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Feasibility Report
Industry Analysis, Market Analysis & Job Creation Review
On behalf of
Submitted By:
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction & Purpose of the Report ........................................................................................... 3
Description of Business ............................................................................................................... 3
Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 3
About Bancroft Information Services .......................................................................................... 3
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 3
The Problem: Employee Safety ...................................................................................................... 5
Lone Workers: A Growing Population ......................................................................................... 5
Lone Worker Safety guidelines in the U.S. vs Overseas .......................................................... 5
Solutions & Limitations ............................................................................................................ 6
The AlertGPS Solution – “Fitbit meets Life Alert” ................................................................... 8
Market Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 10
Market Segmentation................................................................................................................ 10
Job Creation .................................................................................................................................. 11
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 3
INTRODUCTION & PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
This report, and its underlying research and analysis, was undertaken to access the following:
1. The viability of the business plan that AlertGPS is submitting as part of its EB-5 visa. This
includes a review of the market problem and how their product is intended to address
those problems.
2. The feasibility of hiring and retaining additional personnel to help grow the company
and to develop a national, possibly international presence in a number of primary
markets.
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AlertGPS is an existing Arizona-based business founded in 2013. The AlertGPS product addresses
the safety of millions of U.S. workers who are considered “Lone Workers” – those alone in their
jobs, often in-the-field, sometimes in remote or dangerous areas. The product combines
innovative wearable technologies with communication technology to provide a much needed
employee safety system.
PURPOSE This report has been produced to accompany the business plan being submitted by Lanick
Corporation on behalf of AlertGPS for application of an EB-5 visa in the State of Arizona.
The purpose of this Feasibility Report is to provide an objective 3rd party review of the business
plan for AlertGPS and conduct secondary market research to provide evidence that the
company’s business plan assumptions, forecasts and projections regarding the market are
supported by robust, authoritative industry and market research sources.
Additionally, it will consider that any job creation/workforce assumptions are based on realistic
numbers of employees and local economic conditions.
ABOUT BANCROFT INFORMATION SERVICES Bancroft Information Services, LLC is an Arizona-based market research firm serving clients in a
diverse set of industries from around the U.S. Much of their work “provides insight to
entrepreneurs” by helping to shape business plans, business development strategies, and
marketing strategies for both established growth companies and start-up ventures. The
company was founded in 2001.
CONCLUSION To respond to this query, Bancroft Information Services, has researched the company’s
descriptions of services, industry and market trends as well as reviewed the workforce growth
that is expected of this company. We have concluded that:
There is a definite growth opportunity for a product of this type in the area of
“employee safety”, especially for those situations where lone workers are more
commonly found.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 4
The growth and acceptance of “wearable technology” for a variety of reasons (health,
fitness, medical) will no doubt increase the level of compliance of the workers as they
will be more accustomed to wearing these devices and having data tracked in some
manner. Many analysts believe that wearables have advanced from “early adopter”
status to “mainstream” status.
“Enterprise wearables” or “workforce wearables” are a niche industry that has
become a hot topic in the wearable ecosystem. Proof of its growth is that syndicated
market research companies are taking the time to study, survey and analyze the topic.
AlertGPS appears to already have an experienced technical and executive team in
addition to a proven track record of working with customers.
The U.S. government has become even more aware of the public’s concern and
employers’ concern for employee safety. Although OSHA has acknowledged the specific
safety issues of the lone worker, it has not, as yet, unlike its counterpart in the UK,
created minimum specifications that these type of safety devices must meet. However,
the AlertGPS product line with its enhanced functionality over its competitors would
appear to be in an enviable place among competitors.
The Scottsdale, Arizona location provides a perfect location to attract experienced
high-level tech developers as well as experienced executives. The city’s employee base
also offers a higher than average educational level creating a valuable workforce pool.
“Enterprise wearable devices is the next battleground for mobile device vendors. Consumer
wearable devices have showcased the potential for this technology over the past 2 years. However,
with purpose-built devices for enterprise customers, vendors are targeting vertical-specific needs
and solving real business challenges with these devices”.
…Heather Taylor, Sr. Analyst, Compass Intelligence
Sincerely,
Jan Knight
Jan Knight, President
Bancroft Information Services, LLC
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 5
THE PROBLEM: EMPLOYEE SAFETY
The problem of employee safety is always an issue for employers from both a moral and
regulatory point of view. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), overseen by
the U.S. Department of Labor, has created strong regulations regarding employee safety ranging
from those associated with operating machinery to violence in the workplace.
They cite that a place of employment should be “free from recognizable hazards that are
causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.”1 OSHA has also, in recent years,
created specific regulations for those employees working alone in some manner whether it be
due to a remote location or a dangerous working environment.2
LONE WORKERS: A GROWING POPULATION
Employees who work alone in some manner are often those at most risk either because of the
remoteness of their location if they are involved in an accident, or because they may face some
sort of danger from other people. Telecommunications, construction, healthcare and utilities
are just a few of the more obvious industries where the safety of lone workers has become a
significant challenge.
Lone workers are also found in retail establishments, financial establishments and often a lone
worker can be found working in sales, transportation and real estate.
As the ability for almost anyone to either occasionally, or always be a lone worker of sorts has
grown due to the use of mobile phones and advanced computer connectivity, even those in the
processional services are “working remotely” and they too could also be classed as Lone
Workers.
LONE WORKER SAFETY GUIDELINES IN THE U.S. VS OVERSEAS
The problem of keeping solo workers safe is obviously not new and certainly not just a problem
unique to the U.S. In fact, according to Blackline Safety Company, a leading provider of
employee safety monitoring tools in Canada and the UK., the United Kingdom is “by far the most
advanced region when it comes to lone worker safety legislation.” In the UK firms are provided
with solutions such as periodic visiting of lone worker locations by supervisors, pre-agreed
intervals of regular contact between the lone worker and supervisor, the regular use of radios,
email and phones and the use of manually operated or automatic warning devices that are able
to alert others when triggered by the solo worker.
1 General Duty Clause. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=3359&p_table=OSHACT. 2 Working Alone. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=193
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 6
Under the British Standards BS 84843, best practices have been established for personal
electronic monitoring devices and built for the protection of those lone workers. Devices,
smartphones, suppliers, and solutions must meet specific requirements of BS 8484 and must be
combined with an alarm receiving center (ARC). 4 Companies who offer such products can
voluntarily become accredited and certified with this standard. There is even a National
Personal Safety Day in the UK that is celebrated in October and organized by one of the UK’s
largest personal safety charities who “works closely with the Lone Worker Section of the British
Security Industry Association (BSIA)”. The BSIA cites that there are over six million Lone Workers
in the UK.5
According to research outlined by BlackLine Safety Company “of all the Western nations, the low
rate of worker fatalities in the UK shows that a focus on safety can make a major difference. For
comparison purposes, worker death statistics are often represented as a number per 100,000
workers. The UK has the lowest rate of 0.51 worker fatalities per 100,000 while in the U.S. it’s
3.4.
To our knowledge, the U.S., although it provides guidelines for lone worker safety, does not
have similar certifications for products and suppliers to adhere to.
Even as far back as 2007, an Australian company developed “MySpot Guardian Angel” a GPS-
based software package for smartphones and this provided a one-click SOS Panic Button for not
only the lone worker population but for healthcare environments also so that patients could
also be tracked.
SOLUTIONS & LIMITATIONS Some early traditional solutions for keeping solo workers safe include:
Completion of a working-alone “risk assessment checklist” (helps identify possible
controls to put in place)
Physical perimeter controls
Co-worker or supervisor check-ins
Intercoms
Two-way radios
GPS monitoring devices
Some of the more technologically advanced solutions provide more innovative techniques for
alerting, monitoring and dissemination of information, but many of these efforts are also not as
effective as employers and employees might like.
3 BS8484:2011 website. http://www.bs8484.com/v2/accredited-companies/ Accessed August 2015. 4 Employee Safety Monitoring in the UK. BlacklineSafety.http://www.blacklinesafety.com/employee-safety-
monitoring-in-the-uk-leadership/ 5 British Security Industry Association. www.bsia.co.uk. Accessed August 2015.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 7
Disadvantages of some current technologies include:
Employees may be in a situation where they are being threatened by someone and
it may take too long for them to reach a nearby device.
If the device is too complicated they may not react in their normal fashion due to
the stress created by the situation, and it may prove ineffective.
An alert may not be received in a timely fashion or the recipients may not be set up
on a 24/7 basis and in some cases there may not be enough recipients.6
Some devices might be too large and thus not be discreet enough thus allowing the
intruder to be immediately aware of them.
Some devices do not possess a two-way communication tool or the ability to
transmit via a mass communication technology.
For example, the MySpot SOS Panic Button had its limitations as this this device did not provide
the ability for the worker to communicate in any other way other than positioning and location.
In addition, workers would need to give up some privacy for safety due to the ongoing
monitoring.7
A GPS Bracelet from Potash is a Swedish invention that is also primarily a positioning device with
an alarm system. The position of the individual can be triggered manually or via a remote
location technique, triggered by the host.8 There was still no additional opportunity for two-way
communication thus an employer would not know if the employee were inactive in any way and
therefore concerned about his/her status.
Wearable smart glasses and smart watches were also considered a viable solution for some
workers as they not only provided a “hands free” environment, but in the case of the glasses,
they also provided a true “see-what-I-see” experience.9 None of these appear to provide the
same level of sophistication, and smart glasses have already seen a drop in interest by
consumers.
6 www.blacklinesafety.com 7 MySpot SOS “Panic Button” Smartphone App could save workers’ lives. CIO Mag. December 2008. 8 http://www.pfotech.com/gps-bracelets/ 9 http://fieldservicenews.com/the-2020-field-engineers-toolkit-part-2/
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 8
THE ALERTGPS SOLUTION – “FITBIT MEETS LIFE ALERT”
The AlertGPS product appears to address a number of the problems inherent in many of the
current solutions. It incorporates additional technology that, at the same time as providing
additional functionality, puts them right in the midst of a number of growth industries.
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY – PERSONAL & WORKPLACE
One significant difference is that the product fits fully into the “tech wearables” industry and as
such has a number of advantages. Wearable technology, while being designed for many areas
including remote health monitoring, healthcare, smart watches, motion trackers, has really
taken off in the sports/activity tracking environment. The advantage of this is that it will not only
aid compliance in wearing by the workers because they may well be used to doing so, but it will
be less obvious as an alerting device.
Wearables (UNITS SOLD & FORECAST) for Three Categories
Source: Wireless Health and Fitness Devices Market. Global Industry Analysts (GIA) Table 16.
According to Field Service News, 2014 was to become the “year of the wearables” and a report
into mobile workers’ device preferences (by Aruba Networks), surveyed 5,000 people worldwide
and found that “about 20% wanted to be provided with wearable technology within the next five
years”.10
Wearable technologies, however, are not just for the medical community and for consumers
and the “quantified self” movement in health. The terms “workplace wearables” or “enterprise
wearables” have also recently been seen in multiple syndicated research reports. According to
Compass Intelligence, the market for “enterprise wearables” is expected to reach $8.5 billion by
2020.11 Driven by industries such as oil and gas, industrial, and healthcare, their report discusses
the fact that enterprise wearables can also actually create new work scenarios given their
flexibility.
10 http://fieldservicenews.com/life-through-a-lens-wearable-tech/ 11 Enterprise Wearables Market 2014-2019. Compass Intelligence. June 2015.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 9
AMBER ALERT CONNECTION
The fact that the AlertGPS technology has been created by the same team that created the
Amber Alert system, now a nationally-known child safety communications system, is a
differentiator. Having the product be supported by a proven team, is of course a positive aspect.
MASS NOTIFICATION
The growth of the “mass notification” product market is due in part to the ongoing concerns of
public safety and to the ease in which the mobile device industry is involved. Although, the
general market for mass notification products is segmented into a large number of both
software and hardware products catering to on premise situations, off-premise scenarios,
emergency communications, disaster recovery, business continuity, alerts and warning,
automotive, transportation and much more, the overall market is forecasted to be grow from
$3.81 billion in 2015 to be worth “$8.57 Billion by 2020. 12
Some current solutions do not have the ability to provide a mass notification in the event of an
emergency when field workers need to be informed.
TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION & 24/7 MONITORING
Response personnel are in direct communication with the employee in an emergency situation
and those placing the emergency alert always hear a human voice 24/7. This 24/7 Monitoring
Center can instantly see employees’ profiles (health profiles also) and can dispatch emergency
crews while informing them of the specifics of the person they will be attending.
SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE – SAAS BUSINESS MODEL
The business model chosen by AlertGPS is a SaaS model and as such appears to be a good
choice. According to numerous experts, the SaaS model continues to increase in most areas of
enterprise technology.
IDC, a leader in market intelligence for the information technology industry, predicts that SaaS
Enterprise Applications will be a $50B plus market in the next three years (2018). SaaS
continues to grow while at the same time on premise technology is decreasing.
12 Mass Notification Market by Solution. MarketsandMarkets May 2015.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 10
MARKET ANALYSIS
It’s clear looking at the industry statistics and growth trends for wearable technologies, the
growing concern for employee safety and the increased numbers of lone workers, that product
lines like those AlertGPS offers, and plans to offer, will continue to be a favored enterprise
solution.
As noted in the business plan, there are certainly competitors who are offering solutions with
much less functionality than AlertGPS and a well-priced, feature heavy but simple-to-use
enterprise wearable for companies to enhance employee safety, will likely be in great demand.
MARKET SEGMENTATION Lone Workers are present in a diverse set of industries including, but not limited to the
following:
Construction
Home healthcare workers
Financial sector/banks and institutions
Manufacturing – outside of normal business hours or remote plants
Professionals travelling and staying in hotels
Real Estate
Sales
Telecommunications
Transportation and logistics – drivers
Utilities and Energy
With the diversity of markets in which the AlertGPS product line can be incorporated, there will
be a need to prioritize both products and markets to attack first. The business plan has
identified what some would refer to as the “low-hanging fruit” by prioritizing their initial market
segmentation to include industries with a growing lone worker population, namely,
energy/utilities, construction and healthcare.
Their strategy to launch different types of products to these highlighted markets seems to be
well thought out and based on a proven track record with their current customers as well as on
their own market research and patents in process which will make their product line even more
robust.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 11
JOB CREATION
The company’s ability to grow to the levels that it envisions based on demand and market
trends, can only likely be achieved with additional staff in almost all areas – sales, marketing,
customer service, administration and fulfillment.
The business plan’s timeline shows a goal of adding an additional 50 employees by 2016 and 139
by year-end 2017, which will preceded a big hiring push of almost doubling their workforce each
year. This planned accelerated growth is certainly not unheard of in tech companies especially
those involved in digital applications, healthcare and SaaS business models. 13 14
The majority of these new employees in the first two years will be in the engineering, sales and
marketing areas.
EDUCATED & EXPERIENCED WORKFORCE AlertGPS needs to hire educated and experienced engineers and sales and marketing personnel. This type of new, vibrant company with a focus on innovative technology in a growing industry will no doubt be able to easily hire some of the best talent in the areas they are located. Young and middle aged professionals should not be in short supply in either Scottsdale, Arizona where the headquarters is based, or in South Jordan, Utah where a second office is located. Both locations, while different demographically, are growing cities.
Scottsdale and Phoenix offer an environment where the information technology industry is
robust “with hundreds of companies involved in software development and computer system
integration”. 15 Scottsdale, Arizona boasts a higher than average population with Bachelor’s
degree or higher (almost 53%) as well as a higher than average median household income
($72,154) than the rest of the state.16
South Jordan, Utah, likewise, is seeing an increasing population and is a region where well
educated and well-paid professionals can also be found. The percentage (38%) of the population
with at least a Bachelor’s degree or higher is higher than the rest of the state of Utah, and the
median household income is also higher than the average income elsewhere in the state at
$89,709.17
SALARIES & EFFECT ON THE COMMUNITIES The AlertGPS business plan identifies a significant increase in workforce even in the first two years of growth, and as many of these positions are considered executive or managerial, the salaries associated with these hires are significant. This is no small economic impact to the Scottsdale/Phoenix when seen as a whole. The effects of a group of workers earning over $1 million in 2015 and over $4 million the following year is a boost to any local community.
13 Meridian Plans to Double Workforce This Year. June 2015. 14 App maker Bluebridge Doubles its Workforce, Sales and Space. February 2015. 15 http://growthnation.com/azigg/why-phoenix/ 16 Census.gov. Quick Facts. Scottsdale, AZ. Accessed August 2015. 17 Census.gov. Quick Facts. South Jordan, UT. Access August 2015.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 12
Employees will be using that money to invest in the community in the form of housing,
consumer purchasing, service purchasing, healthcare purchasing and more.
Feasibility Report provided by Bancroft Information Services (August 2015) Page 13
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