Case A: Positioning Company for Funding

Client

A small e-mail marketing firm with a CEO and seven employees running the business.

Situation

The company was in operation for a year or two and had several high profile clients. They were looking for funding and need someone to write the marketing portion of the business plan. E-mail marketing was getting to be a competitive industry and this organization needed to stand out from the pack in order to secure financing.

Solution

This was a pure consulting project. After meeting and getting a sense of the company and its services I did the following:

• Compiled a competitive analysis
• Conducted market research
• Created and implemented a market survey
• Developed a market plan

I then met with the team and presented the findings. Their conclusion was to differentiate the company by focusing on business-to-business clients to differentiate from the majority of the competition that was focused on business-to-consumer. Several vertical markets were identified on which to focus marketing initiatives. The business development tact we took utilized partnerships, alliances and association relationships to supplement the traditional marketing paths.

Marketing initiatives were tiered in categories of pre-funding. with minimal financial investment, and post-funding, with a more substantial marketing budget.

Results

• The client was very satisfied with the project.
• The company did obtain funding and moved to larger offices within six months.
• The CEO moved to a COO position and a new CEO was hired to grow the company.
• They now have grown to almost 100 employees.