Tandem strives to nurture innovation, entrepreneurship, and SMEs through strategic consulting services. This document discusses evaluating business ideas using the 7 domains framework. It introduces Tandem and provides an overview of their services in startup consulting, financial advisory, business intelligence, and investment services. It then analyzes a sample business idea, Toolman Maintenance Co., using the 7 domains framework to identify strengths and weaknesses. Upcoming GoSolo workshops on business planning, fundraising, and incorporation are also advertised.

1. evaluating your idea

2. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
upcoming GoSolo workshops

3. about us
“tandem strives to nurture innovation, entrepreneurship
and SMEs through quality, strategic services”
startups small business medium business
business intelligence
financial consulting
startup services
investment services

4. our services
startup services financial consulting
• business planning • corporate governance
• market research • financial planning and reporting
• financial modeling • restructuring and business realignment
• strategy and business model development • accounting systems, manuals and processes
• business development • succession and acquisition planning
• mentorship, guidance and support • cfo representation
business intelligence investment services
• market research and evaluation • pitch development
• data analysis • investment analysis
• benchmarking • business valuation
• innovative practices • fundraising
• surveying • exit planning and execution
• competitive intelligence • portfolio and investment monitoring

5. the team
amir farha
Amir started his career in London at CLS Capital Partners, a venture capital firm targeting opportunities in
TMT and clean energy sectors in Sweden and the UK. During his time there, he helped structure the
acquisition of Sweden’s largest online social network, Lunarworks, the exit of a cable company in the UK,
WightCable (North), and the sale of a portfolio of minority investments held by the group. After almost 3
years in the UK, Amir relocated to Dubai, where he worked at the Arab Business Angel Network (ABAN) and
was responsible for screening, analyzing and developing business plans, sourcing and evaluating investment
opportunities, coordinating due diligence, negotiating and executing transactions. Amir holds a BSc (Hons) in
Computer Information Systems and an MSc in Management from the University of Bath in England. Amir has
also completed executive courses at London Business School.
rabih brair
Rabih began his professional career at Andersen in Montreal where he worked in both corporate finance and
audit. After obtaining his CPA, Rabih returned to Dubai and continued his audit career at PwC. He then joined
the FMCG sector holding a number of positions in finance at Mars. Throughout his 5 year tenure at Mars, his
responsibilities progressed from regional financial planning and budget control to become the Finance
Manager for Mars’ UAE operations encompassing accounting, planning, credit control and senior
management team responsibilities. Rabih managed a team of 8 people and most notably led the local roll-out
of a Mars Inc. global cash flow improvement initiative. Rabih holds a B.Comm in Accounting from Concordia
University in Montreal Canada and a CPA from the State of Delaware.
The team is supported by an experienced advisory board of sophisticated investors and entrepreneurs

6. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
upcoming GoSolo workshops

7. starting up a business

8. why evaluate your idea?
“when a business with a reputation for poor fundamentals meets a management team
with a reputation for brilliance, it’s the former that remains intact”
- Warren Buffet
• Identify the risks involved and how they can be mitigated
• Identify key strengths in your business
• Help assess the market opportunity
• Help assess the skill set of the entrepreneur
• Saves time (and money) before writing a business plan or starting your business
• Understand your weaknesses
• Become better prepared and increase the likelihood of getting financing

9. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
our next workshop

10. the 7 domains framework
what is it?
• Developed by John W. Mullins, Professor and Chair of the Entrepreneurship faculty at
London Business School (The New Business Road Test)
• It addresses 7 domains that characterize attractive opportunities
• It is a toolkit that resolves any issues, questions or uncertainties before writing a business
plan
• It allows you to identify, assess and reshape market opportunities
• Allows you to understand the gaps in your idea and gives you a chance to mitigate them
• It addresses the central elements in the assessment of any market opportunity
1. Are the market and industry attractive?
2. Does the opportunity offer compelling customer benefits as well as a sustainable
advantage over other solutions to customer’s needs?
3. Can the team deliver the results they seek and promise to others?

11. the 7 domains framework
an overview
market domain industry domain
market attractiveness industry attractiveness
macro-level
mission,
aspirations, ability to
propensity for execute on
risk CSFs
team
domain
micro-level
connectedness up, down,
across value chain
target segment benefits sustainable advantage
and attractiveness

12. the 7 domains framework
market attractiveness
• This is a macro-level market assessment which usually involves gathering secondary data on
how large the market is
• This helps determine whether the opportunity is a substantial one serving a large and
attractive market, or a niche opportunity with limited potential
Measures include:
1. Number of customers in the market
2. The total money spent by these customers on these goods or services
3. The number of units of goods / number of times the service was used, annually
4. Looking at historical data to understand the rate of growth
5. Looking at available forecasts on how fast the market is likely to grow in the future
6. Assessing any macro-economical trends – demographic, cultural, economic, technological
and regulatory – to determine if things are likely to get better in the future

13. the 7 domains framework
target segment benefits and attractiveness
• This is a micro-level market assessment which usually involves gathering primary and
secondary data and identifying a much smaller segment of customers within the overall
market
• This helps identify differentiated benefits that you can provide to customers and a pathway
to growth for potential investors.
Questions to address:
1. Is there a segment in the market which we can offer the customer clear benefits at a price
they are willing to pay?
2. Are these benefits different from and superior to what’s currently being offered (e.g. better,
faster, cheaper? Can you differentiate yourself from competition?
3. How large is this segment, and how fast is it growing?
4. Is it likely that our entry into this segment will provide us entry to other segments we may
wish to target in the future?

14. the 7 domains framework
industry attractiveness
• This is a macro-level industry assessment which usually involves using Porter’s 5 Forces to
determine the structure of the industry and the overall profitability.
• You must first identify the industry you’re in – retailing, manufacturing, software etc, and
then assess the industry based on the following:
1. Threat of Entry
2. Buyer Power
3. Supplier Power
4. Threat of Substitutes
5. Competitive Rivalry
• Industries with low forces are the most attractive to target. However, most industries are not
very attractive. The trick is to identify such problems or unfavorable forces and devise a plan
to deal with them.
• Investors are interested in learning about where the industry is heading and factors affect it

15. the 7 domains framework
industry attractiveness
• This is a macro-level industry assessment which usually involves using Porter’s 5 Forces to
determine the structure of the industry and the overall profitability.
• You must first identify the industry you’re in – retailing, manufacturing, software etc, and
then assess the industry based on the following:
1. Threat of Entry: how expensive is it to setup a business? how profitable is the industry? Is it
hard to build brand equity? How loyal are consumers?
2. Buyer Power: how many consumers are there relative to companies? How price sensitive are
they? How much pressure are they able to exert on companies?
3. Supplier Power: how many suppliers are there? What are the switching costs?
4. Threat of Substitutes: how many substitute products are there? What is the perceived level
of differentiation?
5. Competitive Rivalry: how many players are there in the market? Is rivalry based on price,
innovation, quality or even advertising spend?
• Industries with low forces are the most attractive to target. However, most industries are not
very attractive. The trick is to identify such problems or unfavorable forces and devise a plan
to deal with them.

16. the 7 domains framework
sustainable advantage
• This is a micro-level industry assessment which involves identifying and assessing the
sustainability of the proposed new firm’s competitive advantage.
• The goal is to determine whether certain factors are present that would increase the chances
of sustaining an advantage over a long period of time.
1. Intellectual Property: patents, trade secrets etc
2. Processes: superior capabilities and processes or resources that are difficult to duplicate
3. Business model: a scalable business model that doesn’t run out of cash (look at the revenue
and margins obtainable, operating cash cycle etc)
4. Reputation: achieving customer loyalty and superior brand equity
• It is important to attain first-hand experience in this industry to address these issues. If you
don’t have it, get someone who does.
• It is not crucial to have a sustainable competitive advantage in order to succeed, but it will
definitely increase the likelihood of success and a bring a stronger case to investors

17. the 7 domains framework
team domains
1 The mission, personal aspirations and risk appetite of both entrepreneurs and investors
• Markets they wish to serve
• Industries they are willing to compete in
• Own aspirations and how long are they committed to this opportunity
• Risks they are willing to undertake (with how much money)
2 The team’s ability to execute on the critical success factors
• Backgrounds and experience of entrepreneurs
• Understanding the CSFs relevant to the opportunity and matching them against the
teams ability to perform
3 The team’s connectedness up, down and across the value chain
• Willingness to change course due to changes in the marketplace
• Be informed and connected with suppliers, customers and across their industry

18. the 7 domains framework
putting it into practice
• No opportunity is perfect – all have significant question marks or negatives at the outset
• The trick in developing an opportunity is to:
 RESHAPE: turn ‘minuses’ into ‘pluses’ (different market, industry or team)
 MITIGATE: compensate weaknesses with strengths
• Identify key weaknesses – questions to be answered
• Suggest avenues for reshaping the opportunity
• Identify key strengths – this helps jump start the business plan and provide you with a story
to potential investors, partners etc
• Score each domain. It doesn’t matter if you score badly on one domain.
• Strong scores at the micro level can mitigate poor scores at the macro level

19. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
upcoming GoSolo workshops

20. toolman maintenance co.

21. toolman maintenance co.
The TOOLMAN Company offers a full range of home maintenance services in Dubai. You can
choose to either call on a case-by-case basis or enjoy worry-free home maintenance through
yearly coverage.
Services include:
• maintenance and repair of all plumbing, electrical and A/C problems
• preventive maintenance and cleaning of A/C filters
• painting of homes and offices
• installation of light fittings and fixtures
• general handyman jobs such as drilling, hanging and furniture assembly
• interiors fit-outs for homes and offices

22. toolman maintenance co.
the 7 domains framework
market domain industry domain
Huge numbers of residential
units. Homeowners, Low-medium barriers. Low
market attractiveness industry attractiveness
price sensitivity. Almost no
occupants. Number of units
macro-level
will continue to grow?. Units substitutes. Relatively high
will need more and more competition overall. Low
maintenance. competition in the niche.
mission,
aspirations, ability to
propensity for execute on
Founded by MEPCSFs
risk
construction expert, small
team
business experts. Self-
domain
funded.
micro-level
connectedness up, down,
across value chain
No IP other than expertise of
Occupant home-owners, non-
the team. Focus on timing &
occupant home-owners,
target segment benefits sustainable advantage scheduling, presentable,
leasing occupants.
and attractiveness friendly staff. Scale is limited on
Maintenance needs/average
home maintenance,
spend will grow. Convenient,
opportunity lies in office, retail
friendly, punctual service.
& building contracts.

23. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
upcoming GoSolo workshops

24. agenda
introduction to tandem and the team
why should you evaluate your idea?
the 7 domains of attractive opportunities
the toolman maintenance company
q & a session with an entrepreneur
upcoming GoSolo workshops

25. upcoming GoSolo workshops
• wednesday august 11th 2010
business planning
• wednesday september 8th 2010
fundraising
• wednesday october 13th 2010
incorporation
register at events@shelter.ae