Blog Post: 4/30

  1. Funding sources
    1. Design phase
      1. The ASPEN Rhoda’s Research Foundation this year introduced a new grant opportunity, the Nestlé Health Science Enteral Nutrition Research Grant.  The focus of this grant is to address nutrient intake in the critically ill. This would fit as an option for our malnutrition product because it supports projects trying to address clinical problems due to nutrition.  The budget of the grant is up to $50,000 for a year of research, and this money would help us advance our product development by funding ingredients, supplements, cooking supplies, shelf life testing, and more. The ICATCH grant is a possible source of funding for our malnutrition product because they support projects that are developing a product that improves the lives of children in low-income countries (https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Sections/Section-on-International-Child-Health/Pages/ICATCH-Grants.aspx). The grant is for a total of $6,000 over the course of 3 years and can be used for the development and implementation of the product into the country. This year specifically, the applications focusing on infant health are being prioritized over adolescents. This money will go towards acquiring necessary supplies such as micronutrient supplements, ingredients for our product, and cooking supplies.
    2. Dissemination (implementation/distribution/commercialization)
      1. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and VentureWell are funding the DEBUT(Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams) challenge, which is a grant application for undergraduate students working on innovative solutions to unmet health and clinical problems.  This fits into our project since we are developing solutions to address malnutrition in children in developing countries. Teams of students submit proposals to this challenge and can be awarded up to $20,000 in prizes for strong applicants.  This money would help in the dissemination part of our project by recognizing design achievements, and then helping fund marketing and economic feasibility to advance the products. The Izumi foundation (http://izumi.org/funding-grants/recent-grants-awarded/) is a great opportunity to receive funding for our venture project. The foundation is dedicated to supporting projects that create lasting solutions to critical problems in developing countries, such as malnutrition. In the past, projects have been funded for anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000. We will write a proposal for funding that will be used to train and pay the initial workers for our venture. This would be a funding source that we would apply for in the future after we have finalized our products and determined that the product would be popular in Sierra Leone.
  2. Income statement after 2 years

In order to create an income statement for our products we evaluated the cost of goods sold (COGS), overhead costs, profit, and revenue. At this point, we are still somewhat unsure of exactly how our product will be manufactured because we have a few different recipes and are unsure of what equipment we will need. One possibility is that we rent our own manufacturing space, and another is that we rent space or facilities in a restaurant that is already operating in Sierra Leone. We performed the income statement for

For COGS, we made a few assumptions. First, the population of Makeni is around 125,000. https://www.statistics.sl/images/StatisticsSL/Documents/final-results_-2015_population_and_housing_census.pdf Based on census data, we estimated that the population includes around 5,000 children below the age of 2 https://sierraleone.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20structure%20Report_1.pdf. If 75% of these children consume our product 3x per day, we need to make around 11,250 units per day. In early stages, we will assume that we are only making around 500 units per day. The quantities are slightly inaccurate because they are they quantities we need in order to make around 1/2 cup of our pudding which is slightly more than the actual serving size of the unit. So, these costs are actually overestimates. With that being said, we did not include general kitchen utensils and equipment (tables, trays, other packaging materials) that may be necessary. The information for COGS is shown below (assuming 500 units per day).

Overhead costs that we will definitely need to consider are electricity and rent. It will also be useful to have a supervisor that can oversee how our product is selling and how children and families like our product.

With this information, we were able to calculate our projections every six months. We assumed that we would produce 500 units/day for the whole two years, but ideally, we will have the resources to produce more as time goes on. For example, if we produced/sold 1,000 units per day in Year 2, we would have a greater profit in Year 2.

Blog Post 9

Below is the Business model that Rachel and I worked on together for the company Envirofit:

Below are the links used to create my business model for Envirofit:

Envirofit Mexico Helps in Earthquake Relief

file:///Users/MattFeryo/Downloads/FMO%20Client%20Case%20Envirofit.pdf

https://www.calvertimpactcapital.org/portfolio/list/envirofit-international-inc

https://www.businesscalltoaction.org/sites/default/files/resources/BCtA_CaseStudy_Envirofit_Web.pd

 

GSIF Week 8 Blog Post: Matt Feryo

Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of the Start” speech was an incredibly insightful speech. Out of the many things that Guy covered, here are five points that really resonated with me and that I think would be easily applied to my project. My first takeaway was the very first point that Guy stated. He emphasized the importance of creating a venture that has meaning. Every member of our group is there by choice and because they truly care about improving the lives of children that live halfway across the world. As we move forward in our project, I want to make sure that our true goal is always in the back of our minds. Another key point that he made was to hire people that are “infected” with interest and passion for the project. In my opinion, passion is what drives people to success. If our venture is going to be successful, we want to work with people who can’t stop thinking about the project. All of our combined ambition will help us to not only create a successful product, but also successfully implement the product into the market of Sierra Leone. Similar to the last point, Guy Kawasaki also said to “polarize people”. He said that there is no use in aiming for the middle ground between crazy and ordinary ideas. This is something that really stuck with me throughout the entire video. Make something that no one has ever seen before. Some people may hate the idea, but at the same time there will be a group of people that becomes obsessed with the idea and help to see it to completion. For our project, there are products that have already been introduced to third world countries that fight malnutrition. If our product is going to be successful, we are going to have to differentiate ourselves from the others. Another point he made was to make milestones for the venture. When the milestones are reached, you will have concrete results. Then you can evaluate which direction you can take the project from there. In our project, I think that sometimes we get overwhelmed with all of the different “tasks” that need to get done. To be more efficient, we should focus on one thing at a time and set deadlines for ourselves. Finally, I felt the most important point that Guy Kawasaki said was his last. He told the audience to, “not let the bozos grind you down”. As a college student I think that some people outside of the University don’t take our venture seriously and may shoot us down. As we reach out to these external resources, it is important for our group to stress to them how important this project is and what we are trying to accomplish. A lot of people will tear us down, but its important to stick to our beliefs and do what we know is right as a group.

Preliminary Business Model Canvas: