Case study of the

Image Cafe
Image Caf was founded by Clarence Wooten in 1998. Prior
to that he was also a founded of Envision Designs while he
was an undergraduate in 1991 and Metamorphosis Studios
in 1994 with co-founder Andre Forde. However, the three
company did not really last long. In 1998, Metamorphosis
Studios had sold to Medisolv, Inc and Image Caf was
acquired by Network Solution after sever months of market
launch (Clarence Wooten, Jr., 2005).

About Clarence Wooten, Jr.

Clarence Wooten had a big dream since childhood. His
dream is to get rich someday. His childhood hobby was
playing with computer games. He was so obsessed with
computer that his parents banned him at the age of 14
(Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).
At the age of 18, he attended college to study architecture in
Catonsville Community College. During that time he
believes that by taking up architecture courses can satisfy

his creative instincts. In the early 1990s, many professional

architects went back to school to upgrade themselves due
to the recession. At that point of time, he manages to learn
from the senior architects. After the first two failure of his
business, he realised that he did not really understand
anything about finance after he read the stories from Fred
Smith, Reginald Lewis and Bill Gates. This had inspired him
to upgrade himself with a business administration and
finance. In 1998, he was graduated with B.S. in Business
Administration from Johns Hopkins University (Kathryn F,
Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).

Clarence Wooten, Jr.

Venture Spirit
Clarence Wooten started Envision Design which was his
first business while he enrolled for Catonsville Community
College. The type of service he was offering was using form
and cardboard to model out a proposed building. The
company did not perform well during that time and
eventually closed down (Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).
In 1994, Clarence Wooten started his second company
Metamorphosis Studios with his co-founded Andre Forde by
focusing on special effects and multimedia presentations.

Their first customer is Bingwa, an educational software

company. However, Bingwa require Metamorphosis Studios
to relocate to Princeton, New Jersey and worked for
Bingwa. After a thought Clarence Wooten and Andre Forde
turned down the offer as they know they are heading for
something big (Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).
Metamorphosis Studios was not a successful project too, in
1998 Metamorphosis Studios was acquired by MediSolv, Inc
(Clarence Wooten, Jr., 2005).
In early 1998, Clarence Wooten started his third company
Image Caf. Back in 1995, internet service began to grow.
Many companies had started to create their own companies
website in order to promote their products and services over
the World Wide Web. However, during that time, many
companies do not have their own expertise to create a
website. Clarence Wooten knew that this is an opportunity
and started Image Caf to help companies by design their
website to promote their products and services over the web
(Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).
At the start of Image Caf, Clarence Wooten went around to
search for capital in order to start his business. What
Clarence Wooten wants was $300,000 capital based on $3
million valuation. In total he received $110,000 from 10
different investors. Image Caf website was ready to launch
after four month of preparation. However, at that point of

time, Clarence Wooten had utilised the cash during the

launch. He went back to the existing investors to ask for
additional $150,000 in form of bridge loan. This time,
Clarence Wooten expects to raise $3million at $10 million
valuation (Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).
In June 1999, Image Caf once again runs out of cash. He
approaches three major investors who are keen on
investing, two venture capital firms and Network Solution.
This time he asked for $1 million from each investor on a
$10 million valuation. Out of three, one investor felt that $10
million valuation is too high. Clarence Wooten remembered
Mid-Atlantic Venture Association was interested to invest in
Image Caf. After negotiation, Mid-Atlantic Venture
Association will not invest till Clarence Wooten perform the
required due diligence. However, Mid-Atlantic Venture
understands that Clarence Wooten needs immediate cash
so they refer him to two new investors who willing to give
him the loan at $300,000 bridge loan on $6 million valuation.
At this point of time, Clarence Wooten need to make a final
decision to look for more investor or continues to fight as all
a long Clarence Wooten wanted a $10 million valuation
(Kathryn F, Spinelli, 2004: 33-40).

A Business Plan to Manage

Clarence Wooten Business
The author felt that Clarence Wooten cannot sustain his
business is because his venture spirit lacks of a proper
business plan. Every business he does he only based on his
feeling, he thinks he believes or the investor might all
these are base on what he feels. Before starting a business,
he should draft a business plan outline. By doing that, he
will have a better view on what he is doing. Business plan
outline consist of an Executive Summary on the entire
business plan. Second, Company Description is about his
products and services, ownership, partnerships etc. Third,
Industry Analysis base on industry trends, size, growth rate
and sales projection. Fourth, Market Analysis on buyer
behaviour, competitor analysis, market segmentation and
target market selection. Fifth, Marketing Plan focuses on
how Clarence Wooten should market his services. Sixth,
Management Team and Company Structure consist of the
founder and key personnel. Seventh, Operations Plan is
about how the company will run and how do Clarence
Wooten produce his work. Eighth, Product (or Service)
Design and Development Plan on development status and
tasks, challenges and risks, and Intellectual Property.
Finally, Financial Projections is a very important factor for

entrepreneur. Clarence Wooten should layout how much

money his firm needs before the start of his business and
how he is going to raise the money and how he is going to
use the money. He should not source for investor when he
feels that money is not enough (Bruce R. Barringer & R.
Duane Ireland, 2010: 144-154)

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Conclusion
Clarence Wooten is daring, creative and smart guy. To start
a business, the founder or founders should have a proper
business plan. From the business plan the founder or
founders will be able to have a better view on what are their
strength and weakness is there any opportunity or threat to
start or with the business. Fire fighting is not advisable, the
founder and founders should prevent fire from burning.

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