Tapnet Business Plan Essay, Research Paper
TAPNET.COM
Business Plan
December 11, 2000
Peter Bankuti
Table of Contentss
______________________________________________________________________
1. TapNet Executive Summary 4
1.1 The Opportunity 4
1.2 The Application 4
1.3 The Need for Additional Capital 5
2. The Industry and TapNet & # 8217 ; s Product ( s ) or Service ( s ) 5
2.1 The Trade Association Industry 5
2.2 TapNet Company and the Concept 7
2.2.1 Networking 7
2.2.2 News & A ; Information 8
2.2.3 Ecommerce 8
2.2.4 Meetings 8
2.3 TapNet Product ( s ) or Service ( s ) 9
2.3.1 eManufacturing 9
2.3.1.1 Serving the client 10
2.3.1.2 Valuable Capabilities 11
2.3.1.3 Management tools 13
2.3.1.4 Culture alteration 15
2.3.1.5 eManufacturing Drumhead 15
2.3.2 CRM 16
2.3.2.1 Development of CRM 17
2.3.2.2 Target Marketing 18
2.3.3 Customer Relationship Management 19
2.3.3.1 The Customer Relationship Management Cycle 20
2.3.3.2 Execute 21
2.3.3.3 Customer Relationship Management Summary 21
2.3.3.4 Business Drivers 22
2.3.4 Distance Education 22
2.3.4.1 What is the Process? 23
2.3.4.2 What do the Associations demand to make? 24
2.3.4.3 What needs to be put in topographic point? 24
2.3.4.4 Distance Education Summary 26
3. Market Research and Analysis 26
3.1 Customers 26
3.1.1 Computers & A ; Internet ( 35 ) 27
3.1.2 Education ( 26 ) 27
3.1.3 Health & A ; Medical Sciences ( 9 ) 27
3.1.4 Law, Government & A ; Political Science ( 10 ) 28
3.1.5 Science & A ; Technology ( 41 ) 28
3.2 Market Size and Trends 28
3.2.1 Increase Revenues 29
3.2.2 Be your industry & # 8217 ; s portal 29
3.2.3 Provide e-commerce sites 29
3.2.4 Create an Internet Community 30
3.3 Competition 30
4. Selling Plan 30
4.1 Overall Marketing Strategy 30
4.2 Pricing 31
4.3 Gross saless Tactics and Promotion 31
4.4 Ad 32
5. Design and Development Plans 32
5.1 Development Status and Tasks 32
5.2 Troubles and Risks 33
5.3 Proprietary Issues 34
6. The Financial Plan 34
6.1 Actual Income Statements and Balance Sheets 34
6.1.1 Expenses 34
6.1.2 Gross 34
6.1.3 Staffing 35
6.1.4 Technology 35
7. Proposed Company Offer 36
7.1 Proposed Company Offering 36
7.2 Desired Financing 36
7.3 Capitalization 36
7.4 Investors Return 37
7.5 Exit Strategy 37
TapNet Executive Summary
TapNet.com ( Trade Association Portal ) represents a enormous chance for it & # 8217 ; s managers, spouses and possible shareholders.
1.1 The Opportunity
The Internet and specifically business-to concern applications are spread outing at a enormous rate. Many companies and associations are come ining this portal country to supply valuable merchandises services to the industry and generate economic net income at the same clip. TapNet & # 8217 ; s Board of Directors saw this chance about twelvemonth ago and has been all right tuning their construct and attack. Since this clip, TapNet has moved frontward and further developed the construct, gathered content and interacted with 100s of possible clients around the universe and gained their support.
1.2 The Application
TapNet is more than a web site or portal, it is an Internet based application that supports the trade association & # 8217 ; s concern operations, offers purchasers and Sellerss the opportunity to happen each other, interact and finally purchase merchandises and services online. TapNet provides these nucleus competences and capablenesss to merchandise association, many of which could non afford these needed concern capablenesss without TapNet as their supplier. TapNet provides the foundation for a dominating site that drives the industry instead than merely reacting to it.
TapNet programs to go on development of both its engineering and the information resources it offers. This will be accomplished by developing purchaser usher matrixes for associations to name their information, developing TapNet enabling characteristics and maps, and by supplying content and interaction that genuinely conveying the trade association community closer together. TapNet will besides supply a strong selling plan to bring forth consciousness that explains the advantages of TapNet to its possible clients.
1.3 The Need for Additional Capital
Presently TapNet has been funded by the resources from it Board of Director & # 8217 ; s. In order to truly develop a prima application site for the trade association, TapNet will necessitate a enormous extract of extra operating capital. This capital will let the development of new package engineering, and supply the extended promotional run that will be needed to attach to the site. Although the site could go on to be funded by the managers, there is enormous chance for hazard and net income sharing. Both the fiscal markets, every bit good as the American economic system recognize the value of being able to construct and serve an & # 8220 ; eCommunity & # 8221 ; based on industry focal point. Therefore, TapNet proposes to reform itself into a publically held corporation, and make out to these fiscal markets for capital required to go the prima online Resource for the Trade Association.
2. The Industry and TapNet & # 8217 ; s Product ( s ) and Service ( s )
2.1 The Trade Association Industry
Trade associations are organisations of business people engaged in fostering or protecting their common involvements. Associations include professional, concern, proficient, and civic societies.
Trade associations are believed to hold existed in ancient Egypt and China. In Europe they came to prominence during the Renaissance when Venetian and other bargainers formed organisations for work outing common political and fiscal jobs. Contemporary associations are derived chiefly from the merchandiser clubs of 16th-century England.
The oldest extant association in the U.S. is the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, which was established by 20 merchandisers in 1768. Almost as old is the New York Stock Exchange, which was formed in 1792. Early American trade associations were local or regional in extent, with national associations emerging merely after the American Civil War. By 1890 they had been formed in most good established industries, and by 1900 they had spread throughout the industrial community. In more recent old ages at that place has been a rapid growing of trade associations of employers in the U.S. formed to cover with common jobs.
A trade association may function commercial, industrial, or protective maps. Among its chief activities are the surveillance of of import trade influences, such as statute law, transit rates, duties, Torahs impacting labour, and the quality, method of sale, or review of goods. Associations may besides seek to maintain their members informed of new procedures or innovations and of market conditions. Other maps include insurance agreements, encouragement of trade schools, and constitution of selling bureaus. Trade associations besides maintain agency of employment.
There are a big figure of trade associations in the U.S. Of these, about 2000 have an online presence which runs the gamut between simple information based web pages to full service association web sites.
2.2 TapNet Company and the Concept
Vortals, perpendicular portals and online hubs, as they & # 8217 ; re known, are a focal point of the Internet. Some estimations predict the figure of these sites will make 25,000 by 2,001. Others estimate the business-to-business section of the Internet to make $ 1.3 trillion by 2003.
These business-to-business web sites are making on-line communities focused on single industries or professions. The effectivity of these sites and usefulness demands that finally each industry will stop up with one predominant portal. TapNet seeks to assist professional trade associations create these portals.
The convenience, velocity and seasonableness of the Internet is traveling to do it the pre-imminent vehicle for networking, intelligence and information, commercialism, and association meetings.
2.2.1 Networking
The Internet provides the agencies for the ultimate networking & # 8211 ; making everyone, anytime, anyplace. Members can pass on immediately to seek aid, inquire the inquiry, or merely chat. Staying informed on issues, jobs, or affairs they might non hold even been cognizant of. Enabling networking applications include:
& # 183 ; Email & A ; List Serve functionality
& # 183 ; Bulletin Boards and Live Chat
& # 183 ; Member Profiles
& # 183 ; Product Listings
& # 183 ; Lead Generation
2.2.2 News & A ; Information
An association portal provides a centralised location where members can have the most recent intelligence and information. News and information applications include:
& # 183 ; Help Wanted and Classifieds
& # 183 ; Linkss to associate web sites
& # 183 ; On-line Calendar
& # 183 ; New Merchandises
& # 183 ; Press Releases
& # 183 ; Industry Events
& # 183 ; Industry Profiles
2.2.3 Ecommerce
An eCommerce enabled portal allows association members to sell their merchandises and services no other association members every bit good as to the association clients. Ecommerce applications include:
& # 183 ; Online Storefront plans
& # 183 ; Promotion of Member Business
& # 183 ; Product Listings
& # 183 ; Lead Generation
2.2.4 Meetings
Online portals allow associations to widen the physical meeting topographic point beyond the existent brick and howitzer confines of the meeting topographic point. Such entree promotes increased attending and associated member input and answerability. Meeting applications include:
& # 183 ; Meeting Pre-registration
& # 183 ; Exhibit Information and Registration
& # 183 ; Program Descriptions
& # 183 ; Course/Events and Agendas
& # 183 ; Course Registration Directory
& # 183 ; On-line Courses
& # 183 ; Company Profiles
& # 183 ; Customer Relationship Management ( CRM )
& # 183 ; Banner Advertising
& # 183 ; Sponsorships
& # 183 ; eManufactureing
& # 183 ; RFP & # 8217 ; s and RFQ & # 8217 ; s
2.3 TapNet Product ( s ) or Service ( s )
TapNet is traveling to supply all of the portal services listed above, but we are traveling to distinguish our merchandise offering by taking advantage of the broadband web to offer services that leverage the high-velocity capacities. Specifically, TapNet is traveling to concentrate on three cardinal application offerings: eManufacturing, Customer Relationship Management ( CRM ) , and Distance Education.
2.3.1 eManufacturing
Production is get downing to utilize it to synchronise fabrication beat and efficiencies with those of the supply concatenation. The strategy ranged from natural electrical power and distribution through device detectors and actuators, programmable logic accountants, and web and integrating services. It is a manner to possible nexus the 1000000s of devices on works floors that run on package yet are non capable of being connected to Ethernet, the emerging lingua franca of mill webs.
& # 8220 ; The demand for an eManufacturing response begins every bit shortly as a company decides to accept an order from the Internet, & # 8221 ; says Lanny Metcalf, Schneider & # 8217 ; s Transparent Factory merchandise director. & # 8220 ; By making that, you & # 8217 ; ve initiated the procedure of wholly altering your whole doctrine of making concern. And to win, the full concern procedure demands to be reevaluated-including fabrication.
& # 8220 ; Overlaying some Internet engineering is non plenty. Strategic mistakes are being made if the given is that the concern impact of the Internet Michigan with purchasing natural stuffs, join forcesing with concern spouses, and presenting client merchandises and services, & # 8221 ; adds Metcalf.
2.3.1.1 Serving the client
eManufacturing is driven by the new prominence of the client, says analyst Leif Erikson, research manager, manufacturing/e-business, AMR Research Inc. , Boston. & # 8220 ; The client is still king, but makers need to recognize that in e-business the male monarch has far more power and [ supplying satisfaction ] requires much greater reactivity from the production floor. For illustration, there & # 8217 ; s got to be some manner of finding outright, in existent clip, the ability to carry through an order productively. In eManufacturing, capacity and stock lists need to be seeable to the supply concatenation.
Manufacturers need systems that can uncover available capacity, position of orders, and quality of a merchandise & # 8212 ; non merely after it comes off the line, but while it is in process. & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; Since e-business is truly about linking more closely with clients, operations across the endeavor, including the works floor, must be synchronized, & # 8221 ; says Dick Hill, frailty president of ARC Advisory Group, Dedham, Mass. & # 8220 ; Due to the collaborative nature of e-business schemes, the works floor has to be a full collaborative spouse in the full e-business architecture. Otherwise, uneffective works controls rapidly go the seeable constriction, & # 8221 ; he adds.
Metcalf emphasizes eManufacturing & # 8217 ; s competitory significance: & # 8220 ; An e-enabled works has every bit much or more strategic potency to cut costs and better efficiencies as any invention in buying or gross revenues. Making that possible is a new coevals of Internet-compatible equipment, including everything from PLCs with embedded Web waiters to power-monitoring systems that can place cost-effectiveManufacturing locations for large orders. & # 8221 ;
He recommends get downing the eManufacturing journey by acknowledging the demand for making a seamless flow of information from the mill floor. He suggests an opening inquiry: & # 8220 ; What are the figure of interfaces that exist between your concern systems-such as planning and stock list systems? If the reply is one, the endeavor is good on its manner to the sort of integrating that & # 8217 ; s needed. If there are five different systems with five different interfaces, so you & # 8217 ; re merely get downing. Each interface represents possible for informations corruptness errors to occur. & # 8221 ;
Metcalf suggests emulating the cost-cutting justification used when buying sections adopted electronic procurance. & # 8220 ; Plants have an every bit strong cost-saving narrative to state, peculiarly in footings of prognostic care, distant nosologies, and public-service corporation cost savings. & # 8221 ; He explains that many devices with an embedded Web waiter are able to pass on proactively. That means that if it breaks-or reaches certain preset parametric quantities that indicate it is about to break-it can inquire for help. & # 8221 ; His illustrations: LVDO circuit surfs from Schneider Electric & # 8217 ; s Square D trade name include a contact-wear index that alerts operators before the ledgeman fails ; and the company & # 8217 ; s motor starting motors keep path of bearing wear, temperature fluctuations, and quiver degrees.
2.3.1.2 Valuable Capabilities
What & # 8217 ; s possible today, says Metcalf, goes beyond sounding an dismay or an index visible radiation. The possibilities include originating electronic mail or signaling a beeper at the OEM, the care section, or contractor to depict the particular job and petition service and parts. Still, makers either are non cognizant of these capablenesss or they haven & # 8217 ; t been sold on their value. For illustration, see the experience of Cincinnati Machine, Cincinnati, a unit of UNOVA Inc. The company, a maker of CNC machine tools, has had a distant entree characteristic on its Cincron cell accountant since 1998, yet merely four or five clients have specified the option, says Ken Wichman, merchandise director for cell and little horizontal machining centres. The beta site for the characteristic was Winterville Machine Works, Winterville, N.C. , a subcontractor for Caterpillar and similar companies. Aerospace companies besides are utilizing the characteristic.
Called JACK, an acronym for Java Access to Cincron Knowledge, the distant entree characteristic is used by Winterville to extinguish the demand for running down to the works floor every clip information is needed from the cell accountant.
& # 8220 ; Without go forthing their several offices, the works director can bring forth a utilization study, a chief can look into the position of a hot occupation, and a care technician can look into a machine mistake, & # 8221 ; says Wichman. Users can hold entree to a broad scope of procedure information and study maps. These include graphical, dynamic cell-status show ; graphical in-cycle clip show ; and Cincron studies on fixtures, NC plans, beginning paths, Stationss, tools, and work loads. JACK besides allows users to import/export NC plans, tool informations, work loads, and paths. Operator-to-operator messaging besides is possible. Up to five Personal computers can be & # 8220 ; speaking & # 8221 ; to a Cincron cell at the same time with the JACK characteristic. Although the option can be used for Internet/intranet entree to a machine tool from outside the works, Wichman knows of no executions. JACK operates off Microsoft Internet Explorer. The browser is the gateway to the Cincron cell accountant, adds Wichman.
The machine tool company besides has a telephone-based care service called Interactive Techsupport. At the petition of the machine tool user, it allows the Cincinnati proficient support specializer to link with the CNC unit via a standard modem. Video, voice, and informations are transferred bidirectionally to let a to the full synergistic session between the machine-tool user and the technical-support specializer, says Wichman.
How much is e-enabled care worth? See bit devising and the cost deductions of downtime. By one estimation these installations, which cost in the one million millions of dollars, are down 30 % of the clip. For all makers, the norm is said to be 10 % , says Metcalf. When dislocations do occur, Web-enabled equipment besides allows OEMs to remotely supervise and mend their machines, cut downing response clip and travel disbursals.
2.3.1.3 Management tools
While electronic direction of fabricating maps such as care offers large cost and clip nest eggs, the greater strategic value may lie in the new options electronic information provides to executives. For illustration, roll uping works informations centrally besides facilitates the ability of directors to delegate work based on which works can present the quickest response clip or the lowest cost of production at a peculiar point in clip. See how you could better the handling of the increasing turbulency in electrical public-service corporation rate constructions, says Metcalf. By forcing informations from circuit proctors and PLCs scattered across multiple works sites to a cardinal location, companies now can make a better occupation of delegating energy disbursals to single cost centres, analysing energy usage tendency informations, and delegating orders to workss to take advantage of hourly fluctuations in public-service corporation rates.
Metcalf cites the illustration of a major consumer merchandises maker that expects 10 % to 15 % one-year energy nest eggs viaWeb-enabled information assemblage. A side benefit is the improved allotment of energy costs among single procedure lines. Another Metcalf illustration is a major tier-one automotive provider that is utilizing the Internet to automatically roll up and log all public-service corporation data-including H2O, air, gas, electricity, and steam-in a individual incorporate database. Data is collected in 15-minute intervals and automatically uploaded to a centralized information warehouse where it is manipulated and analyzed by the local public-service corporation as a value-added service. Among the studies the maker now receives from the public-service corporation are statistical energy-usage studies, totalized flow analysis, costs by energy beginning, collection of multiple metres, and a monthly study on entire energy costs per installation.
eManufacturing calls grim attending to connectivity challenges and it should come as no surprise that mechanization sellers translate this into chance. Two sellers, GE Industrial Systems and Cisco Systems Inc. , were inspired by their several factory-automation and Internet-networking art to organize GE Cisco Industrial Networks. Their principle was neatly captured in the June proclamation by Lloyd G. Trotter, president and CEO, GE Industrial Systems: & # 8220 ; While companies have connected their office systems, spouses, and clients, the mill floor-the bosom of fabricating -is disconnected from the remainder of the enterprise. & # 8221 ; GE Cisco & # 8217 ; s runing given is that & # 8220 ; all the proprietary protocols that are out at that place will finally one twenty-four hours be gone and be replaced with Ethernet-based, unfastened criterions architecture based on TapNet that will enable everything to speak to everything else. & # 8221 ;
2.3.1.4 Culture alteration
Success in Web enabling the mill besides hinges on the work civilization & # 8217 ; s acquaintance with e-business, adds Metcalf. A company that isn & # 8217 ; t utilizing the Web for buying, for illustration, is improbable to encompass the thought of e-enabling its workss. Manufacturers should get down little and construct the success that will convey support. GE Cisco thinks the greatest civilization challenge will be in shuting the cultural chasm between IT and the production floor. Don & # 8217 ; t understate this challenge, advises Norrington. & # 8220 ; They don & # 8217 ; t talk the same linguistic communication, they & # 8217 ; ve got different budget dollars, and they have different agendas. & # 8221 ;
Metcalf suggests constructing the scheme on IT & # 8217 ; s need to show that what they do supports the corporation & # 8217 ; s concern aims. Security is the issue highlighted by ARC & # 8217 ; s Hill: & # 8220 ; Many works directors and applied scientists believe the works floor must be kept extremist secure. The idea of an e-business execution conveying instructions from outside the works via the Internet can look really foreign. & # 8221 ;
2.3.1.5 eManufacturing Summary
The challenges of e-enabling fabrication besides are altering mechanization sellers. One illustration is Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee. & # 8220 ; Ten old ages ago we would hold been categorized as a merchandise company, but today the merchandises happen more as a consequence of work outing a concern job, & # 8221 ; says Joe Kann, frailty president, planetary concern development. & # 8220 ; By speed uping control and information integrating undertakings, our fabrication clients are necessitating more and more consulting services, & # 8221 ; says Randy Freeman, frailty president, planetary selling. & # 8220 ; With the outgrowth of e-business we & # 8217 ; re holding to associate engineering and merchandises to enterprise-wide schemes. We & # 8217 ; re in council chambers explicating how we can work out concern jobs every bit much as we find ourselves sitting in the works director & # 8217 ; s office merely speaking about manufacturing. & # 8221 ;
2.3.2 CRM
Today the handiness of econometric, demographic, lifestyle and psychographic informations, determination support systems, the Internet, and other client entree techniques are assisting selling and senior direction do client attention a world instead than merely a vision. Companies no longer want to handle their client base as a homogenous aggregation of gross bring forthing units ; they want to acquire up near and personal with each of them separately.
Supplying exceeding client service through effectual CRM is indispensable to concern success. Quality CRM systems guarantee rapid responses to all client enquiries and are designed to hike gross revenues and show your active concern for client satisfaction. CRM is a comprehensive gross revenues and marketing attack to constructing long-run client relationships and bettering concern public presentation. The best CRM systems include:
& # 183 ; Comprehensive history direction maps
& # 183 ; Contact profile, history and n-tiered relationships
& # 183 ; Automated quotation marks and correspondence
& # 183 ; Forecast, order and contract coevals
& # 183 ; Instant entree to historical history sum-up
& # 183 ; Marketing encyclopaedia and Internet communicating
Today & # 8217 ; s engineering has reached a price/performance point where it is possible to get, consolidate, analyze, and pull off the volumes of information that make this construct possible.
First of wholly, it must be understood that at its nucleus, CRM is more than merely a set of engineerings: it is a procedure. This fact will be of important importance to Information Technology ( IT ) professionals who will be asked to back up CRM with information and applications. Furthermore, it is intended to be a quotable procedure to guarantee on-going, continually bettering, and consistent consequences. Simply stated, CRM comprises the acquisition and deployment of cognition about clients to enable a company to sell more of their merchandise or service more expeditiously.
The function of enabling IT in all three of these countries & # 8211 ; deducing cognition, enabling intelligent client channels, and capturing and analysing feedback & # 8211 ; can non be over emphatic. IT professionals have a enormous chance to go enablers of a customer-centric concern scheme and to hold an impact on the organisation & # 8217 ; s bottom line.
2.3.2.1 Development of CRM
In the yesteryear, clients were served by the corner shop and door-to-door gross revenues forces. The corner shops were little, intimate, and provided one-on-one service to their patronage. The door-to-door sales representative was the other face of the company and the personal relationship established by the sales representative was the key to success. This theoretical account provided, through personal interactions, an familiarity and cognition about the client and developed client trueness and trust. The age of mass selling replaced the familiarity of a direct gross revenues force in many organisations. Centralized large-scale production, wide-geographic distribution, and one-way communicating on a expansive graduated table created a enormous assortment of easy available, low-cost goods. This put force per unit area on the comparatively inefficient corner shop and door-to-door theoretical accounts. Over clip, the local corner shop gave manner to the supermarkets, promenades, and megastores of today. While society has benefited from the cost efficiencies of these agreements, something was lost in the deal. That loss was the sense of connexion clients had with the local shopkeeper & # 8211 ; personalized service.
Mass selling was enabled through technological betterments in Television, wireless, and the printed imperativeness, all of which created simple and powerful agencies to pass on a company & # 8217 ; s message to 1000000s of people at one time. Marketing & # 8217 ; s major end was to force merchandise and create trade name acknowledgment. The chief step of success for this concern scheme was market portion. The Internet allows for a customized consumer experience. But how does TapNet heighten this equation?
2.3.2.2 Target Selling
In the mid 1980s, with the progresss of engineering and polish in direct mail and teleselling, another attack to pass on straight with the client evolved. The usage of Information System engineering allowed the choice of particular ( & # 8221 ; targeted & # 8221 ; ) clients via mail or telephone. Unlike mass selling, targeted selling had the advantage of potentially having a direct response from a client. The general scheme was to unearth possible clients by polling big Numberss. Response rates became the cardinal metric in estimating success, with response rates of two to three per centum being considered successful. Market portion still remained the primary step of concern success. Target selling recognized the demand to interac
t more with clients, albeit at a really superficial degree, but did non travel far plenty. There was a deficiency of specific informations as it relates to responses from the aiming agencies fall backing to “averages” for response rates, client purchases, and other informations. Nonetheless, mark selling was a important measure in the development to today’s CRM in that it moved the relationship between manufacturer and consumer one more measure towards a personal interaction.
2.3.3 Customer Relationship Management
CRM is the following measure in the development, and it moves us back towards developing an familiarity with today & # 8217 ; s clients, utilizing today & # 8217 ; s tools, and keeping our mass production and distribution systems. It recognizes that the equation that yields trust and trueness from a client has two variables. The first variable is information and analysis ( cognition ) : 1 has to cognize what the client wants, demands, and values. The 2nd variable is the demand for interactivity and personal contact and the manner in which the client wants to be contacted. TapNet can break heighten this experience with more real-time communicating, voice over IP, picture over IP, transmittal of more diagrammatically, multimedia & # 8211 ; oriented messages. The success of a customer-centric concern scheme is measured non merely by & # 8220 ; share-of-market & # 8221 ; but by & # 8220 ; share-of-customer. & # 8221 ;
In the undermentioned theoretical account, the four quarter-circles represent attacks that combine comparative steps of cognition about a client and interactivity with that client.
& # 183 ; The cognition graduated table is a step of what is known about the client & # 8217 ; s behaviour and values. This is the informational and analytical portion of equation.
& # 183 ; Interactivity is the step of duologue with a mark client, from one manner communications at the low terminal to full interactivity at the upper terminal. This represents the personal contact and interaction portion of the equation.
2.3.3.1 The Customer Relationship Management Cycle
Because the procedure is intended to be quotable, it is merely natural that a rhythm is associated with the execution of CRM. This rhythm consists of an assessment stage, a planning stage, and an executing stage. In this rhythm, appraisal is made up of the cognition acquisition parts of the procedure, be aftering comprises the originative portion of the selling procedure, while the executing stage maps to the client interaction elements.
2.3.3.2 Execute
The executing stage of the rhythm is where an organisation puts all this cognition to work, utilizing all of the client touch points available. Effective client interaction, which has two dimensions, is the key here. The first dimension is the executing and direction of selling runs and client intervention schemes through these interaction touch points. Customer touch points utilizing TapNet and all the broadband capablenesss ( communicating, multimedia, etc. ) expand and conclude here.
2.3.3.3 Customer Relationship Management Summary
Businesss are cut downing staff and at the same clip seeking for ways to build up employees with information to do better determinations and innovate.
The construct of & # 8220 ; Customer Relationship Management & # 8221 ; as a scheme reflects the concern procedures and engineering enablers that can be combined to optimise gross, profitableness, and client trueness.
By implementing a CRM scheme, an organisation can better the concern procedures and engineering solutions around merchandising, selling and serving maps across all client touch-points ( for illustration, Web, electronic mail, phone, facsimile, in-person, and the touch points enabled by TapNet.
CRM applications address the undermentioned concern maps:
& # 183 ; Gross saless Automation
& # 183 ; Marketing Automation
& # 183 ; Customer Service and Support
& # 183 ; Channel Management/partner Relationship Management
& # 183 ; Internal Helpdesk
The rapid credence and integrating of the Internet has caused the most important alteration in CRM applications & # 8211 ; morphing of classs as CRM applications progressively use Internet-based architectures. CRM and e-commerce are meeting into a customer-centric solution, which allows organisations to interact with, sell to, and service clients through all channels.
2.3.3.4 Business Drivers
The major driver of growing in CRM is the Internet, which is enabling many new activities and concern procedures that were ne’er before possible. For illustration: 1:1 selling and & # 8220 ; Mass-customization & # 8221 ; of selling plans, Web store-fronts with on-line purchase capablenesss, and Web self-service for clients.
2.3.4 Distance Education
The Association Web Site will have, as one of its most of import subdivisions, an on-line instruction country. In this portion of the site Association members will be able to subscribe up for categories they need to better their operations, learn about ordinances and how to follow with them, and any other type of preparation that the member associations will bespeak. We will hold set up real-time every bit good as stored categories so that pupils can interact with others in the category who may be spread around the state, every bit good as the teacher who could be anyplace in the universe. The stored categories will be made available for those who can non go to a on a regular basis scheduled category but who would still wish to take advantage of the acquisition opportunities we will offer. All real-time categories will be recorded and we will make particular on-line preparation chances where appropriate.
2.3.4.1 What is the Procedure?
As Trade Associations fall in our site, we will work them to calculate out what kind of developing their members need and whether they would be able to make real-time or stored categories. Peoples in some kinds of associations that are spread around the state ( or the universe, for that affair ) may non hold the ability to put a specific clip when their members can be available for real-time preparation. I that instance we would do more stored classs available. Regional associations, nevertheless, may be able to put aside specific times and day of the months and have adequate members available where it would do real-time categories executable.
Once we have the petitions from the associations sketching their educational demands, we will contract out with universities, developing institutes, and others to make the content. Real-time professors will necessitate the substructure put in topographic point to learn the categories, computing machines, cameras, electronic whiteboards, e-mail histories, and whatever else is needed.
Association members will so be asked to subscribe up for categories on our web site where they will be given login and watchword for their history. Their history will include demographic information every bit good as keep path of classs, professional enfranchisements, categories taken, and other information. The association will hold entree to this information to maintain path of how their members are come oning in any needed preparation.
2.3.4.2 What do the Associations demand to make?
When Trade Associations sign up with our service, we will offer them the chance to bespeak specific developing based on their particular demands or to see whatever on-line content we presently offer. Any specialised preparation will necessitate that they get a certain figure of their members to subscribe up and, accordingly, wage. Once a category has either been requested or picked from the available, it will be up to the Association to guarantee that their members have the right engineering in topographic point, computing machines, e-mail, web entree, and cyberspace streaming picture cameras that they will necessitate to take part. We will be available for proficient advice and testing of their connexions, but will non physically install anything.
The associations will besides hold to publicize their new partnership with our web site in their trade magazines, meetings, and newssheets. They will be paying for content beforehand, so it will be on them to acquire their members to really subscribe up for it and & # 8220 ; go to & # 8221 ; categories.
2.3.4.3 What needs to be put in topographic point?
We will necessitate to do a big investing in equipment, package, and people to run it at the beginning, but with right resource direction and planning at that place should non be a immense demand for continued big capital disbursal once the initial substructure is in topographic point.
The first things that will necessitate to be ordered are waiters with adequate difficult thrust capacity, treating power, and bandwidth. These waiters will hold to manage the undertaking of streaming many categories at one clip to potentially tonss of pupils every bit good as individual connexions to one pupil at a clip when they are view stored categories. Using IPv6 & # 8217 ; s ability to multicast will salvage bandwidth at our terminal and cut down web traffic.
The package and hardware will be the bosom of our site. It will necessitate to be user friendly, easy to keep, and powerful plenty to manage the sub-rosa work that will be needed. Many of the smaller association & # 8217 ; s members may non hold any or really small computing machine experience. Making the site visit every bit easy as possible for these members will be our most of import undertaking. If no 1 shows up for the on-line instruction that we will be offering, so the Associations affiliated with our site will non be happy and will call off. We will necessitate to purchase, install, and keep easy to utilize coaction and instruction package. This will include pieces such as Microsoft & # 8217 ; s NetMeeting package and Blackboard.com & # 8217 ; s educational portal package, every bit good as electronic mail, and instant messaging bundles.
Behind the scenes we will necessitate redundancy for our serves in the signifier of High Availability ( HA ) systems from Sun or other sellers. Uptime is the most of import portion of offering an on-line service. If you have bad uptime so people will decline to revisit your site and you will neglect.
About every bit of import as uptime are backups. If one side of your HA system is traveling to crash, you need to be able to lade a correct, up-to-date backup of the environment every bit shortly as possible so synchronise your system such that users are ne’er affected and notice every bit small break in service as possible.
Finally, we will necessitate to hold excess web architecture based on IPv6 with systems in topographic point to alarm of us of any possible traffic jobs. Additionally, both excess web connexions every bit good as backup switches, routers and hubs need to be in topographic point to manage any possible web hardware issues. Concurrently we need to be measuring the wellness of the web at all times to prevent any jobs with bandwidth either inside our ain system or with our connexion to Internet 2. Since we will be in the concern of streaming real-time picture and sound we can non afford for there to be either latency in the streaming packages or loss of packages due to faulty hardware.
2.3.4.4 Distance Education Summary
After the initial investing in hardware and package, the cost of the categories will be covered by the Association & # 8217 ; s dues charged when they join the site. Tuition from pupils will besides travel towards category content creative activity. Once the categories have been created the first clip, they will be edited, cleaned up and offered on the web site for others to take at subsequently day of the months. This will incur minimum disbursal ( difficult thrust, backup tapes, etc ) on our portion and allow us generated gross in future periods. Association members will be charged tuition for categories they take online with either the pupil & # 8217 ; s themselves paying or the Associations covering the cost for needed categories.
3. Market Research and Analysis
3.1 Customers
Our clients are all the professional trade associations in the US. It is our believe that every association can profit in some form or signifier from holding a Web presence. Our initial focal point will be on those associations, irrespective of whether they are presently online, that can profit the most from our broadband offerings: eManufacturing, CRM, and Distance Education. Along these lines, we are aiming associations whose professional topic affair has one or more of the undermentioned features: fabrication based, client based, dynamic and altering cognition base. The associations that display these features will hold the most to derive from our offering: hastening the fabrication procedure, keeping a organized and dynamic client attack, and maintaining abreast of all the latest industry ordinances through distance acquisition.
Adhering to the scheme of placing associations that stand to derive the most from our broadband offerings, we have targeted the undermentioned association classs and sub-categories.
3.1.1 Computers & A ; Internet
The machines, their connexions, and their capablenesss.
& # 183 ; Computer Hardware, Computer Science, Computer Software, Cyberculture, Internet, Platforms, Programming, System Administration, Computers & A ; Internet News.
3.1.2 Education
Schooling and direction ; the proviso of cognition or preparation in a peculiar country or for a peculiar intent.
& # 183 ; Early Childhood and Pre-school, K-12, Alternative, Special, Higher Education, Adult, Vocational, Teachers & A ; Administrators, Education News.
3.1.3 Health & A ; Medical Sciences
Covering with the status of an being & # 8212 ; its freedom from disease or the diagnosis and treating of disease or other harm to organic structure or head.
& # 183 ; Alcohol, Drugs & A ; Tobacco, Alternative Medicine, Consumer Information | Disabilities | Diseases, Disorders & A ; Syndromes | Donors and Transplants, Exercise & A ; Fitness, First Aid, General Medicine, Geriatrics, Health Care Management & A ; Policy, History of Medicine, Injuries, Medical Technology, Men & # 8217 ; s Health, Mental Health, Medications & A ; Pharmaceuticals, Nursing, Nutrition & A ; Diet, Occupational Health & A ; Safety, Oral Health & A ; Dentistry, Pain Treatment & A ; Management, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine, Sexuality Specialization, Surgery, Veterinary Medicine, Women & # 8217 ; s Health, Professional Resources, Health & A ; Medical Sciences News.
3.1.4 Law, Government & A ; Political Science
Rules and rules regulating a community and enforced by a political authorization ; affairs holding to make with the control and disposal of public policy in a political unit ; the survey of the procedures, rules, and construction of authorities and of political establishments.
& # 183 ; Law, Law Enforcement, Government, Political Science.
3.1.5 Science & A ; Technology
The natural and physical scientific disciplines and their practical applications.
& # 183 ; Agriculture, Astronomy, Chemical Sciences ( Chemistry ) , Communications, Controversial, Earth Sciences, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Environmental Sciences & A ; Ecology, Horology ( Time Measurement, Clocks, Calendars ) , Life Sciences, Mathematics, Paleontology, Physics, Transportation, Science & A ; Technology News.
3.2 Market Size and Trends
There are about 200 US-based associations, both on and off line, that exist in our mark countries outlined above.
As with everything in this of all time increasing wired universe, present your message 24 hours a twenty-four hours 7 yearss a hebdomad to anyone, anywhere is going cardinal to success. An on-line portal allows such entree and supports the following market tendencies:
3.2.1 Increase Grosss
Associations don & # 8217 ; t desire merely a simple web site. Rather it is of import to hold a web site that create a multi-media presence that builds on itself & # 8211 ; each constituent profiting the other. Use web sites to construct grosss for association meetings & # 8211 ; utilizing the meeting to make the indispensable web site. Association portals offer the undermentioned gross sweetenings:
& # 183 ; Member profiles & # 8211 ; with images, answer signifiers, electronic mail and web links & # 8211 ; searchable by name, location, merchandise or cardinal word. Offer expanded entree to online enrollments.
& # 183 ; Product listings & # 8211 ; allow members to include images and free signifier text descriptions of their services or merchandises.
& # 183 ; Banner Advertising & # 8211 ; an extra manner that members can pull attending to both their on-line shows.
& # 183 ; Sponsorships & # 8211 ; of specific countries of the Internet community leting members to fasten user designation between them and a merchandise or service.
& # 183 ; Lead coevals & # 8211 ; with statistics on feelings and & # 8216 ; snap throughs & # 8217 ; & # 8211 ; offer your members entree to the database of Internet Community registrants.
3.2.2 Be your industry & # 8217 ; s portal
Capitalize on your assets: name acknowledgment, rank and your established lines of communicating to make the indispensable presence on the web. These assets are the agencies and tools that insure that your web site will go the portal. One that all others will desire to take part in & # 8211 ; and benefit from.
3.2.3 Provide e-commerce sites
Offer your members complete e-commerce enabled shopfronts.
For the member your Internet community can take the chance from your site straight to their online shopfront to shut the trade. This can be another value-added member benefit & # 8211 ; and an extra gross beginning for your organisation.
3.2.4 Create an Internet Community
Complete an online Internet Community presence with:
& # 183 ; Virtual Exhibit Hall
& # 183 ; New Merchandises
& # 183 ; Classified Ads
& # 183 ; Community Discussion Forum
& # 183 ; Live Chat
& # 183 ; Current Features
& # 183 ; Industry Profiles
& # 183 ; Industry Events
& # 183 ; Featured Articles
& # 183 ; What & # 8217 ; s New
& # 183 ; Member information and enrollment
& # 183 ; Program descriptions,
& # 183 ; Exhibit Hall enrollment
3.3 Competition
There are about 240 ISPs operating in the U.S. Of these, about 10 % offer broadband capablenesss and less than 5 % offer the type of community and concern edifice applications we provide. There are presently no broadband ISP dedicated to the creative activity of profession trade associations.
Clearly we have the chance to be the market leader by deriving, among other things, foremost mover advantage.
4. Selling Plan
4.1 Overall Marketing Scheme
In order for TapNet to be successful it must bring forth a series of repetition users and set up its community. This is enormously import for the success of TapNet. The TapNet site is aiming a really choice group of users, the trade association community. The undermentioned characteristics are designed to be offered as free or fee services to this community in return for bring forthing involvement, repetition usage and trueness to the site as active participants of this community.
4.2 Pricing
Pricing will be established based on taking Internet Pricing Models. TapNet will offer streamer adds to all its trade association & # 8217 ; s members. This will be based on a level fee and a annual contract.
4.3 Gross saless Tactics and Promotion
Gross saless tactics include merely utilizing online capableness. No direct gross revenues force will be deployed to help in selling activities. Major publicities include the followers:
& # 183 ; Trade Show Site & # 8211 ; On the TapNet.com front page, there is a series of links to microsites that provide information and services for the tradeshow visitant and exhibitioners in the signifier of a practical trade show. This practical trade shows are a nexus to merchandise association web sites that offer merchandise and services to other trade associations. These microsites will be a great draw for TapNet site.
& # 183 ; Daily Trade Association Headlines & # 8211 ; This characteristic is a day-to-day electronic mail posted and pushed automatically to all endorsers. The day-to-day headlines are short: two to three sentence endorsement about events and issues impacting the trade association industry as they happen. The electronic mail newssheet is free and easy downloadable.
& # 183 ; Discussion Forums & # 8211 ; This characteristic I a bulletin board manner posted treatment.
& # 183 ; Stock Listing & # 8211 ; This characteristic provides stocks traded in US. The hold is 15 proceedingss and is used as a draw.
& # 183 ; Calendar of Events & # 8211 ; This characteristic provides a listing of the events of relevancy to the trade association. Events are organized by the month in which they occur.
4.4 Ad
Our end is to publicize on the prima Internet portal and hunt engines. We will besides take part in print ads of taking trade association magazines.
5. Design and Development Plans
The design of the system will hold to include several factors. From the client & # 8217 ; s point of position they will desire security, reactivity, cost and handiness. Our demands will include maintainability, catastrophe recovery, and cost.
5.1 Development Status and Tasks
Current development position is in the planning phase. From this point on we need to turn to the undermentioned issues: web connectivity, server purchase, construct and put in, package install, security, and user testing.
Network connectivity depends on whether we decide to host our waiters in our ain installation or contract out with a hosting company to manage it. If we do it in-house we will necessitate to budget for power, air conditioning, security, and connectivity. Hosting with another company will cut down our apparatus times but will take down our & # 8220 ; sense of ownership & # 8221 ; .
Buying the waiters is really the end-state of a procedure that will include demand authorship, application handiness per platform, initial cost, apparatus cost, and care costs, and public presentation over several different serviceability theoretical accounts. We need to hold a good sense of how difficult and in what manner the waiters will be used before we can do a concluding purchase determination.
There are merely a limited figure of package bundles that will make what we need, so it should be reasonably speedy and easy to acquire representatives in to give us presentations of their merchandises and do a concluding choice.
Security will be a major merchandising point for our clients. They will desire to be able to see their informations without excessively many fusss while at the same clip non allow others entree to it. We will necessitate to be after for security that keeps unwanted cyberspace hackers off our system every bit good as keep clients who are allowed on the system to see merely the informations that they are supposed to hold entree to.
5.2 Troubles and Hazards
The most hard portion of puting up the whole environment will be doing certain that all the parts work together. Integrating all the assorted package constituents will necessitate extended testing in both functionality and public presentation. The system will hold to be flexible adequate to manage all the package we plan on stop uping into it every bit good as be robust plenty to manage the burden of a big figure of coincident users hitting the system and striving available resources.
The biggest hazard we face is holding the hardware and package in topographic point but dissatisfactory our users through non-availability, slow response, or offering functionality that they either do non desire or make non necessitate. It should be possible to sing up clients because of the promise of user friendliness and advanced merchandise offerings. Keeping them as clients will necessitate that we keep them happy supplying a degree of service that we have promised.
5.3 Proprietary Issues
Propriety issues include the content that we will be supplying to our clients, informations about our clients that we store on our waiters, and our concern & # 8220 ; best patterns & # 8221 ; that will let us to server our clients.
Client issues can be handled through appropriate segregation of client informations. We will make this by puting up separate databases, Virtual Private Networks, and logins for each client. This should ease any frights of informations taint every bit good as allow us to better pull off our proprietary informations by taging it specific to each client.
6. The Financial Plan
6.1 Actual Income Statements and Balance Sheets
6.1.1 Expenses
2001 2002 2003 2004
Staffing 494,992 791,339 2,302,619 6,227,837
Technology 729,523 904,251 1,198,932 1,620,195
Undertakings 1,920,000 71,533 60,000 136,023
Other 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000
Entire $ 3,214,514 $ 1,837,124 $ 3,631,552 $ 8,054,056
6.1.2 Gross
2001 2002 2003 2004
Gross $ 689,456.06 $ 2,625,286.25 $ 11,202,679.85 $ 25,011,536.56
Expenses $ 3,349,089.19 $ 2,044,441.62 $ 4,241,547.64 $ 9,634,079.27
Net Profits/ ( loss ) ( $ 2,659,633.13 ) $ 580,844.63 $ 6,961,132.21 $ 15,377,457.28
Net income Margin -385.8 % 22.1 % 62.1 % 61.5 %
Net incomes per Common Share -0.30 0.06 0.78 1.72
6.1.3 Staffing
2001 2002 2003 2004 Sum
Exec. & A ; Staff Salary 448,583 691,060 1,933,320 5,166,745 8,239,709
Office Space and Furniture 36,033 78,569 291,888 845,295 1,251,785
Travel and Expense 10,375 21,711 77,412 215,797 325,294
Number of staff 5 27 139 416 587
Cost of staff per one-fourth 40,604 42,253 43,968 45,754 43,145
Number of staff 5 27 139 416 587
Square pess per staff 900 900 900 900 900
Cost per square pes 123 128 133 139 131
Hours per one-fourth 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
Cost per hr 203 211 220 229 216
6.1.4 Technology
2001 2002 2003 2004
Personal computers $ 28,013 $ 58,620 $ 209,011 $ 582,652
Web Hosting includes Bandwidth $ 480,000 $ 600,000 $ 720,000 $ 720,000
Application Package Software $ 120,000 $ 140,000 $ 160,000 $ 160,000
Application Maintenance $ 101,510 $ 105,632 $ 109,921 $ 114,384
Telecommunication $ 2,075 $ 4,342 $ 15,482 $ 43,159
Number of staff 5 27 139 416
Cost of Personal computers per staff per one-fourth $ 5,400 $ 5,400 $ 5,400 $ 5,400
Hours per one-fourth $ 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
Cost per hr $ 203 $ 211 $ 220 $ 229
7. Proposed Company Offer
7.1 Proposed Company Offer
The aim of this subdivision is to bespeak the sum of money that is being sought for TapNet.
7.2 Desired Financing
Based on real-time hard currency flow undertakings we need $ 19,350,000.00 over the following three old ages.
The dislocation is: Shares IPO monetary value
Secured from Offering 3,850,000 $ 5.00 19,250,000
Loans from Directors 100,000
Entire Cash Flow from Offering 19,350,000
Offer Shares
Type of Stock Common
Percentage of Company that investors will keep after Offering 50,000 5 %
Securities sold through private arrangement Preferred
7.3 Capitalization
Current Outstanding Shares 0
Proposed Outstanding Shares 3,850,000
Available to Public 4,000,000 40 %
Retained by Directors/Executives/Board 5,100,000 51 %
Remained authorised but unissued 200,000 2 %
Reserved for Stock Options for future employees 200,000 2 %
Entire Shares Authorized 10,000,000 100 %
Use of Fundss
The capital raised during this offering will be used in the undermentioned ways:
Ongoing Operationss 12,288,701
Implement Technology Platform 2,187,556
Selling Costss 260,000
Networks & A ; Assets 4,474,800
Legal 20,000
Entire Use of Fundss 19,231,057
7.4 Investors Return
Rate of Return over 4 old ages 226 %
7.5 Exit Scheme
Directors propose an straight-out sale of TapNet with in 48 months of establishing offering. ( 1/2005 )
