Aviation Management students support innovative start-ups as part of their practical case project
For the first time, 5th semester students were given two projects with startups as part of the practical case project. In the period from the end of January to the end of February 2019, the students were able to show, under the guidance of the adjunct lecturer Karsten Benz, how they handle the challenges of a startup for mobile home rentals already active on the market and the challenges of a business still in the founding stage in the area of vacation travel. The results were presented to the project partners in the beginning of March and were very promising.
Project 1: ROADfans - Vacation with a mobile home = freedom and adventure
The startup ROADfans GmbH from Mönchengladbach fundamentally changes the way people travel with mobile homes: no more barriers like a lack of flexibility, minimum rental periods, and time-consuming check-in processes. The business model is based on innovative carsharing technology, a customer-oriented, digital booking and rental process, and a personalized product.
In a strongly growing market, ROADfans currently looks for possibilities to expand via new rental stations. The task for the students was to investigate what location types (e.g. car lots, agricultural operations) could be considered and how a partner model could be designed with the location operators. The result of the practical project was a recommendation of five location types where ROADfans had the best chances of building new locations: agricultural businesses, car lots, camping places, holiday parking at airports, and gas stations. The students also issued recommendations for further implementation on how to design the future business relationship with the operators of the locations. The practical case project thus makes a significant contribution for the growth and future success of ROADfans.
Project 2: MYLi - YOUR Travel buddy
The Startup MYLi is based on a business idea that offers travelers comprehensive support along the entire customer journey. The customer can already get virtual inspiration when selecting the travel destination. By entering his individual wishes and preferences, the "right" travel destination and all associated components (e.g. hotel, sports and leisure activities) can be selected and booked. Furthermore, the customer gets tips for preparing the journey from his "travel buddy." It is a great challenge to build a positive image and one's own brand for
young startups, since there is limited financial leeway. Together with the business management, the students managed to develop a launch and marketing concept for the planned market entry in Germany in 2020. With the help of an analysis of the tourism industry and the online survey on booking and travel behavior, they were able to collect essential information for MYLi. The definition of the target group and the creation of the persona based on it form the foundation for the marketing concept. Based on a theoretical basis concerning possible marketing strategies and verification of potential marketing channels, a selection of marketing measures was tailored to the needs of MYLi. The study of the specific costs and expected range of the specific online and offline measures were compared to three different budget scenarios. The careful verification of financing possibilities finally make it possible to validate the concept.
