We continued our weekly meet-ups with our mentors, and each of us continued to learn something unique to our project and self, in different ways.
Hansen shares with us the considerations of balancing a higher cost of service by targeting a niche market segment:
It is a known fact that cost would be a huge factor when business makes decision. Similarly, our product being almost x10 the cost of the conventional methods used now, would not be commercially viable unless it is the customized solution for our potential clients might be looking for, albeit, this niche is big enough for the business to even begin to start commercially.
After discussing with my team — especially with the inventor — together, we are discussing of coming with a new product line that might potentially be a complimentary product with each other. The new product line would not only serve a wider group of audience and consumer, but also, a much affordable and easier application. On top of that, the original product might be able to serve a smaller scale projects that would be able to specifically tailor to the unique challenges. — Hansen
His teammate Vanessa added on:
We consulted our mentors on Friday about our direction. Here are the key takeaways:
1. Look beyond the price of our product and find value. Reducing labour time is also a part of raising value and reducing the customers’ costs.
2. Speak their language. Talk to the customers with the industry standard.
3. Having a case study on the website can help customers. — Vanessa
Sherman also elucidates on how we may lose sight of the initial purpose as we progress along the routine task of ideation, conceptualization, prototyping and validation.
As progress were made and pages were flipped, we often forgot on the quintessential focus on the ventures we made. I remember the time where I set to to learn a new instrument, yet, as time pass and the level of skills increases, I forgot about the most important element that my teacher taught me previously, Practice. Practice made perfect. The core value of different abilities are often forgotten as these habits become routine. — Sherman
We also had a continuation of our series of lectures with ideasinc veni. This week, the topic focussed on the “Left-Hand Side of the Business Model Canvas”, which was the subjects of “Key Resources”, “Key Activities” and “Key Partners”.
In a nutshell, “Key Resources” are the resources needed to create our value proposition and deliver it to our customers. They include intellectual property, facilities and staffing.
“Key Activities” are what our business does on a daily basis, including its core competencies, strengths and weaknesses. Understanding clearly the core competencies of the company is the foundation upon which to build the business idea upon.
“Key Partners” are the ones we have to figure out whom to work with to address our weaknesses and amplify our strengths.
As always, the week ended with yet another session of inter-team bonding, this time with more basketball sessions at Adriel’s residence. We were glad that more peers responded to our open call for team bonding, and we achieved our highest turnout for recreation in a while.
Let’s continue the good fight, and continue to strive for our dreams to become a reality.
Until next week, this is VB18 signing off.
