att business plan

att business plan

Developing an Effective AT&T Business Plan

1. Executive Summary

Emphasis will be placed on the development of an executive summary as there is a planning saying that the “venture ends where it should have started.” In this planning, we have taken a certain leap where we have aimed to reach and have summarized our journey in the following few words. The highlights of what the project promises to give will be found below. It discusses the issue, opportunity, the solution, and the rationale of each decision made. The findings will be explained. From costs to services, each aspect will be discussed in detail to give a full understanding of how and why each decision made is the right decision. The implementation plan will be an ongoing process as it will take effect immediately and continue throughout the life of AT&T. Therefore, this will be an indefinite section with concrete findings. And the results, both projected and live, will be seen through the findings accessed. An ongoing reaction occurs between each and every part of this plan. The news will be good and the findings will be the same.

2. Market Analysis

The market analysis is used to determine the attractiveness of a market. Understanding the market and the financials are very important to assessment in the business plan and will impact the decision whether to pursue the venture in the long run or to shut it down. The market analysis consists of several analyses and sketches the direction of AT&T for the next few years. These analyses consist of: – SWOT Analysis: SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. This situation analysis changes the management perception about the internal and external factors that affect this company. – Current situation: Current situation analysis is used to define who the competitors are in the market, whether this business venture is a better choice to stick with or if another business would be preferable, who and where the customers are, identify who the customers of AT&T are and how valuable they are to AT&T. Lastly, identify how AT&T can reach the customers and identify the current market position. – Industry analysis: Industry analysis is a market analysis tool used by AT&T to identify who the most and least competitors are with the same business venture, and this tool will identify all competitor weaknesses and look at how AT&T can manipulate those weaknesses with its strengths. Then it will assess how the growth of this business venture by identifying how much the customer base grows, and the most valuable aspect is identifying how to overcome any threats to this business venture. This analysis will sketch the best direction for AT&T on how to deliver the product or services to the customer. Lastly, it will assess the value for the customer in alternative changes to the product or services by identifying the best solution for developing innovation. Step by step, by identifying the competitor situation, AT&T can make a more accurate assessment about the achievements for several years ahead.

3. Business Strategy

AT&T’s business strategy is to capitalize on its wireless expertise. The company’s vision is to enrich the lives of customers through technology, and its mission is to connect people to their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else. The organization is pursuing a content distribution strategy which leverages its wireless and wireline IP broadband networks to deliver video to any screen. This is designed to drive multiple revenue opportunities and build shareholder value. With the acquisition of DIRECTV, and pending the close of the Time Warner transaction, AT&T is building a modern media company. Over the last few years, the company has made a significant commitment to video. Watching content over our mobile phones has become the norm, especially among younger people, yet the experience of watching TV on a mobile phone has been cumbersome. The company has set its sights on changing this and in doing so, will become a major player in global content distribution. At a functional level, AT&T is implementing a low-cost provider strategy for their fixed line services. Their recent agreement to purchase Straight Path Communications for $1.25B, essentially a spectrum play, shows that the company is committed to improving its cost structure. It has also stated that it wants to grow its presence in the enterprise market, and a low-cost structure will put in good stead to achieve this. With respect to its wireless business, the company has stated that the ongoing price war in the retail post-paid market is not a long-term objective, and it ultimately wants to grow profitability in an evolving market with various consumer segments. This can come from upselling customers to higher margin products or cross-selling products and services. Step 1 towards achieving the company’s objective is the impending close of a deal to purchase the equipment installment plan provider Vyrtu, and the agreement with Apple to provide free access to HBO for all unlimited wireless customers. This is giving the company an opportunity to increase wireless margins and customer stickiness with premium video. Step 2 is a push into the IoT market. The company has already established a strong position for itself in the connected car market and has just announced its first global SIM for mobile devices and an all-in-one global IoT data package. This will be an important diversification strategy to grow revenue over different customer segments. Step 3 is to find the right balance between wireless and entertainment. AT&T is facing a difficult but not impossible task of being able to grow its entertainment segment with various acquisitions, while slowing down the decline of the wireless segment, and ultimately driving revenue and cost efficiencies from improving bundling offers between the two segments. Financial results in the future will be proof of a successful implementation.

4. Financial Projections

The financial plan includes the details about the revenue and the expenditures made by the company. Revenue is the money received by the company for providing its service. It is also termed as the money that the company is going to make in future by providing the services or after sales of the products. The very first thing that we must do in the financial plan is the Pro-Forma Income Statement. This statement is a projection of the cash that is going to be utilized to serve the demand of the product. Basically this is the depiction of the amount of money spent and the quality of the product that was demanded in the market. The next step is to identify the revenue and the cost of providing AT&T service. Cost of service is the expenditure of the company for providing its service to the customer. In the early stages of the company the exact figures regarding the price of the product and the quality deliverance are unknown. Due to this, a careful estimation of cost is required to avoid any underestimation or overestimation of the price. Usually this is done by a break-even analysis. This is the analysis of a point where the revenue is equal to cost. This is a safety point for the company where any amount of business done above this point will generate profit and whatever is done below this point will incur a loss. This is a very efficient analysis tool because sometimes it might be known that the cost is too high but the exact figures may be ambiguous. A break-even analysis will give a well-defined estimation of the minimum amount of service that must be given by the company to generate profit. Revenue on the other hand is the money that the company is going to make in future by providing the services or after sales of the products. It involves a detailed estimation of the sales and the likely future customers. This is done by making some assumptions and is a little bit speculative in the initial stages. It is always good to have a best and a worst case scenario because it gives an indication of the probability of success of the business. A sum of all the revenue when compared to the sum of all the expenditure provides a clear indication of the success of the business.

5. Implementation Plan

The implementation plan also defines ways in which success can be measured at various stages of the project lifecycle. This could range from qualitative assessment and feedback from the sales force or channel partners, to the monitoring of operational metrics such as product-specific call volume. Specific processes and mechanisms which would facilitate the above are outlined in the tactics phase of the plan.

The plan also includes ways in which to customise the solution for different market segments. Market segment types will be decided upon closer to the product’s release, however, it is likely the solution will be targeted at larger enterprise businesses and upper mid-market businesses. It is essential the sales force and channel partners understand the solution and the value it brings to customers. To assist in this, developing an effective communication plan will ensure that the knowledge of the solution is articulated to employees, customers, prospects, and partners who would be involved in selling the product. This could involve the generation of specific marketing collateral and could have ties with sales incentives and the sales compensation plan.

Perhaps the most important phase of developing an effective business plan is the creation of a specific implementation plan with well-defined target dates. This involves a plan of action which acknowledges the business concept, organisational structure, and strategic objectives using ATT’s own systems and emphasis on selling the integrated solution.