What to ask before accepting a business plan? Detailed
1. What is your business? What is your focus?
Product Name: PakiPay.com
Product Description: Online Micro Transaction payment system. Allows user to safely and rapidly transfer funds from one user to another using the internet, be it anywhere in Pakistan.
Also offers micro transaction tools for providing online merchant sales, without the use of the credit card.
Nature of business : Online Payment Transaction service. 100% Chargeback free.
Unique features: No Chargeback, No Credit Card, 100% secure via bank.
What need are you fulfilling or what problem are you solving?
Micro transaction payment, via the internet, which are a key requirement for any internet based economy to flourish. Automated payments.
Are substitutes available (local/imported)? Can they be made available easily?
Not at this time, Possible but will be difficult.
2. What is unique about you? What is/are your core competency(ies)? How can we be confident of your deliverability? Why should we fund you rather than your competitor?
I wish there was competition, so I could make my self better, however there aren’t any at this time.
The concept is very doable due to the fact that models like this on www.paypal.com www.moneybrokers.com have already succeeded.
3. What is unique about the timing of this business (is it urgent)? Is this an opportunity that exists today but won’t tomorrow? Can we afford to wait?
Its an idea sitting there to be made money from. Whoever comes first will be the champion, like Visa and Master card are today.
It’s a need of the time, to launch this service and take advantage of.
4. Who is your management team?
· Founder-managers’ experience, skill set and qualifications
Rehan Ahmed , Founder and Chief Technical Architect
CV Attached.
Khalid Khan, GM
5. What is your business model (primary source of revenue)?
Service charges from the transaction service.
Service Charges for Bill Payment
6. Who are your competitors? Who is your archrival?
· Existing (give a breakdown of their market share)
None
· Potential
I would say none, as the site has been around for over 2 years now, and none have started so far.
· Are barriers to entry low or high?
High, Financial strengths needed.
7. Who are your customers? Quantify the size of your market segment, identify the top 10 customers
· Existing
200,000 registered members already
· Potential
Every one who uses the internet
· Do customers enjoy bargaining power in the industry?
No
8. Who are your suppliers?
· It’s a software product, we have built it our self.
9. What is the status of your business?
· Product or service available to customers
10. What are the Key Success Factors (KSFs) in your industry? [Product or service quality/consistency/deliverability, market contacts, distribution, technical know-how, branding, etc]. Which ONE factor do you think is the make-or-break issue?
Promotion and Placement of the product
11. How are you positioned against those KSFs? (Make a Strategy Canvas as shown below for your industry and identify your position as well as your competitors’)
12. SWOT analysis
· Strengths (of your company) : Technology ,Vision and enhancements
· Weaknesses (of your company): Management
· Opportunities (offered by the external environment) Too much Demand
· Threats (posed by the external environment) : Net work Security
·
13. Technology – mature or evolving? Level of sophistication required? Does one of the core team members have the necessary technical skills/experience? Skilled manpower available locally?
Mature, Yes lots of good implementers and programmers are available.
14. Is the industry regulated? Are government regulations a major factor in the industry? How likely is a direct government intervention or sudden change of rules? Is there a recent trend towards deregulation? How long will it take?
The industry is not regulated, however we believe that SECP may try to bring us into some banking regulation, therefore we need a good law firm to back us up for this to protect us, and to possibly generate a license for doing this which will create less competition.
15. How much money are you looking to raise? Give a breakdown of your project cost under three scenarios – bare bones case (minimum investment needed to start off), base case and ideal (PRs million)
We wish to start off with 20 Million to start off with. And comfortably with 40 million.
16. What is your projected monthly cash burn? What is the breakdown between payroll and other expenses? When do you expect to break-even?
17. What is your target valuation? (eg US$5m business in 3 years, etc)? What is it based on?
Cash deposit, and transaction
18. In two years time, where do you see your company in terms of:
· Revenues? (No. of projects completed X average value of a project)?
· Net profit? (Operating margin X revenues less operating expenses and taxes OR net margin X revenues)
· No. of people employed?
· Local market share?
· Monthly burn (Absolute in PRs)?
· Export market share (% and/or absolute US$)?
19. What can go wrong? [Cost over-runs, problems with suppliers/distributors, unforeseen industry developments/trends, competitive price-cutting, product quality deterioration, inability to retain key employees, entry of low-cost substitutes, etc]. What is the key threat you are most likely to face in the implementation phase? What is the contingency plan to mitigate this risk?
20. Do you have an exit strategy? When and how do you plan to exit?
21. Who are your current investors? What percentage of your project is self-funded at present? How much of your own money have you invested so far (absolute + % of your cumulative savings)?
22. What positive or negative externalities is your business likely to generate? Social/ethical/technological/environmental aspects?
23. Projected income statement, balance sheet and cash flow for year 1, 2, 3.
24. Provide three separate income statements for years 1, 2, 3 under three scenarios – bare bones case, base case and ideal. In each case clearly state the key assumptions
25. What is your current business address? (Also, phone, fax, email)
Addendum
26. How did you conceive the idea? Background?
27. Recent key trends in the industry? What is in/out?
28. How did you come to know of TMT Ventures? How much do you know about us? What is it that you like about us? What is it that you dislike about us? [We appreciate an honest and direct response]
29. Did you try for funding before coming to TMT Ventures? Who did you contact? What was the response?
30. If you don’t receive TMT funding what will you do? Go to other investors? Invest your own money? Shelve the project? Amend the business model?
31. What is your personal vision of your company?
PS: Please attach core management’s resumes along with this questionnaire