Revenue,_Cost_and_Market

Revenue, Cost and Market Introduction Will Bury is going to revolutionizing the way people get reading done. He envisions that people will eventually listen to all the books on digital media players rather than physically reading the books or publications. Studies have shown that listening to a book for work or personal reasons is gaining popularity. He understands the inhuman feel that has been associated with digital voice but has developed technology that eliminates the inhuman sound in the reading. For the past six months Will has been operating out the garage distributing books that he has converted using his developed technology. Mr. Bury has had limited success up to this point and does not feel the items he offers are priced correctly. At the present time Will has been charging $15 dollars for copy written material and $10 for open literature. Will Bury is at a crossroads regarding the business. The business is in the growth stage of the business cycle. At this point the business According to Buzzle.com (2010) should be established with a business plan, strategies, and the organization should be designed. Recommendations Will Bury at this point needs to return to the first stage the of business development model. Will has not fully developed his business plan and is in need of business knowledge. Fixed and variable pricing on the items that are required must be established as a priority. Books that are not under copy right protection have no associated fees required to copy and digitize the material. Cost of the material that is protected by copy right has been established according to the University of Phoenix simulation (2010) at $5 per copy. The other fixed costs that need to be accounted for are the price that will be paid for scanning services. As the scenario states Will can have this can be outsourced for 20% of the cost of having it done in house. With the finished product in digital form there is not need for shipping to be required to get it to Will. Outsourcing this part of the process will increase the profit and should be implemented. Sales price has also been an issue that Will needs to focus on. Elsa, Wills friend has offered up some advice for Will in reference to price point of selling on the internet as Will desires to accomplish. Elsa has stated that she expects that Will should see more sales with a slightly higher items sales price. The price recommended for the copy written titles should be focused around $18 per digital copy and $15 for open titles. A slight increase should help Will increase his profits. According to Ganapati (2009), “As e-book sales have taken off, they may become the next copy-protection battleground. Last year, sales of e-books rose 68.4 percent from the year before to $113.2 million, even as overall book sales fell 2.8 percent.” Patent With the development of this new technology Will should be investigating the patent process. Without a patent there is no protection for a newly produced technology. This is no small task. According to basicpatents.com (2010), the typical software patent can cost between $8,000 and $10,000 to obtain. Also noted by basicpatents.com (2010), “Based on the uncertainties of the searching process, and the number of amendments and drawings that may be required, one can typically expect to spend at least $3000.00 for obtaining a United States Patent. These costs however, as noted-above, could be substantially higher. In addition, if one wants to protect an invention outside of the United States, they can expect to expend an additional $10000 per each foreign country in which protection is sought. In short then, as stated in the beginning of this summary, obtaining a patent is a relatively expensive process. Moreover, it is time consuming and generally takes between about 24 to 36 months. A time summary: a search is typically 3-6 weeks, application preparation is typically 6-8 weeks, prosecution is typically 18-24 months, and the issue process is typically 3-9 months.” It is recommended that Will Bury focus on the development of the digital media literature software. At the time that the software is complete a buyer for the patent should be acquired and a deal worked for the intellectual property that Will has developed to be sold. With the huge capital required to protect this type of software Will does not have the financial means to protect his technology. Summary Will Bury has received several recommendations and needs to study and make the proper decision for himself. It is the author’s opinion that Will should consider the sale of the technology. By obtaining a patent the potential buyers will be able to produce the products with protection from counterfeit products being produced. Resource: Buzzle.com. (2010). Four Stages of Business Cycle. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/four-stages-of-business-cycle.html University of Phoenix. (2010). Will Bury's price elasticity scenario [Computer Software]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, Simulation, ECO/561 website. basicpatents.com. (2010). What Does It Cost to Obtain a Patent. Retrieved from http://www.basicpatents.com/patcost.htm Ganapati, P. (2009). Kindle Readers Ignite Protest Over E-Book Prices. Wired.com. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/kindle-readers/