Company Description

            Tech MD is an internet-based company, operating at http://www.tech-MD.com and providing in-depth hardware, software, and operating system reviews for all demographics of computer users.  While there are niche sites for various types of users, we seek to combine these in an organized fashion.  Reviews intended for novice computer users will be written in non-technical language.  Reviews written for advanced users will provide very technical details and statistics.  We intend to create both types, as well as reviews for those with intermediate levels of expertise.  Our revenue comes from banner advertisements on our site.  We are located physically in basement of the residence at 104 Chiswick Road, Williamsport, PA.  Our initial funding comes from the savings of the partners, Matt Detrick and Dylan Flipse, as well as modest loans from banks.  Matt Detrick brings a business background to the partnership and Dylan Flipse brings experience in all technical areas, as well as contacts with our intended employees.  Tech MD will be operational in June 2000, and will be attracting advertisers shortly thereafter.  Tech MD will at first consist of both partners, and two employees, Thomas Smith and Samuel Corbett as reviewers, testers, and writers.  As a small company, management will be fairly loose, although Dylan Flipse will be in charge of directing employee operations.  Our mission is to provide high quality, unbiased, entertaining reviews written for all types of computer users.

 

Marketing Strategy

            We intend to become a very high profile, high-traffic website for people interested in researching various computer technologies, products, and services.  High levels of traffic will enable us to collect revenue from banner advertisements placed on our pages.  The reason our site will be especially attractive to advertisers is because of the different technical levels of the reviews we provide.  An advertiser will be able to place ads for at products aimed for new computer users on pages with reviews written for new computer users.  On pages with reviews intended for experts, an advertiser would be able to place ads intended for advanced computer users.  There is no direct competition with other technical review sites, as a user can easily visit more than one, but we feel our different levels of reviews, as well as clear, concise writing, sense of humor, and user-friendly design make us a very attractive destination for the reader, and in turn, the advertiser.  Sites such as Hard OCP, Sharky Extreme, and AnandTech cater to the most advanced users.  ArsTechnica and The Register are popular destinations that are geared toward intermediate users.  We intend to write for both of these markets, as well as the largely ignored beginners market.  It is important to stress, of course, that sites of this nature typically have an informal cooperation, frequently linking to interesting and informative articles on other sites.  This is part of our growth plan, begin writing reviews and build up our reputation by having well-established sites link to our reviews.  We also intend to spend some money on banner advertisements of our own, which we feel will help generate site traffic and increase name recognition. Finally, we feel we can build likeability and popularity through giveaways, holding random drawings for products we’ve tested.

 

 

 

Organization and Management

            As a partnership, Matt Detrick and Dylan Flipse both bring unique skills and abilities to Tech MD.  Mr. Detrick comes from a business background, and will be dealing directly with soliciting advertisements.  He will manage the finances of the company, and is in charge of obtaining loans and investments.  He will also deal directly with manufacturers in order to obtain products for review before their release to the general public.  Dylan Flipse has a both technical and journalistic background.  He will be the head reviewer, writer, and editor, as well as maintaining the actual web site.  At this time, we intend on hiring two employees, Thomas Smith of Mansfield, PA and Samuel Corbett of Corning, NY.  Both are highly experienced in computer hardware, software, and in internet technology.  In the future, as we demand more employees, both Matt Detrick and Dylan Flipse will conduct hiring.  We intend to seek employees not necessarily for their educational background or work experience, and instead wish to find those who are interesting, knowledgeable, hard-working, and posses excellent writing skills.  We intend to attract and keep employees through a friendly and relaxed working environment, with an emphasis on teamwork and quality output.  We believe that we can provide salaries that compare favorably with jobs requiring similar experience and skills, as well as benefits, perks such as free hardware, fast internet connection, and a relaxed environment, compared to the cubicles and high pressure found at many other jobs in the technology industry.  We intend to hire a tax consultant to work with Matt Detrick on tax matters, and should be able to stay out of trouble when it comes to civil matters such as liability lawsuits, because we don’t have a physical presence that deals directly with customers.

Operations

            Tech MD will be located in the basement of the residence at 104 Chiswick Road, Williamsport, PA.  This location is available for free for our use, and has many other features which make it attractive.  It is large enough to house desk and workbench space for all our employees, including some we may hire in the future.  It is also already electrically wired to supply the power needed for a large number of computers, and is a cool environment, essential for operating that many computers.  We will need desks, chairs, and workbenches for our employees, and all will need computers for writing their reviews and articles.  We also need computer components for use in our testing.  It will be necessary to lease a T1 internet connection to provide ample bandwidth for our web server.  We need a dedicated server computer and networking equipment.  Finally, we’ll need to purchase at least some of the items we review, typically through online retailers or directly from the manufacturers.  We will need to carry typical liability, property, and business interruption insurance, and provide employees with ergonomic desks and chairs if they desire them, to prevent repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.  We need to pay for both gas and airfare when our employees travel to technology industry expos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial Information

Desks and chairs                                  -                       $1000

Workbenches                                       -                       $300

Webserver computer                            -                       $2500

Leased T1 line                                      -                       $300 / month

tech-MD.com                                       -                       $70 / two years

Misc. computer equipment                    -                       $200

Computer components                          -                       $7000

Travel                                                   -                       $250 or less / month

Advertising                                           -                       $200 / month (Less once established)

Components to review                          -                       $1000/month (Less once established)

Insurance                                              -                       $200 / month

Utilities                                                 -                       $120 / month

Salaries                                                -                       $5000 / month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales Pitch

            Tech MD is a company built around two highly motivated partners and two highly skilled employees.  We will cater to needs in an emerging market, supplying information to all kinds of people who wish to make informed buying decisions about different technological products.  The information that currently exists is available in many places for expert users, some places for beginners, and very few places for those in between.  We intend to become the one place that anyone can come to for news or reviews that they can understand, and that will most benefit them.

            We also intend to turn a profit shortly after beginning operations.  We can initially attract readers through banner advertising, but we intend to keep them by being unique and better than the existing sites.  In addition to our appeal to many demographics, we intend to provide high-quality, clear, and entertaining writing.  We will also be friendly to our loyal readers.  Once we review a product, we intend to give most of them away through random drawings.  This will all provide the high traffic volume that our profit model demands. We intend to profit through displays of banner advertisements on our own pages.  We can attract advertisers because the advertisements can be better “targeted” than at a traditional site.  Ads directed at beginners, for instance, will easily be able to be shown only to beginners.

            Tech MD is a wise investment because we will be providing something that people need.  We intend to have a relatively low startup cost and cost of continued operation, with excellent chances for profit and growth in the future.

 

 

Goals

Obtain startup capital – From investors.

Inform – Fill a hole in the existing information about technology products.

Build up a reader base – Through advertising and well-written articles.

Profit – Through sales of advertising.

Grow – Long term, hire more employees so we can cover more products

Expand to product sales – Long term, buy products our readers want in large quantities, resell them at low cost but for profit.