Overview of the Business Plan and Goals

Discuss about the Industrial Goods & Services Digital Value Chain.

Contemporary telecommunications include emerging information technologies that currently have an impact on the business. There are many different forms of contemporary telecommunication that has a greater impact on business and globalization in general. One of the greatest digital technologies that have to impact the business and global platform is a smart or digital pen. Digital pen offers unique opportunity to scan, capture and upload handwritten work into the computer without manual transferring these texts. The business idea is to suppose sell smartpens and accessories such as smartbook or papers used in writing. The proposed name for the business is NRN & Co and this serves to sell various smartpen related materials. The report gives various aspects of the business including the business plan. In the report goals of the business are given, value chain, technical description of the smartpen, competition on the technical level, fit, and continuity and view whether to invest in the business. Moreover, the business identifies China as the main international market for smartpens. The report, in short, explores the business idea of smartpen and accessories business.  

NRN & Co sells digital pens and other related products such as digital book and pen batteries. Some of the key products sold under NRN & Co portfolio are smartpens, batteries, smart book among other products. Smartpens are designed to scan, import handwritten work into a more readable text and also with the capability of understanding more complex printed materials transforming those materials into a more readable text (Lynda.com 2018).

There are many different types of smart pens and some of these include Scanning pens, Handwriting pens, and Paper-tracking pens. Firstly, scanning pens allow the user to scan objects they like so that these data are stored for later uploading into the computer. Secondly, handwriting pens are those smart pens that capture handwriting as you write on special paper. These are the most technical pens with the capability of sending written work to a connected computer via a wireless Bluetooth network. Thirdly, paper tracking pens are other types of smartpen that are designed to capture writings both on paper and on other objects such as a computer. These type of pens allow the user to scan surfaces such as websites for easy ordering of products online (Abrahams 2010).

A typical smartpen is Nokia digital pen that comprises a number of parts. Pen cap (1) that keeps the ink from contacts and also house the light detector. Ink fill (2) that comprises normal ink fill enable the user to write. Docking connector (3) is another component of Nokia pen and recharges the pen battery and download data to a computer (Ahrens 2011, pp 22–24). Pen optics (4) that hold the LED that shines on the paper when writing. Refill holder (5) holds the ink filled in the right place inside the pen. Indicator lights (6) indicate the need for recharging the battery and when the pen is full of words. Reset button (7) is used to open the pen when resetting pen and this enables the pen to start capturing words again. Rechargeable battery (8) is used by the pen to work remotely within some hours before recharging pen again. Vibrating motor (9) that enable the pen sends a signal to other devices around it. Indicator lights on pen top (10) shine to indicate the operational mode of the pen when using the pen (Woodford 2017).

Technical Description of Smartpens and Accessories

The technical part of the smartpen comprises some elements. In order to understand the products and services that NRN & Co deals in, it is important to understand the technical operation of the smart pen which is the core product. Firstly, the pen has ink (1) that writes across the special paper designed for the digital pen. The amercing thing is that the pen itself does not see the ink yet the user sees this ink writing on the paper (Cho 2015, pp. 195–205). Secondly, the infrared LED (2) placed inside the pen is used by the pen and cannot be seen by the user except the pen itself when it shines on the page user is writing on. Thirdly, a light detector (3) detects reflections of infrared while the user is writing with the pens enabling the pen to pick marks on the paper (Takahashi 2014). Fourthly, microchip (4) is another part of the pen store data on patterns of reflection as detected on the paper. Fifthly, the pen has Bluetooth antenna (5) that enable the pen to transmit the data that stored on the microchip through Bluetooth wireless to storage computer. Lastly, the smartpen has a wireless receiver (6) that receives, convert data to more readable information in the computer (Haq & Elhoweris 2013, pp 880–885).

The digital or smart pen market remains one of the competitive market owing to the little number of players in the regional market. The market is mostly concentrated in America without many companies investing in these products in Asia and south pacific market. Firstly, increasing adoption of smartpens in art and design professions is pointing to the future growth of the market. Many companies especially those that provides art and design work are adopting the used of smart pens and this will help widen the market making market good for investment. Many users need to feel the natural sense of suing smartpens to write or sketch objects and this makes the pen ideal for art professions (Ormsby 2011).

Secondly, smart pens are used to reduce manual paperwork and this is increasing the demand for smartpens. Digital pens reduce the manual writing and make work easier as handwrite work is directly transferred to a computer system (Shelly & Misty 2009). Moreover, smart pens eliminate the need to manually fill forms before scanning them into a computer device. This has increased the market for smartpens globally leading to high demand for the products. Some of the areas that smartpens have tried to reduce paperwork are banking and insurance sectors. Banking, for instance, uses smartpen to speed up customer service by capturing information directly into the computer. Insurance sector also applies the smartpen to reduce operation cost incurred during entry of data or information from the manual file into the computer. The overall gain of the pen help to reduce time, cost and the human resource required to enter data manually into the computer system (Hughes 2011, p. 2).

Competition for Smartpens and Accessories

Digital pen competitiveness has been observed through operation of manufacturing companies such as Wacom digital pens. Wacom is one of the manufacturers of smart pens and has been on the market yet due to market share enjoys the economies of scale. The smartpen market has therefore increased and currently is one of the promising areas that need more players to create a competitive value system. For instance, Anto is a key player in the market since the company has pioneered in some technologies that are used to produce pens and this is essential in values creation in the smart pen market (Andy 2008).

Smartpen is one of the digital objects that has received little attention outside the united states of America. This has resulted in the low venture in parts of the world due to little information is known about the smartpen. The pen has competition at the technical level base on a number of competitive objects. Firstly, a close competitor of the smartpen is the manual pen that is currently used by the majority of people living around the world. Many customers compared the benefit of the digital pen with the cost and point to the high cost of the pen in the market. This makes the majority of people opt for the manual pen instead of a digital pen. In addition, one of the determining factors affecting the market competition is price or the cost as many customers prefer cheap product hence purchases manual pen and papers. Lack of knowledge of the operation of the smartpen also contributes to a high number of customer buying manual pen instead of smartpen (Patti & Garland 2015).

Secondly, as a telecommunication tool, the smartpen has low competition since there is a limited substitute in the market. The smartpen remains one of the innovative tools that are important for the current digital world. Digital pen enjoys larger market due to its technical capability of transforming one form of information to another. For instance, the pen can transform handwritten data to more readable data in the computer. This is important for current digital market requires data transformation to add more value to any data set. The function of the smartpen make the pen competitive in the market and is most likely to be embraced by many customers especially those in the Asian and South Pacific region (AtKearney 2018).

Thirdly, the smartpen is multisystem digital machines that use a number of software to function. The smartpen is compatible with the various operating system and some of these are single operating system and multiple operating systems. For instance, Nokia smartpen is based on Nokia operation system, Apple smartpen is based on MC operating system and so on. This makes the smartpen competitive in the market since the pen can be used by a number of systems to transmit information.

China as the Main International Market for Smartpens

Technological competitiveness can also be observed through a number of factors. Firstly, the technological segmentation that is attributed to a feature of the pen that makes it the best of its kind in the market. For instance, the smartpen has a camera that can be used to capture images and pictures as a normal camera. This saves the cost of having a camera and other picture capturing equipment. Secondly, Accelerometer-Based Digital Pen is a technology used in the manufacture of the pen that makes the pen innovative and digitally advances as compared to other digital equipment making the pens readily competitive in the technological market. Thirdly, the smartpen has taken a strategic position in the digital or technological market since the inception of the pen has resulted in market growth and expansion (Solomon 2010).

The Australian market studies show various factors that determines the market for smartpen business. Legal framework that determines the market for smart pen within Australia has laws that have been regulation the market. For instance, The Corporations Act 2001 regulates the behaviors of corporation such as NRN & Co that operate and sell digital products. Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) determines the boundaries of competitions within the market. These two legal basis plus other laws regulates the operation and marketing of digital products within the Australia market (IAB Australia 2018).

China remains the largest market for the Australian market and the largest investment country in Australia. Many reports indicate that Chinese market is a good market for most telecommunication products especially those products that can assist youthful generations. The best country to export smartpen is China since China remains the largest exporter of Australia especially computers and telecommunication equipment. Moreover, in December 2015 China signed China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA). This has built good ties for trade between the two countries. This open door for Australian products that are exported to China market especially those products that machinery in nature (Simoes 2018).

The smart or digital pen is one of the products that can easily sell in the Chinese market since China has been reducing exports excluding computer and telecommunication products. According to Signer (2008), China imported machines of more than $2.06T in 2016. This implies that the country digital pen can be exported to China as a prospective market for Australia products. Computers form more than 18% of Australian exports and this indicates that digital pen is an example of computer products that can be sold to external market. One of the characteristics of the Chinese market is more educational opportunity indicating that smartpen has a high market in the Chinese market (P&S Market Research 2018).

There are many different competitors in China that poses threat to marketing of digital pen in the country. The competition for the market share of digital pen in China is intensive with some companies such as Alibaba already selling the products within China digital market. Nanchang Valin Pen Industry Co., Ltd is another company that manufacturer and sell the digital pen within China and the region (Alibaba.com 2018).

The company will form partnership with many different companies within the China market. The company intends to form partnership with companies such as Nanchang Valin Pen Industry Co., Ltd being a manufacturer of smart pens will be of use as the company will supply products sold within China market. Secondly, the government of China is another partner that will also help the business operate in the country since the Chinese government will license the company to operate within the country. Lastly, China marketing and advertisement companies are some other partners as they will help in marketing and advertising NRN & Co in the country (China Manufacturers 2018).

The advertisement within the Chinese market will take two forms and these include digital marketing and broadcast marketing. Digital marketing include marketing that will employ digital media to advertise products of NRN & Co within China. And these may include online media and other digital media such as website dedicated to NRN & Co in China.  Secondly, broadcasting advertisement involves advertising NRN & Co products in television, radio and print media to help popularize NRN & Co within Chinese market (Simoes 2018).

The smartpen business will sell smartpen or digital pens and their accessories under the proposed name of NRN & Co. The overall strategy for the business is based on the statement of ‘Changing lives through digitally higher and sustainable products beyond boundaries’. The aim of the business is to change lives of customers through the introduction of digital pens that are bringing sustainable experience beyond boundaries of country, culture, and market. In addition, the NRN & Co aim to establish a simple and unique value chain.

The goal of the business is to sell high volume digital pen and accessories to customer globally. To break down this goal the business intends to be the leading producer and marketer of digital pen and books to the national and international market. The goal of the business is to maximize market opportunities that exist in the global market with the main focus of China and another market within the regions. Secondly, the goal also seeks to be a leading sustainable business with a strong market share in the region. This goal intent to maximize the unique niche of digital pens and accessories that currently has low competition leading to wider market opportunities.

Types of Smartpens and How They Work

The business will treasure its value proportion statement of ‘Writing at the top of world most valuable educational state of the art pen’. The smartpen brings everyone closer to reality through the sustainable educational material. The statement brings together digital technology that brings the world closer to the customer using the state of the art pen. Moreover, the pen brings an educational side of the technology that enables student or professionals to realize the value of the money they committed to buy the digital pen. Lastly, the statement also brings the aspect of state of the art technology resting on the smartpen.

The value chain of the smartpen can be divided into digital value chain and traditional value chain. The company has infrastructure that includes information system and stores that help in connecting both the digital and traditional value chain.

The digital supply chain comprises of various digital players that form a network of institutions that take part in manufacture to final consumer. Digital supply chain begins with the point of manufacture of digital pens (Bricklin 2009, p. 283). The digital supply chain network is connected through a backbone refers to as Blockchain system. At the backbone, many players are digitally connected leading to the enhanced value chain. This value chain is also coupled with digital enablers that help the company to connect to other players within the value chain system. The main human resource within this layer of the value chain is mainly IT staff that monitors the system (AtKearney 2018).

Traditional values chain can be analyzed based on Michael porter value chain analysis. Firstly, there are many different manufacturers of digital pens and some of these are Apple, Maxell, Canon, and Wacom. The procurement process is clear with necessary documentation of these products at the point of purchase. Secondly, the company also has inbound logistics that help the company to move products and handle stock (Porter 2008). The second player is third-party logistics companies that will bring the pens from manufactures to warehouses in Australia (EnsembleIQ 2009). Thirdly, operation forms the third aspect of the value chain as the company repackages the smart pens to increase their values to customer. Fourthly, outbound logistics also play and important role in values chain of the company and include delivery of products to customer that order products and also provide after sale services such as installations of software. Lastly, the services within the values chain include installation and provision of guidelines to customer during marketing and after marketing. The traditional values chain has the wide type of human resources that comprises of management, IT staffs, drivers, marketing staffs and many other staffs. Marketing under traditional value chain comprises representatives and marketing management staffs that market products throughout Australia (Cecere 2018).

The Nokia Digital Pen

The tradeoff identified in the NRN & Co includes the balancing between cost and quality. Most of the customers in Australia and Asian Pacific region face the cost related issues that point to need to reduce the cost of the pen. Balancing between the cost and quality has been an issue that affects the market. For instance, many customers have high bargaining power in the market without the same bargaining power of customers in the quality side. As a digital tool, the quality of smartpen is guaranteed while the price depends on the economic situation in the market. Moreover, the cost of the pens has been set according to the market conditions and lowering the price can be detrimental to the business. Therefore, the most appropriate measures taken is to set the price at the level that does not affect the business while at the same time satisfies the needs of the customers (Signer & Norrie 2010).

The NRN & Co fit well in the market and environments based on a number of factors and culture. In contemporary market, digital pen offers a solution that best fit in the business. There are many factors that make the business fit in the market and some include financial fit, environmental and culture fit, value proportion and high purpose of the business.

NRN & Co as a digital company offers affordable prices that make the company financially fit in both business and market. The prices for various products, for instance, Livescribe 3 Smartpen, Wacom Bamboo Smartpad, Equil Smartpen 2 and Neo Smartpen N2. These pens have different prices that can be compared to other stores and some of the prices include Livescribe 3 Smartpen at $129.99, Neo Smartpen N2 is $ 99.9 and Equal Smartpen 2 at the price of $199 (Launder 2016). These prices are compared to the prices of same pens at the Amazon Store that will make the business financially fit in the market. The financial fit of the business is also based on the prices that are set according to the international market given the economic and financial market (Leibs 2018).

NRN & Co fit into the current culture and environment since many businesses are currently moving to the digital platform. The contemporary telecommunication world requires digital objects that will help customers to realize the benefits of innovation in the society. Moreover, the current globalization culture has digitalization culture that aims to better the lives of customers. NRN & Co brings one of the most innovative objects to the contemporary environment. NRN & Co perfectly meet the Chinese market that currently works towards the digitalization of the market (Chaffney & Ellis-Chadwick 2012).

Advantages of Using Smartpens in Business

The NRN & Co has a compelling values proportion that aims to place customers at the highest point in the digital world with the educational tool. This values proportion makes the business to fit both in the digital and education market. This is based on the two market elements that form core supply chain. The business fits well in these markets with a major focus on improving lives of customers within these market proportions (P&S Market Research 2018).

Digital pen and accessories are designed to serve a higher purpose in the business, education and digital platform. The business offers the higher values on digitalization of education and telecommunication. The smartpen business and accessory will serve to better lives of customers through the higher purpose of digital need. For a long time many businesses have been leading in digital innovation and since the development of digital pen, the pen offers higher purpose in the business and telecommunication world. Therefore, the business serves a higher purpose in current telecommunication and education world (Vanessa & Valter 2012).

The NRN & Co has the plan to ensures continuity of direction in the market. Firstly, the business management is set that will help the company to continue selling smartpens in the market. The business has formulated management structure that provides the governance to ensure that the business moves in the right direction and continue in the market. In addition, the business the management structure is divided into two and these are at the national level and at the international level. National management structure enables the NRN & Co to achieve local objectives as compared to the international business scope that ensures that the business fare well in the international market. Another management structure that ensures the continuity of direction is a business strategy that is coined based on the digital market (Tasha 2016).

The second aspect of the business that enables the NRN & Co to continues in the market. The business has impact analysis plan that ensures that the business based on the mission and objectives of the business. In addition, the impact analysis is developed to help the business stay focus on its business mandates in the market. Another aspect of impact analysis is based on identified core product of the business which is smartpens. The business aims to maximize the sale of smartpens to help increase the revenue for the business. Analysis of loses and revenues will help the business attain maximum revenue while minimize loses attributed to such products (Belson, Hartmann & Sherman 2013, pp 13–24).

Current Market Trends and Opportunities

NRN & Co has a well-defined risk management strategy that aims to provide the risk mitigation plan to reduce business losses. Firstly, the analysis of threats to business and other business risk are made to reduce the chance of failure in the market. Secondly, response plan to risk or losses has also been developed to ensures a well-trained team of professionals is selected to work on the business risks. Training of employees on the risk and strategies of the NRN & Co has a projection of increasing chance of continuity (Linenberger 2013).

Quality management is another strategy that ensures there is continuity of direction within the digital market. Quality management and quality control strategies help reduces the risk and ensures that the business continues operating in the competitive business environment. NRN & Co has a good quality management that ranges from customer service management to sourcing of quality products from manufacturers. The quality of the products and services is a good business continuity of direction that ensures that business has a sense of direction (Signer 2008).

In my view, I would invest in the business since the business is most likely to realize its objectives. The business is grounded on the current and emerging technologies and this is good for the modern business environment. Firstly, the strategy selected by the business especially in the transforming lives of people is good especially with the sustainability value as this is the main theme in the current business environment. In addition, the business works to inspire the growth in contemporary telecommunication through increasing use of smartpens. Secondly, the chosen country of export is also promising as China currently remains the main importer of products from Australia (Preece 2018). Products such as telecommunication and technological products are the main export of Australia to China. Furthermore, a current trade agreement between China enables good business in China making this opportunity for the business. Thirdly, risk management factors that ensure continuity of direction is also a good strategy that will minimize loss and risk while doing business. These are assured in the business plan and if properly implemented will lead to profitability (Andy 2008).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the business brings a value to the contemporary telecommunication market. The digital world has various tools that better or improve lives of users and this has lead to improvement of business environment. Modern business is coupled with high technological advancement and this advanced the development of digital tools such as smartpen or digital pen. Digital pen has received attention in the recent past since its innovation ideas seek to improve the world. The report explores the business that involves selling smart or digital pens and accessories to customers within Australia and China. The business has proposed the name of NRN & Co and will work to improve the lives of customers through digital transformation theme. In my view, I would invest in the business since all the ideas about

Legal and Regulatory Framework for Smartpen Businesses

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