X-LAB Questionairre

Ryan Frew

Founder [email protected]

YounGlobe, LLC PO Box #748

Hudson, OH 44236

X‐Lab Competition Questionnaire Step 1: Basic Information ID: 11022 Name of Candidate: Ryan Frew Name of Venture: YounGlobe Email Address: [email protected] Step 2: Essay Questions ✓ What is your elevator pitch? (Describe your business in one sentence) YounGlobe is an expert, independent, for‐profit organization whose primary goal is to create a fair and safe marketplace for international volunteers and to empower our users to make informed decisions and discover opportunity in the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. ✓ What is your targeted market? Who is/are your targeted customers? YounGlobe’s target market is the young segment behind international volunteerism. Research shows that 70% of those who volunteer internationally are middle class, well educated individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 and that they are 20% more likely to be women than men. The majority of our traffic will be driven by those who call Canada, the United States, England, and Australia their homes. The average YounGlobe user will spend $7,500 on their trip abroad, which will last between 6 and 18 months. Additionally, we will offer resources to parents of volunteers, educators, and program administrators. While these three segments will generate less online traffic than students, they will be the strongest sources of revenue. Thus, our targeted customers are a combination of these volunteers, and those who have an influence on the volunteers’ decisions. ✓ What is the problem you are solving with this business idea, and why now? Have you ever volunteered internationally? Would you be interested in doing so? According to research conducted by Xavier University, the odds are 96% that you have considered volunteering abroad, but only 3.8% that you have actually done so. Another analysis, gathered by the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS), states that there has been a veritable explosion in the number of volunteer experience providers in recent years, and these experiences are becoming globally accessible over the internet. The average provider charges $3,000‐ $10,000 per trip, excluding airfare, insurance, and additional tourism expenses. These programs are springing up in response to a skyrocketing number of volunteers. More than 80% of aforementioned youth travel organizations cited consumer uncertainty as the strongest negative influencer against their business for 2009. The largest positive influence on their

Ryan Frew



Hudson, OH 44236

business was the development of new partnerships, followed closely by improved marketing. All of these factors highlight the need for a resource such as YounGlobe, which can inform volunteers in choosing a project, empower them to make the journey, and help them find a program that will best facilitate their needs. YounGlobe will be the first ever company to guide a volunteer through the entire process of international volunteering – from choosing a destination to arriving back home. ✓ Where do you see your business in three to five years? Five years from now, YounGlobe will be the most recognizable name in the industry of international volunteerism. We will achieve this by providing a necessary service and adapting to our audience’s needs. By July of 2016, the website will detail more than 250 international volunteer programs and will have surpassed 200,000 annual unique visitors. According to predictions formulated with the assistance of Kevin Coyne of Canal Holdings and Howard Cleveland of PNC Bank, YounGlobe will generate between $50,000 and $85,000 in annual net profit from its third to fifth years of operation. This will enable us to reach a quarter of a million dollars in cash by the end of our fifth fiscal year. While these are certainly promising numbers, I am most excited by what the company’s growth will actually entail. We will position ourselves as the central hub behind international volunteerism by applying cutting edge SEO methods, constantly reinvesting in our business, and placing an emphasis on customer service. Due to my expertise on the subject, numerous individuals have already come seeking my assistance with their volunteer projects. The energy that helping people brings to the YounGlobe community and the excitement it brings to me as the founder is what will drive YounGlobe as a powerful force throughout the next few years. I recognized YounGlobe as a necessary resource through my own experience and the experiences of numerous other volunteers I encountered. Thus, the majority of our growth strategy spurs from need within the industry and our commitment to giving users a positive experience, so they may recommend us to further consumers. ✓ If you were to start your business, who would be your top three competitors? What do you think your company might be able to do that they might not be able to do? While the core strengths of YounGlobe are first to market, the companies that offer the most similar services or which are most capable of mobilizing themselves to line up directly with YounGlobe in the future are GoAbroad <www.goabroad.com>, YearOutGroup <www.yearoutgroup.org>, and Action Without Borders <www.idealist.org>. YounGlobe’s advantage over these competitors is our focus and strategy. This is an extremely broad industry, which often translates to an overwhelming and unorganized array of services for the companies involved. This results in a high bounce rate for YounGlobe’s competitors, high load times, and low rate of return visitors. When consumers are considering a multi‐thousand dollar decision, they want to be certain that they are using trustworthy resources. This means that they are likely to shy away when they encounter a confusing website or feel that the company offers an

Ryan Frew



Hudson, OH 44236

unfocused array of services. These competitors sprang up more than a decade ago, before the dot‐com bubble, and thus do not have the sophisticated web 2.0 feel that users are looking for. In order to gain an advantage over these competitors, we plan to maintain an obvious focus, create a web 2.0 feel, and present first‐to‐market offerings. YounGlobe’s biggest advantage over the competition, however, is our impartiality and sustainability. Most competitors generate revenue through advertising or donations. These are fickle revenue sources, which have a tendency to promote an agenda through the website. YounGlobe will generate revenue through affiliation programs and unique offerings, which are pertinent to the consumer, allowing us to avoid donations or advertisements and continue building a company that offers the most to the consumer without limitations set by other companies. ✓ If your idea is to start a for‐profit business, please, explain how your company makes money. What percent of your revenue will come from product sales (if any)? What percent of your total revenue will come from offering a service (if any)? If your idea is to start a non‐profit or a social enterprise, how would you generate grants, and attract donors, and/or investors? YounGlobe, LLC is a for‐profit social enterprise. First, we plan to attract investors by registering as a pass‐through entity, positioning ourselves as an appealing investment opportunity for angels. Additionally, we will leverage our socially driven mission to attract attention at a time when “going green” and being socially conscious is the popular thing to do. Once the site has been launched, we plan to offer a number of sophisticated and first‐to‐market services, which could best be explained in, say, a 30‐minute interview. Our three revenue sources will be affiliate programs (28%), online sales of services (53%), and volunteer organization fees (19%). Affiliate programs are simple and are growing increasingly common online. This revenue source would enable YounGlobe to sell relevant products such as airfare or travel guides to YounGlobe users through our website, and then take a portion of the vendor’s profits. We would also charge volunteer programs to take advantage of certain capabilities in order to maximize their visibility on our site. This is different from advertising revenue because we will review each program on an individual basis and be sure that they meet our requirements as an ethical and transparent organization. Many believe that it will be difficult for us to avoid kick‐backs, but this is a challenge that YounGlobe is prepared and commited to face in the interest of our company mission. The majority of revenue will come from our first‐to‐market services. Some examples of these services include, but are not limited to, currency exchange assistance, customized trip planning, a cutting‐edge ICOE system, fundraising assistance, and detailed reporting. This unique mix of revenue streams combined with the total lack of inventory or dependence on advertising revenue will enable YounGlobe to reach a projected operating profit of 84% by our third fiscal year.

Ryan Frew



Hudson, OH 44236

✓ What are your key business challenges and how to plan to address them? The biggest obstacle for YounGlobe lies within the very same trait which could make us such a strong company: we are a web‐based business. Gaining visibility online is a huge challenge, but we do have a plan to address it. Promotion is a major portion of our startup budget; we will utilize social media, advertising, blogging, SEO, and progressive inbound‐linking techniques to develop presence. The second‐largest challenge will involve the wide array of cultures that YounGlobe will inevitably encounter. While our target customers are well‐defined, they come from numerous parts of the world and are avid travelers. We will address this by hiring multi‐lingual employees with a strong background in travel and culture. Christina Cacioppo, for example, has been a crucial adviser as I have developed YounGlobe. Not only is she an analyst for a leading NYC venture capital firm, she is a 25‐year‐old Stanford grad who speaks five languages, has lived in six countries and has visited countless more. Christina will continue to help me solve how to best address the language and cultural barriers that YounGlobe is bound to face. ✓ What is the key achievement in the next six months that will significantly impact the growth of your business (other than funding)? This can be a new customer, critical hire, product or service launch, etc. YounGlobe’s next big milestone will involve the hire of a chief designer. This will be a major step for YounGlobe because it will enable us to build a demo for investors and give us a clearer idea of how we want the website to function. Additionally, converting the business from a single‐member LLC to a partnership will bring a fresh perspective to the mix, instead of relying so exclusively on my decisions. Lastly, this designer will be helpful with the marketing strategy by enhancing our social network presence, improving the logo, and developing further marketing materials. Currently, there are a small number of interested candidates, but I have yet to grant anyone vested ownership rights, and am unsure how to establish them as a partner in the venture. I am struggling to solve who can offer the most to YounGlobe, and I hope that X‐LAB will help me with the legal and financial precedent of establishing a partnership, as well as give me assistance in deciding what percentage of the company to give and on what terms. ✓ Are you willing to make yourself available in the Cincinnati region to enable X‐LAB to help you? As a Xavier University student, I am not only obligated to stay in the Cincinnati region, I am excited by the opportunity to do so as well. The idea of launching YounGlobe out of Cincinnati with the assistance of X‐LAB is a thrilling prospect. I will be available to X‐LAB whenever is necessary and hope to establish the company as a long‐term member of the region. ✓ What specifically would you want X‐LAB to help you with and why?

Ryan Frew



Hudson, OH 44236

I consider the fact that I am only twenty years old as an advantage in the arena of entrepreneurship; however, it certainly has its limitations as well, mostly in terms of my knowledge base. Although there is already an impressive group of people aiming to accelerate my learning, X‐LAB has the strongest ability to give me the tools necessary to start this business. I need help from X‐LAB because I do not know how to best move forward with all of these promising concepts and financial projections. Specifically, I am hoping that X‐LAB will teach me how to do things such as build a strategic partnership, create a management and organization plan, pitch an investor, create an operations plan, and inform me of what legal and financial concerns I need to be aware of along the way.

X-LAB Questionairre

Business

Transcript of X-LAB Questionairre