The+9+dollar+cardboard+bike

=New Venture Development of a $9 cardboard bike company = toc In this project you will help this inventor turn his creation of a cardboard bike into a promising new venture. The inventor of the $9 bike, Izhar Gafni, has decided to partner with you to determine the feasibility of his product in the United States. You are going to purchase inventory from Mr. Gafni to determine market acceptance in an experiment you conduct in the Huntsville, Alabama, market. You need to determine what key resources you need, what your revenue and cost models are, channels of customer interaction, key partnerships, and, most importantly, who your customer segments are. In short, you need to use the business model generation canvas to determine how to provide value to a group (or groups) of customers with this product and does so with a suitable level of profit.


 * But first watch the below video (it's set to auto-start).**

The Seeds of A New Venture
Izhar Gafni has designed award winning industrial machines for peeling pomegranates and sewing shoes. He’s also a bike enthusiast who’s designed a lot of carbon fiber rigs. But one day, he’d heard about someone who’d built a cardboard canoe. The idea drilled its way into his consciousness, and ultimately, led him to create a cardboard bike called the Alfa.

The Alfa weighs 20lbs, yet supports riders up to 24 times its weight. It’s mostly cardboard and 100% recycled materials, yet uses a belt-driven pedal system that makes it maintenance free. And, maybe best of all, it’s project designed to be manufactured at about $9 to $12 per unit (and just $5 for a kids version), making it not only one of the most sustainable bikes you could imagine, but among the cheapest, depending on the markup. media type="custom" key="21016742" But as the above video documents, the design process was arduous. Source: [] Global bicycles market to exceed US$77.7 Billion by 2015
 * ~  ||~ =Project Milestones and Deliverables= ||~ =Date= ||~ =Instructions and Resources= ||
 * 1 || First, read these documents to get a better understanding of the bicycle market in the US (you can also use additional online resources from Bruno Library and others as appropriate). || 1/4/13 || [[file:Consumer Reports on best bicycles.pdf]]

Also check out these sites on bicycling advocacy: For a broader perspective on the bicycle retailing market see @http://www.bicycleretailer.com/ || Answer these questions with a couple of sentences. || See Business Model Generation for insights and examples.
 * Alliance for Biking and Walking
 * Bikes Belong Coalition ||
 * 2 || Then read these industry analyses for bicycles production, wholesaling, and retailing. || 1/4/13 || Industry Analysis from National Bicycle Dealers' Association (NBDA)
 * 3 || Who is the customer (segments) || 1/12/13 || Answer these questions:
 * What group of customers will likely constitute the first group of buyers of this product? What demographics, behavior preferences, and economic or environmental factors influence this group?
 * How many people are in this segment (estimates with back-up assumptions)
 * How is your customer segment currently solving the problem your product will better solve?
 * How do developments and features of infrastructure affect who the customer will be and who will or won't buy? (hint: see outlook in NBDA's industry analysis above). ||
 * 4 || What is the value proposition? || 1/12/13 || * What is the bundle of products and services that create value for a specific customer segment?
 * What is it about your product that will cause your customer segment to switch to your product?
 * 5 || What are the appropriate channels for reaching customers? || 1/12/13 || * Through which channels do your customers want to be reached?
 * How are you reaching them now?
 * How are your channels integrated?
 * Which channel works best?
 * Which channel(s) is (are) most efficient?
 * How can you integrate channels with customer routines and behaviors? ||
 * 6 || What kinds of customer relationships should we develop? || 1/12/13 || This is driven by customer acquisition, retention, and upselling; here are examples: personal assistance, dedicated personal assistance, self-service, automated service, communities (e.g., online), co-creation ||
 * 7 || What are our revenue streams? || 1/12/13 || Transactions from one-off customer payments? or recurring revenues from ongoing payments for continuous delivery of value proposition or post-purchase customer support? ||
 * 8 || What are our key resources, key partnerships, and key activities? || 1/12/13 || * What resources do you need to create and deliver your value proposition, reach customers, maintain relationships, and generate revenues? Examples: physical, financial, intellectual, human; owned, leased, borrowed.
 * What key partnerships and activities do you need to create and deliver your value proposition? ||
 * 9 || What is our cost structure || 1/12/13 || What costs are associated with the other eight pieces of the business model canvas? Identify start-up, fixed, variable, economies of scale, economies of scope. ||
 * 11 || Business Plan Canvas for Business Model Generation (bring numbers 3 through 9 together) || 1/12/13 || Simply a final assembly of the preceding items 3 through 9 ||