Acme Consulting will be a consulting company specializing in marketing of high-technology products in international markets. The company provides high tech manufacturers with an affordable, reliable alternative to in-house resources.
Acme Consulting is a California C corp that will be located in Santa Clara County and owned by its principal operators and investors. The Santa Clara County Silicon Valley will host the initial office. It is located in high quality office space. This area is home to the U.S. High Tech industry.
Acme will target large multinational corporations like HP, IBM, and Microsoft within the US and European high-tech firms. Our secondary target will be the medium-sized companies in high growth areas such as multimedia and software. Acme’s challenge will be to establish itself as a real consultant company and position it as a relatively risky corporate purchase.
There are many types of industry competition. The most important is that companies choose to conduct market research and business development in-house. There are large, well-known management consulting firms like Arthur Anderson and Boston Consulting Group. These companies are not specialized and do not specialize in a particular niche market. They are also often hindered by an inefficient organizational structure that doesn’t provide the best people to handle the client’s projects. Other competitors include Dataquest Research Institute and Stanford Research Institute, which are market research firms. Acme Consulting’s advantage over these companies is its high-level consulting that helps integrate market research data and the company goals.
Acme Consulting will be priced at the upper edge of what the market will bear, competing with the name-brand consultants. Acme Consulting’s pricing is consistent with its overall positioning as a provider of high-level expertise.
The founders of Acme are ex-marketers for consulting services, personal computers and market research in international markets. Acme is the formalization of their consulting services. Acme should be managed jointly by working partners. We start with 3-5 partners.
The firm anticipates generating profits of $65,000 per year by Year 3, with a net margin of 6%. The company plans on taking on approximately $130,000 in current debt and raise and additional $50,000 in long-term debt to invest in long-term assets. The company does not anticipate any cash flow problems arising.
1.1 Objectives
- Annual sales of $550,000 and $1,000,000 respectively in Year 1 & 3.
- Gross margin greater than 70%
- The Year 3 is the year when net income exceeds 5% of sales
1.2 Mission
Acme Consulting provides high-tech companies with a reliable and high-quality alternative for in-house resources. Acme Consulting offers an alternative to traditional in-house resources. They offer a high level practical experience, knowhow, contacts, as well as confidentiality. Acme offers a professional and less risky alternative to working in-house. Acme must also be financially sound, charging a high price for its services and offering a greater value to its clients. For European clients in the United States, Acme’s first focus will be on development in the European or Latin American markets.
1.3 Keys for Success
- Excellence in fulfilling the Promise.
- Create visibility to increase business leads.
- Utilizing a single pool to create multiple revenue opportunities: market research published report, retainer consultancy, project consulting, market consulting, market consulting.