HEROIC CONSULTING AND TECHNOLOGIES

LIMITED
Business Plan

Executive Summary
Leveraging on its organizational strength, the continuous satisfaction of
its customers, and the underlying values they need will position Heroic
Consulting and Technologies Limited (HC&T) to increase sales steadily in
its first three years of operation, while also maintaining the gross margin
on sales, with a focus on cash management and working capital.
This document is the foundational plan for achieving this growth. It states
our vision and strategic focus: adding value to our target market
segments, and stamping our brand as the IT solutions provider of choice
in our local market. It also provides the step-by-step plan to generate our
sales, improve our gross margin, and increase our profitability.
This plan includes this summary, chapters on the company, products and
services, market focus, action plans and forecasts, management team,
and the financial plan.
Basically the organization will exist as follows;
To generate a profit, grow at a challenging and manageable rate, and
to be a model organization.
To provide fast and reliable service in the area of business consulting,
information technology peripherals, hardware and software, OEM
representatives, ICT Trainings and other technology ancillary services.
The initial primary service offered will be daily business transactions,
although retainer contracts and projects will be considered in the
future growth.
The organization is premised on the following basic assumptions;
The local market for this business, while not new, is wide open for new
and expanding firms.
An initial financial analysis of the viability of this venture shows
outstanding promise and results. Several sources note that the
information technology & consulting business is easy to start, requires
little up-front capital, and has the potential to be quite lucrative in
today's high tech world.

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In conclusion, as shown in the highlights chart below, this plan projects

rapid growth and high net profits over the next three years.

Chart: Highlights

1.1 Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.

Achieve healthy earnings in the first year of operation.

Maintain a midrange gross margin throughout the entire operation.
Maintain just-in-time inventory levels, or 11 turns per year.
Increase sales modestly but steadily in the second and third years.

1.2 Mission
Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limiteds mission is simple and
straightforward:
Purpose - HC&T exists to provide fast, reliable information technology
products and services to businesses /small office/home office computer
users. HC&T sells information technology solutions & results!
Vision - By providing fast response, informed expertise, and
consistently high quality solutions, HC&T generates enough satisfied
repeat customers to provide a stable retainer base. This generates
sufficient profit to provide a comfortable financial portfolio.
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 Mission - The short term objective is to start this company quickly and
inexpensively, with a minimum of debt. The long term objective is to
grow the company into a stable and profitable entity that the owner
can easily and comfortably manage.
Marketing Slogan - "HC&T IT Solutions for Business Strategy
Alignment
The keys to success for Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited are:
Marketing and Networking (getting the name out there Top of the
mind awareness - TOMA).
Building and maintaining strategic alliances with our manufacturers
and other industry related business partners;
Adopting a customer- and market-focused sales and marketing
paradigm; and,
Managing the business by implementing, and consistently measuring
and adjusting the fundamentals of a Balanced Scorecard:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Financial Goals vs. Results

Internal Business Process Goals vs. Results
Employee Learning and Growth Goals vs. Results
Customer Satisfaction Goals vs. Results

2.0 Company Summary

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will be a start-up venture with
the following characteristics:
HC&T will initially be a Private Sole Proprietorship.
The goal will be to start the venture as inexpensively as possible, with
financing as low as possible.
HC&T will be a small office start-up, utilizing two medium sized room
partitioned into a store in an office complex or reputable shopping
complex in an ICT cluster in Nigeria.

2.1 Start-up Summary

Our start-up costs will be approx: NGN 10,000,000.00. This is majorly
composed of the following:
1. Initial Inventory: NGN 5.3M
2. Initial set up operations: NGN 4.3M
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3. Other off the cuff expenses: NGN 400,000.00

4. Most expenses are typical start-up fees (Office Space, Registration
/Legal Certifications, Furnishing and other miscellaneous with one staff,
etc.).
5. Major Cash requirements consist of two years rent in advance with
capital to stock IT Hardware. Running Cost which includes the twelve
months salary of the staff and the MD will be placed as part of the
reserve for day to day operations.

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Chart: Start-up

3.0 Services
Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will provide fast and reliable
service in the area of Business Consulting, Sales of Information Technology
peripherals, Hardware and Software, OEM Representatives, ICT Trainings and
other technology ancillary services.
In addition to the above, the company will also provide services in the area
of:

Project Management and Vendor Evaluation services

IT Quality Assurance and Testing
Outsourcing Services
IT Procurement and Logistics

3.1 Service Description

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will offer the following
services corresponding to what industry experts have identified as the
major opportunities in IT consulting and technology services:
1. Business Consulting This consulting service comprises helping
corporate organizations in the area of using technology to improve
their business e.g. deploying Business Intelligence applications and
engaging in Business Analysis mapping. Formatting and Designs that
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enrich their business. Drive the market for them using Customer
Relationship Management solutions and other tools. This service
attracts Consulting Fees.
2. ICT Peripherals This specifically covers stocking ICT peripherals
from Hard Drives to Casings to Motherboards to Flash drives to
memory sticks to cables to disc to power packs to chargers to Ports to
cameras and biometric scanners to recorders to earphones etc. This is
sourced locally and abroad.
3. Hardware and Software This covers the stocking of laptops,
desktops, printers, servers, POS Terminals and the likes for the
Hardware and majorly Software development for business specific
requirements e.g. Human Capital, Financial Management, Electronic
Payment and other processes software solutions.
4. OEM Representative This is the area of signing a partnership with
Original Equipment Manufacturers like HP, IBM, ZINOX, SAGE, SAP,
ORACLE, SUN MICROSYSTEMS etc.
5. IT Trainings Traditionally, most ICT solution providers incorporate
trainings as part of the product offerings. What we will do to be
different is to engage in conceptualized organization specific trainings
that cover specific IT skills that will improve their business process. Our
selling point to the customer is that we can lower support calls and
cost for them.
6. IT Project Management and Vendor Evaluation Services - We will
engage in IT project management services leveraging on our Project
Management Professional qualification. Our expertise in vendor
evaluation services will be on a consulting basis. This is helping
organizations in managing the technology selection process.
7. IT Quality Assurance and Testing This is purely a technology
testing function. It is a service that is done to enable organizations
determine if they are getting the right deliverables from a solution they
have acquired.
8. Outsourcing Services There are several IT services that most
organizations need to outsource. There is no need for most
organizations to keep an IT Department. This service will cover repair
and maintenance works. Server and IT power infrastructure works such
as UPS installations and Generator Management.
9. IT Procurement and Logistics This is a value added service that
involves assisting organizations with full IT procurement on credit basis
as a retainer kind of service. How this will work is that any organization
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on our retainer service for IT procurement and logistics does not have
to bother about how to provide IT tools for new or existing staff. The
organization will just need to inform us and we will deliver the
equipment to their office and location for an extra marginal fee.

3.2 Sales Collateral

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will start with some basic selfgenerated Marketing materials to establish initial positioning:

Logo and theme

Stationery
Brochure
Web Presence
Customer Relationship Management Solution

3.3 Service Fulfillment Strategy

The fulfillment of services for HC&T is provided by the owner. The ultimate
deliverable is the owner's IT expertise and project management / problem
solving ability, coupled with an open mind and ease of communication
combined with excellent relationship management skills that will result in the
customer's complete confidence in immediate and lasting results.

4.0 Competitive Comparison

There seems to be four major classes of competition in the Nigerian IT
consulting industry:
In-house IT consultants - Usually employed by larger companies that
can afford the fixed cost of a salaried or hourly employee.
Individual proprietors & other IT consulting firms.
Larger consulting and technology services firms - Large, known-name
companies such as TASK SYSTEMS, COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP,
EQUIPMENT HALL, PPC, SYSTEMTECH, SIDMACH TECHNOLOGIES etc
that specialize in providing Technology services to larger companies
that choose to outsource.
Computer and electronics stores stocking hardware, software and
peripherals.
Of course, Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited fit into the market
as a private limited liability company with some goodwill garnered over
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the years by the owner working in the industry. The primary reason that
customers would buy from HC&T rather than competitors is the existing
relationships that exist between the owner and the organizations that
form the current network. Customer loyalty and satisfaction are the way
to success for SME businesses such as this.

4.1 Market Analysis Summary

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will adopt a fairly intently
focused market strategy.
A logical segmentation breaks the market down into the following: SME
Businesses and Large Businesses. Descriptions are provided below.
The largest and most logical target market for HC&T is the SME
Businesses. These businesses mostly have a need for IT Consulting
services, Technology purchases and Equipment deployment. Some
opportunity does exist, however, for retainer and/or specific project
contracts.
While there are a fair number of competitors in the local area, they
seem to be widely specialized and widely sized, leaving ample
opportunity for HC&T to create and expand a niche in the chosen
market segments.
Finally worth noting is the growth trend for this market, estimated at
around 10 to 20 percent annually.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency suggests six
market segments as a starting point:
Businesses not using computers
Small entrepreneurial businesses using one or more computers
Small to medium sized corps using computers on networks
Large corps seeking problem-solving assistance and in need of
consultants with specific projects
Government agencies, corporations, and other organizations in search
of computer training

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 Businesses in search of custom software programming services

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will focus on these market
segments only.

4.3 Market Growth

NITDA states that the IT consulting industry in general will continue to
grow at an annual rate of 10% - 20%.
Business expansion data for each identified segment in Nigeria roughly
parallel this growth rate.
SMEDAN published data supports the business data, predicting
continued and rapid growth particularly in the SME market segment.

5.0 Market Needs

According to NITDA, experts in the IT industry have identified three
different opportunities that exist for computer consultants:
1. Business technology support
Short term assignments finding technology solutions for businesses this is noted as the largest market
2. Specific Skill - the largest area is software specialty, the second largest
area

System setup & purchasing guidance

Systems reengineering/optimization
Network Admin
Training
Repair
Database/Application development
Data Storage
Disaster Recovery
Security/Data Protection
Telecommunications

3. One-off Purchases

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5.1 Service Business Analysis

The IT consulting and technology services business in Nigeria is already
well established, yet still allows ample opportunity for entry and growth
for new participants. This is supported by the following points:

While there already exists, a large number of consultants, there is also

a wide range of sizes and specialties. This leaves plenty of opportunity
for HC&T to find and develop a particular niche.
Customers in this industry tend to be loyal, relying on the same
consultant for future needs once a relationship has been established.
Though, this business arena, while no longer brand new, is far from
exhausted as an opportunity for a new and aggressive company. By utilizing
a logical and comprehensive marketing approach, HC&T should easily find
success in the IT consulting and technology services business.

5.2 Strategy and Implementation Summary

Heroic Consulting and Technologies Limited will focus on the following to
establish and grow the business:
Four main promotion strategies: networking and referrals, web based
promotion, traditional media advertising, and some non-traditional
promotion methods.
A value proposition of timely and practical solutions, at a reasonable
rate, coupled with a 100% guarantee.
A competitive edge based on cultivating existing customer
relationships.
A comprehensive and detailed marketing and sales strategy

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