Team:XJTU-CHINA/Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
In order to make our products truly help people improve their sleep and mental state, we hope it can enter the market. Therefore, we have carried out relevant preparatory activities in this regard.
Interview of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center
Based on our previous market research, we believe that our project has the potential to enter the market or apply for a patent, so we contacted an expert in transformation of knowledge into practice. After discussion, Mr. Lv believed that our project is novel and has high application value. At present, smart home becomes a hot topic. Our project combines with APP to achieve selective fragrance production, which is very innovative. However, if the product plans to enter the market, the following points should be considered:
- Improve existing production efficiency and reduce the costs.
Product entering the market needs to be able to meet the requirements of mass production. At this stage, the product can only achieve a small amount of production in the laboratory. If the conditions change, it isn’t sure that the system can still work properly. Therefore, a lot of tests are needed before the product enters the market.
- Product positioning needs careful consideration.
This project can be considered as an air freshener or sleep facility, but it is more recommended as a smart home to promote, which is more attractive.
We also got a deeper understanding of the process of products entering the market. The formation of products requires multiple stages of testing. More effort is needed to enter the market for a microbiologically related product. We are still in a laboratory stage, but we believe that we can continue to work in this direction after IGEM.
Enterprise Visiting
IGEM is not a competition that focuses solely on scientific and technological research. In the process of IGEM, it’s highlighted that we should try to learn the transformation of science and technology into products. Therefore, we believe that the visit of related enterprise is very necessary. In fact, Company managers did give us good advice on science and technology transformation, product development, product positioning and product improvement.
Xi’an Natural Field Bio-technique Co., Ltd
As an herb extract producer, Xi’an Natural Field Bio-technique Company is rich experienced in the production of plant fragrance, so we visited them and discussed our project with Manager Yang of Quality Department and learned a lot about how to improve our project.
First, Manager Yang thought highly of our bacterial fragrance generator project. He told us currently the most conventional method for fragrance extract is mainly physical process with easy operation but high cost and low yield. And if microorganisms are used for fragrance production, safety is the most important consideration. Second, as a businessman, Manager Yang kindly advised that we’d better to think more about our cost and whether people can accept our product or not. Furthermore, Manager Yang suggested that we should make sure the efficacy of linalool and limonene in solving sleep-related problems. In conclusion, if we want to put our idea into production, the safety, cost of our product and the acceptance of customers must be taken into consideration.
Thanks to Xi’an Natural Field Bio-technique Co., Ltd and Manager Yang, we realized our project still needs improvement. Based on his suggestion, we distributed over 1000 questioners to collect the attitude of customers on the safety and cost of our product. We also analyzed the results of the survey with the help of Manager Yang. As result, we improved the design of the project hardware and discussed the hardware sterilization problem in depth. Additionally, we optimized the interface of the companion app to be close to the public demand.
Key points of discussion with the quality department Manager Yang:
- The process of the herb extracts is mainly a physical process with high cost and low yield.
- We should also think about how people accept our products.
- Making sure the efficacy of linalool and limonene is necessary.
Yuensun Biological Technology Co., Ltd
--- Mr. Jin, General manager and executive director
Xian Yuensun Biological Technology Co., Ltd. with a famous brand of “YESHERB”, is a leading plant extracting herbal formula supplier in China. They devote to providing not only Chinese herb extract but also recommending effective ways to use these herbs. Their products range from Plant Extracts, Mushroom Extract, Fruit Powder, Vegetable Powder, Super Foods. the General Manager and Executive Director of Yuensun Biological Technology Co., Ltd Mr. Jin, thought highly that our microbial production technology for fragrance will reduce the cost and enhance productivity, because the production cost and productivity of plant fragrance are largely depend on the accessibility and amount of raw material, while our microbial method will solve the problem.
Nevertheless, our project still has problems that needs to be solved. Firstly, the safety of our engineering bacteria deserves more attention. Furthermore, we should focus on the cost reduction in later development stage of the project, as only low cost can bring more benefits to the society. Lastly, maybe microbial metabolites can be used in our product instead of microorganism to avoid possible microbial contamination. Based on Mr. Jin’s suggestion, we developed a primary hardware trying to ensure the safety and avoid bacterial contamination by several specific devices.
Key points:
- During the production of plant extract, the production cost and productivity severely depend on the accessibility and amount of raw material. Our technology may solve this problem.
- The market condition of our product from the engineering bacteria deserves more attention.
- In later development stage, only minimize production cost can this project bring more benefits to the society.
Market Research
Whether it is interviewing a teacher or a related company, it is just a process of seeking experience from others. After getting reasonable advice, we did our own researches. In order to confirm that our products are competitive in the market, we have done a comparative analysis of sleep aid products. Starting from our product positioning, we have done market research on aromatherapy products. The results of these studies have had a profound impact on the design of our products.
Questionnaire of Hardware
We designed the hardware remote control system according to the needs of the public.
Comparative Analysis of Sleep Aid Products
We investigated six major sleep aids products on the market, including physical methods and chemical methods. Patches, foam earplugs, night light, smart mattresses, smart bands and special pillows are physical help, while aromatherapy, enzymes, health supplements and melatonin are chemical aids.
| Aromatherapy | Medicine (e.g. methylalanine tablets, chlormethazone tablets, etc.) | Health products (e.g. melatonin, etc.) | Intelligent devices (e.g. smart watches, smart mattresses) | Physical sleep aids (e.g. eye patches, sound-proof earplugs, etc.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production costs | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Raw material availability | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Purchase cost | ★★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Effect | ★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| Side effect | ★★★★★ | ★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
From the results of the survey, we can see that our products also have good comprehensive performance. However, our products do not reflect a particularly outstanding competitive advantage. Therefore, we also need to work hard to further attract consumers from the hardware and other aspects.
Sales Comparison of Sleep Aid Products
We also compared the sales of these products. However, this result is not very pleasant for us. We found that the physiotherapy products, eye patches for example, are more popular with consumers. What makes us happy is that in chemical-related products, aromatherapy is still very competitive in the market. After that, we conducted a survey on the prices of different products. Combining our expectations of consumer for product prices (Figure 1&2), we speculated that consumers chose eye patches because of their low cost. We decided to minimize our product cost from our hardware design and media composition. We believe that the reduction in product cost will promote the competitiveness of our products.
Research on the Consumption Propensity of Various Aroma Products
We investigated the consumption of six different aroma sources.
| Types | Floral | Agarwood | Natural Aroma | Fruity | Natual Plant | Sandalwood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | ★★★★★★★★ | ★★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★ |
| Year-on-year Growth Rate | ★★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★ | ★★★★★★★★ | ★★★ | ★★ |
From the consumer's propensity to consume, floral is the most popular. Although the sales of fruit fragrance are not very high, the growth rate is indeed the fastest. From this perspective, the linalool and limonene are very promising in the market.
Finally, we made a relevant score sheet for the characteristics of the products in the aromatherapy market. These surveys are very helpful for us to understand the same type of products. This provides direction for how we will develop our products in the future.
| Scented Candles | Incense | Essentials Oils | Sachet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency of Replacement (20%) | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Security (20%) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Fragrance (20%) | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Apperance (10%) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Portability (10%) | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Price (20%) | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Score (100%) | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
Evaluation Criteria
Frequency of replacement
The use time of scented candles is generally about 50 hours under normal conditions, but it is also slightly affected by environmental factors. For incense, the burning time is short. Under normal circumstances, the essential oil can be stored for three years under closed conditions and should be used within three months after opening. The fragrance of the sachet is retained for a long time.
Security
Scented candles require an open flame during use and pose a risk of fire. In contrast, the incense is safer, there is no open flame when used, and only the ash is present. For essential oils and sachets, there is usually no dangerous situation, but excessive use of essential oils can be harmful.
Fragrance
In terms of fragrance, essential oils and scented candles are more intense, while fragrant and sachets are relatively thin.
Appearance
Scented candles are different from candles in the traditional sense. They are a kind of craft candle. They are rich in appearance and beautiful in color. The sachet has strong Chinese traditional characteristics and artistry, so it has strong competitiveness in appearance.
Portability
These four products are small in size and have good portability.
Price
In terms of price, since the scented candle has a process value, the price of it and the essential oil is higher. However, the price of the fragrant and sachet is much lower than them.
(More details: We have investigated four major types of aromatherapy products)
Statistics of Common Fragrance Types on the Market
From the above data, on the one hand, the lavender and lemon flavors we selected are highly accepted by the market, but on the other hand, the competition pressure is also greater, which requires us to further highlight the advantages of selective release and biological production.