University Entrepreneurship Report: Bamboo Toothbrush Development

This report details the entrepreneurial opportunity of launching a bamboo toothbrush venture, focusing on its environmentally friendly attributes as a replacement for plastic toothbrushes. It begins with an introduction to the product, highlighting its biodegradable nature and the use of Moso Bamboo from China, and explores the marketing strategy using social media and telepromotions. The report addresses feedback from a presentation, discussing funding issues and supplier concerns, followed by an analysis of the product's value proposition, market segmentation targeting the UK and Europe, and a business model canvas. It covers opportunity development, perceived self-efficacy, risk perception, proposed funding through IPO, financial return analysis, market research, and considerations of alternative pathways, concluding with a comprehensive financial statement. The report includes survey results from undergraduate and postgraduate students to gauge market interest and customer behavior, providing a thorough overview of the venture's potential and challenges.

Entrepreneurial
Opportunity
Report

Contents
Section 1: Introduction to idea and its proposed development.........................................3
1.1 Response to General Feedback............................................................................5
1.2 Response to Specific Role Feedback....................................................................5
Section 2: Opportunity Formation.....................................................................................5
2.1 The existing Problem............................................................................................. 5
2.2 Values proportion...................................................................................................5
2.3 Market segmentation..............................................................................................6
2.4 Business model canvas.........................................................................................6
Section 3: Opportunity Development................................................................................8
3.1: Opportunity Development..................................................................................... 8
3.2: Perceived Self-Efficacy.......................................................................................11
3.3: Risk Perception...................................................................................................11
3.4: Proposed Funding...............................................................................................11
3.5: Financial Return Analysis....................................................................................11
3.6: Relevant Market Research..................................................................................11
3.7: Considerations of Alternative Pathways..............................................................11
Section 4: Conclusion.....................................................................................................12
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................13

Section 1: Introduction to idea and its proposed development
In this report, a reflective discussion is made on the new venture made by my
group and I, which is based on establishing the new product which is the replacement of
plastic toothbrush. The product we are launching is Bamboo toothbrush as it has many
benefits. The most important benefit of this product is that it is environment friendly.
Since plastic is not suitable for the nature, therefore it’s alternate such as Bamboo
toothbrush is implemented.
The raw material which is most required for the launching of this new product is
Bamboo tree. As per the research, there are various countries such as India, Vietnam,
Thailand etc. Almost 70% of the total bamboo is being produced by India and China in
Asia. The type of Bamboo available in China is Moso Bamboo which is most suitable for
the toothbrush. Since Bamboo is antimicrobial and biodegradable, therefore it is best
suitable for toothbrush.
The mode of transportation will depend upon the requirement of raw material.
Transportation through sea will take a lot of time but it can load a mass material to the
transportation. Instead of that, transportation through air plane cannot take mass load
but it can be delivered faster. Therefore, transportation mode will depend upon the
requirement of raw material.
Ditch the plastic and move on with Bamboo, it is the tagline of my company
which is going to launch a new tooth brush in the replacement of plastic. Since my
company is launching a new product which is environment friendly, therefore the strips
in the toothbrush is also available in nylon 6 which is also degradable in a few months.
The wood of Bamboo is degradable in almost 6 months. Therefore, it is used by our
company.
The promotion channel used in marketing of our new product is social media
advertising and Tele promotions. Social media has become a strong tool in now days to
promote the product. The details of products and its facilities reach to the customer

automatically as it opens its account. This type of marketing does not require a huge
amount of resources such as human resource; cost and time etc. another type of
marketing is tele promotion. This is a type of promotion technique which is used to
market the product through television and phone calling.
Since the international community is trying to save the environment of the earth,
therefore there are a lot of chances of this new product to survive in market (Alley,
2017). All the countries in the world are now making some policies so that they can
preserve their environment and that is what required by them. Therefore, I can suggest
that this product has bright future in the competitive market. The competitors of this
product are also available but there is huge difference between them and us. The
difference is that they have a huge market across the world with a slow distribution
channel but our product will be available in UK first and plan to expand in future. Our
Targeted customers will be the residents living in UK with the environmental concerns.
Issues or problems faced by the venture:
Although the business has proposed to be developed with a lot of consciousness but still
the issues faced by the new venture is about lack of funds and suppliers issues. Both of these
issues have been explained further in this report.
USP or Uniqueness of the product:
The biggest feature of my product is that it is environment friendly. This feature states it
different from others. The tooth brush is antimicrobial and biodegradable in nature which allows
it to be a specific product in the toothbrush market. The wood used in its production is Bamboo
which has zero tolerance to harm teeth. In addition to these special features it can be stated that
the product is unique in nature. The USP of product is “Save teeth Save environment”.
1.1 Response to General Feedback
The new business proposal was presented the general feedback was very
beneficial for me to make some of the improvements. According to that, the estimated
budget given to the new business venture was not quite likely to be enough. The cost of
new business venture is €430000 in which some of the cost such as marketing etc. are

not included. Another feedback stated that, the presentation slide was not so much
effective and requires some of the improvement.
1.2 Response to Specific Role Feedback
As per the given role of CMO, my work was to prepare a plan for a new business
venture. The value proposition was not mentioned properly and that is why it needs
some of the modifications. Another aspect is that, the salaries of the employees and
other members was not identified properly and therefore, it also requires having some
modification.
Section 2: Opportunity Formation
2.1 The existing Problem
The problems identified in the new venture is about the lacking of funds and
suppliers issue. The funding proposed in the project is crowd funding. The funds
collected with that was not sufficient. Therefore it has taken a lot of issues while
collecting the funds. To solve this issue initial public offering i.e. IPO is offered to the
investors to allow them to invest in the business. This funding had helped me to resolve
the issue of funds. Another issue in the project was suppliers. The main supplier of the
Bamboo tree is China in which Moso Bamboo is available in bulk. The issue in this
availability is that if the political situation of China and UK were not good that it can
hinder the production of my business. In order to resolve this issue the dependability
over China has been reduced. This dependency has shifted to India, Thailand and
Indonesia where also Moso Bamboo is available in bulk.
2.2 Values proportion
The product is about to deliver valuable facilities to the customers. The customers will
not only saves the environment but also save their teeth with the help of antimicrobial bamboo
wood. Apart from that, it will be consisted with Nylon 6 bristles with the help of which the teeth
can be cleaned easily. The new product will deliver magical benefits to the customers and
environment. Apart from that, it can replace the plastics toothbrush which are hazardous for the
environment.

2.3 Market segmentation
Apart from above, the target customers for the product have a wide variety but
the company often targets the customers of UK and Europe. These are the customers
which are targeted because the factors which allows my product to sell out there is that
there is a lot of purchasing power in that region and customers are always environment
friendly. Although product is available to almost all the people but the target has set
already set by the company. Before targeting the customers, a value creation is also
done of our new product. A small survey by the company shows that almost 80% of the
people changes their toothbrush in almost every two months and 75% of the people try
out the new product available to them. The target customers for my product will be the
age of 25 and above. This age is targeted because they are familiar with the increase in
environmental concerns. Apart from that, these targeted customers can approach
others to use such kind of products in order to save environment. Therefore, these
customers will help the company in increasing their sell. Apart from that, different
marketing strategies will also approach such customers to use this new concept.
2.4 Business model canvas
The canvas of Blank’s business model is as follows:
Key Partners Who are our key Partners?
Our Key partners are people who raised funds for the project.
Who are our Key suppliers?
Our key suppliers are Chinese Bamboo industry.
Which key resources are we acquiring from our partners?
Human and financial resources are acquired.
Which key activities do partners perform?
Partners perform the collection of funding
Key Activities What key activities do our value propositions require?
They have to perform the marketing survey of our product.
Our distribution channels?
The distribution of our products is done through by targeting major

outlets.
Customer relationships?
The relationship between customers and company will be good.
Value
Propositions
What value do we deliver to the customer?
Customer will be delivered the environment friendly product.
Which one of customers’ problems are we helping to solve?
We are solving their problem of using plastic wastages.
What bundles of products and services are we offering to each
segment?
We are delivering the environment friendly product to customer with a
new thinking.
Which customer needs are we satisfying?
We are satisfying the needs of UK and Europe customers.
Key resources What key resources do our value propositions require?
They observed the use of previous products of them.
Our distribution channels?
Distribution is done by targeting major outlets.
Cost structure What are the most important costs inherent to our business
model?
The most important cost inherent to our business model is
establishing the plant in China.
Which key resources are most expensive?
The human resources available in China are most expensive.
Which key activities are most expensive?
Cutting down the Bamboo trees is most expensive activity.

Cost consideration:
Source: Income statement, 2017
Above listed income statement of Kent toothbrush, we have made a forecast over our
financial statement which has been listed below:
Statement of Profit and Loss for the year ended 31 December 20XX
Particulars 1 month
(£)
6 months (£) 1 year (£) Particulars 1 month (£) 6
months
1 year
Illustration 1: Income statement

(£) (£)
To Warehouse
Rent 1483 8900 17800 By Sales 35833 215000
43000
0
To Telephone
and Internet
(Advertisement) 1546 9275 18550
To Glue 1232 7390 14780
To Insurance 1469 8815 17630
To Wages 1565 9390 18780
To Selling and
Distribution
Expenses 1369 8215 16430
To Rent, water &
refreshment 1448 8690 17380
To Net Profit 25721 154325 308650
Total 35833 215000 430000 Total 35833 215000
43000
0
For my business presentation, I have conducted a survey among 20
undergraduate students and 10 postgraduate’s students to ask them three main
questions. The questions are asked to check whether the transport service offered by
me will be good or bad (Jackson and et. al., 2015). The explanation was asked about
the position of their answers.
The questions asked by me to the above graduates and post graduates are as follows:
 If they were use the new product of Bamboo tree to replace the plastic
toothbrush in order to preserve the environment?

This is the question asked by me to the post graduates and graduates because of
increasing the revenue from my side. The use of new product will be beneficial for
them as they will use the product by saving the environment and their teeth also.
This is essential from my side the customers should like the new business concept
of replacing the traditional toothbrush. The succession of product also depends on
the succession of benefits assigned with the launching of new products. Therefore, I
have asked them about their views. The views offered by them answering about this
question are that the service or product is good to implement in the market.
 If they would pay a charge of £5.00 for the toothbrush.
The answer explained of this question is that they are all set to know about the third
option. This is happened due to the availability of option in the previous question.
Therefore, the students who are post graduates and graduates are seeking for
another option. They have to choose from one of the three options available to them.
The students often relied on the charge of toothbrush therefore they favours the cost
of product within market.
Section 3: Opportunity Development
3.1: Opportunity Development
The development of entrepreneurial idea is necessary for the development of
new venture. To develop the idea of entrepreneurship the idea of Information
Memorandum is done by raising the funds to support the business.
3.2: Perceived Self-Efficacy
In order to achieve the desired result of aiming to move the citizens to use
Bamboo toothbrush, we have made a lot of work. The countries which are concerned
about environmental changes are asked to develop the new product so that our
business can expand its area of functioning.

3.3: Risk Perception
Although the product is very suitable for the environment but still it has some of
the risks which can hinder the production and smooth functioning of the business. The
biggest risk factor within the business is that the raw material such as Bamboo wood if
interrupted by the major exporting country such as China than the functioning of the
business gets interrupted.
3.4: Proposed Funding
For a business organization, it is required to analyze most convenient method of
gathering funds in order to attain desired objectives and goals easily. Through these
kind of options, an entrepreneur can execute their ideas easily in business ventures. For
this new start-up, crowdfunding would be a most convenient method that provides
desired investment to startups. In order to getting funds option through crowdfunding,
an entrepreneur needs to put detailed description as organization's goals, reason for
taking fund, plan for raise profit of their business on its platform. The advantage of
crowdfunding option is that it can also generate interest and hence helps in marketing
the product alongside financing. So, it can be a better option for such type of startups
that has maxim um opportunity of venture capital investment as well. The funds which
are which are required to support the business are available through crowd funding.
Crowd funding an idea of collection of funding through availing a proposal to person on
internet which are often used to invest in new venture (Belleflamme, Lambert and
Schwienbacher, 2014). This will help the company in raising the funds so that they can
develop their business by the funding. The proposal of crowd funding is has some
specific rules so that it can attract the people to donate.
Master the headline
The headline of the project should be specified before identifying the project. This
is essential step because an investor should know about the business plans so that it
can be able to know about the project with just one line. The headline of proposal
makes the investor eager to read about the business project fully so that if it would be
beneficial for it. If the reader thought of the proposal an interesting one than it will be

beneficial for the new venture. In case of Bamboo toothbrush the proposal should be
made of master headline so that investors will be attracted towards it.
Write fluently
The content of the project proposal should be written fluently which would make
in readable and the process of flowing of the content will be nice. This will help the
reader in reading the content written in a single time so that it should not wait to
understand the content that what is it about to say. There is much guidance on internet
so that it can help the writer to write fluently to the proposal. In case of the Bamboo
project, I have to write the proposal in a good manner so that it cannot hinder the
reading ability of an investor.
Be approachable
The content which is going to written by me should be approachable so that it
would clear that what the product is manufacturing and what the customer is required.
There is no investor in this world that used to invest where there is no approach to the
product with their customer. The product manufacture has deep customers who are
there to use that particular product. In case of Bamboo toothbrush, the company is
looking to target the UK and Europe customers.
Keep things short and sweet
The information of the product which is going to deliver should be clearly
mentioned in the project so that it would be easily readable by the investor. The content
written in the proposal should be short and sweet enough so that it would not take so
much time to read and it would be understandable to the investor also. In case of
Bamboo toothbrush, the content written by me should be short and sweet to attract the
investor easily.
Add a drop of encouragement
The investor should be encouraged enough so that it will not stop itself to invest
in the company. In case of Bamboo toothbrush, the investor should know about the