OnPatrol: A Mobile App for Women's Safety - Business Plan and Peer Review

This assignment explores the process of creating a business plan for a mobile app designed to enhance women's safety. It utilizes the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to outline the concept of 'OnPatrol,' a mobile safety app, and incorporates peer review feedback from both an online discussion group and a workshop with potential users. The assignment analyzes the initial BMC, highlights areas for improvement based on feedback, and presents a revised BMC incorporating these recommendations. It also discusses the decision-making process involved in developing the business plan and the value of customer validation in shaping the final product.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE: CREATING YOUR BUSINESS
1

Introduction
In order to start a new business, one must have a comprehensive understanding of the market of
launching, trends and costs to build the organization. Additionally, customer preferences,
competitive strategies of rivals, etc. must be known to better position the business. All of this is
grounded on a solid plan of ideas in relation to the business. This assignment draws on
terminologies and processes of setting up a business organization. It reflects on the
aforementioned conditions for establishing business organizations and provides an original
business plan with stages of peer review and subsequent recommendations to establish a
sustainable business organization.
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1: Original Business Concept:
A Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a vital resource for entrepreneurs because it helps them
develop a comprehensive outline about the launch plan, tactical growth scheme, the market it
would operate in and the plan for generating capital from the particular business (Joyce and
Paquin, 2016). The BMC has nine major elements that deliver focus and transparency regarding
the business.
The nine core areas of the BMC are:
 Customer Segments – This category defines the kind of customers, their natures,
attributes, expectations and needs regarding a particular product.
 Value Propositions – These are distinguishing elements of the product or service that
differentiates it from the others in the market. This defines what is ‘compelling’ about the
product and why would customers use or purchase it (Skålén, et al., 2015).
 Channels – These are the media or ways the products are promoted, marketed and sold.
This must be such a channel that works at par with the latest technology.
 Customer Relationships – This involves feedbacks, grievance redressal, etc and other
ways the business owners can communicate with their customers to build an efficient
customer-owner relationship.
 Revenue Streams – These are the ways the business can earn revenue through its value
propositions
 Key activities – This is the exact unique activity that business undertakes to compete with
others in the market
 Key resources – These are strategic distinct assets that the business have to face
competition.
 Key partnerships – These are actions that the business or company must try to mostly
avoid to focus mainly on its key activities.
 Cost structure – These describe the company’s major cost driving elements and their
linkages with revenue generation.
For the assignment, the original business concept is to develop a mobile app for women safety
named ‘OnPatrol’. Its BMC is represented as:
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Customer
segments
- College
going
young
adults
(women
aged 18 to
23)
- Women
working in
offices
(women
aged 24
and above)
Value
propositions
- Well
coordinated
communica
tion with
live
location
tracking
- Efficient
rescue
operation
by
connecting
dials to
police,
women
safety
helpline,
etc.
Channels
- Local
wome
n
colleg
e
- Webs
ite
- Goog
le
Playst
ore
and
App
store
Customer
relationships
- Interactive
communica
tion within
the app
with
relevant
helpline
and
customer
care
- In app
reviews
and
comments
from users
Cost structure
- Marketin
g
domestic
ally
- Employe
e
salaries
Revenue Streams
- Sales
Key activities
- Organized
layout of
features
Key
resources
- Paten
Key partnerships
- Customer
care linked
to women
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inbuilt in
the app
- Lesser
technical
glitches
while app
usage in
comparison
to others in
the market
t
- A
dedic
ated
team
of
profe
ssion
al app
build
ers,
devel
opers
and
coder
s to
updat
e the
app
accor
ding
to
softw
are
upgra
des
safety
helpline
and state
police
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2: Peer group reflection:
For the purpose of a careful examining of the BMC above, I selected two processes for peer
group reflection:
 A pre-selected Working Party (e-WP) on-line discussion group
 A business model generation workshop with potential users of the mobile app
Step 1
Pre-selected Working Party (e-WP) on-line discussion group
The pre-selected working party was required to be an online discussion group as mentioned in
the requirements of the assignment. Hence, the online discussion was done in Quora. During the
discussion, a variety of mixed opinions was received – some positive and some negative. The
business idea faced healthy criticism, which has helped it work upon the recommendations to
build a better BMC.
Some feedbacks have been discussed below:
The online discussion group consisted of a diverse mindset of opinions with participants having a
global outlook who wanted to work on a women safety mobile app for emergencies. The online
forum helped me understand that the plan I had proposed was more or less achievable, but not
quite sustainable where earning revenue is concerned. The main developments suggested were in
the area of technology and financing. The feedback regarding the submitted cost structure was
that they were very much “viable” and “attainable”. However, many remarked that it is “not a
well detailed plan where long term revenue is concerned”.
Value propositions for the BMC of the ‘OnPatrol’ app have been welcomed by the peer group
and rated as “perfect” or “well done”. The group discussed that the propositions were of great
value regarding interactive communication and constant surveillance. Connecting with a
woman’s helpline was lauded as a major success for the business plan in its earliest stage. Many
thought it was “good-to-go” and needed more improvisation within the period of its first
software update.
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Channels for marketing were received with much applause considering them as “relevant”, and
“market-wise”. Although a batch of peers thought, ‘OnPatrol’ could establish linkages with
online advertising agencies and make their advertisements available on Google Playstore. It
would then list on the suggestions for searching keywords related to women safety. Also, many
opined that “social media marketing is lacking for the app”. The common belief here was that
social media has revolutionized the way a product is marketed so ‘OnPatrol’ should take this
advantage as it has a “ scope for wider audience reception” and is “cost effective”, the business
being a new one.
Revenue streams were particularly criticised for being very limited. Peers involved in the online
discussion expressed that gaining sponsorships from women safety organizations, “women
safety” gadget makers, etc. would help a great deal for the initial promotional strategy of the
business.
Overall, the Working Party (e-WP) online discussion was very fruitful as it made some very
appealing suggestions that could help improve the app and market it as a one of a kind among the
available options in the mobile app market.
Step 2
A “business model” generation workshop with potential users of the mobile app
The app development took place inside a closed environment consisting of only professional tech
geeks who focused on building rather than branding ‘OnPatrol’. Hence, to gather sufficient
feedback regarding the usage and marketing, a workshop was conducted among a group of
individuals who are the potential user of this app. The workshop was aimed at gathering first
hand and real time experiences of users who would access the mobile app to fight an emergency
in relation to their safety (Chambers, 2012).
The background for this workshop was no different from the interview, it wanted to received
urgent feedbacks about the business plan and build on the ideas to strategize it more wisely in the
market. The workshop was held two weeks after the online discussion had concluded. This was
done so that the suggestions received from peer group in online discussion could be incorporated
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in the business plan and then potential users to see whether they were actually relevant could
review it or not.
The workshop was organized within the app development office premises where the potential
user or participants of the workshop were given a real life scenario where they were faced by a
sudden danger situation, which had to be overcome by using the ‘OnPatrol’ app. This would
serve two purposes – app would have been tested for potential technical glitches and feedback
would have been stacked for improvisation. The workshop lasted for about two hours, where the
participants had been given phones with the app already installed in the devices. The participants
of the workshop were young college students who travel from the suburbs to reach the city
college, and women who live as paying guests and working outside their home locations.
The workshop began with a power point presentation outlining the mains of the business plan
and then demonstrating how to use the app after installation. The agenda of the workshop is
presented below:
 A five minutes introduction to introduce the idea of women safety and its relevance
 A power point presentation of ten minutes to explain the business plan
 A five minutes demonstration of how to use the app
 A Q&A session to address app-related queries, extending for about fifteen minutes
 Another an hour and half was spent on using the app in real time with participants given
different situational dangers to overcome with the help of the app.
The workshop has been extremely instrumental to highlight what could be done to position the
app just right in the market. It helped to gain insights from real time users relating to customer
relations and channels.
Participants expressed that the built of the app, from design to implementation was very
“thoughtful” and “well planned”. The theme colour of the app, the words and quick contacts
corners were one of the most praised. Participants thought the app, other than relying on
customer reviews and comments, can engage them with their experience-sharing and more on
social media. They felt that the app needed to be market both domestically and internationally as
it is something really “handy, user-friendly and time saving”.
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Also, it was suggested that more could be done on earning revenue and improving cost structures
by employing more money-saving techniques like collaborating with the local governments,
local institutions and so on.
Altogether, the workshop was very helpful to enhance marketing strategies based on user
experience. The workshop also included discussions about value propositions, channels, key
activities, and revenue streams. The workshop was also beneficial for the participants as it
provided them with a deep understanding of the psychology of women who has been subject to
life threats in situations that arose from nowhere. This workshop helped in building sensitization
regarding an important societal issue and also raised awareness regarding women safety.
Decision-making during the business model canvas
For ‘OnPatrol’ an initial decision making for a business plan involves deciding on factors like
customer segmentation, value proposition, cost structures, key resources and key activities.
These were done by inviting potential consumers for a workshop and online discussion where
different views led to exchange of ideas, furthering the innovation process. The first step in
decision making for ‘OnPatrol’ was when I asked in the online discussion about the top priority
of users of mobile safety apps. The responses were “The app must be user-friendly”,
“functional,” “data-saving,” and so on. The most striking opinion was it needed to be
“interactive” above all. The focus of “OnPatrol” has since the start been to create an interactive
system that provides handy guidelines. The mobile app for women safety has a user-friendly and
interactive interface where the user can learn through controlled graphics how they can proceed
when in a situational danger.
Where the question of functionality rose, “OnPatrol” was recorded to have the least number of
technical glitches, although it needed to be more data-saving as consumers wouldn’t probably
accessing the app in a well networked WiFi system. Hence, it was decided that developers could
focus on improving ad-hoc services for accessing the app.
It can be said that the procedures carried out during the pre-selected Working Party (e-WP) on-
line discussion and the business model generation workshop, a variety of instructions,
suggestions, indications and improvisations were gathered that subconsciously accelerated
‘OnPatrol’ towards a defined business model.
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In addition, the activities helped in garnering customer validation. The potential customers or
users of ‘OnPatrol’ were invited for the workshop and discussion and their queries resulted in
validation tests that have eventually proved that there exists a defined set of customers for the
mobile app, and this hence confirms the viability of having an app especially designed for
women safety. The peer group review also enhanced the business decision-making process
where the entrepreneurs of the new venture learnt how to deal with healthy criticism and upgrade
their existent ideas in accordance with consumer needs and market forecast.
The process helped in narrowing down cost structures by streamlining the methods of cash
inflows for the mobile app due to which it can create and execute a more economically feasible
business model, as represented in the business model canvas.
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3: Concept Improvement Reiteration:
‘OnPatrol,’ as a mobile safety app started off with a business plan that was described average for
initial revenue generation, but not a plausible one for future growth. According to Shin, et al.,
(2017), before launching a mobile safety app one must go through decision-making, discussions,
debates, trend studies and market forecasts, as its peer review to provide an efficient business
plan on which it can officially launch the app.
Through the pre-selected Working Party (e-WP) on-line discussion group, the following
concepts of improvement were concluded:
 Technological recommendations – introducing data-saving mechanism in the app,
improving channels at par with technology like social media
 Financial recommendations – increasing revenue streams by more sponsorships and
advertisements.
The “business model” generation workshop with potential users of the mobile app helped
summarize these improvisations:
 Marketing and promotion recommendations – social media promotions through
giveaways, online advertisements
 Value proposition recommendations – interactive interface
After implementing the above, a concept improvement reiteration can be represented as:
Customer
segments
- College
going
young
adults
Value
propositions
- Live
location
tracking
Channels
- Local
wome
n
colleg
Customer
relationships
- Customer
care
- In app
testimonial
Cost structure
- Marketin
g
domestic
ally and
internati
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(women
aged 18 to
23)
- Women
working in
offices
(women
aged 24
and above)
- Rescue
operation
team dials
to police,
women
safety
helpline,
etc.
- Time-
saving
- Interactive
interface
e
- Webs
ite
- Socia
l
media
camp
aigns
- App
adver
tisem
ents
in
Goog
le
Playst
ore
and
Appst
ore
s
- Social
media
giveaways
of women
safety
products
like pepper
sprays, etc.
onally
- Employe
e
salaries
- Equity
to
sharehol
ders
Revenue Streams
- Sales
- Online
advertisem
Key activities
- Organized
digital
marketing
Key
resources
- Paten
t
Key partnerships
- Customer
care linked
to women
safety
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ents
- Sponsorshi
ps from
women
safety
organizatio
ns, women
safety
gadget
makers,
etc.
- Flash mobs
and
contests for
initial
promotion
in women
colleges
- A
dedic
ated
team
of
profe
ssion
al app
build
ers,
devel
opers
and
coder
s to
updat
e the
app
accor
ding
to
softw
are
upgra
datio
n
helpline
and state
police
- Partnering
with local
women
colleges
and women
safety
organizatio
n to raise
awareness
The above has been made by incorporating the nine basic elements of the business model canvas.
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Conclusion
Creating a business organization includes a list of instructional and functional processes. These
relate to positioning, financial and technological requirements as well as feedbacks and
suggestions from peers, stakeholders and potential consumers of the particular company. The
business plan ensures all of this is discussed in a concise and specific manner to pitch to
investors and collaborators. Getting the business plan right can be done by referring to modern
business models, the most common of which is the business model canvas. The assignments has
incorporated the basic elements of this business model canvas to explore the procedures and
stages in creating a smooth business plan.
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References list
Joyce, A. and Paquin, R.L., 2016. The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design
more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, pp.1474-1486.
Skålén, P., Gummerus, J., von Koskull, C. and Magnusson, P.R., 2015. Exploring value
propositions and service innovation: a service-dominant logic study. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 43(2), pp.137-158.
Shin, J., Cho, D. and Sim, J., 2017. Concerns make your decision better: Privacy perception,
increased awareness, and the decision of mobile app installation.
Chambers, R., 2012. Participatory workshops: a sourcebook of 21 sets of ideas and activities. Routledge.
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