Skeleton Key Productions
Giorgio Boggio, Erica Bull, Sebastian Donlon, Evan Hatton, Maya Patterson
Company Description
Organizational Plan
Skeleton Key Productions is a budding biotech firm currently focused on establishing ourselves and bringing our initial products to market. Our current goal is establishing ourselves as a company by launching our first product line- a portable personal cortisol detector, designed for easy use and analysis. This design, based on common personal insulin detectors, is aimed at both those already suffering from cortisol imbalances and to individuals interested in maintaining proper cortisol levels without the hassle and expense of frequent hospital visits for blood tests. Our product, once it comes to market, will be unique: although prototyping is still underway, our current and future designs will be unlike anything else that exists on the market for cortisol detection. The novelty and immense practicality of our device will lend us a competitive edge- couple that with the fact that cortisol detection as a pharmaceutical market is effectively nonexistent at the moment, and Skeleton Key Productions is poised for a financial breakthrough to an untapped demographic. Our primary purchasers will be retail chains looking to purchase wholesale: companies like CVS Pharmacies who stock simple pharmaceutical products at low prices. A cornerstone of our early advertising policy will be to appeal to these retailers- building a relationship of trust based on positive business relations will be key in securing widespread distribution of our product. Securing said distribution early is important for Skeleton Key Productions- our primary competitive edge is that we won’t have any direct competitors for the beginning of our lifespan, thanks to our unique design- but that will quickly change once others begin to emulate our design after it comes to market.
As a miniscule organization, Skeleton Key Productions can’t afford a high level of specialization in our personnel at the moment- thanks to our minute size, it is important that there is a certain level of redundancy in operations in order to address leaves of absence or other dilemmas. That being said, while we lack much of the traditional business pyramid and hierarchy, distribution of labour is still important at Skeleton Key Productions. Roles within the company aren’t set in stone: we allow and encourage a high degree of overlapping skillsets and labour to bolster productivity and ensure a certain degree of redundancy. The five founders of Skeleton Key all serve distinct and important roles within the company:
Giorgio Boggio: As president of Skeleton Key, Giorgio’s role is to maintain productivity and delegate functions and responsibilities to guarantee acceptable efficiency and ensure that the project is completed in a timely fashion.
Sebastian Donlon: As vice-president, Sebastian’s role in the company is to assume command if the president is absent, to aid the president in delegation, and to assist other members of the company in completing their tasks.
Maya Patterson: As head of public relations and marketing, Maya’s role in the company is to ensure positive media coverage, foster publicity, and develop marketing strategies and campaigns.
Erica Bull: As head of finance, Erica’s role in the company is to keep Skeleton Key on budget and functioning, as well as to manage finance and fundraise for the company.
Evan Hatton: As head of research and development, Evan’s role in the company is to develop and construct the best possible prototypes to be brought to market.
Financial Plan
In order to successfully test and develop our product, SKP (Skeleton Key Productions) would need at most approximately $175. This is the high-end figure, accounting for two enzymes, a glucose meter, and shipping of these items. As it stands we can purchase either .2ml of NAD+ for $28, or one gram for $55. Likely we will buy the one-gram aliquot in order to have enough enzyme for testing our device. As of now, we have not been able to find a supplier of the 11-beta HSD2 enzyme required for the reaction of cortisol, but consider knowing the correct enzyme needed to be a success. Given the prices of similar enzymes, the price for 11-beta HSD2 is likely to be between $25 and $100. Glucose meters range from $0.95 to $70, depending on number of test strips included and the quality of the device. We will be purchasing a lower-end model to test with, then upgrading to a higher-quality one once our test strips are perfected.
Ideally, the senior snack stand will raise money for each company. We project we will earn $10 to $50 from the store, leaving us with another $165 to $125 to cover, at the most. SKP is working closely with the Engineering Club of Technology High School, which may cover some of the cost of the project. The remaining cost would be split between the members of the company, giving each member a responsibility to cover $33-25. It may be possible to raise money by auctioning off Keith the Kiwi as part of a promotion for SKP. A bake sale or similar small fundraiser may also be implemented to cover the small cost to each company member. In an ideal scenario, a company would be willing to donate a glucose meter to us for use in the project. This possibility is currently being investigated.
The selling price of the device will depend on the amount of enzyme required to create a test strip and the quality of the glucose meters we modify. Given that glucose meters sell for around $20 on average, plus $.05-1.00 per test strip, we can expect that to be the approximate pricing of our device. If the cost of creating the device is around $15 plus $1 per test strip, we can sell a package for $50 that includes the meter and 20 test strips, thereby turning a profit of $15 per package. Additionally, we can sell packages of test strips only, charging $1.50 per unit.
