Entrepreneurship (BUSI 2800B) NVP Idea Presentation & Report
Due Date: April 4th, 2023
Professor Rowland Few
Statement to be signed by:
I have read and understood the assignment. Plus, the text on academic integrity,
and I pledge not to have committed or attempted to commit academic fraud in
this assignment.
Signed:
Ben Sullivan 101196236
Alejandro Avendano 101186218
Ricardo Gómez Blanco 101286609
Ángel Mesa Marquina 101286644
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Car Share is a business opportunity that has the potential to upset the Transportation
Industry as we know it for young people anywhere. With near indefinite scalability, low startups
costs, and a foolproof Value Proposition, this idea could truly create a international service
capable of improving lives everywhere. Our team is a diverse group of young entrepreneurs,
hailing from 3 different countries, each bringing different experiences. Each of us fulfills a
different role and specialty, bringing a wide variety of experiences and perspectives to the
table. To test the viability of our offering, we developed a NBRT for both the industry and the
market attractiveness. We also developed a substantial Business Model Canvas, which delves
into 9 key domains to our Organization’s performance, analyzing them for potential
weaknesses and areas for improvement. After validating the industry & market attractiveness,
assessing our competencies as a team, and analyzing the viability of our business model
through the previous frameworks, we then put together a Value Proposition Canvas that
proposes our target segment’s Customer Profile, our Value Map, & the fit between the two.
The next step was to develop a Minimal Viable Product to ensure the feasibility of our idea, to
test it via Customer Validation, and to estimate costs of bringing our opportunity into the
business world. Once our preparation work was complete, we sought our personal network of
contacts whom fall within our Target Segment, allowing us to gather Primary Data from 3
countries to validate our propositions & hypotheses about Value Creation. Said primary data
even includes those from countries who have existing Car Sharing Applications, hence the
feedback we received encompasses areas who haven’t experienced Car Sharing apps, and those
who haven’t. Furthermore, we have established the foundations of our organisational model,
namely it’s horizontal shape (due to its improved communication system between the different
hierarchical levels) and our adaptability (which allows our company to stay ahead of
competitors and continually adapt to the rapidly-changing environment). Upon completion of
vigorous testing of our Business Model, the industry, the market, our Value Proposition & the
feasibility of our plan, and the validation of our Value proposition, we have reached the
conclusion that our idea will offer value to customers across, and even OUTSIDE our target
segment, and to move forward with our plan.
Unique Idea & Pain Point
The chosen idea consists of creating an app that allows people to rent an electric car for short
trips around a city, or hybrid in the case of long distances, allowing customers to rent them for
a longer period as well. For short trips, the price will be determined by a fixed rate that charges
you for every minute driving the car (making a differentiation between when the vehicle is
moving or is stopped). For longer periods of time, the price charged will be a fixed fee.
This business idea revolves around the fact that the cars we provide can be parked in
designated areas all along the city, making it easier for people to access them. The App will
include a map that will allow customers to search for available cars in the area. Since the cars
would be electric, our team could track their location to pick them up and charge them.
This idea is meant to address the awkward pain of transportation, and provide an option that is
neither too expensive nor too time consuming, while being a flexible and accessible option for
everyone who uses our application. There is a large hole left by the inefficiencies of the public
transport, from late busses to inflexible pickup and drop off points, and even when the bus is
on time, there is still a much larger time investment in comparison to driving. This hole is
somewhat filled by like Taxi, Uber, or Car Rental services, which eliminate the inefficiencies of
public transportation, but bring their own pains of increased pricing, reduced flexibility (Uber &
Taxi have limited range of transportation, Car Rental only allows for all day car usage), and
reduced accessibility (Younger audiences cannot rent cars). Our Car Sharing App wishes to
present itself as an efficient, accessible, and cost-appropriate solution for the mobility needs of
our customers, easing their pains and bringing gains in comparison to competitors.
Criteria & Rationale for Selecting this idea
We have decided to choose this idea because of the Target Segment + Attractiveness analysis.
The main focus of this business idea is the market segment that includes young people ranging
from 18-30 years old who do not own a car or that, even if they do, are just willing to make
one-way trips around the city. We believe that this is a great market niche because it has not
been exploited in Canada and this would cover a real need and want because, for example,
Enterprise Rent a Car (one of the most direct competitors in this sector in Canada) has the
following requisites to rent a car:
·
Be at least 21 years old.
·
Renters 21 through 24 years of age may be restricted to specific car classes.
·
All other renters under 25 will be required to pay a “young renter fee.” The average cost is
approximately $25.00 per day but can be higher or lower based on the rental location.
These policies are common for other competitors in the market, such as Hertz or Avis. For this
reason, we think our business idea would have a great reception among this sector.
Another factor that led us to decide this business idea is the Industry Attractiveness. As I
mentioned before, there is a strong competition in this sector due to the “oligopoly”
maintained by Enterprise, Avis and Hertz. However, because of the unique business idea and
structure, we believe that we would have less barriers to enter than we would if we were
planning to start a pure car rental business.
Regarding the entrance barriers, we would also have to analyze the purely political and
bureaucratic policies that apply to our idea of parking our cars in designated areas all across the
cities in which we operate.
Our Team, and how our Filters & Feasibility reflect us
First and foremost, as a group of four young students, who are trying to provide solutions to
the current world and market it is important to highlight that we can provide new perspectives
and insight into the analysis of the situation. The new generation’s needs and wants are the
ones that will not only shape the future market, but are also likely to influence current demand,
by proving useful and efficient new ways of solving past problems. On top or our young
approach, our group has a quality that are hard to find elsewhere: diversity, as we are from
three different countries, giving us a broader view and knowledge about diverse ways of
improving the transport system we are analyzing. We all have different backgrounds and have
lived different experiences. For example, Ángel and Ricardo are from Madrid (Spain) and are
used to using this kind of carsharing apps in their everyday lives. On the other hand, Ben knows
perfectly how the people in Canada lives and decides to move through their respective cities,
making it easier for us to adapt what two of our members already know to an environment that
is unknown to them. Furthermore, Alejandro has an incredible tendency to be ahead of the
curve. He invests in cryptocurrencies, has a Pokémon card business, knows about NFTs, and
other businesses, he could be said to be a jack of all trades.
Now, which role does each of the team members performs. It is obvious that Ángel and Ricardo
are what businesspeople call “the hackers”, they solely focus on product, product, product.
They are the ones that normally use this kind of services on their daily lives, so they have a
better understanding of the product and how this can be upgraded and improved. Perhaps,
they also know the market and the motives behind why people use these services in Madrid as
well as their main concerns and complaints regarding customer experience. On the other hand,
Alejandro will fulfill the role of hustler, as he is an incredible skilled person, which is able to
focus on the small details and keep the pace of the group going on. As stated before, he is a
jack of all trades, and can bring that experience to the team, ensuring that every detailed bit
and piece is in its place. As a start he is one of the most important cards, he is a polyvalent
person that can cover a very broad set of roles until the team grows and we specialize further.
Lastly, Ben will be the visionary. With a broader view and understanding of the business, he will
have the responsibility of working on the business, not just in it. Out of the team he is the one
that best knows Canada, and he will use his interpersonal skills to convince the most skeptics
among the customers, market, and investors while inspiring the rest of the team.
Business Model (Business Model Canvas in Appendix A)
The business model for our Car Sharing App would be a simple yet effective blueprint that is
easily scalable, creates economic & social value to our customers, delivers it effectively to
customers in exchange for capturing economic value. Our model does not feature many key
Partners & Resources, meaning there is high potential for near indefinite scaling, and decreased
risk if a partner were to encounter issues. The Key Partners would be Used Car Dealers, a skilled
Application Developer, and Reliable Drivers to be utilized on a continual basis, but our business
model doesn’t truly rely on any of these partners to an unhealthy degree, and they can be
easily substituted for alternatives if issues arise. Key Resources are similar, we only require
Vehicles, a user-friendly App interface, and Drivers to ensure cars are in the proper condition &
location for the next day.
Our Customer Segment, Customer Relationships & Channel are also relatively
straightforward, allowing us to focus our time and effort on our model, enabling fast response
time to customer feedback, a better understanding of our customer segment, and improved
marketing efficiency. Our Customer Segment would be primarily young people (18-30) who can
drive but are less likely to have access to a vehicle and may be incapable of car rental (or face
extra fees). Our secondary segments would include tourists looking for short term vehicle
access, eco friendly users who want to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as the massmarket of anyone who needs short notice access to transportation. We chose these customer
segments because our Value Proposition meets their needs & wants more effectively than
existing competitors, hence enticing them to use our service. Our relation to these customers is
simple: we have an automated service relationship with them through our App, and we provide
to them a more flexible method of transportation at a reduced rate. Our main channel would
once again be through the App, which allows customers to register & book vehicles. Customers
would be given access to the vehicles through the booking service, then drop the vehicles off at
designated zones, which drivers would pick up at the end of the day for cleaning/maintenance.
Finally, our Value Proposition, Cost Structure & Revenue Stream. Our Value Proposition is
that our app would offer unparalleled reliable access to vehicles on short notice, at a reduced
rate in comparison to alternatives. Our app is a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario, where customers
can save money in comparison to Uber or a Taxi, save time compared to taking public
transportation, and have a more flexible & accessible riding experience in comparison to Car
Rental. In addition, we offer all the modern commodities offered by Uber, such as ride tracking,
automatic payment, ordering & cancellation, while offering customers a sense of freedom that
comes from having access to a vehicle when they need it where they need it, in a superior
manner compared to the competition. Our Cost Structure is also relatively simple, there is a
$21,000 startup cost to finance the development of our MVP, then there would be $560/week
of labour costs of our drivers, and finally an average cleaning cost of $200/week (cost to fully
clean a car is $100, we estimate 2 cars would need to be cleaned/week on average). There
would be the additional expenses of large repairs and advertising, but those costs wouldn’t be
damaging to our overall cost structure and are hard to estimate before our MVP. Finally: our
revenue streams. Starting out, we would earn all our revenue through trips fees, with trips up
to 30 minutes charged a variable per minute rate, and at longer than 30 minutes we would
charge a lower fixed per kilometer rate. At the end of a customer’s usage period, we would
charge the fees to the card they input when registering for the app. Additionally, as our app
expands, we would be selling advertisements on our vehicles & on our app to other companies,
but we would have to be relatively big before having the opportunity to sell advertisement
space.
Value Proposition Canvas
The car-sharing app customer has the gain of accessing a vehicle on short notice when in
need of a vehicle. This transportation method is reasonably priced compared to Uber or taxis.
There will be reliable access to a vehicle wherever and whenever the customer is without
owning a car; they will just need the application, a smartphone and internet access.
Additionally, the app will be able to track nearby vehicles for the customer to instantly order for
their reserved used, and if needed, they will be able to cancel as well. This app is also solving
various pain points for customers looking for this sort of transportation. Car rental is very
expensive for the average person, especially if intended for daily short or last-minute
transportation. Car rental is also time-consuming since agencies are not available everywhere
and would not be convenient for our customer that looks for short-term and spontaneous
travelling. The act of socializing with an Uber or taxi driver can be something a lot of people
want to avoid due to the chance of having bad customer service and social experience; our carsharing app eliminates this type of interaction with strangers.
The functional job of the app is for customers in need of transportation to school, work
or leisure. The social job of the app is the ability to use a car for a date, a drive with the family
to activities or a vacation place or road trips. The emotional job for the app is peace of mind for
the customer due to knowing they will have a quickly accessible car no matter the
circumstances. The products and services offered by the car-sharing app will be access to a
network of cars in urban areas, the ability to track and book cars for use and a network of
drivers that will return cars to a storage facility which alleviates the stress of parking or giving
back the cars to the company.
The car-sharing app has various gain creators that will propel the company into success.
The company gains a competitive advantage through our flexible, at all times, access to their
vehicles. It gains an advantage by saving time for the customers and being cheaper than its
alternatives. There is little to no time required in advance or during the process of accessing a
vehicle. The app will deliver vehicle tracking, instant payment, instant booking and instant
cancellation, which gives the company an upside against its alternatives. The car-sharing app
relieves the pain of vehicle accessibility at all times by offering vehicle access from anywhere
with internet access 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Uber and car rentals is an expensive
mode of transportation that cannot be used by customers every day, our car-sharing app
relieves the pain of this high expense. The means of payment in car rentals can be lengthy, and
taxi payments can be uncomfortable our car sharing app reduces this pain by having automatic
payment through the app that has the customer's credit card saved. The app can be accessed
by anyone with a driver's license helping all of those with licenses but no car.
New Business Road Test
The New Business Road Test (NRBT) helps entrepreneurs analyse the viability of their business
ideas by analysing both the market and the industry at macro and microenvironmental levels.
Therefore, we are going to use it as well to analyse the viability of our business idea: The
Carsharing App.
Market Attractiveness: This first point in the NRBT refers to the current external factors that
may influence the market. In regard to this matter, I think that the ones that can affect my idea
the most are the economic and the cultural factors. We must bear in mind that we are living in
the post covid era, and the economy is unstable. This is why we should be very careful and stay
alert to see how this evolves. Apart from that, we must analyse correctly the cultural factor in
order to conclude if this business idea will achieve success in Canada.
Target Segments + Attractiveness: This business idea is directed to everyone who is able to
drive, but more specifically to young people (ranging from 18 to 30 years old). The service this
app would provide is more accessibility to cars for short term use (for example, from one area
of the city to another one or even a short trip to another city nearby) to young people that do
not own a car or to those people that cannot rent one (under 21s) or just find it too expensive
due to under 25 fees.
For example, Enterprise Rent a Car (one of the most direct competitors in this sector in Canada)
has the following requisites to rent a car:

Be at least 21 years old.

Renters 21 through 24 years of age may be restricted to specific car classes.

All other renters under 25 will be required to pay a “young renter fee.” The average cost
is approximately $25.00 per day but can be higher or lower based on the rental location.
These policies are common for other competitors in the market, such as Hertz or Avis. For this
reason, we think our business idea would have a great reception among this sector.
Industry Attractiveness: As we mentioned before, there is a strong competition in this sector
due to the “oligopoly” maintained by Enterprise, Avis and Hertz. However, because of the
unique business idea and structure, we believe that we would have less barriers to enter than
we would if we were planning to start a pure car rental business.
Regarding the entrance barrier, we would also have to analyse the purely political and
bureaucratic policies that apply to our idea of parking our cars in designated areas all across the
cities in which we operate.
Competitive & Economic Sustainability: This refers to how rare and hard-to-imitate our
business idea is. Well, from our point of view, we believe that, even if this idea could be easily
replicable, the fact that we entered the market first and signed parking contracts with the cities
would make it hard for other companies to establish and grow maintaining low costs.
Team Domains:

Shared mission, aspirations, and propensity for risk: We will create an inclusive culture
based on the variety of people and backgrounds. This will help us have a broader view of
the world, allowing us to have better problem resolution and different solutions for the
problems that may come up along the way. We will also be open to risk, operating
without fear to innovate and expand.

Ability to execute on CSF: Although we will have a clear hierarchy, this will be as much
horizontal as possible, allowing our employees to assume responsibilities and
participate in different projects.

Connectedness Up & Down the value chain: As we mentioned before, we will try to
maintain the organization as horizontal as possible. We believe that this is the best way
to achieve a successful communication within the organization, allowing it to be able to
adapt to the rapidly-changing environment.
Market Size Estimate

A Recent study conducted by Canadian Black Book states: of people aged 18-34, only 48%
own/lease a vehicle. Of people 34-54, 69% do, and of those 55+ are at 77%. (Driving.ca,
2021)

Stats Canada States that there are (Government of Canada, 2022)
o 8,006,923 People aged 20-34
o 10,121,693 People aged 35-54
o 7,583,229 People aged 55-69

Through some math, we can find our TAM for our Car Sharing App in Canada (Population
total * % of that age demographic that DOESN’T own a car)
o 4,163,600 People aged 20-34
o 3,137,725 People aged 35-54
o 1,744,143 People aged 55-69

Total TAM of 9,045,467 potential customers

However, our TAM is the Total Market Demand, which shows us our market’s potential for
growth, however that estimate is not a realistic estimate of how much of the TAM we can
service, namely due to budget constraints preventing us from having a fleet across Canada,
therefore we will focus on Ottawa (where our company would start out) to be our SAM
(service addressable market.)

Ottawa Public Health states that in 2025 there will be an estimated: (Ottawa Public Health,
n.d)
o Aged 20-34 (247,275 total)

80,676 people aged 20-24

79,084 people aged 25-29

87,515 people aged 30-34
o Aged 35 – 54 (297,041 total)

85,560 people aged 35-39

77,161 people aged 40-44

68,843 people aged 45-49

65,477 people aged 50-54
o Aged 55 – 69 (199,018 total)


64,211 people aged 55-59

71,539 people aged 60-64

63,268 people aged 65-69
If we do some math, we can find the estimated SAM for our Car Sharing App in Ottawa.
(Population total * % of that age demographic that DOESN’T own a car)

People aged 20-34: 128,583

People aged 35-54: 92,083

People aged 54-70: 45,744
o Total Ottawa SAM: 266,440 potential customers
Competitive Test Matrix
Benefits
Car Sharing
App
Uber
Public
Transportation
Taxi
Car Rental
Price
2
3
1
4
5
Flexibility
2
1
5
3
4
Accessibility
2
1
3
4
5
Convenience
1
2
4
3
5
Long Distance
√
√
Travel
Online
√
√
Ordering/Booking
**Price, Flexibility & Accessibility are ordered from 1 (the best in the category) to 5 (the worst in the category) **
Price: Public Transportation is ranked first in terms of price because the subscription
prices to a pass are a fixed rate which allow for unlimited use of the bus over the subscription
period. Additionally, a large portion of our target market, which would be students, receive a
bus pass with their tuition expenses, which results in it easily being the lowest cost option. Our
Car Sharing App would result in lower expenses than Uber, as in Toronto, Uber’s base fare is
$2.50, plus 18 cents/minute and 80 cents/km. Since our car sharing application wouldn’t
employ as many drivers, we would be able to charge lower variable rates than Uber and allows
customers to go to multiple destinations without being charged multiple base fares (Uber only
allows trips from point A to B, Car Sharing allows drivers to go where they want when the
want). Uber’s lower-cost options results in savings anywhere from 20-50% over regular taxi
fares, hence taxi’s coming in second last. Finally, Car Rental generally comes in around $100 per
day, which can be good comparatively, but short-term trips are out of the question. Their
rental rates in comparison to our long-term rates are not favourable, as we would charge a
lower fixed price.
Flexibility: Public Transportation comes in last, due to its fixed schedules and pickup
locations, especially in Ottawa they also tend to be late a large portion of the time. Next is Car
Rental, as Cars must be picked up & dropped off at the same location, cars must be booked
days in advance, and people below 21 cannot rent, with people below 25 paying extra fees.
Next comes in Taxis, as they can be ordered, but they are ordered by phone and cannot be
tracked, hence less flexible than Uber and our Car Sharing App. Finally, Uber does beat out our
Car Sharing app in flexibility, due to the larger and better-established fleet of vehicles & drivers.
If given enough time & scaling, Car Sharing would ultimately be more flexible than Uber since
customers can drive the vehicle where they please, which is ultimately more flexible than a
destination-to-destination system.
Accessibility: Car rental comes in last due to the fact that people below the age of 21
cannot rent, additionally there are a limited number of fixed pickup locations which further
reduce accessibility. Taxis come in second last since they tend to have a longer pickup time than
Uber, and are more expensive, so there is little incentive to use Taxis. Public transportation is
third, to due busses running across the city at most hours of the day, and the fact that it is very
cheap, meaning that there are few who cannot take the bus. Finally, Uber does beat out our Car
Sharing app in Accessibility, due to the larger and better-established fleet of vehicles & drivers.
If given enough time & scaling, Car Sharing would ultimately be more Accessible than Uber
since customers would be able to view all nearby vehicles, which would ideally be commonly
found parked in Urban centers and densely populated areas.
Convenience: Car rental comes in last due to the fact that people below the age of 21
cannot rent, with much paperwork and additional considerations to be delt with when at the
dealership. Additionally, there are a limited number of fixed pickup locations which further limit
convenience. Public transportation is second last, to due fixed pickup locations, pickup times,
and frequent delays which limit the usefulness of public transportation. Third comes taxis due
to the fact that they can pick you up anywhere, but ordering is less convenient because you
must do it via telephone. Uber comes in second most convenient due to the fact that they are
very convenient to order and track, and come quickly once ordered, but they cannot be used to
travel longer distances, therefore limiting the convenient uses of Uber. Our Car Sharing
application comes in first, because it brings all the positive aspects of Uber, then combines that
with the ability to make any kind of transportation needs possible, from short to long term.
Sources for Uber: (Price cuts irk Ottawa uber drive, 2016), Car Rental: (Enterprise, 2022) Taxi:
(Pope, 2022)
Minimum Viable Product
How we Arrived at our Minimum Viable Product
We are seeking customer input to validate our value proposition and business model,
the best way to do that is through a Minimum Viable Product. A MVP is a product with enough
value that people are willing to use or buy it, that demonstrates enough future benefit to retain
early adopters & most importantly: provides a feedback loop to guide future development. Our
minimum viable product had to feature a degree of all of the features proposed on our Value
Map, hence access to an application that tracks available cars in the area, (Application Preview:
Appendix B) features booking & reservation options on the app for each car, all at a reduced
rate, in addition to actually having available cars on the road. In addition, we would have to
have the app designed & developed with the appropriate features, commission a terms &
service agreement freeing us of legal liability in case of a car accident. Those are the fixed costs
of running the business, which wouldn’t change drastically from our MVP to our final offering.
Fortunately for us, the vehicles themselves are the real cost driver of this business model, so we
can provide a minimum viable product with just 1 vehicle. On the road. We would provide this
service to a small number of individuals (likely Carleton students) and get Customer Feedback
on the strengths, weaknesses & opportunities for improvement of our offering, and improve it
accordingly while adding more and more vehicles to our fleet. Our MVP would serve as a
feedback loop to validate what value we believe our product brings and would help us develop
our business model further until we feel it is appropriate to begin advertising & really growing
our fleet of vehicles, hence fully launching our business model into the market.
Our Minimum Viable Product Cost Breakdown
App Development (Appendix B for Preview)
Price Calculator: Project price calculator spits out a price for apps with given features.
The app that we would use for our MVP would be a Software as a Service Mobile Application,
for the car sharing industry. For our MVP, we would only need an app capable of testing the
feasibility of the idea to reduce costs. Authorization would be via phone to reduce the number
of possible fake accounts, low complexity as it would only need to feature one user pay level,
push notifications, geo locations & booking services, along with the option for password
changing. For an app with these features, the estimated price comes out at $11,500 (Sdpload,
2021)
Terms & Conditions
Website terms and conditions are legal agreements between the owner of a website or
app and the users of that technology. Website terms and conditions lay out the rules that
govern this business relationship by defining each party’s rights and acceptable behavior. This
contract would be very important to our MVP, as it can help protect our intellectual property
and release them from liability for any damages that may occur in association with the use of
their website or app. If one reckless driver using our application were to cause a pileup, we
would want to ensure that liability doesn’t fall upon us.
An app’s terms and conditions agreement are a crucial legal document and should be
drafted by an experienced lawyer familiar with intellectual property and contracts. If this
agreement isn’t drafted correctly, it could leave a business owner vulnerable to lawsuits, loss of
intellectual property, and other legal liabilities. For this reason, we would contact and hire a
professional to draft us a Terms and Conditions Agreement for our MVP. Marketplace data
shows that the average cost of a website terms and conditions agreement is $767.73 across all
states, so we will assume that our Terms & Conditions would cost somewhere around $800.
(Website terms and Conditions Agreement cost, 2022)
Vehicle Purchasing
For our MVP, the only thing that we would truly need is a single electric/hybrid car to
get a feel for how customers perceive our offer. There are used/certified pre-owned
electric/hybrid vehicles that are being sold at around $3,000-6,000 (AutoTrader, 2023) however
we would not want to use the worst vehicles in our MVP, as customers will be driving the cars
themselves, we want to ensure that they have a comfortable driving experience. For the price
of 6,000-10,000, we can get relatively new & unused vehicles (AutoTrader, 2023), which our
customers will not feel ashamed to drive. We will set the price of purchasing a new vehicle at
$8,500 as a conservative estimate of MVP costs.
Keyless Entry Installation
For our services, we will utilize a keyless entry system, which can be purchased &
installed for ~$200/vehicle. (Alec Pow, 2022)
Next Steps
1. Find capital investment and get investors to start the business.
2. Get patents and permits necessary to start the business.
3. Hire application developer and designer to start creating application
4. Purchase fleet of cars, get their insurance, implement theft prevention system
5. Implement marketing plan in social media.
6. Hire employees to refuel the vehicles.
7. Start mass advertisement the day of launching the app and its vehicle regionally
Real World Customer Validation Report
Customer Validation report detailing real world feedback from real world potential customers.
Describe, and explain:
i)
Which customer segment you targeted
We decided to target young people (18-30), an age group more likely to: not own a car and/or
not be old enough for car rental.
The main purpose of a survey is to get as much meaningful information as possible. On the
attempt of doing so, we matched our interview sample to our main customer target base.
Consequently, we interviewed a population of between 18 to 30 years old. From the ages of 18
to 21, the users have the incentive of using our service to avoid having to pay the extra fees
they would normally face when renting through conventional car rentals. Another common
trait shared among our target customer segment is the lack of financial means to buy and
maintain a car, making it cheaper for them to use our services whenever their circumstances
demand it. To sum up, our targeted customer segment is composed of young people unable to
afford and sustain a car, who are also looking to avoid extra charges when renting.
ii)
Your means for gaining validation using the MVP,
There are many ways of gaining validation using the minimum viable product. So far, we have
focused on conducting market research and seeking feedback from industry experts. So far, we
have interviewed 30 respondents to gather qualitative data and get insights on their experience
with similar companies on other countries. Our next step is focused on bringing into practice
the idea to get as much useful data. For this we will:
1. Conduct User Testing: Start by testing the app with a small group of potential users to get
feedback on the features, user interface, and overall user experience. This will not give us
much information on the market adaptation of our services and product but will help us
perfectionate the customer experience, so we ensure that early adopters have the best
experience.
2. Gather Feedback from Early Adopters: Reach out to early adopters and ask them for
feedback on the MVP. This could include surveys, interviews, or user testing sessions.
3. Analyze User Metrics: Use analytics tools to track user behavior and engagement with the
minimal viable product. Analyzing user metrics such as the number of sign-ups, time spent
in the app, and number of completed bookings or time of rides, can give us insights into
how users are using the app and what features they find valuable.
iii)
What their responses were,
We had a broad range of different answers from our interviews, however, most of them raised
similar concerns and requirements when using our app. When answering which qualities
people expected when using the cars, most of them raised concerns for the cleanness, security,
availability and price. All of them expect to find a clean car which has not been mistreated by
the previous users. Regarding security we need a way on ensuring that the mechanics of the car
are always fixed and the chance of getting into a broken car which could potentially cause an
accident are zero. Not only we need to ensure security, but we need to make the customers
feel that security. Regarding availability, we need to make a decision based on parking zone.
Basically, we need to find the middle point which maximizes the trade-off between growing our
available parking area and ensuring that the cars don’t get too spread out. A greater parking
area give users more freedom to use the cars and arrive to places they find more convenient.
On the other hand, is the available parking space is too wide, it would be hard or at least less
probable to find a car near the pickup location of the customer.
Most users highlight two parameters to justify their decision-making process if they were to use
our services. First, price, stating that one of the main reasons why they would choose our car
sharing app was if it had lower and more competitive prices than uber or a similar way of
transport. Additionally, when raised the concern of price and financial means, they pinpointed
that our app is likely to give our customers the freedom of owning a car without having to carry
the burden of financially maintaining it. Moreover, when comparing carsharing to public
transport, they highlight that the App is a more convenient way of moving, as it will save time
and provide more freedom and less dependency than public transport, as well as a more
personal overall customer experience.
As well as evaluating the current business idea and minimal viable product, some respondents
gave us some recommendations of ways of improving the current market, and how at presents
some of the companies that operate in the business fail to cover all customer's needs.
When renting for longer periods of time, some of the respondents recommended making the
experience more personal and customer fitted. Perhaps, the current market (both car rentals
and carsharing apps) don’t pay much attention to individual customer needs, and we could
leverage on this by improving our customer experience, thus gaining a competitive advantage
over our competitors. Examples of this are, having cars adapted to handicapped people on our
fleet so they can rent them, or having sits for kids in case a family is doing tourism and has that
as part of their priorities. Other raised concern is that when renting for longer trips, you can
only access the vehicle from one phone, making it hard for the customer to have the same
flexibility they have when the car comes with a key. Other example of a more personalized
experience means being able to see which type of car you are booking, like for example a twospot car if you are going alone and you decide to go into the city centre, which will make of the
service a much more convenient experience.
Other recommendations that stand out are, having a system implemented so when customer
lose some personal belongings we can give them back in the shortest time, or at least ensure
customers that they are secured and soon will get them back. Other advance that goes in line
with having a developed tracking software is having an emergency system in case of accident.
Other recommendation which is likely to offer us a competitive advantage is investing in
parking lots only available for our users, so when they plan to attend busy areas, they have a
spot ensured for them, and perhaps we have our cars back to a place where we can perform
the due maintenance and cleaning processes.
iv)

What you learned from the customer validation exercise, and
As we mentioned before, one of the main things that adds value to our idea is the fact that
young people do not own a car and our App has that covered.

Customers, in general, think that public transport is inefficient and, therefore, our idea
would be great in order to help young people move around the city or travel.

Customers expect the cars to be safe and to be in perfect conditions (cleanliness is a high
concern).

They would also appreciate if an emergency system was implemented (with GPS tracking in
case of accident). They also feel the need to have some sort of theft prevention system or a
Lost & Found platform in case you left something behind in the car.

Customers really value the fact that they are the ones driving the car. This gives them a
greater safety (compared to when someone picks them up through Uber, for example).

One of the main concerns is the area the App will cover. If it is not big enough (including the
whole city, for example), the use of our cars may not be as convenient or as accessible.
v)
Your next step decision: move forward or pivot, in what way?
As a result of the data we have gathered, our final decision is to move forward with the project,
making the due changes that customers demand and implementing the recommendations
which are likely to give as a competitive advantage in the industry.
Cleanliness and security will be ensured, through regular maintenance and a quality control
implementation we will make sure that the cars are at the best state for our customer to enjoy
the services.
As of the recommendations, we will develop our app so that it includes the recommendations
of the customers, which include, knowing which type of car you are booking to be sure that it
covers your necessities, having a tracking programme for finding lost personal belongings, a
tracking system to assist on accidents. On top of that, once our minimal viable product is
proven profitable and our business model successful, we will invest on parking areas to offer
our users an advantage over normal car users when driving to busy areas or cities.
Conclusion
Our idea consists of creating an app that allows people to rent an electric car for short
period of time at customer’s own convenience. The app makes it time and money efficient in
comparison to competitors such as Uber for customers to have another transportation mean.
The app will calculate a fare for the distance of the trip and authenticate the customer through
their phone number; the user will also have the agree to terms of acceptable behaviour to
protect the cars. Possible customers liked the idea of having the safety of driving themselves as
well as the time efficiency the app provides by avoiding public transport. Provided feedback
also highlighted the theft risk and the importance of cleanliness. Moving forward the company
shall implement a theft prevention system as well as hire a routine cleaning service for the cars.
It was also highlighted to strategically locate the cars in places such as airports and crowded
cities. This idea has a great market segment of students, people without cars and people that
usually use Uber; it defeats its competitors in price and has a great opportunity of growth.
Appendix
A: Our Business Model Canvas
B: Minimal Viable Product – App Preview
Appendix C: Customer Validation Table
Customer Segment Questions





1. How would you improve the idea
2. Would you use the idea? Do you think peers would find this idea worth using?
3. Why would you choose our app over a potential competitor?
4. What value would our Car Sharing app provide you?
5. What would be your standards for a good car sharing app?
Question:
Customer 1
1
 Implement theft
prevention system.
Provide different value
range of cars for
customers who seek
different criteria and
price range that they
would like in a car.
2
 Yes, I would definitely
use the idea and
recommend it to my
peers because I think
this is a solution to a
problem that existed
for long while of
people not being able
to afford a car to be
able to have other
options other than
public transportation
Customer 2
 Ensure there is theft
prevention, implement
rating system, booking
system to ensure
access to cars at a
certain time, a rating
system for cars – what
 Company cars would
be used, it would be
incredible convenient
depending on
accessibility. Others
would also use it
because more
3
 Because it gives me
the freedom to go
anywhere with
efficiency and
convenience, in this
case meaning I do not
have to waste time
waiting for buses if I
missed one and I can
leave whenever I want
and I do not have to
depend on other
drivers driving me
 Standout: pricing,
depends on how you
follow through with
the app. If you space
out the cars nicely and
do appropriate pricing,
it would be attractive.
4
 The value that your
product provides me is
again very important
such as my own
freedom to drive
wherever, my own
time saved, my own
safety in my hands,
and overall efficiency
5
 I expect for it to be
safe meaning that I do
not want other
customers and
potential bad people
putting in trackers,
camera or voice
recorders in the
vehicles which would
put my safety in
jeopardy
 Depends on scenario.
Small car rides would
be super useful. For
longer trips, depends
on the rates but can
enable fun times. Also
having access as a
 Expect: cleanliness,
good enough quality
cars, and general
safety. Wants it to feel
natural getting into a
car where you don’t
worry. Clean and a
build, manual vs
standard, cleanliness
etc. Regular mechanic
checkups
convenient than
bus/uber
Customer 3
 I don’t know how I
would improve it
 I would not use the
product since I already
own a car
Customer 4
 Get vehicles near the
airport. The cars would
get spread out really
quickly. If the cars are
far. Improvement:
specify where they are
going, leaving the city
= you must rent for a
few days, leave it back
within Ottawa. Create
designates drop off
zones. Ban areas with
a fine.
 Needs easy access to a
car. Since the moment
 I wouldn’t use it
because I find the bus
efficient. I can bus and
do work at the same
time. If I was being less
efficient with time, I
would use it going out.
Friends would
definitely use it; Ubers
are very expensive,
and it would be a good
alternative.
Customer 5
 Taxi and uber are
normally more
Marketing would be
crucial to make it
appeal
 I would choose your
app instead of Uber
because I like how I
drive and I think I
would arrive faster to
my destination; I also
don’t like interacting
with the drivers and
it's hard for them to
find me whenever I've
used Uber
 Cheaper than uber.
Less time consuming
than a bus.
 It bothers the
costumer that you
younger driver is very
good, also cars should
stand out but not too
much, so they don’t
look tacky.
 It provides value to me
in case I am travelling,
and I do not have my
car and I have to go
somewhere in this city
decent car. Ensuring
that any bookings go
through.
 I expect it to be a huge
success due to all the
demand there is for
public transportation
and there will be a lot
of demand for it in
demographics such as
university students
that still don’t own a
car.
 Cheap transportation
 Cars would have to be
clean and have gas.
 Accessible locations
 Safe Cars
 No issues with the car
 When renting a car for
a trip (multiple days), it
 Concern for the state
of the car.
Customer 6
when the need for a
car arises, it should be
easy and fast to get a
car to use. Happy as
long as I can get car. As
a joke says: “I need
four wheels and a
steering wheel”.
 Cleanness is a
requirement when
using a shared car.
expensive than
carsharing. Carsharing
is also faster,
comfortable and
personal than public
transport.
cannot park the car in
some zones.
is not practical that
only one phone can
open the car. Nice idea
to let other authorized
accounts (phones) to
open the car, in case
the one phone runs
out of battery, ...
Recommend improving
the maintenance, for
security reasons as
well.
 Cheaper than uber and
more convenient that
normal public
transport.
 He highlights the
importance of the app
functions perfectly
without any
unexpected errors.
 Recommends growing
the fleet to ensure that
whenever you are
looking for a car there
is available.
 Focuses on the state of
the car. Breakdowns
are likely to cause
accidents.
 Recommends
improving the
marketing efforts of
the company. If they
invested more in it,
they could take the
place of current car
rentals.
 Recommends investing
on parking spots in
crowded areas so
users have an
advantage over normal
car users. (Potential
competitive advantage
creator)
Customer 7
 Important to take care
of the cleanness of the
car.
 Important to have the
deposit full, so
customer is not
affected by an empty
deposit.
 Also, important that
the app and car are
easy to use.
 It gives the customer
more freedom.
Assimilates to having
your own car.
Customer 8
 Maintenance of car
and state of it is key.
Security is important.
 Important to have the
car full of battery.
 More comfortable
than using public
transport or uber.
 Complains about the
shortage of cars.
Sometimes you need
one and it is hard to
find.
 Being able to park it
anywhere you like, at
least the zones
designated for parking
need to be convenient
for most people. We
need to have a large
enough fleet and
ensure that they don’t
concentrate just in
some parts of the city.
 Have a cleaning
service that cleans the
cars routinely.
 Make the insurance
accident policy clear to
customers. They don’t
want to get surprises
like being charge for
something that was
broken before they
used the car.
 Convenient because
you don’t need to wait
for anyone to come
when using it. Also,
you are the one that
drives it, so this gives
people a sense of
control. It is like a
small rental.
 Need to be easy to
communicate with
company if anything
goes wrong.
Sometimes the app
doesn’t close the car
and I need to be able
to call someone and
receive assistance fast.
 Recommends that if an
accident occurs, the
car sends a warming to
the nearer emergency
services, like police
informing with the
location. This is likely
to help in cases of
critical situations.
 Yes, because its more
convenient and
accessible than a car
rental
 Implement electric
cars.
C12
 Anti-Theft System,
Fully Electric Vehicles,
Monitoring of fuel
levels
 Yes, because I do not
have the financial
stability to have a car
yet and I would like to
have a more
convenient mode of
transport
 The idea is useful but
may have a limited
demographic because
people already are
used to services like
Uber and Taxi. It does
 The value of peace of
mind that I do not
have to worry about
the slight possibility of
my uber driver being
dangerous
 The value of providing
safety to my conscious
knowing that I would
drive myself safely
instead of putting faith
in other drivers
 I would expect good
pricing
C11
 I would choose this
app over a car rental
because it is more
convenient, the
process is less lengthy
than a car rental
 I would choose it over
uber because it seems
less expensive since I
don’t have to pay for
the driver
 Pricing and
accessibility would be
the most important, if
the cars are left in
remote locations
/neighborhoods, they
 It would help me get to
school when I am late,
pick up a date, but I
am also happy to just
use the bus if I need
transportation that
badly.
 Clean, Safe, Well
Maintained, accessible,
convenient, user
friendly.
Customer 9
C10
 I would expect trust
from the company as
they will have my
profile and my location
while I'm using the car
C13
 Have some way to
check the condition of
cars before and after
usage, to avoid
customers leaving
damages for the next
person to deal with
C14
 I would improve the
idea by making sure
that the company has
regulations and
policies regarding the
privacy of my
information and live
location while using
the car
 Make a subscription
service in which it
makes it cheaper to
use the cars
C15
C16
 I would just make sure
you have enough cars
have a strong niche
though.
 I think the idea would
be very useful. Going
out would become
much better if you can
bus/uber one way and
then drive the other. It
would reduce the costs
and allow us to have a
reliable way of getting
home or going out,
depending on if we
drink or not
 Yes, I might,
depending on how well
the company handles
the privacy of its
customers; I value my
privacy more than
anything
may be out of
circulation for the day
 I think the main point
would be pricing and
accessibility. No one
will want to use your
app if they can't get
access to a car when
they need it. Uber will
almost always beat out
your app if you can't
beat them on pricing.
 Yes, I think me and my
peers will find this idea
worth using if it saves
us money
 I would use the idea,
but again only if
 It would help plans go
more smoothly, as we
would have to pay less
than we would for
Uber, and we have
more ability to control
the pacing of the night.
If something is lame,
we can just go
elsewhere at almost
no additional cost
 It would have to be
lower priced than uber
and have good
accessibility. I wouldn’t
walk 4 km to get to the
nearest car when I can
just order an Uber,
especially if prices are
similar.
 I would choose your
app over a competitor
if the price is right and
especially if my privacy
and personal safety is
protected
 The value of avoiding
the disastrous public
transport
 I expect full
transparency and trust
from the company
 Technology
improvement and the
app posing itself as a
modern solution would
make me chose it over
a potential competitor
 The first consideration
would be convenience,
 The value of saving
time from public
transport waiting
times
 Constant improvement
for customer
satisfaction
 It would be great to
actually have a car
 There would have to
be cars accessible,
on the road. An idea
like this only works if
there are cars always
available + convenient
convenient. Even if you
have a lower cost than
Uber, if I have to walk
kilometers it wouldn’t
be worth it just to save
a few dollars
my second would be
price
C17
 It would be great to
have a service like
that, since it would
give people a more
efficient way to move
around the city than
public transport.
 I think that the area
the App should include
all the city because if it
does not, it would not
be as useful.
 I would really
appreciate if the cars
included some sort of
emergency signal and
a GPS in case of
accident.
C18
 It would be great if you
could park wherever
you want around the
city. It would make it
easier to move around.
 It would be great if
there were different
car models in order to
satisfy as many
customer needs as
possible.
C19
 What I really expect
out of this idea is to
have a reliable, cost-
 In case you are fined
by the police or
something like that, it
would be great if there
was a system to
identify the driver at
that moment in order
to avoid confusion.
 This idea adds the
value of time. You
know that you are not
going to have to wait
 The good part of this
idea is that you get to
drive yourself, which
available to drive on
demand, so I can do
errands as I please. It
would be good for
nights out as well,
even only using uber
one way would save
money
 One of my concerns is
leaving something
behind. It would be
great if the App
included some sort of
system in order to
track the cars in case
you left something
behind (it is very hard
in the case of Uber or
public transport).
 The best way for this
idea to succeed is to
offer cheaper prices
than Uber and more
accessibility than
public transport.
 It would be great if
they included different
types of cars
depending on how
especially in busy
areas. Additionally, the
cars should be well
maintained and clean, I
don’t want to get in a
car with no gas or a
broken windshield
 Parking zones should
be very extensive in
order to ensure the
App accessibility and
the customer´s
comfort.
 This idea is actually
great when it comes to
experience (you are
able to drive yourself,
allowing the customer
to feel safer).
 It should include a
really big area around
the city so that it is
appropriate, accessible
service.
for a bus or an Uber at
the start of your trip.
C20
 I think that the idea
should include
differently adapted
cars in order to allow
handicapped people or
children on them.
C21
 My main concern is
safety. This idea would
help customers that
share the same
concern as me when
someone who they
don´t know picks them
up.
 I would feel safer if I
drove myself. You do
not really know who is
going to pick you up
and if I get to drive
myself, this problem
would disappear.
 I would expect the car
to be clean and
comfortable.
Which Customer by Which Person
Ben – C2, C4, C12, C13, C16
Alejandro- C1, C3, C10, C11, C14, C15
Richie – C17, C18, C19, C20, C21
Angel - C5, C6, C7, C8, C9
Contribution by Person
allows you to feel
safer.
 It would be great if
some cars included a
compartment on top
of them in case you
went skiing or you had
to bring more luggage
on your trip.
 This idea would be
great for people who
don´t own a car. You
get to drive and move
around the city
without needing to
have your own car.
many people are going
to use it or how long
you intend to use it.
 I would really
appreciate if the App
included different
types of cars, like twoseat ones, which are
way more useful to
park around the city.
 One of the real value
this App could have
would be their prices.
If their prices are lower
than Uber´s, I think it
would steal Uber´s
market share.
truly accessible and
convenient.
 Another thing that
would add value would
be if the App included
reserved parking spots
where only the App´s
cars are allowed to
park.
 A really good option
that this App brings to
the customers is the
possibility to help
preserve the
environment with their
electric vehicles.
Ben: All presentation slides minus Customer Validation, MVP (cost breakdown, explanation, App Screenshots), Market Size Estimate,
New Business Road Test, Exec Summary , Competitive Test Matrix
REFERENCES
Alec Pow Alec Pow is a thorough and methodical Financial and Business Analyst with over 15 years of experience in financial
statement analysis, & Pow, A. (2022, December 22). Car keyless entry installation cost - in 2023. The Pricer. Retrieved April 6,
2023, from https://www.thepricer.org/car-keyless-entry-installation-cost/
Autotrader Canada. (2023, April 3.). Used cars for sale in Nepean, Ontario. AutoTrader.ca.
https://www.autotrader.ca/cars/on/nepean/?rcp=15&rcs=0&srt=4&pRng=1000%2C10000&prx=100&prv=Ontario&loc=K2H%207C3
&hprc=True&wcp=True&sts=Used&inMarket=advancedSearch
Avis Rent a Car. (2023). Requirements for Renting FAQ. Avis Rent a Car. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from
https://www.avis.ca/en/customer-service/faqs/canada/requirement-for-renting
Business Source Complete. (2006). Car Rental Industry Profile: Canada. [Car Rental Industry Profile: Canada.].
ContractsCounsel. (2022, August 9). How much does a website terms and conditions agreement cost? ContractsCounsel.
https://www.contractscounsel.com/b/website-terms-and-conditions-agreement-cost
Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022, December 21). Population estimates on July 1st, by age and sex. Retrieved April 6,
2023, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710000501
Enterprise Rent-A-Car. (n.d.). Reserve a car. Enterprise. https://www.enterprise.ca/en/reserve.html#commit
Enterprise Rent a Car. (2023). Car Rental Under 25 – Age Requirements. Enterprise Rent a Car. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from
https://www.enterprise.ca/en/help/faqs/car-rental-under-25.html
Hertz. (2023). Under 25 Car Rental. Hertz. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from
https://www.hertz.ca/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=Hertz_Renting_to_Drivers_Under_25.jsp
Mcintosh, J (2019, April 1). Young Canadians less likely to buy a car, but more likely to go EV: Survey. Driving. https://driving.ca/autonews/news/young-canadians-less-likely-to-buy-a-car-but-more-likely-to-go-ev-survey
Ottawa Public Health. (n.d.). Socio-demographic data and population projections. Ottawa Public Health. Retrieved April 6, 2023,
from https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/reports-research-and-statistics/sociodemographics.aspx
Pope, A. (2022, July 21). Uber vs. taxi: Mapping price differences in Canada. Canadian Geographic. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/uber-vs-taxi-mapping-price-differences-in-canada/
Price cuts irk ottawa uber drivers | ottawa sun. (2016, Jan 12). Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://ottawasun.com/2016/01/12/pricecuts-irk-ottawa-uber-drivers
Passport. (2022). INDUSTRIES, ECONOMIES AND CONSUMERS. [https://www-portal-euromonitorcom.proxy.library.carleton.ca/portal/ResultsList/Index].
Spdload. (2021, September 8). Project calculator. SpdLoad. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://spdload.com/startup-resources/appdevelopment-cost-calculator/
Website terms and Conditions Agreement cost. What Is The Cost (2022)? (2022, August 9). Retrieved April 6, 2023, from
https://www.contractscounsel.com/b/website-terms-and-conditions-agreement-cost