Add go-to-market strategy and 90-day plan

2025-12-17 00:58:30 +00:00 · 2025-12-17 00:58:30 +00:00 · 7b18b119bc
commit 7b18b119bc
parent 5b22bd420d
1 changed files with 491 additions and 0 deletions
--- a/go-to-market.md
+++ b/go-to-market.md
@ -0,0 +1,491 @@
+# Go-To-Market Strategy
+
+## Target Customer Profile
+
+### Ideal Customer Characteristics
+
+**Company Profile:**
+- **Size**: 20-100 employees
+- **Revenue**: $10-100M annually
+- **Industry**: Discrete manufacturing, food/beverage, packaging, automotive suppliers
+- **Operations**: 1-5 production lines
+- **Infrastructure**: Some PLCs/SCADA, aging equipment
+- **IT Resources**: Limited (0-2 IT staff)
+
+**Decision Makers:**
+- **Primary**: Plant Manager, Operations Director
+- **Influencer**: Maintenance Manager, Quality Manager
+- **Budget Holder**: VP Operations, COO
+- **Gatekeeper**: IT Manager (occasionally)
+
+**Pain Points:**
+- "We have no visibility into what's happening on the floor"
+- "Our data is trapped in PLCs"
+- "We can't afford Siemens/Rockwell solutions"
+- "We don't trust cloud vendors with our manufacturing data"
+- "We need better OEE tracking for customer audits"
+- "Our maintenance is reactive, not predictive"
+
+**Buying Triggers:**
+- New plant manager wants KPIs/dashboards
+- Quality issues requiring root cause analysis
+- Customer audit requiring data/metrics
+- Capital budget available ($15k-50k)
+- Regulatory compliance requirements
+- Production planning challenges
+
+---
+
+## Messaging & Positioning
+
+### Core Value Proposition
+
+> **"I help small-to-mid manufacturers get visibility into their production data without expensive cloud platforms or vendor lock-in."**
+
+### Positioning Statements
+
+**For consulting (Phase 1):**
+> "After 13 years programming PLCs and 4 years in cloud engineering, I bridge the OT/IT gap. I help manufacturers connect their existing equipment to dashboards that actually show what's happening on the floor - without forcing you into the cloud."
+
+**For platform (Phase 2):**
+> "Edge-first industrial monitoring that keeps your data on-site, your costs predictable, and your operations running even when the internet goes down. Unlike cloud-only solutions, you own your infrastructure and your destiny."
+
+**For premium AI (Phase 3):**
+> "Predictive maintenance and quality control powered by AI at the edge. Know about equipment failures 2-4 weeks before they happen, without sending your data to the cloud."
+
+### Differentiation Messages
+
+**vs Enterprise Vendors (Siemens, Rockwell):**
+> "Enterprise solutions cost $50k-500k and take 6-18 months. We deploy in 2-4 weeks for $15k-40k. You get visibility without the enterprise price tag."
+
+**vs Cloud Platforms (AWS IoT, Azure):**
+> "Cloud platforms force you into vendor lock-in with unpredictable per-message costs. We're edge-first: your data stays on-site, works offline, and costs are predictable month-to-month."
+
+**vs General IT MSPs:**
+> "IT MSPs don't understand PLCs or SCADA. We speak both OT and IT. I've programmed Allen-Bradley, Siemens, and Modicon for 13 years - we understand your production environment."
+
+---
+
+## Customer Acquisition Channels
+
+### Phase 1 (Months 1-3): Network-Driven
+
+**Primary Channels:**
+1. **Personal Network** (Highest priority)
+   - Former colleagues from controls engineering days
+   - System integrators worked with
+   - OEMs and machine builders
+   - Manufacturing contacts from projects
+
+2. **LinkedIn Outreach**
+   - Profile optimization ("OT/IT Integration Consultant")
+   - Connection requests to plant managers
+   - Content: Case studies, "5 signs your production data is trapped"
+   - Direct messages to warm connections
+
+3. **Local ISA Chapter**
+   - Attend monthly meetings
+   - Network with controls engineers
+   - Ask for manufacturer introductions
+
+4. **Referrals**
+   - Each project: Ask for 2-3 referrals
+   - Offer: $500 referral bonus for paying customer
+
+**Activities:**
+- 5 outreach calls/emails per week (20/month)
+- 1 LinkedIn post per week
+- 1 ISA meeting per month
+- Target: 3-5 discovery calls per month
+
+---
+
+### Phase 2 (Months 4-9): Content + Referrals
+
+**Add to Phase 1:**
+1. **Content Marketing**
+   - Weekly LinkedIn posts (case studies, tips, insights)
+   - Blog posts on website (2-4 per month)
+   - Topics: OT/IT gap, data sovereignty, edge computing benefits
+
+2. **Case Studies**
+   - Publish 3-5 detailed case studies
+   - Include before/after metrics
+   - Photos/screenshots of dashboards
+   - Customer testimonials
+
+3. **Webinars/Lunch & Learns**
+   - Partner with equipment suppliers
+   - "How to get visibility without cloud platforms"
+   - Recorded and shared on LinkedIn
+
+**Activities:**
+- 1-2 blog posts per month
+- 3-5 case studies published
+- 1 webinar per quarter
+- Continuous referral engine
+
+---
+
+### Phase 3 (Months 10-18): Scale + Partnerships
+
+**Add to Phase 2:**
+1. **Trade Shows**
+   - Pack Expo (packaging industry)
+   - Automate (automation/robotics)
+   - Local manufacturing shows
+   - Booth or just attending/networking
+
+2. **Partner Channels**
+   - System integrators (refer customers, we do the work)
+   - Equipment OEMs (bundle our monitoring)
+   - Industrial distributors
+   - PLC/SCADA vendors (non-competitive)
+
+3. **Paid Advertising**
+   - Google Ads (when economics proven)
+   - LinkedIn Ads targeting plant managers
+   - Industry publication ads
+
+**Activities:**
+- 1-2 trade shows per year
+- 3-5 partner relationships
+- Test paid ads ($500-1k/month budget)
+
+---
+
+## 90-Day Action Plan (Phase 1)
+
+### Week 1-2: Foundation
+
+**Day 1-2: Legal & Financial**
+- [ ] Register LLC online
+  - LegalZoom or state website
+  - Choose: "[YourName] Industrial Consulting LLC"
+  - Budget: $100-300
+- [ ] Open business bank account (free at most banks)
+- [ ] Get business credit card (optional)
+
+**Day 3-4: Website**
+- [ ] Purchase domain (Namecheap, ~$12/year)
+  - Options: industrialiotconsulting.com, [yourname]consulting.com
+- [ ] Set up website (Carrd.co or WordPress)
+  - Home: Value prop, services, CTA
+  - About: Your background (13 years PLC + 4 years cloud)
+  - Services: OT/IT integration, monitoring solutions
+  - Case Studies: (Empty initially, add as you complete projects)
+  - Contact: Form + phone/email
+- [ ] Budget: $0-200
+
+**Day 5: LinkedIn Profile**
+- [ ] Update headline: "OT/IT Integration Consultant | Helping Manufacturers Bridge PLC Data to Dashboards"
+- [ ] Update About section:
+  - 13 years controls engineering background
+  - 4 years cloud engineering
+  - Specialization: Bridging OT/IT gap
+  - Value prop: Affordable, edge-first, data sovereignty
+- [ ] Update Experience:
+  - Add "Industrial IoT Consultant" as current position
+- [ ] Add Skills: PLC Programming, SCADA, IIoT, Edge Computing, Data Analytics
+
+**Day 6-7: Contact List**
+- [ ] Make list of 50+ contacts:
+  - Former coworkers (controls engineering days)
+  - System integrators worked with
+  - OEMs/machine builders
+  - Manufacturers you've interacted with
+  - Industry connections
+- [ ] Categorize: Hot (5), Warm (15), Cold (30+)
+- [ ] Prepare outreach messages (templates)
+
+---
+
+### Week 3-4: Outreach Campaign
+
+**Daily Activities:**
+- [ ] 3-5 LinkedIn connection requests (plant managers, ops directors)
+- [ ] 2-3 emails/calls to existing contacts
+- [ ] 1 LinkedIn post or comment
+
+**Week 3:**
+- [ ] Monday-Friday: Email 10 contacts from "Hot" and "Warm" lists
+  - Template: "Hey [Name], after 13 years programming PLCs..."
+  - Ask: "Know anyone struggling with production visibility?"
+- [ ] Research 10 local manufacturers (Google, LinkedIn)
+- [ ] Join local ISA chapter (if exists)
+
+**Week 4:**
+- [ ] Monday-Friday: Follow up with Week 3 contacts
+- [ ] Email 10 more from "Warm" list
+- [ ] Schedule 2-3 discovery calls
+- [ ] Prepare discovery call script
+
+**Target Week 4 Results:**
+- 20 contacts reached
+- 3-5 discovery calls scheduled
+- 1-2 proposals in discussion
+
+---
+
+### Week 5-8: First Project
+
+**Week 5: Discovery & Proposal**
+- [ ] Conduct discovery calls
+  - Current state: What PLCs? What data? What's manual?
+  - Desired state: What visibility do they want?
+  - Budget: $15k-40k available?
+  - Timeline: Urgency? Capital budget timing?
+- [ ] Write proposal for pilot project
+  - Scope: 1 production line, basic monitoring
+  - Price: $10k (discounted pilot pricing)
+  - Timeline: 3-4 weeks
+  - Deliverables: Edge gateway, 3-5 dashboards, training
+- [ ] Send proposal, follow up
+
+**Week 6-7: Execute Pilot**
+- [ ] Kick-off meeting
+- [ ] Site survey (if local) or remote discovery
+  - Document PLCs (make, model, addresses)
+  - Network assessment
+  - Identify data points (20-30 tags)
+- [ ] Deploy solution:
+  - Configure Raspberry Pi or customer PC
+  - Install MQTT broker, InfluxDB, Grafana
+  - PLC integration (Node-RED or Python scripts)
+  - Build dashboards
+  - Configure alerts
+- [ ] Test and refine
+
+**Week 8: Deliver & Document**
+- [ ] Final testing with customer
+- [ ] Training session (2-4 hours)
+  - How to use dashboards
+  - How to modify alerts
+  - Basic troubleshooting
+- [ ] Deliver documentation
+- [ ] Get testimonial (written + video if possible)
+- [ ] Take photos/screenshots
+- [ ] Ask for 2-3 referrals
+
+---
+
+### Week 9-12: Scale & Market
+
+**Week 9: Case Study**
+- [ ] Write case study
+  - Customer name (with permission) or "Food Manufacturing Plant"
+  - Problem: "No visibility into line performance"
+  - Solution: "Deployed edge monitoring in 3 weeks"
+  - Results: "20% improvement in OEE visibility, found 3 production bottlenecks"
+  - Testimonial quote
+- [ ] Publish to LinkedIn
+- [ ] Add to website
+- [ ] Share with contacts
+
+**Week 10-11: Next Project**
+- [ ] Contact referrals from first project
+- [ ] Resume outreach campaign (5-10 new contacts/week)
+- [ ] Prepare proposal for second project
+  - Full price: $20k-40k
+  - More comprehensive scope
+- [ ] Send proposals, follow up
+
+**Week 12: Close Second Project**
+- [ ] Finalize contract
+- [ ] 50% deposit collected
+- [ ] Kick-off second project
+- [ ] Begin planning Phase 2 transition
+
+**Target Week 12 Results:**
+- 1 completed pilot project ($10k)
+- 1 full-price project sold ($20k-40k)
+- 1 case study published
+- 5-10 new warm prospects
+- Ready to begin Phase 2 platform development
+
+---
+
+## Sales Process
+
+### Discovery Call Script
+
+**Introduction (2 minutes):**
+> "Thanks for taking the time. I spent 13 years programming PLCs and the last 4 years in cloud engineering. I help manufacturers get visibility into production data without forcing them into expensive cloud platforms. Tell me about your operation..."
+
+**Questions to Ask:**
+1. What equipment/PLCs do you have? (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Modicon?)
+2. What data are you currently collecting? (Manual? SCADA? Nothing?)
+3. What visibility do you wish you had? (OEE? Downtime reasons? Quality metrics?)
+4. What's driving this need now? (Audit? New manager? Problem to solve?)
+5. What have you tried before? (Why didn't it work?)
+6. What's your budget range? ($15k-50k reasonable?)
+7. What's your timeline? (Urgent? This quarter? This year?)
+
+**Qualifying:**
+- Budget available? ($15k+ minimum)
+- Decision maker on call? (Or need to present to someone else?)
+- Timeline realistic? (Next 1-3 months?)
+- Technical feasibility? (Can access PLCs? Network exists?)
+
+**Next Steps:**
+- "I'll put together a proposal showing exactly what we'd deploy, timeline, and cost. I'll have that to you by [date]. Sound good?"
+
+---
+
+### Proposal Template
+
+**Section 1: Executive Summary**
+- Their pain point (in their words)
+- Your solution (high level)
+- Timeline (3-4 weeks)
+- Investment ($15k-40k)
+
+**Section 2: Current State**
+- What they have today
+- What's manual/missing
+- Estimated impact (lost visibility, downtime, quality issues)
+
+**Section 3: Proposed Solution**
+- Edge gateway deployment (on their hardware or we provide)
+- PLC data collection (specific tags, 20-30 data points)
+- Dashboards (3-5 views: production, downtime, OEE, quality)
+- Alerts (email/SMS for critical events)
+- Historical data (30-90 days retention)
+
+**Section 4: Deliverables**
+- Working edge gateway (configured, tested)
+- Grafana dashboards (customized to their process)
+- Alert rules configured
+- Training (2-4 hours)
+- Documentation (how to maintain, troubleshoot)
+- 30-day support (email/phone)
+
+**Section 5: Timeline**
+- Week 1: Site survey, discovery
+- Week 2-3: Deployment, integration
+- Week 4: Testing, training, delivery
+
+**Section 6: Investment**
+- Project fee: $25,000 (example)
+- Payment terms: 50% deposit, 50% on delivery
+- Optional: Monthly support retainer ($1k-2k)
+
+**Section 7: Next Steps**
+- Sign agreement
+- 50% deposit
+- Schedule kick-off meeting
+
+---
+
+## Outreach Templates
+
+### Email Template 1: Former Colleague
+
+**Subject**: Quick question about manufacturing visibility
+
+> Hey [Name],
+>
+> Hope you're doing well! After 13 years programming PLCs, I spent the last few years learning cloud engineering and realized there's a huge gap - manufacturers want visibility but can't afford $100k Siemens projects or don't trust cloud platforms.
+>
+> I'm helping a few companies bridge this gap by connecting their existing PLCs to simple dashboards. It's like SCADA but affordable and doesn't require cloud subscriptions.
+>
+> Do you know any plant managers or operations folks who are frustrated with their lack of production visibility? Would love to chat if you do.
+>
+> Thanks,
+> [Your Name]
+
+---
+
+### Email Template 2: Cold Outreach
+
+**Subject**: Production visibility without the enterprise price tag
+
+> Hi [Name],
+>
+> I noticed [Company Name] is in [industry] manufacturing in [location]. Most manufacturers I talk to struggle with the same thing: their production data is trapped in PLCs, and enterprise solutions cost $50k-500k.
+>
+> I spent 13 years programming PLCs (Allen-Bradley, Siemens) and 4 years in cloud engineering. Now I help mid-sized manufacturers get production visibility in weeks, not months, for $15k-40k.
+>
+> Would it be worth a 15-minute call to see if this could help [Company Name]?
+>
+> Best,
+> [Your Name]
+>
+> P.S. - I work on your hardware, no cloud lock-in, and you own everything.
+
+---
+
+### LinkedIn Connection Request
+
+> Hi [Name], I help manufacturers bridge the OT/IT gap - connecting PLCs to dashboards without enterprise pricing or cloud lock-in. Would love to connect and share insights on production visibility.
+
+---
+
+### LinkedIn Post Ideas
+
+**Post 1: Personal Story**
+> After 13 years programming Allen-Bradley PLCs, I made a bet: I spent 4 years learning cloud engineering. Why? Because I kept seeing the same problem: manufacturers with great OT engineers who couldn't get their data into dashboards. And IT teams scared to touch the PLCs. I decided to bridge that gap. Now I help small-to-mid manufacturers get production visibility in weeks, not years. [Case study link]
+
+**Post 2: Problem/Solution**
+> 5 signs your production data is trapped:
+> 1. Your OEE is calculated in Excel
+> 2. Your maintenance is reactive, not predictive
+> 3. Root cause analysis takes days, not hours
+> 4. Operators can't see real-time status
+> 5. Customer audits require manual data collection
+>
+> The good news? Most of this data already exists in your PLCs. [Link to website]
+
+**Post 3: Myth Busting**
+> Myth: "Industrial IoT requires cloud platforms"
+> Reality: Edge-first architecture keeps your data on-site, works offline, and avoids cloud vendor lock-in.
+>
+> Myth: "You need Siemens/Rockwell solutions for monitoring"
+> Reality: You can get 80% of the value for 10% of the cost.
+>
+> Myth: "This takes months to deploy"
+> Reality: Basic production visibility can be deployed in 2-4 weeks.
+
+---
+
+## Key Metrics to Track
+
+### Week 1-12 (Phase 1):
+- Outreach activities (emails, calls, LinkedIn)
+- Discovery calls booked
+- Proposals sent
+- Projects closed
+- Revenue generated
+- Referrals received
+
+### Month 4+ (Phase 2):
+- MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
+- Customer churn rate
+- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
+- LTV (Lifetime Value)
+- NPS (Net Promoter Score)
+
+---
+
+## Success Checklist
+
+### By End of Week 2:
+- [ ] LLC registered
+- [ ] Website live
+- [ ] LinkedIn updated
+- [ ] Contact list created (50+)
+
+### By End of Week 4:
+- [ ] 20 contacts reached
+- [ ] 3-5 discovery calls completed
+- [ ] 1-2 proposals sent
+
+### By End of Week 12:
+- [ ] 1 pilot project completed
+- [ ] 1 full project sold
+- [ ] 1 case study published
+- [ ] $20k-45k revenue generated
+
+---
+
+*Last Updated: December 2025*