The Arena announces Enable - a weekly tutorial that explains how to use
the Internet as a tool for business planning and capital raising. Enable provides you with useful links, but more importantly, shows you how to apply the data and information contained in the links to the benefit of your company.
Impressing investors
Every company needs a customized and up-to-date business plan. Enable will guide you, step by step, through the business plan development process, and show you how to use the Internet to enhance your plan.
Enable will guide you through the capital raising process as well. This includes issues such as learning what investors look for, determining their key criteria, preparing for meetings, and how to play the valuation game.
We will also cover the issue of business Netiquette. This includes proper E-mail and tips to make sure that potential investors and strategic partners will actually read what you send them.
Market research - for free
Market research on the Web can be very demanding. Some sites cost money but provide research from known sources like Frost and Sullivan, Jupiter and IDC . Profound charges according to use. Other sites are free. This category includes US Statistical Abstracts, Nua, Cyberatlas, and @BRINT. We will show you how to get the most out of both types, and provide a few tricks for getting information contained on paid sites for free.
We will also show you how to save time and money by conducting focus groups and surveys via the Internet.
Becoming market driven
Many Israeli start-ups have technologies that are products chasing markets. Enable will show you how to use the Internet to make sure that your technologies and products are market driven and solve an identifiable need. Enable will also show you how you can use the site "How Stuff Works" to explain product features and benefits to investors and customers in a comprehensible way.
As crucial trade shows like Cebit and Comdex approach, Enable will help you get the most out of them. We will demonstrate how to use the Internet to ensure that you are as productive as possible before, during and after each costly trade show.
Questions?
Enable will be prepared by Michael Neuvirth of Foresight (see bio below). It will build up into a business resource comprising three main sections: Information; Business Planning; and Capital Raising.
We aim to make Enable responsive to readers' needs. If you have any questions or comments along the way, Michael has agreed to answer them via E-mail as promptly as possible.
Next week's topic
Enable will appear weekly. Next week's article will be the first of two dealing with the vital information to be found on SEC site Edgar.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on March 2, 1999