Blog 1: The Lean Startup

“The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses” by Eric Ries describes the core strategies for starting a business and has offered Büt Camp, Inc. a variety of inspirations and angles to consider. In this blog post, we especially want to discuss Leap of Faith Assumptions, including growth and value hypothesis, pivot and persevere points, and metrics and feedback loop with our valued customers.

“Hidden among these mundane details are a handful of assumptions that require more courage to state—in the present tense—with a straight face: we assume that customers have a significant desire to use a product like ours, or we assume that supermarkets will carry our product. Acting as if these assumptions are true is a classic entrepreneur superpower. They are called leaps of faith precisely because the success of the entire venture rests on them. If they are true, tremendous opportunity awaits. If they are false, the startup risks total failure.” –Ries, Eric. The Lean Startup

Value Hypothesis

We operate under the assumption that there is a value and a need for Büt Camp products in today’s society. Disaster and emergency response needs to be quick, efficient, and easily distributed. People working in these fields or individually preparing for disaster require tools and products that anyone can function in a stressful situation. There is already a market for products to prepare for emergency response, and people would want additional product options for emergency shelters to diversify their preparedness plan.

Additionally, Büt Camp is designed to be environmentally friendly and can be discarded in an emergency without environmental consequences. People are moving towards eco-friendly options to replace traditional products that are not biodegradable and will want a product that minimizes their waste.

Growth Hypothesis

Büt Camp Inc. is starting small with a limited staff. Once we have developed our local customer base, local brick-and-mortar businesses will purchase and stock them in their stores. Once we have developed our online customer base, our brand will be more recognized on a broader level. With brand recognition and wider distribution, we will gain the attention of larger groups at regional, state, and federal levels in need of additional emergency shelter options.

Büt Camp Inc. takes a multi-pronged approach to measuring customer response. Indirectly, we use web analytics to track the number of visits to the site, number of clicks, time spent on the site, referral links, incomplete purchases (added to cart but did not complete), and complete purchases.

Feedback options are available on our website, ranging from a one-click product rating feedback to providing written reviews and comments. More directly, we will conduct a limited number of one-on-one interviews with users for a qualitative analysis of responses to the product.

We want to know when we need to make a design update to our products. We monitor feedback quarterly and if any of the following actions occurs, we pivot or persevere as needed to bring the best possible product.

1. If <25% of customers report that the product is dysfunctional, we persevere and work with our manufacturer and suppliers to improve quality control measures.
   
   

2. If <50% of customers report that the product is dysfunctional, we pivot and reevaluate with our manufacturer and develop a new design. This includes structural issues, setup workflow, and color.
   
   

3. If <50% of customers report that individual units are too expensive, we persevere and market the bulk sales price, which is significantly reduced.
   
   

4. If <75% of customers report that individual units are too expensive, we pivot and reevaluate the prices of individual versus bulk products and increase the price of the bulk items to decrease the cost of an individual unit.

Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Crown Publishing Group, New York. ISBN 9780307887894