Will workbook notes

Flat furniture

cheap

sturdy

sustainable

flatpack

easy

modular

customisable

A simple approach to furniture for the flatting environment 

Problem: Lack of cheap, durable and versatile furniture for flats.

Solution: Function driven plywood flat pack furniture that is cheap to buy and stands up to flat antics. Less focus on how the product looks, more focus on being long-lasting and cheap.

Leasing

Circular

Stored as flatpack

Second/third years?

2 Sentence Pitch:

A service that brings convenience to the task of sourcing flat furniture. Leasing out high function, low cost products to students with a sustainable approach.

Feedback:

cost

viability

soft furnishings

renting

young families

take off ID hats and look at refining business model further

expand to all sorts of furniture

looking into looking after students furnishing needs

circular economy video - get from jack

Survey Questions:

In a temporary living arrangement, would you consider renting furniture over buying outright?

Week 4

Lyn Feedback

expand upmarket

tiered system

looking at type of people in transit - why they are

supplying everything

thonet - in wellington - russel miller

talk to backhouse/matt thomas

risk factor - how likely is it that things will get damaged

credit checks, rating systems

steps taken to prove idea

look for companies working in this area for events etc

storage, transport, installation, risk factor

sets, related furniture, aesthetics

people buying house not sure what style they want to furnish it with

weta workshop have landlords on call to sort out people with accommodation - short term market

choose

curated set of furniture

dealing in short to medium term market

Week 5

14/8/17

"We are developing a ________ for people who _________ and need to __________. We've spoken to _______number of them and they have told us that they are willing to pay $_____ for something that does __________”

We are developing a service for people who are in temporary living arrangements and need to furnish their accomodation.  We’ve spoken to a decent number of them and have found that 3/4 are open to renting furniture 

problem

solution

target audience

ask

specific about what the service actually provides e.g choose on website what you want and it is sent to you

numbers and shit are good - don’t let matt talk

people would prefer good, durable furniture - use from survey 

ask - costs for warehouse, truck, website, trademe comparing to market, channels, 

platform for showing off people’s furniture - advertising for furniture companies (local, small companies)

How are we going to structure this

presentation

better integrate survey results into the story of project

only give stats and facts if they are the reason that we have done somehting

pick out most important bits that have shaped the business/shows how big a deal it is

changing the way transitional residents furnish houses

‘heres how it works’ vs what students are doing at the moment

define transitional living - renting year by year flatters etc

could be landlords wanting to provide furnished apartments

thought it was to do with staging, make sure it is clear

possible rent to own

user face to face interviews e.g tell me about time you set your flat, what about a service that does this and that etc

example of guy working for weta, lots of cash but no time

16/8/17

key stats

half a million students in nz

3/4 of people are open to renting furniture

Key points

introduce idea

define what is meant by transitional living

refer to target market

talk about what is being done at the moment

introduce our alternative solution

reference to users

rent to own, tierd system, landlord agreements, artist/designer supplied

presentation photos:

shitty flat furniture - Ian’s flat?

broken furniture - our broken chairs

nice flat furniture - ?? to be decided

Week 6: 21/8/17

refer to furnished flats as competition

need to look at costings

decide on where to focus on yo pros, students etc

either making furniture or partnering with furniture manufacturers

08/09/17

Settled on young professionals because of reasons

Outsourcing furniture?

Minimise the range of furniture offered to customers

Locally sourced

higher price for eco-friendly products

Outgoings:

purchasing furniture

renting furniture?

deliveries

storage

staff

marketing/advertisement

online presence

Ingoings:

Rental subscriptions

11/9/17

new furniture goes to young professionals, after 5 years goes to students for a lower price

more important to prove why we are doing things instead of making things

get real examples of customers who have said yes I’m keen, when are you bringing it out

get real examples of suppliers who are interested 

visit bizdojo, thonet, europlan etc

home staging

asian exchange students

new property developments, like stone fields, new apartment blocks

contact customers, homestagers and suppliers

13/9/17

Talking to Russell from Thonet

Stories

Home staging

Developers

Short stay executives

email him to find out prices of furniture identified on website

talk to people renting out other things like whiteware etc

Working with agents

noone else has done this

long lasting furniture - getting better with age like leather couches etc

hard wearing objects like cafe tables etc

could be quite high costing with his sorts of furniture

18/9/17

kmart vs our serivce cost and product comparison at the start

validation from customers e.g on my 15th kmart table cos they keep breaking 

leasing the furniture from the suppliers

look at costs of furniture, work out how much people would pay and what the return would be for the customers

the investors are the furniture companies and we give them a return on investment

using last seasons furniture, stuff that has been sitting on the shop floor for a while

Hi there,

We are a group of 4th year students at Massey doing a business venture project. We are developing a business model based around renting medium to high end furniture to young professionals. We envision this working by also renting the furniture from furniture suppliers for a profit. Part of the market we are looking at would be partnering with landlords and tenancy agencies who are wanting to rent out fully furnished homes. We were wondering if hypothetically, you would be interested in renting furniture through us if we were to take this to market? If this is something you would consider, it would be extremely helpful for our project. Please ask away if you have any questions.

Thanks very much,

Will Buckley

4th yr Industrial Design

Massey University

22/9/17

Todd from Yoyo

Would potentially be interested in being a supplier

Pop up stores to sell second hand stock

Don’t have a lot of storage for end of lease, profit would either need to cover that or service would need to take care of storage

Internationals working for people like Weta workshop

Home staging is a competitive market, should talk to some people

Higher end stuff

Have 57ish designers 

4-6 week turnaround on goods

Can be custom made

Kiwi designers, production in New Zealand and Overseas

Can restore furniture for a couple hundred to either re sell or rent

Rent to buy schemes for customers who like the furniture

“I am open to discuss this in detail”

“

25/9/17

Cost structure

outgoing

ingoing

Todd from target “We would consider the idea you have with further information”

27/9/17

Meeting with Neville

Feedback from Hunter furniture (Neville)

ordering furniture must be done in advance esp for imports

already use Q card and GE Money as finance options but those companies take all responsibility for the payment, contract

individual contracts for each supplier of furniture

"it's brilliant"

"I'd be keen to get involved"

great idea as long as everyone is covered

have own local suppliers of fabric and leather - repairs could be kept local

mix of locally made and imported furniture

spoke to the managing directors about this project and they're keen

furniture is great and comfy

we could advertise in their store as an audience

Validations

Jared from Trust Property Management “We would interested in passing on your details to tenants that needed your service, however it would need to be seperate from us and the tenancy and any wear and tear damage would have no claim on the bond lodge for the property”

Despina from Nest Property “Sounds very interesting! I would be happy to refer clients to your business if you took it to market and liaise that way. Please let me know further information once you have progressed.”

Beth from NOOD “As discussed we offer furniture for home staging, therefore hpyothetically the concept you have mentioned could be a viable option.”

Georgina from Haworth by Europlan “The idea for residential furniture leasing sounds awesome, especially with the increase of young professionals flatting in Wellington, sounds like you’ve found yourself a really good niche market.”

Neville from Hunters "it's brilliant” “I'd be keen to get involved"

Todd from Yoyo “We would definitely consider the idea you have, with further information.”

Do graph for ingoing and outgoing costs over time to project growth etc

ingoings:

Leasing costs

Profit

outgoings:

Truck rental

Storage

Web/App development