Uni-NotesBusiness Plan

Statement of Confidentiality

This proposal and supporting materials contain confidential and proprietary

business information of Uni-Notes. These materials may be printed or

photocopied for use in evaluating the proposed project, but are not to be shared

with other parties.

Proposal Issued;

30.05.2015

Proposal Valid to

01.12.2016

Objective: Online marketplace for university revision notes.

Uni-Notes

ProPosal

Summary

By digitalizing note-sharing, revision notes are transformed from a

personal asset with little financial value to a tradable commodity

– one which is highly demanded by both poorly performing and

ambitious students.

Up until now, creators of study guides have acted mainly out of

self-interest, lacking the incentive to share their work with the

wider student body. We strongly believe that the establishment

of monetary rewards for this pre-existing resource will rapidly

become popular amongst financially strained students.

Background

The idea behind Uni-Notes emerged in the spring of 2014 when

its founders realized an absence of an online service dedicated

to the trading of module- and university- specific revision notes.

In an attempt to find Economics notes made by other St Andrews

students, Christian Hauggaard, co-founder, resorted to a Google

search. But the keywords “St Andrews Economics Revision Notes”

did not lead anywhere. He was forced to turn to other online

alternatives such as Khan Academy and One Class. However, this

method was time consuming, as he had to search for individual

topics within modules, instead of the modules themselves.

Furthermore, the notes were written by an unknown author, who

most probably never studied in St Andrews.

Meeting students’ pragmatic needs through innovative solutions.

Uni-Notes’ objective is to become the first and most reliable online marketplace for university revision notes and study guides in the UK.

This meant that certain topics were covered in different ways

than in class; some in too little detail, others in too much

detail. Separating relevant from irrelevant material proved

difficult. It quickly became clear to the founders that current

e-learning tools were inconvenient and failed to properly

accommodate the needs of university students. Furthermore,

these Ed Tech content providers are primarily used as a

complementary service, rather than a substitute, for textbooks,

which in our opinion naturally restricts the amount students

are willing to spend on such websites.

Specificationswww.Uni-Notes.org is an online marketplace for university

revision notes. University students can now scan and sell

their notes anonymously for a price of their choosing and be

reimbursed for each sale they make. Uni-Notes removes the

current restriction on students, allowing them to share their

notes not just physically amongst their friends but digitally

with their entire class as well as future classes.

To login please use the following details:

Username: example@st-andrews.ac.uk

Password: example123

Brief

Christian haugga ard & K ajetan MalaChowsKiCo-founders

liaM MCMeneMie Web Developer

dan sargentHead of Finance

tanner treMaine & yugi taK ahashiSt Andrews Campus

Meet our teaM —

Part of our UK-wide expansion will revolve around recruiting campus ambassadors form a range of universities. Uni-Notes plans to give these campus ambassadors a monetary incentive to attract new uploaders. We hope to

build content on the site by offering a reward of 5 GBP each time a campus ambassador manages to successfully attract new users to upload notes (*cap of 200 GBP per ambassador).

Christian and Kajetan quickly developed a strong friendship in their first couple of weeks at the University of St Andrews, and since then they have decided to combine their minds to pursue a collective entrepreneurial ambition, namely revolutionizing the field of education technology.

As a newly appointed member of the team, Dan is eager to apply his passion for tech start-ups and his experience in finance to raise the funds Uni-Notes needs for its planned UK expansion.

Liam is not only a talented front- and back-end web developers but he is also a great communicator. He is attentive, and acts quickly on my proposed changes for the site. At the same time, he also strives to take initiative. He goes above and beyond his duties, offering advice and alternatives on certain issues, which is something I admire and actively encourage. His current priority is integrating module information from a long list of universities as part of our UK expansion. He is also working on the “Cash Out” page where uploaders will be able to see the number of notes they have sold and instantly collect their reimbursement via Paypal.

Tanner and Yuji are two extremely social campus ambassadors dedicated to building Uni-Notes’ reputation, not just amongst friend circles but also the wider student body. They are currently distributing flyers and pinning up posters in St Andrews halls of residence in an attempt to target younger students.

comes from Content Providers at 42%.

• Uni-NotesclassifiesasaDigital

ContentProvidersinceitisessentially

arepositoryofelectroniclearning

materials.

The Ed Tech Market

According to Forbes “the educational

technology (edtech) industry is booming.

Specifications

• In 2013, investors staked $1.25 billion on the future of such companies”.

• Inc Magazine also foresees the

expansion of the industry, arguing

that “Ed tech funding jumped 55

percent in 2014 with no signs of

slowing down, according to CB

Insights.”

Strategic Drivers of Success

Uni-Notes seeks to fill the missing

revenue in tech education. Despite

the success of Ed Tech giants such

as Khan Academy and One Class, we

believe that they have only managed

to tap a small portion of the market.

The majority of students are deterred

from using such e-learning tools

because they fear absorbing irrelevant

information. When they do use such

tools, it is merely to enhance their

understanding of a concept they are

struggling with rather than a means of

replacing their textbooks.

Uni-Notes, on the other hand, offers

complete study guides that are highly

relevant since they have been created

• A report from Global Industry

Analysts (GIA) predicts that the global

e- learning market will reach $107

billion in 2015.

• While North America is currently the

largest EdTech market, representing

around 60% of total revenues, Datafox

projects EMEA to grow faster between

2012 and 2017 at a CAGR of 24.3% to

reach $55.5bn, compared to a growth

rate of only 15.2% in North America.

• Within the market for Educational

Software, which was worth $7.97bn in

2012, the largest segment of revenues

for that particular module by students

attending the same university.

Furthermore, it is clear to us that

students dislike setting up monthly

direct debits. This is why we decided

to move away from time-based

membership fees, charged by companies

such as One Class, in favour of a

marketplace model based on one-time

transactions. Sellers can charge however

much they want for a set of notes and

are reimbursed for the number of units

they sell. We believe that Uni-Notes’

transparency in terms of reimbursement

will incentivise uploaders, causing

rapid expansion in our bank of crowd-

sourced notes. Buyers decide whether

or not they think the price the seller

Business Drivers and Model Proposal.

EdTech Software Sub-sector Market Shares 2011-2012

InstructionalSupport

Content

Platforms

is asking for is fair. However, how do

buyers make this decision and how do

they know what they are paying for?

Consumer confidence and satisfaction

are areas Uni-Notes has focused on

intently, and by which it plans to surpass

closer competitors such as flashnotes.

com (please note Flashnotes is strictly

dedicated US colleges and is therefore

considered a geographically-distant

competitor). The solution we devised

revolves around a 30% random preview

mechanism. This means that buyers can

view 30 randomly selected pages out of

a 100-page document; thereby attaining

an accurate perception of the quality of

the notes on offer and building up the

confidence to commit to the purchase.

Brief

The marketplace note sharing idea has been pursued in the US (www.flashnotes.com), Australia (www.nexusnotes.com) and in Sweden (www.anteckningsbanken.se, www.kursanteckningar.se). Flashnotes is by far the most successful and well- established competitors, claiming to have individual users that have made over 15,000 USD.

Competitor Analysis.

University Specific

Digital content providers within Ed Tech Market

oneclass.com

khanacademy.com

kursanteckningar.se anteckingsbanken.se

Preview Mechanism

flashnotes.com

nexusnotes.com

Uni-Notes.org

Random 30% Preview

sweden sweden

us

australia

uk

MARKET

Uni-Notes, however, is superior and unique to the competition in 4 main ways:

The Proposition.

1

3

2

4

Uni-Notes offers a 30% RANDOM preview, which allows users to accurately assess the quality of the notes and feel confident before committing to the purchase. The other services only display the first 3 pages out of a 100-page document, making it very difficult for potential buyers to gauge the quality of the remaining 97 pages.

Unlike the other competitors, Uni-Notes offers a complementary tutoring platform, where users can search for tutors and view their grades, which we verify by checking their transcripts.

Uni-Notes is module specific. Users know that the uploader of the notes has created them for that exact module at a particular university, further strengthening consumer confidence.

Our full screen feature and zoom features provide users with a clear and complete viewing experience.

MARKET

University-SpecificUni-Notes is superior to competitors in terms of simple, intuitive and visually appealing user interface. During registration, users choose which university they belong to and enter the modules they are currently enrolled in.

This way, Uni-Notes automatically displays the relevant notes, which spares users the inconvenience of trying to find them.

The user can also view all notes, sorted according to upload date, starting with the most recent upload.

Preview FunctionThe preview page states exactly how many pages are visible in the random preview and how much a user must oay in order to gain access to the remaining pages of the document.

We are in the process of integrating model/subject information for universities across the UK, which can be publicly accessed and gathered from individual university websites.

H O w I T w O R K S

U P L O A D PA G EAllows users to upload a set of revision notes for a particular module and choose whether or not they will be charging others for a full preview (and if so,

how much they will be charging).

T U T O R S PA G EAllows users to search for tutors in certain

modules. If a user is unable to find any tutors for a specific module, he/she can request a tutor in the

hope that another student will see the request and register as a tutor for that module.

S E T T I N G SStudents can sign up as tutor either when first

registering to the site or using the account settings page. Tutors have the option to publish the grade

they received for the module that they wish to teach, in order to increase the chances of being

contacted by students. To further strengthen their profile, tutors can get Uni-Notes to verify these

self-declared grades by uploading their transcript (which can only be viewed by administrators).

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Strengths

First Mover Advantage:

Since Uni-Notes is

the first note-sharing

platform within the UK;

we see no reason why

Uni-Notes will not be

able to mimic Flashnotes’

success in the US.

Multipurpose platform:

By integrating tutoring as

a service alongside note-

sharing, there is another

reason for students to use

the site.

weaknesses

No Note-taking Feature:

Sites like Flashnotes and

Study Blue allows users

to make flashcards and

quiz themselves using the

site, Uni-Notes does not

yet have this feature.

Opportunities

The used textbook

market: The site can

become even more useful

by providing a space

where students can

buy, sell and trade their

second-hand textbooks.

Video Feature: Uni-

Notes eventually hopes

to provide students the

option of uploading

and selling tutorials in

video format, based on

the same 30% random

preview mechanism.

Strategic Analysis.

Threats

Possibility of Mimicry:

Uni-Notes is unable

to patent its product

and therefore it could

hypothetically be copied

by other entrepreneurs

within the UK. However,

as stated before, we have

been working on this

project for over a year

whereas new entrants

would have to start from

scratch.

Exit Strategy.

Although Uni-Notes is committed to becoming the market leader within note sharing, there is the possibility that the company will be offered to exit the market through an acquisition. After all, Flashnotes acquired Noteutopia in 2013 for 1.5 million USD in an attempt to protect its US market share. Barnes & Noble, in turn, acquired Flashnotes for an unreported (but probably much larger) sum. Please see the news articles below.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/07/24/class-notes-marketplace-flashnotes-raises- 1-5-million-and-acquires-competitor-noteutopia/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/barnes-noble-invests-in-study-material-site- flashnotescom-2015-03-09-91033523

sWoT

1C O M M I S S I O N R E v E N U E

There are ultimately two sources by which the site would generate revenue:

University of Cambridge : 12,000/124,000 = 9.7%

University of Oxford: 12,000/150,000 = 8%

Durham University: 13,000/43,000 = 30%

Currently Uni-Notes is only available for St Andrews students, however we are in the process of making Uni-Notes accessible to university students across the UK. we intend on launching a thorough marketing campaign in the following 5 university cities/towns, which have been selected based on their academic reputation and high student densities (undergraduate students/total population):

How we plan to grow and generate revenue.

University of warwick : 13,000/136,000 = 9.6%

University of Exeter: 15,000/120,000 = 12.5%

With a commission of 15% on each sale and assuming an average price of 15.83 GBP per set of notes, (which we settled on after a combination of gut feel and student surveys) Uni-Notes receives 2.37 GBP in commission per sale. By successfully installing and promoting Uni-Notes services in 6 different universities (including St Andrews), and reaching 150 sales per exam period for each university (15 revision notes for 10 different subjects) we estimate a 17% market penetration and therefore expect to make 29,467.55 GBP in commission per exam period. Over the course of a year, with two exam periods, we would therefore reach 58,935.09 GBP. We would like to stress that this is a short-term goal and that we believe that Uni-Notes holds much greater potential than this in the long-term.

oBJeCTiVes

FINANCIAl REvENUE STREAMS

2A D v E R T I S I N G R E v E N U E

The following calculations are based on the following formula: Traffic Needed per day = Revenue Goal per day ÷ CPC ÷ CTR ÷ IPv Where CPC stands for Cost Per Click from the advertiser, CTR stands for Click Through Rate (the average number of visitors that click on an advert per 100 visitors) and IPV stands for the Impressions Per Visit (the average number of times a page is loaded per visit).

CPC estiMation

CPC is propor tional to the price of the products being adver tised, which are usually related to the site content . Since our target user group will primarily consist of tech- savvy university students , we hope to at tract adver tisers l ike:

• Elec tronichighlightermanufacturerssuchasC-Pen

• AudiorecordingequipmentsuchastheEchoSmar tPenbyLiveScribe

• Providersofonlinelanguagecoursese.g.Roset taStonelanguagelearning

• Providersofonlineprogrammingcoursese.g.GeneralAssembly

• EducationalAppse.g.Smar tBooks(marketplaceforcoursel i terature)

• LocalAdver tisers:sinceadver tsdisplayedcanbecustomizedaccordingtotheuniversit ytheuserbelongsto ,localrestaurants ,fast

foodchains ,cafésmightwishtoadver tisethemselves .

We therefore estimate a CPC of 20 pence.

C tr estiMation

We predic t that the CTR will be relatively high, since users are unable to download or print f ree or purchased notes . This means that they must view the note online and will therefore constantly be exposed to the adver t .

We therefore estimate a CTR of 2%.

iPV estiMation

We estimate that the IPv will be quite high because users will be browsing in between dif ferent notes to view the 30% random preview and compare their quality prior to making a purchase. Fur thermore, many students will be enrolled in several dif ferent modules and depar tments , which we believe will lead to more browsing and searching for content on the site. Finally, the tutor service (the abil ity to sign up and promote yourself as a tutor for a par ticular class , as well as the abil ity to f ind tutors for modules currently being taken) will al so incentivize students to stay on the site for longer time period.

30 GBP a day would require a daily traf f ic of :

Traf f ic Needed per day = 30 GBP / 0.2 GBP / 0.02 / 3 = 2,500

With a student population of 1.8 mill ion, only 0.1% of UK students would have to be active per day to reach the target outlined above.

Initially, it is l ikely that the major source of traf f ic will come from the universities where we have a physical marketing presence. Therefore, if we make the (over-exaggerated) assumption that traf f ic only came from the universities outlined in the table below then 3.4% of their combined student bodies would have to be active for Uni-Notes to reach a daily revenue of 30 GBP .

UNIvERSITY # OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

University of Cambridge 12,000

University of Oxford 12,000

Durham University 13,000

University of Warwick 13,000

University of Exeter 15,000

University of St Andrews

(Headquarters)8,000

TOTAL 73,000

tr affiC Per day

With a shor t-term goal of 30 GBP per day, during the 4 months of high activity (during the two annual exam periods) , we would generate 30 GBP x 30 days x 12 months = 10,800 GBP per year from adver tising.

TRAFFIC NEEDED PER DAY

BREAKDOwN

The table below breaks down each expenditure category and comes to a total of 10,612.50 GBP for a thorough marketing campaign in St Andrews, Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, warwick, and Exeter.

Predicted Expenses.

web Developer wages

Although Uni-Notes’ Web Developer,

Liam, has so far been working for free, he

is understandably expecting payment for

his hard work. With a minimum wage of

5.13 GBP per hour, he would be earning

approximately 155 GBP a month for

an estimated monthly average of 30

working hours.

ExPENDITURE CATEGORYAvG. ExPENSE PER

UNIvERISTY

TOTAl ExPENSE FOR

6 UNIvERSITIES

1 » Social Media (per university) » 760.42 » 4,562.50

3 » Campus Ambassadors ((including commission and materials) per university)

» 400 » 2400

» ToTal » 10,612.50

2. Marketing Expenses

Social Media

Facebook provides a convenient way

of targeting university students. We

managed to reach 4600 St Andrews

students on a budget of only 20 GBP,

which has resulted in 500 views of our

new video on YouTube.

Posters

For a price of 150 GBP, http://www.

vistaprint.co.uk/ produced posters for the

purpose of attracting brand ambassadors.

1. Product Development Expenses

Banners

For a price of 45 GBP, http://www.

event-print.co.uk/ produced a 3x8 ft

PvC banner now on display in the town

centre of St Andrews.

Flyers

Distribution has occurred both outside

the library but also by placing the flyers

in goody bags for student-run events,

such as the fashion shows.

Campus Ambassadors

In order to encourage uploading and

raise awareness, Uni-Notes plans to

offer a reward to campus ambassadors

by offering a reward of 5 GBP each

time a campus ambassador manages

to successfully convince a new user to

upload notes (with a cap of 200 GBP for

each campus ambassador). Each campus

ambassador will be given a unique

reference code, which new users can

enter during the registration stage.

2 » Search Engine Optimisation (per university)

» 608.33 » 3650

CosTs

Questions? We’re here to help.

Works Cited

Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2014/06/11/what-the-growth-of-ed-tech- means-for-your-business/

http://www.inc.com/aaron-skonnard/5-top-trends-in-education-technology-2015.html

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21580136-new-technology-poised-disrupt- americas-schools-and-then-worlds-catching-last

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2805767/Universities-packing-students- Academics-say-standards-slipping-institutions-admitting-undergraduates-cope- with.html

Contact us

Email contact@uni-notes.org.

website

www.uni-notes.org

FYI