Page 33 - IO2_Worksheet Student

EIDE IO2 Teaching Kit (Students’ Manual)

PART II MODULE 2

DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR START-UPS

WORKSHEET 1. BUILDING YOUR DIGITALIZATION STRATEGY

WHY IS THIS ACTIVITY IMPORTANT?
As a newcomer to the business world, it is crucial to create a strong (but realistic) digitalization
strategy from the very beginning. This will represent a powerful competitive advantage for
your company and will help you make the right decisions (such as selecting the right software,
tools, allocating resources, budget, getting the right people into your team, training your
employees and yourself if necessary). By preparing a strong digitalization strategy, your ability
of effectively managing risk and opportunities will be significantly increased.

Before drawing up your digitalization strategy, ask yourself the following questions:

What are the main business challenges and objectives?

(not only in terms of digitalization or technical aspects – think also of the overall business
vision, mission, scope, projections, competition)

What do we want to acquire through digitalization?

Possible aspects to take into consideration:

- Reducing operational costs
- Increasing effectiveness of the workflow
- Establish a digital presence for your brand
- Reducing administrative burden of your staff members so they can focus on growth

- Reaching specific customer target groups
- Shortening the response and solving time to customer requirements
- Going beyond local/Developing transnationally (either by operations – working with a
multinational team, creating partnerships with businesses in other parts of the
country/world or sales – delivering your products and services internationally).

What is my time frame?

As a start-up, it’s more difficult to think long term as you might not have all the data and
variables to make such projects. A mid-term (1 year/18 month) strategy might be a better
start.