Some Brainstorming on Revenue Streams, Partners & Resources

We have worked on the research that would help us determine the revenue streams. In order to be able to actually set up the platform for the activity we had to explore what resources and partners we would need to get involved. First of all, we need to build a platform - website and app. What is the best solution for that? Build ourselves? Where to host it? These and many other questions got answers when we interviewed a Cloud Solutions Specialist from Google. Did you know that many startups use Google Cloud platform to kick off their businesses? There are opportunities for support (e.g. free credits, discounts etc.). From the interview and Google Cloud Solutions site, here's what information we got and we are considering to use it.

Google has one of the largest and most advanced computer networks. Google’s backbone network has thousands of miles of fiber optic cable, uses advanced software-defined networking and has edge caching services to deliver fast, consistent and scalable performance. Using Google Cloud platform would allow us to develop, deploy and iterate our application without worrying about system administration. Google manages the application, database and storage servers so we wouldn’t have to.

As per suggestion of our Google Cloud specialist it would be optimal for us to go with Google App Engine. Features include:
Popular languages and frameworks. It is possible to write applications in some of the most popular programming languages: Python, Java, PHP and Go. We can also use existing frameworks such as Django, Flask, Spring and webapp2.
Focus on your code. Google takes care of the database administration, server configuration, sharding and load balancing. With Traffic Splitting, we can A/B test different live versions of our app.
Multiple storage options. A traditional MySQL database using Cloud SQL, a schemaless NoSQL datastore, or object storage using Cloud Storage.
Powerful built-in services. App Engine makes you more productive by eliminating the need to write boilerplate code. Managed services, such as Task Queues, Memcache and the Users API, let you build any application.
Familiar development tools. We can use the tools we know, including Eclipse, IntellIJ, Maven, Git, Jenkins, PyCharm and more. The App Engine SDK allows to test applications locally in a simulated environment and then deploy the app with simple command-line tools or the desktop launcher.
Deploy at Google scale. Some of the world’s most popular web services are built on Google's platform. It is possible to scale up to 7 billion requests per day and automatically scale down when traffic subsides. Basically this means that the system allows the application to grow with our users.

As for the costs, we have already clarified that it may be possible to get approx. $500 credit which depending on the usage (the system works so that we pay for what we use) may enable us to run approximately for a year. To add, there is special support for Startups available. The offer says: "$100,000 in credit and 24/7 support for eligible startups. Focus on building your product and don't worry about complex infrastructure. Google manages your application, database, and storage servers so you don't have to." This offer is available to startups that meet the following criteria:

And one more thing. Potential investors may be interested what happens if and when the usage of app grows beyond the credits available. For this we may be eligible for Sustained Use Discounts.

Post by: Laura

Some Findings on Nutritional Information Issues

The idea of our startup is to provide our users a resource for their food choices - enabling them to find a place to eat out or buy products. Depending on our findings this may include cuisines (e.g. Indian, Italian), various dietary requirements (e.g. Vegetarian, Vegan), and nutritional information (e.g. calories). This blog post should give you an idea on what we found out on the latter.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

From our in-person interviews and survey conducted from consumer side of the market (168 responses so far) we found out that people have various food preferences and requirements. Some of them mentioned that they do not count calories per se but are sticking to a reasonable food portions. Others implied that eating out derives them from their healthy diet or they tend to intake too much calories.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

So with our solution we will be trying to address these (and many other) customer pains. One interesting finding was that even if the person does not really count calories, when they have them displayed on the menu, they will still go for lower calorie meals. This shows that providing customers with such information can impact their choices. To add, we came upon the Report On a National Consultation "Calories on menus in Ireland" created already couple of years ago. Already then the surveys were conducted and according to the report "Consumers who report using calorie information (15%) tend to make lower calorie food choices. In addition, there is evidence that calorie menu labelling creates a demand for healthier options – including smaller portion sizes." So our observations are actually confirmed by a nation-wide research. What is interesting is that the report also confirms that people who use the calorie information provided actually do purchase/ear fewer calories. 15% of the surveyed population already used the calorie information on menus at the time when the research was done. To add, here are some additional useful facts from the report:

A total of 3,130 submissions (2,666 consumers, 322 health professionals, 73 food businesses and 69 others) were received via the consumer survey. Ninety six percent of submitters want calorie menu labelling in all, or some, food outlets. Eighty three percent want calorie labelling in all food service businesses. Of the 13% who preferred calorie labelling in some outlets, their order of priority was: fast food outlets (95%), coffee shops and delis (63%), cinemas (58%), vending machines (57%), pubs (26%) and restaurants (18%). The main reasons given for wanting vs. not wanting calorie menu labelling was ‘empowerment to make informed food choice decisions’ vs. ‘calorie labelling is unnecessary and ineffective’ (46% vs. 3% of the total group respectively).

All of the above helps us to validate our hypothesis for the Value Proposition for the one side of the market (consumer) and the product therefore may enable people to make informed food choice decisions they are looking for (here we are referring to calorie count ONLY and not taking into account other information we may be able to provide). If the problem is calorie count, then consumers may be able to find a place within their calorie limit.

Source: Calories on menus in Ireland
REPORT ON A NATIONAL CONSULTATION
June 2012

However, the other side of the market (e.g. restaurants) may not completely agree to display the calorie count of their meals. This, according to the report is quite some problem. Implementing calories on menus may be a challenge if the menus are seasonal and changing often as it is the additional time and resources restaurants have to invest. McDonalds, Burger King, Subway and Insomnia are among the chains that have introduced calorie labeling on their main overhead menu display, but Beshoffs and O'Brien's Sandwich bars have not, an Irish Independent survey in Dublin city center showed. Supermacs has a small panel with calorie counts at the side of its flagship O'Connell St base, but not on its main overhead menu, meaning a customer would have to actively seek them out before ordering (Source: Independent.ie). So, theoretically this is doable. Nevertheless, Health Minister James Reilly has pledged to introduce legislation by the end of the year forcing every business that serves food to display calories on their menus, if they are not complying voluntarily (Source: Irishhealth.ie).

If the calorie labeling is forced by a law, then our product will have more restaurants to offer within the app. In our case calorie information is not the only nutritional information we are planning to provide, therefore restaurant attitudes may not have as heavy impact on our product, because there is much more information we can use. What matters is that the consumers are actually alert about their food choices and want to be enabled to make informed and healthier ones.

Post by: Laura

Testing the Renewed Value Proposition and Customer Segments

Validating Value Proposition

As we second week approached, we decided to conduct deep interviews from both, people in industry and those who are exercising regularly and/or concerned with their nutrition. One of the first interviewee happened to be a personal trainer, James Murphy. He invalidated the initial value propositions (VP) that we had straight away, telling me about three sports meal delivery services currently available in Dublin. Whats more, he was skeptical about meal plan being done over an app as it requires a deep understanding of persons' nutritional requirements, exercising level and body composition.

We've also conducted several interviews in order to find out what bothers people most and came to a conclusion that many people find it hard to balance their almost-healthy diet during the week and not-so-healthy choices when dinning out or going to clubs or bars during the weekends or after work.

Our group gathered for a brainstorming session, during which we invalidated some of the hypothesis we had before around meal planning and food delivery services. Taking into account interviews we did and feedback we got, we came up with a slightly different VP which included providing healthy food options information, breakdown by diet type and/or nutritional information of the meals in restaurants and calories count at bars and pubs in Dublin (can also be expanded to other cities). What we needed at this stage is to validate our new value proposition and gather extra information about our potential customers.

 

Post by: Julia