MBA 027: ANALYSIS – Software company that specialises in protection of brands online

Software company had to pivot the initial idea

We analyse how Shana co founded this successful business.

The journey as a business owner.
Shana's parents were both entrepreneurs with each having their own perspective towards risk management which led Shana not wanting to be an entrepreneur initially.

Shana got into business by accident by just helping her co founder with tasks. She has been working in the ICT industry for 20 years but only been an entrepreneur for 12 years.

The biggest challenge in starting the business and how was it handled?
The first product they developed called Trustseal had all the investment and resources go into it but just before they launched a competitor Verisign which is a global competitor launched their product into the market. This led them to pivot into a global product of brand protection.
How does the company work?
Value Proposition
Product that helps companies to protect their brand online, stopping people from downloading your logo and other brand identity components.

Customer Segmentation
Companies that already have an online presence and has some affiliation for example a Microsoft Gold Partner that displays the logo on their site.

Marketing Channels
Face to face and Skype presentations. In future it will involve a digital and traditional marketing strategy as well.


Revenue Streams
Charging an annual license fee to utilise the cloud software. Additional modules that you can by credits for as you need to use them.

Cost Structure
A lot of money goes into intellectual property protection and they had to apply for trademark and patents as they role out globally.
Annual security audit is done by Deloitte and Touche which is expensive

Key Resources
There main areas identified: People, Technology
1. The core team which is not the typical 9-5 workers because they believe in the vision of the company.
2. The technology that supports your vision, is it scalable, secure and innovative to create a barrier of entry.

Key Activities
Start of the week is review session in terms of development and also if customers has specific requirements it gets prioritised with the development manager.

Sales and presentations happens throughout the week with custom slides being build for each customer. A continues feedback session to development team based on outcome of sales and presentation sessions.

Incorporating the Agile methodology which allows software companies to have a continues development cycle where based on customer feedback the features and functions gets prioritised.


Reset Scenario: Starting all over with the current knowledge, what business would you start?
She would start a recycling company called IntelliGreen in terms of creating a liner for your bin with different pockets and a mobile app that can notify the waste removal company to come fetch it when it is full. You would earn credits the more you recycle which will make the cost of your bin liners cheaper.

Last words
Entrepreneurship is not an easy road but having a vision bigger than yourself is completely worth it.

Always surround yourself with very smart people that can bring another perspective towards a problem. "Your vibe attracts your tribe"

Links mentioned:
http://www.bizsparksa.co.za/ - assistance with tech startup companies.