We can conclude that this is an attractive business to be in.
Strategy
The company’s core competence is connecting people.
In the short term the company will focus on the niche of students and sustainable businesses and provide all the services they need in one place.
In the long term the team plans to repeat the same business model in other European countries. Another direction of development, which is worth investigating, is developing a system of micro-finance. This way Greenja could enter the mass market of micro-investors, which is currently unexploited.
As the company grows the team will gather knowledge and experience concerning business start-ups. This new asset might create an opportunity to gradually shift the core business from connecting entrepreneurs and investors to directly investing in new businesses.
Risk and Reward – Critical Success Factors
Ideal situation
Greenja becomes an increasingly profitable business, and acquires a reputation of professionalism and effectiveness. In order to achieve this and become successful the following conditions should be fulfilled:
- Achieve large number of creative students who register on the website and who are willing to start their own business, in order to generate an adequate amount of ideas.
- Reaching large number of serious investors who are interested in investing in sustainable business ideas. This is reached by using contacts, alumni, and knowledge.
- Efficient and clear communication between investors and entrepreneurs.
- Greenja to become a reliable intermediary between young entrepreneurs and investors satisfying needs of young entrepreneurs to help them build their own businesses, and those of the investors by providing them a fresh source of business ideas.
- Diversified and efficient portfolio of consultants to help the students professionalize their projects. Increasing demand of consultants to register in the database, which gives Greenja the opportunity to choose the most adapted ones to the entrepreneurs’ needs.
What if:
- …the target group of entrepreneurs is not reached?
Greenja will have to change the marketing campaign. A solution could be to try to build partnerships with Universities or Governmental Institutions.
- …the quality of the ideas is not good enough?
Here again a solution could be to extend the marketing campaign and reinforce the selection, depending on the situation analysis.
- …the barriers to enter the market are not strong enough, i.e. a competitor is targeting the same niche?
The solution could be to reinforce the specificity and improve the strengths of the brand, i.e. setting a stronger advertising budget.
The above-mentioned scenarios are possible risks that Greenja could have to face. These possible ‘failures’ must be analyzed and examined individually, if they occur. Depending on the situation and the analysis, the marketing campaign or any other strategy must be changed and adjusted.
V. MANAGEMENT TEAM
Alys THOMAS
Position: Finance Director
Background: Born and raised in France, she has completed her undergraduate studies in Finance and Economics in Aix-en-Provence. She has spent one exchange year in Shanghai, China where she has improved her Chinese skills and gained experience in Sales within the telecommunication field.
Dunja ZIGIC
Position: Non-executive
Background: Born and raised in Croatia, she obtained her Bachelor degree in Economics with a major in Tourism Management. After graduation she has been working within the marketing field for an international alcohol manufacturer covering the South-East European market for two years. She has experience in consultancy and PR.
Florian ROHR
Position: Non-executive
Background: Born and raised in Germany, he has completed his Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering specialised in Production Management. During that time he has spent one semester in Grenoble, France where he has improved his French skills. He has obtained his final thesis at Siemens, where he has worked for 6 months in supply chain management.
Filiz AYDIN
Position: Secretary
Background: Having a Turkish background, she was born and raised in Germany. She has completed her 3-year Bachelor degree in Economics & Management with a major in Tourism Management in Italy, where she has learned Italian. After her studies she has worked in a DMC (Destination Management Company) where she has been promoted to become Project Manager after two years.
Patrick ROSKAM
Position: Marketing Director, Homepage maintenance
Background: He was born and raised in the Netherlands and has obtained his Bachelor degree in Economics with a major in Media & Entertainment Management. During his studies he has spent one year abroad participating in an exchange program to the UK and the Caribbean. He was founder and owner of an event management company specialized in music. He also has professional experience in a publishing company as an account manager.
Martin NOYEZ
Position: General Manager
Background: Born and raised in Belgium he has completed his undergraduate studies in Architectural Engineering in Leuven, Belgium. He has spent two months in Cuba where he performed fieldwork for his thesis about “Spatial Coherence in Large-Scale Urban Parks” whilst improving his Spanish skills.
As reflected above, the team consists of six members who all have different cultural backgrounds. Considering this, members are proficient in 8 languages, which helps assessing investors and students in most parts of Europe. Everyone has completed their undergraduate studies and is undertaking a postgraduate degree at the ESCP-EAP in London today. This enables the team to reach numerous ESCP-EAP Alumni as well as Alumni from their former universities for networking purposes i.e. towards investors.
The team has a deep interest in sustainable businesses, which is shown in their previous experiences during their studies and work life, i.e. Martin participated in the development of a multifunctional and sustainable park in Cuba.
The positions in the business are assigned to the team members taking into account their backgrounds and experiences.
VI. MARKETING PLAN
Segmentation
Greenja is a UK based company focused on connecting entrepreneurs and investors. The decision to geographically position in the UK was led by its excellent business climate, especially in the area of private equity (51% of Europe’s total private equity annual investment) and the market of business start-ups (biggest number in Europe- in/out?).
After this decision the team has decided to segment the UK business start-up market by age and type of idea. When looking at the segmentation of the market by age, the segments were divided into the following groups:
Under 18
This group is under-aged, which makes it legally complicated to work with them. They have low education and no experience. They have no funds to star their business.
18-30
This segment lacks business experience and funds. Here a niche segment was identified composed of students. Main characteristics of this niche are high education, mobility and a strong sense of belonging to the student community. They are technologically savvy, have access to newest ideas and technology through their universities, and are innovative and highly motivated.
30-45
This segment has business experience. Most of these people already have a job and an established business network, at least in their own field. It is assumed that most members of this group have kids and family. It is easier for them than the previous groups to find money through formal institutions, like banks.
45-70
This segment of people is highly experienced in their own field. They have an established network. They seek for security and stability. It is easier for them to find loans from formal institutions.
In forming these groups the focus was based on specific common behaviour, life style and life phases in a person's life (i.e. duration of obligatory (16) or high education; average age of divorce in the UK - 43,3).
A second way of segmenting the market of entrepreneurs is by primary motivation for starting up a business. Based on these characteristics three main groups were identified:
Money makers
These people are driven by the desire to start a profitable business and become rich, the faster the better. They do not care about the social or environmental impact of their business, as long as they are economically profitable.
Idealists
These people are driven by the desire to improve the world. The profitability of their business is not a necessity as long as their business is socially or ecologically improving the world.
Sustainable developers
These people give equal importance to the profitability of their business as to the fact that it improves society and ecology. They want their business to be profitable but at the same time they want to help building a better world.
Targeting
Positive and negative sides of each segment were defined, by looking at their needs and wants and how the product could satisfy them.
The ‘Under 18’ group which was defined as still too young, with no experience and low education. Besides, it would be legally complicated to invest in under-aged people.
The ‘18-30’ group which was estimated as an innovative, educated and motivated group lacks experience in business and finance. They are the point in their life when they choose the life path they want to pursue.
The third group members (30-45) already have a job and are established in some area of business. Presuming that they have already built a business network of people that could help them with the start-up, it is easier for them to find loans from banks and other formal institutions.
45-70 segment is a group of mainly settled people, in terms of family life and secured jobs.
Estimations show that this group is not very attractive, because this group’s main values are mainly security and stability, which results in a low willingness to make a new start and cause big changes.
After vast market research of all possible target segments the focus was set on serving the student market and the sustainable business market.
The reason for this decision can be found in the following facts:
- Student market in UK consists of 2,1 million young people, 30% out of which are interested in starting their own business.
- Their main problems are lack of business background (know-how), lack of experience, team mates and funds.
- There is no specialised service focusing on helping students as entrepreneurs.
Greenja will target the sustainable developers because this is a fast growing segment and because it is an attractive segment towards finding investors. Investors are increasingly attracted to sustainable business because it does not only become increasingly profitable but also boosts their image. A third reason is that the primary interest of this segment fits with the team’s own motivation.
Positioning
Greenja is a platform that meets and satisfies all the needs of a young student entrepreneur who wants to start up an eco friendly business and, on the other side, provides a database of sustainable business ideas to the investors.
The business meets and satisfies student demands through a large on-line community where they can find all that is needed to start a business – meet members of the community and find team mates, benefit from the knowledge, support and motivation of the community, use all the support tools to write a business plan, ask for professional specialised help of the consultants, enter their idea into the data base of business plans and make it visible to a number of potential investors.
On the other side, investors are offered access to a database of innovative ideas for building up sustainable businesses thus giving them a chance to invest in the future. This way, they are not only investing in a potentially profitable business idea, but also in the future of this planet.
Differentiation
Greenja’s two main Points of Differentiation from the competitors are:
- Focusing and specialising in serving the specific needs of the students who want to start their own business. This has, up to now, been an ignored segment, except for a few universities, which have recently started with their incubator programmes. These programmes are offered only to the students of the university, which still leaves a huge gap in the market for Greenja to fill in.
- Focusing on building sustainable businesses idea base, ensuring the investors that the investment will not only be profitable but also environmentally conscious.
Marketing mix
Greenja’s approach to the customers is reflected in all aspects of the marketing mix. Several elements are important to obtain the marketing objectives and to get in touch with the target group. The marketing mix exists of the product, price, place, and promotion Greenja uses to gain competitive advantage.
Product
The brand name, Greenja, reflects the different aspects of the business it is operating in. The target group will associate this with sustainable business. By referring to a ‘ninja’ it gives the name power, speed, and strength. Students can easily identify themselves with the brand since it is a trendy and fashionable name. The brand name, together with the logo will be used in the marketing towards the target groups.
The products Greenja offers differ from its competitors by focusing on students and sustainable businesses, and offering all services in the same place.
Greenja offers students and young entrepreneurs an online community. Here they can build a network, find business tool kit and information, professional advice and finance, all in one place. Within the community, members can rank ideas, the feedback received, and the reliability of individuals. These ranking tools make it attractive to come back in the community and stay in touch with people they meet. It also ensures the professional behaviour of community members and maintains a high level of communication. The community will satisfy member’s need for knowledge, feedback, inspiration, and motivation.
The business plan tool kit contains of templates for business plans, market data and financial spreadsheets. When in need of additional help they can search through the consultant directory where they have access to home pages of professional consultants specialised for particular areas (legal advice, marketing, finance). The use of this service will be rewarded by quality stamps when entering the idea into the data base, which will make them more appealing to investors and thus increase the chance of funding.
Students lack capital to set up their own business. Using Greenja premium membership service they make their ideas visible to a number of investors and get a chance to make their idea a reality.
The frenzy of environmental awareness has led companies and investors towards sustainable business segment. Greenja’s business ideas database provides the investors a possibility to invest in a number of economically, socially and ecologically responsible business ideas. By investing in sustainable businesses they can make a difference in the society.
The business ideas entered to the database will be secured as intellectual property of the member.
Price
The prices Greenja sets for its products and services are well considered. They are determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The different customer groups need different approach. For example, students in general do not have much money to spend therefore the basic membership for Greenja is free. To enter the community they only have to provide the company with their personal data. This enables Greenja to use the data later on for marketing activities.
The price Greenja set for the premium membership is 10 pounds per month, which provides easy access to funding through investors. Unlike some competitors, Greenja chooses monthly fees instead of a yearly fee. Students can easily sign out when they reached a funding and do not have to pay additional costs for a membership, which they do not use.
Investors are to pay 420 pounds per year to be registered in the network. This is a competitive price Greenja determined when comparing to the competitors.
To provide consultants a place to have easy access to new customers Greenja offers advertisement space on its website. A price of £100 per month will be charged for banners on the website.
Place
The channel through which Greenja will distribute products and services is the company website. This will be www.greenja.co.uk and www.greenja.com. The availability of these web pages is verified. Greenja uses its own webpage to communicate with the customer; as a result it does not have to use intermediaries. The advantage of using this channel to is the accessibility of internet. Students as well as investors and consultants can easily log in to the website and make use of Greenja’s products. The three target groups will use the same webpage but their own section. This makes the working of the webpage clear to all of them. The layout of the website reflects the values of the Greenja brand. By using two uniform resource locators (URL) the company will be easily to find by individuals all over the world. The .com URL will show the international aspect of Greenja organisation.
Promotion
Greenja is going to target three different groups through its promotion mix with the aim to achieve constant growth in number of paying users of our service.
Promotion to students
Greenja will approach the student segment by partnering with universities and the UK government. The goal is to get access to student e-mail base through which the students will be informed about Greenja’s service, the opportunities it provides them and the upcoming contest for best ideas to build sustainable businesses. Free informative seminars will be held at these universities and leaflets and brochures provided to all interested students.
The contest would involve awarding the top 10 ranked business ideas with free consulting sessions and help in building a business plan and a free 2-month premium membership for winners. The community will rank the ideas and the best ones will be rewarded as mentioned above.
Another round of the competition involving the same rewards will occur the 9th month after starting the business. Greenja will approach six new universities. By using the same marketing campaign the same number of students will be reached.
Additional promotional activities will involve building a network through Facebook using a free profile. Greenja plans to reach an estimated number of 10,000 students per month.
The future strategy will be based on cooperation with the Association of Business Schools (ABS) to gain access to the business school community in the UK and on extending the university partnership network. Greenja will organize networking events and seminars for its members, in association with partners.
Promotion towards consultants
To promote its activities amongst consultants Greenja will use personal selling and direct e-mailings. The aim is to build a directory of specialized consultants all over the UK, so that the customers can benefit from their service no matter where they are located.
Promotion towards investors
The target group of investors is in general a very private group of individuals. The main tool of promotion will be the word of mouth strategy and active networking. Greenja will attend network meetings for business angels, fairs such as Business StartUP, contact the Business Angels Network and use personal contacts.
VII. OPERATING PLAN
The following information describes operations that have to be undertaken in order to start the business and keep it running. It includes costs (expenses) that will occur as a result.
Online platform
To provide students, consultants and investors with an internet-platform Greenja will build a website. The website is a crucial part of the business and therefore must be built before starting the business. An external company will be in charge of creating and structuring that website, which will take about two months.
Services offered to entrepreneurs include a forum, chat-rooms, support tools, profile-hosts and the network of consultants. The investors get access to the business idea database.
To ensure smooth running of the platform, Greenja will employ an administrator.
A server is needed to store the online platform. It will contain the whole website and provide the customers a 24-hour access.
An hp-maintenance budget has to be set to improve the webpage and keep it up to date over time.
The office
An office is needed to meet investors and consultants if necessary. It will include office furniture and computers for the employees as well as a meeting room to welcome customers and negotiate with them. Running expenses will include rent, electricity, heating, water, and office stationary. A liability-insurance has to be contracted for all the equipment. To evaluate all the running expenses a member of the team will be responsible for supervision of the financial aspects of the business.
Building a customer base
Two team members will be responsible for soliciting new potential investors and consultants. A travel and client entertainment-budget will be set to cover expenses. Additional marketing budget will be defined for promotion.
Number of employees
After having thought through the tasks within the business, the team agreed on employing four people to run the business. Taking this into consideration, positions are defined as described in the Management Team.
VIII. FINANCIAL PLAN
Revenue model
The company has two main sources of revenue:
- Entrepreneurs are charged a monthly membership fee to have access to the premium service.
- Investors are charged a monthly membership fee to have access to the database of business plans.
Apart from these, additional revenues will be generated by providing advertisement space on the community website.
Drivers and factors that influence and impact the financial performance.
World Economy
Fluctuations in the global economy will influence liquidity, which, in turn, affects the amounts available for investment. This affects consumption, number of investors and amounts invested. This has a direct impact on the attractiveness of setting up a business. On the other hand it becomes more difficult to find finance for a business start-up, leading more entrepreneurs to offered services.
The expected rise of oil prices and energy in general will have a considerable impact on expenses for heating, electricity and transportation. General living expenses will probably increase, demanding higher salaries for the company’s employees and leaving a smaller piece of customer’s budget to pursue their dream of starting a business and purchase the product. On the other hand it will increase profitability of sustainable businesses. This may stimulate people to start more such businesses.
The growing social awareness about the urgency of sustainable development increases the pressure on both entrepreneurs and investors to purchase the products as it positively influences their image. On the other hand it could also stimulate competitors to focus on sustainability and new competitors to target this niche.
Politically imposed regulations can have an impact on the attractiveness of starting up a business and influence the whole industry.
Finally, real estate prices will directly influence expenses on rent.
Industry
The number of aspiring entrepreneurs and the number of investors is directly connected to the size of the market. Availability of alternative ways of finance determines the demand for the services. Regulation concerning starting up a business is very complex and creates a demand for advice. Support of universities towards entrepreneurship can affect the possibility of academic partnerships.
Market
Increased competition and market entry of new players can lead to aggressive and expensive marketing campaigns and put pressure on prices. Thus leading to higher costs and possibly lowers revenues.
Increased competition does not necessarily have to be negative. Additional attention to the start-up platforms and success stories will raise awareness on the existence of these types of platforms and support their reputation.
Business
Successful deals made through our services create confidence in the quality of the services the company provides.
The number of members, both entrepreneurs and investors, and the number of business ideas determines the value of the services. As the network will grow, the value will increase.
The price the company asks for its products and services influences the growth of the network since affects accessibility of the network.
The quality of the services offered to entrepreneurs and the quality of the business plans available to investors has an effect on customer satisfaction.
Awareness of the business and the services offered has an impact on the number of visitors of the website.
Over time the members of the team also have to keep in mind the development of their personal lives. While they are now willing to satisfy themselves with a relatively low salary, they will probably have other responsibilities and priorities at a later stage in their lives.
Revenue assumptions (Appendix: Revenues)
Target groups
Entrepreneurs
During the first two months, 200,000 students of five of the main UK universities (University of London, UCL, London Metropolitan University, City University of London and University of Westminster) will be targeted. With the planned marketing campaign – seminars, brochures, e-mail – it is planned to reach 40% of these 200,000 students.
Researches show that an average of 48% people of the targeted age group is interested in starting their own business. Thus it is estimated that the same percentage of the reached students would visit Greenja’s website.
Every fifth visitor is expected to immediately sign up for the basic membership.
Out of the total basic members number it is estimated that 3.8% will upgrade to premium membership. This estimation is based on the percentage of people in this age group who already run their own business in the United Kingdom.
During the third month the ranking will still be in progress so a high number of sign-ups is expected due to the students’ willingness to vote for the best business ideas and possibly their friends.
For the following three months, the plan is to focus the promotion on reaching students through Facebook. Facebook is a social network with 42 million active users, out of which 5 million users based in UK and about 1,5 million in London. Thus it is assumed that through this channel it is possible to reach 10,000 students per month. An estimation of 20% reached is expected to sign up for basic membership immediately.
During the ninth month the campaign for the second round of the contest will start. In month 9 campaigning is led through Facebook and by distributing flyers and brochures to students from the following universities: King’s College, Imperial College, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Kingston University, London South Bank University, Queen’s Mary University with a total population of 125,123 students.
A slow growth of basic memberships is expected due to a lack smaller volume of promotional activities in this stage of campaign.
However during the following two months (months 10 and 11) with the re-launch of the contest, a more aggressive promotion towards universities (seminars, emails and brochures), a number of 40,000 students per months expected to be reached.
During the 12th month, the voting phase will still be in progress so we estimate a higher number of sign-ups than in non-campaign periods.
Investors
For the first two months Greenja’s management team will place a focus on building a contact base of potential investors and start creating personalized templates of promotional emails.
During the rest of the Year 1 an estimated 0.6% of total registered business angels per month will be reached, which represents 300 potential investors reached per month. A conservative assumption of 5% who would immediately sign-up is estimated.
Consultants
For the first three months consultants will not be charged for advertising space as the community will not have a significant number. However they will be approached through personal contacts and personal emails.
In month three, a minimum of three consultants is expected to be listed in the directory. These first three consultants will not be charged. Two new consultants per month are expected to be added to our directory.
Prices
Entrepreneurs
Premium Membership: since the main target group is students a monthly price of £10 is set. This price is lower than a market average, which is set per a business plan and amounts to app. £120 per idea.
Investors
A yearly fee of £420 will be charged to the investors. This is the competitive average market price.
Advertising
We plan to charge £100 each consultant to be advertised on Greenja’s web page. The average market price of an advertising banner is calculated by taking into account the number of unique monthly visitors, in our case members. The average price of the banner £0.18 per visitor which multiplied by 7,000 members that we estimate to have by the point of charging consultants gives £126. Since we offer them a place in our directory, which consist of only a link to their web page, we set our price at £100.
Cost assumptions (Appendix: P&L Account)
1.) Personnel
Salaries
We calculated the salaries on a basis of £2,000 per person and per month. These costs cover the salaries of four members of the Greenja team.
2.) Other operating costs
Rent
According to the offers found on the website , Greenja plans to rent an office in Hackney for £1,600 per month.
Insurances
According to the average price of insurance, Greenja assumes that the budget it has to allow to this part will be of £65 per month for legal insurance, and of £42 per month for the general insurance.
Utilities (water, electricity, gas)
Based on Greenja team members’ personal experience, a house of four people costs £500 per year for water. Adjusted to Greenja office this price should be lower as the consumption is not the same as a living place, that is, of £25 per month. Since the same kind of house costs £40 per month on electricity, and assumed that an office requires more electricity (computers, heating), Greenja evaluates that the cost of the electricity per month will be about £60.
Concerning the gas, the average budget for an office according to the National Gas Company of the United Kingdom, would be of £50.
That makes a total budget of £175 per month.
Stationary (paper, ink, pens, etc.)
After comparison with a company of the same kind Greenja plans to budget our stationary costs at £200 per month.
Communication (internet, phone, post, etc.)
According to the company IP System the communication costs for the same kind of company than Greenja is about £450 per month.
HP maintenance (antivirus, software licences, etc.) According to the software e-retailer GFI, to keep up-to-date with software license, virus protection and firewalls Greenja should budget a cost of £65 per month.
Marketing, PR
Towards Entrepreneurs:
Greenja evaluates the budget of flyers / brochures / businesscards at £2,500 per year (200,000 flyers for £1,700, 6.000 stuks businesscards for £200, Briefpaper for £600)
Concerning the travel expenses, Greenja plans a budget of £500, based on the costs of the gasoil for company car to universities
The cost of website adds should be about £3,000 (google adds) based on an average budget.
The extra labour costs that will be needed for flyering etc. were evaluated at £500
The overall costs of the two business plan contests should be about £6,000.
These yearly costs will stay relatively steady during the year, and Greenja plans on £3,125 per month.
Towards Investors:
The budget necessary for flyers / brochures / business cards should be about £2,300 (see costs for investors): 200,000 brochures for £1,700 and Briefpaper for £600.
The Travel expenses were estimated at £2,000 (gasoil for company car £1,500, flight costs £500)
The cost of website adds should be of the same amount, that is, £3,000.
Finally the cost for the business angels networks (promotion on fairs for £3,500, organizing network events for £1,000 drinks / food)
All these costs have been calculated on a year basis, but will change depending on the times of the year. Thus, for the first year, and during the first three months, £1,750 per month should be planned in order to finance the first business plan contest. Then costs would be decreasing for the next quarter to £300 per month, with the start of the e-marketing. During the months 7 to 9 the second contest will take place and should be financed, and the budget should then be at £1,750 per month. During the last three months the costs will again be reduced to £300 per month.
From the one year to the other Greenja assumed that these costs would increase from 25% to go along with the growth of the company.
Profit & Loss Account (Appendix)
Based on the assumptions concerning revenues and costs the business should be able to break even in the third year. Sales are expected to reach more than £190,000 with a profit margin (before taxation) of 10%.
Capital expenditure
To be able to start our business we have to make the following investments in the first year:
(Estimations based on )
Financing and repayment schedule
The business will be partly financed by the members of the team. Each of them will contribute an amount of £12,000 totalling £72,000.
In the third month the business will apply for a secured loan of £15,000 with an interest rate of 5%. This is based on the assumption that banks will not provide a loan for the whole amount of the capital expenditures as £10,000 of them went to the creation of a website.
After the first year the website will have grown and will increase in value. In the beginning of the second year an extra non-secured loan of £5,000 will be obtained at a rate of 7%. This loan will be paid back in the first half of the third year.
In addition to this investment the business needs an extra £40,000 in the third month of operations to keep working capital within acceptable limits. Using discounted cash flows the team estimates the value of Greenja at £92,000. In exchange for an investment of £40,000 the team offers 43% of the equity of the business.
IX. APPENDICES
Figure 1 Eropean Business Angels Network member location in Europe
Figure 2 Sector of activity
-Annual Magazine EBAN INFO
European Business Angel Network, Bi-annual Magazine july 2007, IESE Business Angels Network
Appendix 1. FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS FOR THE THREE FASTEST GROWING ONLINE BRANDS
Contact:
Alex Burmaster
Email: [email protected]
Direct: +44 20 7014 0597
Social network related services, spurred on by the take-up amongst young women, dominate the fastest growing online brands in the UK over the last year London – November 27th, 2007 – Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, today reveals how five of the ten fastest growing online brands over the last year in the UK relate to social and professional networking.
- RockYou! – providing applications and widgets for social networks – was the fastest growing online brand over the last year, its audience increasing 2,106% between Oct 06 & Oct 07
- Facebook was the second fastest growing – up by 1,646% – followed by another provider of applications and widgets for social networks, Slide, whose audience grew 649%
- Overall, the ten fastest growing online brands contain three social networking tools, one social network and one professional network (LinkedIn)
10 fastest growing online brands by UK Unique Audience (UA)*: October 2006 - October 2007
Nielsen Online The Nielsen Company
77 St John St, London, EC1M 4AN
www.nielsen-online.com
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com
Appendix 2: _ The NES Follow-up Survey 2006: An Evaluation of the Experiences of New Entrepreneur Scholars and their Businesses
January 2007 Dr. Dilani Jayawarna; Dr. Julia Rouse; Dr. Helen Crompton
Table 1: Businesses by Industrial Sector
Table 2: Legal form of the NES business
Table 3: Total business investment
Table 4: Sources of business investments
Table 5: Bootstrapping techniques - managing customer payment processes
Table 6: Issues involved in raising finance for the business
Figure 7: Total investments made and difficulties to raise business finance
Table 8: Change in sales by stage in business start-up
Table 9: Main aim for the NES business in the future
Table 10: Types of networks
Table 11: Network outcomes
Table 12: Reason to stay in self employment or in business
Table 13: Factors affecting a person’s chance of succeeding in business
Appendix 4. Does gender matter? Women Business Angels and the supply of entrepreneurial finance in the United Kingdom
RICHARD T HARRISON, University of Edinburgh Management School
COLIN M MASON, University of Strathclyde Working Paper 01-05 May 2005
For the purposes of this study women business angels were identified and contacted through business angel networks (BANs) – organisations that enable entrepreneurs seeking finance and investors seeking investment opportunities to connect. We obtained 21 completed questionnaires from women and 19 from men.
Table 1. Age
Table 2. Education
Table 3. Company experience
Table 4. Industry experience
Table 5. Functional areas of expertise
Table 6. Current economic status
Table 7. Prior experience of founding a business
Table 8 . Number of start-ups
Table 9. Participation in Management Buyouts or Management Buying
Table 10. Annual salary (all sources)
Table 11. Net worth (excluding principal residence)
Table 12. Source of investment funds
Table 13. Motivation for being a business angel
Table 14. Interest in investing in technology businesses?
Table 15. Main sources of information on investment opportunities
Table 16. Factors which limit your ability to invest as frequently as you would wish
Table 17. Clearly defined investment criteria
Table 18. Circumstances in which investors may invest outside these investment criteria
Table 19. Investment appraisal – factors that would lead to rejection of an investment opportunity
Table 20. Reasons which prevented investments from being made
Table 21. Forms of support and incentives that would encourage angels to make more investments
Table 22. Do You Invest On Your Own Or With Others?
Table 23. Do you make use of professional advisers to assist you in the appraisal or the structuring of investments?
Table 24. Types of professional advisers used to assist in the appraisal or the structuring of investments
Table 25. Approximately how many other business angels do you know personally
Appendix 4: _ Statistics compendium based on the information provided by Business Angel networks having responded to the survey conducted in 2007.
Version 2 November 2007
Prepared by the EBAN Secretariat
Rue Abbé Cuypers 3
B-1040 Brussels
T : +32 2 741 24 70
F : +32 2 741 79 10
E : [email protected]
W: www.eban.org
Figure 1. Annual budget of business angels networks
Figure 2. Matching services used by the business angel networks
Figure 3. Matching services used by the business angel networks
Figure 4. Tools used by business angel networks to recruit investors
Figure 5. Sectors of investment of the deals concluded through the networks in 2006
Figure 6. Description of the main reasons why project rejected by the investors
Table 7. Evolution of the number of business angels networks in Europe
Table 8. Statistics investment by business angels in the United Kingdom
Table 9. Statistics investment by business angels in the United Kingdom
Confidential information Draft—
Subject to review
March, the 1st 2008
Re: Non disclosure agreement - Entrepreneurs
Dear Sirs,
In connection with preliminary negotiations relating to your project between the entrepreneur (hereinafter called “X”) and Greenja, we believe it is convenient for the parties to agree in writing their respective non disclosure commitments under the terms and conditions stipulated in the present agreement (hereinafter called “THE AGREEMENT”).
For the purposes of THE AGREEMENT, X and Greenja shall be referred jointly as “THE PARTIES” and the term “PARTY” shall indifferently refer to either X or Greenja.
- 1. THE PARTIES shall refrain from disclosing to any third party any information in relation to the object of THE AGREEMENT or to the existence of negotiations and discussions potentially culminating in the implementation of THE PROJECT.
- 2. During negotiations, THE PARTIES shall exchange relevant (oral or written) information and documentation relating to their respective businesses and operations (hereinafter called “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION”). Any information obtained as a result of disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall be considered confidential too.
- 3. THE PARTIES undertake to use any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION they have perused or heard exclusively for the purpose of assessing and carrying out THE PROJECT.
- 4. THE PARTIES shall take any and all necessary steps to ensure that CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is protected and remains confidential. For this purpose they shall handle any such information with at least the maximum degree of diligence and care (i) they exercise in managing their own confidential information and (ii) they require from business affiliates and associates according to the nature of confidential information. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall be disclosed only to those employees and representatives of and third parties under contract with, each of THE PARTIES (subject to the former subscribing to
- THE AGREEMENT or signing a separate non disclosure agreement) who need to be privy to said CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION in order to assess and carry out THE PROJECT. The above employees and representatives of and third parties under contract with, each of THE PARTIES shall be informed of the confidential nature of the CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and of the essential requirement they are under to handle it as such.
- 5. Any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION disclosed by any PARTY shall continue to be the exclusive property of said PARTY and shall be returned to its owner upon termination of THE AGREEMENT.
- 6. For the purpose of THE AGREEMENT, shall not be considered CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and shall therefore not be subject to the provisions governing its use, any information which:
- (i) Has come into the public domain or has subsequently been disclosed on the market or printed in an official publication, unless the recipient PARTY is responsible for said disclosure or publication;
- (ii) The recipient PARTY has obtained by any legitimate means prior to its disclosure by the disclosing PARTY;
- (iii) Either PARTY has obtained from third parties, provided that the recipient PARTY can demonstrate through reasonably diligent investigation that it was not and could not have been aware of the confidential nature of the information disclosed directly or indirectly to the recipient third party by the other PARTY.
- 7. THE AGREEMENT shall enter into force on the date of its acceptance by Greenja and shall remain in force until the day of its termination. THE AGREEMENT shall cease to apply [] days after the day on which notice of its termination by either PARTY has been received by the other PARTY.
- 8. Termination of THE AGREEMENT shall not release THE PARTIES from any of their obligations under Provisions 1 through 6 above with respect to any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION they may have perused or heard up to and including the date of termination.
-
9. Upon termination of THE AGREEMENT, each PARTY undertake, upon request by the other PARTY, to return any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION in its possession. Should such a request be made, the recipient PARTY shall have discretionary authority to either:
-
(i) Surrender all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, or
- (ii) Destroy all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and substantiate such destruction by means of an appropriate certificate delivered by one of its senior executives.
- 10. While neither of THE PARTIES declares or guarantees in any way or form, whether direct or indirect, that any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is rigorous and truthful, it is their mutual understanding that each of THE PARTIES shall exercise due diligence in developing and producing any such CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.
- 11. With respect to CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, under no circumstances shall the disclosing PARTY be construed as having licensed (whether explicitly or implicitly, voluntarily or involuntarily) the receiving PARTY to use any of the ownership or licensing rights attached to its trade secrets, brands, trademarks, patents as well as intellectual property in any form.
- 12. No alteration, limitation or termination of THE AGREEMENT or any of its provisions by either PARTY shall be enforceable against the other PARTY unless it is written and bears the signatures of duly appointed representatives of both PARTIES.
- 13. The present agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Spain and shall be interpreted in accordance with Spanish legislation. THE PARTIES agree that any dispute arising from execution of THE AGREEMENT shall be submitted to the courts and judges of [].
Thank you for signing this letter and sending me a copy as testimony that you have received the document and accept its terms.
Yours faithfully,
__________
Greenja Ltd.
Received and authenticated in London on March, 1st 2008
________
Confidential information Draft—
Subject to review
March, the 1st 2008
Re: Non disclosure agreement - Investors
Dear Sirs,
In connection with preliminary negotiations relating to the investment (hereinafter called “THE PROJECT”) between the investor (hereinafter called “Y”) and Greenja Ltd., we believe it is convenient for the parties to agree in writing their respective non disclosure commitments under the terms and conditions stipulated in the present agreement (hereinafter called “THE AGREEMENT”).
For the purposes of THE AGREEMENT, Y and Greenja Ltd. shall be referred jointly as “THE PARTIES” and the term “PARTY” shall indifferently refer to either Y or Greenja Ltd.
- 1. THE PARTIES shall refrain from disclosing to any third party any information in relation to the object of THE AGREEMENT or to the existence of negotiations and discussions potentially culminating in the implementation of THE PROJECT.
- 2. During negotiations, THE PARTIES shall exchange relevant (oral or written) information and documentation relating to their respective businesses and operations (hereinafter called “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION”). Any information obtained as a result of disclosure of CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall be considered confidential too.
- 3. THE PARTIES undertake to use any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION they have perused or heard exclusively for the purpose of assessing and carrying out THE PROJECT.
- 4. THE PARTIES shall take any and all necessary steps to ensure that CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is protected and remains confidential. For this purpose they shall handle any such information with at least the maximum degree of diligence and care (i) they exercise in managing their own confidential information and (ii) they require from business affiliates and associates according to the nature of confidential information. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION shall be disclosed only to those employees and representatives of and third parties under contract with, each of THE PARTIES (subject to the former subscribing to
- THE AGREEMENT or signing a separate non disclosure agreement) who need to be privy to said CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION in order to assess and carry out THE PROJECT. The above employees and representatives of and third parties under contract with, each of THE PARTIES shall be informed of the confidential nature of the CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and of the essential requirement they are under to handle it as such.
- 5. Any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION disclosed by any PARTY shall continue to be the exclusive property of said PARTY and shall be returned to its owner upon termination of THE AGREEMENT.
- 6. For the purpose of THE AGREEMENT, shall not be considered CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and shall therefore not be subject to the provisions governing its use, any information which:
- (i) Has come into the public domain or has subsequently been disclosed on the market or printed in an official publication, unless the recipient PARTY is responsible for said disclosure or publication;
- (ii) The recipient PARTY has obtained by any legitimate means prior to its disclosure by the disclosing PARTY;
- (iii) Either PARTY has obtained from third parties, provided that the recipient PARTY can demonstrate through reasonably diligent investigation that it was not and could not have been aware of the confidential nature of the information disclosed directly or indirectly to the recipient third party by the other PARTY.
- 7. THE AGREEMENT shall enter into force on the date of its acceptance by Greenja Ltd. and shall remain in force until the day of its termination. THE AGREEMENT shall cease to apply [] days after the day on which notice of its termination by either PARTY has been received by the other PARTY.
- 8. Termination of THE AGREEMENT shall not release THE PARTIES from any of their obligations under Provisions 1 through 6 above with respect to any CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION they may have perused or heard up to and including the date of termination.
-
9. Upon termination of THE AGREEMENT, each PARTY undertake, upon request by the other PARTY, to return any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION in its possession. Should such a request be made, the recipient PARTY shall have discretionary authority to either:
-
(i) Surrender all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, or
(ii) Destroy all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION and substantiate such destruction by means of an appropriate certificate delivered by one of its senior executives.
- 10. While neither of THE PARTIES declares or guarantees in any way or form, whether direct or indirect, that any and all CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is rigorous and truthful, it is their mutual understanding that each of THE PARTIES shall exercise due diligence in developing and producing any such CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.
- 11. With respect to CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION, under no circumstances shall the disclosing PARTY be construed as having licensed (whether explicitly or implicitly, voluntarily or involuntarily) the receiving PARTY to use any of the ownership or licensing rights attached to its trade secrets, brands, trademarks, patents as well as intellectual property in any form.
- 12. No alteration, limitation or termination of THE AGREEMENT or any of its provisions by either PARTY shall be enforceable against the other PARTY unless it is written and bears the signatures of duly appointed representatives of both PARTIES.
- 13. The present agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Spain and shall be interpreted in accordance with Spanish legislation. THE PARTIES agree that any dispute arising from execution of THE AGREEMENT shall be submitted to the courts and judges of [].
Thank you for signing this letter and sending me a copy as testimony that you have received the document and accept its terms.
Yours faithfully,
__________
Greenja Ltd.
Received and authenticated in London on March, the 1st 2008
________
ENTREPRENEUR CONTRACT
BETWEEN: Greenja Limited, registered office at…, represented by……………………………………… ………………………………………….;
Hereafter-termed BAMS,
AND: Name of the company or of the project …………………………………………………………………………….
Address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
Represented by (name and title): ...……………………………………………………………………………
Hereafter-termed entrepreneur
The following has been presented:
Greenja’s activity is to put investors in relation with entrepreneurs in search of capital, by arousing the interest of these investors through the presentation of various profiles of projects of investment via a website, a newsletter, forums of meeting and direct contacts with its members.
The goal of this reciprocal initiative being the promotion of risk investment, it is desirable that the investors provide not only their financial contribution to the entrepreneurs but also their experience.
The entrepreneur is looking for such Investors.
This contract is especially aimed to define the provision of services rendered by Greenja to the entrepreneur to the end mentioned above, being understood that Greenja neither provides investment services nor investment advice, whether it be to investors or entrepreneurs.
Thank you for signing initial each page and for inserting the date and signing the last.
IT IS THEREFORE AGREED THE FOLLOWING:
Article 1
For the implementation of the present contract, the following terms must be understood by:
Profile A summary presentation, anonymous and standardised of a project
Matching: The fact that the investor invest in any manner in a project of which the details were forwarded by Greenja, in the 18 months following the communication of these details.
Article 2 – Agreement from the entrepreneur
1. The entrepreneur will fill in the Greenja registration form which includes a short description of the company or the project, main financial information, the amount of investment looked for by the entrepreneur, shareholding, details of which the entrepreneur is solely responsible. The entrepreneur will also provide an executive summary of the investment project.
2. Greenja reserves the right to accept or decline some applications, in a discretionary manner and without justification. Considering the nature of the activity undertaken by Greenja, the contractual relations envisaged are intuitu personae. The diffusion of the application, attached or not to the present contract, does not constitute a public offer to contract, as Greenja cannot solely be engaged through the signature of the present contract.
- 3. Greenja will provide the entrepreneur with a business plan guide with explanations. Greenja will also provide a methodology guide for the presentation near investors, as well as a network of experts providing a first advice free of charge. Upon its acceptation by Greenja, the entrepreneur will pay 500€ (+105€ of VAT) to cover these costs, with a 40% abate for projects that do not yet have a commercial activity 300€ (+63€ of VAT). This must be paid to the following account numbers XXX
Greenja will send the corresponding invoice to the entrepreneur.
4. In case of a successful financing of a project through Greenja, the entrepreneur commits to providing the following information to Greenja for the following 5 years: Free Cash Flow, turnover, number of employees. These statistics will be very useful to Greenja to draw statistics concerning enterprises have raised financed through its network of investors.
Article 3 - Obligations of Greenja
1. Greenja will communicate regularly the investment project to investors who, according to Greenja appreciation, could be interested in the project.
2. Considering the legal restrictions imposed on the communication - so that the presentation of the investment project is not taken for a public call for savings - Greenja will be able to refuse such communication if, on Greenja opinion, it goes further than the limits prohibited by the A.R. of 7 July 1999. This does not constitute a request for exclusivity on the part of Greenja.
3. Greenja commits to the confidentiality of the details given by the entrepreneur. Only regular BAMS members /investors or having signed a confidentiality agreement will be able to receive this information.
4. Greenja commits to end the dissemination of the profile of the project as soon as the present contract ends or on the request of the entrepreneur.
Article 4 - Obligations of the entrepreneur
1. The entrepreneur authorises Greenja to disseminate its investment profile.
2. The entrepreneur commits to keeping the details of the investor communicated by Greenja confidential, unless specifically authorised by the latter.
3. The entrepreneur is solely responsible for the information contained in his application form. He is also solely responsible of any additional information provided to Greenja or to an investor listed in the Greenja database.
4. The entrepreneur commits to informing Greenja of any successful matching realised through Greenja, so that Greenja can claim the success fee to the investor as specified in the “investor contract”. He will provide a copy of the shareholder’s agreement (eventually rendered anonymous), which will be kept in a strictly confidential manner.
This obligation of information concerns any investment realised by an investor introduced by BAMS or by any company controlled de facto or by law by the latter, or by any relative of the investor up to 3rd degree, or by any person acting on his behalf.
Is regarded as investment any cash subscription or in kind, any loan, guarantee, exchange of actions or another investment, any contribution of industry, time and know-how.
Article 5 – Participation fund
Greenja has signed an agreement with the participation fund enabling to identify entrepreneurs in relation with business angels. These entrepreneurs can introduce a demand of credit “Business Angel+” for a maximum of 125.000€ with favourable conditions.
For its role of intermediary in the process of accessing the credit, BAMS will invoice the entrepreneur a 2.5% commission on the amount awarded by the participation fund. The Commission is still owed when the entrepreneur does not ask for the credit awarded, or decides to modify the conditions under which the credit was awarded and that made this file eligible. The invoice is paid by the entrepreneur to BAMS 30 days following the reception of the invoice.
Article 6 - Responsibility
Greenja does not assume any responsibility with regards to the entrepreneur in relation to the diffusion of the profiles to investors or concerning a matching and in relation to the success of the enterprise and/or of its financing.
Greenja does not assume any responsibility concerning the acceptance or refusal of a “Business Angel +“credit near the participation fund or in any conflict that may arise between the entrepreneur and the participation fund.
Article 7 – Duration
The contract is effective on the day of its signature and is concluded for a period of 18 months. The commissions linked to the accession of a “Business angel +” are owed for every credit section awarded, even if these sections are accessed more than 18 months after the signing of the contract.
Article 8 – Payment and recovering
Any invoice sent by Greenja must be paid upon reception, with the exception of intermediary services provided in the framework of a “Business angel +” credit, described above in Article 5 which foresees a 30 days delay.
In case of late payment, a monthly interest rate of 1% will automatically be applied to the entrepreneur. In the event where Greenja should have to appeal to any kind of jurisdiction for the recovering of its credit, a fixed price of 500€ will be carried to the entrepreneur’s account.
Article 9 - Applicable legislation and competence
The present contract is subject to English law. In case of a conflict of less than 1859.20€, the case will be judged by the Peace of Justice. In the contrary case, any conflict resulting from the present contract or in relation to the latter will be definitely dealt with by the Commercial Court of ….
Drafted in two copies .............................……………on (date) ............................
Each party having received its own
Greenja The Entrepreneur
Source: Timesonline.co.uk, October 28, 2007 “ Teenage entrepreneurs get off to a good start in business”
Source: www.entrepreneurs.gov.uk
Source: www.guardianunlimited.co.uk
Source: Business Start Up fair 2007 was sponsored by the UK government
Source: High-tech firms in Germany source
Source: http://www.blog.businessgreen.com
Source: www.tanfieldgroup.com
Source: www.powerfilmsolar.com
See Appendix 1 for detailed information on the ranking system.
Source: National statistics online (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=170)
Source: Timesonline.co.uk, October 28, 2007 “ Teenage entrepreneurs get off to a good start in business”
Source: Nielsen Online The Nielsen Company 77 St John St, London, EC1M 4AN
http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/.
Source: http://www.logiprint.nl
Source: www.intermediair.nl
Source: www.studentenwerk.nl
This article also states that a project cannot be presented to more than 50 non-institutional investors.
