First Major Order
Dukesinbusiness.com placed an order for stickers to advertise their website. Not only is this our first major order but it gave us another direction to move our venture in. If we reach out to local businesses we are able to reach an entire target market we had not considered before.
The customer for this purchase preferred a white matte sticker as opposed to the clear window cling. Because of this, we have decided to print several of our stickers on the matte material as well. With this, we are hoping to target more Dell users and expand the market we are able to sell to.
Our plan from here is to finish printing on both materials and sell at both ECL and Carrier. We will reserve a spot in Showker for a day to see if selling there is successful. We will also set up tables in other buildings such as Harrison, Forbes and Keezel.
The customer for this purchase preferred a white matte sticker as opposed to the clear window cling. Because of this, we have decided to print several of our stickers on the matte material as well. With this, we are hoping to target more Dell users and expand the market we are able to sell to.
Our plan from here is to finish printing on both materials and sell at both ECL and Carrier. We will reserve a spot in Showker for a day to see if selling there is successful. We will also set up tables in other buildings such as Harrison, Forbes and Keezel.
Problem :(
This week we ran into a major problem. We realized that the ink on the stickers is not water proof. We were unable to find a shop that was cheap enough to print our stickers for us so we had to find a way to use the material we had. We purchased a spray lacquer that after spraying, made our stickers water proof. Only problem we have ran into is that the scent is very strong at first and they take a long time to fully dry.
Another pivot we made this week was to start printing in color. While it is a little more expensive, it was a common piece of advise in all of our customer discovery interviews.
Another pivot we made this week was to start printing in color. While it is a little more expensive, it was a common piece of advise in all of our customer discovery interviews.
Board Meeting Two
This team has meaningfully innovated in one or more core business model areas?
Yes: 14 No: 4 No answer 3
If business model fell apart it would be because: Lack of demand or bad designs
The evidence that at least one customer archetype is eager to purchase?
1 2: 1 3: 3 4: 9 5: 7 6: 1
Customer archetypes developed were very specific and well understood?
Yes: 15 No: 3 In between: 3
The customer discover data was robust, reliable and convincing?
Yes: 16 No: 3 No Answer: 2
Did the team talk to enough customers?
Yes: 12 No: 7 No Answer: 2
Was it clear that the customers were in the target market?
Yes: 16 No: 5
Did they ask good questions which got at the risks of their business model?
Yes: 18 No: 3
Was their data summarized and presented in a convincing manner?
Yes: 17 No: 4
The MVP appears salable to early adopters?
Yes: 17 No: 2 No Answer: 2
Taken together, the venture has reached product-market fit and is ready to scale?
Yes: 18 No: 2 No Answer: 1
I consider myself in the target market?
Yes: 7 No: 14
I plan on buying this product ASAP?
Yes: 4 No: 17
How likely is it that you would recommend this product to a friend?
1 2: 2 3: 4 4: 4 5: 8 6: 3
Magic Wand/ Recommendation:
License with JMU, should develop target market first then create designs that cater to them, customize stickers, focus on customer segments, try to target to PC users as well don’t automatically assume Mac users want stickers. Largest advice: more designs
Yes: 14 No: 4 No answer 3
If business model fell apart it would be because: Lack of demand or bad designs
The evidence that at least one customer archetype is eager to purchase?
1 2: 1 3: 3 4: 9 5: 7 6: 1
Customer archetypes developed were very specific and well understood?
Yes: 15 No: 3 In between: 3
The customer discover data was robust, reliable and convincing?
Yes: 16 No: 3 No Answer: 2
Did the team talk to enough customers?
Yes: 12 No: 7 No Answer: 2
Was it clear that the customers were in the target market?
Yes: 16 No: 5
Did they ask good questions which got at the risks of their business model?
Yes: 18 No: 3
Was their data summarized and presented in a convincing manner?
Yes: 17 No: 4
The MVP appears salable to early adopters?
Yes: 17 No: 2 No Answer: 2
Taken together, the venture has reached product-market fit and is ready to scale?
Yes: 18 No: 2 No Answer: 1
I consider myself in the target market?
Yes: 7 No: 14
I plan on buying this product ASAP?
Yes: 4 No: 17
How likely is it that you would recommend this product to a friend?
1 2: 2 3: 4 4: 4 5: 8 6: 3
Magic Wand/ Recommendation:
License with JMU, should develop target market first then create designs that cater to them, customize stickers, focus on customer segments, try to target to PC users as well don’t automatically assume Mac users want stickers. Largest advice: more designs
Customer Discovery Interviews
The most insightful questions we asked were:
1) Do you have stickers on your computer and if not, what is the one reason you do not put them on your computer?
2) What do you like or not like about the stickers?
3) What designs would you like to see on a sticker?
We learned the most when we let people openly talk about their opinions. While guided questions are good for leading the interview, people gave more opinions when we allowed them time to elaborate on their responses or asked them for general suggestions.
1) Do you have stickers on your computer and if not, what is the one reason you do not put them on your computer?
2) What do you like or not like about the stickers?
3) What designs would you like to see on a sticker?
We learned the most when we let people openly talk about their opinions. While guided questions are good for leading the interview, people gave more opinions when we allowed them time to elaborate on their responses or asked them for general suggestions.
Week 4
This week we have a grown a tremendous amount. To start with, we have learned quite a bit. For one, we cannot use laser printers. After printing with a laser printer we found the ink rubs straight off of the stickers. Unfortunately for us, most public places use laser printers rather than ink jet. This means we are going to have to purchase our own ink and use our own printers to create the stickers. Hopefully we are able to find somewhere in town that will be able to print for us but so far it is not appearing to be promising. The second thing we learned is that the sticker does not dry as fast as we thought it did. After a couple smeared stickers and stickers printed on the wrong side of the material, we realized how important it will be for us to pay attention to the small details in the future.
On a positive note, we have solidified all of our designs. We have two new additional designs this week that we believe will sell well. We have printed out final products of each design and are ready to begin selling this week.
On a positive note, we have solidified all of our designs. We have two new additional designs this week that we believe will sell well. We have printed out final products of each design and are ready to begin selling this week.
Investor Reaction Summary
Overall Investors had positive feedback for us. They believe we have a vision and that there is an opportunity for our product. They suggested minor iterations to our business model focusing mostly on customer segments and customer relationships.
Investor Reaction Summary
The majority of the Investors would recommend our product to a friend and believed we were ready to scale. The most common advice we received was to make more designs for stickers which we have been working extensively on over the past week.
Week Three
For week three we focused on our customer discovery interviews and investor reactions to further the development of our product. For the most part, we have received positive feedback. The biggest critique we received was that we needed more designs. Our initial prototype was an image of Marilyn Monroe but this week we have added two: The Beatles Abby Road and "Got 99 problems but an (apple logo) ain't one. Customer concerns that have been raised to us are how durable is the sticker and can you see the outline of the sticker when it is applied? This week are printing stickers out to test on our own laptops. After testing this we will be able to make adjustments to the design or material of the stickers if it is necessary.
Week Two
We started to actually make the stickers during week two. To begin with, we took a picture of Marilyn Monroe and altered it in Photoshop. After having the image complete we found the dimensions of both the Mac book 13 in and 15 in, this template size will fit on other PCs as well. Eventually we were able to size the image to each Mac book size and print. After successfully printing on plain paper we went and bought sticker material. We were lucky and the first material we tried actually stuck to laptops and was easily removed without leaving residue behind. In the upcoming week we are going to design more sticker images, perform customer discovery interviews and hopefully sell our first product.
Beginning Our Entrepreneurial Journey
To begin our project we met several times to brainstorm potential product ideas. We identified several problems JMU students face on a daily basis including parking, organization, losing JaCards, clothing and hair styles. Ultimately we noticed a growing trend of student's wanting to put stickers on their laptops. The problem, however, was that once a student put a sticker on their laptop, it was permanently stuck or would leave residue when removed. We came up with the idea to use a vinyl or cling sticker material that will stick to laptops but could be easily removed when necessary. We have talked with several students who are going to help us come up with some original designs for stickers and create a small line that we can market both to JMU students and online customers.
The initial feedback we heard from out peers was overall positive. Student's stressed the importance of having a material that was easy to remove and that it was necessary for the stickers to be low priced. Over the next week we are going to be working on developing some prototypes to see how customers will react with the product in hand.
The initial feedback we heard from out peers was overall positive. Student's stressed the importance of having a material that was easy to remove and that it was necessary for the stickers to be low priced. Over the next week we are going to be working on developing some prototypes to see how customers will react with the product in hand.