Although I had gone through the process of creating a business plan in my undergraduate degree, the idea of pitching a venture to prospective investors was new to me. Further, as I have matured in my experience and education, I found that forecasting revenue is a much more difficult task when you are not completely sure about your data.
Market Struggle The forest school or outdoor preschool market is an elusive one with very little data showing enrollment numbers or even number of schools in the country. For this reason, I feel my numbers were a little bit conservative. For example, Using data from the US Department of Education, I assumed that of all students enrolled in preschools, 1% of them were in an outdoor preschool. Further, as my target market is global, my top end market size forecast of 7000 students could be grossly understated; from my research and consultation with a forest school in BC, the forest school movement is much more established in Europe leading to a potentially larger market size. At the same time, my aim to gain a 20% market share of the 1% may have been a little bit aggressive. As a trained accountant, I struggle with dealing with numbers that are not concrete (not having solid data) and feel like it took a lot of my time and created uncertainty for me. Finally, as the market size in Europe is much larger, there may be a product that exists that has a grasp of the market in those countries. Before any venture was started, I would try to gain consultation from forest schools in Europe to determine their solution for ERP and LMS. The Product In regards to my product, Redwood, I think there is definitely a market for it. Environmental action is now a staple for any business as consumers are becoming more conscious of our effects on our planet. This same movement is leading young parents to look for alternatives for their children and provide them with a more enriching educational experience. Even though outdoor preschools have been around for decades, they are gaining traction fast and I anticipate a rapid growth in the market in the coming years. If investors see this growth potential (I hope my elevator pitch demonstrated this) then I think they would accept my valuation of the company. I was intentional about only offering 10% of the company as I think future revenues could be very high - I also realize that investors are taking a risk and thus wanted to provide a full return on their investment while maintaining a portion of future revenues. Although I have been a part of a new ERP rollout, I don't have any experience with developing the product itself, so my cost of development could be inaccurate. I think consolation with an actual development team would be crucial before an actual pitch was made. Feedback from Peers It seemed that after the launch of the venture and giving my peers a chance to critically analyze Redwood, a few themes were arising. The first was that many people had not heard about Forest Schools or what they were all about - I think this also led to the belief that the market may not be that large for the product and it definitely gave me pause to get more numbers about how many forest schools actually exist. If launching this venture, I need to do a better job convincing investors there is a large enough market. It was also suggested that I not limit myself to just the forest school market but rather consider expanding my target market to include all preschools; there is so much value in having a large target market, but I also think there is immense value in serving a specific market that is underserved (makes the smaller market feel valued). It was a great experience receiving the constructive criticism from others who went through the same process; it provided a lot of insight into the weaknesses of my presentation and where I can improve should I decide to take the product to investors. |
References
A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America. (2015). United States Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/matter-equity-preschool-america.pdf
Covert, B. (2013, February, 13). Yes, President Obama: Working Families Desperately Need Access To Preschool--And Childcare. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/brycecovert/2013/02/13/yes-president-obama-working-families-desperately-need-access-to-preschool-and-childcare/#73c9b445222b
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Corr, K. M. (2012, March, 18). Outdoor Kindergarten Comes to Abbotsford. Abby News. Retrieved from http://www.abbynews.com/news/142944695.html
Eva Änggård. (2010). Making Use of “Nature” in an Outdoor Preschool: Classroom, Home and Fairyland. Children, Youth and Environments, 20(1), 4-25. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.20.1.0004
[NEEFusa]. (2012, December 3). Using Technology to Connect Students & the Environment. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/p-QjpMhm9rY
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Covert, B. (2013, February, 13). Yes, President Obama: Working Families Desperately Need Access To Preschool--And Childcare. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/brycecovert/2013/02/13/yes-president-obama-working-families-desperately-need-access-to-preschool-and-childcare/#73c9b445222b
Child care and After school management software for Sign In-Out, Attendance, Daily Sheets and Billing. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2016, from https://www.kinderlime.com/
Child care in Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-652-x/89-652-x2014005-eng.htm
Corr, K. M. (2012, March, 18). Outdoor Kindergarten Comes to Abbotsford. Abby News. Retrieved from http://www.abbynews.com/news/142944695.html
Eva Änggård. (2010). Making Use of “Nature” in an Outdoor Preschool: Classroom, Home and Fairyland. Children, Youth and Environments, 20(1), 4-25. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.20.1.0004
[NEEFusa]. (2012, December 3). Using Technology to Connect Students & the Environment. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/p-QjpMhm9rY
Project Noah | Networked Organisms And Habitats. (n.d.). Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.projectnoah.org/
Wildwonder.ca | WILD WONDER. (n.d.). Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.wildwonder.ca/