Problem: I believe that many people struggle with making decisions on what to eat. Even in New York, where the possibilities are endless, it seems unless you are willing to spend a lot of money and the time your only option for lunch becomes fast food. Fast food is more often than not high in calories and low in nutritional density. Also, most vending machines that claim to offer healthy alternatives do not have a great selection of products. I’m sure there are many people that would want to eat healthier if they felt the option was there and convenient.

Solution: The idea that I have of healthy vending machines brings the healthy food we are looking for to the people. There will be items in these vending machines that are nutritious and delicious, not just low-calorie variants of regular snacks. Through creative recipes, recyclable and reusable containers, and complete nutritional transparency, people will be more attracted to this option.

Unique Value Proposition: What’s unique about this idea is it gives customers the cheapest and fastest fresh food around. No brick-and-mortar food establishments can get the food to you as quickly as a vending machine. Also they have much higher overhead costs which control how much they must charge for the food. The most unique feature will be the quality of the food, it will be unlike any vending machine experience you’ve ever had.

Unfair Advantage: Our unfair advantage will definitely be our convenience and price. When people become our customers they will realize the value of the food they are eating. This will make it hard for other fast-food providers and vending machine companies to compete. Another unfair advantage is the community of people I have in my life that I know I can get the product to. More specifically, this community is the students of Baruch College. Through the connections that I have made here, I have a good amount of people I can use to spread the word about my product.

Customer Segments: The main customer segment will begin with students. This is because I would reach out to college campuses and other schools first. I would do this because it is in the school’s best interest to promote a healthy lifestyle to their students. With the addition of this vending machine, the colleges can show the students they care about giving them good options. Also, at a high school level, this type of healthy food vending machine will appeal to parents who are concerned about their child’s health. Another customer segment we will target is Travelers. For this idea, we would want to put our vending machines in airports, bus stations, train stations, and other places where people seek out transportation. This is because travelers are more often than not pressed for time so the options our vending machine brings will be attractive to them.

Existing Alternatives: Farmer’s Fridge is another type of health food vending machine. They have a good reputation and good position in this market. Currently, Farmer’s Fridge is only operating vending machines out of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. Their locations at these spots are very close together on the map. Besides Farmer’s Fridge, there are not many competitors for the type of vending machine I am envisioning.

Key Metrics: Key metrics are a very important part of the lean canvas, it is how you measure your companies performance. I think for a vending machine the first key metric seems obvious, a record of transactions and receipts. This information will tell us the performance of our vending machines at specific locations. It will also tell us what food is selling the most so we can adjust our restocks. Another key metric we can use is email collection. To encourage environmental sustainability we can email receipts to the customers and when they are filling out their information we can see if they want to be added to the mailing list. Keeping and using this list of emails can show us how much user engagement we are getting,

High-Level Concept: My high-level concept is “FreshToGo, vending for the health conscience”. We are going to become what a regular vending machine company could only dream of. A vending machine that people actually want to use over and over again rather than just using it out of habit or convenience. It will be something that people can feel good about whether it’s for the health benefits, the environmental sustainability, or the price.

Channels: One way in which we will get our product out to people is to have them pop-up at events. It can be conventions, concerts, conferences, trade shows, seminars, etc,. At these places, many people will convene and when they see our unique products the word will quickly spread. Also, many of the people who attend events like this are influential in some capacity and may look at our product and find ways they can incorporate it into their business or campus. Another channel we will use is social media. In today’s world not having a social media platform would be detrimental to getting our product to possible customers. People want to know exactly what you offer and why you’re different, a social media presence can do exactly that. Through strategic advertising and marketing through Facebook, Google, and Instagram we will be able to reach a wide market.

Early Adopters: The ideal customers we are looking for are busy people that are looking to make better choices. These people will see the value in our speed due to their busy lifestyle. They will also find comfort in the fact that they are nourishing their bodies and helping the planet. This will be the best kind of customers for us because once they realize the value of our product they will tell their co-workers and friends who most likely will have a need for our product.

Assumptions: One assumption I am making is that people are actually driven to make healthy choices. Without this, the product will not have much value. Another assumption I am making is that buying lunch out every day is something most of my prospective customers are doing. If they are bringing bagged lunches then my product may not appeal to them.

Natalie Lean Canvas Complete PDF