| Nurture One is mentor program mobile and computer application that addresses the primary challenges associated with traditional manual mentorship programs. The application does not only assist participants but also enhances their experience in academic, career and extracurricular mentorship programs. The application primary aim is to increases accessibility to quality and effective mentor program by virtually linking mentee to leading mentors in academic, sports, music or careers. |
Nurture One is mentor program mobile and computer application that addresses the primary challenges associated with traditional manual mentorship programs. The application does not only assist participants but also enhances their experience in academic, career and extracurricular mentorship programs. The application primary aim is to increases accessibility to quality and effective mentor program by virtually linking mentee to leading mentors in academic, sports, music or careers.
Problem.
- Accessing mentor program is difficult.
- In-person mentor programs are difficult in preserving privacy and confidentiality.
- Difficulty of getting the right matches.
Solution
- Accessibility
- Privacy and confidentiality features:
Key Metrics
|
- Matching and monitoring feature
Customer Segment
Primary customers
High School, college and university Students
- Male and female
- Tech savvy
| Unique Value Proposition
Nurture One eliminates the inefficiencies of mentor programs by introducing algorithms that assist in efficiently and accurately matching the mentor and the mentee
|
- Approximately 34.6 million
- Acquire at least 3% of the market
Secondary customers
Corporate clients
- More than 25 million firms
| Financials
Ø The company is seeking $19,500 capital investment for 19.5% equity. Ø Management will contribute the remaining $85,500. The first year profits stands at $192,910. Investor equity of 19.5% will bear $37,617 in the first year. Ø The company’s gross margin for year one equal to 99% with a total revenue of $300,000. The first year profits stands at $192,910 |
| Revenue Model
Ø Subscription-based model |
- Acquire Approximately 2% of the market
II. PROBLEM
Problem I: Accessing mentor program is difficult.
Mentorship programs have a reputation of being inaccessible to the people who deserve them. The majority of people, especially the youth, consider mentor programs as old practices that do not conform to the modern societal changes. The structure of traditional mentorship programs fails to recognize the busy schedules and hectic lifestyles experienced by people today. Their nature of only demanding in-person physical presence is the primary contributor to inaccessibility. The traditional mentor program’s success depends on the frequency of in-person meetings between the mentor and mentee. However, sometimes the physical distance between them becomes a significant barrier to the program’s consistency and effectiveness. Moreover, choosing the right mentor is complicated and requires rigorous research, which may not yield any significant results. Traditional mentor programs comprise of lowly motivated mentors that complicate and discourage the learning relationship.
Problem II: Difficult in Preserving Privacy and Confidentiality
Confidential and privacy is a crucial concern of every human being regardless of class or age. Mentoring occurs when two people form a thriving partnership in which one partner takes a nurturing role or support each other to achieve set objectives. The partnership setting, whether informal or formal, maintaining confidentiality is crucial in the relationship. However, the current mentorship programs result in confidentiality breaches, which can delay any progress or stop the progress completely. Studies also show that people who participate in the mentor program may face ridicule and resentment from their peers (Strategies to Address Mentoring Challenges, 2019). As such, frequent in-person meetings may increase social pressure among participants, resulting in a complete halt of the program.
Besides, the structure of the current mentorship program does not guarantee anonymity in communication. Some situations, such as workplace mentorship, require anonymity in expressing sensitive issues. As one enters an in-person mentorship program, their feedback is dependent on the impression created by the mentor. Furthermore, at times students require mentors to help them achieve specific personal goals, uncomfortable to share in an in-person program.
Problem III: Difficulty in getting the right matches.
The productivity and longevity of the mentor-mentee relationship depend on the ability of the program to match synergies. The traditional mentor program’s primary failure is that when looking for matches, they consider mentors with an impressive title and friendly relationships. Ignoring the potential of a great mentor but with a low career profile or unattractive job positions. Besides, frequently the programs consider only the relationship between the mentor and mentee and disregard the opportunity to create a new relationship with other influential mentors (Strategies to Address Mentoring Challenges, 2019). The programs do not consider how the match may differ, for instance, differing personalities, differing work ethics, or differing career goals. Furthermore, the current mentorship programs discover the mismatch later in the relationship, making it difficult to resolve. The mismatch mentee may emotionally over-depend on the mentor and accept everything the mentor offers instead of focusing and finding the own way.
III. CUSTOMER SEGMENT
In the United States, mentor programs play a vital role in shaping many young citizens’ lives. Nurture one service will target American territory in the large metropolitan cities. Demographically, the services will focus on male and female millennials as well as generation Z. The ideal service customer has a strong desire to improve his/her life and technological consciousness. The service targets customers who value interaction and networking in building their future careers. The primary service customer includes high schools, college and university students (Retail customers) within the American territory. According to Riser-Kositsky (2019), high schools, accounting for more than 15 million students. The data also estimate the number of college and university students is 19.6million. The total market size equal to 34.6 million. With the estimated market size, our target market is 3 percent, which are 1,038,000 clients. The target will contribute 75% of our total customer base. The target is achievable and reasonable. At this stage, young people face various challenges, particularly regarding their career choice. Our secondary customer includes existing mentorship programs in companies and schools that seek to renovate their approach (Corporate customers). According to US Census Bureau (2018), there are more than 25 million non-farm employers in the USA. Our estimate project that our secondary customer would account for 25% of our total customer base.
Figure 1
| The Chart below represents the main market segment. Retails customer or direct clients include high school and university students, and corporate clients, which include companies with mentorship program but want to innovate on it.
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IV. UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION
Nurture One eliminates mentor programs’ inefficiencies by introducing algorithms that assist in efficiently and accurately matching the mentor and the mentee.
Matching students with their mentors is the most crucial aspect of any mentorship program. A wrong match guarantees the failure of the program right from the beginning. Although, it is difficult for anyone to predict the relationship resulting from two people interacting, our Matching tool: Nurturing one mentoring application can guarantee the possibility of success.
The application combines traditional superior matching tools and modern ones to addresses the shortcoming to a typical manual programs including. The shallowness of the variables used in by manual administrators to determine a match and the slowness of the process. Nurture one mentoring application improves the process in two ways. First, it uses Artificial intelligence to gather mentee and mentor’s data. Secondly, it accurately and efficiently matches using the gathered data. The administrator can initiate productive matches in academics, sports, music or in career using the data.
The advantages of adopting our application include its ability to preserves the traditional manual matching integrity while introducing accuracy, consistency, and efficiency to the procedure. The ability to swiftly explore the mentee, mentor data, and compare their suitability before making any match. The application will also save time and allow the administrator to examine the data critically using various variables to before initiating a successful match.
Nurture one application will also eliminate the presence of an administrator by introducing a self-match feature. By allowing the mentors and mentees to browse through profiles and request for a match. The feature bears various advantages; first, it captures the attention of students keeping them more engaged with the mentorship program. Secondly, it empowers students with the independence to build a genuine and personal relationship with their mentors without any coercion.
V. SOLUTIONS
Solution 1: Accessibility
Nurture one application will provide mentorship seekers with a platform that is easily accessible and user friendly. Unlike the manual programs, the software will break the geographical barrier to communicate with mentors across the United States. Besides, the software usage extended beyond the U.S. boundaries; students can match mentors across the globe. Such an initiative prepares the student for life’s realities. With globalization, every corporation is seeking a global presence. Hence, having a platform where a student can interact and seek a diverse culture mentor increases their survival chance in the modern world. Furthermore, the application is compatible with standard devices such as phones and computers, implying that the mentor and mentee can meet regardless of time and location.
Solution 2: Privacy and confidentiality features
Nurture one does not require an in-person meeting for mentorship to progress. Instead, the students can interact with their perfect match without ever meeting. The feature ensures that the students and their mentors engage in an honest and unbiased relationship without the fear of breaching confidentiality. The application requires the real identity of the participants. Although such data may seem risky in a confidentiality breach, it is vital to ensure the participants are real human beings and not computer programs. Besides, data protection is paramount. As such, the application will limit its exposure in the public domain. Furthermore, with an application compatible with everyday devices, students will minimize the chances of ridicule from their peers for engaging in mentorship programs.
Solution 3: Matching and monitoring feature
The application recognizes the challenges that coordinators face in initiating a successful match. Thus, the feature of the Nurture one allows the administrator to address the challenges associated with the manual matching, such as mess and slowness. It provides the program coordinator with a unique and improved feature of scientifically gathering participants’ data and accurately initiating a match using various data variables such as titles, personality, academic success, work experience among others. The application increases the accuracy, consistency, speed, and efficiency of the matching process. Similarly, the majority of mentor programs face a challenge in monitoring success progress. Measuring the success of the mentor-mentee engagement is a primary concern in mentorship. The application provides an analytical feature that uses engagement data to measure the success of the program. The feature eliminates the need for the physical calculation to exhaust the coordinator and still produce inaccurate and biased results.
VI. CHANNELS
Channel I: Social Media
Today, Social media is one of the most important marketing channels in the world. Social media sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook provide prospective buyers with a direct platform to interact Nurture One Platform. Hajli (2014), notes that social media affects the buying decision of the consumer and the perceived benefit of the service According to studies, more than 3.5 billion people use social media (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019). It implies that social media presents Nurture one with a market of almost half the world population. To market in social media the company will create and share content including images, videos and articles in the social networking site (Appel et al., 2019). Our focus on social media will emphasize on Facebook and YouTube, which control more than 3 billion users combined (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019). Social media is simple and economical, with the potential of raising brand awareness and creating a brand identity. Besides, the majority of the company’s customers in academic, sports, music and colleges use social media for their daily communication
Channel II: Word of Mouth
Word of mouth one of the oldest and most effective marketing channels. Today, the world is highly connected; thus, a single recommendation of the Nurture One service will significantly influence. To encourage word of mouth, the company will employ numerous referral programs and encourage social media reviews. Studies show that people trust recommendations from people they trust, such as friends and family, more than other forms of advertising (Nielsen, 2012). Therefore, making the word of mouth our primary marketing channel will provide more foundation to other marketing channels such as social media. Besides, word of mouth has numerous benefits, as the company will grow without using any resources in advertisements. Moreover, word of mouth is significant since it will build a community around Nurture One services since it engages consumers. Therefore, the channel will offer the company an opportunity to generate loyalty and a high referral rate.
Channel III. Email
Email marketing will be an effective method of inviting mentors to the platform. Unlike the mentee, most mentors are working people and reputable members of the society that may fail to resonate with some advertisement methods such as social media (Ortiz-Ospina, 2019). However, a direct invitation via Email will arouse their attention. Like the other methods, using Email is economical and swift. Besides, present the brand as reputable and professional in its activities. However, the emails will observe the standard email etiquette for optimal response, such as formality and brevity.
Channel IV: Local media
Local media houses, including radio, television, and newspaper, are equally vital in the promotion campaign. Our advertisement will focus mostly on TV and newspaper to communicate our uniqueness and differentiate us from competitors. Almost every family in the United States owns a TV set; hence, the channel will also increase our brand awareness (Nielsen, 2012).
VII. REVENUE STREAMS
Revenue Model
The business will operate on a subscription-based model. The model will require participants in the mentorship program to pay semi-annual subscription pay. The model is sufficient for the company since it will discourage lazy and idle participants.
Lifetime values
The average subscription fee is $60 semi-annually. Hence,
Customer retention period=5 years
LTV=$60*2*5=$600
| Figure 2 above shows a Lifetime value with different retention rate. The figure indicate that if the company can double its customer retention the average amount of money that consumers pay in their 5 years engagement period with the company increases by 150% |
Revenue
First year revenue assumes a 2500 subscription
=2500*120= $300,000
| Figure 3 shows a Three-Year Revenue Forecast |
Gross Margin
| FY1($) | FY2($) | F3($) | |
| Sales | $300000 | $600000 | $900000 |
| Direct cost of goods
Other production Expense |
$2090
|
$3010
$550 |
$4500
$770 |
| Cost of Goods sold | $2090 | $3560 | $5270 |
| Gross margin (%) | $297910 (99%) | $596,440 (99%) | $894,730 (99%) |
| Expenditure ( total Operating cost plus tax expenditure) | $120,000 | $160,000 | $181,000 |
| Net profit
Profit margin |
$177,910
59% |
$436,440
72.74% |
$731,730
81.3% |
Figure 4
Gross margin = Revenue- Cost of Goods
COGs= Service cost=$500
Support cost =$750
Customer success =$320
Cost of Operation=$520
Total COG=$2090
Gross Margin=$297,910
VIII. COST STRUCTURE
| Item | Cost ($) |
| Customer acquisition | 25,000 |
| Distribution cost | 30,000 |
| Human resource cost | 25,000 |
| Miscellaneous cost | 40,000 |
| Total cost | 120,000 |
Figure 5
| Figure 4 above shows the estimated FY1 cost for the project, the cost include total operational cost plus the projected tax expenditure |
IX. KEY METRICS
Key Metric I: Customer Churn
Customer churn will measure the lost business opportunity within a specific period. The metric will assist the management in examining the daily vitality of the business. Therefore, the metric is vital in saving the Nurture One from potential disaster. Through the metric, the management can monitor and understand the business’s ability to retain the customer. Given that the business relies on semi-annual subscriptions, customer retention is essential. As such, the management will consider much more than the customer’s physical count and identify the specific personality of the churning customers.
Key Metric II: Customer Acquisition Cost.
The metric will examine the company’s cost of acquiring new customers and the perceived value. The metric will help Nurture One management explore the viability of their subscription business model (Livne, Simpson, & Talmor, 2011). As a new start, the metric is of primary concern to the company as it forecast the possible growth rate.
Key Metric III: Customer Engagement and Satisfaction
The company will not overlook customer engagement and satisfaction as it will give the company an overview of how the software engages its audience. Following the metric will also allow the management to explore the likelihood of churn by anticipating consumer problems and needs (Fernandes & Esteves, 2016). Therefore, the company will track the frequency of customer logging, their inquiries, and response rate. For optimal engagement, the performance of the application exceeds the customers’ expectations. Therefore, measuring customer engagement and satisfaction increases the likelihood of customer retention.
Key Metric IV: Customer Lifetime Value
The metric measures the average amount of money that consumers pay in their engagement period with the company. Potential investors and management will use the metric to examine the possible growth rate.
X. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Nurture One is the only mentor program that allows participants to choose their mentor and mentee. The program consists of a feature similar to that in popular social media platforms. With the feature, the platform is independent of any human interference since the participants can browse through various profiles and select the one that fits their personality, goals, and experiences. The self-match feature allows the mentor and mentee to build a productive and longer relationship free of biases. The feature also allows the participants to engage in relations based on trust and honesty.
Additionally, the application provides users with a simple and efficient feature in data gathering, matching, and tracking the program’s success. The process of collecting data using traditional manual methods is usually slow and inaccurate. However, the application uses modern technology, such as artificial intelligence, to collect data swiftly and accurately. Currently, the application is the only one in the market that gives a holistic and more in-depth overview of the collected data. Besides, the application simplifies the matching process, which traditionally was exhausting, ineffective, and slow. With the application, the coordinator can compare participants’ data side to side before initiating any match. Without our application, the process of tracking and measuring the efficiency of the program is exhaustive for the coordinators. The process is slow and its results inaccurate, conclusion due to calculation errors and administrators’ bias. However, with Nurture one application, the process is automatic, quick, and efficient. Furthermore, the application is easily compatible with mobile devices, making it the only application in mentorship that customers can use regardless of geographical boundaries or time.
The application guarantees participants privacy and confidentiality given that it is mobile application with detailed security features. Mentor-mentee relationships demand privacy in its execution. The process involves the sharing of information that one would consider private. As such, the software protects the participant’s data against access by a third party. The application further consists of a private chat room that participants can use to communicate, just like in the traditional manual system. Unlike many mentor program, the interaction between participants is entirely a virtue. Although the participants may decide to hold a physical meeting, such a decision is at their discretion.
Nurture One is the only application in the market that combines various features. With the application, the administrator can collect participant’s data, analyze it to determine a perfect match, and keep track of the progress using one application. The feature makes reinvents the traditional manual tiresome and monotonous process to an interactive and engaging process. The combining feature will ensure the software growth is sustainable shortly.
Similarly, a significant advantage arises from the company’s ability to harness the highly ranked students’ energy in the leading institution. Besides, the diversity of our mentors is vital to our success. Our team is not limited to academics as it consists of influential members in sports, music, and theatre. Moreover, the members are willing to join the team regardless of the constrained financial position. The ability to attract the company to attract respectable and influential mentors increases its likability among the learning institutions.
XI. SUMMARY
Financials
The estimated cost of starting Nurture one is $ 120,000. The company is seeking a $19,500 capital investment for 19.5% equity. Implies that the new investor will get 1950 shares of $100 par value. The equity gives the investor considerable influence over the company’s policies through voting since he/she is the largest shareholder. The funds provided by the new investor will cover the cost of developing, researching, and promoting the application. The management will contribute the remaining $100,500, to complete the start-up cost. The company’s gross margin for year one equals 99%, with total revenue of $300,000. The first-year profits stand at $177,910. According, to our estimate the company will maintain a financial health position over the next three years. The estimate project the company to break-even over the next six months of operations. The company will also be profitable within the first year of operation, estimating the profits will continue on steady growth as the company market share and subscription increases. The major concern is having enough cash at hand to meet the short-term business obligations and to cover the unexpected cash needs
Return on Investment
The estimate is for the investment to run for three years, recouping its initial investment in the third year. The projected equity growth given the product’s uniqueness stands at more than 150% between a year and 1 and year 3. Therefore, following such a conservative estimate, new investor equity of 19.5% will bear $37,617 in the first year.
