Question
After the meeting of the Board of Directors, the Chairwoman of the Board calls you into her office. She offers you a cup of coffee and is impressed with the information that you presented in the meeting and your understanding of new ventures. She says:
“We’re ready to invest in a new generation of business leaders. There is so much talent arising from business schools and the passion for entrepreneurism, innovation, and business excellence helps to build a strong economy. I’d like you to work with a multicultural team of entrepreneurs to develop a global small business. You will need to prepare an executive business plan presentation for the global small business for the board of directors, a brand logo, and a prospective commercial that could be used to advertise the global small business’s product or service. If the global small business idea is successful, the Board of Directors may approve startup funding of up to 1 million dollars.”
Using Bloomberg Businessweek B-School Connection resources, research entrepreneurism and small businesses, and create an executive business plan presentation of 15–20 slides that includes the following:
Company Logo: An original creative graphic that identifies your company or brand.
Company Information: The name and background of your global small business including founders, history, current number of employees, and location.
Mission Statement: The purpose of your global small business.
Product or Service: A description of the products or services that your global small business will offer.
Market: The market for your global small business, including regions served and competitors.
Advertising: An original creative commercial for the products or services. The commercial should be created using an online video technology or a presentation technology. Provide a link to the commercial in your PowerPoint presentation.
Financials: The projected operational financial needs for your organization and the potential investments needed.
Growth Potential: The projected financial and market growth of the company over 5 years.
ormat.
Sample paper
Global Small Business
Company Information: Name and Background
Lighthouse is new technology company dealing in the development of home security monitoring devices. The company is involved in improving home security cameras by integrating facial recognition software as well as 3D sensors. Conventional home security monitoring devices lack these crucial features that would allow them to identify intruders. The company was founded by Alex Teichman and Hendrik Dahlkamp (Lighthouse, 2017). Teichman is the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-founder, while Dahlkamp is the current Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Co-founder. The company has five board members who also serve as the advisors. The five are Sebastian Thrun (Founding Board Member), Lior Susan (Investor and Board Member), Andy Rubin (Investor and Advisor), Bruce Leak (Investor and Advisor), and Chris Farmer (Investor and Advisor).
Company Information: History
The idea to develop a technology company began in 2014 (Bloomberg, 2017a). The same year, Lighthouse was incorporated as Snitch. This was after Teichman and Dahlkamp developed a home security system that could differentiate between humans, intruders, animals, and other objects. The duo had been working under Stanford’s StartX program when they met. With the development of the home security system, the duo founded a company known as Snitch. However, no product was introduced into the market in 2015 since the new and advanced camera was still in development. In 2016, the Co-founders adopted the name Lighthouse for the startup and dropped Snitch (Carson, 2016). Teichman had previously worked on the concept of self-driving cars while pursuing his PHD in computer science. In 2017, the company introduced its products to the market.
Company Information: Employees & Location
Currently, Lighthouse has over 20 permanent employees. Considering that it is new startup project, the number of employees will likely increase in the near future as demand for its products increases in the market (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2017). The company has developed an innovative product. As such, it will be interesting to see the uptake in the market that is characterized by low-tech cameras. Lighthouse launched the innovative camera at the beginning of the year, and there are positive signs that it will become the in-thing in home security (Moon, 2017). Lighthouse Al, Inc. is headquartered in Palo Alto, California (Bloomberg, 2017a). The current location is favorable as the company can be able to supply its products across the United States or to overseas markets.
Mission Statement
The company’s mission statement reflects the desire of the Co-founders to enhance security at homes, business premises, and homes. The term interactive emphasizes on the product’s ability to offer consumers with multiple choices or settings. Unlike the traditional home security cameras, the new home security camera has facial recognition software and 3D sensors (Carman,2017). This allows the camera to identify people, animals, and other objects. In addition, it allows the user to apply multiple settings through a smartphone. For instance, a user can set the home security camera to deliver a notification through phone if the children do not return to the house on a particular time and day.
Product
Then main product is the Lighthouse Home Security Camera. This camera utilizes smart technology to identify people, animals, and objects (Bloomberg, 2017c). Unlike the traditional security camera that and alarm system that can be triggered by shadows, pets, or birds, the new security camera is equipped with high-tech sensors that eliminate the false alerts. This ensures that the user does not receive unnecessary alerts on the phone. The Lighthouse Security Camera connects to the user via an application installed on the phone. The application enables the user to choose on whether to activate the siren or to call the police on detecting an intruder or unusual movement.
The Lighthouse Home Security Camera comes with additional and unique features. For instance, it can enable the user to replay particular scenes without the need to go through the entire recording. Voice commands prompt the camera to retrieve the specific scenes that the user requires. For instance, a user can request to know whether anyone took the dog for a walk. In such a case, the home security camera will retrieve the particular scene in an instant. This eliminates the need to go through the entire film, which is common in the traditional home security cameras. When incidences occur, it will be easier to go through the events without taking too much time. This unique feature increases the attractiveness of the product to consumers.
The Lighthouse Home Security Camera allows users to customize a variety of things including the type of notifications it should deliver to the user (Bloomberg, 2017b). The user can customize the home security camera to place more importance on certain events. This feature utilizes voice commands. For instance, the user can choose the type of events for which the home security camera sends a notification and those to ignore. In the conventional home security cameras, it is not possible to customize the system with regard to various intrusions. This gives the Lighthouse Security Camera a big plus in the market.
Market: Regions Served
Lighthouse is mainly focusing on the North American market. The company has focused efforts in gaining a large market share of the North American market. As such, all promotional and advertising efforts focus on this geographical region. Despite concentrating its marketing efforts to the North American market, the company’s products are available across the world through online retailing. This means that customers in overseas market can still access the product by ordering online. The company provides free shipping to customers in the international market. Over the next three years, the company hopes to increase its presence in the international market and compete with major international brands.
Market: Competitors
The Lighthouse Home Security Camera is relatively new in the market. As such, the product is yet to gain a significant share of the market. Still, the product faces stiff competition from dominant brands in the market. CCTV camera manufacturers are the major competitors in the market. The top brands in CCTV camera manufacturing and installation are Netatmo Presence, Arecont Vision, BCDVideo, MOBOTIX AG, Nest Cam Outdoor, and among others. Top brands such as Netatmo Presence provides stiff competition due to its large market share and customer loyalty. As such, it might be difficult for Lighthouse to win these customers (Bloomberg, 2017a).
Advertising
(The commercial should be done while seated, preferably holding something that will represent the home security camera. Embed the link for the video as instructed).
Here is a link you can use to do add ‘touch’ to the voice or as a guide for the video. https://www.popphoto.com/cameras/2013/09/45-awesome-classic-camera-commercials
“I am holding the sophisticated new Lighthouse Home Security Camera, your sure bet to knowing the all-day happenings at your home by just the command of your voice. Lighthouse Home Security Camera applies sophisticated facial recognition software and 3-D sensors that gives it the power to recognize faces, objects, animals, and other things. So, you want to know whether the next-door neighbor’s son who promised to take your dog for a walk at noon actually did so? No problem! Just command the Lighthouse Home Security Camera to show you the recording.”
Financials: Operational Financial Needs
The major financial needs of the company are salaries and wages. Salaries and wages will account for the largest operational costs. Since the company is in the technology industry, there is need to hire highly trained and qualified employees. The company will require to pay relatively good wages to ensure it retains the top talent. In the technology industry, it is critical to attract highly qualified employees who can help in driving the innovative agenda of the company. In the first year of operations, the company will primarily rely on sales promotion to get the product to customers. This is essential since it will enable the salespersons to demonstrate how the product works and obtain feedback from customers. Advertising will also help in backing the efforts of the salesforce.
Growth Potential
The projections indicate that the company will receive negative cash inflows in the first three years. The gross income for the three years is negative. The first three years will be characterized by heavy investment and low returns on investment. In addition, sales promotion and advertising budget will constitute a significant amount of costs. These budgets will be highest during the initial three years of operation. The first three years will also be characterized by heavy investments improvement of production technologies. This will also be a major cost. The projections indicate that the company will breakeven in the fourth year of operations. This will be driven by high sales growth as consumers demand more of the product. The company will also have streamlined its supply chain system.
Market Growth
The market growth is show by the projected market penetration of the company. By 2021, the company expects to achieve a market penetration of over 30 percent. By 2023, the company expects to have a market penetration of 40 percent.
References
- Carson, B. (2016). Two famous google alums are advising a secret startup building the ‘eyes of the smart home.’ Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/lighthouse-security-system-andy-rubin-sebatian-thrun-advisors-2016-9?IR=T
- Bloomberg. (2017a). Company overview of Lighthouse Al, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=430546568
- Bloomberg Businessweek. (2017, May 15). This home camera can tell who’s there. Retrieved from https://resourcecenter.businessweek.com/reviews/innovation-smart-home-camera
- Carman, A. (2017, May 11). Lighthouse is an Andy Rubin-backed smart security camera that identifies people and pets. The Verge.
- Moon, M. (2017). Lighthouse home security camera uses AI to ID people and pets. Engadget.
- Lighthouse. (2017). Building the future of our dreams. Retrieved from https://www.light.house/about
- Bloomberg. (2017a). Company overview. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=430546568
- Bloomberg. (2017b). Board members. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/board.asp?privcapId=430546568
- Bloomberg. (2017c). Committees. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/committees.asp?privcapId=430546568
Related:
