Idea factory

2021-10-16 15:02:11 #ExpertTips

Prototyping is a crucial aspect of any business. Before refining a product, you have to create its prototype and test it.

Paul Lupi — well-known mentor here — is ready to share his thoughts about how to make a prototype.

Be sure to check it out!
He will also perform at Monthly Pitch which is taken 21/10/21 Open / Comment

2021-10-16 12:54:38 ​#BusinessEducation
Canadian market: mentality, segments and how to start

Today Canada is in a venture exposure which makes loads of novice entrepreneurs to develop business here. In the first half of 2021, Canadian startups raised $6.3 billion across 414 deals. Let us insight into why Canada is so attractive for entrepreneurs now.

Culture
Typically, business communication is direct. Canadian people are not prone to insinuate or read between the lines. Hence, when it comes to business meetings, try to be straightforward.

Canadian mentality means respect of everyone’s opinion. In spite of the social and financial status, anyone is supposed to be heard and understood. So, be welcoming and respectful to whoever you meet.

Bilingualism
Canada is officially bilingual in French and English. Therefore, you have to be prepared to use both languages in meetings.

Customer advantage
The key Canadian rule is the customer is always right. Even though the product is not defective, it can be easily returned if a product doesn’t meet client’s expectations. Many people like to buy something for a while and get it back when it’s not needed anymore. The company has to sell returned goods with 50% discount.

Segments
In Canada it’s better to launch the goods of middle and luxury segments. There is no sense to compete with China and Turkey — the low segment leaders. Besides, you should plan smaller volume and higher price due to the good transportation, storage, and delivery. Nevertheless, you should wisely approach the price formation. Consider risks and at the same time set the price which is lower than the competitors’.

Taxes and rent
The insurance is a large expense for any business beginner in Canada. In the beginning, the taxes and insurance are the highest. The same thing relates to the rent. There is no leasing for a year. Though, if you take it for 10 years, you gain the trust credit and your business is taken more seriously.

Sale start
First of all, you should provide a good delivery service and storage. Once these problems are solved, address the local distributors. Frequently one distributor simultaneously works at the Canadian and American markets. This can be very useful for the potential sale expansion.

Advantages:

Investment-friendly environment
Canada has its own ecosystem aimed at assessing and teaching the startup founders. Thanks to it, novice entrepreneurs can gain funding to launch and develop their projects. This ecosystem includes Canadian Venture Capital association. They approve business incubators at the State level.

Strong financial opportunities
In Canada there are huge venture funds. They are ready to invest in talented startups as the state program prioritizes this type of investments. Canada has been working on shifting from the commodity-based economy to innovative one. Which is why CAD billions are contributed to the venture funding and lending of innovative enterprises at reduced rates.

Various professional market
Well-developed immigration programs can attract specialists from any industry or country. The synergy also appears because the standard of living is lower than in the US. So, attracting foreign employers cost less.

Proximity with the US
American market is one of the solvent markets in the world. Canada has free customs regulations with the US. This gives enormous opportunities for testing any business idea. Particularly, coupled with the production located in China and quick delivery through International Vancouver Port.

However, if you are willing to develop your business remotely, Idea Factory is at your service. Don’t miss Monthly Pitch 21.10.21

Would you like to develop your own business in Canada? Share in comments Open / Comment

2021-10-15 22:09:07 #WeeklyContest #PitchYourIdea #ElevatorPitch

Plastic free by @gouri_joshi25
Idea:
We'll collect plastic waste from the locality and then pay them some amount for that then ecobricks will be prepared and will be used in Construction

Problems:
1. Reducing Plastic mountains
2. Unemployment
3. Increasing concern in rural areas regarding environment

Potential:
It will make more and more people concerned about the environment also will become a great source of money through best out of waste. Open / Comment

2021-10-15 21:19:47 Today’s summary

Video by Zach Gershon about risks. This will be helpful for any entrepreneur. Check it out and comment below what you think about it.

Soft skills 2.0. These are abilities that you need whatever job you apply for.

Oskelly. Russian resale service: how to make millions on secondhand clothes

Tomorrow Paul Lupi performs at our special webinar to prepare Monthly Pitch participants.

Monthly Pitch will be held on 21/10/21. We are going to select the winner of the monthly competition who will receive $1,500.

Stay tuned Open / Comment

2021-10-15 17:27:27 ​#StartupNews
Oskelly: how to offload closets and earn millions

Business model: reselling goods
Country: Russia

The capitalization of successful luxury online secondhand stores accounts for billions of dollars. The resale market is estimated to reach $84 billion. Once Oskelly realized the prospects of the resale industry and were right. They managed to earn $millions on clothes reselling. Let’s see how.

Concept
Many famous people love not only buying luxury clothes but also selling it through special resale services. There everyone can put up goods for sale. Both worn and new clothes, shoes, accessories and other items can be sold with the discount up to 90% of initial price.

Particularly, celebrities use the Russian service Oskelly. The company rethought and visualized the market for goods of the middle-up segment. You can’t buy a fake Louis Vitton bag on this platform. The item originality and condition are thoroughly checked by experts and artificial intelligence. Though, you can bargain: the program functionality implies a ‘drop’ up to 30% even for exclusive items.

Background
The startup has been developing since 2016. Siblings Albert and Zaira realized that their dressing rooms were packed with unwanted clothes. They decided to give them a second life. Albert and Zaira researched the market and came up with two things. The market wasn’t full and the project would be sought-after if they provided good support services.

Pandemic boost
Initially, the project was unprofitable and the founders wasted millions of their savings. However, as soon as the pandemic started, consumer attitude towards secondhand goods changed. Firstly, physical stores were closed. Secondly, people developed an interest in sustainable consumption. Oskelly grew 15-fold gaining the turnover up to $400,000. Luckily, Russian celebrities also advertised the platform, which boosted the growth.

Values
Oskelly’s priority is the community and people’s loyalty. The company seeks to establish a rapport among the users. The founders also create an additional value: bargain guarantees, item valuation, and delivery.

What do you think about Oskelly’s business model? Share in the chat Open / Comment

2021-10-15 11:44:18 ​#BusinessEducation
Your guide on soft skills: how to be the best team worker 2.0

Soft skills are the key to successful career. No matter what industry you are engaged in, they are highly valuable among all employers. The people with developed soft skills are more likely to become wealthy. Let us tell you how you can do that. If you haven’t read the first part, check it out here!

Definition
Soft skills are a set of personal competences that define how good you are in a social environment. This is not about how well you program or speak Chinese. It concerns your personality traits: the ability to communicate, think rationally, and understand people’s needs. All these mainly depend on our emotional intelligence and logical abilities the we were born with. However, we still can master them to a certain extent.

Here’s the list of soft skills you can improve:

- Non-violent communication
This is a method to clearly convey information and achieve your goals. Within non-violent communication you inform the other person about your observation providing facts, express your need, and formulate a request. This way you will never do any harm to others and satisfy your needs. The skill helps negotiate at group meetings and personal talks.

How to develop: learn to understand yourself and be sympathetic to others. Apply the method on friends in order to practice it. Visit NVC meetings and read our articles.

⁃ Decision making
This is an ability to consciously choose the best option. The skill helps accomplish your goal quickly bringing the most benefit.

How to develop: learn to see the maximum amount of options. Properly set your priorities in any particular situation and select the best option from all the possible ones.

- Emotional intelligence
This refers to an ability to understand and manage your and others’ emotions, drives and intentions. The skill allows to perform practical tasks, make decisions, and build communication. For instance, if you see during the presentation that people are tired, take a break.

How to develop: develop your empathy to yourself and others. Observe your and other people’s emotions. Think over what they are related to and how affect others. Try to control yourself and make the best decisions based on the observations.

- Mentoring
The traditional educational system is rigid and inflexible. There is a gap between competences which we acquire at university and real workplace. In order to grow professionally and adjust to market requirements, you need a mentor. They will help you make a training plan and track your progress.

How to develop: think of the competences you need to work on, and how you can do it efficiently. Make a training plan for a year. Follow it and fix your results. Once you learn to manage your education, offer your colleagues to be their mentor.

- Learnability
This is an ability to learn new information and put it into practice in order to cope with everyday challenges. Managing your knowledge helps pick the necessary information sources, sort it, and control your training plan.

How to develop: make a training plan and get rid of unnecessary information. Choose the knowledge you would like to apply in practice. It’s important to go through any theory or concept and analyze it.

Which one of the mentioned soft skills do you find the most necessary? What would you like to develop? Share in comments Open / Comment

2021-10-15 10:19:50 #ExpertTips

Hello, everyone
Our today’s expert is Zach Gershon.

He is a BioMed researcher; EasySmear investor, and AI in medicine Hackthon winner. Zach knows everything about how to found a successful startup in the Digital Health sphere.

In this video he speaks about risks: how to take, manage, and decrease them. This is an indispensable aspect of any startup project.

Check it out to find out how to become a successful risk-taker! Open / Comment

2021-10-14 19:46:13 #ElevatorPitch #PitchYourIdea #WeeklyContest

E friendly cash by @ve1lj
Idea:
E-friendly cash introduces the idea of bills with built-in small scannable chips. It aims to make it easier for people to top up their bank accounts. The chip can be scanned using the special bank app on a smartphone. After it's scanned, a sum of money, that is equal to the denomination of the bill, is added to a person's bank account. The chip on the banknote becomes deactivated, and it cannot be used anywhere. So, the person has to return this bill to the bank.

Problems:
The small number of ATMs and the inconvenience of finding and reaching them when trying to top up your balance.

Potential:
This idea has a lot of potentials. Firstly, banks could charge a monthly fee from the clients for using it. Secondly, banks will definitely gain public exposure and popularity which will bring in new clients and more money. This idea would, of course, require some degree of government support, but the government can profit from it, too. Open / Comment

2021-10-14 17:01:58 ​#StartupNews
Subway story: how to become the largest fast food chain

Valuation: $12,3 billion
Business model: franchise-only system

Subway is an American privately held fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches (subs) and salads. The concept seems very simple, however this simplicity brought billions of dollars to its founders.

Background
When Fred Deluca was 17 years old, he opened the first kiosk to sell sandwiches. A family’s friend gave this idea and invested $1,000. However, Fred didn’t earn anything on the project: they chose a wrong place for selling.

Nevertheless, guys didn’t give up. They opened a new restaurant nearby, though it didn’t live up expectations either. Finally, Fred opened the 3-d place and renamed it as ‘Subway’. This time, they did succeed and earned $7,000 in the first year. After this success, Fred was determined about his willingness to develop business in the food industry.

Concept
Fred came up with the principles which the restaurant had to follow. A high quality, fresh products, and meeting customer’s needs — the business basis. The menu depends on the country. In Muslim countries there are no meals with pork. However, the main ingredients are the same for all the chain restaurants. Subway shows in its advertising campaigns the safety of their products. The restaurant positions itself as a healthy food company.

Leadership factors
Subway provides a healthy alternative to the food that other restaurants offer. The slogan ‘Eat fresh’ attracts buyers, as today there’s a tendency towards healthy lifestyle.

Besides, the company adapts the menu to the way local people live. For example, if the restaurant is located among the people who eat more fish, there will be a bigger range of sandwiches with fish.

Subway also has relatively low expenses for opening a restaurant. As there is no need for a separate kitchen, everything is cooked in front of the clients. Additionally, the company is into innovations. Fred DeLuca supports new ways of attracting customers.

Subway today
Meanwhile, Subway is the largest single-brand fast food chain in the world. The chain comprises 43,000 restaurants in 109 countries. Today the company doesn’t have their own restaurant. They sell franchises instead. Subway collects recurring royalty fees and an upfront franchise fee from independent store operators Such a system helps not only develop a restaurant chain, but also start your own business.

What do you think is the main factor of Subway’s success? Text in the chat Open / Comment