E-Business

Business Plan

Business Plan for MySupport.com

Summary:
This business plan details the ideas for a new business called MySupport.com, an IT support business
that will use cutting edge technology to provide customers with high quality support. In order to setup
the business successfully a initial investment of £646,900 is required. This investment will be used to
provide office space, employ staff to help answer support calls and to build and maintain in house client
support software. The initial investment will be paid back over 4 years, paying £200,000 a year, plus
interest. After 3 years MySupport.com will have an annual turnover of just under £4 million, with a
profit before tax of around £2.3 million.

Business Description:
In the world of growing internet and computer usage there are many computer support companies that
provide consumers with phone support, but not many that are able to provide desktop support via a
remote desktop connection. This new business MySupport.com would take IT support to the next level
by using the latest technology to help fix computer problems. Another major feature of the business
would be that it would provide support at set prices, i.e. if a customer wanted help with installing
Antivirus software they would pay one price however long it took to solve the problem. This would
allowing customers to see how much the service will cost before requesting it.

MySupport.com’s mission would be to “Provide high quality remote desktop support”. In order to
achieve this mission they aim to solve 95% of support problems within 24 hours; using the latest tried
and tested internet technologies. In order to achieve this aim MySupport.com will develop their own
systems and software that allows support representatives to safely and securely connect to customers
PC’s, while maintaining customer privacy.

Due to the nature of an IT support business they fall into a number of Business Models classifications,
they could be described as a Infomediary Model, Subscription Model and Utility Model. Even though
there are 11 different types of e-business model defined there is still not an E-Business IT Support
model (Chaffey, 2004, pg51-53), so a new model would need to be build. This model would take the
key element of the Infomediary, Subscription and Utility models. Again due to the nature of
MySupport.com it would fall into a number of E-Business Categories, namely Business to Consumer
(B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) . The main category would be B2C, and having B2B as a second
category would help provide a good secure income for the business.

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Market Analysis:
The IT business is a growing sector, and almost everyone interacts with a PC on a daily basis. In the
UK alone in 2006 there were 37 million internet users, this accounts for 64% of the UK’s population
(ToFocus, 2006). However according to national statistics in 2006 54% of people in the UK had a
desktop PC and 30% had a laptop computer (NationalStatistics, 2006). This shows that there are still a
large number of PC users who are not using their PC with the internet. Although some internet /
computer users are computer literate and able to solve problems easily, many are not, and at some
point may need help, whether that’s advice from a friend or contacting a computer support company.
Figure 1.1 from How to Manage the IT Help Desk shows the different levels of support users may need
(Bruton, 2002, p52).

Problem Area Support provided by

Advanced usage Peers, product author, user, representative (if a
(e.g. programming, macro editing) programmer), user training
Usage of application User representative, user training, possible helpdesk
Application installation and interfacing to Helpdesk or equivalent
system and peripherals (e.g. technical support)
Environment (system interface, e.g. Helpdesk or equivalent
Windows Shell)
Operating system Helpdesk or equivalent
Firmware (BIOS) Manufacture (via Helpdesk)
Hardware Maintenance company
(possible via Helpdesk)
Implementation Helpdesk or equivalent.
(e.g. network connection)
Figure 1.1 IT Support Levels (Bruton, 2002, p52)

From this diagram it is clear to see that there are many areas of computing an I.T. Support Company
could help with. In general most consumer PC support companies concentrate on supporting Hardware
that may have been purchased from the company, i.e. Dell. These companies however don’t provide
support for Application Installation, Application Usage etc. PC support companies in the business sector
do provide support at this level, and also take advantage of technologies such as remote desktop to
help users solve problems. Using Remote Desktop allows the support technician to view the clients
screen at the same time as the user, making it easier to provide help, or to control the clients pc.

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Providing this level of support and using new technologies would provide a Unique Selling Point (USP)
for the business.

Competitor Analysis:
Two major computer support companies in the UK, who offer online support, are The Tech Guys, part
of PC World and Presto, part of Dell Computers. Both of these companies provide computer support to
consumers and businesses, however the consumer market is their primary market. In order to analyses
competition Brassington suggest that you look at the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
(Brassington & Pettitt, 2005, pg 868). Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors of a business so
often hard to find.

The Tech Guys strengths and weaknesses are shown below:

Strengths:
• Associated with Dixons Selling Group (DSG) a recognised and trusted brand.
• A customer base provided by PC World and Curry’s customers.
• Provides support for other technical items such as TV’s and Videos.
• Sell associated support software such as Anti-Virus software.
• Free FAQ’s on the site providing simple instructions on operations such as writing DVD’s.
• Provides a voice on the end of the phone which is reassuring to people.

Weaknesses:
• Not 24 x 7 support. Only between 8am and 10pm.
• Telephone support the only way of contract with support team.
• Support charged by the minute (Pay as you go).

Prestos strengths and weaknesses are shown below:

Strengths:
• Associated with Dell Computers a recognised and trusted brand.
• Customer base provided though Dell customers, part of the package deal on may PC’s
• Price scale according to the level of support required.
• Telephone and On-site support provided.
• Provides a voice on the end of the phone which is reassuring to people.

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Weaknesses:
• Support only provided for Dell PC’s.
• Telephone support the only way of contract with support team.
• Expensive.

Both of these companies also have opportunities and threats which affect them but these are shared by
both companies as they operate in the same market, providing similar goods.

Opportunities:
• A wide array of communication technologies available that could be used to provide IT and PC
support, that are currently unused.
• Standardise Prices so that consumers know how much services will cost them.(Tech Guys Only)
• Computer usage is increasing and sales are increasing, up 6.3% in 2006 (Tekrati, 2006)

Threats:
• The amount of literature, including books and magazines on how to fix computer problems is
increasing, so people have other forms of support.
• Computer literacy is increasing so users are becoming more confident with the machines and
completing more tasks without the need for support.

By analysing the main competition the only way to setup a business in the IT support industry is to
provide the levels of support already provided by both the Tech Guys and Presto but also to go one
step further and provide a new edge. This could successfully be done by working with the opportunities
available, i.e. the use of new communication technologies, and standardised pricing structures. Another
route to making a successfully business is to eliminate the threats, in this care the main threat is the
amount of literature available and the fact that users are becoming better at what they do. In order to
cash in on this market MySupport.com could provide online articles explaining how to carry out task,
and also facilitate courses teaching users how to complete more advanced hardware and software
tasks.

However this is still a large barrier to entry on a market such as this. Because 2 of the main support
companies are so big and tidy to even large national and multinational companies they are very hard to
compete against. However even if MySupport.com only took a tiny percentage of their customers it
could still succeed successfully.

Organisational and Technical Structures:

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In order to setup MySupport.com successfully it would need to be a business in its own right. In terms
of Legal Structure this would be best achieved initially if the business were a Private Limited Company
(PLC). A PLC needs to have Shareholders who have bought into the business, these shares will have
been sold privately, or to invited parties, and the business will not floated on the Stock Exchange. A
PLC also gives the Shareholders a slight amount of security, because if the business gets into debt,
then if they wish to they can declare it bankrupt, thus loosing only the money they have put into the
business already. In order to become a PLC the business name must be Registered at Companies
House, have 2 Directors and a Company Secretary. Annually a record of the businesses accounts must
be filed at Companies House, and any profit not put back into the business is distributed equally
between the Shareholders. (BusinessLink, 2007)

The Work Structure that will be used in the business will be the “Division of Work by Major Purpose”
Structure. This will allow for work to be departmentalised and to be based on differentiation between
task and element functions (Mullins, pg605). Figure 1.2 below shows how the businesses work
structure will look:

Figure 1.2 MySupport.com Organisational Structure

As you can see from Figure 1.2 the Help Desk Team will initial consist of 10 people who will be the
main point of contact with customers, logging and answering their support problems. If they require
more technical detail or their problem cannot be answered instantly, they can be passed to the
Hardware and Software Problem Researchers. The Hardware and Software Problem Research Teams

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will consist of 2 people each who are able to find out answers to problems not already known. The In-
house Development team will consist of 2 Developers and 2 Junior Developers / Testers who will be
trained in system development and testing. The Marketing Department will be made up of a Offline
Marketer who will deal with Offline Campaigns and an Online Marketer who will deal with Online
Campaigns, however there maybe times when they will need to work together to create joint
campaigns and strategies. Finally the Finance Department will consist of 2 Accountants who are able to
manage the flow of cash through the business, help create business plans and provide year end
accounts etc. The Managing Director and HRM Director will work closely together, and are the founder
members of the business. The HRM Director also acts as company secretary for legal reasons. Over
time the number of employees will need to grow with the business.

The technical structure for MySupport.com slightly different to the normal technical structure of an E-
Business as the business needs to be able to provide support back to customers via the internet also.
This means that communication servers are required, and that customers may have to download a
piece of software developed in house to allow remote desktop support to be provided. Figure 1.3 below
shows the organisations proposed technical structure:

Figure 1.3 MySupport.com Technical Structure

In order to receive full Remote Desktop support the client will need to install MySupport.com’s Remote
Support software. It will be developed in house to make sure it is secure while giving our Help Desk

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Team the access required to the clients PC. Ideally the client will access the internet through a Firewall.
MySupport.com will also have a Firewall to protect both ourselves and our clients. If the client is using
the Remote Support software then this will be used with the Remote Desktop Server that comes before
the Web Server, this helps minimize traffic through the Web Server. The Database Server will be a key
server as it will provide data to both the Web Server and Remote Desktop Server, similarly the Voice
Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Server will interact with both. Behind the Web server will be an array of
servers including a File Server, Email Server, Content Management Server (CMS) and E-Commerce
Server. In order to maintain the best possible service to our customers there will also be remote
mirrors of all the servers which will mean that even if the main servers go down there will always be a
fall back to relay on.

Finances:
In order to setup MySupport.com an initial investment of £646,900 would be required. This is broken
down in more detail in figure 1.4.

Office Lease £60,000.00

Office Furishings £24,000.00
Office Services £6,000.00
Employees £478,500.00
Web Design £7,500.00
Hardware £20,400.00
Software £10,500.00
Marketing £25,000.00
Insurance £5,000.00
Contingency Fund £10,000.00

Investment Required £646,900.00

Figure 1.4 Investment Required * Using Best Possible Figures.

These figures have been calculated using the best possible figures available. The Office Lease Prices
were calculated on price guides from (Flexibility, 2005) which estimates it costs about £3000 to office
one person a year, this includes the floor area, furnishing and services.

A further breakdown of the Employees costs shows how this figure was generated. And the total
number of employees required. These figures were calculated using PayScale.com a website which 1
lists average wages by area for jobs. Employee’s wages will be the biggest cost to the business,

1 http://www.payscale.com (Accesses 20/03/2007).

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however as these will be paid over a 12 month period these should be covered directly by any income.
A breakdown is shown in figure 1.5:

Position Number Salery Total

Help Desk Operative 10 £14,500.00 £145,000.00
Developers 2 £30,500.00 £61,000.00
Junior Developer / Tester 2 £15,500.00 £31,000.00
Researchers 4 £18,500.00 £74,000.00
Marketers 2 £18,500.00 £37,000.00
Accountants 2 £23,500.00 £47,000.00
HRM Director 1 £38,500.00 £38,500.00
Managing Director 1 £45,000.00 £45,000.00

T otal £478,500.00

Figure 1.5 Employee’s Wages

Initially a large number of Help Desk Operatives will be required to answer the support calls / emails
that are received. These are vital to the business succeeding if customers do not make contact with
someone on their first call it is likely they will use another company to help them in the future.

Once the MySupport.com is up and running it is intended it will make a small profit after the first year
of trading, and then a larger profit each year. After 3 years it is estimated the profit before tax will be
£2,352,500. The estimated turnover for the next 3 years is shown in figure 1.6:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Sales £1,226,400.00 £2,628,000.00 £3,942,000.00

Office Lease £60,000.00 £62,000.00 £64,000.00

Office Furishings £24,000.00 £10,000.00 £15,000.00
Office Services £6,000.00 £8,000.00 £10,000.00
Employees £478,500.00 £767,000.00 £1,226,000.00
Web Design £7,500.00 £2,500.00 £2,500.00
Hardware £20,400.00 £6,000.00 £10,000.00
Software £10,500.00 £15,000.00 £20,000.00
Marketing £25,000.00 £30,000.00 £35,000.00
Insurance £5,000.00 £6,000.00 £7,000.00
Loan Repayment £200,000.00 £200,000.00 £200,000.00
Total Costs £836,900.00 £1,106,500.00 £1,589,500.00

Profit Before Tax £389,500.00 £1,521,500.00 £2,352,500.00

Figure 1.6 Estimates Turnover for next 3 Years

These figures work on an assumption that MySupport.com will be able to deal with 40 calls an hour,
each caller spending an average of £7. Support will be provided 12 hours a day, from 8am to 8pm, 365
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days a year. This means the first years sales revenue will be £1,226,400.00. In the second and third
years this will go up as we should be able to deal with more callers per hour, but in order to do this we
will need to employ more staff. Over this time we will also re-pay the loan of £646,000 in yearly
installments of £200,000, in the fourth year we should have fully re-paid this including the interest
charged on the loan.

Conclusion:

In conclusion MySupport.com could be a successful business if the right amount of time and effort was
put into setting it up. The biggest problem to overcome will be entering the market against the size of
the rivals, however in the companies favor is the fact that the IT market is so large. Ideally the
Directors would need to have worked in this type of company before and know the ins and outs of it,
as well as being able to see ways in which they can improve on the services provided by others. As
computers and the internet are becoming more of a utility and necessity businesses like this are going
to become more popular and the market will grow very quickly. Ideally this company would need to be
setup as soon as possible so they can be one of the early companies to the market place.

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References:
Brassington F & Pettit S, 2003, Principals of Marketing, Third Edition, Harlow, Prentice Hall.

Bruton N, 2002, How to Manage the IT Help Desk, < http://books.google.com/books?id=g6X5F042TGcC >
Accessed (20/03/2007).

BusinessLink, 2007, Legal Structures, The Basics, < http://www.businesslink.gov.uk > Accessed (20/03/2007).

Chaffey D, 2004, E-Business and E-Commerce Management Second Edition, London, Pearson Education.

Felxibility, 2005, Space - The Final Frontier, < http://www.flexibility.co.uk/flexwork/offices/ > Accessed
(20/03/2007).

Mullins L,J, 2005, Management and Organisational Behaviour, Seventh Edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd.

National Statistics, 2006, Use of ICT at Home, < http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1710 >

(Accessed 20/03/2007).

Tekrati, 2006, PC Sales to rise 6% in 2006, < http://www.tekrati.com/research/News.asp?id=8232 > (Accessed

21/03/2007).

ToFocus, 2006, United Kingdom Internet Statistics Report, < http://www.tofocus.info/Country-United-

Kingdom.php > (Accessed 20/03/2007).

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