Entrepreneurship
Overview
Problem Statement
Fire blight is a highly contagious and detrimental disease caused by the bacteria Erwinia amylovora. It affects pome fruit tree orchards worldwide, causing extensive damage to trees, reducing fruit yield, and leading to significant economic losses in the agricultural sector. In the US alone, fire blight costs over $100 million in damages annually.
Currently, there is no definitive solution to fire blight, making it one of the most difficult diseases for growers to manage. Several intensive preventative measures must be put into place to hinder an infection, and treatment courses of action require experts in order to properly eradicate the disease from an orchard.
Unmet Needs
Our team spoke with many industry professionals, from apple growers to crop protection consultants to fruit tree disease specialists, in order to better understand the context of this contagious disease. By learning of our solution’s potential to be a niche player in the market, we dove further into the business aspect of our project.
We had two main focuses: a public approach and a regulatory approach. Because a lack of education has prevented a solution to fire blight, we promoted education and outreach with the public and local communities to raise knowledge and awareness of the problem and our solution. Our team also developed comprehensive business and legal strategies in order to plan for registering and launching our product on the market.
Product Development
In order to bring our product to the market, our team produced a formal business plan to organize our startup strategy. In this plan, we analyzed the current industry, product development plans, potential customers and competitors, and more.
We formulated a pitch deck in order to present our innovative approach to combating fire blight, showcasing its scientific potential and real-world applications. By clearly outlining the project's value, market potential, and impact, it contributes to entrepreneurship by attracting interest from potential investors, collaborators, and stakeholders in the biotech industry.
Legal Considerations
Our team formulated a legal plan in order to outline the steps we need to take to protect our project’s intellectual property and ensure regulatory compliance. It is a crucial step in safeguarding inventions, navigating the patent landscape, and addressing potential challenges in bringing our project from development to market.
Financing
Product Price Breakdown
Given that synthetic biology especially within agricultural applications is highly regulated, our team recognized that the majority of funds would go towards pre-commercialization costs, including research and development (R&D) and production, to ensure the efficacy and ethics of our product. Additionally, factors considering farmer’s desire to eliminate fire blight with as little manual labor as possible and the P. agglomerans within the injection solution likely being in a freeze-dried form when shipped, Blight Busters opted for a no-drill injection option syringe and packaging to accommodate the shelf life of P. agglomerans, accounting for specified costs when calculating our price per unit. To note, within the production cost, the active ingredient: P. agglomerans would be accounted for there, as our team determined it to be a one-time buy that will continue to reproduce as the product is made and eventually scaled. To keep up with regulatory compliances and refining the product, this was another financial challenge our team accounted for in the product price breakdown.
5-Year Projection
In our 5-year projection, our team outlined not only cumulative profits but noted how that profit grows with scale. Growth in the company’s outreach to eventually reach bigger commercial, high-density apple orchards, ultimately selling more units to accommodate more trees, also reflects Blight Busters’s growth in impact on the apple industry. Our projections predict we reach our break-even point in our third year of commercializing Blight Busters’s trunk injections.
Branding & Packaging
Additionally, our team established branding for Blight Busters. With imaging of apples, it would coherently communicate Blight Busters’s key target. In terms of packaging, we opted for a no-drill injection option syringe, making the application process, especially at large scale, a great selling point to all types of apple orchards seeking to eliminate fire blight.
