• VMH Digital

    Digital - Media - Technology

  • VMH Digital

    Advice - Business and Commercial Development - Investments

  • VMH Digital

    Experience - Insight - Pragmatism

  • VMH Digital

    Publishing - Advertising - Ecommerce

Why are we here?

Good question ;-) we know about Digital, Media and Technology and can share years of experience and insights at strategic-tactical level
 

Publishing, Advertising, Ecommerce

We established our company in The Netherlands. A country where the digitalization is proceeding at a strong pace and which has an impact on every company. Traditional media are facing decline. Digital media become more and more global as the new generation adopts English as the media language. The entry barrier for publishing content is almost minimized to zero and international digital giants are setting the benchmark for advertising standards and (ecommerce) margins. It is a complex and challenging world where boardroom guidance and start up experience is needed.

 

Publishing

The digital developments have made the entry barrier for publishing content so low that publishing has become a mainstream activity and everyone can call himself a publisher. The competitive edge of the local players and its margins decrease. Therefore, business models should focus on international expansion or niches where the added value is much more to be found in creating relevant infrastructure for existing needs. We know the freemium business models and can help companies with it.

Advertising

Advertising is a way to get information to the potential customer. But it is only received as information by the potential customer if it is relevant to him. If so, we still have to deal with the effects of the overload of information, the average consumer of content encounters every day. More and more parties rely on advertising as main source of income in their business models and combined with the fact that the potential customer has to deal with an overload of information, this creates a very challenging situation. All the more reason that if you rely on advertising you better do it good. We can help you with that

Ecommerce

Ecommerce will grow significantly but everyone engaged in ecommerce faces fierce price competition since everything is transparent and local presence is only a diminishing competitive advantage. Mobile and especially the smart phone will play an increasingly dominant role in the crucial phases prior to the purchase. Price can not be the only denominator. We know how the inspiration and information phases that precede the transaction face, will help to build a competitive edge resulting into more revenue.
  • Publishing in the 21st century is creating relevant infrastructure for existing needs
    Mark Zuckenberg
  • Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
    Albert Einstein
  • The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.
    John Maynard Keynes
  • Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
    Edward de Bono
  • An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements.
    Vilfredo Pareto

    Our Skills

    Experience -Insight - Pragmatism

    Our clients have the following characteristics:

    • Digital

      95%

    • Media

      95%

    • Technology

      75%
     

    Our expertise is sought in the following fields:

    • Publishing

      75%

    • Advertising

      95%

    • Ecommerce

      70%
     

    Our services

    This is what we can do for you.
    • We advise
      We are available for general advice in our expertise fields. The advice is a free format subject and does not necessarily have to be a long term assignment.
    • We help you with business and commercial development
      If you are engaged in professional services, or a digital company, a publisher, a media owner or a company having a significant publishing activity or portfolio, you may turn to us. We help you in developing your business proposition and how to play the game of marketing, communication and sales in a B2B arena.
    • We invest as an entrepreneur
      We have experience in making investments, making divestments, the sale of a company either by selling the shares or through an asset and debt-deal. Sometimes, we make an investment ourselves, as part of a so called entrepreneurial engagement. Then we take a role as an active investor. Therefore, we only invest in companies active in the field of digital, media or technology.
     
    86

    % use apps to access mobile internet

     
    5500000

    domain names with .nl

     
    25

    % only use a phone or tablet to access the internet

     

    A little about ideas

    As a company you can choose for added value or cost leadership. One way or the other, the practice of Kaizen teaches us that you actually have to do both. For more added value you follow the path of innovation. For innovation you need ideas. It does not mean that ideas are innovation, but you know that if there are no ideas there will be no innovation. So you need to know how to get ideas.

    How to get ideas? An important question that has been answered by James Webb Young in the accessible book “A Technique for Producing Ideas”, describing the five stages of idea production.

     
    1 - Gather raw material
    Specific and general. For example, in advertising, the specific materials are those relating to the product and the people to whom you propose to sell it.
    2 - The mental digestive process
    The detailed plan is a next phase. You have thought over your initial idea and are coming to a phase how this idea should come to birth.
    3 - Abandon and drop it
    Drop the whole subject completely and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can. Turn to whatever stimulates your imagination and emotions.
    4 - Birth of the idea and constantly thinking about it
    After the three stages the idea will appear, first vaguely and then more clear and polished by constantly thinking about it.
    5 - Take the idea out into the world of reality
    A good idea survives the criticism of the outside world and has self-expanding qualities. Patience and pragmatism are needed.

    Is a good idea very valuable? Yes and no. Yes because without ideas there would be no innovation. No because there are many good ideas and only a few survive. In this respect, the 1111 test helps to get to reality.

     

    The 1111 - test

    What is the value of an idea? A lot, because without ideas there is no innovation. Innovation you need because there is always a competitor somewhere that can beat you on price. But there are many ideas and therefore most investors will only invest if you pass the 1111 test.
    1 - The Idea
    You are observing that there is a need or you are bringing some old elements into a new combination and there is the birth of the idea.
    10 - The detailed idea put on paper
    The detailed plan is a next phase. You have thought over your initial idea and are coming to a phase how this idea should come to birth.
    100 - The Business Plan
    After the detailed idea is put on paper, the question will arise how am I really going to make money with it and what will be my business model? Who will pay me for which products and services. You have to fill in a lot of details about your product or service, the price, the distribution and how your clients will find out about your product or service. Last but not least, you have to work out the financials. What do you need as an investment and will be the return?
    1000 - Working demo or first paying customer
    The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The evidence that a product can be made or is working and does what it is expected to do, creates value. Even more value becomes evident, if a customer is willing to pay for a product or service, even if it is for a minimum viable product.
     

    In this test, you get 1 point for the idea, 10 points for the detailed idea put on paper, 100 points for a well elaborated business plan and 1,000 points for a working demo or first paying customer. Most investors are willing to invest if you have scored at least 1,100 points. The test does help to manage expectations ;-), but nobody denies a starting entrepreneur to believe in his idea.