Mike Conroy
Senior manager, HSBC

Stuart has the advantage of an attractive proposition as most businesses would like to reduce their telephone bills. His challenge is that there are many companies offering the same thing. The email initiative has put pressure on resources, which has damaged his cashflow and may cause service issues with potential clients if leads are not followed up in a timely and professional manner.

Stuart needs to spend some time planning. Where does he want to be in three-to-five years’ time? Does he visualise operating locally, nationally or internationally? What resources and finance does he need to achieve his ambition? In the short term he must address the cashflow problem. This may result in returning some resource to mobile sales, or seeking external finance on the back of his plan to provide a cushion until the GSM gateway business builds.

The other part of the plan that needs attention is marketing. His desire to grow as quickly as possible will not be achieved solely through breakfast networking groups. He needs to develop a strong proposition that stands out. His marketing strategy needs to follow from his business plan, but a review of how his competitors promote themselves, the other services they offer and their propositions is a starting point.

Paula McGrath
Head of corporate finance PKF Liverpool

This situation is not unusual for entrepreneurs who identify a gap in a market and want to exploit it. IT is a fast-moving industry, so Goodman is right to move fast.

L2MC’s product has already been established in the marketplace and contracts with customers have been secured. Once Goodman has proved that the concept is profitable, he should look to develop the business in terms of infrastructure and people. To develop beyond this stage he may require external finance. He should put together a well-documented plan and raise the appropriate finance to secure growth.

One of Goodman’s major challenges will be recruiting the right team. If he does not have the right calibre of people, his business will ultimately fail.

Another challenge is adapting to an ever-changing market. Recent moves to regulate the extortionate prices suffered by mobile users roaming in Europe will reduce his immediate opportunity for dramatic savings, but improve the public’s knowledge that there is still a cost issue which is resolved by his product. His business has to anticipate such developments and ensure they still have a service to sell.

Tim Prizeman
Director, Kelso Consulting

Selling to micro businesses is easier than selling to mid-size and large organisations because bigger businesses often tend to take their time over decisions. Small businesses are often cost focused, while large ones typically base decisions as much on political safety for the decision makers as on price, adding complexity to the selling process.

Selling profitably to micro businesses is particularly about increasing volume while maximising what is achieved. It sounds as if Goodman is targeting large organisations that will buy the GSM gateways and so should concentrate on them. But selling is a numbers game: the more leads Goodman can pursue, the quicker his business will grow.

Once he has a foot in door, he’ll have to maintain the relationship until they are ready to buy. This requires determination and concentration and probably won’t happen if Goodman spends too much time flitting around doing small deals at the same time.

Goodman must promote all the credible deals he has made to big businesses as case studies, possibly through a PR firm, a website and direct mail. If getting a freelancer or outside agency to handle this is unaffordable at present, there are plenty of PR and marketing “how to do it” guides available online, many of which are free.

Goodman also needs to determine if his company has sufficient resources to carry it through the time it may take for sales to gather momentum. If not, he will have to balance this with keeping some sales to smaller businesses in order to keep up a measure of cashflow. Otherwise, he may land in financial difficulty.

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