UnivLyon1-INSALyon
To provide a new option to protect our commodity from insect pests, that is respectful of the environment, people and pet health.
The problematics: → Pests insects are responsible for the loss of 20% to 40% of global crop production every year.
These numbers are likely to increase with climate change, as rising temperatures are expected to accelerate insect development, extend their reproductive seasons, and lead to the expansion of their habitats.
Another aspect of the influence of global warming is the increase of nuisance pests and invasive insect vectors in new regions which are responsible for human diseases epidemics. This aspect is even more important with the globalization.
Pests control plays a crucial role in safeguarding both food production and public health. Without it, fruit production would decline by 78%, vegetable’s by 54%, and cereal’s by 32%. It permits control of diseases’ propagation, specifically insect borne diseases.
Even though their usage is currently an irreplaceable necessity, with 3 billion kilograms used every year, the overuse of pesticides has a documented impact on the environment and counter-effects.
These reasons show the need to reduce pesticides usage. Even though the majority of pesticides are used for agriculture a non negligible proportion is used for pest control. It is responsible for a considerable portion of the global human population's exposition.
In 2022, the Global Pest Control Market size was evaluated to USD $21.6 billions. This includes all type of pests controls tools, from insecticides to eco responsible repulsives). This will define our total addressable market.
To determine our serviceable available market we need to estimate the proportions of customers that are concerned by the environment and health and could therefore be realistically interested in an environmentally friendly alternative. For this, it is estimated that 43% of the world population is very concerned by environmental issues.
This represents a total of $9.29 billions of serviceable available market.
To estimate our serviceable obtainable market we needed to estimate the proportion of the $9.29 billion serviceable available market determined beforehand. For this estimation, we took into consideration the principal insecticides producing companies (Syngenta International AG, Bayer CropScience AG, BASF…) and their market shares. A competition analysis taking into consideration the major type of products sold in this field (the competition analysis is detailed below). The chosen channel and distribution means considered for BIO Snare was also considered for this estimation. With this we estimate the serviceable obtainable portion to be of 5%, making a total of $465 millions.
To organize our business plan and our strategy, we drafted a Business Model Canva. It helped us organize our idea and how to meet our goal to produce and deliver this tool to our different potential clients
You can find a detailed version of our business plan below :
Click on the buttons to discover the detailed business plan
Our product may be of interest to customers in a variety of sectors. In fact, our trap is modular, so it can be adapted to suit the needs of the domestic sector. Depending on the color of the patch, and/or the pheromones added, this trap is capable of targeting different insect pests in a specific way.
Our customer segmentation is referred to as psychographic, and concerns environmentally-conscious consumers with values such as environmental and users health protection and sustainability. According to our surveys, our potential customers have a high level of interest in the use of home traps, a conscious lifestyle and a willingness to pay a premium for eco-friendly products.
What's more, our product may also be of interest to various retailers, such as those selling bulk food products. It may also interest town councils for use in parks or public greenhouses, but also to tradesmen,like bakers, and restaurants/hotels.
Supermarkets could also be potential customers, taking on the role of distributors and retailers.
BIO Snare is at the heart of the One Health concept, taking into account environmental safety, human and animal health. It is fully biodegradable and completely respectful of nature. Our patches have an unrivaled competitive advantage: 100% biodegradable and biosourced, it's harmless to humans and to the environment.
It is easy to use and can be composted.
We focused on the problems presented to offer the best possible solution through these patches.
Our communication strategy is based on various means of communication, such as social networks and teleshopping, to reach a wide audience on an ongoing basis, but also using the advertising tagline: Ads. This project could be at the heart of various scientific conferences at trade fairs on the environment, agriculture and innovation.
The media are a good source for sharing information, and would give us greater visibility, credibility and legitimacy, with networking opportunities and brand reinforcement.
As another means of communication, we also offer door-to-door canvassing, i.e. direct canvassing of industrial and food distribution companies, as well as public institutions and public gardens.
In order to reach users directly, selling on a website is a good solution. We aim to create our own website to directly sell BIO Snare or use e-shop institutions.
Selling through distributors/retailers is also another way to reach a variety of customers for home usage, and can be done through supermarkets,organic or garden stores.
Our product is biodegradable, so its primary problem is preservation.
Hover over the image to see the details.
Primary packaging:
The patch can be presented in several ways, depending on the customer's needs :
To avoid development of fungi and bacteria for the longest, it is essential to protect the product from moisture, for that, the patch needs to be isolated from the ambient air until usage, so our solution is to use
BIO Snare is an organic material, it must be kept at room temperature (between 16°C and 25°C).
Storage conditions must respect this specificity, and thermo-controlled means of transport and storage must be used.
Preservatives would be used to keep the patch usable for as long as possible, and an expiration date would be added to ensure safe use, guaranteeing the quality of the patch by carrying out stability studies in accordance with the regulations of the countries whose market is targeted
Secondary packaging
The sticky cellulose is then placed between 2 sheets of recycled paper, which can be grouped by 6 and placed in bags made from corn plastic. The whole package is packed in a recyclable cardboard box.
Customer relationships are just as important to brand development. Customer loyalty is created not only by the quality of the product that fully performs, but also by a product that lasts.
A range of patches in different forms is available for customers to adapt to their needs. If the patch does not meet the customer's expectations, an after-sales service will be offered.
Since the trap can be used in different ways for different needs and therefore different types of customers, we will provide specific manuals to help customers use the patch to its full capacity.
This customer relationship is also strengthened by the concept of co-creation: working with product users to understand their needs and expectations. Thanks to the high flexibility of our product, we will easily produce patches specific to our customers’ targeted nuisance and in a packaging adapted to their use.
The business produced by BIO Snare will then be able to generate income. Our customers will be able to pay in-store at the time of purchase, after the company's expenses, as our product is finalized. Depending on our different customer segments, the price may vary. The aim of our product is to offer good value for money while remaining competitive on the market.
For individual customers, a box of 6 patches will cost between €9.99 and €14.99.
For distributors and resellers, the amount will be defined according to the quantity.
In order to work, our company has to bring together a variety of resources to meet our customers' needs.
To meet these needs, we would like to collaborate with companies specializing in the manufacture of agricultural and household protection products. During the construction of our project, we contacted and interacted with companies in these fields, who expressed an interest in our product and in future collaboration.
For our business model to work, it's essential to have a list of the company's key activities:
Thanks to potential partners, our company will be able to evolve and improve our product. These relationships can give us advantages such as being competitive on the market with price control. This is why we need to think about possible future collaborations, such as partnerships with raw materials and laboratory products suppliers,but also with scientific and biodiversity experts.
We may also have a partnership relationship with the delivery service and customer associations.
BIO Snare's projected expenditure is divided between variable and fixed costs.
On one hand, there are purchases of raw materials, such as bacteria and yeast, for production needs, culture solution, consumables, rolls of corn plastic, cardboard for packaging, paper and ink (used for the design of the cardboard boxes and the instructions for use).
Commissions are also expenses to be taken into account, and include not only the patent but also taxes.
Fixed costs include plant and premises rent, human resources and insurance, as well as energy consumption.
A SWOT model was used to analysis our model as shown below :
Conducting a competitive analysis is essential for us to understand our positioning in the market. It allows us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors, better understand their strategies, and anticipate their actions. By performing this analysis, we can spot opportunities to seize while avoiding potential threats. This gives us a clear view of the competitive landscape, enabling us to adjust our offerings, differentiate ourselves, and strengthen our competitiveness to maximize our chances of success.
The factors contributing to its rise are:
The Profit & Loss Budget Model is a key tool. This financial document allows us to assess the financial profitability of our company BIO Snare, and identify areas where it is possible to reduce costs or increase revenue.
| All figures (except employees) in € |
Transition Scale-Up | Phase 3: Market Launch | Profitable Growth | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | |
| Existing revenues | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incremental revenues | 15,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 120,000 | 240,000 | 300,000 | 360,000 | 420,000 |
| Total sales | 15,000 | 30,000 | 60,000 | 120,000 | 240,000 | 300,000 | 360,000 | 420,000 |
| COGS | 130,043 | 78,952 | 80,803 | 84,506 | 91,913 | 95,616 | 99,319 | 103,022 |
| Operational costs | 95,330 | 92,000 | 98,000 | 134,000 | 142,000 | 179,000 | 215,000 | 247,000 |
| EBITDA | -210,373 | -140,952 | -118,803 | -98,506 | 6,087 | 25,384 | 45,681 | 69,978 |
| Direct job creation | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Indirect job creation | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
Find how we came to estimate these numbers with the explanations below :
For the first year, we expect 1,000 customers with them to be mostly individual consumers, buying BIO Snare for household usage. The average deal size is therefore estimating total sales to be of 5000.
For the second year, we expect 2,000 new customers. With the marketing strategies we described beforehand in the Business Model Canva. We hope for an increase of retailer customers that could increase the average deal size to 20.
Equipments (Expenses only during the first year) :
In order to complete this business plan, an exit plan was considered.
Firstly, the patent registration is a key part of this business plan and exit strategy and will be one of the first steps. It will permit us to protect our work and our intellectual property and our inventor status will be emphasized by our laboratory notebook.
In case the manufacturing resources and equipment costs can not be covered by the UnivLyon1-INSALyon team, a merger & acquisition plan will be considered. Through the creation of our iGEM project, we had the chance to get in contact with two big sized and international agroindustries. They expressed their interest in our project and pushed for the team to register a patent. In the iGEM context, such a request could not be fulfilled at the time. However, this strategy stemmed from this as a possibility for our future ventures.
References:
[1]National Institute of Food and Agriculture (2020) Researchers helping to protect crops from pests.(Accessed: 25 September 2024).
[2] Lounibos, L.P. (2002) ‘Invasions by insect vectors of human disease’, Annual Review of Entomology, 47(1), pp. 233–266. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ento.47.091201.145206.
[3]World Health Organization (2001) ‘Vector-borne disease management’, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79(12), pp. 1139-1146. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/vector-borne-diseases
[4] Wu, J., Yu, F., and Tang, B. (2021) ‘Impacts of agrochemicals on environmental and human health’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), p. 1112. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031112.
[5] Hayes, T.B. (2019) ‘From silent spring to silent night: Agrochemicals and the global decline of biodiversity’, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 7(1), p. 246. doi: 10.1525/elementa.246.
[6] Lounibos, L.P. (2002) ‘Invasions by insect vectors of human disease’, Annual Review of Entomology, 47(1), pp. 233–266. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ento.47.091201.145206.
[7]Abdulelah, A., Bradburne, C. and Lee, S. (2022) ‘Physiological responses to thermal stress in insect vectors’, Frontiers in Physiology, 13(1112278). doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1112278.
[8] Elliott, R.M. (2021) ‘Emerging viral diseases and insect vectors’, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 10(4), pp. 349-355. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2021.22251458.
[9] PubMed (2021) ‘Study on vector biology’, Journal of Medical Entomology, 58(12), p. 22251458. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22251458/ (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
[10] BPI France (n.d.) Business model canvas : outil incontournable pour le créateur d’entreprise. Available at: https://bpifrance-creation.fr/moment-de-vie/business-model-canvas-outil-incontournable-createur (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
[11] BPI France (n.d.) SWOT : l'outil d'analyse stratégique pour développer son entreprise. Available at: https://bpifrance-creation.fr/encyclopedie/letude-marche/determiner-sa-strategie/swot-loutil-danalyse-strategique-developper (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
[12] BPI France (n.d.) Benchmark : comment analyser vos concurrents. Available at: https://bpifrance-creation.fr/moment-de-vie/benchmark-comment-analyser-vos-concurrents (Accessed: 25 September 2024).
[13] Shrink Film Roll (n.d.) Compostable PLA film biodegradable polylactic acid film rolls food package. Available at: https://french.shrinkfilmroll.com/sale-12255522-compostable-pla-film-biodegradable-polylactic-acid-film-rolls-food-package.html (Accessed: 25 September 2024).