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Old April 6, 2007, 04:35 PM
Duane Adolph
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: And a happy ......

Hi Ankesh,

Thanks for pointing me towards the article. "Tadacopy" nice name of the company.

Funny enough we have a university just up the street.

For my university there are some other players to take into consideration.

Photocopying was a prime source of revenue for the Student Governments (I was on the Student Council "Academic Commissioner...Ohh the memories)

So "Free copies" service would have to be positioned as a revenue source for the Student Government.

To Gain the acceptance of the Student Council, ...it may or may not be wise to partner with the Various Business Admin/Entrepreneurial Groups.

When approaching the student groups, remember that they receive funding from the Student Council every year. There concerns may be that your profit making idea may reduce their FREE government funding in the following years budget. So they might NOT go forward with the profit making.

You would be surprised, on what NONSENSE these clubs would spend their money on to maintain the same level of funding for the previous year.

Just something to be aware of.

Another possible threat to the idea could come from another player. There is already an independent "copy" house for the staff and students to use. I believe it is privately owned. Free copies could cut into their profits. So your service would need to be positioned to them as an additional revenue source.

As you can see there are many players in the game that would need to be taken into consideration so you could position the offer to each and make it a true win/win/win/win for all the players in the game.
  • Student Council/Government of the specific campus
  • Private Copy Shop or Shops
  • Business Admin/Entrepreneurial Students
  • Government/Body of the University of the spe

Lots of layers and lots of players, so as with any endeavour market research is key.

Thanks again for the "heads up" on Springwise Ankesh, I hadn't read my copy in a while.

Duane

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ankesh View Post
Hi Duane,

Just read in the awsome springwise newsletter - there is a Japanese co. that allows students to make copies for free. They show ads on the flip side...

A good idea - especially for people staying near a University...

1. Buy a copy machine (on installments if you can't afford or maybe even leasing it.)

2. Approach a few restaurants, laundromats and other businesses that would want to reach students.

3. Allow free printing - but only on paper that have ads behind them.

4. Don't allow flyer printing (because when they are stuck on walls - no one will see the ads). Or bulk printing of 30-40 pages by the same person. Maybe having a limit like only first 10 print outs free would be a good idea. People can always print out more than 10 copies too - but they have to pay for it.
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