FARM CONNECT

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION :

The basic idea behind this project is to connect farmers and consumers directly without a profit making middlemen. Indeed the startup is itself a middleman but thinks about well being of the farmer and getting correct price for farmers.

• This app contains a user friendly interface designed especially using images understandable to farmers.

MARKET DEMAND :

• what else the country needs more than making the farmers, the backbone of our country happy
• Industries will be more than happy to deal in a perfectly doccumented and verified way in connecting to farmers.

Relevant Products In The Market :

• Big basket is one of the main competitor but it takes small scale orders and does not connect farmers and consumers.

Target Customers :

• Farmers
• Food Businesses
• Restaurants
• Edible Product makers like Kissan ketchups

Required Knowledge or Expertise :

• This app mainly requires softwares like Chat bot, Search box, MAPS.
• The government should provide us with Land Records to verify the amount of land the farmers hold.
• Data Science for Data Interpretation.
• AI to connect relevant farmers and consumers
• UI/UX Designing team
• Programming Knowledge and efficient algorithms.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENT : Servers to store the data and transportation details

Idea Behind the App :

• The main agenda of this app is to profit the farmers.
• Farm connect allows farmers to grow crops, vegetables in an organised way
• To understand clearly lets take an example. For instance KISSAN TOMATO KETCHUPS, lets say they need x kgs of tomatoes. So they put in a request for X kgs. Farmers will have a PROFILE in which they need to record info like the amount of land they have , crops they can grow, the area they grow the crops etc.

• A software which can connect needs and interests should be developed.
• The Farmers can choose an order , take up the order and if the consumer agrees for the price the farmers puts up for his produce they can start growing the crop.
• Transportation will also be in app connected with a transportation partner.

Working of the app :

For the farmers:

• Mostly the app screen will contain images for easy understanding.
• They can look for the orders or search for the orders based on the crops they produce.
• And they can put in the request on how much they can produce and wait for the request to be verified by us and accepted by the consumer.
• Or farmers who had already produced the crop can put in the request to sell.
• The price of the harvest would start from MSP and can be decided by the farmer and the consumer can bargain the price in a chat box within the app.

For the consumer:

• Customer has to select the crop they want, and the amount of harvest they need.
• If the order is in small scale, they can go to section where already produced fresh harvest is available.
• The transport is optional. The consumer can arrange their own transsport or can use the paid transport facility provided within the app or website.

Budget :

Coming to the budget requirements advertisement is the key component for any startup to be succeeded. Social Media mostly gives free advertising. But i am thinking of some giveaways and make people to share and advertise the app(and website). It would take around 10 lakhs for the giveaways.

• Renting the warehouse(Once production commences and the harvest is received we will rent the warehouse).
• Partnership with transporting services.

The overall budget to start is around 25 lakhs(tentative) for developing, advertising and implementing.

Product Pricing:

• Companies need to take a monthly subscription to order things on the website or app. It would be based on the quantity of order they put.
• Transportation charges is levied on the consumers.
• Packing is done by the startup so it is levied on the farmer. The thing is we will help the farmer to calculate the investment the farmers require and help them put up the product price.

Marketing Plan :

• The app will be launched in both app store and play store. Also a website will be created.
• The harvest is collected from the farmer and packed in the companies godown and transported to the consumer.

Risk Analysis :

• Natural Disasters may cause a havoc to the farmer and product delivery may be delayed by a lot.
• To over come this we will also create a section where already produced products will be available. So if the farmer has any problems with the harvest he will be paid a M.S.P by the government. And the consumer will get the product on time.

Milestone and Timeline :

• Firstly we need to make the app (Beta) where farmers can update their profile. And government should agree to verify the lands farmers hold that would be our first milestone.
• Secondly we need to connect our app to a transporting service.
• Thirdly we need to attract big companies to take orders from them.
• And finally we need access to Warehouses all across the country.