Communiqué 1998-09-11

MONTREAL, September 11, 1998 - An engineering executive turned Internet consultant is helping small businesses and professionals sell their products and services on the Internet. And they're doing it with little or no initial investment.

Don Coggan, of Montreal, Canada, a 1967 electrical engineering graduate of McGill University, spent his first 29 years in the traditional business world, first as a Sales Engineer and most recently as General Manager for a manufacturing company. Early in 1996, he decided to apply his training and experience to doing business on the World Wide Web.

After experimenting with different Internet business strategies to find out firsthand what works and what doesn't, he eventually unearthed an unbeatable formula. With it, both Coggan and his clients stand to win big-time.

The basic concept is that the client pays consulting fees only when the web site produces revenue. This is clearly attractive to the business owner and not just because there's little or no up-front cost. There's a more important reason. Because Coggan's fees come from revenue produced by the web site, he will not take on projects unless they have a good chance of succeeding.

There is no established pattern defining the type of products or services that will succeed on the Internet. Each case is evaluated on its own merits. Coggan's current projects include a self-esteem board game invented by a noted psychologist, linguistic services, engineering services, a proposal-writing training manual, a baby bottle nursing system, custom handcrafted jewelry, entertainment event planning, and hard-to-find, private-pilot information.

To help his clients better understand the nature of the business relationship he has with them, Coggan uses a familiar analogy. "Think of the web site as a factory outlet or a branch office, which we own and operate, and from which we distribute our client's products and services."

Just as this is a major undertaking in the physical world we're used to, so it is on the Internet. Based on actual experience with almost a dozen sites, Coggan estimates the effort at 1,000 hours to launch a business web site and operate it for a year. And, like any other business, one on the World Wide Web takes time to nurture to productive maturity. It's no surprise then, that the term of the client-consultant agreement is a minimum three years.

Before accepting a project, Coggan evaluates it thoroughly for its Internet potential. However, those involving a product or service that is already a success off the Internet have a much better chance of going ahead quickly.

In addition to the work directly related to the operation of web sites, Coggan also provides training in just about anything having to do with the Internet. This includes one-on-one coaching of upper management personnel. His course content and delivery have been used in training sessions financed in part by the Quebec government department responsible for human resources development throughout the province.