Belarus has become an essential player in the international technology and innovation arena in recent years, mainly due to the Hi-Tech Park (HTP) development. This unique economic cluster provides favorable conditions for creating and conducting business projects, supporting startups and developing companies in IT and related technologies. In this article, we will look in detail at a company’s business project in the HTP, what opportunities it opens up for IT entrepreneurs, and how IT companies should work in the HTP through the business project. Understanding the specifics of business projects and their significance for the HTP presidency will allow you to better use the resources and opportunities offered by this special legal regime.
Reasons why a business project is crucial for HTP resident companies
The business project plays a key role for companies that are residents of the Hi-Tech Park (HTP) for several reasons:
1. Strategic planning
A business project allows a company to clearly define its goals, strategies, and ways to achieve them. This includes analyzing the market, identifying the target audience, and developing unique offers essential for successful operations in a competitive environment.
2. Attracting investment
Having a well-developed business project dramatically simplifies the process of attracting external investment. Investors prefer to invest in projects with a clear structure, well-developed analytical data, and transparent business models that demonstrate the potential for growth and profitability.
3. Simplification of interaction with government agencies
HTP residents often work with various government agencies. A well-defined business project facilitates obtaining the necessary permits and licenses, leading to a better understanding by regulators.
4. Resource optimization
A business project helps organizations manage resources efficiently, thus minimizing costs and risks. It serves as the basis for budget allocation, human resources and time management.
5. Identification of risks and opportunities
During the development of a business project, companies can identify potential risks and opportunities in the market. This knowledge allows you to better prepare for external challenges and take advantage of the emerging favorable conditions for growth.
Thus, the business project is an integral part of the successful activities of HTP resident companies, providing them with a path to growth, development and competitiveness in the rapidly changing technology market.
Significance of a business project for joining HTP
To become the HTP resident, an IT company must create a business project that meets the requirements of the Park’s Supervisory Board and the state. This document is compiled according to specific rules and shows how the IT company plans to develop the HTP and what financial results it expects. The business project and other documents are reviewed first by the Supervisory Board Secretariat and then by the Supervisory Board. Based on the business project analysis and other documents, the Supervisory Board decides whether to admit an IT company to the HTP or refuse admission.
Essential for thriving HTP membership:
- Include in the business project the types of activities allowed for HTP residents (one or several) and activities related to implementing these types of activities.
- Substantiate the importance and significance of the business project for the new technologies and IT sector.
- Specify the planned profit.
- Correctly design a business project.
General requirements for an IT company’s business project
- In the business project, you need to specify the total volume of IT services and intellectual property objects that the company plans to provide and justify the need to provide such services and sales of intellectual property objects.
- Calculations with foreign business partners for export in a business project should be made in foreign currency and with local business partners – in Belarusian rubles. Information should be displayed by year – this is the billing period.
- In a business project, you need to prove the uniqueness of the IT company’s activities and the competitive advantages of the projects that the IT company plans to implement as an HTP resident and describe these projects.
- The HTP Supervisory Board welcomes informative and concise business projects, which should be no more than 18 pages, including the title page, content sheet, and IT company passport.
- The Belarusian Government set the form of the business project.
What you don’t need to write in a business project
1. The business project does not need to describe the scope or type of activity that the IT company plans to conduct as a resident of the Hi-Tech Park.
2. It is unnecessary and optional to provide calculations in foreign currency for planned transactions with Belarusian business partners.
3. You do not need to specify activities not allowed for residents of the Hi-Tech Park.
Suppose the Supervisory Board of the Hi-Tech Park decides that the business project is not essential for the development of high technologies. In that case, IT companies will be refused entry to the Hi-Tech Park.
What sections are included in the business project?
The business project includes mandatory sections that are provided for by the requirements for the design of a business project:
1. Title page with the name of the business project, which reflects the activity stated in the project, the name of the IT company, information about the developer of the business project, signatures of the company’s director and confidentiality requirements of this document.
2. Content of the business project with the names of sections, subsections, application names and links to pages.
3. Resume. This section, in particular, describes the company’s business model and specialization, what developments the company plans as an HTP resident, and what results are scheduled for the end of the planning horizon. These results include:
- Revenue.
- Profit.
- Profitability.
- Annual labor productivity.
- Number and average monthly salary of employees.
4. Company description, history of its creation and development, and strategy for further development. This section includes information about founders, investors, mentors, their residency and experience. They also indicate the structure of the company, its previous digitized experience, a list of activities as an HTP resident, and information about real estate and equipment. In this section of the business project, you must specify an obligation that the company will only receive revenue from activities that are allowed for residents of the Hi-Tech Park.
This section contains information about the company’s personnel characteristics, the characteristics of its business processes, and its key performance indicators.
5. Description of the goods, works, and services that the IT company plans to produce during the implementation of the business project.
6. Analysis of sales markets. In this section, you need to justify the demand and value of the company’s offer.
7. Current and planned results of financial and economic activities.
8. Investment plan. In this section, specify the investment objects in a table.
9. Corporate social responsibility. In a table, indicate, broken down by year, the activities in the field of education that the company is ready to finance.
10. Company passport. This section is designed according to the established pattern. It specifies, in particular, the company’s form of ownership, data on its state registration, the size of the authorized capital and its distribution among the founders, and which businesses the company participates in as an investor.
What is business project expertise?
After an IT company has submitted a business project to the Supervisory Board of the Hi-Tech Park, the Supervisory Board has the right to send the business project for examination (scientific, technical, legal). This happens before a decision is made to admit an IT company to the Hi-Tech Park. Experts can include auditors, external companies, scientific organizations, lawyers, and scientists. Due to the examination, the Supervisory Board takes longer (for a maximum of 10 days) to review the documents on the entry of an IT company into the Hi-Tech Park.
The Supervisory Board will refuse the IT company to join the HTP if the expert opinion is negative.
What should HTP resident do when there is a desire to conduct activities that are not specified in the business project?
When Hi-Tech Park residents have ideas for new projects, it is necessary to check that the type of activity needed to implement them is included in the list of activities allowed for HTP residents.
To conduct a new activity that is allowed for HTP residents, you need to create a new (additional) business project and submit it to the Supervisory Board of the Hi-Tech Park for consideration. In a new or additional business project, specify:
- New types of activities allowed for HTP residents (or one new activity for an IT company).
- How the IT company plans to conduct this activity.
- Types of services and property rights the IT company plans to sell, justification for the need for such sales, and planned profit.
What are the consequences of not completing a business project?
An IT company that is HTP resident and does not fulfill the terms of the business project may lose its status as a resident of the Hi-Tech Park. The decision of the Supervisory Board of the Hi-Tech Park on the inexpediency of implementing a business project and the company’s work in the HTP revokes this status.
In addition, an IT company may lose its status as a resident of the Hi-Tech Park if it conducts activities not provided for in the business project and does not help conduct the activities specified in the business project.
How to contact us
For more information or advice on issues related to a business project for HTP resident companies, do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help and support you.
Phone and email communication options are available for your convenience:
- +375293664477 (WhatsApp/Telegram/Viber);
- info@spex.by.
