Business Startup Proposal

Bill, a close friend of your parents wants to start
a business. Your parents refer him to you since you are presently working on a
technology related degree. In your first discussion, you discover the following
facts:

Bill
has been a sales representative for a major restaurant supply company for
many years.

His
prior skills are very low tech. He drives from city to city, visiting
restaurants and either provides his customers with supplies, or visits new
restaurants to try and convince them to purchase supplies from him
exclusively. He phones his orders in to the manufacturer, and other than
accounting for his expenses while on the road, he does no record keeping.

Other
than basic email skills and a vague familiarization with Microsoft Word
Bill has little or no experience with existing communications technologies
or software applications.

Bill’s
business plan is to start a new restaurant supply business in his home. He
wishes to spend more time at home and travel much less than he did in the
past. He knows he will sometimes be required to travel to negotiate deals
or meet with clients, but he would prefer to be able to do all this at
home whenever possible.

Bill has already implemented the following actions:
ü He has found an accountant who has agreed
to help him set up his accounting system. (Do not consider any accounting
software for this assignment. The accountant will provide that.)
ü He has contacted six different restaurant
supply companies and negotiated a fee and commission arrangement that will
allow him to represent them and sell their products.
ü He has found local training and
certification company that has classes in all the major software packages
(Apple OS, Windows 7/8, Word, Excel, etc.), which will allow Bill to start
classes immediately.
Although Bill has minimal technical skills,
he does know what he wants. As the discussion proceeds, the following items are
added to the plan:
Budget:
Bill has funds for the start up, but the budget has some limits. He
doesn’t want the fastest, biggest or best, ***** ***** will spend what it
takes to have equipment that will suit his needs.

Security:
Bill has heard horror stories about computer information being hacked, and
he wants your assurance that his business information will be secure, if
he follows your suggestions.

Hardware:
Bill knows of no special requirements for hardware, but he does know he
will need to store somewhere between two and three terabytes of catalog
information from the companies with whom he will be working. He needs to
be able to access this info at all times from any location. He has no
knowledge or preferences about hardware and says he will go with what you
recommend.

Operating
System and Software: Bill feels comfortable with the Windows environment,
and prefers not to learn another operating system.

The
Cloud, Wi-Fi, Mobile Computing: Bill has no idea how these technologies tie
in to his business, but he does know he needs to be able to do the
following from his home office, from his car, or from any remote location:
Check his email and compose/send emails at any time, place a supplies
order via the Internet to any of his suppliers, be able to answer phone
calls, and be able to set up video conferencing phone calls.

The Proposal:
Prepare and submit a proposal to Bill that
gives your suggested solution to his business plan. Provide Bill with the
details of what he needs to purchase in order to have what he needs to conduct
his business using today’s technology. Make sure you include the following
items in your report:

Hardware:
What items of hardware (computer, laptop, tablet device, telephone, etc.)
should Bill purchase. For items like a computer, include minimum
specifications for all major internal components. Justify the need for any
major hardware items recommended.

Operating System: With the recommended hardware, what operating system choices
are available and which would be best? Why?

Other
Technologies: Include the details on any peripheral devices and
technologies that you propose (“The Cloud”, mobile computing devices,
Bluetooth, wireless networking, etc.) and explain how they fit into the
business plan.

Software
& Training: List the software applications that should be purchased.
Include the training courses that Bill should attend to gain basic skills
in the software packages you recommend.

Cost:
Provide Bill with an estimated cost for him to implement all of your
suggestions.