Shrapples
Business Developer Program 2019
Project developed for the Digital Business 101 course – September 2019
About the project
The goal of the program’s first course was to develop a digital business from concept to test a minimum viable product. It was a 4-week module where we could create a digital business. The teams were free to choose the problem they wanted to tackle and how the service would attend to the customers. The only requirement was to have two paying clients or five leads at the end and utilise a digital solution platform as the medium for the service.
Our team consisted of Lucas Thome, Kristina Båth, Linda Segerfeldt, Linus Grundström, and me.
Framing an opportunity
The freedom to choose the topic may be a blessing or a curse, as the entire world is an opportunity. To find a business opportunity, we spent the first week looking for “problems” to be solved. We found several things, from public transportation struggles to how to fix a healthy dinner every day.
One of the problems was just in front of us: Linus lived in a house with apple trees. And it wasn’t only Linus’ problem. In Sweden, between August and October, usually, it’s pretty common for the trees to produce tons of apples, and it’s almost impossible to consume everything. Some people take the fruits to musteris, places that make apple juice, but this option usually demands a car. In many cases, the excess ends in the trash cans or composters, resulting in significant food waste. Also, for the garden’s owners, all these apples meant a lot of maintenance work.
How were others handling the problem? In Facebook community groups, we started to find people inviting others to drop by and pick some fruits. It gave us the idea to provide a platform for people who would like to share their apples with others.
For garden owners, the platform would offer:
- a way of sharing their surplus of apples,
- avoid food waste,
- as a secondary effect, it makes it easier to maintain the yard.
And for apple pickers:
- an opportunity to get fresh and free-of-pesticides fruits
- enjoy time in contact with nature
Building the MVP
To test our idea, we built a website where garden owners could share their addresses and the available days and hours for visits. Interested people could contact them and schedule a visit.
We also shared the project within neighbourhood communities, and we participated in an apple festival, where people provided the structure to make your apple juice.
The website was built using WordPress, and I was responsible for the visuals and the web development.
Shrapples and the local communities
Äpplefestival that Shrapples attended.
The project was well-received by the community and received some reviews in the local media.
Outcomes
The project received good reviews, and many people manifested their interest in it.
Our challenge during the project was to figure out how to turn it profitable. Among the possibilities, we could connect gardens to other businesses like musteris, bakeries, and cafés. In summary, places that could use the surplus in their production.
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