Product Strategy

Current Product

[]          What are the characteristics of your product or service?

[]            Describe how your product works or how the service is used.

[]          How has your product or service evolved over the past two years?

[Company] currently offers [x] products: [list of products or services].

[x], our principal product, consists of [x].

The first product developed by [Company] is called [product 1] and was introduced in 19[xx].

Since then, we introduced [product 2] in 19[xx], and then [brief history of your product line up to today].

Proprietary Technology

Our products are protected under the following:

[]            Patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc.

[]          Contact the U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C. 20231 for more information.

[]          General Patent and Trademark Information: [703] 557-INFO.

[]          Status Information for a Particular Trademark: [703] 557-5249.

[]          General Copyright Information: [202] 479-0700.

Return on Investment

For most customers, [product] will pay for itself in terms of [x] within [x] months, because of [x].

[]          ROI possibilities include:

            Fewer rejects or breakdowns

            Faster turnover of inventory

            Improved efficiency

            Improved convenience

            Lower warranty costs

            Advantages of a better-quality end product

            Advantages in costs savings in other areas

Regarding cost savings, [product] will save our customers money in terms of [x].

[]            Reduced labor costs, lowered reject rate, reduced downtime, lowered inventory costs, improved convenience and displaced employee activity.

Useful Features/Benefits

[]            Describe the major, unique, value-added characteristic your product line/process provides the customer and how this translates into a competitive advantage.

The major benefits of the combination of all [Company’s] products are improved [x] through [x] and [x].

Research and Development

Much of the time and effort at [Company] during the past [x] [year/period] has been spent on research and [product/process] development. During 19[xx] [Company] spent approximately [x]% of sales revenues on R&D. Our plans for 19[xx] and beyond call for an [increase/decrease] in R&D spending to [x]% of sales.

[Company] is regularly examining roles that new products will play in the growth of the company. In order to promote the speed and effectiveness of our future new product development efforts, [Company] management is committed to the following: [list your commitments].

[]          New product development commitments by management could include: beefing up the R&D staff, reorganizing to empower development team(s), placing a bigger emphasis on training, better market research, more formal product selection criteria, providing upgraded resources, raising quality standards.

These commitments will span a period of [x] [months/years] and cost in the range of $[x].

Product Selection Criteria

[]            Describe how and why your company arrives at its product development decisions.

[]          Factors that should be covered in your selection criteria include: financial benefit to company, relatively low investment requirements, positive return on investment, fit with present strategy, feasible to develop and produce, relatively low risk, time to see intended results.

Because marketing is [our single largest/a large] expense and it is where [most/much] of our effort is applied, focus on our customer is a very important criteria. The idea is to keep our customers forever by continually offering them a valuable product or service, thereby diminishing our costs of reaching and appealing to them. Wise product selection is therefore critical to [Company]'s success.

We at [Company] realize that the cost of development projects is getting increasingly expensive. To assure the best possible product decisions we have implemented the following criteria for evaluating and selecting projects:

[x]

[x]

[x]

[]          Include any of the following criteria that apply to your situation, or add your own.

[]          Can you meet the needs of the customer and solve a specific problem?

[Company] provides products to assist customers with [x]. Our [x] products help reduce time, effort and expense by [x]%, and easily retail for $[x] – $[x] each.

[]          Can your product be implemented using off-the-shelf parts?

[Company] can implement product or service using [off-the-shelf parts].

Planned Products

[Company] plans to continually develop new products and enhance existing products. In response to demonstrated needs of our market, new products or services being developed in the near future include [x], [x], and [x].

Additional concepts/plans for follow-on [next generation] products include [x].

[]          Discuss plans for your next generation of products/services.

[]          Discuss add-on services for future customer needs.

[New product 1] development [will begin/has begun] on [date] 19[xx], and will require the following resources [staffing, materials, tooling, capital equipment, technology, new processes]. The targeted release of [new product 1] is for [month], [19[xx].

[New product 2] development [will begin/has begun] on [date] 19[xx], and will require the following resources [staffing, materials, tooling, capital equipment, technology, new processes]. The targeted release of [new product 2] is for [month], [19[xx].

[]          If you feel it would be beneficial, add details of your development plans, including milestone dates, for each of the new products mentioned above.

Exhibits

[]          If pertinent, include drawings of the product to be manufactured or a detailed description of the service to be offered.

[]          Include tests made, the data and results, if available.

[]          Show a master Pert chart of product plans.

For additional details, the following product-related documents are included in Supporting Documents. [List of documents.]

Production and Delivery

[]            Description of the proposed organizational location, make vs. buy, facilities, and logistics.

[]            Emphasis must be on the productive use of capital, labor, and material resources, manufacturing processes, vendor relations, experience and distribution requirements. Statements are needed which indicate initial volume and expansion requirements as well as product/process complexity, uniqueness, and costs.

Production

Key factors in the [manufacturing/service delivery] process are [x].

Raw/prefabricated materials, components, and subassemblies required for production are [x].

[]          List and describe capital equipment, material, and labor requirements.

[]          Are prices negotiable?

[]          Are the above items readily available?

[]          List Quality/Technical specifications.

[]          List Inventory requirements.

[]          Identify hazardous materials or other significant safety factors.

[]          Are alternate sources/materials available?

Costs

We take advantage of economies of scale by [x].

[]            Quantity discounts, package deals.

[]          Indicate resource capacity and expected utilization over time, any installation and maintenance costs, and vendor availability, if applicable.

[]            Describe the business by listing production rates, capacity constraints, or required quality assurance and safety programs.

In comparison to other companies, [Company]'s products are [reproduced/completed] quickly and economically by [how process/techniques accomplish this].

Comparative analysis shows these figures to be [x].

[]          Higher, lower, or in line with competitors?

This is due to the fact that [x], our overall costs will remain [x].

[]          Are your products more efficiently produced (due to manufacturing costs, energy savings, leaner management)?

[]          Is your product of better quality?

[]          Is your quality control program more thorough?

[]          Are parts made in-house or subcontracted?

[]          What new tooling is required for production and what are the estimated costs?

[]          Quality Control (Investors will want to know that warranty costs will be identified and reasonable).

Facilities

The manufacturing facility [is/will] be located in [x].

This location [provides/will provide] needed space for [initial/current] production and expansion to meet projected demand over the next [periods]. Our current production capacity, including internal and external production, is [x] units per [week/month/year].

Due to anticipated increases in demand up to [x] units per [week/month/year], additional facilities will be needed by [month], 19[xx]. Selection of the future site includes the following considerations:

[]          Room and cost for expansion

[]          Land and construction costs

[]            Transportation cost and route access common carrier, company owned, pooling agreement with [x] freight forwarders

[]          Risks and insurance

[]            Packaging and material costs and availability (suppliers?)

[]          Labor pool availability, skills, costs

[]          Local ordinances, licensing, and permit requirements

[]            Government assistance (roads, training, exemptions, etc.)

[]            Government restrictions and requirements (OSHA, NLRB, etc.)

[]            Community attitudes toward business and manufacturing

[]            Continued operating costs (utilities, communications, etc.)

Product Fulfillment

Product fulfillment is an important part of customer satisfaction. [Company] utilizes [our x group/an external resource named x] to monitor and manage the delivery, billing, repair, warranty and repair of our products to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat sales.

To improve on operating efficiencies, we plan to use [x] fulfillment company. Their facility is "state of the art" and their customer record is excellent. We can avoid hiring more employees, expanding our telephone and computer systems as well as save on shipping costs.

During the past [x] [months/years] this [group/vendor] has demonstrated outstanding abilities to [x]. Their capacity is expected to be sufficient to handle our fulfillment needs for the next [x] years.

Transportation will be [truck/train/air cargo].

[]          How does your product ultimately reach your customer?

[]          How many steps are involved?

[]          Which is the weakest link, and how will you address that?

[]          If using your own fleets, will the vehicles receive same graphics quality as the product itself?

[]          Is this the same method your competitors use?

Comparative costs show that [x] [describe differences and results between your shipping procedures and your competitors’].

[]          How do your packaging and transportation costs look in comparison to the competition?