1. 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 Phase – 

• P3 Student Design Competition Grant – This is a grant for college students that are working on a project that deals with ensuring clean air and water. It is a good fit for us because only small groups of college students can apply. This may slightly increase our chances of getting the grant because we will not be competing against those who have been established in the field for years. Additionally, they award a grant to a project that positively contributes to clean air or water. Our project hopes to improve water quality, by limiting the amount of plastic pollution that ends up in oceans. This grant will be used to purchase the various ingredients, such as plasticizer, corn starch, corn husks, baking soda, and other lab supplies we will need when developing our bio pellet. 
• Environmental Research and Education Foundation Grant – The Environmental Research and Education Foundation focuses on alleviating the impacts of climate change. They believe that the best way to do this is by creating a circular economy. Our project fits this description because we are using agricultural waste to create packaging that will eventually decompose. This grant will support the costs of testing our prototype. For example, we will need to figure out under what conditions our packaging will decompose. 

Dissemination Phase –

• Plastic Solutions Fund – The Plastic Solutions Fund gives grants to various projects that focus on limiting plastic production. One of these projects is a sustainable food pantry that set up a bag collection system to reduce their amount of waste. People could take a reusable bag home with them and would either reuse it when they went back or return it. Our project focuses on the same issue: reducing plastic production. Our project is similar to the others that were funded by the Plastic Solutions Fund. We would use the grant to create more partnerships so that our bio plastics could be used on a larger scale. 
• United States Agency of International Development – The United States Agency of International Development offers a grant to projects working on reducing plastic pollution. They are looking for a venture that has a clear and direct plan of how they will impact plastic production. Our project provides a clear plan of how we will do this. Our goal is to encourage the use of biodegradable packaging instead of regular plastics. We would use this grant to set up the facility we will need in the Philippines to create our bio pellets. 

 

2. 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.

1. 1. Packaging Manufacturer – We will sell our bio pellets to a packaging manufacturer that will make them into utensils, to-go containers etc. We need this partner in the steps of production because they will turn our bio pellets into a useful product. We hope that they will have incentive to work with us because our bio pellets will be made locally by working with farmers in the Philippines. 
   2. Farming Business – We plan to purchase agricultural waste in the form of corn husks. This is a key ingredient in the production of our bio pellets. We hope that we will be able to form this partnership if we pay a competitive price for the agricultural waste that would offset the other potential uses of the waste such as fertilizer or livestock feed. 
   3. Restaurants/ Street Vendor – We want to find restaurants and street vendors that would be interested in using biodegradable packaging. We would set them up with the packaging manufacturer from which they could buy their food containers and utensils. We hope that these restaurants and street vendors will be willing to work with us because of the environmental benefits of our packaging.
   4.  DTI Bureau of Product Standards – This is the department in the Philippines that sets the standards for food and packaging. We will need to make sure our product fits their standards before putting it on the market. The DTI Bureau of Product Standards will hopefully have motivation to work with us because of the environmental benefits of our product. 
   5. Production Employee – We will need to hire someone who will produce the bio pellets. This is a crucial step because we need bio pellets to deliver to the packaging manufacturer. The incentives from someone to work for us are the salary and that it can just be a part time gig. 

 

3. Complete working through the 14-page question document, with all questions identified as green (and answered), yellow (with how you could answer), or red (with how you will answer). Your red questions will serve as the nucleus for conversations during our class next week.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GOqhuUSsawKDqYk4gdTOhfMAmhM_CCZjB48KMN1FnNg/edit 

1. Develop a budget that captures all the non-recurring (one-time / capital) expenses to get your venture up and running.

Many of these costs will be recurring, but are also necessary when initially starting out the business. The major non-recurring expense is a food processor.

 

      2. Develop pessimistic, optimistic, and realistic sales projections for your venture over three years (at six month intervals).

The values represent how many 1 kg bags of bio pellets will be sold.

3. Develop a detailed income statement for your venture for three years (at six month intervals). Explicitly state the assumptions that underlie your financial model.

This model assumes that we will not have our business up and running until the middle or end of 2025. We are also assuming that we will be able to sell the bio pellets in batches of 1 kg. We do not yet know what quantity of bio pellets our customers will want to purchase. It may be difficult to make more income if we have to sell them in batches of less than 1 kg because we will need to make more sales just to meet the same revenue. The main factor that adds variability here is that we do not have an exact formula for our bio pellet yet. We had to just estimate how much of each ingredient is added. Our final income statement will end up being a lot different based on what our bio pellet consists of.

 

4. If you are a B2B venture, develop realistic sales projections and an income statement for your customers. Determine the ROI period and the net profit.

This is the sales projection of a restaurant that sells about 5 dollar dishes using our biodegradable packaging. 

The net profit of a restaurant using our biodegradable packaging after 3 years is $8,800. This means that there is an 8.54% return on investment.

Business Model #1

 

Business Model #2:

Business Model #3:

 

Comparison Table:

	BMC 1	BMC 2	BMC 3
Revenue Model	Two forms of revenue: direct sales + advertising from companies.	One revenue stream: selling the pellets	Revenue streams include direct sales and grants.
Cost Structure	Cost of printing on packaging, transportation, and employee salary is unknown.	There are many costs that go into it but if we simplify the process it can be profitable.	Similar to BMC however it is specifically targeting schools/education-focused packaging
Clearer Path to Next Steps	Learn how to best print on the packaging in the Philippines. Then work with partners who want their brand on our product	Has clear next steps: solidify the lab process, then either partner with a manufacturer or have our own firm in the Philippines	Print on packaging and find partners
Clear First Customer	For ads: any company, companies focused on sustainability might be best.	We would be the only bioplastic pellet manufacturer in the Philippines so bioplastic companies, such as Econest, are good customers	Either schools or companies focused on sustainability education (ex: small shops).
Risk Profile	Depends on several factors so higher risk than other BMC’s.	If we are able to finalize the lab process and get a factory set up in the Philippines then risk is not very bad.	Since it depends on many factors, risk is high.
Partnerships	Sustainability-focused companies.	Bioplastic manufacturer such as Econest	Schools, local shops, sustainability conferences.
Ability to Execute	If we are able to get partners interested and print on the packaging at a competitive price, it is very possible.	Possible, dependent on lab process at the moment.	If we get partners, are able to sell at a good price, and people are interested in packaging with our print on it, it is possible.

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.
   1. EnviroFit has a partnership with the EPA. It would be very helpful if we could work with a governmental organization in the Philippines.
   2. Entocycle models and advertises their business as a circular system. Our project also works as a circular system, so we can use this as a way of promoting our model.  
   3. Greyston Bakery gets a lot of their income from a major deal with Ben & Jerry’s. It was a lot easier for them to sign a major contract with one company as opposed to selling that same value of desserts to thousands of individuals. In the long run of our project, it would be so helpful if we could one day sell our products to a major restaurant or company. 
   4. No means no worldwide first created outreach programs for just girls, but then started inviting boys when they realized they should also hear these messages. AgriWrap should approach our challenge with the same amount of flexibility, and willingness to pivot ideas as we learn more.
   5. No means no worldwide hopes that the children will share what they learned which can serve as a form of advertising. If we sell our biodegradable products to schools, this could provide the same benefit. 
   6. Entocycle’s value proposition states that they are promoting sustainability and giving value to waste. Since our project is very similar to this we can base our value proposition off of these ideas. 
   7. Entocycle lists their cost structure as research, production, distribution, and marketing. As of right now we only have production and distributions listed in our cost structure, but we should consider if there will be marketing and research costs. 
   8. Entocycle received governmental grants. We should look into and apply for grants. They do not have to be as large-scale as governmental grants.
   9. Kartemquin Films uses social media to advertise their product. We could also do this by posting about our product on social media, and just general information on the plastic issue. 
   10. Headspace has one main source of income which comes from its users. Our model can have a similar set up because the majority of our profits will come from vendors buying our bioplastics. 
2. Create a first draft of your business model using the business model canvas.
3. Create a set of 2-4 slides to articulate your business model in a presentation.
   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jJ0AeZiXwD7DwvbHVYM03tXNHQ0aOTUe-JXNm2S6EUc/edit#slide=id.g2ca1d1f6e6d_0_3

Purpose:

• Restore the natural world
• Create more sustainable process for food production

Value Proposition:

• Revolutionize the usage of insects and technology to accelerate a global transition to sustainable protein

Primary Customer Segments and Value Propositions:

• Insect companies
  Increase precision, ensure reliability, improve efficiency, & boost profits.
• Entrepreneurial farmers
  Give value to waste, reduce environmental footprint, diversify revenue, & improve animal welfare
• Food companies
  Reduce food waste, create new revenue, secure supply chains
• Waste management
  Create food circularity, generate new revenue, enhance food security, meet net 0 targets

Business Model:

What are some practical things you can learn from this venture’s strategy?

1. Revolutionizes insects
2. Creates a circular economy
3. Improved technology as the venture goes on
4. Did not need to invent something new and revolutionary, just created a more sustainable system