Richard Campos Business Support: Case Studies

Can you put the puzzle together?

There is a requirement to support new businesses in their initial launch and delivery. This requirement results from approximately 85% of new businesses failing in their first 18 months of operation.

The businesses fail from a number of effects but the cause is traceable to a critical few areas. In the case of the incubator businesses, these can be defines as:-

  • No or a lack of commercial expertise in the company. The business starts up with a product idea that is conceived and possibly produced by the business. Because this aspect of product development can be performed in-house, the issue of what to do with it after this stage only becomes apparent at this point.
  • No marketing or sales experience. The question becomes one of "What do we do with it once it is produced?" Marketing and sales is generally defined as selling the product to someone. There is a lack of marketing and sales strategy and this can disable the product to the extent of putting it on the shelf and forgetting it.
  • Lack of financial management skills. Grants can be sourced through government agencies, e.g. Investigating Innovative Ideas. Once obtained, there are few skills to exploit the funding. Financial management of the company focuses on running the company within cash flow boundaries with a strategic eye on future investments.

Few new companies have the experience to manage their financial resources in an efficient manner that enables them to move in to the next stage of their development.

Examples of companies experiencing some or all of these problems are examined to the side here.

Resources

RCBS has all the necessary resources available to support the clients business.

  • Networks. RCBS has access to an expert network of 2000 experienced business consultants that have experience in every facet of business. This enables funding, investment, human resources and the right level of involvement to be attached to the client.

The application of these resources enables the agreed requirements to be delivered.

Case Studies

  • Investment: A plumbing company had developed two products that that were unique and would dominate their market sector (more...)
  • Route to Market: A university research department had developed approximately 200 products. The volumes of new products were such that the departmental marketing manager was unable to evaluation and identify the successful ones (more...)
  • Startup: The photographer had obtained funding from a charitable trust to start his business up but had made very little progress in identifying a sector where he could operate effectively (more...)
  • Expansion: The client was an established landscaping company in the social economy. They had the opportunity to expand by entering into a partnership with another participant in that sector. However, to do this, they required capital to support the expansion (more...)

Deliverables

Deliverables are specific to the client but include:

  • Building the business plan to attract the necessary project funding.
  • Marketing and sales planning forms an integral part of the overall business planning. This and the general business planning cover both tactical and strategic planning and this ensures that stability is built in to the client.
  • Identifying any grant assistance that may be available in that location. This varies from region to region and depends on the designation of a particular area, e.g. Objective 1.
  • Management support, whether as interim or part of the organisation.
  • Funding through Business Angels, Venture Capital or bank investment can be identified through RCBS network.
  • Product management is required to deliver the product through to the market place once the necessary infrastructure and funding is in place.
  • Project management is provided to allow the client to get on with their day to day work without becoming involved in the detail of implementation.