Diapositive 1

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BICs MASTER CLASS COURSE 1 MONTPELLIER BUSINESS
PLAN INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2nd december 2009 EBN,
Brussels
Montpellier Agglomeration BIC Montpellier,
France Catherine Pommier, Business Companies
Development
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Contents
1 - BIC presentation 1.A - Incubator sites 1.B
- Structure and team
2 - Our best tool Montpellier Business Plan 2.A
- Business Plan writing assistance 2.B
Financial forecasting tool 2.C About MBPs
dual presentation 2.D - Sample Business Plan
generated by MBP 2.E Opportunity 2.F
Users 2.G - Innovation
3 Partnerships
4 Sustainability and return on investment
5 Transferability
6 Results and impact
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1.A - Incubator sites
Following their start-up, clients benefit from a
choice of premises at Cap Alpha or Cap Omega,
where they choose offices, open spaced or
laboratory facilities.
CAP ALPHA Life Sciences and Environment Cap
Alpha (near universities) hosts technology and
healthcare firms (37,500 ft²) Opened 1987
CAP OMEGAICT Cap Omega (opened June 2004 in
Montpelliers business district) focuses on
hi-tech (57,000 ft²)
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1.B - Structure and team
A proven successful method based on 20 years
experience assisting innovative companies

• Founded in 1987, certified Business Innovation
  Centre in 1988
• 425 companies started, 85 success rate, more
  than 3,700 jobs created
• Designated Incubator of the Year 2007 by NBIA
• BIC consultant team includes 3 people for set-up
  and pre-startup assistance and 3 for follow-up
  during the first 3 years

17 enthusiastic people dedicated to assisting
companies
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2 - Our best tool Montpellier Business Plan
BIC has adapted its method to software and web
media, free of charge.
Montpellier Business Plan (MPB), a line of
software designed to help entrepreneurs elaborate
business plans and financial forecasts.

• A large number of Montpellier BIC clients have
  international ambitions, which is why we
  developed MBP International Edition.
• Features include
• A tried and proven writing method to help
  entrepreneurs elaborate their strategy in an
  organized manner (exportable in RTF format)
• A 5-year financial forecasting tool developed in
  MS Excel
• Dual presentation of financial forecast according
  to Anglo-Saxon and/or French practices

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246,700 MBP downloads from 2002 to March 2009
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2.A Business Plan writing assistance
The MBP writing method guides entrepreneurs
through all the steps related to put your
business plan into words. Using this method, they
answer key questions following a clearly
organized structure to make sure everything is
taken into consideration for the project.

• Every step is illustrated with examples taken
  from real business plans.
• General concepts are defined in convenient
  on-line help.
• This method also includes a text editor to write
  and format business plan content.

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A guided method for putting business plans into
words
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Convenient on-line help
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A text editor to write and format content
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2.B Financial forecasting tool
The financial method is comprised of a series of
steps for filling in forecast tables. This allows
people to simulate the company's operating
figures over 5 years, with monthly details.

• Using a guided interface, entrepreneurs can
  enter forecast values for sales, purchases,
  personnel, general expenses, investments, loans
  and more.
• This information is then used to establish
  important tables, such as the cash flow
  statement, income statement, and even working
  capital requirements for young start-ups.

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2.B Financial forecasting tool

• Developed in Microsoft Excel.
• It supports links from other management and
  monitoring software.
• A practical feature for creating an ongoing
  dashboard for the company.

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2.C About MBPs dual presentation...
MBP International Edition adds a new dimension to
writing business plans a dual presentation of
financial data in both Anglo-Saxon and French
formats so the entrepreneur can easily present
the project in the format expected by his or her
partners.
This additional feature is extremely practical
for young start-ups with international
development goals.
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2.D - Sample Business Plan generated by MBP
With the help of the editor to write and format
the written text
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2.E Opportunity

• For our clients
• Useful contents focusing on innovation (RD
  programs)
• Quality and consistency of assistants efforts,
  recognizable branding
• Save time through quality training and
  information, even for experienced entrepreneurs
• Allows BIC to spend 80 of its time on business
  plan content and not just on format
• Methodology shared by the BIC team, public- and
  private-sector partners, easily transferable to
  new BIC team members.

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2.F Users
The first MBP users were typically BIC clients.
Over time, with MBPs increased popularity and
widespread distribution via the Internet, they
have now become the minority. Most MBP users
today are still entrepreneurs, though the
software is largely downloaded by consultants
(e.g. certified accountants, strategy coaches)
and other business assistance organizations (e.g.
incubators, chambers of commerce) that use our
solution to help their own clients. Numerous
schools and universities use MBP as a teaching
tool (e.g. PolyTech Montpellier, IDRAC).
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2.G - Innovation

• MBP was designed as a cooperative effort between
  experts in assisting businesses and a group of 12
  innovative entrepreneurs seeking this type of
  tool for their own use.
• As a result, MBP
• Meets the specific needs of hi-tech companies by
  placing an emphasis on innovation (RD budgets,
  patents, prototypes, value generation, etc.)
• Offers an educational approach, which creates
  undeniable added value
• Gives entrepreneurs a way to handle financial
  questions in their own terms, while satisfying
  the financial criteria required by their business
  partners.

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3 Partnerships

• The first software version, BPAO, was launched as
  part of a European program (1995) and was
  distributed to BICs and promoted by the EBN.
• We launched the MBP project with ongoing
  consultation, guidance and supportfrom our
  partners
• Private financiers (venture capital firms and
  banks) as well as OSEO.
• A consortium also became the first group of MBP
  recommenders.

A few comments from some of our clients regular
partners This is clearly the result of
extensive experience in assisting people with
innovative projects. Indispensable for anyone
trying drive company growth. Gilbert HAASE,
SOFILARO SA, Groupe Crédit Agricole1
Montpellier Business Plan is as much for
entrepreneurs as it is for their partners.
Bernard OLLIVIER, General Manager,
SORIDEC2 1 French bank and financial
group 2 Leading regional seed capital fund
Any business founder can benefit from using
Montpellier Business Plan, whatever the phase of
project development. This tool makes it possible
to elaborate business plans and follow-up on
progress according to OSEOs project management
rules. Joel CHABERT, regional representative,
OSEO
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4 Sustainability and return on investment
All tools developed by Montpellier BIC are
totally free of charge. Their role is not to
contribute to financing the organization but more
to share experience.

• Expenses most of the investment in MBP can be
  accounted for in time spent by the BIC team and a
  small amount of sub-contractor fees.
• 7,000 is budgeted each year to improve and
  maintain the software.
• Return on investment
• External communications - 200,000 site
  connections in 2008
• - 95,000 downloads in 2008
• Communication and internal training
• Client satisfaction

Montpellier Business Plan is a user-friendly
and flexible solution.
This tool helps us manage our finances and
generate monthly activity reports for our various
partners. Carine Gourbail, CFO, Techsia SA
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5 Transferability
MBP International is transferable to all
countries where BIC teams work with their
entrepreneurs in English. It is a highly
relevant tool for those working with
international and innovative projects.
Foreign users represent over 4 of MBP downloads
(around 22 500)
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6 Results and Impact
Direct impact on the quality of BIC assistance

• Quality of individual assistance
• 90 of all BIC clients use MBP to write their
  business plans, seek funding and monitor their
  companies.
• Our clients are able to work independently
  faster, and become more personally involved in
  elaborating their business plans.
• Our 6 on-staff advisors focus less on the purely
  structural composition of business plans and more
  on strategic thinking, business models and sales
  strategy.

• Productivity gains expansion of BIC missions
• Pooling its know-how in a software package has
  led to a significant increase in the productivity
  of individual assistance services.
• It has enabled us to develop activities such as
  lobbying, business networking, seeking funding
  for organizing events and conferences, and
  developing international development missions.

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Visible impact of MBP products on overall
visibility
A few comments from some of our clients regular
partners This is clearly the result of
extensive experience in assisting people with
innovative projects. Indispensable for anyone
trying drive company growth. Gilbert HAASE,
SOFILARO SA, Groupe Crédit Agricole1
Montpellier Business Plan is as much for
entrepreneurs as it is for their partners.
Bernard OLLIVIER, General Manager,
SORIDEC2 Any business founder can benefit
from using Montpellier Business Plan, whatever
the phase of project development. Joel CHABERT,
regional representative, OSEO 3 1 French
bank and financial group 2 Leading regional
seed capital fund 3 French national innovation
agency
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Visible impact of MBP products on overall
visibility
A few quotes from French business publications
Montpellier BIC has concentrated 12 years of
experience assisting innovative startups into a
single multimedia tool. (Défis) The best way
to identify both strong and weak points in
startup projects.(Enjeux Les Echos) A great
tool with help and advice for writing about
projects and establishing financial forecasts.
(L'Entreprise en solo) Montpellier Business Plan
is designed for elaborating business plans and
managing companies after startup. (Le Figaro
Economie) This computer-based business plan tool
improves startups chances to get funding. (La
Tribune.)
Also a tool for prospecting new clients Over
200,000 web site hits, over 95,000 downloads in
2008 MBP users are also priority prospects. For
example, this is how we found Quietys (reducing
sound nuisance through active acoustic
resonance). The project has been assisted since
2004, winning awards in the Ministry of Research
Annual Contest in both 2004 and 2005. Quietys was
created at the Cap Omega incubator in January
2006 after raising over 375 K in funding.
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Since 1987, Montpellier BIC has assisted over
400 companies. Their survival rate three years
after startup is higher than 80, compared to a
national average of 63,4. Among other things,
this figure is a real testimonial that
Montpellier BIC offers an effective assistance
method.
BIC results
Since 1987, certified BIC, Business and
Innovation Centre, by the European Community
Elected Incubator of the Year 2007 by
NBIA(National Business Incubation Association)
Certified Soft Landings incubator as a base for
international companies (NBIA 2008 2010)
Certified ISO 9001 in 2009
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We would like to thank the European Community
for helping us to launch the program. EBN for
its continued support and for choosing us for
this presentation. And thank you all for
listening Questions? Comments?
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Montpellier Business Innovation Centre Tel 33
467 13 00 00 Fax [phone]
10 www.montpellier-technopole.com www.montpellier-
agglo.com Montpellier Business Plan is available
on www.montpellier-business-plan.com/en
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