BusinessPlan-Template.doc

Knowledge Worker Business PlanBUSINESS PLAN Owner: (team) Four characteristics of a good business plan Simple Specific Realistic CompleteExecutive Summary: Objectives/goals (be specific; e.g. $ revenue targets and/or penetration target) Why is this a great opportunity? Why now (technology advance, change in market)? Keys to success; internal factors (alignment with STS, product dev issues, sales model, solution selling), external factors (SI/partner commitments etc.)Product Description (owner) Note: Key Deliverable is a Product Evaluation Guide. What does it do? What will people use it for? What problem is it solving? What opportunities is it unlocking? Articulate (quantify) the value proposition(s)o Replace existing method for achieving certain tasks. What is the cost saving associated with this?o Enhance productivity; you can do something valuable that was prohibitive before due to lack of technology and/or cost. How much value does this product unlock? Are we transferring some non-IT to an IT expense? Who is the customer? (generalist KW, IT manager, both) What is the customer process/experience when buying the product? Competitive Comparison (what other products compete?)o Think about non-obvious comparisons (doing this today using a combination of (say) Excel and email?)o If there are no direct competitors what are the products that span the space that we are entering?o If none, then answer why not? Perhaps there is no need, perhaps there is no cost effective answer today. But there must be a reason why nothing exists todayo How does our product compare to the competitors? How will we differentiate our offering?o How are competitors likely to react to our product? What is inimitable/unique about our product that allows us to sustain our advantage?Industry Analysis (owner) Market trends (predict) Market growth (forecast as above) Industry participants (think off all the players that will get touched; in delivering the solution to the client) Value chain (likely flow of $ funds from customer to MS). There might be multiple chains depending on customer segments. Distribution pattern (SI, VARs, retail?) Buying patterns o Define the BDM (BU/sales manager, CIO)o Define their sensitivities price, feature set, supportMarket Segmentation and Sizing (owner)Aim: Not the get the right number, but simply to bound the opportunity. More relevant for new categories and server.Top Down Size the universe Segment the universe (could be; form creators versus form completers, specialist vs generalist, LORGS, SMORGS, 500 employees, sales force professionals etc.) Cut down to the relevant segment (sizing pyramid) = addressable market Forecast growth in this addressable market Describe customer profiles within this addressable market Is there a sweet spot (e.g. 50 person sales org) Estimate a penetration of this addressable market over timeBottom Up Look at existing customer base for PBS products Define them by size (# employees, desktops), characteristics Define target customer profiles (sweet spot) Estimate penetration into this customer base; run sensitivity around this penetration Gross this up into a market size by assuming a MS share over time. Even if there is no competition today, there will be in the future take this into account.Reconcile top down with bottom up sizing. Define a range for the addressable market over time, and the penetration into this market that you hope to capture over time Plot an adoption curve (S-curve) Use other products to proxy the rate of adoption (e.g. it took 9 years for CRM software to reach 10% of the KW market) Your forecast should be defendable in the context of historical precedent. If you are forecasting quicker adoption, outline your reasonsStrategy Implementation Define Strategy Pyramids There will be a number of strategy pyramids around areas such as pricing, positioning, distribution etc. These aggregated to constitute the overall strategy of the BUo A Strategy is supported by x Tactics that is supported by y Programs (see below)o Strategy; a main focus which can be on a target market, product opportunity, positioning statement etc.o Tactics; are there to implement strategies things that you can do to promote your strategyo Programs; specific business activities each of which has a concrete date, responsibilities and probably a budgeto Example: For Xdocs, a promotional campaign for a marketing strategy might be: Strategy: 15% of KWs are using or creating Xdocs for gathering and sharing business data by 2006 Tactic: Focus on demonstrating the value in creating and exposing business data; highlighting productivity gains and ROI impact Program: Pilot Xdocs roll out and showcase scenarios with 5 flagship clients by FYE2003Marketing Strategy (owner) Positioning Strategyo What branding are you going to use for the product, standalone or under an umbrella (like Office)? o Who are you appealing to with Xdocs? Is it a KW generalist or specialist focus?o Who is the decision maker? Is this the same person as the user?o Will end users install it themselves, or is an IT department managed roll out?o What message do you want the end user to have? Where does Xdocs sit on the price/quality map? Choose one point and be explicit about it.o Where will these users learn about the product?o Are you appealing to the broadest possible target audience or do you want to be more focused? Pricing Strategyo Note: This section needs to go into detail on our channels and the entire waterfall. This is a critical section.o Define the pricing model e.g.o What revenue types will we have? SW license, service contract, maintenance, hosting etc)o Different SKUs (form creator versus form editor?)o Product differentiation within a SKU; Advanced, Standard?o Form of revenue stream; CAL, one time fee?o Server/client pricing packages Promotion Strategyo Customer trialso Showcase pilotso Influence industry analysts Distribution Strategyo Define SI/VAR relationshipo Does it leverage our current channel assets? Does it require an alternative channel? SKU and Channel Summaryo For each channel, we should have a clear SKU and pricing message. Please include a table that maps to our field organization (OEM, SMB, Enterprise, Retail) and includes the price point, the SKU, and the strategy summary for upsell/cross sell as applicable. Competitive Strategyo Who are the core competitors in each segment? For each audience?o What are the competitive tools we will need to equip the field?o What competitive reviews are we expecting and how will we win?Public Relations (owner) Outline the disclosure calendar? How will we continue to make news as we leak features? What is the “launch” strategy? What is our PR strategy for the product? Who are the primary target consumers of PR efforts? How will we reach each audience: KW, BDM, TDM, CXO? How will we work with industry analysts? What is the broadest PR objective? What will we localize for the field and how we will guide worldwide PR efforts? How we will coordinate with a centralized US PR team and corporate PR?Sales Strategy (owner) BPA Resources o This is a key new section on the relationship and expectations for our BPA resourceso What will the BPAs do?o What are the tools they will need?o How will we guide and tap this resource effectively? Sales forecast and programso How will this product be sold?o Is it high touch or low touch? o What does the sales org need from the BU?o Are there the correct sales force incentives?o What are the key selling points?Strategic Alliances and Partnerships (owner)External Who are our external partners? What is our strategy for JDPs or reference customers?Internal How will we work with and use internal resources on partnering? Define the partnership with the CMG as it relates to the above Marketing deliverables.Milestoneso Set milestones with dates so that progress can be checked and planning can be amendedImplementation Define major decision points Time line Actions required by management/others to progress planRisks Assessment along various dimensionsExternal Product Acceptance market doesnt see the price/value proposition. Our feature set is wrong Competitive responses Price/quality mismatch do we have the right thing at the wrong price? Internal Development issues Marketing/sales issues Product support issues Weak solution sellingOrganizational Requirements Partnerships with field Org Structure Personnel plano Headcount forecast (do not turn this into a headcount requestassume what we have)o