Section 1: Value Proposition
H: Sports lovers will look on the internet to see if they can easily and quickly locate places to do their favorite sports (kitesurfing, yoga and dance) in Tel Aviv.
Experiment:
Interview and ask newbies in TLV and that are doing/did kitesurfing, yoga or dance:
Q: When you arrived, did you ever wonder or try to find where you could do your favorite sport?
Q: Where did you look for these information?
Q: How was their experience on finding the information they needed on the internet.
Pass Signal?
If we succeed with this experiment people will state that it is or was hard for them to find information. People may share stories about a time when they actually tried to find where they could do sports.
Did they visit places, talk to people, post on facebook, etc?
Fail Signal?
If we fail this experiment the people will state that they had no problems finding information or already found web pages with all the information they needed.
People answer that they wanted to but just didn’t have the time or decided to wait until they got home. The hypothesis fails if we cannot find anyone who actually tried to search and connect.
Section 2: Customer Segments
H: People want to stay active with their favorite workout activity or sport when they travel abroad for an extended time (stay longer than 2 -3 weeks).
More Focused: People (ages 18 and up) who are active more than 3 or 4 times per week at home, but plan to travel for more than 2-3 weeks. People who want to know where they can connect to sports community/activity of choice.
Experiment:
Ask: People that are in Tel Aviv for an extended period of time: Are they looking to continue doing the sport (Yoga, Dance, Kitesurf) they do at home?
Pass Signal?
We will find that a majority of people we asked were looking to continue to kitesurf, do yoga, or dance in tel aviv.
Fail Signal?
We will find that a minority of people we asked were not looking to continue to kitesurf, do yoga, or dance
Section 3: Channels
H: Information needs to be easily accessible and navigational, our site should be easy to find and well advertised- diffused through other offline channels.
Aside from immediate friends, people will check the internet first to see if they can find out about things to do abroad.
Experiment:
Ask people that just had moved to Tel Aviv- how they found out about sports in Tel Aviv.
Pass Signal?
Check to see if answers reflect targeted channels identified by team. Be on the lookout for those who were successful in their search and those who were not. What happened after the failed searches?
* Key… Do most people report that they check the internet first for information about activities? People who are looking to connect should report they checked the internet at some point.
Fail Signal?
If the majority of the people reported finding their favorite sports community without checking internet, or hearing about it from sports stores or schools.
Section 4: Customer Relationships
H: People want quality information and multiple input from other people so they can find a trustworthy option for a place to do the sports they love in Tel Aviv.
How we will test
Ask people: Are you active in any online communities? What do they do that you like? (More Direct): What would you like to see on our site that would keep you coming back and refer us to your friends? What do you pay for on the site? Would you trust comments and ratings from other users.
Pass Signal?
People will either tell you about the sites they are members, how often they use and if they pay any services or products on the site. Or… they tell us what they would like to see a site like ours.
Fail Signal?
If we ask people and find that most of the sites have old pictures and dated information and people don’t care. We need to find out why. Maybe our site will not have an advantage for the user over the other sites. If people say they get bored quickly with the sites they access we need to find a way to keep them engaged.
Section 5: Key Activities
H: Creating a simply designed and easy to use website with quality content will be crucial to the success of the site. This will require time at the start.
Pass Signal?
Are more users attracted to site after the first month? second month?
Develop a beta site or a facebook page or private web page to test the structure of the site and program use.
Fail Signal?
No new activity on the site after 3 months- people are not revisiting the site
Section 6: Key Resources
H: The website and it’s simplicity itself is a main advantage to our customer. That’s why we need a web developer for the main developing of the page.
Pass Signal?
Have people use the site as a trial - have them rate their experience.
Fail Signal?
Discovery of too many glitches. Beta users report difficulty. If mostly poor ratings- look at site redesign and navigation path.
Section 7: Key Partners
H: We have to have a very close relationship with various partner who want to commit and be involved in our project.
Pass Signal?
More than 30% yield of shops/studios agreeing to partner with the site
Fail Signal?
Less than 20 % don’t want to or care to be involved with site.
Section 8: Revenue Streams
H: The site will not generate large revenues on end-user memberships alone. It will have to provide opportunities for product purchases, classes, and advertising from stores, and yoga and dance stores. Partnerships and opportunities to co- create will be critical to maximize revenues.
How we will test
Conduct a survey of extreme sports stores, dance, and yoga studios. Ask them would they pay a premium for on- site publicity on our web site. Would they pay 100.00 shekels? 50?
Less Direct: What do you do to promote your store/shop/classes? Would you partner with a online interactive directory and referral site?
Pass Signal?
Positive responses. Requests for more information. Will work with the Israeli answer: “It Depends”.
Fail Signal?
We can’t find any shop owner or studion owner who has ever paid for advertising or publicity.
Section 9: Cost Structure
H: Our largest initial expense/costs will for the web platform and the reseach the will go into it including the involvement our partners.
A focus on communicating of our value proposition to the end-user and our target shops and studios will help us finance it.
Hypothesis #2 We expect that professional web developers will want compensation for their services. We can save money by contracting with young professionals or web developers that are looking for internships.
Hypothesis #3 There are opportunities to partner with web-technology start-ups where we can exchange publicity for low cost or free development services.
Hypothesis #4 Our current business model suggest that we start small and develop/grow in stages. This method is not likely to attract venture capital.
Hypothesis #5 This idea is scalable. This idea is franchisable. But in increments.
How we will test
Ask free -lance web developers we know if they can work on the site for us in exchange for free publicity and referral.
Pass Signal?
People are eager to work with us on building a platform for site
Fail Signal?
We can not secure expert technical support to build out site due to lack of funds.
