always keep updated of any changes in the status of your business affiliations in real time, whether it be career updates, research interests, new business marketing opportunities, new products or software updates and patches. Pricing is going to be implemented on the basis of selling a minimum bundle of iCards per order. Accompanying software as well as software updates will be given gratis, whereus additional software to offer any sort of added value, such as social network integration, will be competitively priced. After an extended market research, we have established that there is no competition for this product and service. Appropriate steps are being taken to patent the product. We are absolutely convinced that the iCard is going to fulfill a long needed request and address a real problem in professional networking. Section 3: How are you going to deliver? The company is planning to employ an agile business structure. That means a small core of professionals at its headquarters for day-to-day business operations. Outsourcing will be implemented for the production line, whereas software development will be taking place in the company as well. Business Model iCard’s business model is evolving. Initially, we predict our sales to be: 30% of our product online, another 50% business-to-business and 20% through major retailers. B2B: The promotional (cards, folders, brochures ) spending by Pharmaceutical Companies in the U.S. during the period 2002-2008 was $15 million. Therefore, promoting the iCard in this niche market only and having 5% of this market spending without any competition will secure a partial ROI. Online: Get advantage of the touch screen buzz over the internet and, with one viral campaign from Alist bloggers with only the cost of prototype releases, get user generated content and a large amount of single orders online. At the same time, establish an online business and promote the iCard as a new trend. Through our online ordering and electronic delivery and customization of the iCard, build a fullyautomated electronic ordering access to order processing and invoicing histories for customers, vendors and suppliers via controlled-access data warehousing through our own Intranet business portal. Create a virtual warehouse using just-in-time (JIT) procurement, and drop-ship arrangements with primary suppliers and vendors. The virtual warehouse would be backed by a physical facility in our partners’ physical storage. Produce 10.000 pieces of the iCard to begin with, create an online reseller
channel and also sell direct to businesses as a promotional extra. Marketing Plan Estimating that the timing and buzz around touch screen products is going to be in its highest peak during the next few years, we fully intend to start along this business trail and support this trend. Relationships in the form of strategic partnerships with leading Fortune 1000 companies and major accounts in Pharmaceutical and Computing industry are going to substantiate iCard’s preparation and launching for considerable growth and huge market expansion and accomplishments. iCard's marketing strategy is to aggressively enhance, promote and support the significant benefits of iCard as a unique promotional product and future trend. The functionality and variety of uses is a sign of the market acceptance that iCard will achieve. Sales Strategy iCard's special functionality and characteristics will allow us to capitalize in 3 years and as a result, our sales strategy is expected to yield €1.000.000 in annual sales. Initially, we are going to target the marketing and pharmaceutical audience with special promotions and concentrated ad campaigns. Distribution Channels iCard's marketing strategy plans to sell through several channels, authorized resellers and online direct to consumers. We will be driving our lower margin through key distributors, and extensive advertising with publications that provide fulfillment in exchange for ads and part of the proceeds. The determining factors in choosing these channels are a) access through resellers to the target markets and b) widest direct access to the greatest number of potential customers online. Our variety of distribution channels will give us distinctive advantages over potential competition, including, but not limited to, faster response to market shifts and access to markets competition won’t reach through online channels. We are also anticipating strong support from Canada, where we have an exclusive relationship with a sales force ready to promote our product. Our advertising and promotion strategy is to position the iCard as the leading force in the market. On an ongoing basis we will budget our advertising investment at 20% of total sales. By consistently tracking the results of our advertising activities, we will be able to determine the effectiveness of our ad campaigns. This will allow us to adjust this budget allocation appropriately to ensure the highest possible return on our investment in advertising and promotion. Publicity / Public Relations (PR) During the year 2010, iCard will focus on the following publicity strategies: Complete at least 30 media contacts per quarter. Have our products mentioned, included in competitive round-ups, and be the subject of full articles at least 10 times per quarter. We will track, wherever possible, all revenue generated from our advertising, promoting and publicity efforts. We anticipate at least 40% in sales to be generated directly from our promotions, and potentially an additional 20% in distribution channel sales in response to our ads.
Financing Objectives Projected revenues for fiscal year 2010, without external funding, are expected to be €500.000. Annual growth is projected to be 50% per year all the way to 2013. We feel that within 3 years iCard will be in a suitable position for an initial public offering or a profitable acquisition. At this time, our objective is to propel the company into a prominent market and seize an opportunity to fill a market gap created by the leading companies in another sector. Capital Requirements Based on the opportunities identified through research and analysis we feel are sound business assumptions, our initial capital requirements are for €300.000 by financing year. To implement these plans we require funding totaling out at €1.200.000 for the following purposes:
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Headquarters. A physical location will be chosen to host the headquarters of the company.
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Software. All necessary software (operating systems, development, internet access, email, office needs.
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Furniture. Whatever is needed to fully furnish a modern physical location office.
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Primary input. Outsourcing will be implemented for the production line. We are negotiating with a number of companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong to solidify a profitable partnership.
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Manufacturing facilities. Strategic alliances will be formed to outsource manufacturing and production.
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Sales. Maximize sales with an extensive campaign to promote our product.
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Staff Management. Augment company staff to support and sustain prolonged growth under the new marketing plan.
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R&D. Increase Research and Development to create additional follow-on products as well as to further fine-tune our competitive advantages.
Hardware. Workstations for 5 people will be needed (3 executives, 1 software developer, 1 sales executive), preferably laptops. A server at the headquarters is also going to be needed to host and run everyday operations. compilers
etc.)
for
software
Qualified personnel. We have already selected the professionals we are going to work with. We are also keeping in contact with a number of highly trained people, whom we cooperated with in past projects. For any additional needs, we are in contact with hiring agencies.
Customer Support. Reinforce Customer Support services to handle the increased demands created by the influx of new orders and broader coverage of existing accounts.
Well-timed funding will allow us to achieve our marketing, development and sales goals for the immediate future. Our projections for post-funding sales for the next 3 years are: Exit Strategy / Return on Investment We will come up with a complete financial projection to indicate full repayment of our funding in 3 years. With the requested financing, the results of our use of funds will be increased profits generated by higher sales and owner COGS. We anticipate repaying the funding by November, 2013. We firmly believe that a Venture Capital Fund is the most suitable solution for us, because we present a tremendous market opportunity with a novel product, no competition and an unlimited client base.