2. 2
Report Overview 3-9
1. Our Story 3
2. Our Impact 4
3. The Problem 5
4. New England’s Challenging Situation 7
5. A Fragmented Hat Market 8
6. Our Approach 9
Operations Report 19-31
1. Operations Overview 20
2. Working with Existing Organizations 21
3. Prototyping 22
4. The Product 23
5. Recruiting Mothers 25
6. Her Story 26
7. Customers Feedback 27
8. Building Trust with Single Mothers 28
9. Knitting Workshops 29
10. Other Workshops 30
11. Feedbacks & Future Plans 31
Business Report 32
1. Financial Overview 33
2. Sales Channels 34
3. Revenue 35
4. Supply Chain 36
5. Cost Breakdown Per Hat 38
6. Details of Production Cost 39
7. Fundraising 40
8. Partnerships 41
9. Workshop Partners 42
10. Accounting Logistics 43
11. Evaluation & Future Plans 44
Marketing Report 45
1. Brand Name 46
2. Logo 47
3. Posters 48
4. Creative Photos 50
5. Target Audience 51
6. Facebook Target Audience 53
7. Facebook Page Likes 54
8. Facebook Engagement 55
9. Facebook Posts 56
10. Facebook Events 57
11. Other Marketing Strategies 58
12. Evaluation & Future Plans 59
Achievements & Goal 60-64
1. Our Achievements 61
2. Long-Term Goal 63
Team Overview 10-18
1. Team Structure 11
2. Meet Our Team 12
3. Building Our Team 16
3. 3
Our Story
“tink | knit” is a student-run social venture started by the Brown University Enactus
Team that aims to empower single mothers in Rhode Island. We teach them how to
knit goods, which are sold through the Brown University Bookstore, providing an
innovative solution to their work-family conflict between financially and emotionally
caring for their children.
Along with providing income, inspiring confidence and teaching practical skills, we
holistically support each single mother with access to resources and workshops on
personal finance, legal consulting, housing, and career-building. We provide incentive,
education and continuous compensation, and envision forming a supportive
community for single mothers and their children in New England.
Together, we believe we can transform their lives sustainably and permanently.
4. 4
Our Impact
50%
of purchasing price given
back to the knitter
8
single mother families
helped
$3,452
was directly given to
single mothers
28.72%
average income increase
among single mothers
80%
homeless single mothers
found permanent housing
50%
unemployed single
mothers found jobs
40
students volunteered
210
products sold
A tink hat is more than a purchase;
it’s an investment into our community
5. 5
0
22500
45000
67500
90000
Single-Mother Single-Father Two-Parent
$36,471
$81,455
$25,493
U.S. Family Annual Median Income in 2014
The Problem
0
6
12
18
24
Single Mothers Average U.S.
24%
7%
U.S. Population Unemployment Rate in 2014
A Rising Number of Single Mothers Struggle with Worsening Socioeconomic Problems
0
6
12
18
24
1950 2010
6.3%
24%
Single-parent Family %
of U.S. Population in 2013
Two-parent Family
69%
Single Father Family
6%
Single Mother Family
25%
U.S. Family Structure in 2013
6. The Problem
6
Single parenthood is a prevalent issue in the U.S. Despite an increasing number of single
parents falling below the poverty line, support for them has been minimal. The problem is
especially severe for single mothers: they often face challenges brought by little work
experience, limited earning opportunity, and weak social security rights. In addition, single
mothers are burdened with childcare responsibilities, which demand time, money, and attention.
Children from single-mother families are more likely to develop poor health status and
emotional problems, and are less likely to experience upward economic mobility. We want to
change this situation together by creating an incentive for the mothers to become better role
models. Our volunteers also lead fun workshops for the children during workshops for single
mothers, so that the mothers do not need to find alternative child care.
A Rising Number of Single Mothers Struggle with Worsening Socioeconomic Problems
7. New England’s Challenging Situation
7
Winter in New England is very long (up to 6 months), and sometimes the snow makes
commuting in the city impossible. For single mothers who do not have cars, the weather
prohibits them from finding new jobs or even getting to their jobs.
Due to the rough winters in New England, we have decided to have our program run from
September to April, which covers the toughest months of the year. With tink | knit, they are
able to still make an income during this tough transitional period and maybe save enough for
a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.
Our goal is to help the mothers find housings and jobs before they graduate from our
program, so that they can pursue their goals during Spring and Summer. If they still need
help after the Summer, they can apply for the second round of program the next year.
8. A Fragmented Hat Market
8
The hat and cap market is considerably fragmented in the U.S. The industry has been growing
at an average annual rate of 5% from 2009 to 2014. With 1344 businesses, the industry
generates around $2.1 billion every year. Many accessories are sold as part of clothing brands;
companies that solely focus on selling hats are usually small or individual vendors.
- Established clothing brands
Almost all clothing brands feature a category of accessories including knit hats. Such hats are attractive for
consumers because they carry the brand name effect. Most of the hats are factory made and do not carry much
social impact. The prices of these hats depend on the brand name. For example, hats from Forever 21 can be as
cheap as $5 while hats from Burberry can be as expensive as $100.
- Individual artisans
As more consumers shop online, online retail stores such as Easy and Modcloth have given individuals more selling
power. The prices of the hats are often directly correlated to the pattern and material of the hat. The better and more
natural the material, the more expensive the hat.
9. Our Approach
9
After recognizing the severity of the problem, “tink | knit” aims to make a difference. An
astonishing 57% of single-parent families are categorized as low-income, and we want to find
an innovative way for them to increase their income while being able to stay at home and
care for their kids. We discovered that loom knitting can be easily taught and mastered in an
hour, and enables the mother to produce a neat, high quality hat in only two hours.
As a Brown University student organization, we want to connect our school to our community
as well. Therefore, we decided to make Brown University knit hats, which was then approved
by the Bookstore. Through the Bookstore’s sales data, we also found out that knit hats are the
best selling item during the winter, which led to the launch of our pilot program. Our existing
team of 30 students come from countries all over the world, including China, England,
France, India, Morocco, Canada, Korea and more.
11. PresidentVP VP
Business Director Operations Director
Finance Team
Sales & Inventory Manager
External Affair Manager
Research Specialist
Community Relations Team
Product Manager
Workshop Coordinator
Knitting Specialist
Marketing Director
Advertisement Manager
Publicity Content Manager
Marketing Strategy Specialist
Social Media Manager
Fundraising Manager
Photographers
Community Marketing Manager
Julia Xu ‘17Robert Lee ‘17 Zhuofei Xu ‘15
Alia Elghaib ‘17 Alina Joharjian ’18, Emma Kurihara ‘17 Alexia Delhoume ‘17
Chris Shum ‘17, Jack Du ’16, Kevin Wu ‘17, Sarah Park ‘16
Sophie Lee ‘18
Emily Dinger ‘17
Kian Ivey ‘16
Elizabeth Montoya ’16, Maria Fletcher ’17, Natalie Lerner ‘18
Jesamine Dyus ‘16
Claudia Ng ‘18
Megan Romano
Kelly Luc ‘17
Marta Pysak ‘18
Christine Baltazar ‘17
Candy Rui ‘18
Vicky Zhou ‘18
Karla Navarette ‘16
Wenjie Zheng ’17, Christine Kim ‘1811
Team Structure
12. 12
We realized that single mothers have over 20% unemployment rate,
but currently there is only one organization directly helping them in
Rhode Island. We wanted to find out a way to help them make a
substantial income while being at home caring for their kids, which
gave birth to this amazing “tink | knit” project. In October 2014, “tink |
knit” kicked off as a project under Enactus@Brown, which quickly drew
attention in our community.
I am extremely passionate about creating sustainable social impact
through business. Ever since founding “tink | knit,” it has become my
life. My dream is to keep working on this fascinating venture through
my college career, and eventually create “tink | knit” branches in
colleges across the New England area. I want to see the change we
can make as students, and as aspiring social entrepreneurs.
Meet Our Founder & President
Julia Xu ’17
Co-Founder & President
Business-Economics & Sociology
From San Francisco, CA
Lived in Beijing, China
13. I’ve always had a passion
for entrepreneurship and
social innovation. I started
as External Affairs Manager,
contacting the first
companies for potential
partnerships. As I became
more involved, I pushed the
establishment of strong
foundations and protocols
with a look toward long-
term sustainability and
success. Working with our
president, Julia, has been
amazing. Few have her drive
and passion to make a
difference. We would never
have gotten this far without
her.
13
Meet Our Vice-Presidents
Robert Lee ’17
Vice President
Urban Studies
From Hong Kong
I used to volunteer at a
local micro-finance
organization and most of the
clients I interacted with were
single parents. It made me
become aware of the single
parent issue and inspired me
to co-found “tink | knit” with
Julia L. Xu. During our
founding stage, I mainly
worked on defining tink’s
mission, putting together a
business plan, figuring out the
production chain, setting up a
foundational financial model
and helping launch the pilot
program. I feel so happy to
see how much tink has
evolved so far and I firmly
believe that tink will become
something big in the future!
Zhuofei Xu ’15
Co-Founder & Vice President
Applied Math-Economics
From Beijing, China
14. 14
Meet Our Directors
Alexia Delhoume ‘17
Marketing Director
Industrial Design (RISD)
From Paris, France
Lived in Versoix, Switzerland
Alia Elghaib ‘17
Operations Director
International Relations
From Rabat, Morocco
Since the creation of tink, I
have been involved in
imagining a brand image that
corresponds to our mission
and the message we want to
communicate to the Brown
community and beyond.
Creating our logo and
working on visually strong
and brand-consistent
posters/Facebook covers/
photos/labels has been my
role. I think I have a global
view of what tink is as a
brand and where it can go in
the future. I have a lot of
ideas moving forward and I
feel honored to work with
this incredibly motivated
team.
As the Business committee
director for “tink | knit.” I've
been regularly in touch with
product suppliers (labeling
companies, stitching and
embroidery factories, etc.)
and have been in contact
with institutions such as the
Brown Alumni Magazine and
Brown Daily Herald to
increase publicity. I regularly
attend E-Board meetings as
well as general Enactus
meetings, providing my input
on business/financial
strategies and trying to keep
the business committee on
track concerning what we
need to do.
15. 15
Meet Our Directors
Alina Joharjian ’18
Operations Director
Psychology
From Providence, RI
Emma Kurihara ‘17
Operations Director (Abroad)
Development Studies & Economics
From Culver City, CA
As a Providence county
resident, I joined tink | knit
because I was interested in a
way to help my community.
Communicating with the Moms
is especially important, since it
allows Tink Knit to do bottom-
up research on what we should
focus on. For instance, I helped
organize a personal finance
workshop for the mothers after
talking to them and
understanding this as one of
their priorities. Working with
these women has been one of
the most valuable experiences
I have had at Brown so far, for
it allows me to make change
in the Providence community
with individuals who need it
the most.
As the previous Operations
Committee Director, I’ve
performed outreach to recruit
new mothers, which included
visiting school and shelters. I
coordinated with mothers to
set up workshop dates, and
called them for workshop
reminders and progress
check-in. Most importantly, I
met with mothers both during
workshops and on individual
basis with other tink
members to learn to knit and
to teach the mothers to sew
on tags. During the busiest
season, I’ve also helped
sewing on tags and attaching
labels to hats. I think tink |
knit is extremely inspiring and
I hope to see it grow!
16. Building Our Team
Overview
• Based on interest in Enactus@Brown (Brought in Regional Manager for Info
Session)
• Initial team of 10 - open workshop, no interview
Problem
• Some members were only interested in Enactus, not tink | knit;
• People who are potentially interested in helping single mothers or knitting are
not attracted by Enactus
Evaluation
• Target audience for recruitment was not clarified, so we didn't get the most
suitable people on the team. However, this initial team helped come up with
the idea of Project “tink | knit” (initially called “Knits with Love”)
16
1st Round Recruitment
Oct 2014
17. Building Our Team
Overview
• Based on interest in “Knits with Love”
• Positions were given based on interest, but no specific requirements listed
• Team of 25 (about 5 were inactive) - interviewed by the President, all
accepted
Problem
• As a new student club seeking members after students had already
committed to new groups for the semester, it was difficult to find dedicated
members. In consequence, many positions were consolidated.
Evaluation
• There was no contract or clearly set expectation for new members. We saw
very varied levels of commitment from team members, which made
communication and coordination difficult.
17
2nd Round Recruitment
Nov 2014
18. Building Our Team
Overview
• Most applied because of their brand recognition with “tink | knit.” Received a
good number of spontaneous applicants compared to the first two rounds.
• Specific requirements for each positions were clearly listed on the application,
and applicants have to select the positions they are interested in and are
selected based on related experience
• Team of 27 - interviewed by E-board members based on different
committees, all accepted
• Previous inactive members (5) were moved to the volunteer team (tried to
include everyone who’s interested, and created new positions based on each
person’s expertise.)
• Strict meeting attendance policy, and detailed weekly plans for each position
was made by the President
18
3rd Round Recruitment
Feb 2015
Remaining Problems
• Need to attract more people with technical expertise (video, website,
photo, finance)
• Give directors more autonomy in leading their teams. More specific
role for each position.
20. Operations Overview
20
From the beginning, tink | knit aimed to have as great an impact as possible. With this goal
in mind and having chosen knitting as our method of production, we evaluated options for
our product line. After speaking to the Brown University Bookstore and learning that hats are
the highest selling item, we chose to focus our efforts on hats as our first and main product
offering. Along with their popularity, knitting a hat takes only two hours, and hats can also
be sold for a high profit margin, resulting in an efficient production process.
21. 21
-McAuley Village: Directly Targeting Single Mothers
This is a housing program for single moms in Providence. It is an independent nonprofit organization sponsored by
the Sisters of Mercy. The program is a two-year transitional low-payment housing opportunity for formerly homeless
mothers and their children. While the single mothers live in McAuley Village, they are required to enroll in workshops
(such as childcare, job searching, budget management) to prepare them for future employment and living. The
McAuley Village houses 23 units of households of single mothers with their children. The program has been running
since 1990 and hundreds of applications are received each year.
-Crossroads Family Shelter: Have Few Single Mothers in Their Program
The mission of Crossroads Rhode Island is to help homeless or at-risk individuals and families secure stable homes.
Those they serve achieve this by engaging in our range of services including housing, basic needs, shelter, case
management, referrals, and education and employment services. Today they are the largest homeless services
organization in Rhode Island, while many of their clients are single mothers.
Working with Existing Organizations
To Provide Better Assistance to Single Mothers
22. Prototyping
22
Prototype #1 Prototype #2 Prototype #3Knitting Loom
Our President Julia Xu ’17 and RISD student Hanna Choi ’15 started to learn how to loom-knit
through YouTube videos, and created the ultimate tink hat design. We used yarn from RI
Resources for Education and RISD 2nd Life for prototypes, and eventually decided to use high
quality Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick for our product.
23. The Product
23
Our product is hand-knitted hat. The hat is embroidered with Brown University logo on the
front and has a “tink” brand tag stitched on the side. On the label sewed inside of the hat, the
single mom knitter will sign her name so each product is personalized.
Our customers can either pick from our existing designs, or choose to personalize their hats
with a $3 addition and select any color combination for base, stripe, and pom pom.
For next semester, we will introduce tink scarves and cup cozies.
24. The Product
24
The Five Essentials
The Shani
Valentine’s Day SpecialOther Designs Hand-signed Label
25. Recruiting Mothers
25
We’ve reached out to single mothers in Rhode Island through social media and related
organizations, mainly McAuley Village (single mother program housing), Crossroads Family
Shelter, and low-income neighborhood high schools. Most are unemployed, have two kids, and
have monthly income lower than $600. We have 2 high school teen moms in our pilot
program, but we have decided to stop recruiting teen moms due to their limited time for the
program and our limited resources for them. We will focus on helping low income
unemployed or homeless single mothers, and provide related skill training workshops. More
financial background research will be conducted next semester before recruitment, and only
those who are qualified can join the program.
26. Her Story
26 Designed by Alexia Delhoume
“Her Story” campaign was initiated
to introduce the single mothers in
our program to our customers. A
poster was displayed at our table
in the Bookstore, and related
social media contents and follow-
up articles were posted.
27. Customer Feedback
27
Hat too tight. Pay attention to color change (knot).
- Teach the moms to improve knitting skills!
28. Building Trust with Single Mothers
28
Our Community Relations Team call the mothers every two weeks to check on their progress.
After deep conversations with each mother, we summarize that they are very satisfied with
our program, both about the pay and about the work itself. A lot of mothers said that knitting
has become a therapeutic way for them to alleviate stress from life. Some mothers also said
that ever since they started to knit, they became more social in their shelter since they are
now spending more time in the lobby. Some knit at night after their kids go to bed to make
an extra income, while others rely on our program as their only source of income.
However, since our only way of contact is through phone, sometimes the mothers are
out of reach. In order to prevent this from happening again, we’ve decided to establish
a new rule - only those who are mostly responsive can receive $15, while the others
who constantly “disappear” will only receive $10. The bonus will be given whenever
they start to become responsive. We hope to create an incentive for the mothers to
be constantly involved and be more responsible for their work.
29. Knitting Workshops
29
Three large knitting workshops were held at the beginning of the program, in which our
President Julia and RISD student Hanna have been teaching both our team members and the
mothers to knit. We got pizza from Flatbread, and gave everyone looms and practice yarn to
start with. Afterwards, our President and other students who’ve mastered the knitting skills
began to meet individually with the moms once in a while for product checks inside the
Bookstore. We also started to teach team members and the mothers to sew on the labels,
and introduced the new Cup Cozy towards the end of the program.
We plan to host three mandatory orientation workshops next semester, and let the
“graduated” mothers from the pilot program become the mentors of the new moms. Instead
of meeting each mom individually, we plan to create a calendar for the year-long program,
marking the dates of the workshops for the whole year. In this way, we will have a regular
product check and workshop time set up before the program begins.
30. 30
Other than knitting workshops, we’ve also invited Capital Good Fund to host a financial
coaching workshop. For next semester, we will continue using the budgeting template from
the financial workshop and introduce the concepts and tips to the new moms. We have
already scheduled a job finding workshop with Brown Career Lab, and got valuable resources
from HealthLeads and RI Coalition for the Homeless.
For next semester, we plan to have one skill training workshop every month, and have it all
planned out at the beginning of the program. In addition, we plan to initiate some events on
campus to raise awareness among students about the single parenthood issue. For each
workshop, we plan to provide food and drinks to the participants. The workshops will take
place on Saturday afternoons and last for around 2 hours.
Other Workshops
To Help Single Mothers Improve Labor Skills and Long-Term Sustainability
31. Evaluation & Future Plans
31
• Overall things worked out for the pilot program pretty well, but
everything has to be more structured next semester.
• Create recruitment forms, interview questions, and application criteria.
• Create a year-long calendar and set up the time for each workshop.
• Have strict policies about the mothers’ performance - need to be
responsive, need to show up to at least 3 workshops per month and
etc. Use financial award for good performance.
• Train at least 5 members to teach the new moms knitting.
• Sort out the partnership with other organizations, and find long-term
food supply for workshops.
• Initiate a large social campaign on campus to raise awareness (need to
brainstorm for a big idea)
33. 33
Type Number
Revenue $6577.07
Funding $1900.00
Expenses (-$6486.88)
Profit $1990.19
Our pilot program ended with $1990.19 profit that enables us to
purchase yarn and tools for next year’s program. ($90 profit
was made if not including funding)
Financial Overview
Achieved Positive Retained Earnings in Launch Year
34. Sale Channels
34
Through our pilot program, we sold hats through three sales channels:
online pre-order, the Brown University Bookstore, and on-campus pop-up sales.
The bookstore allocated shelf space for our knit
hats, which gave us a prime selling location for
Brown students, prospective students, alumni,
tourists, and Providence locals.
Through our pre-order, we targeted
family members of students and other
audiences affiliated with Brown who
supported our project.
Pop-up sales in high-traffic areas of
Brown’s campus offered us high visibility
among interested fellow students and
opportunities to grow brand recognition.
35. 35
Monthly Sales Number 2014-2015
0
18
35
53
70
Dec. - Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June
65
42
28
22 20
13
Total Number of Sales: 210
Total Revenue: $6577.07
Revenue
Pattern has Stayed Consistent with Seasonal Changes
36. Supply Chain
36
1. Material supply
We bought practice yarn for $2 per package from Rhode Island Resources for Education. Each
package contains 10 skein of yarn and weighs around 4 pounds.
We bought “Wool-Ease Thick and Quick” from Lion Brand Yarn (lionbrand.com) for making the
actual product. This yarn is made of 80% acrylic and 20% wool and costs about $5 per
skein.
2.Embroidery vendor
We ordered 500 Brown Logo for $240 from “The Studio,” an online patches order
platform. We attached the patches with Liquid Stitch Glue to the hats. For 30 rush pre-
orders, we did direct embroidery with a company that cooperates with the Brown
Bookstore ($2.75 for each hat). After more testing and customer interviews, we realized
the glue cannot sustain water permanently, so we have decided to do direct embroidery
instead in the future.
37. Supply Chain
37
3. Tools, Labels & Tags
We purchased labels and tools through taobao.com, the largest E-commerce platform in
China, which substantially decreased the price. For each hat, both a logo and an inner label
were stitched on, and a paper tag was attached on the side introducing our story. The inner
labels were hand-signed by the moms with their name and the name of the consumer. This
tag also contains washing instructions (machine wash warm, tumble dry low).
Inner Label
38. 38
Profit
Tools
Marketing
Patch
Tag
Yarn
Labor
50%
23%
17%
2%
3%
2%
3%
Type of Cost Number
Labor $15
Yarn $5
Tools $1
Patch $1
Marketing $0.5
Tag $0.5
Profit $7
Price $30
Because the ultimate monetary
goal of tink | knit is to
supplement single mothers’
income, we managed to paid the
mothers $15 per hat, which
accounts for 50% of the base
price of our hats. We believe that
maintaining our compensation
rate at such a high percentage of
revenue demonstrates our
substantial commitment to our
knitters.
Cost Breakdown Per Hat
Executing a Lean Operation Model Allows Us to Return More to Single Mothers
39. Details of Production Cost
39
Supplies
45% Labor
55%
B Patch
12%
Transportation
7%
Tags
5%
Tools
9%
Yarn
63%
Marketing
4%
Supplies Expense Breakdown
Expense Type Number
Labor $3452.50
Supplies $2811.70
Yarn $1902.87
B Patch $358.97
Tools $264.74
Transportation $223.21
Tags $159.67
Marketing $124.92
Total Expense $6486.88
Expense Breakdown
40. 40
Uber
16%
RI Founders League Pitch Competition
5%
Brown Venture Launch Fund
26%
Brown Student Agency Inspire Week
53%
Funding Type Number
BSA Inspire $1,000
BVLF $500
Uber $300
Founders League $100
Total Funding $1,900
Funding Breakdown
Fundraising
Our Idea is Supported by Multiple Agencies & Companies
41. Partnerships
41
To further our cause, we focused some of our energy on establishing partnerships with
businesses and organizations whose assets and knowledge add value to our mission.
As detailed above, we partnered with the Brown University
Bookstore as our primarily sales channel. The Bookstore
provided us with shelf space, Brown logo license, and shipping
services all free of charge.
To transport our outreach team to shelters and the single
mothers to our workshops, Uber gave us $300 Uber Dollars for
our pilot program in exchange for putting Uber coupon on our
tags. This funding has solved our transportation problem so that
more of our profit can be returned back to the mothers instead
of being spent on operation costs.
42. Workshop Partners
42
For our workshops, which included personal finance, job-seeking, and knitting skills, we
partnered with The Flatbread Company to provide pizza for the mothers and children to eat.
Capital Good Fund, a Providence-based organization focused on micro-financing and financial
coaching, gave a workshop to the mothers on personal finance and budgeting, while Brown
CareerLAB is planning for a job-seeking and interviewing workshop next semester. We’ve also
received free legal consulting service from Neville Bedford, a lawyer at RI Bar Association
specialized in family law. In addition, Health Leads and RI Coalition for the Homeless provided
valuable resources for the single mothers in our program.
43. Accounting Logistics
43
tink | knit keeps all the funding and revenue in the Brown University Student Activities Office
(SAO) Bank Account. The money is managed by Brown University staffs instead of individual
students. The account checkbook is available to all team members online through BearSync.
All payments to the mothers were processed through the SAO account, where the single
mothers are inputted as individual supplier to Brown University. Our payroll manager
constantly sends the invoice forms to SAO, so that SAO can make the payment to the
mothers.
44. Evaluation & Future Plans
44
• Overall good performance on financials - self sustained! (made a $90
profit if not including funding)
• Lower yarn expense (find alternative cheaper yarn)
• Increase B Patch Quality (consider direct embroidery)
• Invest more in marketing
• Purchase tools from China
• Find more partnership and sponsors (try to continue with Uber)
• Start preorder from October
• Broadcast through Alumni Magazine and other Key Opinion Leaders
• Apply for Enactus grants
46. Brand Name
46
The word “tink” is the reverse lettering of “knit.”
“Tink” is also a technical knitting term that is used to describe knitting backwards to
unravel a mistake and then continuing the knitting piece -- which nicely correlates to our
mission in helping single mothers in Providence.
We all make knitting mistakes. The real trick is being able to fix mistakes without
unraveling all your knitting, which is how we help single mothers improve their lives. When
you unknit you are simply unraveling your knitting stitch by stitch to the place where you
made the mistake. Then you fix it and carry on with you knitting. This is how we give our
mothers a new start and a new chance of knitting their lives back on the right track.
Designed by Wenjie Zheng
47. Logo
47
Objective:
Warm, soft, happy looking, high quality,
handmade, comfortable, gender neutral
Font:
Mistral for titles,
Zag for text,
Gabriola for supplemental text.
Color:
Dark Grey & White
#766670 (Dark Grey)
Designed by Alexia Delhoume
51. Target Audience
51
-Consumers Interested in Social Responsibility
Nowadays, more people are interested in buying goods with a social cause. The survey firm Nielsen conducted a
survey of 30,000 consumers in 60 countries via the Internet in early 2014. According to the result, 42% of online
consumers in North America are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are socially and
environmentally responsible. This marked a 7% increase compared to results in 2011. A brand’s social purpose is
becoming more important in influencing customers’ purchasing decision.
-Consumers Wanting Handmade, High Quality Goods
Many consumers enjoy the originality and authenticity found in handmade products. In fact, consumers place a
higher value on products they believe that contain the aura of authenticity. Handmade products also take more time
and efforts to make, therefore offering higher manufacturing quality. Many major clothing brands such as J Crew,
Banana Republic, and Brooks Brothers are introducing handmade products as well. As the clothing market is flooded
with factory-manufactured products, handmade products are receiving more popularity among consumers. The
excellent reviews of shopping platforms such as Etsy and Ruby Lane, where artists can sell their hand-made goods,
proves the rising trend for handmade products.
52. Target Audience
52
-Consumers Pursuing Customized Goods
In recent years, the trend towards customized products is accelerating as technology advances have made it easy
for retailers to offer customized goods. As preferences become highly fragmented, consumers are increasingly
interested in having the power to customize their own products. A Bain survey of more than 1000 online shoppers
found that 25% to 30% of the shoppers are interested in trying out. Hence, if 25% of online sales of hats were
customized, that would equate to a market of $500mm per year.
-Customers Interested in Brown University (Launching Stage)
Many people are interested in buying Brown University souvenirs. The demographic includes prospective students,
current students, alumni, and other visitors at Brown University. The Brown Bookstore sells about 1000 Brown logo
winter hats per year. There are 10 types of hats in the Bookstore and the most popular design sells around 200 hats
per year. According to bookstore director Steve Souza, the most popular months for selling hats are November and
December. Then sales numbers slowly come down from January to March.
53. Facebook Target Audience
53
Young women at Brown University interested in social ventures,
human rights, arts & crafts, and single parenthood issue.
Future Goal:
Expand the target audience from Brown
University to the New England Area.
Contact Key Opinion Leaders in the social
innovation and lifestyle fields for future
promotions.
54. Facebook Page Likes
54
• Total page likes: 527 (as of July 2015)
• Almost no Unlikes (1)
• Paid likes (likes generated from paid Facebook Ads) were useful at the
beginning, but not so useful after a while
• A good post can substantially increase page likes
55. Facebook Engagement
55
Total Posts 61
Average Post Reach 561.46
Average Post Clicks 175.4
Average Engagement 14.6
Click Rate
(Based on Post Reach) 31.24%
Engagement Rate
(Based on Post Clicks) 8.32%
• Post reach can be greatly increased by promotion, but engagement rate
only increase when the content in good
• Good content: great ideas, team photos, emotional story
• Need more campaigns and good content to increase engagement rate
56. Facebook Posts
56
• The Hazeltine post was extremely
successful and increased page likes by
50 in a day.
• Clever advertisement idea and great
design (credit to Kelly Luc).
• Good use of “rockstar” on campus -
captured the interest of target audience
(students interested in entrepreneurship)
• Quote from Hazeltine reminds students
about him. (Team work really worked)
• Good content generates organic shares
and likes (200+)
Prof. Hazeltine is considered as the
founder of entrepreneurship at
Brown University. He teaches one of
the most popular entrepreneurship
class at Brown, and his extremely
generous and charming personality
won the love from many students.
57. Facebook Events
57
Two Facebook Events were initiated: Pre-Order and Blizzard Sale
Number of people went on average: 108 per event
1. Hand-written thank
you card sent
before Christmas
2.Customized without
additional charge
3.Products Sold:
65 hats
4.Facebook Event:
4.9k reached, 1.1k
viewed, 117 engaged
1. Sale in Blue Room
2.Products Sold:
about 50 hats
3.Facebook Event:
2k reached, 632
viewed, 115 engaged
Preorder Blue Room Sale
58. Other Marketing Strategies
58
1. Individual Marketing (messaging and emailing people - with their names!)
2. Facebook Events
2. Morning Mail
3. Emails:
1) Professors: Barett Hazeltine, Alan Harlam, Danny Warshay
2) Student Groups: BSA, Social Innovation Initiative, Swearer Center, Entrepreneurship
Program
3) Other resources: Bookstore; Neville Bedford (lawyer); SE Greenhouse; Founders
League
4) Subscribers
4. Posters (Printed out at Sci-Li and distributed on campus)
5. Table-slips (Found not as useful)
59. Evaluation & Future Plans
59
• Overall good performance in a short period of time, but need more
work on designing better social media content to attract organic
engagement
• Start events to raise awareness about single parenthood on campus -
need more ideas
• Contact Key Opinion Leaders related to lifestyle, social innovation, arts
& crafts, entrepreneurship and etc.
• Remain the brand image on every publicity content, including posters,
websites, Facebook posts and more
• Bring in more experts on photos, videos and website
• Create a huge social media campaign attracting attention from the
community - need more ideas
61. Our Achievements
61
Mckinsey Women’s Impact Award 2015
Our Co-Founder & President Julia Xu ’17 won the McKinsey
Women's Impact Award with “tink | knit” under the category of
Economic Development and Opportunity Creation.
*The McKinsey Women's Impact Award is dedicated to funding young
women who are passionate about creating significant change in one of
the following areas: Global public health; Economic development and
opportunity creation; Sustainability; Social innovation and technology.
Award recipients will receive $4,000 toward their summer
employment, volunteer work, research or independent project that
relates to one of the areas mentioned above.*
62. 62
Brown Student Agency Inspire Week 2015
First Place
Founders League Pitch Competition 2014
Winner of Creativity
Groups with positive social impact on campus or in the
greater Providence community applied to be a part of the
2015 Inspire Week competition. BSA selected 5 finalists,
and each of the 5 selected student groups created a video
to explain their causes and show their impact. All finalists
will receive a monetary donation from BSA to go toward
their current projects, but the amount will be determined
based on the number of votes that the group receives.
This is the final event in a three-part series where we
worked with startups at different stages of development
to zero in on a unique story, craft a compelling pitch, and
learn how to use body posture, voice and presentation to
seal the deal.
The Founders League is where Rhode Island’s startup
community comes together to make great things
happen. We offer community, space and programming
where entrepreneurs at all stages of development can find
inspiration and support.
Our Achievements
63. Long-Term Goal
63
With the experience we have and data we collected from the pilot program, we continue to
revise our business model, marketing strategy, and operations methods. Our goal for next
semester is to expand our market to other University Bookstores in the New England area.
The first stage is to open up the sales channel, so we continue producing the products while
the other Universities help sell our products. The second stage is to initiate a tink | knit brand
over Universities in New England, so that they will also help the single mothers in their own
community.
We will start with Universities in Rhode Island and in Boston, and with other Ivy Leagues
nearby. Our ultimate goal is to form a tink | knit league, which can encourage college
students to help their community and make a difference in the world.
