#1 The very first version of our BMC & VPC!
Hi everyone,
we are happy to share some good news with you: we have completed the very first version of our BMC and VPC! (It's probably only a small step for mankind, but a giant leap for us. :) )
But let's continue from where we stopped last time!
After we decided to work on Backjag on Monday evening, we had the next (and third) lecture on Tuesday morning, where each team had to come up with a short pitch for their ideas. This was ours:
“For festival visitors who carry their belongings, Backjag is a 2-in-1 jacket that combines the rain-protection of a traditional rain jacket and the portability of a pouch.
Unlike regular rain jackets, our product takes away the pain of carrying your jacket and other belongings with you.”
Unlike regular rain jackets, our product takes away the pain of carrying your jacket and other belongings with you.”
This brief description of Backjag turned out to be a useful starting point for forming our value proposition. First of all, it made clear that we are going to focus on festival visitors in the first place.
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| They are all our future customers! :) |
Although there is only one regular festival goer in the team (Sara), but she is a huge festival fan and visits 2-3 music festivals in a year (Note: if you've ever been to Sziget Festival in Budapest, you'll become besties quickly. If you have not, then you should go this year don't tell her unless you want to hear some funny anecdotes.), so she had enough experience to build on. Also, the boys spent the afternoon after class with interviewing people on campus in order to get some insights from our future customers. It would have been probably easier to create an internet survey and send it out to our friends and network, but we thought that a rather personal and direct approach would give more detailed and diverse information.
Sara's festival experience and the inputs that we gained during the customer interviews enabled us to collect all the relevant pains and gains, and identify the corresponding gain creators and pain relievers:
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| Working hard |
Sara's festival experience and the inputs that we gained during the customer interviews enabled us to collect all the relevant pains and gains, and identify the corresponding gain creators and pain relievers:
The other big achievement of the week was the creation of our very first business model canvas:
Value Proposition:
The Backjag is a rain jacket that can be turned into a simple bag tight to the body within a few seconds and steps. When customers use jackets and bags, they try to fulfil some basic functional jobs: keeping themselves warm and dry and avoiding the hassle of carrying all their belongings. Sometimes, they also aim to fulfil a social job, by using products that show that they are cool and stylish. Also, as feeling comfortable contributes to the overall festival experience, enjoying the festival can also be regarded as an emotional job. As long as it does not rain though, festival visitors encounter the pain of carrying their jacket (and possibly other items) in their hands. With the Backjag, customers only have to wear one instead of two products. This keeps their hands free and makes it easier to decide whether to take a jacket or not.
What has been previously described can be achieved through an intelligent jacket design using straps, belts and velcro making the switching process very quick and easy. The well-placed inside pockets also ensure that the user does not have to rearrange any items when switching between the two functions and that all belongings in the jacket are at any time safe yet easily accessible. The Backjag thus allows the customer to be well-equipped for bad weather, have his hands free and his belongings stored safely, all at the same time and with a fashionable design.
Customer Segments:
The pain of carrying a jacket without knowing whether it is going to be necessary or not is commonly known to many different groups of people, which makes our product potentially interesting to a large number of customers, especially between the age of 18 and 30. We identified the following four main customer segments:
Value Proposition:
The Backjag is a rain jacket that can be turned into a simple bag tight to the body within a few seconds and steps. When customers use jackets and bags, they try to fulfil some basic functional jobs: keeping themselves warm and dry and avoiding the hassle of carrying all their belongings. Sometimes, they also aim to fulfil a social job, by using products that show that they are cool and stylish. Also, as feeling comfortable contributes to the overall festival experience, enjoying the festival can also be regarded as an emotional job. As long as it does not rain though, festival visitors encounter the pain of carrying their jacket (and possibly other items) in their hands. With the Backjag, customers only have to wear one instead of two products. This keeps their hands free and makes it easier to decide whether to take a jacket or not.
What has been previously described can be achieved through an intelligent jacket design using straps, belts and velcro making the switching process very quick and easy. The well-placed inside pockets also ensure that the user does not have to rearrange any items when switching between the two functions and that all belongings in the jacket are at any time safe yet easily accessible. The Backjag thus allows the customer to be well-equipped for bad weather, have his hands free and his belongings stored safely, all at the same time and with a fashionable design.
Customer Segments:
The pain of carrying a jacket without knowing whether it is going to be necessary or not is commonly known to many different groups of people, which makes our product potentially interesting to a large number of customers, especially between the age of 18 and 30. We identified the following four main customer segments:
- Festival visitors (16-30)
- Hikers
- Urban citizens (18-30)
- Tourists
Channels:
The internet and social media will largely contribute to the success of Backjag, as our sales strategy is largely based on these tools. We plan to sell Backjag through an online shop and a Facebook store, and to use social media marketing in customer acquisition. Besides, as Sara insists that all of us should visit at least one music festival, we intend to set up stands at festivals as a direct sales channel to sell Backjag either as a brand or as festival-sponsored merchandise.
Customer Relationships:
In general, our relationship with the customers will be a quick, short term relationship, with a focus on healthy after-sales care of dissatisfied customers. Due to the fact that most of our channels are digital, customer service will be largely automated through the webshop. However, we will need a rather personal relationship to approach festival organisers.
Key Activities:
We believe that the success of Backjag depends on four key activities. Firstly, the design is the soul of the product, because it makes it desirable for customers. Second, marketing and sales are equally important: we need a strong brand and a great sales strategy to successfully acquire customers and establish the necessary partnerships. Third, since we plan to outsource the manufacturing and good relationship with festival organisers is inevitable to sell the product, partnership management is crucial. Finally, quality control is needed to ensure the high standard of Backjags.
Key Partners:
To make the business model work, Backjag relies on a number of key partners including:
Key Resources:
Our most important resources are, in fact, our partnerships with fashion designers, manufacturers and festival organisers, because of the above described reasons.
Revenue Streams:
We identified two main revenue streams. Firstly, Backjag will realise revenues from the sales of the product either through the web shop/Facebook store or the stands at festivals. Second, we also expect to sell the product as festival sponsored merchandise when the brand becomes big enough.
Cost structure:
Despite that we will outsource the production activity, we still have to take into account the costs of manufacturing, procurement of the necessary fabric and parts, and delivery when we calculate our costs. Furthermore, we will definitely have marketing-related costs as well, as marketing is going to be one of our key activities.
But stay tuned, because in the next post we will share the results of our customer survey with you (SPOILER ALERT: including some amazing pie charts and numbers)!
Customer Relationships:
In general, our relationship with the customers will be a quick, short term relationship, with a focus on healthy after-sales care of dissatisfied customers. Due to the fact that most of our channels are digital, customer service will be largely automated through the webshop. However, we will need a rather personal relationship to approach festival organisers.
Key Activities:
We believe that the success of Backjag depends on four key activities. Firstly, the design is the soul of the product, because it makes it desirable for customers. Second, marketing and sales are equally important: we need a strong brand and a great sales strategy to successfully acquire customers and establish the necessary partnerships. Third, since we plan to outsource the manufacturing and good relationship with festival organisers is inevitable to sell the product, partnership management is crucial. Finally, quality control is needed to ensure the high standard of Backjags.
Key Partners:
To make the business model work, Backjag relies on a number of key partners including:
- Fashion designers, who can create the perfect design
- Garment manufacturers, to whom we can outsource the production
- Festival organisers, who can help us to build up our direct sales channel
- Fabric and other parts suppliers, from whom we can order high-quality material
Key Resources:
Our most important resources are, in fact, our partnerships with fashion designers, manufacturers and festival organisers, because of the above described reasons.
Revenue Streams:
We identified two main revenue streams. Firstly, Backjag will realise revenues from the sales of the product either through the web shop/Facebook store or the stands at festivals. Second, we also expect to sell the product as festival sponsored merchandise when the brand becomes big enough.
Cost structure:
Despite that we will outsource the production activity, we still have to take into account the costs of manufacturing, procurement of the necessary fabric and parts, and delivery when we calculate our costs. Furthermore, we will definitely have marketing-related costs as well, as marketing is going to be one of our key activities.
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| At least for now. :) |
But stay tuned, because in the next post we will share the results of our customer survey with you (SPOILER ALERT: including some amazing pie charts and numbers)!
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