Process Report - AAU€¦ · Process Report and Bu ... , der gik udenom alle mellemled og i stedet fokuserede på direkte ... Internship at Danish Technological Institute

Process Report by Andreas Rafn ([email protected])

Lucian Lungu ([email protected])

Miruna Antonia Olesen ([email protected])

Pernille Frederikke Sindberg ([email protected])

Group 2 / Semester project 1

MSc Entrepreneurial Engineering 2016-18

Aalborg University

4th January 2017

Number of pages: 76

Number of appendices: 7

Supervisor: Sven Vestergaard

Example of a 1. semester Process Report and Business Report (with permission from the authors).

AAU,EE1 ProcessReport Group2-URBEAN

2

TableofContents1 SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................................4

2 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................62.1 PREFACE.............................................................................................................................................62.2 THETEAM...........................................................................................................................................62.3 THED-I-AAPPROACH...........................................................................................................................82.4 PROJECTTIMELINE................................................................................................................................92.5 COMPANYANDPRODUCTDESCRIPTION.................................................................................................10

2 DISCOVERYI...................................................................................................................................102.1 INTRO...............................................................................................................................................102.2 IDEAGENERATION..............................................................................................................................10

2.2.1 CreativityWorkshops.................................................................................................................102.2.2 Brainstorming............................................................................................................................112.2.3 Threeinitialideas.......................................................................................................................12

2.3 IDEASCREENING.................................................................................................................................132.3.1 TheSixThinkingHats.................................................................................................................132.3.2 GastroTravel.............................................................................................................................132.3.3 AnalogueCafé............................................................................................................................142.3.4 AlternativePlayground..............................................................................................................14

2.4 SUPERWISENET1...............................................................................................................................152.4.1 PreparationandPitch................................................................................................................152.4.2 Feedback....................................................................................................................................15

2.5 GENESISPADOPPORTUNITY.................................................................................................................162.6 REFLECTION.......................................................................................................................................18

3 DISCOVERYII..................................................................................................................................193.1 INTRO...............................................................................................................................................19

3.1.1 Achangeofcourse....................................................................................................................193.2 IDEAGENERATION..............................................................................................................................19

3.2.1 Brainstorm.................................................................................................................................203.2.2 Mind-mappingandmarketresearch.........................................................................................21

3.3 CONCEPTDEVELOPMENT-FROMIDEATOURBEAN.................................................................................213.3.1 Conceptualization......................................................................................................................213.3.2 ThenameURBEAN.....................................................................................................................233.3.3 BusinessModelOptions.............................................................................................................243.3.4 BlueOceanStrategyCanvas......................................................................................................26

3.4 REFLECTIONSABOUTDISCOVERYII........................................................................................................28

4 INCUBATION..................................................................................................................................294.1 INTRO...............................................................................................................................................294.2 PROOFOFCONCEPT............................................................................................................................29

4.2.1 Prototyping................................................................................................................................304.2.2 SuperWiseNet2..........................................................................................................................334.2.3 PlaceboTesting..........................................................................................................................384.2.4 Producttesting..........................................................................................................................39

4.3 PROOFOFBUSINESS...........................................................................................................................404.3.1 BusinessModelCanvas1...........................................................................................................414.3.2 TargetcustomeranalysisandBuyerPersonas..........................................................................424.3.3 MarketStrategyandMarketanalysis.......................................................................................45


3

4.3.4 Budget.......................................................................................................................................534.3.5 BusinessModelCanvas2...........................................................................................................554.3.6 SuperWiseNet3..........................................................................................................................57

4.4 REFLECTIONSABOUTINCUBATION.........................................................................................................58

5 ACCELERATION...............................................................................................................................595.1 INTRO...............................................................................................................................................595.2 GROWTHSTRATEGY............................................................................................................................59

5.2.1 Strategyforyear1-2..................................................................................................................605.2.2 Strategyforyear3.....................................................................................................................605.2.3 Strategyforyear4.....................................................................................................................615.2.4 Strategyforyear5.....................................................................................................................615.2.5 Strategyforyear6-10................................................................................................................62

5.3 BUDGET2.........................................................................................................................................625.4 REFLECTIONS.....................................................................................................................................63

6 OUTRO...........................................................................................................................................636.1 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................636.2 PERSPECTIVE......................................................................................................................................656.3 THREEQUESTIONSFOREVALUATION......................................................................................................66

7 BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................................67

8 APPENDICES...................................................................................................................................698.1 SIXTHINKINGHATS.............................................................................................................................698.2 BEANBROWNIERECIPE.......................................................................................................................72

Canbefoundhere:http://www.thefoodclub.dk/boenne-brownies/.....................................................728.3 PLACEBOTEST...................................................................................................................................73

................................................................................................................................................................738.4 QUESTIONNAIREFORPRODUCTTESTING................................................................................................74....................................................................................................................................................................748.5 RESULTSFROMPRODUCTTESTING........................................................................................................758.6 BUDGET............................................................................................................................................75

8.6.1 Year1.........................................................................................................................................758.6.2 Year2.........................................................................................................................................76

8.7 MOOD-BOARDFORSWN3PRESENTATION.............................................................................................76


4

1 Summary

Dennerapportomhandlervoresarbejdemedsemesterprojekt1påkandidatuddannelsen

EntrepreneurialEngineeringpåAalborgUniversitet.Projektetarbejdettagerudgangspunktien

modelkaldtD-I-A,sominddeleretprojektitrefaser,henholdsvisDiscovery,Incubationog

Acceleration(Arteaga&Hyland,2014).IvorestilfældegennemgikvitoDiscovery-faser,førvi

bevægedeosvideretilIncubation-fasen.VinåedeikketilAcceleration-fasenindenforprojektets

tidsramme,hvorforviblotharbeskrevet,hvordanviplanlæggeratagereidennefase.

Rapportenomhandler,hvordangruppeanalyseredeogvidereudviklededemangeidéer,vifandt

fremtilviabådeindividueloggruppevisbrainstorming,fortilsidstatvælgeénidé.Formåletmed

denneidévaratskabeenbæredygtigforretningsmulighedillustreretvedatopbyggeenfiktiv

virksomhed.Denendeligeidé,somgruppenvalgteatarbejdevideremedidetteprojekt,var

bønneis–enfrossenbønnedessertmedislignendekonsistentogtekstur.Idéenvarbaseretpåden

stigendeinteressefraforbrugerneforsundere,økologiskeogplantebaseredefødevareprodukter

(MINTEL,2016).IdéenogvirksomhedenkaldteviURBEAN–enkombinationaf”urban”og”bean”.

Vivalgteenforretningsmodel,dergikudenomallemellemledogistedetfokuseredepådirekte

salgogkontakttilforbrugerne.Vibesluttedederfor,atproduktetskullesælgesisåkaldte”dessert

studios”,hvormansomkundekannydehjemmelavedeogsundedesserter.Selvomderkanvære

højerisicivedatåbneenvirksomhedirestaurationsbranchen,valgtegruppenstadigatforfølge

dettesomforretningsmodel.Beslutningenblevtaget,fordidenførstelokationkanfungeresomet

pilotprojektforatfåforretningsidéenvalideret.Dissestudiosskalafspejledenuværende

designtendenser.Foratundgå,atURBEANbliverensæsonvirksomhed,tilføjedevinogleekstra

produktertilvoresproduktrække.

URBEAN’smålgruppeblevanalyseretforatfindeudaf,hvilkenslagsforbrugeredenindeholder,

samthvaddisseefterspørger.Tildettebliverblevderopfundetforskelligeforbruger-personer

(buyerpersonas),derillustreredeforskelligeforbrugerespersonligeværdieroglivsstilsvalg.

Baseretpådettebesluttedevi,atmålgruppenforURBEANnetopbørfokuserepåforbrugeres

værdieroglivsstilsnarereendalder.Denværdi,somkundernefårvedatvælgeURBEAN,vilvære

enunikkombinationafatnydeenindbydendeogsunddessertimoderneogatmosfærefyldte

omgivelser.Detbetyder,atproduktkvalitetoginteriørdesignernogleafdevigtigstedrivkræfter

forURBEANsombrandtilatgenererekunderogsikre,atdevendertilbage.


5

Forskelligeundersøgelsererudførtforatkunnereducerenogleafdeusikkerheder,somURBEAN

nuståroverfor.Viønskedebl.a.atfindeudaf,omkundernevillebliveafskrækketvedatbruge

bønnerivoresdesserter.Indledendemarkedsundersøgelserviste,atdetteikkevaretproblem.

Dettekræverdogyderligereundersøgelser.

Rapportenindeholderogsåeteksempelpå,hvordanURBEAN’sbudgetkunnekommetilatseud

deførstetoår.Budgettetviser,atdervilgå17måneder,førURBEANgårinul.Idettebudgeter

løntiltofuldtidsansatteogtodeltidsansatteinkluderet.Dissefirepositionervildeførstetoår

beståafgruppemedlemmerne,hvorforlønnenvillekunnebliveivirksomheden,dabootstrapping

ermetoden,viønskeratanvendeforatsikrehurtigvækst.Budgetteterskabtudfraenrække

antagelser,derskalvalideresvedåbningafdenførstepilot-lokation.Rapportenslutterafmeden

vækststrategiforURBEAN.Planenerathavemereend15lokationeritreforskelligelandeefter10

år.


6

2 Introduction 2.1 Preface

ThisprocessreportistheoutcomeofthefirstsemesterprojectinthestudyofMSc

EntrepreneurialEngineeringatAalborgUniversity.Thisprojectholdsanoverallthemeof

“EntrepreneurialPractice”andiscreditedwith15ECTS.Thefirstsemesteratthismaster’sdegree

primarilyfocusesontheDiscoveryphase.

WewouldliketosaythankyouespeciallytooursupervisorSvenVestergaardforguidance

throughouttheproject,andFrankGertsenforansweringandhelpinguswithallourquestionsand

practicalissues.Additionally,wewanttothankthesupervisorsatthethreeSuperWiseNets(SWN)

forexcellentfeedbackandBoChristensenfromAAUSEAfortipsandconstructiveadviceinorder

tocarryonwithURBEAN.Lastly,wewanttothankourclassmatesandeveryoneelsewhotasted

ourprototypesforgivingusvaluablefeedbackandinsights.

2.2 TheTeam

WeareanInternationalteamoffourpeople–allwithdifferenteducationalbackgrounds.Our

professionalskillsarewidelyspreadandrangefromsoftwaredevelopment/design,business

models/systemdevelopment,biotech,foodscience,productdevelopmentandproject

management.Somehavepracticalexperiencewhileothersmainlyhavetheoreticalexperience.

Furthermore,onlyoneoftheteammembershasstudiedatAalborgUniversitybeforeandthereby

workedwithproblembasedlearning.Theresthaveworkedingroupsandwithprojectwork

beforehand.Weseeourdifferencesasastrengthastheyhaveprovideddifferentperspectivesin

discussionsandduringgroupwork.Amoredetaileddescriptionofeachteammemberfollows

below.


7

Table1Presentationofgroupmembers.

Andreas Rafn

Education: Holds a BSc in Global Business Engineering from Aalborg University Work experience: Collaboration with different companies during projects Strengths: Knowledge about how a business operates Weaknesses: Sometimes a bit too quiet

Lucian Lungu

Education: Holds an AP degree (2 years) in IT-Networking from Erhvervsakademiet Lillebælt and a top-up (1.5 years) in Product Development and Project Management Work experience: Internship at Danish Technological Institute and collaboration with LEGO on Bachelor’s thesis Strengths: Structuring, planning and communication Weaknesses: Sometimes easily distracted, perfectionist

Miruna Antonia Olesen

Education: Holds a PBA in Software Development from University College Nordjylland Work experience: Software developer for 4 years Strengths: Fast learner and good at getting stuff done Weaknesses: Not being persistent

Pernille Frederikke Sindberg

Education: Holds a BSc in Bioprocess Technology from Aarhus School of Engineering Work experience: Internship and Bachelor’s thesis conducted at Arla Foods Ingredients Group P/S Strengths: Creative and works with high commitment Weaknesses: Not very technical, perfectionist


8

Inthebeginningoftheproject,weintroducedMario(Figure1),aplasticfigure,

toactasatotemofsaying“no”.Thismeantthatinsteadofsaying“no”toan

ideaorasuggestion,Mariowasputinthemiddleofthetable.Thiscreateda

positiveandsafeenvironmenttogiveone’shonestopinionaboutasubject.

Later,theMariowasalsogiventoapersondriftingawayfromthetopicduring

adiscussion.

2.3 TheD-I-AApproach

TheprojectfollowstheD-I-AmodelintroducedinthebookPivot–HowTop

EntrepreneursAdaptandChangeCoursetoFindUltimateSuccess(Arteaga&

Hyland,2014).Thismodelguidesentrepreneursthroughthedifferentstages

whendealingwithhigheruncertaintyinnovation.Themodeltakesnameafterthefollowingthree

stages;Discovery,IncubationandAcceleration(Figure2).Asmentionedearlier,themainfocusof

thisprojectistheDiscoveryphase,butIncubationandAccelerationhavealsobeen

conducted.TheDiscoveryiswhereideationanddivergentthinkingisbeingemphasized.This

phaseisabouttranslatinggoodideasintobusinessopportunities.Incubationisfocusedon

experimentingwiththeopportunityandexploringwhereitcango.Finally,theAccelerationis

aboutexecuting–thestepbeforegrowingintoafull-scalebusiness.

WeusedtheD-I-AmodelasaguidelinewhenpreparingforthethreeSuperWiseNetmeetings.The

purposeoftheSuperWiseNetmeetings(SWN’s)wastogetagroupofcompetentpeopleto

challengeourideasandopportunitiesinordertoimproveandfinetunethem.Throughoutthe

projectweconsistentlytriedtoapplytheD-I-Amind-setandtools.

Figure1Mario–ourtotemofsaying"no”.

Figure2TheD-I-AModeladoptedfromPivot–HowTopEntrepreneursAdaptandChangeCoursetoFindUltimateSuccess(Arteaga&Hyland,2014).


9

2.4 ProjectTimeline

ThetimelineofthisprojectisshowninFigure3.Itdisplaysthemajormilestonessuchascreativity

workshops,SWNmeetings,etc.

ForSWN1wecameupwiththreeideasthatcouldpossiblybeturnedintobusinessopportunities.

Ourthreeinitialideaswere:

1. GastroTravel;atravelagencyprovidingtravelswithinthesegmentofgastronomyandfood

relatedexperiences

2. Analternativeplaygroundforintrovertedchildrenorchildrenwithspecialneedsthatwere

notmetonthecurrentschoolplaygrounds

3. Ananaloguecaféwheresmartphonesandotherdevicesshouldbelockedawayduringthe

stayinordertopromotesincereconversationsandqualitytimewithyourrelativesor

friends

ItcanbeseenintheFigure3thatwehadtwoDiscoveryphasesaswemadeachangeofcourse

afterSWN1.Wedidnotjustpivotbutcompletelydiscardedourinitialideas.Thisdecisionwas

madeafterevaluatingtheoverallfeedbackfromSWN1andthoroughlydiscussingitinthegroup.

Wewentbacktobrainstormingandcameupwiththeideaofahealthyfrozendessertbasedon

beans.WenamedthisideaURBEAN.

Figure3ProjecttimelinedividedintothefourphasesofDiscoveryI,DiscoveryII,IncubationandAcceleration.Majoroccurrencesanddeadlinesaremarkedinred.


10

Asanextracurricularassignment,wealsoappliedforVentureCupwithURBEANontheideastage.

WeseeVentureCupasanopportunitytogetmorefeedbackonourideaandvalidatethebusiness

caseaswellasapotentialfundingsourceifweweretowin.Unfortunately,wewerenotselected

tomoveonforthefinals.

2.5 CompanyandProductDescription

URBEANisanurbanbrandproducingdessertsbasedonbutterbeanswhichwillbesoldinourown

dessertstudios.Thestudioisaphysicalspace,likeacafé,wheredessertsaretakentothenext

levelbycombiningauniqueexperiencewithfunkyflavoursandfuelforyourbody.Oursolutionis

astudioservingavarietyofhealthydesserts.Themainattractionisafrozenonebasedonbeans

andwithaconsistencyandtexturecomparabletoicecream.Theproductswillcomeindifferent

flavoursaccordingtoseasonandwithanadditionofhealthytoppings,everythingbeingorganic

andnatural.

2 DiscoveryI 2.1 Intro AsreferredtointheIntroduction,DiscoveryisthefirstphaseoftheD-I-Aapproach.Itisthe

startingpointforhighuncertaintyinnovationprojects.Discoveryisfocusedondivergentidea

generationandidentifyingbusinessopportunitiesbasedonemergingmarketneedsaswellas

earlyvalidation.OurgroupwentthroughtwoiterationsoftheDiscoveryphase,withthefirst

iterationendingshortlyafterSWN1.Topicssuchasideageneration,creativityandbrainstorming

tools,aswellasthefirstSWN,ourideasandprocesseswillbediscussedthroughoutthischapter.

2.2 IdeaGeneration2.2.1 CreativityWorkshops

Thissectionwilllookintohowthegroupstartedworkingtogetherwithaseriesofcreativity

workshopsfacilitatedbySørenHansen,lectureratAalborgUniversityandpartoftheCreative


11

Geniusprogramme.Theworkshopsconsistedofseveralexercisesthatsupportedtheprojectwork

andtrained“acreativemind-set”usefulforideageneration.Thetechniques“Creative

Collaboration”and“SixThinkingHats”areusedtoconvertanideaintoapotentialbusiness

opportunity.

2.2.2 Brainstorming

Thefirstcreativityworkshopimpliedgeneratingandscratchingthesurfaceofasmanyproject

ideasaspossible.Theprocessbeganwithabrainstormingusingatechniquecalled“Creative

Collaboration”orthe“1-2-Group”(Figure4)whichisdividedintothreephases.Thismethodhelps

increasethequality,aswellasdiversityoftheconcepts.Firstly,theteambrainstormed

individuallybecauseresearchshowsthatgeneratingideasingroupscanhaveanegativeimpacton

creativity(Badke-Schaub,2010).Secondly,theteammembersdiscussedeachideainpairsoftwo,

buildingonandstrengtheningtheinitialconceptbyconstructivelycontributingwithasentence

beginningwith“Yes,and…”.Inthatway,thecreativeprocesswasnothinderedbythepresenceof

aninterruptive“no”.Inthethirdphase,theconceptswerediscussedinthecriticalcircumstances

ofagroupdiscussion.

Figure4VisualpresentationofcreativeCollaboration(1-2-Group)thatbeginswithindividualbrainstormfollowedbypitchingitforanddevelopingitwithapartnerbeforepresentingitforthewholegroupandscreeningit.

Ourprocessfollowedthe“1-2-Group”timelinewhereeachmemberbrainstormedfacingawhite

wallandavoidingdistractions.Following,wediscussedinfacilitatedone-on-oneconversations


12

wherewetooknotesforourinitialideas.Afterfourtofiveroundsofdiscussions,wesatdownin

ourpredefinedprojectteamsanddefendedourideaswhiletheothersgroupmembersbrought

constructivefeedbacktothem.Ourconceptswereasfollows:

• Ananaloguecafe

• Alarmclockwithodours

• Afunwaytoeathealthy

• Motivationbooster

• Analternativeplayground

• Afaucetwithbuilt-insoapdispenser

• GastroTravels

• Habitableroomsfromrehabilitatedcargocontainers

• Start-upincubatorvillagemadefromcargocontainers

•

2.2.3 Threeinitialideas

Afterbrainstormingsessionswhichledtooverthirtyideas,wechosethethreeoptionswiththe

highestpotentialandtherichestinapplications.Whenchoosinganidea,weconsideredthe

criteriaitneededtofulfil.Firstofall,welookedathowachievabletheideawasandwhether

someoneelsehaddoneitbefore.Butmostimportantly,howwillingtheteammemberswereto

workwiththeidea,andwhetherwewouldusethesolutionourselves.Asareflection,wefound

the“WouldIuseitmyself?”techniqueafastandusefulvalidationtoolwhilescreeningthebulkof

ideas.

Afterthescreeningprocess,whichwillbedescribedbelow,wecameupwiththefollowingthree

ideas:“GastroTravel”,“TheAlternativePlayground”and“TheAnalogueCafé”.The“Gastro

Travel”ideawasatravelagencybasedonexperiencingthetraditionalfoodofthedestination

countryorcity,whilehavingthepleasureofmakingthefoodyourselfasatourist.Thegoalwasto

helpourcustomersexploredifferentculturesthroughexperiencingthelocalfood.

“TheAlternativePlayground”addressedadifferentmarket.Itwasasolutionforintroverted

childreninschoolsandkindergartensinneedofaplacetorelax.Itwouldcreateaquiet

atmosphereforthosewhowouldpreferforexamplereadingabookorplayinganinstrument


13

ratherthanrunningaroundorplayingfootballintheschoolyard.Thesolutionwouldconsistof

independentphysicalmoduleswhichcouldbeplacedintheperimeteroftheschool.

Finally,theconceptof“TheAnalogueCafé”consistedofcreatingalocationwherecustomers

couldexperiencepersonaldeepercommunication–acafétopromotesocialinteractionby

removingdistractionscausedbymoderntechnologysuchasthesmartphone.Thecustomers

wouldnothaveaccesstotheirmobilephonesasitwouldbeenclosedunderthetableforthe

durationofthecustomers’stay.

2.3 IdeaScreening2.3.1 TheSixThinkingHats

Inneedofamethodtostructureandscreenourideasfrom

theindividualbrainstormwedecidedtouseamethod

introducedtousduringthecreativityworkshops.Themethod

isdevelopedbyEdwardDeBonoandiscalledTheSixThinking

Hats(ThedeBonoGroup,2013).Itforceseverymemberofa

grouptolookatanideafromthesameperspectiveatthe

sametime.Themethodisusedbyputtingonthedifferent

hatsmarkedbysixdifferentcoloursandexploringtheidea

fromthedifferentanglesthatthecolourssymbolise(Figure5).

WeusedTheSixThinkingHatstonarrowdownthreeideasto

presentatSWN1.Weinitiallychosefiveideastousethismethodon,beforechoosingthefinal

threeideas.Theresultsofourdiscussionusingthemethodonthethreeideascanbeseenbelow.

ThecompletenotesfromusingthemethodcanbeseeninAppendix8.1SixThinkingHats.

2.3.2 GastroTravel

ThefirstideaweappliedTheSixThinkingHatstowastheonecalledGastroTravel.Puttingonthe

differenthatsmadeusawareofthefactthatthereisgrowinginterestinfoodandtravelling.

Furthermore,TheRedHatdisplayedthatthemajorityofthegroupfeltgoodaboutthisideaand

Figure5EdwardDeBono'sSixThinkingHats.


14

wereexcitedtoexplorethisfurther.TheuncertaintiesthatTheBlackHatbroughtforward,suchas

alargenetworkbeingneededortheideabeingaconcepteasytocopy,werechallengesthatthe

groupthoughtwouldbeinterestingtotackleinsteadofbeingabarriertothepotentialbusiness

case.ThefeedbackfromSWN1focusedonthethreatthatfreealternativessuchasTripAdvisor

andsimilarappswereposing.Inretrospect,thiscouldimplythatweshouldhavekeptTheGreen

Hatonlonger.

2.3.3 AnalogueCafé

ThesecondideathatweappliedthemethodtowastheAnalogueCafé.Inthiscase,TheBlackHat

againturnedouttobeuseful.ThefeedbackwegotforthisideaonSWN1mirroredourworries

andalsomadeusunderstandthatwemighthaveunderestimatedsomeoftheuncertaintiesthis

ideaheld.Althoughresearchshowsthatpeoplespendmoretimeusingtheirsmartphones

(Chaffey,2016),mostconsiderthemselvesdisciplinedenoughtonotlookingattheirphones

duringconversationswiththeirrelatives.AgainTheGreenHatcouldhavebeenhelpfultohave

spentmoretimewithaswedidnottakeintoaccountthefactthatcustomerscouldjustmakea

gameoutofnotusingtheirphonesinsteadofgoingtotheAnalogueCafé.

2.3.4 AlternativePlayground

The“AlternativePlayground”wasthethirdapplicationforTheSixThinkingHatsmethod.Bearing

thewhitefactshatrevealedthatthereisalargenumberofintrovertedchildreninschoolsand

thatdifferentpersonalitieshavedifferentwaysofacquiringknowledge.Also,theybuildenergyby

spendingtimealone,asopposedtheirextrovertedcounterpart.Theyellowhatofpositivity

towardstheideaindicatedthatwealllearnbyplayingandwehadnumerousthemesandbusiness

modelsthatcouldbeappliedfortheconcept.Wearingaredhat,theteam’sfeelingsconverged

towardsworkingwiththeidea,becausethethoughtofhelpingchildrenwasagoodenoughmoral

motivatorforustocarrytheideafurther.


15

2.4 SuperWiseNet12.4.1 PreparationandPitch

Thediscoverypitchisamust-haveinanentrepreneur’stoolkit.Itisafastandpowerful

communicationtoolconsistinginapresentationwiththegoaltoattractinterestinfurther

discussions.UsedattheDiscoverystage,thepitchprovidesavisionofwhatcouldberatherthan

detailsabouttheopportunity.Thetimeframeforthediscoverypitchshouldfollowthelengthofa

genericpitch,whichismosteffectivelydeliveredinunderoneminute.Itslengthvariesdepending

onthecircumstancesunderwhichthelisteneranddeliverermeet,yetitwilloftentakeonly30

secondsbeforethelistenerstopspayingattention.

DeliveringacompellingshortpitchwasimportantforussincethefirstSWN.

Theteamprepareda9-minutepresentationfollowedbya35-minutediscussionandfeedback

session.Weallowedoneminutefortheintroductionandatwo-minutepitchforeachofthethree

ideas.Thatwaytherewasenoughtimetointroducetheteamandsettheagendaaswellas

presenttheopportunities.Westructuredthethreepitchesinthesameway,bybriefingthepain,

thecureandtheconcept,followedbythetargetcustomersandaninitialmarketresearch.Each

ideaconcludedwiththebusinessvalueandmostsignificantuncertaintieswewouldfaceifwe

chosetopursuetheopportunity.

2.4.2 Feedback

FromSWN1wegotdirectfeedbackforourideas,consistinginexperiencedopinionsaboutthe

businessmodels,feedbackondeliveringthepitch,whethertheysawvalueinourconceptsorsaw

theneedbehindthem,andfinallyquestionstochallengetheteamifmovingforwardwiththe

concept.

For“GastroTravel”,SWN1wasaneye-opener.Thefeedbackconfirmedoursuspicionthatifthe

teamweretogothroughwiththisidea,wewouldfaceseverecompetitionasthetravelagency

marketisalreadysaturated.GastroTravel’scompetitiveadvantageconsistedinofferinga

completepackagefocusedonfoodandfoodrelatedexperienceswithinacertainregionofa

country.Thefeedbackwasthattheusercouldeasilycreatethesamevaluesimplybydoing

researchontheInternetbeforegoingonaholiday.ReflectingonthefeedbackfromSWN1ledto


16

furtherdiscussionsandafterlookingatthecompetitorswedecidednottopursuetheideaany

further.

Thefeedbackwegotfortheidea“TheAnalogueCafé”wasalsovaluableasoneofthesupervisors

fromSWNworkedonaprojectbasedonthesameconceptofremovingdistractions.Duringthe

validation,hefoundthatpeoplethinktheycanmanagethedistractionfromtheirsmartphones

withoutanyhelpandtherebywouldnotfindtheconceptappealing.WealsolearnedfromSWN1

thatdifferentiationisthekeytosuccesswhenoperatinginaredoceansuchasthecafémarket.

Prohibitingtheuseoftechnologyisnotabigenoughfactortobringcustomersinastheymost

likelywouldbeintimidatedbygivingawaytheirpersonalbelongings.Maybecustomerswould

onlyvisittheplaceoncetogainanexperienceandsomewouldneverenterthecafébecauseof

theanalogueconcept.

“AlternativePlayground”wasthemostpromisingideabasedonthefeedbackfromSWN1.After

pitching,thekeyissuewewereconfrontedwithwastheadoptionrate–whethertheschools

wouldbuyourmodulesornot.Thesecondissuewasfundingandcapital–whowouldpayforthe

initialinvestment,andthirdthebusinessmodel–howwouldthecompanygenerateincome.

Helpingintrovertedchildrenseemedanoblecauseandoursolutionwouldbecomparabletothe

RudolphSteinermodel.Thedownsideofthisconceptwasthatmostschoolsalreadyhadplentyof

roomsthatcouldservethesamepurposeasthealternativeplayground.Moreover,thechildren

wouldneedsupervisionwhichmeansadditionalcostsfortheschool,moneytheycannotaffordto

spend.Laterreflectiononthefeedbackfor“TheAlternativePlayground”taughtustolookatthe

problemandthesolutionsfromdifferentanglesandattempttoprovidevaluetoallstakeholders

wheneverpossible.Wealsousedthequestionswereceivedtoimprovefuturepitches.

AfterwecentralizedthefeedbackfromSWN1anddiscussedit,wemadethedecisiontocontinue

with“TheAlternativePlayground”asSWN1helpedtoreducesomeoftheuncertaintiesandgave

usseveralalternatives.

2.5 GenesisPadOpportunity

Asareflectionforourfutureentrepreneurialcareersandseenfromacorporateentrepreneurship

perspective,theGenesisPadOpportunityisagreattoolforentrepreneurship.Itcanalsobeof


17

greathelpforcompaniestryingtodevelopwithintheircorecompetencies,asitcansavetimeand

resourcesbyprovingquicklythatabusinessideaisnotnecessarilyanopportunitytobefollowed,

iftheconceptdoesnotfittothecompany’scorestrategy.

TheGenesisPadOpportunitydescriptionisatoolusedtotranslateanideaintoanopportunity.

Takenfrom“Pivot–Howtopentrepreneursadaptandchangecoursetofindultimatesuccess”,it

enablestheentrepreneurtotaketherawideaandshapesufficientdetailstodescribeitasan

opportunity,withoutspendingalargeamountoftimeandeffort.TheGenesispadopportunity

description(Figure6)consistsinfivehelpingprinciples:

1. ProblemStatement

Whatistheproblemthatneedstobesolved?

2. ConceptualSolution

Whataresomepossiblesolutionstotheproblem?

3. TargetMarket

Whogetsthevaluefromsolvingthisproblem?

4. ValueProposition

Whatisthevalueofsolvingtheproblem?

5. Whyus?

Whyisthisourproblemtosolve?

OurteamsuccessfullyusedthistoolintheDiscovery

processtoidentifywhetheranideashouldadvancetotheIncubationphase,namely“The

alternativeplayground”.Wewouldcreateaphysicalmoduleforeducationalpurposewhichwould

besenttoschoolsandkindergartens.Wehadaclearanswerforthefirstquestioninthetool:

“ProblemStatement”:introvertedchildrenbuildenergywhentheyarealoneandwewouldlike

themtotakeadvantageofthatbytakingtimeoffindividually,usingoursolution.Forthe

“ConceptionalSolution”,themoduleswereapotentialanswer.Tryingtofindananswertothelast

threequestions,ontheotherhand,wasmoreofachallenge.The“Targetmarket”wasestablished

asintrovertedchildren,butgiventhenewestchangesinDanishlaws,firstlytheteacherswould

nothaveenoughtimetospendwitheachchildandsecondly,becauseofbudgetcutswewould

Figure6GenesisPadOpportunity(redesignedfromPivot(Arteaga&Hyland,2014)).


18

haveproblemsidentifyingthebuyerforourproduct.Atthesametime,maintenancecostswere

difficultandunsustainabletocover.Ofcourse,thebigquestionfollowed:“Whowillpayforthe

solution?”.Again,budgetcutsandthelawwereagainstourbusinessmodel.Thevalueproposition

fortheprojectwashonourableindevelopingintrovertchildren,butnotmeasurableandtherefore

difficultiesweretobeencounteredinobtainingfundingandcustomers.Thelastquestion,namely

the“Whyus?”wasthedecisivefactorwhichhaltedtheprojectanddirectedustoward

brainstormingfornewideas.Wedividedthe“WhyUs?”answerintotwosections,thefirstbeing

ourdesiretomakeachangeinthecurrentsystemandimproveit.Itprovedthatthecurrentway

ofhandlingintrovertedchildrenisacceptedanddifficulttoalter.Peoplewouldberesistantto

changemakingitmorechallengingtofindcustomers.Thesecondsectionwasfromthe“WhyUs?”

wasbasedonourpersonalnetworksandcompetencies.Noneofthefourteammembershad

priorexperiencewithchildrenandbehaviours,norhadmanyacquaintancesorfriendswith

childrenthatage.Moreover,forourbusinesstobesuccessfulinthisfield,theteamneededadvice

frompsychologists,teachersandbehaviouralexperts.Inotherwords,evenifthebusinessidea

wasanopportunity,itwouldhavenotbeenanopportunityforus,astheteamwouldnotbe

drivenbyourpassions,butbythecreationofabusinesswhichwouldprovideahighincome.A

newideawasneededduetothelackofpersonalcommitmentandsocialcapital.

2.6 Reflection

ThefeedbackfromSWN1taughtusthatlookingatalternativewaystosolveaproblemisagreat

waytogeneratebettersolutionsandfindmorecompetitors.Weusedthisinformationwhen

movingforwardinthesecondphaseofDiscoveryaswekeptlookingforalternativesandinthe

endendedupwithourfinalproductthatwasadirectresultoflookingatalternatives.Another

importantquestionthatwekeptinmindwhenworkinginDiscoveryIIwasthesellingaspectofthe

business.ThiscameupduringtheGenesisOpportunityPadandwasadecisivepartwhendeciding

toabandonourinitialideas.Whowouldbuyourproduct,whywouldtheybuyitandwedoto

makeouruniquesellingpointmoreappealingthanthatofthecompetition?


19

3 DiscoveryII 3.1 Intro

OurprojectdidnotfollowalinearpatternaswewentthroughtwodifferentDiscoveryphases.At

first,weweredisappointedbythat,butaslearningoccurredwestartedtoappreciategoing

throughtheDiscoverytwice.Weunderstoodthatentrepreneurshipisnotalinearprocess,but

ratheraniterativeonewhereideasmustbeadaptedbasedoncircumstances,newdiscoveriesand

veryimportant,theteamworkingontheidea.FromDiscoveryItoDiscoveryIIwedidnotjust

pivot,butrestartedfromideageneration,asdescribedinthefollowingchapters.Wenoticedthat

goingthroughDiscoverythesecondtimewasfasterandmoreproductivethanthefirsttime,and

thattheideaweagreeduponhadmoresubstanceandwasmoreachievable.

3.1.1 Achangeofcourse

Aspreviouslyreferredtointhe“GenesisPadOpportunityDescriptionforDiscovery”section,a

changeofcoursewasneededtomaximizetheoutputoftheteamandmakeuseofour

competencies.Oneoftheimportantdriversforentrepreneurshipispassionfortheidea.

Unfortunately,ourexcitementfortheideaaboutanalternativeplaygrounddroppedaswesawno

potentialcustomersforit.Additionally,therecentschoollegislationmadetheconceptless

sustainable.Sinceforittoworkitwouldneedteachersavailableduringthebreaks.Iftheteam

haddecidedtocarryonwiththe“AlternativePlayground”,thentheabove-mentioneddriver

wouldbemissingfromourprojectandresultswouldhavebeenslowerandoflowerquality.

3.2 Ideageneration

Weagreedtoreturntotheideagenerationphase,gowideandcomeupwithideasthatwouldbe

interestingforustoworkwith.Atthispoint,wehadknowledgeabouttheprocessofidea

generationaswewentthroughitalready.Wealsousedseveralnewtoolstoimproveboththe

numberandqualityofthenewideas.Thepost-it,brainstorming,bodystorming,story-tellingor

anyothertechniquewehadexperiencewithprovedtobehelpful.


20

3.2.1 Brainstorm

Withfreshknowledgefromthe“CreativityWorkshops”wherewelearnedaboutindividual

brainstormingandreversethinkingaboutproblemsinourdailylivestofindproblems,eachteam

memberwasencouragedtothinkaboutideasathomeandpresentthemtheseconddayforour

meeting.Weconsideredthisagoodwayofapplyingthespecifictheory,asweuseditmultiple

times,webecamefamiliarwithitintheDiscoveryphaseandthereforemadeitmoreprobableto

useinfutureproblemsolving.

Afterpresentingourideasgeneratedathome,itresultedinnumerousideas,whichwentthrough

ascreeningprocess.Again,thethreebestideaswereselected.Aftertheselection,wedecidedto

workontheonethatmademostsenseforusasagroup,fromtheperspectiveofteam

competencies,excitementaboutworkingwiththeideaanditscompatibilitywiththestudies.The

threeideaswere:

• Snackbarsmadeofbeans-ahealthysnack,

• Offeringmeetingpossibilitiesforpeoplewheretheycouldgather,socializeand

potentiallyhearinterestingtalksfromothers,

• Corporatesubscriptionbox–amonthlysnackboxcompanieswouldbuyfortheir

employeestoboosttheirmorale.

Thebeansnackbarseemedtobethemostappealingideabecauseoftheinitiativestanding

behindit:ahealthysnack.Itwasaproductourteamhadthemostconfidenceinand,ifdoneright,

wewouldhavethechancetobemarketleadersandcreateanewreputationforbeans.Weused

theknowledgegainedfromthepreviousthreeprojectideasbyansweringthequestionsinthe

“GenesisPadOpportunity”tool.Therewasabigdifferenceinourattitudetowardsthebeansnack

baridea:weallshowedsomeinterestinworkingwiththeideaandfurtherlycontrastingwiththe

“AlternativePlayground”concept,wehadateammemberwitharelevantbackgroundinfood

science.FromthefirstDiscoveryphase,weacknowledgedhowimportantlookingatalternatives

was.Thisisthereasonwhywemadeamind-mapofhowwecouldpursuetheideaofmakinga

healthysnackbasedonbeans.Theprocesswillbepresentedinthesectionbelow.


21

3.2.2 Mind-mappingandmarketresearch

Afterthedecisiontodigdeeperintothetopicofabeansnackbarwestarteddrawingamind-map

ofwhichothersnackswecoulddevelopfrombeans.Anyofthesnackswouldkeeptothecoreof

ourconcept:ahealthysnackmadeofbeans.Welistedproductssuchaschips,pasta,friedbean

snacks,cakeusingbeanpasteinsteadofflour,butshortlyafterwehitastandstill.Adecisionwas

madetoheadouttothenearestlocalsupermarketandanalysewhatwasalreadyavailableonthe

currentmarket.Inthatway,wegotinspirationaboutwhichproductwecouldcreateandsellwith

lowornocompetition.Wenoticedtherewerenohealthyoratleastpartlyhealthyalternativesin

theicecreamsegmentofthesupermarketandthatwaswhenwegeneratedtheideaof“beanice

cream”.AquickGooglesearchonbeanicecreamshowedthatnocompetitorsproducingbeanice

creamweretobefoundinEurope,whereas“redbeanicecream”wasacommonproductinAsia.

Furthermore,severalhome-maderecipesforbeanicecreamappearedduringourGoogle

searcheswhichindicatedaneedfortheproductonthemarket.Afterreturningtothegroup

room,wecompletedthemind-mapwiththenewlyobtainedinformationfromthesupermarket

tripandagreedthatourteamwouldcontinuewiththeconceptofbeanicecream.

3.3 Conceptdevelopment-fromideatoURBEAN 3.3.1 Conceptualization

Inordertoshape,exploreandconceptualizeourideaaboutmakingplantbasedicecreamoutof

beans,wefacedseveralissuesandobstaclesthatledtomanythoughtsanddiscussionsinthe

teambeforeweendedupwithaclearconcept.Thesewillbediscussedbelow.

Firstofall,wespentalotoftimetryingtofigureoutwhatourproductwasinthesensethatwe

didnotknowwhichcategorytoputitunder.Inthebeginning,wejustknewthatwewantedto

makeaplantbasedandhealthyproductsimilartoicecreamwhenitcomestoserving

temperatureandtexture.Thewholeteamsawpotentialintheideaofmakingandsellinga

healthysnackasseveralfoodtrendreportsestimatethatthesnackmarketwillincrease

significantlyinthefuture(Baum+WhitemanLLC,2015.;Google,2016;MINTEL,2016).These

reportsshowthatmajorfoodtrendswillbesnackswithinthefollowingclassifications:plant-


22

based,highprotein,freeofadditivesandnaturalorigin,organiccertifiedandcateringtopeople

withspecialdietssuchasvegans,diabetics,lactoseintolerants,etc.

Wethenbegantoexplorethepossibilitiesofwhatthisunknownbeanbasedsnack/dessertcould

be.Wediscussedseveralapplicationsandmarketoptions.Themoststraightforwardoptionwasto

callourproduct“beanicecream”andbrandingitashealthieralternativetoregularicecream

basedondairyproductsandsugar.Atleast,thiswaswheretheideaoriginatedfrom.From

discussionsinternallyinthegroupandexternallywithpeopleatSWN’sanddifferentstart-upand

businessevents,wefoundthatpeopleusuallyhavecertainexpectationswhentheyheartheword

icecream.Icecreamistypicallyassociatedwithsomethingsweet,creamy,smoothandsoft.

Especially,thetextureisemphasizedandassoonaswemadeourfirstprototype,wefaceda

textureproblem.Unfortunately,thebeanicecreambecamegrainyandnotnearlyassmoothas

wewantedittobe.Thisfactormadeusabitworriedaboutcallingiticecream.Fromhere,we

movedontocallingitafrozendessert.

Thenextissuewasthentoexploretheapplicationsandpossibilitieswehadwiththisfrozen

dessert(Figure7).Wethoughtoftheprospectofcreatinganewmarketbymakingaproductthat

didnotfitintothecurrentcategoriesinthefoodindustry.Butwehaddifficultiescomingupwith

anewproductcategory.Lastly,wetriedtotwisttheangleabitandlookatourproductasnotonly

Figure7Brainstormingandmind-mappingofpossibleapplicationsandpotentialcompanynames.


23

adessertorsnackbutasapotentialmealreplacer.Wecametothinkofthatbasedonthe

childhooddream:“whowouldnoteaticecreamforbreakfastifitwashealthyandcouldprovide

youwiththenutrientsyouneed”.Theconceptwasabreakfast/dessertbarwhereyoucouldeata

breakfastsimilartoicecreambutmuchhealthierandfilling.Theenvironmentofourbarshouldbe

modernandtrendy,butwithanopenandinvitingatmosphere.Theinteriorshouldbeamix

betweenthecoolmetropolitanandindustrialvibeofNewYorkandasleekNordicdesignwith

materialssuchassteel,wood,ceramicsandleather.

3.3.2 ThenameURBEAN

Asouraimwastocreateacoolandurbanconcept.Ourbrandidentity,nameandlogohadto

reflectthat.Findingtherightnamewasalong-termprocessincludingbrainstorming,discussions

backandforth,leavingitforawhiletoreturntoitagain.Webrainstormedonseveralnames

whichcanbeseeninFigure7.Wewereveryconsiderateaboutthenameasweknewthatagood

nameiscrucialforthecompanytypeweweretryingtocreate-acompanywherethemajorpart

ofourofferingandkeysellingpointiscreatingandmaintainingtherightbrandidentityvia

marketingandstorytelling.

Westruggledtodecidewhetherweshouldembracethefactthatwearesellingsomethingmade

ofbeans,orifweshouldputlessemphasisonit.Beansareperceivedbymanyasfoodforpoor

peopleanditisrarelyassociatedwithsomethingsexyandattractive.Wediscussedwhetherit

wouldcreateamentalbarrierstrongenoughtodeterpotentialcustomers.Ontheotherhand,it

alsohadthepossibilityofattractingcustomersbasedonthenoveltyfactor–itisnewtomakeice

creamoutofbeans.

WewerealsomorethanonceadvisedtolookattheDanishcompanyGRØD.GRØDisacompany

makingandsellingporridgeoutoftheirownstores.GRØDhassince2011openedfivestoresin

Denmark,fouroftheminCopenhagen.Additionally,thecompanyaddedanothersaleschannela

fewyearsagowhenitmadeanagreementwithDanish7elevenconveniencestoresaboutselling

instantporridge.GRØDdidsomethingverysimilartowhatwewantedtodo.Upgradingand

addingvaluetosomethingthatisoftenperceivedasverybasicandmaybeevenboring.Lasse

SkjønningAndersen,themanbehindGRØD,obviouslydecidedtobeveryhonestandtransparent


24

aboutwhatheisselling.Thisreflectsonthenameofthecompanyasitisexactlythenameofthe

productitisoffering.(Dahlager,2016)

Weplayedaroundwithmanypotentialbrandnameswithandwithoutthewordbeaninthem.At

onepointwehadaworkingtitleofBeanDelight,butthedayoftheSWN2,wecameupwiththe

nameURBEANwhichisamixofurbanandbean.Itwasshortenoughtobeminimalisticbutstill

expressiveenoughtotellastory.

3.3.3 BusinessModelOptions

Businessmodelinnovationisadriverforsuccess(Keeley,2013)andtherightbusinessmodelcan

bethedifferencebetweenaprofitablebusinessandafailedventure.Withthisinmind,we

dedicatedalotoftimetoexploreoptionsforourbusinessmodel(Figure9).Weusedthe55

businessmodelsproposedinthebookTheBusinessModelNavigatorinordertomakesurewedid

notoverlookanyopportunities(Gassmann,2015).

FirstweusedcardsthatrepresentedtheBusinessmodelstoselectallthosethatfitourvalue

proposition(Figure8).Weevenchosecardsthatonlymarginallyfitinordertokeepourselves

opentobusinessmodelinnovation.

Figure8CardswithBusinessModelsthatcouldfitourconcept.


25

Eachteammemberdecidedonthebusinessmodelsthattheyfoundwouldmakesenseforour

productandthenwediscussedthemallasateam.Itwasimportantforustokeepinmindwhat

ourcorebusinesswasandhowthebusinessmodelwouldfitinwiththat.

Someofthebusinessmodelswelookedatwereinterestingtoexplore,butdidnotfitwiththe

contemporary,cool,urbanspacewewantedtocreate.Thosewere“Barter”,“Flatrate”and“Pay

whatyouwant”,“Shopinshop”,“Self-service”and“Customerloyalty”.Allofthemcouldbe

adaptedtoourspecificbusinessbutdidnotfittheideaofthehigh-endurbanandcoolbrandwe

wantedtocreate.Although,weplantokeepthe“ShopinShop”and“CustomerLoyalty”business

modelsinmindforthefuture,afterwehaveexpandedbeyondtheinitiallocation.

Themostinterestingbusinessmodelstousweredirectselling,crosssellingandfranchisingasthey

focusonansweringhowandwhatwewouldsell.Forthemajorityoftheteamitwasclearthat

directsellingwasthebestsolutionforourconcept.Becauseofthenoveltyofourproductand

concept,webelievedthatcreatingabuyingexperienceandthebestpossiblerelationshipwiththe

customerwouldbeessentialforsuccess.Although,wediddiscusswhetherweshouldgowith

retailordirectsalesalot.Wetriedtocomeupwithprosandconsforeachofthetwobusiness

models–theprosandconscanbeseeninFigure10.

Figure9BusinessModelcreation(Gassmann,2015).


26

Aftergoingthroughtheprosandcons,wedecidedtogowithdirectsellingasastart.Asour

productisverynichewefounditwouldbetoobigofachallengetopenetratetheretailmarket

withoutalotofmoneyinvestedinmarketing.Thiswasamajorreasonthatwedecidedtogowith

directsalesasourinitialbusinessmodelwhilekeepingfranchisinginmindfromopeningthefirst

studio.However,weseegreatopportunitiesintheretailmarketinthefutureaftervalidatingour

conceptandbusinessandafterhavingcreatedastrongbrandidentitybyestablishingURBEANas

thelocalandnationalgotobrandforhealthysnacksanddessert.

TheRobinHoodmodel,AikidomodelandExperiencesellingwerealsodiscussed.Weknowthat

partofourcustomerbasewouldbeattractedtotheideaofhelpingotherswiththeirfoodchoices

throughtheRobinhoodmodel.Thedownsideofthiswouldbetheincreaseinpricefortheend

customer.Sinceourproductisalreadymoreexpensivethanconventionaldessertswethought

thatitwouldnotbeviablefromabusinessperspective.TheAikidomodelandExperiencesellingis

somethingthatweimplementedinourfinalconceptandthatwewillbeexploringmore

throughoutIncubationandAcceleration.

3.3.4 BlueOceanStrategyCanvas

ThemainpurposeoftheBlueOceanStrategyCanvaswastogiveanoverviewonhowourbrand

andproductstackedupagainstourcompetition.Itclearlydisplaysifwehaveanadvantageover

whatisalreadyonthemarket.Atthetime,wemadethiscanvas,weconsideredbeanicecreamto

beourmainofferingsothegraphfocusesonthat.

Figure10Comparisonwithprosandconsofretailanddirectselling.


27

Initiallywelookedatallourcompetitorsincludingregularicecream(bothlowendandhighend)

aswellasfrozenyoghurt.Wethendecidedwewouldgetthebestoverviewifwelooked

specificallyatourdirectcompetitors,icecreamandcolddessertsthatingeneralareperceivedby

thepublicashealthy.Thegraph(Figure11)wasmadebasedontheassumptionthatbeanice

creamwouldhavelowmarketacceptancebecauseofthemainingredientbeingbeans.Whenit

comestomarketacceptancewehavesincediscoveredthatcustomersfromourdemographicare

moreopentowardstheideaofbeanicecreamthanweinitiallythought.Thismeanswedonot

holdasignificantdisadvantagecomparedtoourcompetitors.

Lookingatthestrategycanvas(Figure11),wefoundthatwehadanadvantagebecauseour

producthasalowcaloriecontentandnoadditives.Also,thefactthatitisanewconceptmeansit

willhaveanoveltyfactorthatwouldattractagoodnumberofcustomers.Anotheradvantagethat

stoodouttouswasthesatietyfeelingthatouricecreamoffered.Itwastheonlyproductwitha

significantfibrecontent.Thatmeantthatwecouldpromotethatideaandexpanditfurther.

Figure11BlueOceanStrategyCanvas-URBEANcomparedtopotentialcompetitors;veganicecream,lowfaticecreamandsmoothie/juicebars.URBEANistheredgraph.


28

Especially,thesatietyfeelingaftereatingourbeanicecreampresenteditselfasaclearadvantage

comparedtoourcompetitors.Thissetusonapaththatwelaterdecidedtopivotfrom.We

discussedthepossibilitiesofabreakfastbarconcept,whereicecreamcouldrepresentahealthy

alternativetoaregularbreakfast.Fromthefeedback,wereceivedduringSWN2andconversations

withpotentialcustomers,wesoonunderstoodthatthisconcept,asappealingasitwasintheory

basedonthisstrategycanvas,didnotmeetaneedpresentinDenmark.

TheBlueOceanStrategyCanvasgaveusafewsellingpointsthatweneededtoexplorefurther.It

alsohelpedusseewhichimportantassumptionsneededtobesolved(themarketacceptanceand

thetextureofthefinalproduct).Italsomadetheadvantagesthatwehadoverourcompetition

veryvisible.Althoughwearenolongerfocusingonsatietyasawayofpromotingourproduct,the

lowcaloriecontentandnoadditivescombinedwiththehighsatietyofourproductgaveusthe

conceptthatwedecidedtofocusonwhendefiningourbrandidentity-healthybeanbased

desserts.

3.4 ReflectionsaboutDiscoveryII

InoursecondDiscoveryphase,weemphasizedfindinganewsustainableideaafterwerealized

thatwedidnotwanttocontinuewithourinitialones.Itwasimportantforustobringthe

feedbackandknowledgewehadgainedduringourfirstDiscoveryphasetothesecondphasein

ordernottomakethesamemistakes.Additionally,theteamkneweachotherbetteratthetime

ofthesecondbrainstorm.Thishelpedusmovefasterthroughtheideagenerationphaseaswe

weremorehonestandopentowardseachotherwhenscreeningandevaluatingideasafter

brainstorming.Afterscreeningourideasanddecidinguponanewidea,thenextstepwasto

explorethepossibleapplicationsoftheideaofmakingandsellingfrozenbeandessert.Aswehave

beenfollowingtheD-I-Amodel,thisstepmovedusfromDiscoverytoIncubation.


29

4 Incubation4.1 Intro

IncubationisthesecondphaseofourprojectfollowingtheD-I-Amodel.InDiscoverywe

generatednumerousideasandconceptualized“whatcouldbe”.TheIncubationphaseincludesall

ourexperimentationintheformofprototyping,usertesting,furthermarketresearch,theproofof

concept(POC)andproofofbusiness(POB)aswellasactivelearningfrompotentialcustomers.

Basedonfeedbackwemadeslightchangesorpivots,whilekeepingtothecoreofouridea:

dessertmadeofbeans.

Incubationisthephaseforreducinguncertainties,whichwedonotyetcallrisks.Theoutcomeis

notknowninthecaseofuncertainties,asopposedtorisks.Additionally,wehadnofinancial

agreementsyetwhichwouldrequireimmediateresultsorincome.Thatisinouropinionthe

essenceofcalledIncubation.Wedocumentedtheprototypingto“maximizelearningpermoney

spent”andwereabletomakechangesbasedonuserfeedback.Theuserswereinvolvedactively

bytastingprototypesandfillingoutquestionnaires,actingonthebeforementionedmantra.A

placebotestwascarriedouttomaptheimpactofthe“beanfactor”andwhetheruserswouldbe

bothwillingandencouragedtobuyaproductmadeofbeans.Strategieswerealsodevelopedin

thisphase,formarketandgrowth.Financialexperimentationswiththe“ExcelBudgetTest”ledus

tofine-tunethebusinessmodelandstrategyandunderstandthecorevaluepropositionofour

business.AstheconceptforthissecondphaseintheD-I-Amodelproposes,wemadenumerous

adjustmentstoourbusinessconceptandclarifieditbetter.Weshapedtheconceptvia

experimentationfromdifferentpointsofview,suchasourmarketnicheandmarketingbasedon

values,keypartners,competitorsondifferentlevelsandourpositioninthemarket,product

range,financing,planningandstrategiesandothers.

4.2 ProofofConcept

DuringIncubation,ourmaingoalwastoreduceuncertaintywhenitcametoourproduct.We

wantedtounderstandwhetheritwasfeasibletocreatebeanicecream.Wealsowantedtofind

outwhethercustomerswereswayedawayiftheyknewthatthefrozendesserttheywereeating


30

wasmadeofbeansandwhetherotherdessertsthatwerehealthywereappealingtocustomers.In

thissectionweexplorethoseuncertaintiesandfollowthecreationoftheproofofconcept.

4.2.1 Prototyping

Quicklyafterdecidinguponadirectionfortheproduct,wethoughtaboutprototypingandmaking

ourideatangible.Beforeprototyping,wedecidedsomecriteriaofsuccessinordertovalidateor

invalidatetheoutcome.Firstofall,theflavourofbeansshouldbehiddenintheproduct.Itshould

bedisguisedbytheaddedflavourssuchaslemonandchocolate,etc.Secondly,thetextureofthe

productafterbeingfrozenshouldbesomewhatsimilartoicecream;soft,smoothandsilky.

Prototype1–beanicecream

Fromthebeginning,wehadanoverallideaabouthowtomakeicecreambasedonbeans.Based

onourknowledgeaboutfoodandexperiencewithcookingwecameupwithapossiblerecipeand

aprotocol.Wetriedtobeginaseasyaspossiblebyusingsimpleingredientsandmethods.We

wantedtopurchaseandobtainasfewnewingredientsandtoolsaspossibleinordertofulfilour

criteria.Asanexample,weknewthatwewantedtosweetenthebeanicecreamwithanatural

sweetener,sothereasonwhywechosehoneywasthefactthatoneofusalreadyhadplentyofit

athome.

Regardingthemainingredient,thebeans,wetestedtwo

differentkinds:Azukibeansandbutterbeans.InAsia,theymake

icecreamfromAzukibeansandthisisthereasonwhywechose

totestthemaswell.Wealsochosetotestbutterbeansdueto

thefacttheyarewhiteandthereforewouldnotaddanycolour

thefinishedproduct.Ontopofthat,theyaresupposedtobe

oneofthemostflavourneutralandcreamiesttypeofbeans

whenblended.Wealsotriedtoseeifremovingtheskinfrom

thebeansafterboilingwouldmakeanydifference.Materials,

ingredientscanbeseeninFigure12,whiletheprotocolcanbe

seeninFigure13.

Materials A big pot VitaMix blender Whisk Spatula Bowl Plastic containers A marker Spoons Ingredients Beans (we tested both butter beans and Azuki beans) Coconut milk Honey Salt Flavours of choice (we tested lemon, coffee, cocoa and chocolate, vanilla, raspberry)

Figure12Materialsandingredientsneededwhenprototypingthefrozenbeandessert.


31

Theteamtastedallthesamplesduringtheprocesstofindtherightamountofthedifferent

ingredientsintherecipe.Naturally,wealsotastedallthesamplesintheend.Wefoundthatour

protocolseemedtoworkoutaswewanteditto.Itwaspossibleforustodisguisethebeanflavour

byaddingotherflavoursandasweetener.ThebutterbeansgaveabetterresultthantheAzuki

beansastheiroriginalflavourwaseasiertohide.Additionally,thebutterbeanshadabenefitsince

theydidnotcauseanycolourchangeintheproduct.Wealsofoundthatitdidnotseemtomatter

whethertheskinwasremovedfromthebeansornot.Basedonthis,wedecidedtogowithbutter

beansasourchoiceofbean.

Regardingthetexture,wefoundittobenotassmoothandsilkyaswewantedittobe.Wecould

notblendthebeansfinelyenoughwiththeblenderweusedwhichmeantthatthetexture

becamegrainyandflaky.Sincewealreadyusedoneofthebestblendersavailableonthemarket

forpersonalhouseholdsandprofessionalkitchens,thisledustolooktotowardsnewwaysof

smoothingourbeans.

Afterevaluatinginternallyintheteam,wechosethebestsampleswegotfromprototypingand

hadpeopleconnectedtoourMaster’sdegreetastingthem.Mostpeoplecommentednegatively

onthegrainytexturebutafewdidnotthinkofitasaproblem.Ingeneral,thosewhotastedit

Figure13Protocolofourprocedureformakingaprototypeofthefrozenbeandessert.


32

couldnottastethebeanflavour.

Prototype2–beanicecream

ThepurposeofthesecondprototypewasservingitasasampleforSWN2.Thistime,weonly

madeaprototypewithbutterbeansasthisseemedthemostpromisingtypeofbeantouse.

Furthermore,wedidnottheremovetheskinfromthebeansaswedidnotseeanydifferencein

texturefromthetwobatcheswithandwithoutremovingtheskin.Unfortunately,wedidnotfind

anewwayofblendingthebeansbetweenthetworoundsofprototyping.Thismeantthatwehad

tofollowthesameprotocolasweusedforthefirstround.However,wedidnotdisguisethebean

flavoursuccessfullythesecondtimearound.Wewereawareofthefactthatsomethinglikethis

canhappenwhenyouexperiment.Ingeneral,thosewhotasteditagreeditshouldbesweeterand

lessgrainyifitshouldbecomparabletoicecream.

Prototype3–beanbrownieandicecream

Asearliermentioned,inbetweenprototype2andprototype3wepivotedslightlyanddecidednot

justtosellaproductbuttosellthewholeexperienceofeatinghealthydessertandsnacksinour

URBEANstudios.Thismeantthatwhenwemadeprototype3,itdidnotonlyincludemaking

anotherroundofthefrozenbeandessertbutalsomakinganewproduct,beanbrownie,and

experimentingwithdifferentstylings,atmospheresandmoods.Themoodsettingandatmosphere

weredocumentedbyphotosandsmallvideosequences.

Thenewproductwemadewasabeanbrowniewithbutterbeansasthemainingredientandwith

noaddedflourorrefinedsugar.WeusedarecipefromtheDanishfoodbloggerDitteIngemann

(Ingemann,2015)asweonlyhadtimeforonetrial.TherecipecanbeseeninAppendix8.2Bean

BrownieRecipe.

Theideawastomakeahealthieralternativetoregularcakethatcouldfitintoourconceptof

servinghealthydessertsandsnackwithbeansasabase.Besidesthebeanbrownie,wemade

anotherroundofbeanicecreamwhichfailed.Thecoconutmilkclottedandformedlumps.This

wasmostlikelyduetothefactthatweskippedseparatingthefatphaseandthewaterphaseof

thecoconutmilkandjustpouredthewholecanintothebeansbeforeblendingthemass.Itwas

alsothefirsttimeweprototypedfreezingthebeanicecreamwithacommercialicecreammaker.

Theratherlowqualitymachinemayhavecontributedtothepoorfreezingandunpleasanttexture


33

ofthisroundofbeanicecream.Basedonthis,wedecidedonlytotestandvalidatethebean

brownie–moreaboutthetestcanbereadintheparagraphProductTestingbelow.

4.2.2 SuperWiseNet2

PreparationandPitch

AfterchangingourcourseandhavingcreatedURBEANfrozenbeandessert,theteamhadtoapply

thelessonslearnedfromSWN1.WeappliedtheprinciplesofthefeedbackwereceivedfromSWN1

whenpreparingtopitchournewbusinessideaonSWN2.Asanaddition,threeofthefourteam

memberstookparttoaneventheldinthecitycentrerevolvingaroundpitchingtechniquescalled

“ThePitchingGame”,atAalborgStartupCafe.Thereweobtainedfurtherinformationtowards

howtostructureapitchandatthesametime,getouraudienceinvolved.Itwasagoodoccasion

topractice.

Figure14Ingredientsforbeanbrownie(NB!Orangezestismissinginthepicture).


34

Asmentionedabove,weprototypedwithninedifferentvariationsandtastesforthefrozen

dessertandchosethebestthreetobeservedattheSWN2:vanilla,chocolateandcoffee.They

werethesmoothestandmosttastyofourprototypesand,asseeninFigure15below,weinvited

ourcolleaguestotasteourprototypebeforeSWN2forextravalidation.

ByadvancingtotheIncubationstage,theteamhadtoshowmoredataandlessuncertaintiesthan

thepreviouspitches,forthethreedifferentideas.Withthatinmindwepreparedapitch

presentingastoryandinvolvingtheaudiencebyofferingtastesamples.

Thepitchwaswrittendownbeforethepresentationandcanbeseenhere:

“Picturethis:it'searlymorning,youleftforworkbutyouneedaquickmealbecauseyoudidn'tget

toeatsinceyouwokeup.Youwalkandsuddenlyseeacoolurbanplacesellingthisfrozendessert

whichhasinfactthenutrientsofamealandittasteslikeyournewfavouritedessert.Youbuyone,

feelenergizedandatpeacewithyourselfforeatingright.Youfoundthemissinglinkbetweentasty

andhealthy.Byeatingbeans.WewouldliketointroduceURBEAN,thesolutionforanutritiousand

tastymealwhichyoucanenjoyinamodernandcosyenvironmentinthebusyurbanlife.Now,

insteadoftalking,doesanyonewanttotaste?”

Figure15FellowstudentsfromMScEntrepreneurialEngineeringtastingourfirstprototypeandgivingfeedback.


35

Feedback

Welearnedfromtheaudiencethatthepitchfailedtoconveyaclearmessagewithourconcept.

Theynoteddifferentunclaritiesthatledthemtoaskusquestionslike:didwesellbreakfastonlyor

simplyadessert?Wastheproductretailedorwouldwesellitourselves?Werewegoingtosell

ourproductas“icecream”oracompletelydifferent“frozendessert”?Atthatpointwewerestill

testingthemarketandconsideringpotentialcustomers,sotheteamwasunsureaboutitaswell.

Ouruncertaintiesshinedthroughduringthepresentations.Thementionedquestionswere

answeredbythethirdSuperWiseNetwork.

TomaximizeresultsfromtheSWN2,weinvitedtheaudiencetoansweraGooglequestionnaire

abouttheirexperienceregardingthefrozendesserttheyhadjusttasted,whichwasatthetime

called“beanicecream”.Theywerenotsatisfiedwiththegraininessofourproductandthaturged

ustowardsfindingawaytomaketheicecreamsmoother.Wetouchedonthepossibilityoftaking

advantageofthegrainytexturebyaddingothercoarseingredientssuchaschoppednutsor

chocolatechips.However,thefocusandpreferredsolutionremainedthesmoothtexture.

Wealsogotfeedbackaboutthetasteandlearnedthatwhenfrozen,thecreamwilllosesomeof

itssweetness.Toaddressthat,thetastehadtobeexaggeratedbeforefreezingthedessert,for

exampleweshouldmakeitextrasweetandaddmoreofthespecificflavour.Thepossibilityofour

productbeingsavouryinsteadofsweetwasalsosomethingwediscussedduringthefeedback

session.However,wedecidedtogoforthesweetversion.

Oursupervisorswantedtodiscussmoreaboutthevalidationandofferedvaluablefeedback.They

suggestedcontactingchefsandpeoplewithculinarybackgroundsandwereinterestedtohear

aboutinitiativestodoplaceboandblindtesting.Welearnedthatbycarryingoutthesedifferent

tests,wecouldvalidateifpeopleareinfluencedbythefactthatthedessertisbasedonbeans.It

wouldalsohelpusdecidewhethertousebeansasamarketingtoolfortheproductornotbe

explicitaboutit.

ReflectingonSWN2,itwasausefulopportunitytofurthervalidatetheproduct,testdifferent

iterationsofthepitchandgaugetheprogresswemadesinceSWN1.Weincreasedourknowledge

ofthemarket,weconsideredpossibilitiesandprototypedthefirstversionsofthedessertand


36

usedthefeedbacktolocateourweakpointsandimprove.Also,wenotedinourreflectionsthat

SWN2helpedusinvalidatethebreakfastnicheconceptandembracethedessertmarket.

SWOTOneofthefirsttoolstheteamdecidedtouseassoonaswereachedtheIncubationphasewasthe

SWOTAnalysis.Asthegenericdefinitionstates,SWOTisastructuredplanningmethodthat

evaluatesfourelementsofaprojectorbusinessventure:strengths,weaknesses,opportunities

andthreats.Itcanalsobeusedtoeasedecisionmakingbyclearingouttheadvantagesand

disadvantagesofthesituation.

TheSWOTanalysiswaschosenbecauseitisafastandvisualwaytomapassumptionsinthefour

areas,assumptionswhichwelatercouldvalidateordismiss.Weassembledtheteamandexplored

eachsegmentstartingatthetopleft(Figure16).ThefirststrengthisthatURBEANaddressesa

nichemarket:frozendessertmadeofbeans.Theonlyplacebeanicecreamiscommercializedisin

Asia,whileoursearchesshowednocompetitorsinEurope.Ontheotherhand,thereisademand

forit,astherearemanyhomemaderecipesavailablewhensearchingforbeanicecream.Thereis

adifferencebetweenthenamingof“icecream”and“frozendessert”,inwhichwehaveputa

significantamountoftimeresearching.Asearliermentioned,theconsumershaveacertainsetof

expectationstowardstasteandtexturewhenusingtheword“icecream”,whereas“frozen

Figure16SWOTanalysisofURBEAN.


37

dessert”providesuswiththefreedomofexperimentingwithmultipletexturesandnewtastesfor

ourproduct.Thelatterisanadvantagegiventherathergrainytextureofthebeans.

Anemergingmarketintheuseofbeanisoursecondstrength.Beansarebecomingmorepopular

andaredescribedassuperfoods,providingnecessarynutrientsforthehumanbody.Asan

example,fettucine,spaghettiandlasagnesheetsmadeentirelyofbeansarepresentonthe

supermarketshelves.HighlyrelatedisthenextassumptionintheSWOTanalysis,statingthe

snacksareheretostay,andevenbetter,theyareheretogrowonthemarket.URBEANissellingin

amarketthatwillnotdisappearorbereplacedandthatisthefoodsegment.Weseethatasa

fundamentalstrengthforourproject.Furthermore,thefrozendessertsareonlyproducedfrom

plant-basedingredientsthusreducingtheimpactontheenvironment.Thisenablestheproductto

besoldandmarketedto,butnotsolely,vegetariansandveganswhoareagrowingsegmentand

arewillingtospendmoreonfoodthanregularconsumers.

Asfarasweaknessesgo,firstlythemarketforthebeanfrozendessertmustbebuilt.Thereisa

marketforhealthydesserts,butconsumersdonotknowaboutourproductorevenourproduct

type.Therefore,URBEANmustcombatthecurrentreputationofbeansandmakeitattractiveso

thatthedemandforthistypeofproductrisesovertime.Thewayweareaddressingtheissueis

makethefrozendesserttastegoodandofferconsumersanexperiencewhenhavingtheproduct,

thusinvolvingfeelingsandcreatingacorrelationbetweeneatingwellandhavingagoodtime.A

furtherweaknessisthefactthatweofferafrozendessert,whichmakesit1.aseasonalproduct

and2.freezedependent.Thisreducesoursellingpotentialtoonlywarmmonthswithahighsale

averageandalsoresultsinincreasedcostsinstorageandshortershelf-life.Giventheblueocean,

wehavethe“Opportunity”toestablishourselvesasamarketleaderbecauseweareafirst-mover

inthisdomaininEuropeandtheUS.Thehighgrowthpotentialbasedonthatcanleadtoa

franchisingbusinessmodelandafterthebrandhasbeenestablished,itispossibleforustoretail

theproduct.

The“Threats”segmentisoneallbusinessesshouldtakeseriouslyandinvestreasonableamounts

ofresourcesinto.Rightnow,inIncubationwearereducinguncertainties,butasweadvanceinthe

processuncertaintiesbecomerisks.Thefactthatourproductiseasytoreproduceposesa

substantialthreatforourbusiness.Ofcourse,URBEANwouldholdthecopyrightfortherecipes


38

wecreatebutthereisnothingstoppingothercompaniesfromreproducingthefrozenbean

dessertsintheirownwaysandbecomingacompetitor.Therefore,linkedtotheopportunity,

URBEANneedstosetthestandardandbeestablishedasthe“go-to”nameforqualityfrozenbean

dessert.Competitionisalwaysahighthreat,evenapotentialshow-stopperandthereforecafés

andotherpremiumhealthysnackfoodbarsareathreat.

TheentirediscussionabovewascarriedoutinsidetheSWOTframepointingoutareasonable

amountofuncertaintiestoanalyseandthentestintherealworld.

4.2.3 PlaceboTesting

Thefirsttestwedidwasinordertosolveamajoruncertaintywhetherpeoplewouldbenegatively

influencediftheyknewtheicecreamwasmadeofbeans.Weneededtoknowthisinorderto

betterunderstandhowwecouldmarkettheicecreamandwhetherthebeanelementofthe

dessertissomethingthatneededtobepromotedorhidden.Ourassumptionbeforethetestwas

thatthemajorityofpeoplewouldfindbeanicecreamunappealingandtheywouldshow

preferencefortheregularicecream.

Themethodweusedwastogiveourvolunteersthesameconventionalicecreamtotestfromtwo

differentcontainers.Onelabelledasbeanicecreamandtheotherlabelledasconventionalice

cream.Wethenproceededtoexplainthatthebeanicecreamwasmadeoutofbutterbeansand

theotheronewassupermarketbought.Weaskedthemtotelluswhichonetheypreferred.We

had23testsubjectsandtheexperimentwasconductedintheAAUcanteenarea.

Theresultsweresurprisingforus:21.7%oftheoneswhoparticipatedinthetastetestpreferred

thebeanicecream,17.4%preferredtheconventionalicecreamwhilethemajorityof60.9%

thoughttheytestedthesame.Thisprovedtousthatpeopleingeneralwerenotinfluencedbythe

ideaofbeansasaningredienttoicecream.Fromthecommentsthattheymadewecouldseethat

theyperceivedthebeanicecreamasbeingmorehealthyandlesssweetalthoughwemadeno

commentsthatwouldimplythat.Theformwefilledoutonthedayofthetestisavailablein

Appendix8.3PlaceboTest.


39

Thistestgaveusanunderstandingonhowtogoforwardwithourbeandessertconcept.Weknew

thatwedidnotneedtohideourmainingredientastheperceptionofourtargetcustomerswas

notnegativelyinfluencedbythenotionofbeans.

4.2.4 Producttesting

Afterprototyping3,wedecidedtogetpeopletotasteandvalidateourbeanbrownieintheAAU

canteenareaagain.Inadvance,wecreatedaquestionnairefortheupcomingtestgroup.Thetest

subjectshadtotasteasampleofthebeanbrownieandthenfillintheirnameandgenderinthe

questionnaireandanswersevenquestions.Sixoutofsevenquestionswereansweredbytickinga

boxona9-pointhedonicscale,whileoneofthesevenquestionswereansweredbytickingoffa

priceyouwerewillingtopayasapotentialcustomer.Thequestionsvariedfrombeing

prototype/productspecifictocaféhabitsandpreferencesofthetestsubject.Additionally,there

wasacommentsectionattheend.Thequestionnairewecreatedfortheproducttestingcanbe

seeninAppendix8.4QuestionnaireforProductTesting.

Ourtestsubjectsrangedintheagebetween19and53withanaverageageof27.7yearsold.The

testgroupconsistedof19maletestsubjectsand14femaletestsubjects;33participantsintotal.

Ourresultsshowedthatthemajorityalmostcouldnottastethatthebrowniewasmadeofbeans.

Inaverage,thetestsubjectswereneutraltowardstextureandflavour.Thisshowsthatthereis

roomforimprovementasthesetwocategoriesshouldgetahighscorebecauseoftheir

importance.Thecommentsectionalsorevealedthattextureandflavourwasveryimportantto

thetestsubjectsandshouldnotbecompromised.Commentssuchasthelackofsponginessand

mushinessreoccurred.

Whenitcomestowillingnesstopay,thosewhowouldbuythebeanbrowniewerewillingtopay

between10and35DKKforapieceinacafé.Although,itwasnotoutlinedclearlyenoughwhat

wasmeantby“apiece”.Thiscouldhavecausedsomeconfusionwhenansweringthisspecific

question.


40

Whenaskingourtestsubjectsabouttheircaféhabits,theresultshowedthattheyinaveragegoto

acaféabitlessthanonceamonth,andthatthemajoritywouldtryacaféthatonlyservedhealthy

snacksanddesserts.Furthermore,ourresultsshowedtheimportanceofcreatingacertain

atmosphereandmoodinacafé.Thisquestionwastheonewiththehighestaveragescorewhich

illustratesthatitiscrucialtocreateaninvitingandinterestingspaceinordertoattractcustomers.

Forafirstprototypeofthebeanbrownie,thetestingandvalidationtaughtusalotaboutwhat

shouldbeimprovedforthenextprototype,butitalsoillustratedpotentialcustomers’needsand

preferences.TheresultscanbeseeninAppendix8.5ResultsfromProductTesting.

4.3 ProofofBusiness

Inthissection,wewillexplorethebusinessopportunitiesthatwehavefromourfrozendessert.

Themainpurposeofthiswastomakesurethereisabusinessopportunitybehindourconcept

andthataprofitcouldbemade.Allthebusinessdecisionswemadewhenlookingforproofof

businesswerebasedontheassumptionthatthetextureofourfrozendessertcanbemade

smooth.

Figure17Testsubjectsfillingoutourquestionnaireandtastingourbeanbrownieprototype.


41

4.3.1 BusinessModelCanvas1

OurfirstiterationofusingtheBusinessModelCanvas(Figure18)toolincludedtheinitialofferof

sellingthebeanicecreamasbreakfast.ItwasdonebeforetheSWN2whereweinvalidatedthe

mealreplacerconcept.Theinitialversionalsoincludedthecustomersegmentseparationbyage,

whereourtargetcustomerswereurbanitesbetween18and45yearsold,whodidnothave

enoughtimetopreparebreakfastbeforeworkandthereforewouldbuyafrozendessertfrom

URBEANontheirwaytowork.Thevaluepropositioncomplementedthebreakfastconceptby

offeringaboostofconfidencetoourcustomersinthemorningbyeatingahealthymealfirstthing

intheday.Atthispoint,thefocuswassetmoreontakingthedessertalonginthetake-away

style,ratherthaneatingitinourlocation.Wewouldreachourcustomersmostlythroughsocial

media,bygainingonlineawarenessanddirectingpeopletowardsahealthybreakfast.Secondly,

customeracquisitionwouldbedonethroughwordofmouthofourrecurringcustomersand

anotherpotentialchannelwouldhavebeensettingupagreementswithemployers,byoffering

discountsforearlymealsfortheiremployees.Thecustomerrelationshipwouldconsistof

customergeneratedcontentonsocialmediaplatforms,wherewewouldgetinvolvedandcollect

feedbacktocontinuouslyimprove.Themainsourceofincomewouldbedirectsales,whilethekey

activitiesforcustomeracquisitiondirectedustofairs.However,pivotsleadtheteamtochanging

severalfieldsintheBusinessModelCanvaslaterintheIncubationphasewithaseconditerationof

thetool.

Figure18ThefirstversionofOsterwalder'sBusinessModelCanvasforURBEAN.


42

4.3.2 TargetcustomeranalysisandBuyerPersonas

Definingclearbuyerpersonasisanimportantsteptounderstandingexactlywhatthecustomersin

ourtargetsegmentneedandhowtocreateamessagethatreachesthem.“Effectivemessaging

emergesattheintersectionofwhatyourbuyerswanttohearandwhatyouwanttosay.”(Revella,

2015).Thisiswhatinspiredustolookmorecloselyintowhoourcustomersreallyare.

Wecreatedquitesomebuyerpersonasforthepeopleweexpectwouldbeourcustomers.We

knowthatthemajorityofcustomersthatgotocafésare18-to45-year-oldurbanitesbutweknow

URBEANwouldbeattractiveforaudiencesbotholderandyoungersowewantedtounderstand

ourpotentialcustomersbetter.Weendedupwith:

• VeganVera-thevegancustomer,concernedwiththehealthaspectaswellastheethical

aspectofourproducts

• HipsterHenry-theyounghipcustomerthatwantstobeseenintherightplace,beingpart

ofthecoolnewthing

• GuiltyGrandmaGemma-thegrandmathatwantstotreathergrandchildrenbutdoesnot

wanttooverdosethemonsugarandadditives

• CoolGrandmaCadence-thegrandmathatsimplydoesnotwanttogotoanice-cream

store,shewantsagrown-upplacetoenjoy

• CuriousGeorge-notaregulartoeatingoutbutsimplycuriousaboutthenovelaspectof

beandesserts

• HaterHank-doesnotlikebeans,doesnotlikeveganfood,thinksallhealthydessertstaste

badbutwantstoconfirmhisassumptionandtrythisplaceouttoo

• DatingDave-youngstudentoutonadatewherehewantstoimpressbysendingtheright

message.Hewantstobeseenaship,mature,concernedabouttheenvironment,health

andtheanimals

• PennilessPaul-youngstudentwithlimitedspendingmoney,justwantstotrythingsout

andspendaslittleaspossible

• YuppieGreg-middleclass,whitecollarjobheheardaboutthiscoolnewplaceandwants

tobeabletotellotherswhathethinksaboutit


43

• GranolamomCarol-sheusuallymakesherownhealthydessertsforthefamilybutsince

sheisinthecityURBEANisagoodenoughalternative

• MenopausalMary-sheiswatchingherweightbutstilllikestoindulgeinsweettreatsand

nowwiththekidsoutofthehouseshehasthebudgettoenjoyherself

• DessertloverDan-helovesdessertsandwantstobeabletotryitall.Hehopeshewill

findagooddessertthatisalsonotbadforyousohecaneatitmoreoften

• DiabetesDoreen-shewantsatastytreatthatshecanenjoywiththerestofthefamily

whilealsokeepinghersugarintakelow

• DietingDave-hehasbeenonadietforyears,triedeverydietandwantstoeatdessert

andhaveitnotbethe“treatoftheweek”

• ShoppingSue-aftershoppingalldayshewantstodrinkacupofcoffeeandeatsomecake

withherfriends

• CoffeeaddictCarl-heisinhereforthecoffee,togoandsometimesacookiefortheroad

• LifestyleLiv-sheisalifestylebloggerandshewantstoseewhatshecansharewithher

followersshemightnothavemanybutshewantstokeeptheminformed

Thosearejustthemaintypesofcustomersweidentified.Welookedbothforthetypeof

customerthatwillenjoyourofferingbutalsothosethatmighttakeadvantageonlyofpartofit

andthosewhowouldtryURBEANoutjustbecauseofthenovelty.

Thenextstepwetookwastoidentifysomedifferenttypesofcustomersthatwouldmakegreat

ambassadorsofourbrand.Theywouldnaturallysharetheirexperiencewitheverybodythey

know.Theyaretheonesthatourinitialmarketingeffortsneedtobetargetedat.Wechoseto

lookatVeganVera,YuppieGregandLifestyleLiv(Table2).

Table2Aninto-depthanalysisofthethreebuyerpersonas;VeganVera,YuppieGregandLifestyleLiv.

PERSONA NAME Vegan Vera Yuppie Greg Lifestyle Liv

BACKGROUND Job, career path

and family

Works as a vet

Has a boyfriend

Senior software developer

Married with one child

Lifestyle blogger

Studies Communications

Single


44

DEMOGRAPHICS Gender, age, income

level and location

Female, 32

30 000 DKK

Aalborg city centre

Male, 35

42 000 DKK

Gug

Female, 23

10 000 DKK

Aalborg city centre

IDENTIFIERS Behaviour and

communication

preferences

Vocal about her

preferences

Facebook groups

and vegan forums

Decisive

Email newsletter once

every few months

Loud and visible

All social media,

Instagram, Facebook,

Twitter

GOALS Primary and

secondary goal

Get a tasty dessert

Protect the animals

and the planet

Try out the new dessert

place

Form an opinion about

URBEAN

Be seen

Take some great

pictures and have a good

story to write about

CHALLENGE Primary and

secondary challenge

Identifying what she

can eat

Does not want to

pollute the

environment

Does not want to appear

not knowledgeable

Wants to be able to easily

share where he is and

what he thinks

The food needs to be

Instagram ready

The lighting and décor

should be just right to

create good images

WHAT CAN WE DO … to help them

achieve their goals …. to overcome the

challenges

Clearly identify the

vegan choices on

the menu

Offer discount for

customers that

bring their own to

go cup

Provide descriptions and

pictures of the products

Have all social media set

up to promote sharing,

signing in, appropriate

hashtags

Make sure the desserts

and coffee are presented

in an appealing way

Make the décor on trend

and provide a cool selfie

wall

COMMON

OBJECTIONS Why would they not

buy?

Something is not

ethical

Products not

ethically sourced

If the place was being too

mainstream and not

luxurious enough

Food was not tasty or

healthy because her

recommendations need

to be trusted

MARKETING

MESSAGING Dessert that cares

about great taste,

A grown up dessert in a

luxurious, hip and urban

The new dessert that

tastes as good as it looks


45

How we should

describe the solution your well-being, the

animals and the

planet.

location that you can enjoy

with the whole family or

just your friends.

and keeps you looking fit

and cool.

WHO WILL THEY

SHARE WITH Fellow vegans that

are willing to pay

more for a tasty and

ethical product

Friends from a similar

income bracket with a

high spending power

Many followers and

subscribers that would

trust their

recommendation

ThetemplateforTable2isinspiredby(Vaughan,2015).

Fromlookingatthebuyerpersonaswecanseewhatweneedtofocusonwhencreatingour

marketingstrategyaswellaswhatweneedtothinkaboutwhendesigningthelocationand

menus.Allthebuyerpersonasthatwewouldliketoattractasbrandambassadorsareeither

lookingatanexclusiveluxuriousproductorarewillingtoacceptthepricethatcomeswithsucha

productbecauseoftheirethicalbeliefs.Theyarealllikelytoshareagoodexperiencewiththeir

networkbecauseitbenefitsthembyincreasingtheirstatusintheeyesoftheirpeers.

Itisveryimportanttohavetheideaofluxury,appearanceandethicsatthecoreofourdesignbut

justasimportanttomakethoseideaseasytoshareinanimageonsocialmedia.

WeexplorethebrandimagethatwewantforURBEANinthenextsection,MarketAnalysis.The

targetcustomerandmainbuyerpersonasweexploredinthischapterwerethebasisthatwekept

inmindfromthispointintheprocessgoingforward.

4.3.3 MarketStrategyandMarketanalysis

URBEANisasmuchaproductasitisabrand,thisiswhyweexpectthenamerecognitionof

URBEANiswhatwillbringmostvaluein5yearsratherthantheproductswesell.Ourgoalis

franchisingandthefirstlocationisjustatrialtoseehowprofitableourconceptcanbeandwhat

ourtargetmarketbestrespondsto.Weknowthatastrongbrandimageiswhatsetsusapartfrom

ourcompetitionandanimportantpartofourdevelopmentprocessaswellasoneoftheelements


46

weneedtoexperimentwithandimprovewhilestillinourfirstlocation.Thischapterwillfocuson

ourmarketingstrategyfortheURBEANbrand.

TheFourC’sversusTheFourP’s

ThefourP’sofmarketingdatebacktothe1940’sandareProduct,Price,PlaceandPromotion.

Theyarethemarketingmixmostcommonlyusedwhendecidingonamarketingstrategyandhave

beenusedformanyyears.WhiletryingtodecidehowURBEANcanbedescribedfromthis

perspectivewediscoveredthe4C’sofmarketing(Lauterborn,1990).Those4conceptsreplace

theoldonesasfollows:TheProductwiththeconsumerwantsandneeds,thepricewiththecosts

tosatisfythatneed,placewithconvenienceofbuyingtheproductandpromotionwith

communication.Ouropinionisthatlookingatthoseconceptsinsteadoftheoldoneswould

enableustobettercatertoourcustomer.Theyfitbetterbothwiththemodernmarket,the

moderncustomerwhowecatertoandthetypeofproductwearedealingwith,theyaremore

consumeroriented.ThefourC’sfromanURBEANperspectivecanbeseeninTable3below.

Table3TheFourC'sfromanURBEANperspective.

ThefourC’s

Consumers Wantorganicproducts

Wantclearconscience

Lesscaloriesandishealthoriented

Healthydessert

Cost Reducethe“guiltcost”ofeatingdessert

Reducethe“consciencecost”

• Robinhoodmodel-eachmealboughtbuysamealinapoorcountry

• Organicproducts–donotexposethefarmersorplanettochemicals

• Veganproducts-noanimalsneedtosufferforthedessert

Haveanappropriatepriceforourproduct

Convenience Makeanonlinemenuavailableforeasydecisionmaking


47

Havelocationswhereourtargetaudienceis

• InAalborgthatwouldbeinthecitycentreorintheCitySydarea

Maketogooptionsavailable

Beopentopeoplethatwanttominimizewasteandusetheirowncups,utensils

insteadofoneusefortogooptionstoo

Communication CreateacommunityaroundURBEAN

Engagewiththelocalcommunity.Includelocallysourcedproductsintheoffering

Createviraladvertisingthatpromotessharing

Engagewiththelocalvegan/vegetarian/fairtrade/organiccooperativesandlocal

fruitandvegetableproducers

Beactiveonsocialmedia

Brandidentity

URBEAN’ssuccessandfailureishighlydependenton

creatingastrongbrandidentityandinsuringthatallbrand

artefactswecreateareconsistentandengaging.Belowwe

willrunthroughthemostimportantartefactsandshowthe

commonthreadthatrunsthroughoutourbrandincluding

thetypefaceofthebrand(Figure19),amoodboard(Figure

20)asinspirationforthedessertstudiosandamock-up

menu(Figure21).

Name: URBEAN Name font: Blake Tagline: ”… Beans the cool way” Tagline font: LIBBY

Figure19TypefaceofURBEAN.


48

Figure21Mock-upmenufortheURBEANdessertstudios.

Moodboard(Figure20):Themoodboardrepresentstheatmosphereandinteriordesignwewant

theURBEANdessertstudiostohave.Itcirclesaroundthecurrentdesigntrendswithalotof

natural,warmmaterialsmixedwithmorecoldandindustrialonessuchassteelandcobber.The

Figure20MoodboardasinspirationfortheURBEANdessertstudios.


49

moodboardismixofpicturesweshotourselvesandpicturesweborrowedfromPinterest,

Colourbox,etc.

Mock-upmenu(Figure21):Themock-upmenuwecreatedcanbeseenabove.Itcontainsasmall

introductiontothecustomersofwhatURBEANisandstandsfor,andthenofcoursewhatweoffer

inthedessertstudios.

Socialmedia

Afterlookingatthe4C’smarketingmixwehadabetterunderstandingonhowweneedto

positionourselvestoattractthecustomerswewant.Thenextstepistodecidewhatoursocial

mediastrategywouldbe.Thebestwaytodothisisofcoursetolookatthecompetitionandfind

whatworksforthemandwhatdoesn’tandbuildasocialmediastrategylearningfromtheir

experience.

Socialmedianumbersareeasilyvisiblesowesystematicallylookedatthreeofourcompetitor’s

activities.ThecompetitorsthatwechosewereJoeandtheJuice,ParadisisandBaresso(Table4).

WelookedatbrandsthatstartedtheirjourneyinDenmark,hadapositiveandsuccessfulgrowth

andwerecateringtoasimilarmarketasweare.Anotherfactorinchoosingthoseisthatallthree

arepresentinmorethanoneregioninDenmarksoweknowthattheirstrategyisscalable.

Beforewelookedatthecompetitorswehadsomeassumptions:

• AllthreecompetitorswouldhaveofficialandveryactiveFacebookpages

• AllthreecompetitorswouldhaveofficialandactiveInstagrampages

• StrongengagementforBaressoandJoeandtheJuiceonYouTubeasalifestylechannel

• Twitterisnotthebestsocialmediaplatformtopromoteanyofthem


50

Table4Comparisonofcompetitors'presenceandperformanceonsocialmediaplatforms.

Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Paradis Is Separate location specific

official pages

One official centralized

page with 21 000 likes

Opening times, photos,

contests

A lot of engagement

Most reviews on the local

pages

89 posts

2400 followers

8 posts per month

posts mainly of the ice-

cream, 6300 posts with

the hashtag #paradisis

No account Noaccount

Joe and

the Juice

A lot of region specific

unofficial pages with

reviews

The regional unofficial

pages are redirected to the

official page

No images or posts

Well curated Instagram

profile

824 posts

56 000 followers

22 posts /month

Consistent imagery

Pictures of fresh fruit and

attractive men

65505 posts with the

hashtag #joeandthejuice

No account 22videos

150

subscribers

Baresso Separate unofficial pages

for each location

No official Facebook page

13 300 followers

444 posts

Average 10 posts per

month

Stopped posting in August

38425 posts with the

hashtag #baresso

2400 tweets

1900 followers

1500 following

Limited

engagement

Some user

generated

contents

(pictures and

tweets

addressed to

them)

13videos

65subscribers


51

Fromlookingatthisstudyofourcompetitorswecaneasilyseethatallourassumptionswereat

leastinpartwrong.Inaddition,ithelpsusseeclearlywhatworksandwhatdoesn’twork.

WhenitcomestoYouTubeneitherJoeandtheJuiceorBaressohavealotofsubscribers.Wecan

see,fromthetypeofvideostheyupload,thatthisisbecausethereislittlevaluefortheviewer

offeredinthevideos.ThemostviewedclipsonYouTubeare“How-To”videos,personalitydriven

videos,lifestylevideosorvideoswithhighentertainmentvalue(parodies,musicvideos,short

movies)(mediakix,2016).FromthiswecanconcludethatYouTubeisnotthebestsocialmediafor

ourpurpose.TheROIwouldbelowifwehadtoproducethevideosthatcouldattractsubscribers.

ItwouldbeeasiertojustengagewithlocalYouTubersandreachthatmarketthroughthem

instead.

Twitterisalsoamediathatisnotverysuccessfulforthesebusinesses.NeitherJoeandtheJuice

norParadisIsengagedthataudienceandBaressohadlimitedsuccess.Itwouldbewisefor

URBEANtoalsofocusonothersocialmediawithmoreengagement.

Instagramisthesocialmediawiththehighestengagement.Allthreebrandsarepresentthere

postingsomewhatregular.ThemostsuccessfulisJoeandtheJuicewiththesecondbeingBaresso.

Theybothpresentastrongbrandimage.WhatsetsJoeandtheJuiceapartistheconsistencyof

theirimages,thenumberapostsamonth,thefactthattheycuratetheirfeedsoithastheirlogo

appearatregularintervalsandthemanyfacestheyhaveintheirimages.Theyarepresentingthe

“coolandhip”imagewithoutfocusingtoomuchonwhattheysell.Baressoontheotherhandhas

afeedwhereimagesofcoffeedominateandmakesitlessrelatable.Theyallhavealotofuser

generatedcontentundertheirnamesakehashtagsbecausetheyhaveestablishedthemselvesas

“coolplacestobe”.ParadisIshasmuchlowerengagement.Theirfeedisfilledwithimagesofice-

cream.Alotoftheimageslooktoomuchlikestockimagesandthefeedissomewhatinconsistent

instyle.FromlookingatourcompetitorswenowknowhowimportantforURBEANistohavea

wellcuratedInstagramfeedthatincludesbothourproductandlocationaswellasfacesofpeople

workingthere.WeexpectInstagramtobethesocialmediawiththehighestfollowingsinceour

brandishighlyfocusedontheexperience.


52

FacebookisthelastsocialmediawelookedatandsurprisinglyParadisIswasthebrandthathad

themostcoherentFacebookpresence.Wecouldseeacrossthebrandsthatcustomerswanted

localofficialpagesandParadisIsofferedthatwhilealsohavingacentralizedofficialpage.The

localpageswerefilledwithreviewsandcustomercommentswhilethecentralizedofficialpage

hadalargefollowingandwasfocusedonrunningcampaigns,contestsandgivingessential

informationlikeopeningtimes.BothBaressoandJoeandthejuicehadunofficiallocalpagesthat

hadinconsistentlooksandwerenotmoderated.JoeandtheJuiceredirectedtolocalofficialpages

whichmakesusbelievethattheyaretryingtochangetheirFacebookstrategytobeinlinetowhat

theircustomerswant.LookingatthiswenowknowthatURBEANwillstartbyhavingalocal

officialpageforourfirstlocationandanofficialpagethatwillbekepthiddenuntilweopenmore

locations.Thiswaywewillgivecustomersawaytoratelocallybuttolikethebrandnationallyjust

likeParadisIshasdone.

Localmediaoutlets

Forgettingrelevantmediaexposureweneedtokeepinmindourtargetmarketaswellasour

marketingbudget.Themarketingbudgetthatwecalculatedforthefirstyearissomewhatlimited

soweneedtomakeuseasmuchaspossibleofambassadorsforthebrand,engagedconsumers

thatwouldpromoteURBEANbecausetheyarepassionateaboutwhatwedoandwhatwestand

for.Inordertocreatetheinitial“buzz”aroundthebrandwecanlookatthemedialocaloutlets

forcoverage:TV2Nord,P4Nordjylland,ANR,Nordjyske,MigogAalborg,theyarealloutletsthat

oftenwritepiecesaboutunusuallocalbusinesses.Becauseourconcepthasanelementofnovelty

itisnewsworthyandwillgetsomeexposurethatway.

Anotherimportantpartofgainingexposureisgoingtolocalfoodmarkets,farmers’marketsas

wellasfestivals.Nordkraftfoodmarketattractsmanyofthebuyerpersonasweenumeratedin

thechapterabove.Ofcourse,relevantfoodblogswillalsobetargetedafterourinitiallaunchwith

invitationstoanexclusivepre-launchpartywheretheycansampleallthedessertsandbeverage

weofferaswellastheatmosphereURBEANcreates.Thiswillnotbeverycostlyandwouldreacha

largeaudiencegainingusrecommendationsfromtrustedsources.


53

4.3.4 Budget

Weusedourbudgettovalidateourbusinessaswelltobetterunderstandbetterwhatneedstobe

donewithinthebusinessinordertomakeitprofitable.Duringtheprocessofmakingthebudget

werealizedthatbecausetheseasonalityoficecreamitwasnotpossibleforustohaveaprofit

unlessweexpandedourofferingtootherdesserts.Thebudgetalsomadeusunderstandhow

manyemployeesweneededdependingonthenumberofcustomersweexpectallowingusto

minimizecostswhilemaximizingprofits.

Thebudgethasbeencreatedbasedonalotofassumptionsthatwouldhavetobeverifiedlaterat

ourpilotlocation.Ithasbeencreatedwiththeassumptionthatthereisnoinitialinvestorwhich

meansthatforthefirstlocationthemarketingbudgetisestimatedlowandthatthegrowthofthe

customerbasewouldbeorganic.Ourbudgetincludesthecostofgoingtoeventsappropriatefor

ourbusinessandfaresinordertogetincontactwithcustomersandgainingmorevisibilityforour

brand.

Thisbudget(Figure22)showsthateventheorganicgrowthtakenintoaccountwewouldbreak-

evenduringthefirst17monthsshowingthatthebusinessmodelissustainable.Theinitialcapital

requiredtostartthedessertstudiobusinessis295000DKK,andisdetailedinAppendix8.6

Budget–Year1.Forthescopeofthefirstbudget,weconsideredthatweasateamcouldinvest

thisamountinourowncompany,bootstrappingit,andapplyforgrants.Thecapitalof295000

Figure22GraphicillustrationofBreakEvenAnalysiswithProfit(Income-Expenses)ontheY-axisandmonthsontheX-axis.Thegraphshowsbreak-evenwilloccurwithinthefirsttwoyearsofcreatingtheventure–morepreciselyafter17months.


54

DKKisnecessarytopayrent,equipanddecoratethefirstdessertstudio.Basedontheprojections

inthebudget,weestimatethatthebreak-evenwillhappenin17months,asseeninFigure22.

Eventhoughtheteamwouldbeworkingforfreeinthestudioforthefirstyear,sotherewouldbe

noneedtohireemployeestostartwith,wedecidedtoincludethoseexpensesinthebudgetto

helpusseehowsoonwecouldhaveaprofitwhilepayingoutsalaries.Sinceourgoalisaveryfast

growth,itisessentialforthebusinessmodelthatURBEANcansupportitselffastandproduce

profit.Sincefrozendessertsareclearlyaseasonalproduct,andthatisourmainincome

generator,wehavetakenthisintoconsideration.Thestudioneedsmoreresourcesinthe

summer,comparedtothewinterandthatwasreflectedinthebudgetbothinthenumberof

customersandemployeesneeded.However,URBEAN’sfirstyearwillstillendinadeficitof

-138450DKKasseenintheYear1columnintheBudgetbelow,becausemostofthemajorcosts

areonetimepaymentsincurredinordertoopenthestudio.ToestimatetherevenueofURBEAN,

whenthecostsofopeningastudioarededucted,aprofitof150800DKKwilloccur,asshownin

Table5below.

Table5Budget–Year1and2

Year 1 Year 2

Total expenses 1 664 700 1 499 200

Income 1 526 250 1 650 000

Profit (Income-Expenses) - 138 450 + 150 800

Itishoweverimportanttomention,thatthisbudgetisonlybasedontherawmaterialsforfrozen

dessert,toppingsandcoffee.Thismeansitneedstobeadjusted,assoonasURBEANcomesup

withacompleteproductportfolioandaclearerviewonthepricepointforourproducts.

Whenbudget1wasmade,weassumedthattheaveragecustomerwouldspendonly55DKKper

purchase.Thismeantthattheturnaroundofeachcustomerwouldbeveryhigh.Thefeedbackwe

receivedfromSWN3wasthatthispricepointwasconfusingasitdidnotalignitselfwiththebrand

imageweweretryingtocreate.Thisdiscrepancywillbeaddressedinthefuturebudget.Sincewe

madethebudgetwerealizedthatweneededtomakeanalternativebudgettoowithafocuson


55

exponentialgrowthandanassumptionthatwewouldmanagetoattractaninvestorsoinorderto

generatemorerapidgrowth.

4.3.5 BusinessModelCanvas2

OnourseconditerationfortheBusinessModelCanvas,thefocuschangedfromsellinga

breakfast,whichwastoonarrowofanichethatlimitedthesalespotentialofURBEANproducts.

ThechangesareillustratedinFigure23belowandhighlightedinred.

Firstly,thecustomersegmentwasaddressedafternotingthatagewasnotadecisivefactorin

choosingourproduct,butthevaluestheindividualshavedeterminedwhethertheywouldbuythe

dessert.Furthermore,becausewedidnotuseanyanimalproducts,vegansandvegetariansarean

addressablemarketwhomwedidnotspecificallymarkettobefore.Therearemoreandmore

peoplechoosingaplant-baseddiet(ForumfortheFuture,2016)andtheycanturnouttobea

largecustomerbaseforURBEAN.

Figure23ThesecondversionofOsterwalder'sBusinessModelCanvasforURBEAN.Thenotesmarkedwithredarethechangesfromthefirsttothesecondversion.


56

Oneofthemostconsiderablechangesisthatwehavedecidedtosellanexperienceinourdessert

studios.Therefore,wewouldofferawidervarietyofbean-basedproductssuchasbean-based

browniesandcakes,ratherthanonlyfrozendesserts.Thecustomersareencouragedtospendthe

timeinsidethedessertstudioswheretheywouldfindthemselvesinahigh-qualityenvironment

withamodern,urbanandcosylook.TheatmosphereinFigure24suggeststhevibetransmitted

bytheURBEANdessertstudios.Thephotowastakenduringaphotoshootthatwasapartof

Prototype3.

InthenewversionofBusinessModelCanvas,wehaveincludedpartnershipswithhighquality

furnitureproducersandinteriordesignexpertswhowouldaddtotheexperiencefactorURBEAN

canofferthecustomers.Forthe“CustomerRelationship”field,theexperiencefactorcontributes

tocustomerretention.Ouruserinvolvementshowedthatmorepeoplearepronetovisitthea

café,orinourcaseadessertstudio,iftheatmosphereandmoodisonpoint-andtherebyour

customeracquisitionwillincrease.

Figure24Mood-settingandvibeoftheURBEANdessertstudio.


57

4.3.6 SuperWiseNet3

Preparation

SWN3wasanopportunityforustoexploreouroptionsforAcceleration.Weneededtoseeifour

visionwasclearenoughandourstorytellingstrongenoughtoallowustomoveforward.Sincewe

havepivotedourconceptfromSWN2fromabreakfastbarconcepttoadessertstudioweneeded

toseeifthistimeitwaswellformulatedandengagingenough.

WelearnedfromthepreviousSWNthatourstorytellingwasnotclearenoughsothistimewe

askedPernilletopresenttheconceptsinceshehadtheclearestvisiononwhatthedessertstudio

is.AlsogrowingfromthepreviousSWNweexploredmarketingoptionsandourtargetcustomers

inmoredetailsincealotofthefeedbackwereceivedwasthatmarketingwasaveryimportant

partforthesuccessofourbusiness.Ourbudgethasimprovedalotsincethepreliminaryonewe

createdforSWN2andourbusinessmodeloptionsweremoreclearatthispointintimesowe

gavethesupervisorsanupdatedviewonthattoo.

Feedback

Thefeedbackwereceivedwassplitasthedifferentbackgroundsandfocusareasofthe

supervisorscametolight.Althoughourvisionwasmoreclearandcompletethanintheprevious

SWNthestorytellingwasnotcompletelythereyet.Ourbrandidentityneededtobedefinedina

betterwayandshownmoreclearly.

Themood-boardweused(Appendix8.7Mood-boardforSWN3Presentation)wasnotspecific

enoughtogiveaclearimageofwhatthestorywasanditwasnotclearenoughontheexperience

wewerecreatingforourcustomers.Alsothepricepointwehadsetwasnotinlinewiththe

luxuriousvisionwehadforthespace.

Anothermainfocusofthefeedbackwasourgrowthstrategyormostlyourlackoffocusonthis

growthstrategy.Althoughinourdiscussionsasagroupweexploredouroptionsforgrowthand

wewerecertainlynotconsideringorganicgrowthforthecompanyourSWN3presentationdidnot

expressthissoalotoffeedbackwasaboutusneedingtofocusmoreonthisgrowthandwaysin

whichwecouldlookatitandhowscalabilityneedstobebuiltintotheproject.


58

Reflection

LookingbackatSWN3andthefeedbackwegotfromitwerealizedthatitisverydifficultto

presentallourprocessandfindingsinonly7minutes.Wefeltthatourstorytellingwasmuch

clearerthatthepreviousSWNbutthatthebrandidentitywascertainlynotdevelopedenough.

Sinceitwassomethingweputalotofeffortintocreatingwerealisedthatitissomethingthatwe

wouldeitherneedtogetoutsidesupportwithoraddanothermembertoourteamthatwouldbe

moreproficientwithmarketingandbranddesignasitisaskillwearemissingwithintheteam.

Whenitcomestoourgrowthstrategywegotthepushthatweneededtoexploreourgrowth

fromtheassumptionthatourfirstpilotlocationwouldbeasuccess.Althoughweknewwe

wantedtoscaleandjusthowmuchweneededtoscalewewereafraidofexpressingourgrowth

strategybecausewewerestillstuckonthefactthatthetextureofourfrozendessertstillremains

anuncertainty.Althoughweaddedmoreproductstoouroffering(browniesandotherbeanbased

healthycakes)wefeltthatwecouldnottrulytestourconcepttogetthevalidationweneededto

saythiswillgrowwithoutourfocalproductbeingthebestitcanbe.

4.4 ReflectionsaboutIncubation

LookingattheIncubationphaseretrospectively,wepivotedourconceptslightly.Ourfirstconcept

tobebroughttoIncubationwasabreakfastbar/cafésellingfrozenbeandessertasbreakfastand

dessert.Afterscopingandfine-tuningourideaandopportunity,weendedupwithadessert

studiosellingbeandessertsandsnacks.

Wehadseveralongoingtopicsthroughouttheincubationphasesuchasprototyping,validation,

businessmodelsandtargetcustomers.WecouldprobablyhavespentourtimeintheIncubation

phaseabitmorestructuredasthiswouldhavegivenusmoretimetovalidatetheconceptandthe

businessevenmore.Ourprototypingcouldhavebenefitedfrombeingmorecontinuousand

iterativeasthismostlikelywouldhaveprovidedfasterandbetterlearning.Potentially,amore

structuredapproachtoprototypingcouldhavetranslatedsomeofouruncertaintiesintofactson

anearlierstage.Thevalidationboard(LeanStartupMachine,2012).isagreattoolforstructuring

andprioritizinguncertaintiesandapproachthemonebyone.Thiswouldcouldhavebeena

helpfultoolforustouse.


59

Duetoobstacleswithfindingacollaborationpartnerwiththeequipmentwecouldtestproduction

methodswith,wegotabitstuck.Weprobablyemphasizedabittoomuchontechnical

uncertaintiesinsteadofbalancingTMROasPivotprescribes(Arteaga&Hyland,2014).Wecould

havespentmoretimelookingtowardsthemarket.Incontinuationofthatperspective,“getting

outoftheoffice”wasaconceptweshouldhavepracticedmoreasitcouldhavebroughtuseven

morevaluablefeedback.Inmanyways,thefactthatwecouldnotimprovethetextureofourice

creambecameagreathurdleforuswhenitcametoengagingwiththemarket.OnlyafterSWN3

wehadthecouragetotestthemarketwithasecondaryproductratherthanourflagshipdessert.

5 Acceleration5.1 Intro

DuringthetimewehadforourprojectwefocusedalotonDiscoveryandIncubation,mostly

choosingtherightproblem/solutioncombinationandthenreducinguncertaintiesthroughout

Incubation.Whenitcametoaccelerationwefeltwewerenotreadytotransitiontothatstage.

Westillhadamajoruncertaintyleft,thetextureofourbeanicecreamandmorevalidationtodo

thatwouldbeinefficientduringthewintermonths.Thisiswhythischapterwillfocusonourplans

foraccelerationsincewehavenotreachedthatstageyetwithourproject.Astrongfocuswillbe

putonthegrowthstrategyandhowweplantogrowourbrand.

5.2 GrowthStrategy

ThegrowthstrategywedecidedforURBEANisthatofaggressivegrowth.Wewanttotakethe

firsttwoyearstovalidateandperfectourconceptbasedonfeedbackfromourcustomersand

thenexpandthroughoutDenmark.Weareaimingtohave14dessertstudioswithinthefirst10

years.MovingourexpansionfirstnationallybyopeninglocationsinCopenhagen,Aarhusand

OdenseandtheninternationallystartingwithSwedenandGermany.

Althoughthegoalisgrowthwewanttoperfecttheconceptbeforeexpandingandwitheach

expansionwewanttoimproveandensurethatthequalityofwhatweofferdoesnotdecrease


60

whileexpanding.Wedonotwanttobeseenasjustanothercafé.WewanttheURBEANdessert

studiostoachievelifestylebrandstatus.

5.2.1 Strategyforyear1-2

Thefirsttwoyearsweplantofocusonourfirstlocationasitshouldserveasapilotventure.

Beforeevenbuildingthepilotventureweplantobuyan“icecreambike”andtrytorecreateas

muchoftheURBEANatmosphereandofferingaspossible.Thefirststepwouldbetogetinto

contactwithourtargetcustomers,gotofoodmarketsandfairsandreceivefeedbackonwhatwe

areoffering.Alltheknowledgefromthisinitialcontactwiththemarketfromthe“icecreambike”

willbeusedwhencreatingthefirstlocation.

ThefirstpilotlocationwillbestartedinAalborginorderfortheteamtobeabletoworkonit

whilecontinuingtheeducation.Thiswillgiveustwoyearswhenthemainfocusdoesnotneedto

bepayingemployeesandturningagreatprofitbutperfectingourproductsandimprovingour

marketingstrategy.AalborgisoneofthebiggestcitiesinDenmark,astudentcentreanditisready

toembracemoreadventurousfoods.

5.2.2 Strategyforyear3

Inyear3wewanttoopentwonewlocations,oneinAarhusinoneinCopenhagen.Atthispoint

ourbrandwillbematureenoughandwewillbringinadditionalinvestors.Byvalidatingand

creatingastablebrandinthefirsttwoyearsweexpecttohavetogiveawaylessequitytothe

investorsthatjoinourventureatthispointintime.

TheCopenhagenlocationwillalsobeourflagshipventurethatwillbecomethefaceofURBEAN.

BecauseitisacosmopolitancitymoreopentochangethananyothercityinDenmark,itwillbe

thelocationthatwillhaveexclusiveproductsfirstbeforetheyareintroducedthroughoutthe

chain.WhenopeningtheCopenhagenlocation,wewanttocollaboratewithaDanishdesign

company-thatwillbedecidedatthetime-inordertocreateatrulyluxuriousatmospherefully

customizedtofitourimage.


61


Bytheendofthefourthyearweexpecttoopentwomorelocations,onemoreinCopenhagen

andoneinOdensebringingthetotalofURBEANdessertstudiosinDenmarktofive.Duringthis

year,ourfocuswillstartexpandingtotheinternationalmarketaswell.Atthemoment,following

thecurrenttrendswelookatGermanyandSwedenaspotentialmarketsforURBEAN.

Swedenespeciallyhasproventobeagreatpotentialmarketasitcurrentlyranksfirstregarding

consumptionoforganicfood.Ingeneral,ontheEuropeanmarket,areportshowsthattheorganic

foodisgrowing6.7%in2014(IFOAMEUGroup,2016).Inthesameyear,38%ofthefoodbought

inSwedenwasorganic,andthetrendcontinuedin2015(Ryegård&Ryegård,2015).URBEANis

nottheonlyone,whoseeSwedenasanopportunity,sincemorestoreswithorganicproducts

haveopenedthere.Eventheecosystemmakesitaplacetostartourinternationalexpansion,

sincetheSwedishgovernmenthasinvestedSEK400million(Sweden,2015),inordertopromote

theexportofSwedishenvironmentaltechnology,researchinenvironmentaltechnologyandto

makeiteasiertocommercializeinnovations.

WeseeSwedenandGermanyasmarketsthatbothhaveagreatgrowthwhenitcomestotheir

interestinorganichealthyfoodbutalsoculturallyclosetoDenmarkwhichwouldminimizetherisk

wewouldtakewhenexpanding.Weexpecttobeabletomakeminimumadaptationstoour

offeringandbrandtoadapttothosetwocultures.Animportantstepduringthisyearwouldbeto

startfindingexternalpartnersthatcouldfacilitatethisexpansion.Weknowthatbusiness

relationshipstakealongtimetonurtureandwewouldnotwanttorushtheexpansionby

choosingwrongpartners.


Inyear5wemainlyfocusoncreatingthestrategyfortheinternationalgrowth.Thismeansthata

lotofresourceswillbeusedfinalizingprojectsandpartnershipsforourpilotlocationsinGermany

andSweden-mostlikelybeinginBerlinandStockholm.Onlyonemorelocationwouldbeadded

inCopenhagenbringingthetotallocationsto6inDenmark.Morenationallocationswillbeadded

inthefollowingyearsincitieswherethemarketislargeenough.


62

5.2.5 Strategyforyear6-10

Duringthesefouryears,thefocuswillbeonexpanding

internationallyinGermanyandSweden(Figure25)aswellas

addingthesmallboutiquemodelandbringingacondensed

versionofURBEANtoairportsandshoppingmallsacrossour

threemarkets.Weexpectthatbyyear10wewouldhaveover

15locationswithsomeboutiquelocationsaddedtoour

portfolio.Ourfocusinthoseyearswouldbebothon

expansionandmaintainingtheimageofthebrandand

maintainingthestatusofalifestylebrand.

5.3 Budget2

Thesecondbudgetthatwemadestartedfromthepremises

thatwewouldbootstrapthefirstlocationandusewordof

mouthandlimitedmarketingtospreadthewordaboutit.

Althoughwearecertainlynotplanningfororganicgrowthwithoutaninvestorfromthefirst

locationourmarketinganddecoratingbudgetistheonethatneedstosuffer.Wealsoconsidered

apossibleinvestorstartingfromthefirstlocation.

Ifwelookataninvestmentof500000DKKthiswouldmeanthatwecouldinvestmorein

marketingandpromotion.Withourcurrentbudgetweplannedonspending75000DKKon

marketingduringthefirst12monthsofopeningthefirstlocationand20000DKKondecorating

theinterior.Withaninvestmentof500000DKKthatwouldallowustospendmoremoneyon

decoratingtheinitiallocationandcreatingastrongbrandimageasaluxuryestablishmentfrom

thebeginning.Alsohiringaconsultantwhenitcomestotheinitialmarketingcampaignaswellas

investingalotofmoneytocreatethebuzzaroundthebrand.Weexpecttospend60000DKKon

themarketingconsultantforthefirstthreemonthsoflaunching,200000DKKaddedtothedesign

budgetandspend150000DKKinthefirstthreemonthstopromoteourbrandinlocalmediaand

theremaining90000wouldbespentasneededonotherpromotionsthroughouttheyear.

Figure25MapoflocationsinDenmark(6),Sweden(3)andGermany(4)byaroundyear7.


63

Therearesomepositiveandnegativeaspectsthatwewouldneedtofurtherconsiderandexplore

whenconsideringaninitialinvestment:

+ Strongerbrandimagecreatedattheinitiallocation

+ Morecustomersintheinitialmonths

+ Morewordofmouthandcustomerawareness

+ Increasedchancesthatfutureinvestmentswouldbeeasiertoaccesswithlowerequity

percentageneedingtobegivenaway

+ Withthecorrectinvestor,newknowledgeandnetworkswouldbeaddedtoourteam

+ Startonthesecondlocationafteronlyoneyear

÷ Exchangerateforequitywouldbelow

÷ Anewpartnerwouldbeintroducedwiththeteam

Awaytoavoidthenegativesandexchangeitforaninterestratewouldbetotakealoaninstead

ofaddinganinvestor.Inthiseconomythoughitishighlyunlikelywecouldgetabankloan.

5.4 Reflections

Wefeelthatafterweclearthelastofourmainuncertainty:thetextureofouricecreamwewould

bereadytocreateafirstconceptspaceandstartinvestinginthebusinessandpropellingit

towardsgrowth.Aswediscussedinthechapterwewouldnotwanttowaitfororganicgrowthbut

assoonaswevalidatetheconceptthroughaphysicallocationwewouldlookforinvestorsthat

believeinourgrowthgoal.

6 Outro6.1 Conclusion

Thefourmonthsofprojectworktookustobeingateamwithdifferentrolesandworkingwiththe

sameidea,fromfourdifferentpersonalitiesandbackgrounds.Wealsounderstoodthekey

elementsandcontentforthebusinessplanofahighuncertaintyinnovationconcept.Inaddition


64

tothat,webuildseveraliterationsofprototypesandcontinuouslylearnedandvalidatedthe

concept.

Inthebeginning,toolshavebeenusedtoenhanceourcreativityandstimulateteam

communication.Werealizedthatcreativityistrainedratherthanborn,thatserendipityseldom

happens,andthateventhen,theidearequirespolishingandadaptationtotheteam

competencies.Withregardstoideageneration,wehavelearnedandappliedmethodstoscreen

ideasandchoosethebestfittothesituationbasedonthepersonalitiesintheteam,aspirations

andwhatmotivatesthemembersaswellasthebusinesspotentialthatithasandthe

monetizationopportunities.

AlthoughwefollowedtheD-I-Aapproach,weendedupgoingthroughDiscoverytwice.We

realizedthatEntrepreneurshipisnotlinearandchangesofcourseareneededeventhoughthey

arenotalwayseasilynoticeable,oncetheteamstartsto“fallinlovewithanidea”.Weusedtools

tokeepaccountableforteamvaluesandthatwasagoodlessonforourteam,especiallyinkey

momentswhenwedidnotknowwhichdirectiontotakewithourproject.

Prototypingandcontinuousvalidationwithend-usersopenedoureyestowhatourpotential

customerswant,andevenmoreimportant,whoourtargetcustomersareandwhichcriteriawe

canusetoidentifythembyratherthanseparatingthemonlybyagegroup.WeappliedtheD-I-A

methoddescribedinthebookPivot(Arteaga&Hyland,2014),tomaximizeresultsandmakeusof

the“learningperdollarspent”mantra.Wedecidedtofollowthephysicallocationbusinessmodel

ratherthanretailingourproducts.Thedecisionwasmadebecausebuildingthebrandrequires

timeandconsiderablemarketingeffortandURBEANneedstobeestablishedasamarketleaderin

thefrozenbeandessertindustrytobesuccessful.

WeutilizedthethreeSWNsintheprocessreportanddescribedthemasguidingtools.Theywere

alsogoodwaysofpracticingandunderstandingpotentialinvestors.Pivotalknowledgewasbuilt

fromthethreeSWNs,astheymadeusthinkdeeperaboutourconcept,forexamplewhetherthe

ideaswererightforus,thebeanicecreamshouldonlybeadessertoramealreplacement,or

whichbusinessmodelfittedtheideabest.

WeconsiderthatthefirstsemesteroftheEntrepreneurialEngineeringeducationwasavaluable

toolwhichtaughttheteammemberstoworkingroupsforinnovativeprojectsandbring


65

significantinputstotheproject.Itwasalsoanimportantlessonformakingdecisionsbasedon

facts,andnotonassumptions.Finally,wehavelearnedtoapproachaprojectintheD-I-Away,by

maximizingtheresultswithaminimumuseofresources.

6.2 Perspective

AlthoughwehaveaclearideaonwhatURBEANisandwhatitcanofferwestillhavealotof

questionstoexploreandanswerwhenitcomestoourbusinessmodel.Therearethreeissueswe

needtofurtherexplore:

1. 5-yearbudget

• Weneedtoestimatehowourbudgetwouldlooklikewithcreatingandbuildingnew

locations,payingsalariestoaCEO,marketingperson,etc.

• Weneedtoexplorehowbigofaninvestmentwouldbeneededfortheaggressive

expansionthatweareplanningstartinginyear3.

2. Istheprofitgeneratedwithinthefirsttwoyearsenoughtoattractinvestors?

• Theprofitperlocationisnotthathigh(especiallyasAalborgbeingthefirstlocation

wherethetargetmarketissmaller).

• Consideranotherfirstlocationwithalargermarket(likeCopenhagen)

3. Exitstrategy

• Dowewanttobuilditupandsell?

• Dowewanttobuilditupandenjoytheprofitsourselves?

• Dowewanttofocusourenergytobuildingtheproductawarenessandbringanew

product(beanicecream)tothesupermarketstoo?

Wecanseealotofpotentialinthisbusinessopportunity.Theproductthatweofferisinnovative

andthemarketwearetargetingisconstantlygrowing(IFOAMEUGroup,2016).Wethinkthat

therewouldbeatleastonemoreiterationneededintheIncubationphaseinordertobe

completelyconfidentinvestingmoneyinthisventurebutsofarallthesignspointtowardfurther

explorationandvalidation.


66

6.3 Threequestionsforevaluation

1. Whydidwechoosetogoforaphysicallocationinsteadofretail?

2. Howwouldthebudgetchangeasthenumberoflocationsincreasesandhowwouldthis

affectthebottomline?

3. Whichstepsdoweneedtotakeinordertobereadyforacceleration?


67

7 Bibliography Arteaga,R.&Hyland,J.,2014.Pivot-HowTopEntrepreneursAdaptandChangeCoursetoFindUltimateSucess.Hoboken(NewJersey):Wiley.Badke-Schaub,G.&.,2010.TheDesign-PsychologyIndispensibleResearchPartnership.roceedingsofthe8thDesignThinkingResearchSymposium(DTRS8),pp.199-209.Baum+WhitemanLLC,2015.11HOTTESTFOOD&BEVERAGEDININGTRENDSINRESTAURANT&HOTELS,2016,Brooklyn:Baum+WhitemanLLC.Chaffey,D.,2016.MobileMarketingStatisticscompilation.[Online]Availableat:http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/[Accessed03012017].Dahlager,L.,2016.Politiken.[Online]Availableat:http://politiken.dk/mad/madnyt/art5637169/Sådan-gjorde-en-21-årig-grød-hipt[Accessed8December2016].ForumfortheFuture,2016.Whatistheroleofplant-basedfoodsinfuturediets?,s.l.:ForumfortheFuture.Gassmann,O.,2015.TheBusinessModelNavigator:55ModelsThatWillRevolutioniseYourBusiness.s.l.:Pearson.Google,2016.FoodTrends2016,s.l.:ThinkwithGoogle.IFOAMEUGroup,2016.ORGANICINEUROPE-PROSPECTSANDDEVELOPMENTS2016,Brussels:IFOAMEUGroup.Ingemann,D.,2015.BØNNE-BROWNIES.[Online]Availableat:http://www.thefoodclub.dk/boenne-brownies/[Accessed03012017].Keeley,L.,2013.TenTypesofInnovation:TheDisciplineofBuildingBreakthroughs.Hoboken,NewJersey:Wiley.Lauterborn,B.,1990.AdvertisingAge.[Online]Availableat:http://rlauterborn.com/pubs/pdfs/4_Cs.pdf[Accessed03012017].LeanStartupMachine,2012.ValidationBoard-Testyourstartupideawithoutwastingtimeormoney.[Online]


68

Availableat:https://www.leanstartupmachine.com/validationboard/[Accessed03012017].mediakix,2016.The13MostPopularTypesOfYouTubeVideos-Readmoreat:http://scl.io/3QUunOaE#gs.Y=1YmYQ.[Online]Availableat:http://mediakix.com/2016/02/most-popular-youtube-videos/#gs.Y=1YmYQ[Accessed03012017].MINTEL,2016.Food&DrinkTrends2017,s.l.:MintelReports.Revella,A.,2015.BuyerPersonas:HowtoGainInsightIntoYourCustomer'sExpectations,AlignYourMarketingStrategies,andWinMoreBusiness.s.l.:Wiley.Ryegård,C.&Ryegård,O.,2015.Ekologisklivsmedelsmarknad,Lidköping:Ekoweb.Sweden,2015.SUSTAINABLELIVINGINSWEDEN.[Online]Availableat:https://sweden.se/nature/sustainable-living/[Accessed03012017].ThedeBonoGroup,2013.SixThinkingHats.[Online]Availableat:http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php[Accessed03012017].Vaughan,P.,2015.HowtoCreateDetailedBuyerPersonasforYourBusiness[FreePersonaTemplate].[Online]Availableat:https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33491/Everything-Marketers-Need-to-Research-Create-Detailed-Buyer-Personas-Template.aspx#sm.0000q0l68u1d37edcwy6nde567v2p[Accessed03012017].


69

8 Appendices8.1 SixThinkingHats Gastro travels White hat:

• People spend more and more on food, travelling and luxury • People are more interested in cultures • There are successful travel agencies- tried and proven business model • Blue market in Denmark • Big market for travel in Denmark • Everybody loves food • People want to hear about food. Based on the number of food programmes on TV • People want to feel special see luxury

Yellow hat: • Foodies would really love it • Sometimes you wish you could experience the local cuisine • Tell you a lot about the culture • It will be easily available, a package you can buy, you don’t need to spend the time on research • Very sharable, it will market itself • You can keep the recipes for a long time • Blue ocean • Cookbook • Package, you can add it to another trip of yours • Easy marketing opportunities

Black hat: • We need to talk to a lot of people • We need a big network to find all the local people • It is something that others can copy • We need to target different target groups price wise

Green hat: • Make an app • Have an alternative Michelin guide • A restaurant with guest chefs from different countries • Cooking classes with a guest teacher from different countries (either in Denmark and locally)

Red hat: • Eating is a great way to find out about the culture • It would be easier have a holiday like this with the family

Indoor playground White hat:

• The money is there • We have introverted people that don’t like playground • There are more kids in regular schools that have special needs • Education is never going to die • The knowledge is getting bigger on how we learn • How different kids learn different, and rest differently • There’s different ways of playing than running around

Yellow hat: • The money is there • Everybody wants to play • A lot of possible business models • A of different themes • It would help that group of kids that feels bullied and unsafe, unwelcome in the schoolyard • You don’t force anyone out or in it • You can always start small with a pilot project • It’s easy to validate and execute


70

• A lot of options on decorating the container Black hat:

• Maybe the people would get bullied for going in there • Maybe it won’t be well received by teacher • Needs money for the actual thing

Green hat: • It could be in a room instead • It can incorporate a teaching space • It could be an event instead (come with educators from the outside) • It could be an event for other places (zoos, museums, malls, private company, birthday parties) • Interactive theater thing, music room • Mobile cinema container • Moving cooking class

Red hat: • The money and willingness to work with it is there

Smell alarm clock White hat:

• Most people want a better way to wake up • Many people are willing to spend more on luxury products • Wellness and meditation is a hot trend • Avoiding snoozing is bad for your health • Everybody sleeps and everybody needs to wake up • There is a huge market that needs to wake up at a certain time in the day • The olfactory system shuts down

Yellow hat: • Give you a pleasant morning • The competitor isn’t that well known • Helps personal development • It’s very customizable • People can buy them for their teenagers to help them wake up • Feeling of luxury is in • Everybody wants to feel special

Black hat: • Maybe you end up hating the smell • Maybe you wouldn’t wake up if it’s too gentle • Red market (alarm clock has been done a lot) • Maybe you would feel tricked • Might be too expensive for an alarm clock • Needs a lot of marketing to sell luxury

Green hat: • App and connection to a smell diffuser

Red hat: • We might not buy it

Container housing concept White hat:

• Some people are doing this • There is a market, there is competition • They are easily available • There should be a lot of them • There is a need for housing • People need a cheap rent • Students can be ok with living in containers

Yellow hat: • They can be moved around • Flexible • They can be put together , modular if there is need for more space • Doesn’t take a long time to build


71

• Positive for the environment • They have an urban industrial hipster vibe

Black hat: • If it’s not for students it has ghetto potential • Probably not that affordable • Most municipalities would go with a more permanent solution

Green hat: • Summer houses • Moving container cooking classs • Team building stuff in an container, more like an event you can book with people • Incubator, office space for startups

Red hat: • Customizable • Love the recycling idea • Not much innovation in this, it’s a business • Difficult, big challenge

Container incubator village “ you need a box to think outside of” White hat:

• Incubator model functions • We need more startups in Aalborg • There would probably be some public funding • Containers are already used as offices • Good for the environment

Yellow hat: • Fun to work it • Flexible • Alternative and movable • Interesting workspace • Promotes creativity • Gives the vibe of under construction - reflects your situation • Reminder that it’s temporary and a startup • Extra funding, sponsors • Be a workspace for other people. Prototype a food joint, coffee shop etc. • Cheap to rent

Black hat: • There are a lot of incubators already (red ocean) • Location • Initial startup cost (capital)

Green hat: • Virtual incubator

Red hat: • Depends on the price if it would be usable and location

Analogue Cafe

White hat: • Red ocean market- cafe thing, blue for the analogue • People spend too much time on their phone even when with friends • People are trying to get some distance to technology • People spend money on fancy coffee • People are willing to pay for experience • There is a trend going on with going back to basics • Aalborg is a growing market

Yellow hat: • Good place to network • Easy to market


72

• Easy to test, validate, prototype • Easy to franchise • Vey self spreading • It would have the mystique

Black hat: • Red ocean market • It would exclude the people addicted to their phones • High implementation cost • Maybe people would only go once there

Green hat: • Restaurant instead of cafe

Red hat: • I dig it x 3

8.2 BeanBrownieRecipe

Canbefoundhere:http://www.thefoodclub.dk/boenne-brownies/


73

8.3 PlaceboTest


74

8.4 QuestionnaireforProductTesting


75

8.5 ResultsfromProductTesting

8.6 Budget 8.6.1 Year1


76

8.6.2 Year2

8.7 Mood-boardforSWN3Presentation

BUSINESS REPORT

GROUP 2 / SEMESTER PROJECT 1

MSC ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGINEERING 2016-18

AALBORG UNIVERSITY

4TH JANUARY 2017

…BEANS THE COOL WAYURBEAN

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

13

14

15

16

17

18

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ABOUT US

PAIN / PROBLEM

CURE / SOLUTION

PROBLEM / SOLUTION FIT

TARGET MARKET

BUSINESS MODEL

VALUE PROPOSITION

PROTOTYPE

COMPETITORS

UNCERTAINTIES & RISKS

FINANCES & BUDGET

ACTION PLAN

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3

The pain that URBEAN addresses is based on the lack of places that cater to the discerning urban citizen in need of an organic and healthy dessert or snack. URBEAN solves that problem with the dessert studios – trendy and contemporary spaces where customers can enjoy healthy, handcrafted desserts.

URBEAN’s target market is based on personal values and lifestyle choices rather than age. This is illustrated by different buyers personas. The value they obtain from choosing URBEAN is a unique combination between eating a delicious and healthy dessert, and enjoying it in a location centred around the user experience.

Direct sales have been established as the current business model, with possibilities to expand based on the performance of the first years. The brand name, product quality and interior design are the main drivers for new customer acquisition.

ABOUT US

Andreas, Lucian, Miruna and Pernille

ABOUT US

/ The team behind URBEAN

4

Behind URBEAN sits an international team of four people – all with different educational backgrounds. The team’s professional skills are widely spread and range from software development/design, business models/system development, bio technology, food science, product development and project management. In alphabetical order, the team members are:

Andreas Rafn – BSc in Global Business Engineering, Aalborg UniversityLucian Lungu – PBA in Product Development and Project Management, Lillebælt Business AcademyMiruna Olesen – PBA in Software Development, University College NordjyllandPernille Sindberg – BSc in Bioprocess Technology, Aarhus School of Engineering

The group has worked together as a team since late September 2016 and the roles have been divided based on personal competencies and desires. Therefore, Andreas handles finances and budgeting while Lucian oversees planning, communication and public speaking. Pernille holds the practical experience and theoretical knowledge about food and is also in charge of design and brand identity. Miruna is in charge of the strategic choices behind URBEAN within marketing and business and provides a constructive critical overview.

/URBEANDK @URBEANDK

PAIN / PROBLEM

PAIN / PROBLEM

5

On the food service market, there is a growing interest from customers for organic and healthier food products. A report made by HORESTA shows that the younger generation shows increasing interest in the healthier options when it comes to fast food (HORESTA, 2006). At the same time, there is an increase in the amount of money people spend when going to cafés and out for entertainment which can be seen by an increase in the turnover of 7.5 % for the whole restaurant industry in Denmark from 2014 to 2015. That is the the biggest increase since 2011 where it was 8.1 %. Additionally, the level of money spent in restaurants in 2015 is even higher than before the financial crisis (2008) with a total turnover increase for the whole industry of 9 billion DKK equivalent to an increase of 29.7 % (HORESTA, 2015).

In general, people are more on the go (MINTEL, 2016), spend less time in their homes and on cooking. Research shows that home cooked meals usually contains less calories, sugar and fat compared to takeaway meals or meals eaten at restaurants (Bleich & Wolfson, 2014). Currently there is a gap in the Danish market when it comes to places where people can go out and eat healthy, organic food and especially within the dessert and snack segments. The problem is particularly visible in the lack of options of combining a high level of service and gastronomy with healthy foods. URBEAN wants to fill that gap.

CURE / SOLUTION

CURE / SOLUTION

6

URBEAN is a trendy and contemporary space where customers canenjoy healthy, handcrafted desserts. The space is called a studioand not a café, as URBEAN offers more than just selling a healthyproduct. We want to display how eating healthy food (focusing on dessert and snacks) can serve as an experience by intriguingcustomers with our new ways of combining ingredients and experimenting with them.

We envision creating a brand that dares to explore the gastronomyof healthy food in the sense of flavours, textures and combinations - changing the reputation of healthy food from beingdull, boring and just an alternative. We imagine full, richflavours and an indulgent texture to go hand in hand with important nutrients and low calories. The main selling point is that URBEAN provides healthy desserts made of beans withoutcompromising the experience or taste. Additionally, everything is organic to give customers a clear conscience.



7

URBEAN is an urban brand producing healthy desserts based on beans – our focus is an ice cream styled frozen bean dessert. To ensure a rich texture and flavour of the frozen dessert, we add coconut milk and a natural sweetener – all organic. The products will be fresh and made on a day to day basis and sold in our own dessert studios. The dessert studio is a space where URBEAN aims to take dessert to the next level by combining a unique dessert experience with funky flavours and fuels for the body. Customers can add toppings of some of nature's best sources of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids such as chia seeds, goji berries, walnuts, roasted sesame seeds or crushed flax seeds. URBEAN offers customers the experience and the taste of a luscious dessert packed with nutrients. However, to make sure that URBEAN is not a seasonal business, the menu will contain more options of healthy bean based desserts such as brownies and/or mousses. Together with our desserts, customers can always enjoy a cup of quality coffee, matcha latté or a juice straight out of the juicer.

Since URBEAN is not only about providing a healthy product but also about the overall experience while enjoying it, the vision for the dessert studio is a hip, urban space with a contemporary interior. The space holds the vibe of metropolitan and urban New York mixed with the Nordic sense of aesthetics and design with materials such as wood, leather, steel, glass, ceramics and green plants. All in all, the atmosphere must intrigue our target customers to step inside the studio and provide them a major part of the foundation of URBEAN.

TARGET MARKET

TARGET MARKET

8

The target customer at the URBEAN studio is the urban dweller in search of a luxurious dessert experience. Our target customers are defined by their values and lifestyles rather than just an age category. Their food choices reflect their values in terms of what they eat, how the food they eat is produced, where it originates from, and in which situations and surroundings they eat it. To illustrate the different target customers we created some buyer personas whom we would expect to visit URBEAN:

Vegan Vera - the vegan customer, concerned with the health aspect as well as the ethical aspect of our productsHipster Henry - the young hip customer that wants to be seen in the right place, being part of the cool new thingGuilty Grandma Gemma - the grandma that wants to treat her grandchildren but does not want to overdose them on sugar and additivesCurious George - not a regular to eating out but simply curious about the novelty aspect of bean dessertsDating Daniel - young student out on a date, he wants to impress by sending the right message. He wants to be seen as hip, mature, concerned about the environment, health and the animalsYuppie Greg - middle class, white collar job he heard about this cool new place and wants to be able to tell others what he thinks about it Crunchy Mom Carol - she usually makes her own healthy desserts for the family but since she is in the city, URBEAN is a good enough alternativeDiabetes Doreen - she wants a tasty treat that she can enjoy with the rest of the family while also keeping her sugar intake lowShopping Sue - after shopping all day she wants to drink a cup of coffee and eat some cake with her friendsLifestyle Liv - she is a lifestyle blogger and wants to see what she can share with her followers she might not have many but she wants to keep them informed

BUSINESS MODEL

BUSINESS MODEL

9

Our main source of revenue are direct sales in the dessert studios. High emphasis is put on the physical location because we are creating a culture around the URBEAN experience. After validation with our first physical location, we are planning to expand the business to locations across Denmark, then Europe and USA

Although the earnings for the individual location will not be very high initially after expansions, we expect that the economy of scale will allow for higher profit margins. On a later stage and once the brand has been well established, we are assessing the possibility of retailing our frozen desserts.

Because of the nature of our offering and the customer base that we would expect to have, we are considering introducing the Robin Hood model (Gassmann, 2015) and offering our customers the option to help others when choosing our establishment by as an example providing a meal to children in poverty stricken areas when spending a certain amount of money at URBEAN.

VALUE PROPOSITION

VALUE PROPOSITION

The unique combination between eating a delicious and healthy dessert, and enjoying it in a location centred around the user’s experience; that is the reason URBEAN customers are entering our dessert studios. URBEAN offers a multitude of desserts which are based on beans, a novelty for the Nordic cuisine. The central offering is bean frozen dessert, with a consistency reminding of ice cream, but packed with fibres and proteins compared to ordinary ice cream.

As a brand, URBEAN is defined by the physical locations: the dessert studios. At the dessert studios, customers experience a cool but cosy atmosphere in surroundings with high quality materials and a Nordic, elegant design. To complement the prestigious physical ambience that our novelty-exploring customers buy into, our desserts stand out from the regular café market by offering nutrition-packed, modern desserts, reborn from a common base ingredient. In addition to that, various healthy toppings can be added to the dessert for a complete experience.

10

PROTOTYPE

PROTOTYPE

11

Ice cream styled frozen bean dessertWe made three prototypes in order to validate whether it was possible to make an ice cream styled frozen dessert based on beans. The initial purpose of the first prototype was to see if it was possible to hide the bean flavour by adding other flavours such as lemon, chocolate, etc. The first prototype showed that it is possible to make a product that had a consistency comparable to ice cream without any significant bean flavour. However, there was an issue with small grainy particles that made the texture a bit flaky. Furthermore, we tested two different kinds of beans, different processing methods, etc. We found butter beans to be the best fit. The second prototype was a repetition of the first round but only made with butter beans. The third round followed the same recipe and method as round two and one – the only difference was that the freezing took place on an ice cream maker instead of in the freezer. Unfortunately, we did not manage to overcome the grainy and flaky texture within the limited time frame of this project.

Bean brownieWe also tested a bean brownie recipe from a Danish food blogger and followed the recipe and production method step by step. We validated the brownie with potential customers, and the overall impression was, that it should be sweeter, more rich in flavour and having a spongier texture like a regular brownie. Nonetheless, the majority could not taste that the main ingredient was beans.

Per 100 gram Frozen bean dessert Bean brownie

Kilo calories 134 326.3

Fat 5.1 24.1

Carbohydrates 14.3 21.1

Of which sugar 5.7 9.2

Of which fibre 4.4 6.4

Protein 5.3 7.9

Atmosphere and mood-setting of URBEAN dessert studiosWe styled different table settings and materials in photos to serve as a mood-board and example of how we envision an URBEAN dessert studio to look like. By asking potential customers, we found that mood-setting and atmosphere is quite important to customers when selecting a café. However, exactly what the mood-setting should capture remains unclear. This is something that needs validation. The mood board above shows what we are trying to achieve. We also created a mock-up menu that can be seen below.

COMPETITORS

COMPETITORS

13

URBEAN is going to compete on an emerging market as the interestfor healthy food is increasing (HORESTA, 2006). Since there is noreal direct competition with the same offering as us we find ourselves in a small blue ocean in the middle of a big red one. This presents us with a special opportunity to look at our indirectcompetitors and their strategy as a source of learning.

At the moment we do not have any direct competitors that createdesserts made of beans. This is the reason why we looked at the following indirect competitors: Joe and the Juice, Paradis Is and Baresso as well as the numerous local cafes. They all offer parts of what we want to create:

Joe & The Juice with a strong health oriented and hip brand image

Paradis Is offering delicious ice cream that people will stand in line for

Baresso offering good quality coffee that is a great Danish growncompany to rival international competitors such as Starbucks.

As far as using our competitors as a source of learning wedeveloped our social media strategy based on their experience. Paradis Is has the strongest Facebook presence so we will emulateit having different pages for each location and a central page. Joe and the Juice has a very strong Instagram presence, presenting a consistent brand image that clearly states their value proposition and what their offering is. To us, this is a source of inspiration and a place to look to on how a strong brand image can be created.



14

The highest uncertainty URBEAN is facing at the moment is still the ability to smoothen the frozen dessert. This could be done by using a colloid mill or a homogenizer used in the dairy industry. Of smoothing of the dessert is possible, the product will resemble ice cream as intended. The issue can be addressed by adding coarse ingredients to the grainy bean paste, such as crushed almonds, thus taking advantage of the grainy texture. Moreover, the addition of more bean based products to the offering, such as bean brownies, works towards reducing the impact of a potential unsuccessful homogenizing of the bean frozen dessert.

Opening of a physical location in the form of a dessert studio poses a risk in itself. URBEAN needs to have an average of 84 customers per day in order to break-even after 17 month (this will be stated in the “Finances & Budget” section below). Because of the risk of our products being too peculiar compared to what is offered on the current market, the wide public can find it unappealing and choose to bypass the URBEAN dessert studio until the brand has been successfully established. Therefore, the first two operating years of our physical location in Aalborg will be crucial for proving the business viability and re-evaluating the possibilities for expansion.

Additionally, the exact nutritional content of the bean desserts remains a minor uncertainty as URBEAN is still in the prototype stage. We are aware of the fact that the beans can lose some micronutrients such as vitamins after being processed which is why further research is needed to calculate both the micro- and macronutrient values of the final products.

FINANCES & BUDGET

FINANCES & BUDGET

15

For the first dessert studio to start operating, an investment of 295 000 DKK is required. This investment covers the costs for rent, machinery and decoration for the pilot location in Aalborg. The number of employees has been calculated so that costs are minimized. Sales persons are considered in the budget to boost sales for URBEAN, however the team will not deduct a salary for the first two years of operating. The amount of 295 000 DKK will be bootstrapped and invested in the one-time expenses in year one, such as the machinery, interior for the first the location and other miscellaneous costs. As seen in the projections from the table below, after year one the venture will be in a deficit of 138 450 DKK. With a calculated break-even of 17 months, by the end of year two, a profit of 150 800 DKK will occur. Starting with year two, the team members will prepareURBEAN for expansion by duplicating the first dessert studio in Copenhagen.

The bootstrapped budget presented in the table above allows for creation of the pilot location. To accelerate growth to an exponential rate, URBEAN needs a higher investment which is the second alternative that has been taken into consideration. In thiscase, an investment of 500 000 DKK allows for more aggressive marketing, promotion and branding. URBEAN expects to spend 60 000 DKK on marketing consultancy for the first three months of launching, add 200 000 DKK to the interior design budget and 150 000 DKK in the first three months to promote the brand in local media. The remaining90 000 DKK would be spent as needed on other promotions throughoutthe year, based on further learning.With a more aggressive marketing that an initial investment enables, URBEAN has a higher potential to reach the ambitious goal of expanding internationally to three countries and 14 locations withinthe first ten years of the venture.

Year 1 Year 2

Total expenses 1 664 700 1 499 200

Income 1 526 250 1 650 000

Profit (Income-Expenses) - 138 450 + 150 800

ACTION PLAN

ACTION PLAN

16

In order to be successful, we need to focus on expansions from the very beginning. The amount of profit we can generate, as well as the entire concept’s success, depends on creating a recognisable brand that can sell. We have structured the action plan in 3 steps.

Step 1: Pilot locationAt this stage we will focus all our energy on creating the pilot location, learning from the feedback we get from customers and building our infrastructure for future expansion (suppliers, contractors etc.) as well as establishing Standard Operating Procedures.

Step 2: National expansionThis step focuses on aggressive national expansion. More efforts will be focused on building the brand as well as attracting investors and partners for further expansion. The first 5 years will be used to create six locations in Denmark and pave the way to expanding on nearby markets, Germany and Sweden.

Step 3: International expansionWe are considering Sweden and Germany as first markets for expansion outside of Denmark. We expect that in the first few years of expanding internationally, URBEAN will create partners and focus on those two markets. They both hold a high potential because of the current trends on organic and healthy food markets and their similarity to the Danish model (IFOAM EU Group, 2016).

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

17

Four months of development of the URBEAN idea led to the business concept of an urban brand producing desserts based on beans to be sold in a physical space, like a café, which we call dessert studios. The ambition is to take desserts to the next level by combining a unique experience with tasty flavours. In the team, roles have been split based on knowledge and preferences, which were sustained by interdisciplinary educational backgrounds.

The project’s most significant risks and uncertainties have been addressed but there are still a few remaining, which must be explored further and mitigated if URBEAN decides to proceed.

REFERENCES

18

Bleich, S. N. & Wolfson, J. A., 2014. Is cooking at home associated with better diet quality or weight-loss intention?. Public Health Nutrition, 17 November, p. 1397–1406.

Gassmann, O., 2015. The Business Model Navigator: 55 Models That Will Revolutionise Your Business. s.l.:Pearson.

HORESTA, 2006. Tendens - Danskerne spiser sundere fastfood, s.l.: HORESTA.

HORESTA, 2015. Bespisningserhvervet, s.l.: HORESTA.

IFOAM EU Group, 2016. ORGANIC IN EUROPE - PROSPECTS AND DEVELOPMENTS 2016, Brussels: IFOAM EU Group.

MINTEL, 2016. Food & Drink Trends 2017, s.l.: Mintel Reports.

THANKS

…BEANS THE COOL WAYURBEAN

Documents

Process Report - AAU€¦ · Process Report and Bu ... , der gik udenom alle mellemled og i stedet fokuserede på direkte ... Internship at Danish Technological Institute