This summer, I interned in the business strategy sector at MKThink, an architecture firm known for creating intelligent spaces. MKThink uses RoundhouseOne services for its main operations. RoundhouseOne is a spatial, data-driven technology company that collects, processes, and analyzes data from a variety of spaces. This helps establishments to understand their real state, improve the health and utilization of their spaces, and assess the relationship between people and their spaces. The technology currently provides services through three web applications, all powered by 4dapt, a powerful data integration platform: ThinkHD, Air Angel, and Clarity. Presently, the Air Angel, Clarity, and ThinkHD applications, although driven by the 4dapt platform, work independently of each other in tracking the various aspects of a space and its performance. The internship project consisted of helping RoundhouseOne move forward as a company. My tasks were to create a portfolio of companies with shared background as RoundhouseOne in Excel, do a competitive analysis and competitive positioning, and create graphical visualizations.
Throughout the internship, I had weekly meetings with my supervisor and the founder of MKThink to discuss my work and next steps. For the first few weeks, my main task included researching companies that offered similar services as RoundhouseOne. Then, I selected 34 companies for my in-depth research and started the competitive analysis. The first task was to create a competitive analysis visual with four quadrants (Real Estate Management, Technology, Data Services, Healthy Spaces/People). Each company’s logo was placed in the visual based on its capabilities and business products. Along with creating visuals, I was responsible for creating an Excel table with key features of companies such as specialty, product type, offerings, approach, notable partners and clients, specifics of clients, market geography, number of employees, estimated 2022 revenue, financial status (private or mature), financial stability, and a ranking of how close these companies were to RoundhouseOne in terms of what they did.
For the last weeks of the internship, I created new visuals (extent of services/revenue, industry product/revenue visuals) and moved on to identifying our top seven competitors. I accomplished this by analyzing the information included in the Excel table and eventually placed them on all the original visuals created (other competitors were excluded from the visuals at this point). Lastly, I analyzed RoundhouseOne’s competitive positioning by considering its top competitors. Besides assessing the best direction that RoundhouseOne could move in each visual, I created a final competitive scope visual (the same one with the four quadrants), but with colored rectangles revolving around the companies’ logos, illustrating the extent of their services.
Since my only experiences of internships were in a different country, this was a new and enjoyable experience working at an American setting. At MKThink, I have learned how to work with some of the variables that encompass the development of a business plan and what to look for in competing companies that make them stand out. I am grateful to MKThink for giving me this opportunity, and I am looking forward to seeing the development of its business plan.
