Column of a material maker (8)
Our maker in bio-sourced materials has not been idle this summer. Her project La Termatière, future specialised design agency, completed its funding, launched a market study, wrote its R&D program and recruited a partner.
No respite this summer for La Termatière, my bio-sourced materials design agency project. Although living in Montpellier, I must admit, is a bit like being on holiday all year round—between two floods. So a hard-working summer season, because despite the annual reduction in activity in August, the rhythm of the project is speeding up, the deadlines are piling up, meetings are coming one after another, with the feeling of moving forward, which has to be a good sign.
La Termatière… whassat?
With a view to canvassing and having a better visibility of the development of the company in the long term, spring (summer) cleaning was essential for three reasons: present ourselves to clients in the clearest manner; be sure to bring real solutions to the identified needs; establish a three year provisional turnover to ensure the economic viability of the project.
With this in mind, July was spent putting the finishing touches to the structuring of the activities of the future company, defining the jobs in La Termatière, and formulating possibilities of ad hoc economic models, so that each strategic area of business functions independently, but that the project as a whole remains coherent. Better than Tetris or Connect 4. All done in good spirit thanks to Pierre-Christophe Adrian from the Schemas office, top consultant called up by my incubator Alter’Incub. An effective labour resulting in this outline of the future cooperative:
La Termatière is a company specialised in the upcycling of agricultural waste into materials, with a management of resources in a circular economy and a creation of added value on the territory.
Thanks to its internal resources (in green on the diagram), La Termatière proposed three offers. At first, an expert assessment of the sector allows us to diagnose the potential of the waste of an agricultural sector to become bio-sourced materials and to structure and drive this sector to collect waste judiciously.
It is precisely at this moment that my personal lab enters the scene to enable us to express our creativity and tinker with all kinds of samples that will then be presented on the lab bench. An intuitive research protocol, adopted by makers, that has already proven its worth!
Then, the bio-sourced materials are co-developed and characterised with labs and La Termatière takes care of the engineering of channels to set up for production (mainly sub-contractors). Finally, with these new materials, finished products are designed with farmers, dedicated to their sector.
Upcycling from A to Z
It is this upcycling from A to Z, this governing principle at each step, that constitutes the specificity of the company. The beta version of La Termatière is an experimental project with an ambition to duplicate itself, beyond the viti-viniculture sector, like in Brittany with projects on the upcycling of the artichoke fibre. The project is also characterised by its strong territorial anchor for each sector assessment that translates into the will to associate all the local actors through a design methodology including the beneficiaries, based on co-design.
In July, I also tested and approved the classic tool of any self-respecting start-up: the Lean Canvas. A chart allowing you to have a global vision of the activity of the company and evaluate risks (client, market, product), identifiable when the boxes are empty or full, but to be checked in the field.
A market study in coached mode
I will precisely tackle the field with the AbsoConseil office. The objective of the study is to validate with the actors of the viti-viniculture sector the identified needs, and contact the clients to target. The study is in coached mode, in order for me to acquire the methodology to complete the interviews successfully myself, which will allow me to include my future clients as partners for the design of finished products.
Welcome Stéphane!
Both my arms and my only brain are no longer sufficient to boost the project and pursue the adventure on all fronts. Stéphane de Lacroix de Lavalette arrived at the right moment. Agricultural engineer who graduated from Sup’Agro Montpellier, holding a first experience in the viticulture sector and a good insight into sales, he will be mister Channel and will be in charge of diagnoses and the driving of agricultural channels, and the engineering of production and logistics circuits.
And… fingers crossed!
In a few days, I will present La Termatière during the final of the regional competition Coup de Pousse. More than 300 projects submitted, 27 finalists and…more than one chance out of three for La Termatière to win a 5 figure cheque that would allow it to considerably speed up its development. Outcome of this unbearable suspense in the next column…