Snugs: make bespoke earphones for everyone and are created using 3D image scanning technology and are custom moulded to the user’s ear

The PROBLEM:

Of the more than 32 million Smartphone users in the UK most use earphones that come with their phones, which are we know are uncomfortable, deliver poor sound and fall out when you move. According to Apple’s Jonathan Ive “Making one headphone to fit everybody’s ears would be like trying to make one pair of shoes to fit everybody’s feet — I mean it’s impossible.” Why do they put up with it? Mainly because the alternatives don’t offer enough of a difference – so why spend money on something that doesn’t fix their problem?

Snugs SOLUTION:

Based on the company’s understanding of the market Snugs custom fit earphones are one of the first consumer earphone that are made exclusively for your ears that not only eliminate all of the problems of generic earphones but are also totally personalisable.

Our 3D image scanning process is designed to ensure Snugs fit perfectly:

• Best fit – for active pursuits 
• Always comfortable – made of soft silicone 
• Great sound – a listening experience
• Noise pollution kept out – so others don’t annoy you
• Your music kept in – so you don’t annoy others
• Personalisable – through a large range of colours and effects.

All at a price that we know will make Snugs the must have accessory for every Smartphone user. Today they retail at £199 and can be delivered in matter of days but we can reduce this price and delivery time scale with volume.

We believe we have proven the sales model, are driving sales through our e-commerce website and need investment to ramp up the digital and offline marketing and advertising campaign.

THE FUTURE:

The company intends to be to earphones what Dr. Dre Beats are to headphones.

Our aim is to bring Snugs to the mass market as a must have accessory at a price point that will make them an affordable option for all.

It is our intention to hold conversations with mobile phone manufacturers, mobile phone retailers, active sports outlets, Airports, gyms and major high street retailers and envision that Snugs will be available on UK high streets by the end of 2015.

3D printing technology is advancing rapidly. Through our manufacturing partner, Dreve Otoplasik GmbH use the latest industrial, medical grade, 3D printers to make Snugs. We are in discussions with manufacturers who are developing the ability to 3D print Snugs – in store while you wait, as a premium alternative to current off-site.

What investment have you raised so far and from whom?

We have recently completed a funding round that raised £137,250 from High Net Worth individuals who could all see the potential of Snugs. These seasoned investors have done their due diligence and some are now actively involved in the company in a consultative role. We are using these first round funds to

• Purchase our first two 3D image scanners and secured the global license for the consumer market.
• Re-develop our website with improved the customer journey and an enhanced back-end system.
• Launch and start implementation of our extensive PR plan
• Start to build out outsourced team of PR Specialists, Social Mediaists and Technical Marketers.
• Improve our SEO and start a PPC campaign
• Accelerate our social media engagement with our first bloggers and our first Team Ambassador

What do we need Investment for?

We have raised awareness amongst a few innovators but now need to accelerate our business model and to raise awareness of the benefits of Snugs amongst early adopters and market influencers.

In addition to increasing the number of visitors to our website, we can seek to increase our conversion rate. We calculate our Average Order Value (AOV) to be £163. We will also increase sales through more affiliates. We will establish concessions and our own experience store. This should increase sales in 2015 to £607,839 (4,681 units), 2016 to £3.76m t/o with £250,123 net profit (30,343 units) and in 2017 to £6.47m t/o with £792,340 net profit (62,572 units).

Through our integrated PR, advertising and marketing strategy and a series of select events we plan to drive prospects to fitting sessions with our 3D scanners in more and more concessions. Online sales will be driven by more affiliates as well as through our own website.

Our PR campaign, both online and offline, has started. Building on our early success we are targeting technical, gadget, lifestyle, travel and mainstream press with specific content and gifting suggestions for Christmas. We were recently featured on Engadget UK. 2015 budget: £29,500 

We are building our team of Ambassadors, Sam Light has just won the Triple S event in USA and produced a video last week which featured and mentioned Snugs, with over 50,000 views. We also expect Dorje, our Snugs sponsored band, to produce a number for videos’ which we expect 10k+ viewing figures. Snugs are being offered as a featured prized to 20,000 of their online subscribers. 2015 budget: £10,500

We estimate that we have increased unique visits to our website by over 25% in the past month through pay-per-click and search engine optimisation but there is lots more to do. 2015 budget: £16,350

Social Media is a major focus for us and we have dedicated £14,000 to it in 2015.

We will not buy adverts in magazines or online banners but will launch behavioural display adverts from September onwards in the Christmas run up. The budget for 2015 is nominally set at £60,000, but due to very effective tracking information, we need the Return on Investment below 20% to be profitable

Events: 3D scanner launch event on 1st July. Investors gathering on 3rd December and many more events in the run up to Christmas. Budget 2015: £16,500

It is our intention to open a Snugs experience store in London towards the end of 2015. This will be a central location where people can get their 3D scans and buy from our comprehensive range of select earphones – with Snugs fitted of course. The experience store will be the ideal location to invite press and host events.  But above all it will demonstrate how a concession can work.

We plan to open concessions in a major department store, in a chain of mobile phone shops, a high volume music store and some active leisure stores.

Our 2015 budget for PR, Marketing & Advertising is £158,850, which is 30% of revenue but decreasing to 12% in 2016 onwards.