Rivik

Technology Simplified

Stephen Woicik
Table of Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................... ........3
Background, Purpose, Opportunity.............................................................................4
Management and Personnel.......................................................................................5
Market Summary.............................................................................. .........................6
Financial Analysis........................................................................................................ 8
Risk Factors............................................................................... .................................8
Exit Strategy..................................................................................................... ..........9
Development, Production, and Location.....................................................................9
Scheduling...................................................................................................... ............9

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Executive Summary:

“Knowledge is Power,” Francis Bacon. Technology is advancing so fast

society is having trouble keeping up. It’s reaching the point where a person
will buy a new product or gadget purely on marketing. Rivik is here to
change that. We want to put the power of knowledge into the hands of our
customers. Rivik offers the unique ability to supply customers with an
honest, non-biased knowledge of technology. Rivik is designed to provide
the right product or service for the right person and situation. Using unique
analysis procedure, knowledge of the industry, and extensive research Rivik
able to find exactly what product or service is needed. Rivik aims for
simplicity and understanding for our customers, and does not provide
anything that will not be of use to customers. The custom experience and
individual attention ensures that each customer is delivered exactly what
they need at minimum cost.
Rivik treats each customer as an individual. There is no generic or standard
format that customers or grouped into. Each situation is different and Rivik
bring a human and personal touch by giving individual attention to every
question and customer. The customer tells Rivik, to the best of their
knowledge, what they are looking for or the problem they want to solve, and
Rivik works with the customer to find the perfect product or service to meet
their needs. Rivik’s job is not done until the customer is happy and satisfied
with their product. Currently customers’ requests are only being handled
through the website, rivikco.com, and through e-mail,
questions@rivikco.com, but expansion is planned to offer in person and over
the phone consulting services.

Rivik is currently a self sustaining limited liability company in the consumer

electronics consulting industry though rivikco.com. Rivikco is the initial
phase of Rivik. It is run by the co-founders of Rivik and it supported by its
own profits. No additional funding was needed in the formation of Rivikco.

Rivik is in a growth and expansion phase, and is looking for funding. The
expansion of rivikco.com will allow for a more streamlined service that
provides faster end products for the customer while allowing Rivik to handle
more customers with less people. This expansion is software based and
relies on an efficient information system in place to organize and distribute
information in a timely and consolidated manner so each request can be
processed with greater ease and quickness.

Rivik is also seeking funding for expanding into the educational sector of the
technology consulting industry. Because of the universal use of technology
for through different markets, it is logical to expand into other technology
markets. Rivik will launch Rivikedu.com to provide technology solutions for
both schools and students, creating an all in one service that caters to the
education market. Using the same ideas of simplicity and finding the exact
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product or service needed, Rivik will be able to offer a full range of service
for minimal cost for educational institutions and students alike. Companies
with similar services in technology consulting cater to corporations and
small-businesses. Rivik will cater to a more unexplored market that is in
desperate need for a unified solution.

Rivikedu will fill the gap of technology in the classroom. Many schools and
education institutions are given grants for technology in the classroom but
know very little about actually implementing this. Rivik will provide the
knowledge and experience for schools to make the best choice to maximize
the impact of technology in their school system.

Through Rivik’s first round of funding, $150,000 is needed to be raised to

support the expansion. This money will go towards hiring staff, marketing in
the new educational industry, website development, and offering new
services to customers.

The expansions will allow us to enter new markets, generate new sources of
income, and provide new services to our customers. The educational market
is one that is not properly taped into by the industry today. The educational
market is very scattered and unorganized. Rivik will bring corporate
efficiency to educational technology through its provided services. Through
the expansion Rivik will offer much more than an online solution, both in
person and over the phone consulting will be offered. The in person
consulting will be restricted to educational institutions and expanded on from
there.

Our business model allows us to offer these services at a minimal cost to the
customer, while still being able to generate profit. Because we are an
information based company we are able to keep costs low and require less
people to operate the major business functions. Rivik offers near limitless
possibilities in the technology consulting and information technology
industry, which is a continually growing and integral industry in society
today.

Background, Purpose, Opportunity

Rivik is a company that is looking to make technology simple and

understandable for everyone. People should have knowledge of what they
buy. From a young age we are taught to do research and understand what
we are doing, yet so many times a person is tricked into buying products
based on clever marketing. Rivik gives its customers the chance to
understand what they purchase and to purchase the product that is suited
for their needs, not the generic needs a company says they should have.
Rivik acts as a third-party service with no corporate affiliation or connection.
It is able to offer uninfluenced information on technology products and
services. Rivik acts a personal technology consultant. It makes it easy for

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everyone to get a unique experience and personal service to find the perfect
product and service for them. Rivik is able to put technology in a “plain
English” simple format, that makes it possible for anyone, even without any
technical knowledge, to understand the product or service being bought and
why it is the right choice.

Management and Personnel

Currently the company is comprised of the two founders. Adam Rivard,
one of the founders, is pursuing a bachelors of science in mechanical
engineering and a minor in technical entrepreneurship from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute. His main focus is on marketing and corporate relations.
Stephen Woicik, the second founder, is pursuing a bachelors of science in
accounting from Fordham University. His focus is on the company finances
and product research. Both founders are currently involved in the consulting
duties and website development.

Through the expansion, Rivik will be adding three new employees to the
business. A web designer will be hired for the basic maintenance of both
rivikco.com and rivikedu.com. This person will be responsible for the look
and functionality of both websites. A programmer and developer will also be
hired to help streamline the information systems of Rivik. This will allow for
more customers to be processed at faster speeds. A marketing and sales
person will also be hired. This job will primarily deal with marketing Rivik to
the new educational market. The individual consulting will be handled by
both Adam and Steve. They will have the most contact with the customers
and be the ones that handle the requests of the customers. Having the
founders directly involved with the customers allows Rivik to uphold the
competitive advantage of a personal touch that the competitors do not offer.

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50% ownership will remain in the hands of the owners. 35% will be given to
investors of the expansion, while 15% will be reserved for new employees as
a bonus for joining a new and growing business. (Contract stipulation for each
employee to be with the company for a predetermined amount of time before taking
ownership of their share of the company)

Market Summary

The market Rivik is currently in is Technology Consulting and Consumer

Electronics. The target market is older people, mainly parents, who do not
have a background in technology. They need our service for personal use
and to help get gifts for younger, more technically savvy people. Rivikco
also will target a younger market of students that are looking for electronics
for school and personal use, with little to no technological background. We
are looking for the everyday consumer, someone with a generic or general
knowledge of consumer electronics.

Rivik is currently competing with many larger corporations in technology and

consulting industry. Best Buy’s Geek Squad and Circuit City’s Firedog
services compete with the service that we provide through rivikco.com. Our
service differs on the personal and non-bias premise. These services are
limited by the fact that they can only service products they sell in the store
and that they are physical locations. A person must go to their stores, where
as Rivik is accessible from any computer.

The other internet services for consumer electronics are Google’s Product
Search and Cnet.com. These services only over reviews of products, they
still require the customer to know what they want and have knowledge of
that product. These services also do now allow you to ask questions to a
customer service representative as Rivik does. These services also require
the customer to do the research; Rivik does the research for the customer.
Allowing for Rivik to find products the customer may not have known of or
thought of. Cnet.com and Google are limited by what the consumer knows.

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In the educational market, Rivikedu is competing with a large variety of
companies and non-profit organizations. These companies and organizations
are very diversified, not providing a single and custom experience the
Rivikedu will provide. Rivikedu is going to feed off of its competitors rather
than head on competing with them. Companies such as Apple and Dell
provide the majority of technologies used in educations, but they don’t offer
a customization of products. There are also organizations that offer teaching
of faculty to use the technology. These services are needed but are not done
in conjuncture with the purchase of the hardware or software. Rivik will bring
hardware, software, and faculty all together. Rivik provides an all in one
solution by combining all these divers, but necessary services. Rivik acts as
a third party for educators to go through to mediate the use of their grants
and money in buying and integrating technology into the classroom.

Because much of the educational industry is not online, Rivikedu will offer
over the phone and in person consulting. In person will mainly be used.
Rivik will go into the schools and work with the faculty and staff to find the
best possible solutions to fit all their needs in technology. To begin with
Rivikedu will focus on the middle school age range. From our research, this
is the best age to introduce technology into the classroom. Rivik spoke with
numerous people involved in the educational technology industry to
determine this to be the best time to introduce technology. Students are old
enough to really use and understand the technology and not afraid to use it.
The students are also young enough to not have set routines on the
computer yet. At this age, students have not yet developed a computer
identity. They are still learning and still new to the computer. It is easier to
introduce the computer as an educational tool during this time then later in
their academic career when they view the computer as more of a personal
toy than an educational tool. Once students are using the computer at a
younger age Rivik will be able to grow with the school system to carry the
technology into the high school and upper level education as well.

Introducing technology into the classroom is a process and each grade and
age must be handled differently. This is why Rivik offers custom solutions;
there is no generic solution to these problems. Many companies, Apple and
Dell, will offer one solution for every grade. Everyone is different, especially
at different ages of development and their minds will work differently.
Rivikedu will be able to help introduce the right technology at the right time
and maximize the usefulness of the technology in the classroom.

Rivikedu also understands that it is more than the student that needs help.
Simply telling the student to use technology is not enough. Teachers need to
be able to use the technology as well to show the academic merit of the
technology. Rivikedu will solve this problem by providing in house teacher
workshops to aid the teachers in learning any new technology introduced by
the school. This is how Rivikedu is an all in one solution. Rivikedu solves all

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the true problems with technology in the classroom, not just the hardware
and software but the actual implementation and use of the technology. In
speaking with organizations that hold teacher workshops, it became
apparent that many teachers did not want to use or did not know how to use
the technology in the classroom. Therefore even though thousands of dollars
would be spent on new computer to bring technology into the classroom,
they computers weren’t put to use because the teacher did not want to learn
how to use them in their lesson plans. Rivikedu will solve this problem by
showing the teachers how to use the new technology before it is formally
introduced to the kids. Rivikedu will also be able to determine the
sophistication of the faculty’s technology expertise to determine the best
type of technology to use. Rivikedu works on both the student and teacher
side of technology. The technology is used by everyone and everyone needs
to be taking into consideration when implementing new technology into the
school.

Financial Analysis

There are two sets of financial statements provided with this plan. The
two cash flow statements show the cost and benefit of the expansion of
Rivik. The first top cash flow shows the potential growth of Rivik with the
expansion. The bottom statement illustrates the cash flows of Rivik with no
changes to the current model. As you can see from the comparison there is
much great growth and profit with the expansion of Rivik into the educational
market.

The funding for the expansion will be funded entirely by investors. A

$150,000 round of funding will be needed to sustain the company during the
two year growth period, with a profit being show in the third year.

The cash flows of the expansion are based on the buying trends of the
customers. The majority of personal sales are done during the normal
consumer shopping seasons. The school consulting sales are mostly
generated in the three months after budgets are approved (March) while
leveling out the rest of the year with normal maintenance and services for
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customers. The sales from students are highest during back to school times,
when the student is buying supplies for the school year, with sales leveling
out the rest of the year during normal use of our service.

In the third year additional sales people will be hired. They will be hired as
part time to help aid both requests and marketing/sales. An additional
$5000 a month is provided to hire these part time employees.

Risk Factors

When dealing with a service such as ours, the amount of risk involved
is minimal. Overhead costs are minimal, and the potential for growth is very
visible. One concern is rapid expansion as can happen with online based
businesses, but we have planned for this scenario. Should the company
grow past the point that the founders cannot handle all the requests, part-
time personnel will be hired to assist in the handling of requests. We will hire
employees who not only have the technical knowledge needed to
recommend products, but who will also be a valuable asset to the company
in developing our own product. Our only limitation in our service is time, and
part-time employees will be able to alleviate this restriction.

In terms of our competition, a larger company could imitate our service, but
in order to do so they would need to change their business model. Most
large corporations will not be interested in offering a personalized service
comparable to ours. It’s very hard for a larger company to scale down, while
it is much easier for Rivik to scale up.

One aspect that needs significant attention is liability. In order to provide

maximum protection for the company, detailed terms of service agreement
will be written along with a privacy policy to protect customer information.
One point in particular that will protect us is that all products guarantees will
be through the store the customer bought the product from. Our advice will
not be a binding contract with the customer. Other legal issues that arise
will be discussed with a lawyer and addressed on a case by case basis.

Harvest/Exit Strategy

The long term goal of Rivik is to develop hardware and software

products for customers. Starting with the referral service will provide vast
market research and allow the company to develop a product that fits a need
other companies have not addressed. In the future, the first step will be
gradual expansion into a manufacturing company. Opening an education
line will not only provide for larger accounts, but give insight into what
products will be able to service all aspects of a customer’s life.

For consulting the future after the educational market will be small
businesses. Rivik can apply the simplicity and personal touch to work with
small business and other start ups in solving their technology problems.
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 In order to eventually reach the point of producing our own products,
the personnel that we hire initially to work on customer requests will also
have the knowledge needed to develop consumer products. This process will
allow all members to know our customer and be able to develop the optimal
product. Our goals are lofty, but the plan we have set forth is feasible.
Forming the right team from the start will be our key to success.

Development, Production, Location

Being a web based company; there is no physical office currently. For

legal purposes, Rivik is located at the residence of one of the founders.
Development of the website as well as handling all customer requests can be
done from each employee’s respective residence. The initial website has
been formed by the two founders, and a web developer will be brought in to
bring the site to completion. For the time being, all requests will be handled
on an individual basis, but if rapid growth occurs a new system will need to
be adapted.

With the expansion of Rivik, office space will be purchased in Connecticut to

accommodate our growth as a business and the welcoming of new
employees.

Scheduling

*See Time Management Chart

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