Swiss CoopStarter
Frank – Your Neighbourhood Store
von David Gerner
Scalable and mobile sales platform to create fair market conditions for producers while delivering an impactful shopping experience
Welches Problem / gesellschaftliche Herausforderung möchtest du / möchtet ihr lösen?
Everybody is talking about energy consumption based on living and transportation. Still, food choices alone are responsible for 30% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions. By providing smart food choices, we can cut these emissions by half. Moreover, we understand that there is an unsatisfied need for transparency and traceability of the produces life cycle. Finally, there is an apparent unfair profit distribution amongst stakeholders, often at the actual producer's disadvantage.
Wie möchtest du / möchtet ihr vorgehen, um das Problem zu lösen?
Economy: On our platform, the food producers benefit from direct sales without passing on to intermediaries. Our mobile and inexpensive infrastructure combined with a business model based on the shared-economy also allows us to forego expensive commercial space and adjust the space rent individually to the producers' needs. Social: The revenue generated on our local sales platforms flows directly into the local economy, strengthening its independence and resilience. Furthermore, we provide consumers with an extremely transparent shopping experience, where each product can be traced back to the producer. Finally, low operating costs and no profit margins for intermediaries guarantee reasonable prices and ensuring the affordability of local products without penalizing producers. Environment: The mobile, small and energy-efficient sales platforms can create shopping opportunities close to the customer, eliminating the need to use vehicles for shopping. Besides, all products come from the sales platform's immediate vicinity, which significantly improves the CO2 balance of the products offered.
Wie soll sich das Unternehmen finanzieren?
As a sales platform provider, we are primarily financed by the rent for the sales space. This consists of a fixed component, which is proportional to the rental space, and a variable component paid once a minimum turnover has been achieved and depends on the profit.
Wo hat das Team seine Kernkompetenzen?*
We see our strengths in building networks that are boosting their members' economic and social interests through collaboration and knowledge exchange. Besides, thanks to many years of experience in the hospitality industry and the real estate market, we see ourselves in a position to understand the market dynamics, discover new market niches and find appropriate solutions.
Wie weit bist du / seid ihr in der Entwicklung des Projektes?
-We have drafted a business plan that covers our pilot platform's launch and ensures the first 12 months of operation. -For the launch, different locations were compared and evaluated based on their suitability and reach. -We are also clear about our mission & vision, which will guide us in terms of corporate strategy and communication. -Finally, we created blueprints from a consumer and producer perspective, which help us to understand and optimize consumer behaviour and ensure smooth collaboration between all parties (consumers, producers, and us).
Warum möchtest du / möchtet ihr beim «Swiss CoopStarter» mitmachen?
Swiss Coop Starter would offer us an ideal platform to develop our business idea thanks to mentors' support and access to workshops. Since the foundation of a cooperative, especially concerning the organizational structure and the formulation of the statutes, brings some challenges, we would be happy to receive competent advice. Furthermore, we would like to learn more about forming a cooperative community and how this can be sustainably expanded in the future.
Warum willst du / wollt ihr die Genossenschaftsform für das Projekt wählen?
Ensuring healthy and sufficient nutrition for the local community was always of utmost importance. However, both globalization and consumer behaviour changes have confronted these communities with new challenges, which we can only overcome together. Large corporations are pushing out smaller independent producers and putting a green premium on sustainable and seasonal products, which then end up on the shelves at overpriced prices and are no longer affordable for a majority of the population. To strengthen local commerce and provide an affordable and sustainable alternative to imported goods, we need to unite at the local level and ensure that profits flow back to the producers. In our opinion, the cooperative is the most suitable legal form to launch our project and to transparently communicate our goal of a stakeholder-driven enterprise to the public.
Was möchtest du über Genossenschaften wissen?
-Learn more about cooperative governance, and it's practical implementation. -Moreover, we would like to understand under which legal conditions members of a cooperative can involve themselves in the decision-making process while simultaneously allow the business to grow sustainably in the long term. -Gain insight into how a network of cooperatives can be leveraged for marketing and operational activities. -Finally, understand how the cooperative model can be a USP during a sales pitch
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