osmo

The problem of lack of reading in Mexico and latin america is a topic that everyone talks about, everyone sees as worrying and outrageous; however no one has given him any kind of solution, alternative or any innovative twist. Books should be everywhere, in the waiting line of the bank, in cafes, etc. Only a few sectors of the population have integrated them or have bet on the subject of reading in Mexico.

 

 

My solution is a system through a website and an application in which people can exchange used books in exchange for a small financial remuneration. This system must have predetermined quality standards that allow us to qualify the value that can be given to a book.

 

 

The end result of such a project is to popularize the exchange of knowledge through books. In which it is easy to find the recipient of a used book.

• Technological scope

The first point of innovation is to integrate this exchange model into an application that is friendly and with a structure that allows us to measure the quality of books in a simple way.

 

• Educational scope

 

The project that is being presented called "Osmo" aims to be a platform for students to have access to the university texts that are requested in their training, as well as being the platform that promotes greater reading in general. In the long term, the vision is to get involved in projects and campaigns that promote reading, that in all places we can find a book and displace the excessive use of electronic devices or social networks.

 

 

• Organizational scope

 

The project cannot depend on just one person, the project must be developed in community since the business model is based on current models called "shared economy" in which the users are the partners who exchange goods or services. For the correct growth of the project, the administrative starff whose profiles are focused on that members of the same university community are the ones who manage it is important.

- Graduates from private universities:

They presented the problem that they had an important number of textbooks that were requested in their undergraduate process and that many of them were given away or donated .They showed great interest in the application since a need was detected that had not been identified, but responds to an interesting solution.

- Graduates public universities:

They comment that in their universities the purchase of books was not necessary or compulsory since the vast majority of texts could be consulted in the library or the teachers provided them with study material.

- Private university students:

The students showed an important interest in the application because it would represent a savings in the purchase of books and that this savings could be implemented in personal expenses that are normally limited by the expense generated in books. - Public university students:

This segment showed interest in the option of having physical books with the availability of being able to study at home, since it is true that in this sector books or texts are provided by teachers or available for consultation in libraries.

I have named my project "osmo" in reference to the exchange of information that it seeks to promote. The aim is to develop a web portal and an application where graduates and students make academic books available for sale at a lower price than the market. To achieve the economic solvency of the project, three sources of income have been proposed for the application. Firstly, the collection of a minimum commission at the time a book is purchased through the application, it is sought that this commission be a minimum percentage so that the sale of books has an attractive utility for people who offer a book. for sale. Secondly, through the sale of advertising spaces, these advertising spaces will target university students; likewise, it is important to keep a balance in the sale of advertising space so as not to saturate the application. As having income we have the search for donations, these donations can come from academic institutions or graduates who are interested in supporting improvements in their home universities. Osmo aims to be a platform for students to have access to the university texts that are requested in their training, as well as being the platform that promotes greater reading in general. In the long term, the vision is to get involved in projects and campaigns that promote reading, that in all places we can find a book and displace the excessive use of electronic devices or social networks. Initially Osmo will be developed by me in collaboration with an educational institution to interact with the target market from the beginning, later the project would be managed by the educational institution in collaboration with students who continually contribute ideas for improvement and continuity of the project.

Unlike traditional book exchange methods, it seeks to create a complete platform that encourages the consumption of both traditional and educational books. After analysis and research for three semesters, it has been concluded that the “OSMO” application must have three main competitive advantages.

 

• Zero stock or low stock: The stock is minimal since it is the clients of the application that offer personal used books. This zero stock scheme reduces storage and administrative costs.

 

• Self-consumption: The platform provides the tools for people to search for specific needs. There is no method of selling books. The sales and advertising process is based on the download and use of the application.

• Secure payment through paypal method: The implementation of reliable payment methods is necessary, so the choice of Paypal is made, which allows an additional security filter.

the project seeks in the long term is to change the perception of Latin American society regarding the acquisition of books, since one of the positions of the market to not acquire books is due to the fact that they do not see them as products of first necessity ; what's more, they are considered luxury items. To achieve this long-term goal, it is important to start with a market that needs books and whose acquisition is a priority, which in this case begins with introducing the product to university students.

To achieve a long-term impact, the development of the project begins with pilot tests promoting the application in a specific group within a private university in the city of Puebla, so that they can intervene and make improvements in terms of design and functionality. of the app. Subsequently, the use of the app can be promoted among the entire staff of university students of a specific university. The result that it gives us after this second stage will help us define the improvements or, if possible, an expansion to a second university.

• 1. the current number of people you’re serving

The project is in the process of technical development and programming of the application, positive feedback has been received from the application developer office. The main difficulty that has arisen lies in the constant search to generate a product that is friendly to the public, easy to access and manage. The tests that have been carried out with the prototype always show us improvements that constantly have to be modified.

 

At the beginning we want to start the testing in the population studying in the city of Puebla Mexico. 

Potential market

Habitantes

Population with higher education level

246,048

Population with higher education level

34,869

• 2. the number you’ll be serving in one year

4.5 million university students in Mexico are studying a postgraduate degree, the equivalent of 390,000 people,

• 3. the number you’ll be serving in five years

As a long-term project we want, after attacking the local market, we want to continue with countries with a high population of students in Latin America, such as Colombia and Brazil. Later continue with Chile, Peru and Panama.

- Colombia: Colombia is the third country in the region with the highest number of students enrolled in postgraduate courses: 3,129, of whom 1,927 are masters and 1,202 are doing doctorates.

- Brazil: The South American giant heads the list with a wide difference with a total of 21,768 students, of whom 12,507 attend higher education programs

The project is in the process of technical development and programming of the application, positive feedback has been received from the application developer office. The main difficulty that has arisen lies in the constant search to generate a product that is friendly to the public, easy to access and manage. The tests that have been carried out with the prototype always show us improvements that constantly have to be modified.

The project that has been presented has been thought through in an integral way to achieve a gradual social impact. Multiple areas of opportunity have been found within the objectives of sustainable development such as quality education, reduction of inequalities as well as responsible production and consumption. However, this is only the values on which the development of the project has been based. On the other hand, the technical part has been subcontracted to achieve quality and accessibility to the largest number of users. Without a doubt, the conception of the project as a company is important since without a solid economic platform, growth and continuous improvement are not possible.

Staff:

- Diana Camacho Orio: 

International Bussines Degree

Master in innovation

- Rafael Sorcia: 

Master in Small and Medium Business Administration

- technical support 

Universidad de Guadalajara

Universidad de Guadalajara

To achieve the economic solvency of the project, three sources of income have been proposed for the application. First of all, the collection of a minimum commission at the time a book is purchased through the application, this commission is intended to be a minimum percentage for the sale of books and has an attractive utility for people who have a book. for sale. Secondly, through the sale of public spaces, these public spaces as a target market for university degree students; likewise, it is important to maintain a balance in the sale of public space so as not to saturate the application. As having income we have the search for donations, these donations can come from academic institutions or graduates who are interested in supporting improvements in their home universities.

In the search for the optimal scenario that is a national expansion, it is important to establish a physical location for the administrative process and designate a space for a Distribution Center (CEDIS) to have the ability to expedite some book deliveries or maintain a stock of books in high demand. The use of a CEDIS is only for extraordinary cases in which the logistics team has to intervene, since the business model is a C2C (customer to customer)

I have been working with the project since I started my master's degree and during the process it was exciting to imagine the positive impact it could have on Latin American society.

It has been exciting to imagine that in the future we will return to a quality of life that allows us to enjoy a good book, but with the difference that having access to a physical book is a democratic, accessible, fun process that adapts to the use of the technology. On the other hand, the most important thing about the project is really to achieve equality of reading levels with first world countries.