Jack Sherman

1. Refine the income statement for your venture.

 

2. Refine the capital expenditure budget

 

 

3. Identify two SPECIFIC funding sources for the design phase of your project and two SPECIFIC funding sources for the dissemination (implementation / distribution / commercialization) phase​​ of your project. For each funding source, explain why this is a good fit for your project, and what SPECIFIC aspect of your project might the funding source support.

Design: 

1. American Society of Interior Designers. We applied for the Joel Polsky Academic Achievement Award which has the following description:

“The Joel Polsky Academic Achievement Award recognizes an outstanding interior design research project or thesis project conducted by an undergraduate or graduate student. This project or thesis should be related to wellness and design. Research papers or theses should address topics such as educational research, behavioral science, business practice, design process, theory, or other technical subjects. Entries will be judged on quality of content, breadth of material, comprehensive coverage of topic, innovative subject matter, bibliography, and references.”

This helps us in the design stage.

2. The Biophilic Cities Project: This project is a global initiative focused on promoting nature in urban environments. They offer grants for projects that promote biophilic design principles, which emphasize the importance of connecting people with nature in the built environment. We can use this funding to aid in customer outreach efforts and marketing to developers who are interested in incorporating more biophilic-oriented design concepts.

Implementation:

1. Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ): During a meeting we conducted with Michael Lehman he recommended this incentive program that is designed to help young KIZ companies to transition through all stages of growth. It provides tax credits to for-profit companies that are less than eight years old operating. We would be able to partner with the KIZ targeted industry segment that is located in Pennsylvania to help grow our start up company. 

2. Lehigh’s SBDC: We can work with the SBDC to identify and apply for patents or other forms of intellectual property. They also serve as a gateway to funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

4. Identify five specific partnerships that you need to forge to advance your project forward with the ultimate goal of positively impacting at least one million people. Describe exactly how that partnership might help you achieve scale and why that entity might be willing to work with you.

• Urban Outfitters

Will purchase product to be incorporated in retail settings or office spaces to increase awareness to potential consumers

• Work Bistro

We have partnered with the organization Work Bistro which is a

 coworking space company, in the past where we have acquired a recommendation letter that was utilized for the past the grant that we applied for. We can leverage this relationship to put our product in their coworking spaces, which are seen as progressive and can aid in establishing our brands image and awareness.

• Astellas Pharma Global Development with Maureen Swartz: 

An interior designer for bio corporate office spaces. We gained her contact information during the exposition we did for admitted students. She explained to us that as an interior designer for the company’s office space she was trying to make t

he office space more inviting to bring people back to the office. She expressed intensive interest in implementing something like the EcoRealm into these office spaces. 

• The International WELL Building Institute: 

Helps in marketing efforts by communicating the importance of biophilia to potential customers and finding locations of high demand.

• Sway

Same founder as Work Bistro, similar purpose except focuses more on hospitality which might allow us to branch between industries.

1. 2. Develop a detailed income statement for your venture for two

   years (at six month intervals). Explicitly state the assumptions

   that underlie your financial model.

   

2. 3. Develop a budget that captures all the non-recurring (one-time)

   expenses to get your venture up and running.

   

Jack Sherman

Jack Sherman

1. From the social enterprises we reviewed today, or others you have studied, identify ten extremely specific strategies that you can leverage for your project. The strategies can be about the technology, the business model, access to capital, customer education, messaging, thought leadership, etc. 

 

• Figuring out how to implement a loss leader into our revenue model. Give a first EcoRealm for free and expect employees to ask for more
• Hire kids to maintain the plants, local schools near the offices with our products can do field trips for community service by trimming and curing our plants? → Task shifting
• Make the app containing our live dashboard interactable. Give end-user access to the app so they can report issues, post photos, etc.
• Implementing a “razor cartridge” model, sell products for low, offer maintenance subscription at high price, Ecorealm requires constant systems monitoring and an addition of nutrient solution into the tanks every sixth month. This can be packaged as the “cartrid
  ge” and we can sell the ecorealm structure at cost. 
• Implementing a Subscription service model. Ecorealm requires constant monitoring so a system for pricing that we could implement could be where we rent out the ecorealm to ensure that it is cared for and managed and it is nicer for the customer because the customer has lower maintenance costs and can be sure we will regulate the system.
• Offer to buy the cubicles from the company whose office we want to renovate, then resell at a discount… to who?
• Allow buyer to choose from a selection of plant species to personalize their environment → empowerment
• Implementing a pay if you can policy- this could be used when we grow in size and make our product more accessible than to just rich corporations. Would also help our business with tax write offs.
• Implementing a “buy one give one” to a user in need. Similar to toms yet we are not taking jobs away from locals. This way corporations can feel good about their purchase and know that it is being implemented in a school/library/mental facility. This also allows our business to do a tax write-off. 
• Eventually implementing the product to be “multi-use” Using it to be applied in the context of a home. Recycling the idea to broader markets in order to scale. 

 

2. Create a first draft of your business model using the business model canvas. Please be as specific as possible and explain why you picked those specific approaches for each of the building blocks. 

3. Create a set of 2-4 slides to articulate your business model in a presentation. Come prepared to describe your business model in the next class.