Meeting challenges 1) and 2) - with case studies

Background 

Innovative technologies, capabilities and services can often be applied to a number of potential markets and business applications, whether initially identified by the creators or emerging during the development stage e.g. from potential end user conversations.

The challenge can be to prioritise time and resources towards the most productive solution focus and entry market; delivering the best platform for product, revenue and reputational growth, which may not be obvious. 

While there may be valid internal perspectives, these need to be balanced with such as:

• Potential market conditions, including current state, business and technology trends plus barriers to entry e.g. competition, cost to serve, standards and regulation

• Knowledge of validated business critical requirements, via decision makers in potential markets and accounts; informing which potential applications could deliver the biggest business impact and ROI, with forecast.

• Ability to execute; aligned with core solution capability, target market contacts and available in-house resources

• Knowledge of potential partners

• Relative investment and risk

Many innovators struggle with this, being caught between ‘boiling the ocean’ chasing multiple application possibilities or attraction to servicing the first end user that shows a credible interest, before they run out of resources.

Case study

An innovative U.K. based precision engineering company, were developing a novel propulsion system with multiple potential applications. Directors connections with the U.S. aerospace industry had led to heavy investment of time and other resources in pursuit of an equally novel aircraft application with a U.S. partner, which had become a cherished but unproductive prospect, stalling company progress.

After helping the company to re-evaluate the risks and chances of success for that application of their technology, subsequently dropped, I led the effort to identify more productive local opportunities. This resulted in a switch to military and civil marine propulsion, yielding £multi-million early adopter client funding for development programmes alongside local partners that moved the technology through detailed design to on-water demonstrators, opening up global markets for their innovations.  

Background

Everybody sells, but not every innovator has the experience, capacity or perhaps patience to understand or gain ‘buy in’ from such external investors as may be necessary to take their innovation forward; sometimes believing that the merits and potential of their inventions must be self-evident.

Common missteps in attempting to secure investment include:

• Lack of knowledge and understanding of potential sources of investment e.g. angel investors, family trusts, government innovation funds, early adopter end users and venture capital.  

• Lack of research and knowledge of the background, investment focus, key decision factors, required ROI metrics, investment history and likely exit strategy of a potential investor; before pitching.

• Lack of detailed knowledge of and rationale for your chosen market, see opposite, with credible reasons why your innovation and company will succeed there.  

• Lack of early pitch impact, e.g. not highlighting from the start achievable company goals and returns from investing in and exploiting your company’s IP and innovative solutions, in your chosen market.  

• Pitches that work forward from the technology, rather than back from the critical market and end user business requirement being uniquely met by the innovation, then detailing how.

• Lack of detail in and integration between the R&D, financial and go to market business plans, aligned with the potential investor key decision criteria and metrics.

• Holes in the company’s R&D, IP protection, market entry and financial risk assessments, with required mitigation.

• Lack of clarity on next steps and specific deliverables of the first and following investment stages, when asking for investor funding commitment.

Any one of these failings can quickly switch off potential investors, stalling if not killing the company. 

Case study

An innovative U.K. technology company required additional investment to accelerate their development and entry into a new market. Comfortable talking about their technology they needed help to sharpen their investment proposal, in terms of both content and risk mitigation.

After helping the company to re-focus and reinforce their proposition, I identified a complementary partner to mitigate the perceived research, development and delivery risks for the new market, which was key to securing £1m+ government innovation investment.   

Background

Both established technology solution providers and early-stage innovators can struggle to secure early adopter end users for novel offerings to their chosen market.

Such early end user success can be  transformative in investor confidence, subsequent business acceleration and company valuation. It is therefore a critical company success factor.  

Natural end user conservatism, traditional or incumbent competition, established advisors and internal competition from alternative applications of capital expenditure can all be barriers to success, regardless of the agreed merits and ROI of your innovative technology solution.

Case study

A large retailer with a dynamic business model, was looking for a flexible new business software suite, with enhanced analysis and reporting, including user self-service access to detailed financial and operational information to improve business efficiency and agility.

Competition was fierce from global software suppliers with solid, but less innovative, solutions. A key issue in the selection process would be end user confidence in the ability of the software to accommodate the complexity of the multi format retailers business, while empowering more staff to interact with the output with minimal training and associated costs. 

While an innovative software solution provider had established a good rapport with the retailers team, they were not favourite to win the business, due to perceived selection and implementation risk.

At my suggestion the sales team stepped away and specific implementation staff that had been proposed for the project were put front and centre of the process. A model project was devised where the customer and innovators teams worked together with real data and key reporting requirements on the innovator's system, before jointly presenting the results back to relevant board members.

Concerns about solution fit, implementation teamwork and ease of self service access were dispelled and the innovator gained a high value early adopter reference contract. 

Background

Innovative solution providers looking to gain traction for new offerings and early-stage innovators looking to establish a foothold in their chosen market can have the requirement for external business partners, to lower barriers to adoption. 

However, partnerships bring their own resource demands and potential risks. There is a balance to be struck, which calls for experience, as mistakes can be costly.

For partnerships to be productive, there is as much need to understand the needs, business drivers and culture of the target partner as there is to evaluate their potential added value to an innovator’s business. 

Case study

A global supplier of both proprietary commercial and open systems CAD hardware servers had chosen Europe to pioneer sales of powerful new open systems servers for commercial applications. This spawned a programme to identify and recruit leading business application software partners for the new platform, who typically had no previous exposure to the supplier.

As part of the programme, I approached a market leading U.K. provider of business software, primarily for SME businesses or departmental applications. While conversations were cordial, it would require exceptional potential to persuade the software house owners to port and support their applications on the supplier’s platform.

The software house had a direct sales team, primarily focused on large accounts that required a direct relationship with the software author; with a latent need for their solution to be available on upscale branded servers to secure high value, HQ sales in these conservative accounts. 

Having identified overlapping interests we agreed to invest time looking for a mutually beneficial breakthrough opportunity, which presented itself when a potential client insisted that their software had to be proposed on a more upscale server and brand.     

After securing this largest single licence sale in their history with my help, the software house now had a pathway to increasing the average direct enterprise account licence value four-fold. Meanwhile, the hardware supplier had gained access to £multi-million future server sales leveraged by the application suite. The partnership ROI was clear.

Background 

Innovative technology solution providers to business often need to ‘punch above their weight’ to gain traction for new offerings in high value enterprise accounts, in new markets or across global geographies; where these can be the key to building a sustainable business.   

Given that cost of sale can be as high to gain low leverage initial orders as more impactive enterprise contracts, creativity is required to lower the perceived risk of adoption and enhance your status as a potential supplier e.g. by association with existing relationships in a target account.   

Case study

An innovative U.S. software solution provider had experienced slow progress in marketing the international version of their applications to global enterprise accounts, partly because their U.S. domestic offering was on a proprietary IBM server platform and the new international version was available solely on open systems platforms. This had potential to undermine the long-standing IBM relationship in certain territories and accounts, while inhibiting global account sales. 

The nascent European team from the innovative solution provider was then head-to-head with the market leading global competitor to provide software to the international divisions of a US manufacturing company. The manufacturers U.S. HQ IT team were not resourced for remote support of the new international open systems application suite alongside a US implementation on a proprietary IBM system.

Despite well received demonstrations of the innovative open systems application in the U.K., Europe and South Africa, it was not favoured for success.

I then suggested that hosting and technical support for the non-U.S. open system application sites should be outsourced IBM Global Services, removing the capacity and technology risk for the end user HQ IT team. 

Having thereby initiated a co-operative effort, where IBM and the innovative software provider jointly presented the international solution to the client US HQ team, a pivotal £multi-million contract was secured, while the partnership with IBM was widened and strengthened. 

Background

Having achieved initial presence in their chosen market innovative solution providers require acceleration towards becoming the ‘gorilla in the niche’ to protect the leverage of their IP and realise their financial objectives.

A number of interlocking success factors for acceleration, both internally generated and via partners, are outlined and exampled in the sections of this lifeofexperience.co.uk website, with scope for further discussion and engagement.

In addition, via market exposure, adjacent solution innovation opportunities can present themselves and deliver efficient pathways to increase the pace of business development. 

Such accelerative opportunities need to be qualified and prioritised with the same rigour as the core market focus for the company.

Case study

A U.K. solutions provider had built their success primarily on resolving generic business administration issues, including a simple project costing module for SME organisations which had latent potential for enhancement and higher-level application. 

As part of the company’s need to develop towards higher value licence sales and new enterprise markets I encouraged co-operative development between the software house and an existing ecosystem of vertical market knowledgeable specialists, to mutual benefit. 

As an example, the project costing module evolved to full activity-based costing capability for complex requirements and was critical in the team securing a £multi-million contract in a global media organisation, setting the standard for further such wins.  

Background

Ultimately founders and supporting investors are interested in growing company valuation, whether targeting IPO or trade sale, to reward their hard work and risk taking.

In the process of evaluating their exit strategy and options, which can be time consuming and distracting, directors may require help from an experienced resource to ensure maintenance of business momentum and oversight of critical projects. 

Losing focus on the resources required for organic business and value development, while diverted by exit options, can be very costly 

Case study

A software supplier had built an excellent reputation providing innovative integration solutions to financial institutions, accommodating a wide range of trading source and information repositories.

With a deep understanding of the detailed analysis and outputs demanded from existing and hard to maintain customer repositories they had initiated development of a more configurable replacement repository solution, with higher licence potential than their established integration software. Securing early business for this new development was critical to company valuation, as the founders and investors looked at options to realise their investments in the company.

Having originally been engaged to develop the company’s relationships with consulting firms and complementary software application vendors, I was then asked by the directors to oversee the sales team, including working with a key consulting partner to secure the first repository application sale and de-risk the resulting implementation project. The combined team was successful in securing the first order for the new product, with positive impact on average licence value, company valuation and eventual trade sale.  

Background

An established software solution author had a sales team of variable performance split into two teams, selling combinations of their software and related low margin hardware to a disparate range of customers.

There was a need to improve the focus, performance and profitability of this group, with no identified internal candidate.

Recognising the point at which new input is required to step up to the next level can be a key component in growing and protecting the business for the longer term.

Case study

From working with the company as an external business partner, I was then asked to manage the sales team.

After initial review, I restructured and reduced the team into a single unit, focussing new business effort on a named list of target major accounts, while eliminating low margin hardware sales. Part of the challenge was to assess which team members would adapt, with the potential to step up to more complex, high value solution selling; given the right direction and support. All in the context that there needed to be a step change in forecast reliability, productivity, revenue and margins.

By the end of my tenure the team were overachieving on their personal and company objectives, including the first £1m+ contract, along with the identification and development of my successor who subsequently founded his own innovative and successful software company.