UNLEASH THE POWER OF ORGANIZED INFORMATION
KRADLE BUSINESS PLAN
# Version 5.0
Date February 23, 2015
ADDRESS
CONTACT
9005 Hub Mall
Depinder Singh
University of Alberta
(403) 690-6793
Edmonton,Alberta Canada
hello@kradle.ca
www.kradle.ca
Contents 01
Executive Summary
| Page 3
02 The Problem | Page 6 03 Our Product | Page 7 04
Industry & Market Analysis
| Page 10
05
Management Team
| Page 13
06
Business Model
| Page 14
07
Marketing Strategies
| Page 15
08 Distribution Plan | Page 16 09 Implementation plan | Page 17 10
Opportunities & Risks
| Page 19
11 Financials | Page 20 12 The Offering | Page 23
CONFIDENTIALITY INFORMATION This material contained in our response and any material or information disclosed during discussions of the proposal represents the proprietary, confidential information pertaining to xxx company services, methodologies and methods. Products and brand names are intelectual property and all rights reserved.
Kradle Business Plan - Organizing Information, Connecting people
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Executive Summary As of now, there are no solutions for centralized sharing of information and communications on college and university campuses, but the technology exists and has a high adoption rate among students. Universities adapt slowly to the student body and Kradle has an opportunity to solve this issue by seamlessly connecting information and students across campus. As of now there are limitations in fostering engagement and constant communiation between group members and group executives on campuses. Students at university are surrounded and bombarded with overwhelming levels of information. Much of this information is often overlooked due to outdated delivery methods such as bulletin boards, flyers and print campus newspapers. This will result in students missing out on opportunities and vital information related to their interests. Even though there are increasing communications sent out via email and existing online social media, it still takes the individual student a lot of time to curate and go through all the information.
KEY VALUES
Mission Statement
FIGURE
Kradle aims to re-organize information generated for and by campus students while making it universally accessible
Engagement
and useful.We are reforming information dissemination and
Connection
connection within colleges and universities to be at par with
Convinience
the 21st century. Thus leading to the creation of a cutting
Accessibility
edge, all encompassing mobile application to achieve this.
The Value To Our Customers Like every other generation millenials display a generalized and unique trait. Most consistent is that this generation is technically savvy almost as if it had a digital sixth sense.A wired connected world is all this generation of youths have ever known. Hence, we are filipping the most traditional ways of doing things to suit the times in which they live.
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Our Expertises Our management team is Brand Marketer
UX Designer
made up of people who are Software Developer
experts in their respective disciplines, supporting the creation of a strong and well diversified business. In fact we summed up the definition
The 3 man tean bringing you
of being on the kradle team as Expert, Strong, Friendly, Passionate, Creative & Honourable.
RELEVANT MARKET Kradle is dedicated to providing an engaging mobile application to students between the ages 18-25. Unlike traditional methods used by universities, Kradle works exclusively with students to develop practical and short-term action plans that will help establish consistent levels of engagement on campus. Our application takes advantages of the university culture and the strong desire that students have to get involved outside the classroom.
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Financial Requirements We intend to run a streamlined operation with little need for purchasing large assets.The intellectual property of our management team would be the largest assets we bring to the table.Cash Sufficient to carry the operation would be raised upon commencement. SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE & MAINTENANCE
Exit Strategy Kradle plans to build a large user base first starting at the University of Alberta then expanding to other campuses. This will generate a platform for businesses to reach specific student demographics providing valuable access. Continuous student use and adoption will create valuable data that companies such as Facebook or Google could acquire.
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The Problem
Information Chaos on Campuses
Students at university are surrounded and bombarded with overwhelming levels of information. Much of this information is often overlooked due to outdated delivery methods such as bulletin boards, flyers and print campus newspapers. This results in students missing out on opportunities and vital information related to their interests. Even though there are increasing communications sent out via email and existing online social media, it still takes the individual student a lot of time to curate and go through all the information. Students a decade ago are different than students now and students will change in the next 10 years. Already, students are spending increasingly more time on mobile platforms to access information and content. Technology is now something that permeates society and can be utilized to make information more accessible.
The Problem with Campus Groups Creating awareness through flyers is an ineffective way to reach students and it makes it difficult for new students to get in involved in campus groups. Sustaining involvement and engagement within groups is near impossible because students have different schedules and commitments.
Organizing Method 1 Originally created to organize students
The Problem with Campus Bulletin Boards This method of distributing information is outdated and that is simply because students use technology to stay up-to-date. Also, there are only certain locations Organizing Method 2
where a bulletin board is set-up and students never have the time to stop by and
Originally created to organize campus events
scan through the crowded notice boards.
The Problem with Campus newspapers You rarely see students today sitting down and reading the school newspaper. There is no simple way for students to engage with the article in the form of giving feedback or providing their own opinion on the issue. Also, there is no quick way for students to able to air their views or discuss issues of interest with fellow students in their university.
Kradle Business Plan - Organizing Information, Connecting people
Organizing Method 3 Orginally created to organize campus news
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Our Product Publish. Engage. Connect. Kradle, is a cuttingedge mobile platform having 3 major sections Campus Groups, Campus Events and Campus Publish VIEW APP DEMO
App Demo: www.demo.kradle.ca
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Our Product Applications “Digital” Bulletin Board Mobile bulletin boards make it easier to share, request and discuss information on any topic. Any relevant information posted can be seen or talked about on Kradle. Organizations will be able to target certain demographics so that the right target market is reached.
Real Time Campus Press There is a new and efficient way to present news and related topics to students. Our mobile blogs will give students an opportunity to write about their opinions without working for the campus newspaper.
Improving Campus Group Engagements We intend to change the whole experience for campus groups within universities by making the process of creating groups easier, refining engagement and emphasizing the interaction process. Communication within groups will be easier because our app provides a page for each group that has the ability for members to voice their opinions about any relevant information. Students will be able to create new interest groups right from the app and students with the same interests will be exposed to these groups. Elections for the student union or campus groups, like Business Student Association, can be held in-app by utilizing our “poll” feature. Also, group administrators will be able to post any information regarding their group including event dates, meeting and announcements.
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Product Value & Advantage Single Point Access
Improved Engagement
Centralized platform for all
Kradle provides a
information and knowledge
multifaceted platform to
flow on campus. This will
aggregate all information on
create an efficient and effective
campus. Each dimension of the
method for student engagement across
app will have sections for students to participate
departments and faculties improving the
in discussions and post additional information.
transfer of knowledge and event quality for
Usage of Kradle allows students to be continuously
everyone.
updated and engaged with their interests and activities with other students.
Organized
Eco-Friendly
Since Kradle unifies all
Kradle would be one of the
information across campus
companies who help to
in one location, it can also
create a more sustainable and
organize the mass amounts of information
eco-friendly campus by decreasing paper
effectively for students and individuals to
communication needs. Student culture evolves
access. Students and individuals will have
quickly over the years and our app is designed
profiles and options to receive notifications on
to evolve accordingly along the way.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. Our price is free but our value is priceless
their specific interests and as usage increases, Kradle can learn and suggest news, events and people of interest to each student specifically.
Connections
Save Money
From healthy obsessions
Students would no longer
with board games to politics or
have to print large quantities of
deep philosophical conversations,
posters just to be able to reach a
the interests of students varies. This app will
good number of students on campus.This will
make it easier for those students to find each
save them so much money because the cost
other.
of posting on our app which is visible to all students is free.
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Industry & Market Analysis The Mobile Application Market The market we operate in is driven by the rapid increase in use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. This growth has exploded since Apple launched the iPhone. The market forecasts show healthy growth numbers. On the next several pages are charts, graphs, and market information to support the growth and demand of the app market.
App Development Project revenue Would Reach $100 billion in 2015 App Development Project revenue (2010 -2015)
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A huge market is just starting to come on line and pick up speed as the data above shows. We are entering at the early stage of a multibillion dollar market with a 158% projected growth rate. Despite the global slowdown of the economy the demand for paid mobile applications is growing at an impressive speed. The main driver is still the growing number of smartphone users with preinstalled app stores. The majority of paid downloads are being generated by 5 app stores: Apple App Store, Google Play, BlackBerry App World, Nokia Ovi Store and Windows Phone Store. Strong growth is expected for the devices that will use the apps we develop. Projections as seen below show over a billion new devices will be sold through 2017 that will be compatible for our products
Global Market Data Traffic Forecast By Device
The business of making money from apps is going to get tougher still, with analyst Gartner predicting that through to 2018 less than 0.01% of consumer mobile apps will be considered a financial success by their developers.
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Device Type
2012
2013
2014
Traditional Pcs
296,131
276,221
261,657
Ulramobile,Premium
21,517
32,251
55,032
PC Market Total
317,648
308,472
316,689
Tablets
206,807
256,308
320,064
Mobile phones
1,806,964
1,862,766
1,046,456
Other Ultramobiles
2,981
5,081
7,645
Total
2,333,400
2,333,400
2,501,753
A key factor making it harder for apps to attract a paying audience is the sheer number of apps consumers can wade through before making their choice. Both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android stores now each have more than one million apps on tap. It’s the very definition of a crowded playing field — and this is pushing mobile users to take shortcuts to help them determine which apps to download. Monetizing an app is becoming more difficult. This is acknowledged by our Company and fits in line with our business model of not relying on revenue from selling the app but revenue from businesses wanting to reach student demographics through the app.
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Our Management Team
P D S A
NSAKA PETER CTO (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER) & CEO
Peter is an undergrad student with a focus in software Development. He has exceptional skills when it comes to programming and coding and he has been developing appliacations and websites for more than 3 years.
SINGH DEPINDER CM0 (CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER) & CFO (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER)
Depinder is an undergrad student with a focus in Marketing and he has been working on start-up business for a few years. His knowledge of business and marketing strategies go beyond the classroom due to his interest in learning about the fields on his personal time.
OLUFADEJI SEMIRE CCO (CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER)
Semire is an undergrad student studying at the Univeristy of Calgary and majoring in Electrical Engineering. He is proficient in graphic & digital design. Has been designing for print and web for almost 4 years.
ALBERT LEUNG MENTOR
Albert is passionate about new technologies and bringing new products to market. Albert has worked with TCP, technology commercializtion and vernute capital company based in Edmonton. Over the last two years, Albert has been heavily involved in student entrepreneurship activities and has worked closely with a number of technology startups to support their new ventures.
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Business Model Information has become increasingly valuable over the last decade, especially information on student demographics. This data can be used to reach the most receptive student populations for events and advertising for small businesses and events in and around campus. Currently, in an effort to reach and engage students more, companies pay a lot to have their ads displayed in the campus newspapers and on their websites. Once we have a large enough student user base, we can offer an even more effective way for companies to reach their desired student demographics . In addition, Kradle’s platform allows companies the opportunity to create and promote their events to students. The data we provide to companies once they have created an approved group page or event will provide them with valuable discussions, attendance numbers and an area for media files. Students are a niche market, but we will be able to target students based on their personal interests. Businesses can to promote their events in-app and reach more students than selling tickets physically or on their website. They will be able to better advertise the event to students and convert users to purchase tickets more readily. Companies will have to pay yearly or monthly fees to access the app and promote their products. Furthermore, Kradle will take a certain percentage of commission for each ticket sold.
69%
of businesses who try to reach students cannot get to them because of outdated and ineffective advertising platforms
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Marketing Strategies Kradle is dedicated to providing an accessible, efficient, and effective mobile application to students between the ages 18-25 to organize and facilitate knowledge and information on campus to students Our main marketing strategy is directly aproaching individual schools student union as illustrated by the diagram below. However we have carefully thought out other creative ways to reach students.Once we have established partnerships with the student union and major student groups, we will implement a referral program for students to spread the word and get as many students as possible to join on campus. We are partnering up with coffee companies on campus to brand Kradle by rewarding students for referrals by sending them promotional coupons. By partnering up with coffee companies, we will be able to promote the app through coffee sleeves across each campus on release of Kradle. There will be a wave of new students each year for all universities and we plan on reaching them by implementing a campaign during orientation week. To complement these partnerships we will turn to traditional marketing where we will set-up demo booths during the beginning of fall semester on campus. With the right investment, our team will be able to allocate the money to our marketing strategy on-line. Social media platforms like Facebook will be utilized to promote advertisements to our target market. Promotional videos will be created for viral marketing purposes where our team will target specific websites that are popular with students. Introduce App to
SU Student Union START HERE
Student Groups Introduce App to
A Sample University Marketing Cycle
Introduce App to Students in their group Kradle Business Plan - Organizing Information, Connecting people
Their Friends (Other students on Campus) Page 15 from 24 pages
Distribution Plan All universities have Student Unions, who are in charge of a number of organizations and businesses. Instead of targeting each student on campus, we will approach both the student union representatives and student group administrators to present Kradle as way to engage students in an effective and efficient manner. We expect student groups and interest groups on campus to be highly receptive and enthusiastic due to the easy-to-use and efficient platform to reach their members and the wider campus. In addition, we will be approaching other major stakeholders in student campus life such as the student run campus newspaper and manager of Aramark services. In fact, we have already engaged managers of these services and are on our way to working out details on getting the app promoted to students for our launch later this year.
Sample School Distribution Activities
Team of 3
1. Meet with student Union 2. PR with Campus Newspaper 3. Display Ads
Instead of targeting each student on campus, we will approach both the student union representatives and student group administrators to present Kradle as way to engage students in an effective and efficient manner.
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1 Year Implementation Plan Our team of experienced content strategy experts works with you to develop content that reflects who you are and engages your audience on a level that brings them back again and again. 2nd Semester Evaluation Updating Content
“I am aware that
Conversion Analysis
success is more than a good idea. It is
Advance Promotion
timing too.�
Client Custom Tools
- Nsaka Peter
Creation Strategy 1st Semester Evaluation Analysis Promotion Content Creation Beta Test Strategy Development Monitoring & Measures
Activities
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Kradle Business Plan - Organizing Information, Connecting people
Sep
Oct Nov Dec Jan
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We have the opportunity to be the company that...
Centralizes Campus Information
Creates An Eco-Freindly Campus Gives Every & Any Student An Opportunity To Air Their View To The Whole Campus Community And Get Feedback
Our Opportunities Are Only Limited By Our Imaginations
Save Students Time
Expand The Reach For Comapnies Targeting Students
Saves Students Money
Enhances Campus Communication
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Opportunities As of now, there is no solutions for centralized sharing of information and communications, but the technology exists and has a high adoption rate among students. Universities adapt slowly to the student body and Kradle has an opportunity to solve this issue by bringing each university up-to-date. There is restricted opportunities for involvement with group members and group administrators, but our application will allow students to engage directly from the app with their associated campus groups. Kradle would be one of the companies who help to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly campus by decreasing the amount of paper printed during the course of the year. Students will look to post their poster ads on the app instead of all over campus and this will save students time and money.
Risks Our risks are primarily associated with the level of user engagement we will receive from students. To make this risk minimal, as students, we have built the components and design that we understand will appeal most to students. Partnerships with campus groups will allow our product to be used for communication and organizational purposes. This will lead to a high adoption rate due to the fact that group administrators will be informing members about the value of the app and the different possibilities that come with it . Another risk involves our competitors, which include Ooh La La and Wigo. Ooh La La is dependent on establishing contracts with universities, which means that they charge each campus with yearly fees and minimizes the amount of universities willing to participate. We will take an organic approach and approach student unions who will see an opportunity to organize their campus groups and enhance communication within them. Wigo is an app that allows students to communicate with each other regarding their lives outside of school. Wigo is considered an indirect competitor and that is because Kradle’s focus is more towards student life on campus rather than connecting students to hang out off campus.
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Financials We have a current balance sheet for Kradle below. The founders have seeded the venture with an initial investment of $5000 to cover startup costs
Balance Sheet As Of 25-02-2015 Current Assets
2015
Cash
$5,000
Total Assets
$5,000
Current Liablities
2015
Total Liabilities
$0
Shareholders Equity
2015
Common Shares
$5,000
Retained Earnings
$0
Total Equity & Liabilities
$5,000
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Pro-forma Income Statement Currently, the student campus newspaper at the University of Alberta charges around $1500 per ad in the newspaper and $165 a week for a banner ad at the top of their website. After we’ve gained a user base and students start using the platform, we can charge competitive rates. However, to start we have based our projections on a much lower charge and getting 2 ads per month. We will also be gaining revenue right away from ticket sales to events advertised on our platform. We predict we can get $1 per ticket with one event per week with 100 tickets sold through Kradle per event. These are very conservative estimates. For Medium Business
Pro-forma Cashflow Statement Using conservative predictions, we can cover operating costs in the first year and will breakeven with salaries in the third year. Since this venture has no large capital expenditure requirements, Kradle can operate without large capital investments.(1 year cashflow statement on next page)
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Cashflow Statement
The Offering Kradle is looking for an investment of $100,000 to cover costs of initial market and partnership establishment. Kradle is also looking for experienced mentors in this industry to help guide development.
Breakeven Analysis Using conservative predictions, we can cover operating costs in the first year and will breakeven with salaries in the third year. Since this venture has no large capital expenditure requirements, Kradle can operate without large capital investments. Kradle Business Plan - Organizing Information, Connecting people
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The Big Picture We anticipate to be a product for all universities worldwide
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All human progress occur because some people dare to be different. Lets try something new - The Kradle Team
9005 Hub Mall University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada www.kradle.ca