Final Business Report for our Young Enterprise Startup QB - Quanto Basta, during the MA Creative Economy

1. Final Business Report
Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship in Practice
Team Members and attendance
Angelika Teudt K1257576, 14/14 meetings
Francesca Piazza K1258246, 14/14 meetings
Maria Pinheiro K1263319, 14/14 meetings
Natalie Delgado K1239209, 14/14 meetings
03/05/2013

2. Overview/Executive Summary
Quanto Basta, or QB is a company dedicated to making products that are not only attractive, but
positively affect an individual’s lifestyle. Quanto Basta, or just as much as needed, is the forefront to our
philosophy of simplistic eating. The team is formed of four members: Natalie Delgado, Maria Pinherio,
Angelika Teudt, and Francesca Piazza.
Introduction of product
QB’s brown-bag is a simple, stylish lunch bag, made with sustainability in mind. It was created to
appeal to both our customer’s practical and aesthetic needs. Unlike many competitors, the brown-bag
is machine washable with a wipe-able lining. It is handmade, includes a tie feature, is stylish and eco-
friendly, and is made in London. Along with the brown-bag itself, each customer also receives access to
an original website containing daily updated recipes each designed for quick, easy, and healthy meals.
Brief summary of the overall strategy
We started with a simple insight, which became the driving force of our development work. After
compiling primary research to determine our initial Target Market through statistical, competitor, and
behavioral research, QB identified several consumer types whose needs could be met by the “brown-
bag”. Of these, QB chose to focus on one main target market, women, between the ages of 25-40,
engaged in the workforce, who have to purchase or make their lunch everyday.
Based off this market, the “brown-bag” has been designed as a product that fulfills the needs expressed
in our research. The “brown-bag” is economically friendly, machine-washable, wipe-able, and reusable.
The “brown-bag” also comes in a variety of different colors with various linings and are hand-sewn, as
such; each customer can customize her purchase. With the initial sale of a “brown-bag”, each customer
receives a recipe card that allows access to our original website, where daily recipes are uploaded for
quick and healthy meals designed to fit in the product.
In order to reach our target market, QB is using four main distribution channels with various
marketing subsectors. Our four main channels include: fairs, community markets, direct marketing
(individual sales via word of mouth) and our personal website. Connected to out website however, QB
is utilizing various social media channels to spread word of our product, including Facebook and
Instagram.
Several obstacles have presented themselves through the creation and distribution of our product,
primary in focus of particular markets, manufacture of the “brown-bag”, and insufficient finances.
These obstacles and QB’s solutions are detailed throughout the report.

3. Customers
Research Assumption:
A healthy, tasty, and time efficient meal can be expensive and difficult to find. Home-prepared meals
are an obvious solution – however, there are few stylish and durable bags to carry them in. Individuals
also need a little inspiration to nudge their habits in the right direction.
Activity Theory:
Lunches are a rushed activity in the workplace, and choice is limited to location and time. Pre-
packaged lunches offer a limited selection at a high cost with minimal satisfaction, and their aesthetic
appeal is synonymous to their quality. Packed lunches are usually carried in unattractive plastic bags,
which detract from the appeal of the food itself.
Statistical Research:
The average annual amount on lunch spent in the UK is £2000. More than a third of white-collar
workers take little or no lunch break, and graduate trainees and charity workers, all potential
customers for our lunch-bag take longer lunch breaks.
Market Research:
In order to get an accurate understanding of who our primary consumer would be, QB went out to
schools, market places, and shopping centers, to ask people whether they would be interested in our
product. We compiled a questionnaire (Appendix A) to get an adequate understanding of what
consumers wanted from our product and how much they were willing to pay for it. Originally we had
assumed the lunch-bag would be suitable for unisex students, and were planning to focus our
marketing strategies there, however, we found that the lunch-bag seemed to attract predominately
female consumers, most engaged in the workplace; this led us to our final Target Market.
Target Market:
Our Target Market has been identifies as women, between the ages of 25-40, engaged in the workforce,
who have to purchase or make their lunch everyday. The QB lunch-bag satisfies these customer’s
needs by providing them with a sustainable product that is efficient and easy to maintain. QB also
imparts quick, easy, and healthy meal ideas through our private customer website, which our
consumers can access everyday for great lunch ideas they make before work.

4. • It is good to note our product was purchased by an equal number of men and women, which
contradicts the information we obtained through our market research. This being said, most of our
selling opportunities were not in areas where we had access to our target market, this being so, this
may have been coincidence, or our market research was not sufficiently thorough.
Marketing:
The QB marketing strategy is based on four main marketing channels:
•Fairs
•Community Markets
•Direct Marketing (individual sales word of mouth)
•Personal Website
Marketing Materials
•Branding
•PR/Editorial Mail Shots
•Personal Website
•Social Media
Fairs & Community Markets:
Quanto Basta has attended two fairs, the KU Young Enterprise Trade Fair and the Kingston University
Trade Fair and will be selling at the Celebrate Enterprise Fair in May 2013. We also arranged a stand
with the KUSU at Penrhyn Road Campus and the Knights Park Campus where we traded in April, and
will be attending two community markets, the Wonder Hill High Market, and the Surbiton Food
Festival.
Direct Marketing:
Through direct marketing practices we have spread the word about our product and our website by
contacting family, friends, classmates and colleagues. And with the members of Quanto Basta all
originating from different countries (USA, Germany, Italy, and Portugal) we have spread the word
about our start-up internationally.
Personal Website:
Our Personal Website includes news about previous and upcoming selling events and allows potential
or current customers to get in touch with us. Our personal website is also where we intend to sell the
majority of our product and demonstrate the benefit of our daily recipes to potential customers.
Statistics on our website read as follows (As of March 21 2013 when launched):

5. Visitors this Year: 180
Visits this Year: 501
Top referring sites: qb-quantobasta.net: 15, Facebook: 8, Wordpress: 4.
Social Media:
We have utilized social media as a means of marketing our start-up while simultaneously driving
consumer traffic to our website, Quanto Basta considers our social media platforms, Facebook and
Instagram, as channels to direct consumer traffic to our main Internet presence.
Social Media has also been an effective line of communication with current and potential customers by
allowing us to post news of upcoming events. We anticipate that as our social media presence grows,
so will activity on our website.
Statistics provided by Facebook read as follows (As of April 21 2013 when launched):
Likes: 44
• 58.4% Female – [1.1% Age 13-17] [23.9% Age 18-24] [23.3% Age 25-34] [4.7% Age 35-44] [3.5%
Age 45-54] [1.3% Age 55-64] [0.6% Age 65+]
• 25% Male- [1.1% Age 13-17] [14% Age 18-24] [15.5 % Age 25-34] [4.5% Age 35-44] [2.2% Age 45-
54] [0.7% Age 55-64] [1.3% Age 65+]
Peak of: 88 Total Tab Views
• Weakly Total Reach: 537
Reached: 20 Countries (Highest: 163 United Kingdom, 104 Italy, 90 Portugal)
Summary:
Strengths: Quanto Basta has recognized the importance of digital marketing, and in the short span of
time we have had our Facebook and Personal Website up and running, we have been able to market
adequately enough to direct sufficient amount of consumer traffic. If we continue our current
marketing strategies, and statistics continue as they have been, we anticipate 528 “Facebook Likes” by
this time next year and at least half of that number to be directed to our website.
Weakness: Due to difficulties in manufacturing, QB did not have products ready for sale until April,
because of this we were not able to attend as many fairs and community markets as intended, and
consequently lost valuable marketing opportunities. Furthermore, as a result of deciding to create our
Personal Website ourselves, we experienced many difficulties and set-backs which delayed our
website launch, this postponed our social media presence and resulted in a loss of valuable marketing
time.
Branding:
Brand Name:

6. “Quanto Basta” is a common phrase found in Latin languages that translates to “just as much as
needed” and can be found as a form of measurement when cooking. It communicates the simplicity
and homemade philosophy of healthy eating, which is synonymous with our hand-made, simplistic,
and sustainable product.
Brand Logo:
When creating our logo Quanto Basta decided against an image as we wanted to
maintain the simplistic nature of our brand. As such, Quanto Basta chose the initials QB
written in big dimension on the top, in order to be remembered, and the full name of the
brand added under the initials in a hand-writing font, to remind of our hand-made and
homemade philosophy.
Packaging:
The QB lunch-bag is not packaged. Although we considered the idea of wrapping each product in
recycled brown paper to further our environmentally friendly ideals, in the end we decided that
customers were more interested when they could touch the fabric and handle the product. Each bag is
also tied with a bow, which holds a recipe card and information access to our website community, the
ability to visually see these additives outweighed our product’s need for packaging.
For online orders, each bag is packaged in a small brown cardboard box, simplistic and cost efficient.
Design Strategy:
The QB lunch-bag design is based off a brown paper lunch bag. We tested the bag’s outer material with
three fabrics; bull-denim, calico, and cotton. In the end QB decided on the bull-denim material as it
sold far more than any of the other fabrics. For the lunch-bag’s inner material we tested three linings;
ripstop, nylon, and silk. QB decided on the ripstop lining, as it was more sustainable and durable than
the other materials.
Advertising:
Business Cards: QB created unique business cards, which we distributed to friends, family,
classmates, and colleagues, as well as fairs, and community markets.
Raffle: To both advertise our product and acquire revenue QB held a raffle offering the winner a £25
restaurant gift voucher. We sold to friends, family, and everyday consumers, with each raffle ticket
sold, we distributed QB business cards.
Digital Advertising: Our social media channels and personal blogs were used to record the process
from prototype to final product, each QB member posted pictures and wrote stories documenting the
process to appeal to potential customers.
Sales Promotion: Originally our QB lunch-bag was priced at £12, which we offered 3 for £30.
Afterwards when we changed pricing to £10, the bag was offered 3 for £25. These prices were offered
at fairs and community markets, as well as online.

7. Mailing List: Prior to the manufacture of our products, QB offered a mailing list, registered members
were offered discounted products as a means to keep potential consumers interested while the bags
were being created.
Risks:
Intellectual Property Risks:
Manufacture: There are several reasons why QB did not use a manufacturer in the end, but one
consideration we had was maintaining the design rights to our product. Since getting a patent or
trademark for our design would be both a matter of time and money (neither of which we possessed)
we considered it more practical, cost efficient, and adherent to our philosophy to make all of our
products by hand. Hand-made products would also be more difficult to replicate, as machine made
does not have the homely and original quality that the QB lunch-bag provides.
Website: QB decided to use a personal website instead of a blog so we could register it and maintain
the rights to all our information. Although making the website ourselves was far more time consuming
and delayed our online presence, we retained the copyright of our website by doing so.
Competitor Risks: There are many lunch-boxes out in the market today that can compete with the QB
lunch-bag in terms of functionality. Plastic and lockable lunch containers offer a foolproof spill
resistant quality that the QB lunch-bag does not, and heat and cold maintaining boxes offer a
temperature guarantee that QB cannot offer. However, QB attempts to avoid these issues by targeting
to customers who are concerned with sustainability, as those plastic containers are not
environmentally friendly.
Pricing:
Initially QB assumed we could sell lunch-bags at £20, estimating the costs of the materials and the
costs of production and evaluating our competitor research, where we found most lunch boxes/bags
available in stores and websites to be between £12-£24. However, after conducting our market
research we realized our assumption was incorrect, and most customers would not be willing to pay
that much for our product. Although our profit margin would have been higher had we stuck with our
initial pricing assumption, we decided that selling at higher quantities would be more effective in

8. securing a profit. Considering we are a new start-up with no credibility or reputation, we had to
consider a price that would allow us a good profit margin, that costumers were willing to pay, this
meant that our final price was slightly lower than the average price on the market. QB viewed this as a
selling advantage from our competitors.
Furthermore, having our product produced by a manufacturer, would have cost QB far more than if we
produced the lunch-bags ourselves. So after a disagreement with the manufacturer, and a looming
deadline, we decided it would be simpler and more profitable to produce the lunch-bags ourselves.
This reduced costs significantly, as we were willing to labor for free, and we received a sewing
machine free of charge, hence the cost of making the bags depended only on the cost of the materials.
In conclusion our price was determined by three main factors:
• Our market research (most of the potential consumers interviewed willing to buy a bag would give
an average of £10 for it)
• Our productions costs and the calculation of a good profit margin (represented on the table below)
• The average price of the competitors (which QB viewed as a maximum price for retail)
We decided to make two types of bags:
• Bull Denim (thicker material): Priced £10
• Soft Cotton (thinner material) Priced £8
QB soon realized the Soft Cotton lunch-bag was not selling as much as our other product and the profit
margin was not as successful, as such, we decided to stop manufacturing it, and chose to produce only
Bull Denim products, priced at £10.
Our Future:
Initially QB purchased more fabric than originally needed to produce our initial 22 lunch-bag stock, as
such, we anticipate our costs lowering, as we now know the exact quantity and type of materials we
need to reproduce our current supply. Having lowered costs, QB anticipates a higher profit margin.
Finances:
We had an initial investment of £530, of which £200 was our personal investment and £330 was
shares sold. Between cost and overheads we have spent £245.68. As of now we have not broken even,
but the future looks promising. From a stock of 22 bags, we managed to sell 11 in two fairs, which
amounts to £104 or £86.65 (Excl. VAT). If we continue selling at this rate we anticipate breaking even

9. after two more trading opportunities, as we need to sell 14 bags to break even. After that, with the
decision to only make the £10 Bull-Denim lunch-bag, combined with the lowering of our costs now
understanding how to economically purchase raw materials, our profit margin is expected to inflate.
Break down of finances with assumptions for the first year:
Challenges:
“Quanto Basta” faced three main challenges throughout the Young Enterprise experience:
• Team Work
• Website
• Manufacturing

10. Once a product idea was settled upon, organizing tasks amongst each team member became a
challenge. As we all came from artistic backgrounds, (art, film, and music) it was difficult to designate
who would handle management, finances, and marketing, (areas none of us had much experience in).
Our primary group manager also left University after two months (for personal reasons), as she was
the most experienced in graphic design and branding, this left us at a disadvantage and rattled our
group dynamic.
The creation of our website was also a challenge, as it was out main online presence and half of our
product. With none of us being experienced in IT or graphic design it took far longer than expected and
delayed our social media presence, which left us at a disadvantage. In hindsight we should have hired
someone to assist with the website or procured help from one of the graphic design students.
Before our primary manager left the group she had secured a manufacturer in Warwickshire through
previous business contacts. QB then contacted them and set up a meeting to decided on fabrics, lining,
colors, etc. and sent an order in. Weeks passed and after numerous phone calls made by team
members to the manufacturer, we still had not received any prototypes or secured our final order. In
retrospect we can see that said manufacturer was not keen on producing such a small quality of
products, and was giving us the run around. By the time we had realized this, it was too late to secure
another manufacturer that could produce our product by our trade fair date, as such we were forced to
make all of our products ourselves. As none of the QB members knew how to sew, this presented a
major challenge. In the end we all learned how to make our product and produce the number we
needed, as such, we all learned a new skill and were forced to work tirelessly and efficiently to meet
our deadline.
Rewards:
QB found rewards in the Young Enterprise experience through the conquering of obstacles. Though the
challenges we encountered delayed and at times hindered our ability to more forward as a start-up,
many, if not all of these hardships are commonplace for an initial company.
Creating an initial product was our first rewarding experience. As in almost any venture, the hardest
part can sometimes just be starting. After weeks of going through various ideas, and finally agreeing
on a single product (which was very difficult with five different opinions), almost no time elapsed
before we created our hand-made prototype (which we didn’t know at the time, would end up being
our final product, since we ended up not using a manufacturer). This was a great sense of pride for all
of us, as if we had completed the 100m hurdle, having settled on a product, QB began to feel like a real
start-up.
The realization of our initial stock was another rewarding experience. After our failing relationship
with our manufacturer, learning how to sew in time to create a sufficient supply to trade at our
scheduled fairs and community markets seemed quite a daunting task. But after acquiring the
necessary materials, and making a couple of pretty poor experimental products, we finally got the
hang of it and began to pump out lunch-bags like a manufacture line in our own Surbiton sweatshop.
When we finally finished, it was like beholding our first-borns, our YE child had finally come to life, and
we could begin selling. Our hard work had paid off, and the realization of our product had made all the
effort worthwhile.
Teamwork had been an issue for QB since the very beginning. Although we all had allocated roles
within the team, we bounced around so often that it was hard to decided whom exactly was

11. responsible for what task and when. This is something we did not rectify until the very end, despite
our efforts. But once crunch time came QB became determined to get ourselves together and put out
the best final presentation and report that we could, not just to achieve the grade we want, but to
prove to ourselves that all this hard work has not been for nothing, and we’re capable of presenting
ourselves successfully. Our mock Dragon’s Den has clearly been the most rewarding experience for us.
The feedback we received was both constructive and beneficial, and we left that room glowing, we felt
we had finally been recognized as a constructive and successful start-up.
Appendix:

12. 1. A s s umptions 2013 2014 2015
Variable As s umptions :
Ave N o. C ustomers per Da y 6 10 12
Ave S pend per C us tomer (incl VAT) £10 £10 £10
Ave Tota l S ales per Da y (inc l VAT ) £63 £100 £116
Ave N o. Trading Da ys (per Week) 1 2 3
Ave G ross Margin 53% 55% 60%
Ave N o. S taff 3.3 4.0 4.0
2. P rofit & L os s 2013 2014 2015
Total Annu al S ales (exc l VAT) £3,655 £8,600 £13,760
C os t of S a les £1,677 £3,870 £5,504
G ro s s P ro fit £1,978 £4,730 £8,256
54% 55% 60%
Overhead s
Wages £- £- £-
R ent £1,040 £1,040 £1,040
R ates £- £- £-
Bus iness C ards £16 £16 £16
C lea ning S ervices £- £- £-
Other Misc C osts £74 £- £-
Website £54 £54 £54
Advertising £100 £100 £100
Other £- £- £-
Total O verheads £1,284 £1,210 £1,210
E B ITDA* £694 £3,520 £7,046
L oa n Interest £- £- £-
Depreciation £- £- £-
Net P rofit £694 £3,520 £7,046
19% 41% 51%
* E arnings B efore Tax Interest D epreciation & Amortisation
3. C as h F low 2013 2014 2015
Net C ash F low £788 £2,309 £5,226
C lo s ing B ank A c c oun t £1,318 £3,627 £8,853
4. K ey R atios 2013 2014 2015
G ross Marg in 54.1% 55.0% 60.0%
Net Margin 19.0% 40.9% 51.2%
S ales per E mployee £1,097 £2,150 £3,440
P rofit per E mployee £208 £880 £1,762
Overheads as % of S ales 35.1% 14.1% 8.8%