Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INCMAK (Incomaker - intelligent marketing management automation for SME)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2016-07-01 al 2016-12-31
This issue is very important for European society. Greater efficiency of large companies leads to the concentration in many industries and narrowing of opportunities for small companies. In the same time, although SMEs create a smaller part of countries' GDP, they are by far the biggest employer in most countries. SMEs also bring diversity and often pioneer innovations. Therefore, a way how to improve the performance of European SMEs and narrow down the gap between their efficiency and the efficiency of large corporations could have a great impact on European jobs, innovation, consumer satisfaction and international competitiveness.
The objectives of Incomaker are to become a European leader in advanced data analysis systems for digital marketing optimization. Incomaker can leverage huge amounts of data to automate the company processes and this way it improves their maturity and companies' performance. Our ambition is to make the marketing efficiency of larger companies available to SMEs.
Results: on the basis of testing, dozens of improvements were implemented that made the system mature and market-ready.
2) Market feasibility evaluation was finished successfully. We did market validation with potential and actual users of the system, we verified the ergonomics of the system and prepared a pricing model. Freedom to operate analysis was elaborated.
Results: the market validation confirmed that the there is a real problem that should be solved, that Incomaker brings a solution of the problem and that the solution is marketable, i.e. there is a willingness to pay for it. Moreover, we got valuable ideas and requests for further development. The verification of ergonomics of the system and system user interface allowed us to improve the user experience and set up a plan for user training. It helps us to make the system available to a wider audience. Finally, a pricing model was developed which is a crucial input for the business plan and for the commercialization of the product.
Freedom to operate analysis is important for market penetration to avoid potential legal risks coming from intellectual property rights. Our analysis confirmed that there are no substantial risks in that field now, however, identified potential risks that could appear and suggested a plan how to deal with them.
3) Financial feasibility evaluation was done. It - among others - consisted of financial planning and the planning of capital requirements.
Results: financial planning consists of the plan of costs, revenues, and cashflows and the forecasted financial statements. On the basis of these figures, forecasted performance indicators were calculated and the capital requirements of the company were determined. They are critical for financial management of the company and for raising venture capital.
4) Business plan elaboration - on the basis of the afore mentioned documents and other inputs, a comprehensive business plan was elaborated.