Connect the dots to………………… sustain and grow your business 5 th December, facebook.com/Connectthedots.book

“ This is my tribute to the tremendous spirit of the small and medium businesses that drive the world economy forward ” Why this book ?

“More than 30 years of senior level management experience in start-ups, telecom giants and technology companies in Japan, India, UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil apart from the US. I have experienced success & failures from boom to bust …” Who am I?

The most important dot that needs to be connected … family values

Know your exit ! Divorce Death Disability Departure Detour Deceit Decline in growth

Before you get your funding – PLAN!-PLAN!-PLAN! Traditional and alternate sources of funding for startups Understanding working capital management: money today to make money tomorrow! Cash is king !

Emotional intelligence matters ! Hire EPIC candidates

Products are tangible Services are intangible Experiences are memorable  The deeper the memory, the stronger the experience.

The proposition forms the experience. The experience forms the brand.

Enticing and tempting your customers to sin ! The 7 cardinal sins

Marketing to women ! Demographic trends Digital saviness Loyalty Detail orientation Depth of social network

All war is deception ! Compete on quality and differentiation Communicate weakness and threat to your customers Form strategic partnerships or alliances Reveal your strategic intentions and capabilities Deploy indirect pricing tactics addressing perceived value Limit the theater of operations in the price war

Not all customers are created equal ! Needs, demographics and psychographics MASA Two tiered model

7 th heaven – exit, business plan and cash flow What are your exit strategies? Do you have a multi scenario business plan? Do you have adequate funding? What are your sources of funding? How is your cash flow managed?

7 th heaven – customers risk management, emotional intelligence, market structure and value proposition Are you over dependent on a single or a few customers ? Are your key employees emotionally intelligent to deal with the “white water” environment ? Do you know your market and structure ? What is your incremental value proposition and differentiation relative to your competition ?

7 th heaven – pricing, experience, branding, sales and marketing Do you have a purposeful pricing strategy and tactic ? Have you designed the end to end intentional experience ? Do you have branding strategy ? Do you know how you will engage in a price war ? Are your sales and marketing folks competent to meet your business growth plans ?

7 th heaven – compensation, segmentation and marketing communications Are your sales teams compensated to drive wins from your competition ? How will you reach the market ? Have you segmented your target customer base ? Do your marketing communications address the vulnerabilities of human beings ? Do you have purposeful strategy to target women ?

7 th heaven – operations, IT systems, process and profits Have you considered the end to end operations of your business ? Do you have policies, procedures and processes that drive productivity in your business ? Do you have effective information and telecommunications systems ? Do you know where 80% of your cash flow and profits come from ? Do you have good, truthful and useful managers ?

7 th heaven – leadership, performance and valuation Are you conducting yourself as a leader or are you just a task master ? Do you know the set of activities that accentuate your business performance ? Do you know the set of activities that diminish your business performance ? Do you know how much your business is potentially worth today ? Is this business really for you ?

“ You might think you have connected the dots, but think again ” ! ……

In summary “CONNECT THE DOTS” “This book, is deliberately and carefully written for a cross-geography, multicultural, multiracial, and multi sector audience. Connect the Dots is my attempt to create a playbook for the entrepreneur, a take- everywhere-you-go guide to surviving – and flourishing – in business.

Shukran 5 th December, facebook.com/Connectthedots.book