We help start-ups start, thrive and survive! By refining basic business strategies, securing resources, developing marketing strategies and plans, and evaluating the competitive landscape, we help new companies launch successfully. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! acts as a strategic advisor and resource to help develop business strategies. We become part of the team. (Plus, we bring our Rolodex!)

One of the services we provide is to help challenge fundamental business assumptions prior to entering the market. This ensures a strong, sound foundation for growth. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! brings business expertise outside of a company’s core competency. We provide objective analysis, actionable plans and the highest standards of ethics and confidentiality.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Start-up ventures require strategic partners. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! can prepare a market segmentation plan where potential partners were categorized, then prioritized by products, services and synergy. We will outline a deal structure and participated in the negotiations. We can help institutionalize the new business development process and outline the criteria for future partners. Many companies miss these details.

We can also improve accountability of Business Partnerships by establishing a model to evaluate the ROI of deals. We help develop communication plans and internal processes to effectively manage relationships. This enables partners and internal staff to communicate regularly, fostering cooperation and maximizing performance. Part of our job is to help companies become better partners.

COMPETITIVE ASSESSMENT & STRATEGY
Understanding the competitive landscape is important in this fast changing environment.

For one pre-IPO Internet company IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! prepared a comprehensive competitive analysis, making strategic recommendations including partnering opportunities. Forty competitors were evaluated in terms of leadership, product offering and corporate strategy. The client’s Board of Directors validated IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! conclusions. The analysis helped shape the company’s vision of the product, identifing current and future market segments and also identifing which competitors could actually be partners.

PRICING & PACKAGING
IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! recognizes the sensitivities of customer growth and the marketing and operational considerations in pricing strategies. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! provides a framework for pricing strategies and develops alternative strategies, making recommendations that best fit a client’s goals.

RESEARCH
IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! helps identify the key challenges at product launch. What’s the unique selling proposition" and "What’s going to resonate most with the target audience" are questions we help to answer. We assist in determining costs, compatibility, reliability, usefulness and responsiveness to new ideas.

Our research enabled one start-up Internet company to identify a stronger name, identify receptive segments to meet expansion goals and raise more capital.

CONTENT ACQUISTION
IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! leverages relationships and helps structure deals for its clients. We assist in identifying potential pitfalls that can cause difficulties in the future. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! assistance helps attain access to content providers who may not otherwise be available. We have wide network of contacts that cross several media platforms.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Getting the best people is one of the most important tasks a new company faces. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! assists in defining the optimal organizational structure, working within established resource and budgetary constrains. We also identify strategies and external resources to fill high performing executive positions.

POSITIONING AND BRANDING
IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! helps identify a brand strategy that represents the company, its products and services now and into the future. We enable you to identify a message that will differentiate you from the competition and that your target audience will think is important.

IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! believes in the value of a name. We work with top naming firms to enable our clients to own a position that captures the very essence of the benefits in a category.

CREATIVE
We develop creative strategies and find creative resources and we will help conduct an agency search, where warranted, considering your time and resource constraints. We also provide introductions to IDEAS& SOLUTIONS! strategic alliances that can provide direct marketing, PR and production services.

DIRECT MARKETING
Depending on the situation and the need, we can identify direct marketing opportunities and can recommend world-class firms with the expertise to manage and mine your customer database, marketing directly to your targets using both traditional and new media methodologies.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! develops PR strategies and plans that make sense for where a company is in its evolution. Some companies require staying stealth as long as possible while others need to maximize their visibility. We help develop the right strategy for the right time and find the right people to execute it.

We bring the users’ voice to the design and marketing team enabling you to improve your product. We help identify what works and what does not work. Our efforts help you understand how users view your product in relationship to the competition. We work with a variety of user groups utilizing various research methods — one-on-one interviews, quantitative and qualitative analysis, surveys and focus groups. We also gather and evaluate secondary research when available and appropriate.

IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! conducts usability labs and focus groups that result in improving the product’s ease of use, appeal, and market potential. We are able to identify challenges and make recommendations to enhance the product in the users’ eyes.

You only launch once! It is important to set your business up correctly. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! helps establish a foundation to launch marketing plans, programs and initiatives. Retention is an integral part of a marketing strategy. Our extensive experience in retention marketing can help clients be proactive in designing systems and approaches to maintain customer relationships and retention. We can help identify the lifetime value of the customer thus maximizing margins and customer value through repurchase. Many companies wait until there is a churn problem before developing a retention strategy. IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! develops effective retention strategies and plans that work in conjunction with the marketing strategy as a whole.

 

IDEAS & SOLUTIONS! knows every new business needs customers and lots of them. Our experience in developing and institutionalizing affiliate marketing plans and processes is instrumental to our clients’ success. We help build and maintain their customer base.