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Create and develop a

startup
IBN KHALDOUN UNIVERSITY - TIARET
TAHAR ZIOUAL
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Summary

Chapter I: Entrepreneurial profile and motivations................................................ ......................................... 2

I. 1 The creation of a startup ......................................... .................................................. ................... 2

I.2 The posture of the entrepreneur ......................................... .................................................. .............. 4

I.3 How to find an idea............................................ .................................................. ............... 5

I.4 The startup ecosystem ......................................... .................................................. ......................... 5

I.5 Getting started alone or with others ......................................... .................................................. ............... 5

I.6 Growth and sales........................................ .................................................. ................. 6

I.7 Errors, failures and good practices........................................ .................................................. ... 7

Chapter II: From idea to market........................................ .................................................. .................... 9

II. 1 Customer development and product development................................................ ..... 9

II.1.1 Customer development ......................................... ................................................. 9

II.1.2 product development ........................................... .................................................. .10

II.2 The construction of an economic model........................................ ............................................. 10

II.3 The art of pitching ......................................... .................................................. ................................... 12

Chapter III: From market to growth ......................................... .................................................. .... 13

III.1 Growth hacking or the cult of growth ......................................... ................................... 13

III. 1.1 the AARRR growth hacking technique ........................................... .................................. 13

III.2 Fundraising and valorization............................................ .................................................. .... 14

III.3 Crowdfunding: Marketing and financial leverage ......................................... ............................. 14

Chapter IV Administration and management........................................ .................................................. ... 15

IV.1 The starter pack: legal / social / tax / VAT............................... ............................. 15

IV.2 Tools to manage, develop and communicate about your activity.................................. ... 15

IV.3 Market access and sale. Business development. Web marketing . Performance
management.............................................. .................................................. ............................................. 17

IV.4 Strategic Watch............................................ .................................................. ......................... 18

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Chapter I : Entrepreneurial profile and

motivations

I. 1 Creating a startup
The startup is a company (recently) created with the objective of developing an innovative activity, and benefiting from vast
development potential. This structure can also be led to exploit a pre-existing idea, but in a way different from the standards
practiced, in the hope of designing a new, unique and original offer. Steve Blank, entrepreneur and author on the subject,
describes it rather as “a temporary organization looking for an industrializable, profitable business model that allows growth”.

The activities of a start-up are often concentrated in the digital sector, new technologies, biotech or even the collaborative
economy. Some start-ups sometimes choose to exploit an already existing idea to create a unique and relevant offer. Based
on marketing vocabulary, we then speak of “ incremental innovation ”.

Whatever its definition, the creation of a start-up is done with the aim of developing an innovative activity or exploiting a
growing or maturing market. As a result, this type of structure does not have a predefined economic model.

This can make structuring the business and implementing an action plan difficult. The creation of a start-up requires, moreover,
a significant investment in order to finance the growth which is intended to be exponential and rapid. To guarantee the
development of a start-up, the entrepreneur must find a “ business model ”, or innovative and sustainable economic model.

The choice of legal form as well as the drafting of the company's statutes must be done in such a way as to guarantee a
certain adaptability and flexibility to allow the growth of the start-up and its evolution towards a larger form over time. years.

The creation of a start-up goes through several stages from the preparation phase to the realization phase of the project. The
first step is to find a start-up idea and the last is to create the company.

Step 1. Find a start-up idea

The first step in creating a start-up is finding an idea. During this phase, you must ensure that it is relevant, unique and new.
To do this, it may be practical to carry out a “ benchmark ”, in other words a comparative study and a market study. It is also
necessary to check whether the start-up idea corresponds to:

His project ;

His competences ;

His qualifications.

When choosing the start-up idea, you also have to think about the corresponding target . It is important not to restrict the field
of action too much to guarantee the development of your business. The start-

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upper must ensure that the idea can ultimately be profitable. Testing the market may then be necessary in order to adjust its
services or products.

Step 2. Set up your project and formalize it

Once the concept of your start-up has been determined and evaluated, the next step is to set up your
project and formalize it. This phase makes it possible to assess the feasibility of the project and its growth potential.
It involves the establishment of several elements, in particular:

The business plan with the presentation of the project and its financial aspects;

The executive summary, a document summarizing the main points of the business plan;

The “ business model ”, or economic model;

The pitch, a speech that allows you to quickly present and promote the project.

All these elements will allow investors to evaluate the start-up's creation project, its feasibility and its profitability.

Step 3. Seek funding

Once the project is formalized, the entrepreneur can proceed to seek financing. The various elements established must constitute
the file to convince investors and banks. Various solutions can be considered.

Crowdfunding

To finance the creation of a start-up, startuppers can rely on crowdfunding or participatory financing. This type of financing can be
in the form of a loan, donation or equity participation.

The bank loan

One of the classic solutions in terms of financing is to take out a bank loan. In this case, the manager must generally undertake
in a personal capacity to act as guarantor for the structure for its debts.

Fundraising

Raising funds is another suitable financing solution. To attract the

investors and encourage them to participate in the project, usually former business leaders or high-level executives investing their
personal money, it is necessary to present the project in a convincing manner.

Aid for innovation

Numerous innovation grants are available, subsidizing truly innovative projects.

Calls for projects

To finance your start-up, it is also recommended to respond to calls for innovative projects proposed by various agencies and
organizations such as the foundations of large companies, ADEME or the European Union through the H2020 program. These
calls for projects are visible on their website.

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Step 4. Choose a social form to create your startup

EURL, SARL, …different options are available to you for the legal form of your startup. Which one is best suited to your
needs?

To choose your corporate form you need to think about your activity and the future prospects of your company. Would you
like to embark on the adventure alone or with partners? Have you anticipated rapid growth and the potential entry of new
associates subsequently?

This questioning stage is essential to choose the social form best suited to your project. Do not hesitate to consult the
guide to choosing the corporate form which gives you an overview of each of the possible social forms for opening
your startup.

STEP 5: launch your startup

Once the reflection phase has come to an end, it is finally time to launch your start-up!

This last step involves creating the start-up itself. It brings together the procedures relating to the creation of a company.
It includes several phases from the choice of legal status to the registration of the start-up. The formalities to be completed
depend on the legal form chosen. Generally speaking, they include:

Drafting the statutes of the start-up;

The filing and registration of statutes;

The declaration of the company's activities;

The publication relating to the constitution of the start-up in a legal notices newspaper;

Registration of the start-up.

However, the steps to create a business are often difficult to carry out, and mistakes are numerous when you have little
or no legal knowledge. In addition, using a legal professional (lawyer, accountant, etc.) can be very expensive. In Algeria,
there are support structures such as Algeria venture (incubation/acceleration) which help guide startups and develop
them (see https://startup.dz).

I.2 The posture of the entrepreneur

Becoming an entrepreneur is both a profession and a life project. The posture that an entrepreneur must adopt is
based on dreams, audacity and resilience. The entrepreneur goes beyond preconceived ideas by placing himself in a
triangle of trust / conscience / choice and not in a triangle of victim / persecutor.
Saviour /
Think “ yes and… ” rather than “ yes… but ” defines resilience. What will change in me, in

external support, in means, in objective to take into account reality and the reasonable level of dreams.

One of the pillars of the successful entrepreneur's mindset is to be visionary! The vision (in the long term) will allow you to
remain confident in yourself. To believe in YOU, to believe in your goals and above all to believe in YOUR success!

An entrepreneur must be persistent and patient. He must have motivation, determination and ambition.

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I.3 How to find an idea

If you want to create your startup, you probably already have a small idea in mind. And if you don't have one yet, it's time to find
your startup idea. This idea must respond to a need (if possible urgent and important) of a category of people, who have
the means to afford it. If there is no need, you have no market. If your target can't buy, you don't have a market either...

You must then refine your idea as much as possible by asking yourself the right questions:

What is the problem I want to solve with my startup?

What is the solution provided by my startup?

Who is my target? Consumers or other businesses?

Are there similar products on the market? If yes, what is my added value?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of my product or service? Those of my competitors?

Once you think you have found a solid idea, which corresponds to the needs of the market: it is time to tackle your business plan
and develop the operating methods of your startup

I.4 The startup ecosystem

A startup ecosystem is made up of people, startups at their different stages, and different types of organizations in one location
(physical or virtual), interacting as a system to create and scale new startup companies. These organizations can be divided into
categories such as universities, funding bodies, supporting organizations (like incubators, accelerators, collaborative workspaces,
etc.), research organizations, service provider organizations (such as legal, financial services, etc.) and large companies. Local
governments and government organizations such as Commerce/Industry/Commerce departments also play an important role in
the startup ecosystem. Different organizations typically focus on specific parts of the ecosystem function and on startups at their
specific stage(s) of development.

I.5 Getting started alone or with others

It is not obligatory, but if you want to give your future start-up every chance of succeeding, you must join forces.

In fact, it is not service providers who run a business, and even less so interns.

Being 2 founders allows you to have 2 people with complementary business knowledge who invest 110% in a project.

Looking for a co-founder also allows you to test your idea and the interest it triggers: if you are not able to convince other
entrepreneurs to partner with you, forget the idea of convincing investors.

Most investors will tell you: above all, they invest in a team.

But why then?

For the simple reason that even if your idea and your prototype are good, it is men who develop and manage a business.

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The ideal team will be made up of 3 partners:

• 1 or even 2 technical profiles,

• a communicator (marketing/PR/sales)
• a financial/analytical.

Likewise, when being alone we often get caught up in details, we lose sight of the objective, we can get sluggish... in short,
being alone is a concrete risk, taking as an example the adage “Alone we go better quickly, but together we go further…”

How to find these famous associates?

Several solutions are available to you and I strongly recommend that you combine them:

– Search the internet on sites connecting start-up project leaders and potential partners.

You can also join groups on social networks, especially on Facebook.

– Participate in as many meetings as possible.

These meetings can start on the web, but to make this a reality it must be done face to face during events such as Startup
weekend or even entrepreneur aperitifs.

It is advisable to participate in “Meetups” type events taking place in your city:

Initially it is advisable to participate in existing meetups, but if you really want to develop your network, organize your own
meetings on a theme close to your business to increase your local influence.

More traditional, you also have entrepreneur lunches which are organized:

In the Linkedin & Viadeo groups

I.6 Growth and sales

Businesses must grow to survive, and fast-growing businesses have several strategies to do so. A strategy is "determining the
fundamental long-term goals and objectives of a business, adopting measures and allocating the resources necessary to
achieve these objectives", it also consists of creating a unique and valuable proposition .

Ansoff (1965, in Baldegger, 2009) proposes four growth strategies using a market/product matrix approach, as shown below:

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First, market penetration: the goal is to maintain the same product or service for an existing market in order
to increase market share and increase sales among existing customers. This strategy involves the lowest
level of innovation and the least risk.

Second, product development: products with enhancing attributes are developed and marketed for existing
customers. Product life cycles are getting shorter as technological progress advances, pushing companies to
continually develop new products. Considerable investments in research and development, production and
sales are required.

Third, market development: This is the launch of an existing product into new markets, such as targeting new
customer segments, developing new applications for an existing product or establishing new geographic
markets for a region on the domestic or foreign market. Some adaptation of the business model, although
modest, may be necessary.

Fourth, diversification: it is the combination of new product and market development. Diversification can be
horizontal, vertical, concentric or lateral. This strategy is more suitable for larger companies, as it involves
significant resources and higher risks.

I.7 Errors, failures and good practices

The failure of a startup can be caused by a set of mistakes. In the following the main errors are cited:

1. Sell a product that the market does not need

2. Not controlling or rationalizing expenses

3. Building an Inappropriate Team (Recruiting Hastily)

4. Underestimating the competition

5. Not setting the right price

6. Your product does not provide enough value to your customers

7. Not having a business model (What do we mean by business model? It involves planning from the start
of the project how the startup created will earn money and become profitable. A lot of

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startups, particularly those launching into the web or digital, think they can succeed without trying to
monetize their application or services from the start.)

8. Being a perfectionist

9. Neglecting support

After citing the main errors that a startup can encounter. It is time to cite the best practices to apply to
make your startup successful:

1. Talk to your customers

2. Prototype to perfect your offer

3. Offer deals people really want

4. Your business is your #1 priority

5. Create and use an email list

6. Become a thought leader

7. Learn faster than your competitors

8. Make your startup successful by being curious

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Chapter II: From idea to market

II. 1 Customer development and product development

II.1.1 Customer development

Regardless of your industry, most marketers find that about 80% of their revenue comes from 20% of customers. Existing
customers demand and, above all, deserve preferential treatment from your business. So, what development strategies should
you put in place today?

Easy-to-implement techniques to grow your customer base:

#1 ANIMATED PICTURES

Go beyond basic photos and leverage animated images and GIFs to grab recipients' attention in emails, newsletters, social
media, and more.

#2 COUNTDOWN

Show a countdown timer for upcoming events or to let customers know how much time they have left to reach a goal before
they miss it, like an upcoming event or special sale

#3 CUSTOMIZATION OF THE NEWSLETTER

Go beyond first name personalization with your newsletters. Sending a hyper-personalized newsletter that focuses on the top
categories the customer has engaged with recently can be extremely effective, especially when you're providing a broad
product category.

#4 WEBSITE CUSTOMIZATION

Realizing the importance of personalization, you must also apply it to your website.
Especially since 74% of customers feel frustrated when the content on their site is not personalized. Personalize banners and
content blocks based on the interaction context, as well as the customer profile, to ensure the visitor's web experience reflects
the desired results.

#5 “HOW TO” CONTENT

Send “How to” content to your newsletter subscribers. This will allow you to build a closer relationship with your audience
rather than one purely focused on your products and services.

#6 GMAIL PROMOTION

Optimize your emails for the Promotions tab in Gmail. Whenever you offer sensitive offers and promotions, your emails should
be optimized for the Promotions tab to get maximum exposure

#7 ANALYSIS VIA IN-STORE TERMINALS

Capture in-store customer behavior as they interact with interactive terminals or kiosks. You can implement this use case once
all stores are available.
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opened again. This will give you valuable insights into how you can improve the in-store user experience.

#8 USER MANAGED CONTENT

Encourage your customers to interact with your #brand on social media and create user-generated
content in your next communication. This will act as social proof in the eyes of other potential customers,
showing that your brand is admired by thousands of
people like them.

Product development is a perilous exercise, in which you must invest time and valuable resources with
no guarantee of success.

II.1.2 product development

Product development is a perilous exercise, in which you must invest time and valuable resources with
no guarantee of success.

There are 5 steps to developing a new product that your customers will love:

Step 1 – Brainstorm and research as a team:

You must plan for debates and research: you and your team must put in a lot of effort before arriving at a
viable idea. This “fuzzy” period is often referred to as the fuzzy front end of product development.

Step 2 – Gauge the state of the market

Don't assume that people will want your product. Meet with them to identify their needs. Talk to your
current and potential customers to gauge their interest in the product you propose to create. Find out
what benefits and features they find most attractive and what price they would be willing to pay.

Step 3 – Develop and test a prototype

This step consists of launching an embryonic prototype on the market in order to obtain feedback as
quickly as possible from your testers. You then use this feedback to refine your prototype before
subjecting it to further testing. Repeat this step as often as necessary.

Step 4 – Take the leap into the market

Now is the time to iron out the details related to manufacturing, distribution, sales and support in order to
bring your product to market.

Step 5 – Eliminate small defects

The final step in the process involves finalizing all aspects of production, testing, sales and distribution.

II.2 Construction of an economic model

What is a business model and how to build it?

The economic model or business model is a coherent representation of the means by which the company
will generate income from its activity and then reinvest it in its activity.

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To build an economic model, you must first set a first objective, which corresponds to an overall strategy. This
objective helps you measure and set the means to implement to achieve it: the costs. On the other hand, you will
therefore need to mobilize resources to finance these costs: income. Here is the basis of an economic model!

Initially, the idea is not to ask “How to generate money?” » but rather to consider the model as a whole, by
defining your activities, your target audiences, your distribution channels but also your sources of income and
your expenses.

How to find a good economic model?

Finding a good economic model requires above all observation and common sense. What are your customers'
expectations? What is offered to them on the market today? What could be improved?

To answer these questions, market research is extremely important. This work makes it easier to find avenues to
explore by drawing inspiration from behavior and developments in the sector, customer expectations and issues,
the advancement of technology and its potential impact in the future... On this Last point, we can take the example
of the development of the web, which has impacted many well-established economic models.

The search for competitive advantages is necessary to build a good economic model.
There can be several approaches:

You develop an offer that stands out from that of your competitors, by providing innovation or offering better
product quality, for example.

You attack your competitors on prices, which involves optimizing your costs to have a viable project. This strategy
necessarily involves the implementation of a new production process.

Finally, you can also try to specialize in a new market that still has little competition, but with good potential. Here,
the aim is to quickly become a reference in the
sector.

In innovative projects, it sometimes happens that new markets are created. The first entrants then occupy an
important place.

As we mentioned above, the description of the economic model involves providing an answer to the following
questions:

What is the range of products or services offered?

What are its advantages compared to competitors?

Who is the target clientele?

What are the objectives to be achieved and with what strategy?

What are the resources and means implemented?

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II.3 The art of pitching

The commercial pitch is the ability to present yourself effectively and quickly during a first contact with
a client. It allows you to hook the latter by making a good impression and make them want to go further
with you.

It is the art of:

• You present
• To arouse interest
• To raise interest
• Make an impression
• Convince yourself of your added value (especially compared to your competitors)
• Make you want to know more
• In a minimum of time.
• The essential steps to succeed in your commercial elevator pitch
• Your presentation pitch should be brief but impactful. It's difficult to know what you absolutely must
indicate. The best thing is to answer the questions your prospect asks!

Here are the fundamental elements to integrate into your elevator pitch to capture the interest of your future client:

• The target concerned. Who are you addressing? Who are your customers? Give customer
references so that your interlocutor says: “I am part of this, I am concerned”.
Do not hesitate to provide quantitative data (number of current partners, potential customers)
to have a concrete impact on your audience. You involve him.
• Your promise. What needs are met by your solution? What are the benefits for your interlocutor?
This is the crucial element of your elevator pitch. Show your prospect’s interest in trusting you:
you are their savior! Thanks to your offer, these problems are solved. He wouldn't want to miss
this for anything.
• Market reality/context. What are the market situation and issues?
What solutions already exist? Discuss the frustrations encountered by prospects like your
interlocutor. Explain why you developed your offer which has no equivalence.

• Your business process. Who are you ? What are your competitive advantages?
Present your company and your high value-added services. Highlight your expertise and your
history. Give the broad outline of your commercial organization and the operating methods of
your solution. This is a way to help your prospect plan for the post-purchase period.

• A CTA (Call To Action). This is the moment not to be missed! Strengthen your impact and confirm
the interest you have generated! End with a question to encourage the engagement and
involvement of your interlocutor. Allow him to bounce back and suggest a meeting to answer
any questions he may have in more detail.

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Chapter III: From market to growth

III.1 Growth hacking or the cult of growth
Growth hacking is a practice which consists of adopting all possible marketing means to generate rapid
growth at all costs.

Growth hacking aims to achieve exponential growth with minimal resources. The key words of the
growth hacker will be “innovation” and “tests”.

Growth Hacking is a set of techniques, or rather a state of mind, a methodology, whose objective is the
rapid growth, by all means, of a service or a product.

III. 1.1 the AARRR growth hacking technique

AARRR is an acronym for Acquisition – Activation – Retention – Referral – Revenue. This technique
defines the different successive stages on which a Growth Hacker must focus his attention.

1. Acquisition

The first stage of a start-up's work consists of attracting Internet users to a service; the value proposition
of the service offered must be sufficiently relevant and the Internet user must visualize it very quickly.

2. Activation

Once Internet users have arrived on the landing page and seen the value proposition, you must succeed in getting them to buy in. In
other words: transform the Internet user into a user. A typical way to measure the degree of activation: registrations (newsletter, RSS
feed or other). To successfully complete this step, it is necessary to ensure that the user has a satisfactory first experience of the
product or service.

3. Retention

The Growth Hacker must ensure that users of the service become active and use it regularly, for
example through regular updates, new features, proposing new features, organizing events, discount
vouchers, loyalty programs, etc. Retention is perhaps the most crucial step for start-ups.

4. Referral

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At this stage, it is a matter of doing everything possible to ensure that active users of the service become ambassadors of the
service within their network. Here we are at the heart of Growth Hacking: virality. It is virality that will allow the user base to grow
exponentially or by geometric growth. The Growth Hacker can use a whole range of actions to increase referrals: sponsorship
offers, promotional codes, competitions, etc. The inventiveness of GH is limitless. this is where the good GHs do the hardest
work.

5. Income

This last step consists of transforming active users into turnover. This is the stage towards which all the work of the GH tends,
but which, however, only arrives at the end. This is the monetization stage (advertising, subscription, etc.) during which prospects
become real customers.

III.2 Fundraising and valorization

A fundraising is an operation which consists of bringing investors into the share capital of a company. These investors provide
money to the company in return for taking a stake in its share capital.

Fundraising is primarily aimed at companies with high potential and innovative businesses. Investors are interested in the future
value of the company. The objective is to realize a capital gain on the future resale of the securities.

Benefits of fundraising

The main advantage of fundraising lies in the bringing of new funds into the company by investors. The money invested does not
have to be repaid, it is a capital contribution.

In addition, fundraising can also allow a company to benefit from new skills and new business opportunities thanks to the investor
network.

Disadvantages of fundraising

The main disadvantage of raising funds corresponds to the dilution of the partners' participation following the entry of new
partners into the company's share capital. The historical partners see their percentage of participation, and therefore their rights
in the company, decrease after the operation.

Then, investors who enter the share capital may have a different vision from that of the historical partners. The objectives are not
necessarily the same and this is a potential source of tension.

The valuation of a company corresponds to its market value at a specific point in time. It takes into account history, present and
future projections. To prepare for fundraising, valuation is a crucial step.

III.3 Crowdfunding: Marketing and financial leverage

Crowdfunding: This is participatory financing whose principle is to collect funds from individuals via a platform on the web
(kickstarter, Ulule, etc.) to complete the financing of a project. Usually these are small amounts of money, and rarely the total
funding of a project. Project leaders expose their projects on the platform and “amateur” investors study the offers and finance
the projects in which they want to invest according to their sensitivities, their favorites or according to the relevance of their project.

Presenting your project via Crowdfunding also allows you to test it and see if prospects and customers like it.

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Chapter IV Administration and management

IV.1 The starter pack: legal / social / tax / VAT
Have you found your first customer or are you going to monetize your product? For this, it is essential to have a legal structure
to show your customers your solidity but also to be able to collect your turnover legally. Many startups develop their product
and quickly go corporate as soon as they generate revenue.

It is not necessary to immediately create your legal structure. Generally you have to wait until you have finalized your project
and have your first clients to create your structure.

Sometimes, depending on the nature of the project, it is possible to temporarily set up an association because many startup
projects are not initially commercial.

However, even if you do not create your structure immediately, it is important to anticipate the creation of the structure and
define which legal form your company will choose.

This will depend on many factors, for example whether you want to manage your business alone or with shareholders or
partners.

Generally, it is enough to discuss with an accountant (see a lawyer if your project is complex) to choose the best structure that
will correspond to your business.

Here is for you a list of the most adopted legal structures:

Shareholder or sole owner (e.g. SASU…):

This alternative is more feasible for entrepreneurs who generally have a stable financial situation, who also do not have too
many expenses to incur nor a significant number of employees.

They can evolve in this system until their business expands, in which case they may consider joining forces with other business
partners or accepting new associates.

A company (e.g. SARL…)

This structure benefits from many very interesting advantages which make it the most popular structure with entrepreneurs.

Indeed, incorporated businesses benefit from tax reductions, partners are protected from the financial and personal
responsibilities of the legal entity.

That is to say, in the event of bankruptcy, the partners will only be responsible for the obligations of the legal entity up to the
amount of their contribution.

Certainly, this structure is full of enormous advantages but the expenses and procedures necessary to adopt it are more costly.

Please note: calling on a lawyer may sometimes be necessary, especially if your activity concerns specific products (alcohol,
medications, etc.), or a specific activity (e.g.: retrieving information from certain websites, etc.).

IV.2 Tools to manage, develop and communicate about your activity

To speed up the first steps and be able to focus on the development of the startup and more essential tasks, there are software
solutions and online services that facilitate the

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start-up of the activity and automate certain processes in terms of recruitment, invoicing, collaboration,
or project management.

Tools for team recruitment

Comet: Solution that allows you to find the best freelancers in all areas of expertise, to start the activity
before hiring.

Flatchr: All-in-one candidate and recruitment management software for startup managers, and later
company human resources.

Recrutee: Software that automates team recruitment, to attract and capture the best talent and hire
experts in open positions.

Collaboration and communication tools

Slack: Platform that brings together company communication and collaboration in one place, for better
productivity of work teams.

G Suite: Integrated suite including all of Google's productivity/collaboration applications, with document
storage and security in the cloud.

Evernote: Collaboration service for teams working remotely with features to bring together notes,
projects and ideas.

Dropbox: Communication solution with spaces dedicated to collaborative projects to increase efficiency
and share all types of information.

Tools for e-mailing

Mailchimp: Emailing software for sending marketing campaigns and newsletters to customers, which
allows you to automate email management.

Sendinblue: Email marketing and SMS solution designed to send and manage a large volume of
messages to prospects or customers.

Mailjet: French all-in-one platform for creating, sending and tracking SMS messages, as well as
transactional or marketing emails.

Project management tools

Teamleader: Project management and client management service, which can also be used to prepare
invoices, very oriented towards SMEs and startups.

Asana: Task and project management tool to organize and connect your teams, to easily track their
work and optimize productivity.

Trello: Project management solution through tables, lists and cards that can be defined by importance
or order of priority according to needs.

Wrike: Online project management and collaborative work software that improves manager visibility
and offers complete control of current tasks.

Tools for invoicing, accounting

Zervant: Free online invoicing tool for entrepreneurs. Easy to use, it allows you to be effective quickly.

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Quickbooks: Accounting and invoicing software aimed at freelancers, VSEs and SMEs which offers good accounting and
commercial management.

Fred de la Compta: Free matching service that allows startups to find a reliable accountant in just a few clicks.

Tools for social networks, press relations

Babbler: Service that greatly simplifies press relations processes for startups seeking to make themselves known and integrate
into the media world.

Hootsuite: Online tool in the form of a dashboard where you can search, schedule and manage messages posted on social
networks.

Agorapulse: French social media management software to manage your online reputation, your conversations with customers,
and your publications.

IV.3 Market access and sale. Business development. Web marketing . Performance
management
There are five steps to creating a winning market entry strategy to successfully expand into a new market.

1. Set clear goals

The first step is to determine what you want to achieve with your export project and define some basic principles of how you
will go about it. Details to be specified include:

• the commercial objectives of your expansion;

• the targeted sales level;
• the specific product or service you will export;
• your target market;
• the main measures to be taken and their timetable;
• the budget and other resources available.

2. Survey your market

Then comes the time to do an initial round of research on your target market. Information to be collected includes:

• market size;
• consumer trends, needs and perceptions of products such as
yours;
• national and international competition;
• your unique value proposition in the market;
• obstacles and opportunities in terms of regulation, certification, trade
and others;

3. Choose your entry method

Then choose how you will enter the market.

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You may need to rethink how you bring your products or services to market.
Do you sell directly to the end user or do you work with intermediaries such as wholesalers or distributors? Even if you sell
directly to a target customer base, do you need the help of a local sales agent to "open the doors" and facilitate sales?

You may consider choosing from multiple options or combining them.

Use the services of a distributor or agent in the country.

Acquire an existing local business.

Establish a partnership with a local business. This can take different forms like franchising, licensing, joint venture, co-
production and cross-manufacturing.

Establish a physical presence. This can range from purchasing or renting an office to hiring a local representative.

Sell on online marketplaces.

Offer direct sales through your e-commerce site.

Sell indirectly to a target market through another company that exports your products or uses them as components.

4. Consider financing and insurance needs

To determine the amount and type of financing needed to support your export project, it is important to calculate how the
initial investment in production, shipping and hiring, and other costs will affect working capital . Please remember that
overseas buyers may want longer payment terms.

Consult your banker for possible financing requirements to cover shortfalls. It's better to secure a line of credit or loan in
advance than risk a cash flow crisis while waiting for sales to increase.

You may also consider purchasing insurance to protect your business against unforeseen events. Export Development
Canada offers various products, including:

• credit insurance in the event of non-payment or termination of a contract;

• bank guarantee insurance in the event of an unjustified call on the guarantee by a client or specific commercial or
political risks that prevent you from meeting your obligations

5. Write the strategy document

Don't forget to write down the details of your market entry strategy. Don't just keep them in your head. This document will
help you obtain the necessary financing and will serve as a framework for your export marketing plan. You can ask your
accountant, lawyer, banker or an outside expert for suggestions for improvement.

IV.4 Strategic Watch

Strategic monitoring is a type of informational monitoring which includes all other monitoring, such as societal monitoring,
corporate monitoring, competitive monitoring, commercial monitoring,
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supplier monitoring, image monitoring, legal monitoring or even technological monitoring. It brings together the techniques of
information retrieval, information processing and information visualization.
Strategic monitoring is an aid to strategic decision-making for a company or an administration, or even a State, through an
analysis of trend developments and their environment. Monitoring is iterative and prospective in nature in order to anticipate
changes in the organization's environment and avoid undesirable events.

Stages of strategic monitoring

Strategic monitoring is based around the following six main steps5,6:

1st step: define the needs

It is essential to define needs based on the strategic objectives of the company. Needs differ depending on the size of the
business in question.

To correctly define needs, it is necessary to determine areas of development, specify the target (company, partner, customer)
of this monitoring, carry out planning of the development plan.
research where we will highlight the limits concerning deadlines and costs, then we will question the information we wish to
obtain (qualitative and quantitative).

2nd step: collect information sources

A company should conduct careful research regarding the choice of their sources of information. Nowadays, there are a large
number of search tools. You must therefore be careful when choosing the source.

First, the company may have a database bringing together all internal sources.

As for sources external to the company, there are many such as websites, social networks, newsletters, specialized presses,
etc. The Internet is the fastest way to obtain information. Furthermore, it is necessary to identify the most relevant information
for strategic monitoring, making sure to take concrete and real data. You should not hesitate to pay for one or two sources, these
will have a much greater level of reliability.

Also, going in person to trade fairs or meetings between associations allows you to create a network and obtain the desired
information.

Step 3: Gather information

After collecting information sources, it is necessary to consolidate all the information.

We differentiate between two types of information:

- formal information (internet, press reviews, databases, etc.)

- informal information (trade fairs, face-to-face meetings with customers, etc.)

Step 4: Analyze the information

It is then necessary to analyze the information collected and obtain the information which is the most strategic by checking the
source but also its relevance. Subsequently, it is necessary to identify the internal and external analyzes by working on the
content and the form.

Step 5: disseminate information

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Finally, the results are revealed to collaborators or sponsors.

There are different ways to communicate this information. It can be in electronic form (professional
messaging, intranet) or in paper form.

6th step: save the previous day’s result

The results of a search may be useful for future monitoring. Over time, the research can be refined and
improved.

These different stages are renewed continuously.

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