Startup: ça va savon

Abstract

ÇA VA SAVON is a sustainable body soap brand that offers fully biodegradable soap pods along with a reusable bottle. The innovative concept tries to respond to the fact that today only a small minority of the recyclable plastic waste in the world is effectively recycled. The product is super convenient in use. The soap pod must be mixed with tap water in the reusable bottle and the result is a full-fledged body soap that takes care of your skin and the planet. During the first phase of the project, the objective was to determine and confirm the ideal customer for ÇVSVN. This was accomplished after a round of interviews with existing customers (i.e. people who pre-ordered ÇVSVN prior to the in-company project) and several interview rounds on a wider population (i.e. people with the same characteristics, but who had not heard about ÇVSVN before). The typical ÇVSVN client is characterized as a middle-class woman, aged between 20 and 29 years old, active in entrepreneurship, healthcare, or creative sectors. They care about their ecological footprints, albeit for different reasons. The second phase of the report covers the business model viability, in which the overall feasibility of the concept is being tested in terms of costs and revenues, with regards to the market conditions, the industry, and competitors. The market environment and industry show some interesting evolutions, such as increasing living standards, increasing spending on personal care, a shift towards sustainable and organic alternatives by consumers, and the rise in awareness regarding the health benefits of a hygienic lifestyle due to the pandemic. ÇVSVN is able to become profitable within five years, supported and proven by the performed financial forecasts and estimations. Thirdly, the optimal supply chain has been developed. For the soap pods (i.e. the concentrate that is encapsulated with a film), there is a network of three Dutch partners that supply the required chemical ingredients for the soap concentrate. The encapsulation films are provided by MonoSol, a U.S.-based supplier. These films are the ideal way to package a pre-measured dose of soap in a compact and convenient way, which is done by Harke, a co-packer located in Germany. Simultaneously, the reusable soap bottles will be produced by Takemoto, a Japanese partner. When the previous steps are finished, the Dutch company ZeroPackaging will take care of the packaging. On the one hand, there is a starter pack that consists of one bottle and one soap pod. On the other, these is a refill pack that includes three soap pods, without a bottle. Then, these finished products will enter the market through small specialty shops and pharmacists. This allows ÇVSVN to learn about retail mechanics and to gain experience on a smaller scale. In a startup phase, it is also very valuable that pharmacists and salespeople take time to offer a word of explanation about the product towards potential customers. In a later stage, when there is brand recognition, the product will also be offered in supermarkets. Lastly, there are three main findings with regards to the profitability and growth of ÇVSVN, based on the growth- and break-even model. First, the business is expected to be profitable within five years. The increasing amount of orders, and thus the obtained economies of scale, significantly lowers the relative costs of goods sold (COGS). In addition, some startup costs are no longer required at a certain point, lowering the overhead expenses. Hence, the profit margin of the business increases. Secondly, the business is expected to break even in year 5 at 63,000 unique customers, which is only 5% of the serviceable obtainable market (SOM). By year 6, the aim is to reach at least 10% of the SOM. This depicts the large scaling potential of ÇVSVN and sheds an optimistic light on ÇVSVN’s future. And finally, a capital injection of 1.3 million euros is needed to cover the marketing expenditures and working capital requirements in the next five years. As ÇVSVN is a new soap brand, marketing is an essential part of creating brand awareness among customers and therefore requires a significant budget. In addition, the next steps that will allow for the optimization of ÇVSVN’s business case have also been identified.