When you don’t find a right fit to get into new markets, business reinvention through experimentation can uncover new opportunities for your product or service.
Overview
CollectSpot is a product of the Brazilian company Entregali based in Sao Paulo whose main service is to facilitate the shipment of parcels through distribution points located in local businesses close to the end user.
Open to exploring new horizons for their product, due to the move of one of their members to North America, the team decided to evaluate if the value proposition could fit in the North American market through the Fusion Challenges program. However, although they determined that this new market was not attractive to them, the business exploration allowed them to improve their value proposition in Brazil, positioning themselves more strategically in the local parcel delivery market.
For this reason, validating the product-market fit before starting to develop an adaptation of the product to another market is always a step forward.
Needs
To implement its service in Brazil, CollectSpot had to overcome bureaucratic obstacles imposed on companies interested in receiving and storing the parcels. For this reason, one of the first needs of the team was to validate less bureaucratic rules in the context of Montreal.
On the other hand, another challenge for the team was to explore whether the proposed solution could have the same impact achieved in Brazil and find a way to insert their proposal in the Quebec market.
The process
Through the Fusion Challenge program, CollectSpot had the opportunity to meet key people and do Quebec market research to explore the potential impact of their proposal in Canada.
First, the team was introduced to the implementation of the business experimentation culture (link on french only) from the customer’s point of view, in order to put themselves in the customer’s shoes to empathize and understand the user’s problem.
Next, they were guided on how to apply the principles of the Lean Startup and to work in experimentation cycles in order to make decisions based on the data obtained.
The tools used by the team were the problem validation interview and exploratory meetings with potential clients, as well as with key people in the ecosystem of the target country.
“It was really helpful not only when it comes to understanding how the Canadian ecosystem works, but also to test the viability of our company in this new market. We were able to, in a smart way, go through the analysis of our competition in detail. Fusion’s support throughout this process was remarkable as they put us in touch directly with renowned Canadian professionals”, said Thiago Lopes, CTO of the young company.
Thanks to the important feedback received, CollectSpot realized that in the Canadian market in Montreal there was no major problem that its proposal could alleviate, thus invalidating their initial hypotheses. Therefore, its proposal had to look for other markets or evolve.
Pivot
Once they realized that their solution didn’t fit in the Canadian market, and based on experimentation and hypothesis invalidation guided by the Fusion team, CollectSpot decided to return to Brazil to take a step forward by proposing a new service offering to solve the problem of receiving parcels. In other words, business reinvention through experimentation.
“We had the chance to reach professionals in the fields of immigration, financing, market specialists and even representatives of Brazil’s local consulate. Most likely we wouldn’t be able to reach that many stakeholders acting independently. On top of that, Fusion’s team provided us with mentorship and valuable feedback that we applied even on the development of the company in our home country, Brazil”, added Thiago.
After several prototypes, and taking advantage of their expertise in hardware, research and development, as well as web development, CollectSpot members proposed a locker with different types of capabilities, accessible through a password system, which can be installed in residential condominiums.
Results
Through the cloud platform developed by the team, CollectSpot generated value for residential condominiums, eager to guarantee their customers easy access to received parcels. This pivot allowed the company to solve the problem of receiving parcels in a different way, thus positioning itself in a more strategic place as a startup, since it proposed the space to facilitate the delivery and reception of parcels.
Once the solution was implemented in its home country of Brazil, CollectSpot saw this value proposition quickly gain traction. Currently, the company is focused on closing several contracts under the new solution.
“The main outcome after our immersive participation in Fusion Challenge in Montreal was the realization that if we want to start a last mile delivery business in North-America, we need to develop an IoT solution to differentiate CollectSpot from local competitors and to get ahead in the technology and the convenience offered”, said Raquel Schramm, CEO of CollectSpot.
Perhaps one of the great changes obtained by the CollectSpot team was their mindset as entrepreneurs. Not being limited by seeing how their proposal did not fit in the Québec context, but taking advantage of the learning obtained to improve the original proposal that was already generating an impact in Brazil. Quick learning, finding business evidence through experimentation cycles, is an important element when it comes to exploring and materializing a business idea.