Create a value proposition canvas for the business
Create a value proposition canvas for the business
Create a value proposition canvas for the business
As an undergraduate student at Zayed University, Mariam pocked a tough major – molecular
and cellular biology. One course she took, MCB 62, was particularly interesting. The course was
titled “Drugs and the Brain” and focused on the effects of drugs on mental processes such as
attention, motivation, learning, and memory. Mariam learned that certain scents, like rosemary and
peppermint, can be used to improve concentration and reduce careless errors. She even put some
of what she learned to work by picking rosemary from bushes on campus and putting it on gum
before classes. She figured that combining rosemary with peppermint gum would improve her
concentration and memory.
What is a value proposition canvas in business?
The idea of combining herbs with gum to sharpen mental functions stuck with Mariam, and she
started reading every scientific article that she could find about the effect of herbs on concentration
and memory. She slowly developed the idea of producing a gum that would help students do better
on exams and presentations.
After graduation in spring 2016, Mariam spent a year working at a research lab in Abu Dhabi City
to prepare something quickly, she decided to take it slow and test the feasibility of his idea before
she sank a lot of money in to it. After getting some advice from industry experts, she bought small
quantities of every supplement and herb known to have brain-boosting power. She established two
criteria to determine whether an ingredient would become part of her gum: (1) is there scientific
evidence to support the claim that it has brain boosting power and (2) does it taste good. Some
supplements, for example, are extremely potent but taste terrible. Mariam eventually settles on
four ingredients: ginko, biloba, baopa, guarana, and vinpocetine. Over the six months, five test
batches of gum were produced, and Mariam distributed the gum to anyone who would provide
valuable feedback. Each new batch improved on the previous one. Although Mariam was diligent
in selecting wholesome ingredients to place in his gum, she was aided by fairly relaxed tax
regularity statutes regarding supplements. As long as the herbs and supplements she used were
already approved as dietary supplements, she didn’t need any further approvals to test or eventually
sell her gum.
In fall 2018, Mariam simultaneously entered a PhD program at Zayed University and launched her
company, which she names Intellectual Gum LLC. The gum included six ingredients: peppermint
(for awareness), rosemary (to energize and improve memory), vinpocetine (to improve short term
memory), and guarana (which contains natural caffeine for an energy boost). These ingredients
coverage to produce the effects that Mariam was after. Not only is Intellectual Gum a good
concentration and memory booster, but it facilitates an action referred to as “context-dependent
memory”. The idea behind context dependent memory is that if you learn something in the
presence of a certain stimuli (like chewing Intellectual Gum), then when you’re in the presence of
the same stimuli again (like chewing Intellectual Gum during a test) your memory will be
improved. It’s akin to what happens to people when they’re exposed to the aroma of pumpkin pie.
Most people respond favorably to the aroma of spring rolls/dumplings/Samosas and become
visibly more content and relaxed because the smell triggers pleasant memories of Ramadan’s
happy family gatherings.
What are examples of the value proposition?
Along with creating Intellectual Gum, Mariam also educated herself on how gum is produced. It
turns out that gum manufacturers are risk averse and aren’t excited about taking a chance on a new
type of gum. As a result, Mariam had to do some convincing to find a manufacture to work with.
After finding a manufacture and learning the costs involved, she ran the numbers to make sure that
her venture was financially feasible. To make her forecasts as accurate as possible, she got quotes
on everything – from the cost of the gum to the cost of getting trademarks to the cost of packaging.
Satisfied, she finally was ready to go and in spring 2019 ordered an initial batch of 100,000 pieces
of Intellectual Gum.
She also worked to understand her consumers and their buying patterns. Because her target market
was teenagers and university students, she also spent time understand the changing social and
economic trends directly affecting her customers. She also figured out what is hot and what is not
within the target segment of here Intellectual Gum.