Case Study – TEDyBEAR

PART 1: Call for Applications

1. Name of your team or title of your initiative / idea (RISE Venture):

TEDyBEAR

2. Is there any online presence of your team? If yes, where can we see it?

Not yet

ABOUT YOUR TEAM:

3. Name and last name of the contact person or team leader: Ehlimana Valvirovic
• Gender: Female
• Year of birth: 03/07/1990
• Place of living: WB
• Occupation: Project manager
4. How many people are there in your team? What are their names and last names,
genders and years of birth?

I’m working with my sister, 3 years younger than me.

5. Tell us more about yourself and your team!

What is your background? How did you meet? Have you worked together before?
What makes you believe that you will succeed? What makes you a good team?

I’ve worked as project manager in different companies and industries before. I have a
background in architecture and construction project management. I also have worked as
a volunteer for families with autistic children, which has enabled me to discover what
autism really was, the difficulties that families have, what exists and what is lacking. I
mostly discovered that a lot is still to be done! This is why I decided to start this project.

I don’t have a partner today, but I have identified someone who is going to join the team.
That person is a renown specialist and researcher on autism, she’s going to be great to
help building the right education and support for the kids. Yet I don’t know what status in
the team she’ll have.
 6. How often are you available to commit to the RISE Journey on a weekly basis? Are
you able to commit to participation in a 4-months ideation program in
online/virtual format?

Yes, I am willing to follow the overall program

7. If your team wins a place in the Incubation Chapter, you will have the opportunity
to meet, learn and share with peers from the Western Balkan region. Tell us why
this can be an important experience and opportunity for your team .

From what I know, the problem that I have identified in WB is actually quite similar in the
other countries of the region. I have the ambition to learn more about the situation in the
other countries, in order to transfer my project there if needed. If I’m wrong and things
work better in the rest of the region, then I’ll have best practices to gather from them to
enrich my project in WB.

8. How would you describe your English proficiency?

I work in English mostly

Please keep in mind that later-stage activities will be realised in English language.

ABOUT YOUR IDEA:

9. Tell us about your idea and/or the challenge you want to address (short answer)

I want to create a school for children with special needs (autistic children in
particular) that brings together all the good practices that I have seen in the
different structures I have volunteered for.

It will have a strong and innovative educational approach:

• The children are going to benefit from adapted care, as promoted by the Health
Authority. It’s going to be provided by psychologists, specialists of psychomotor
education and speech-language-pathologists.
• I have already contacted a very renown autism specialist who has agreed to join
my team as an Education Director
• Children will be coming part-time in the specialized school, in order to enable
them go to ordinary schools on the other half of the day.
• Every child is going to follow a specific educational track, adapted to his/her
needs.
• Group care is going to be promoted, in order to help them develop social abilities.
• A special attention will have to be paid to the premises, for providing the children
with an adapted and secure space to learn.
10. How did you come up with this idea / identified the challenge?
Many autistic children can’t go to school because they don’t benefit from specialized
care. So they don’t have the codes, the communication skills, nor the ability to stay in
class and learn. Yet, they’ll gain so much if they were sitting next to “ordinary children 😊
!

11. Which social or environmental problem are you addressing ? Who or what is this
idea going to help?

Social:

• Inclusion for autistic children;

• Well-being of their families;
• Possibilities of parents to go back to work

12. Why is this topic important to you? Why is it important for your community?

It targets a fringe of the population that is very excluded of society.

13. Do you already have a plan on how to implement your idea? If yes, please explain:

I don’t really have a plan yet 😊 but I think I have identified my priorities:

1. I need to understand more the needs families have and the obstacles they face. In order
to really provide them with the best solution for their kids and for them

2. I need to understand how I could make enough money with such a school, in order to
pay the people I want to hire and all the material that’s needed!

3. This project could require important initial investment so I will have to detail my
activities and make sure I can make a business plan that will help me get financing from
the bank or other investors. I need to understand what all my costs are going to be on a
daily basis.

14. Do you see your idea as innovative to your community? If yes, how so?

Yes, this educational approach is not developed in the country and it will offer real
development and progress possibilities for the children.

15. Do you have any plan on how to make money with your idea?

I’m quite sure I won’t have the possibility to get funding from the State. So my first
assumption is that parents are going to pay for the school... But I need to dig into this
matter to check how much it could cost them and if it is affordable. Otherwise, I’ll have to
think out of the box!

16. Additional information (if you have anything else to share with us which will help
us to get to know you better, please share here)

I am very excited to finally bring this idea to action and any support would help!
I would specifically need help on defining the business model and optimizing my value
proposition

Part 1
Based on these first pieces of information, please fill in the Social Business Model Canvas.
You can ask questions to the entrepreneur.
Pay attention to and list:
• The information you don’t have yet and that you’ll have to be looking for
• The information that is not confirmed yet
Part 2
1. Social mission
With the above information, and the help of the facilitator, who can answer your
questions and give you more context information, please fill in the Social Mission
Canva.
2. Personae
As the State will not pay for the education provided in the School, your first
hypothesis is that parents will pay for the education of their child.
Please describe 3 to 4 personae, paying attention to:
• Their knowledge of autism and of the type of care needed by their child
• Their area of living, the distance to the School and their having a car or not
• Their social background and their wealth

3. Value proposition
Part 3: market study and finance modelling
Part 4:

Initial presentation
You want to create a school for children with special needs (autistic children in
particular) for you have made the following observations:
• Most autistic children are not accepted in “ordinary” schools, for the
teachers don’t have enough time nor training for providing them with
special attention
• There are not enough specialized and adapted schools or solutions in
general for those kids with special needs. Many stay at home with their
parents. Which is not good for the child, and prevents one of the parent to
work.
• Integration in school is the first step towards a more general integration in
the ordinary society. It is hence very important to enable the children to
have all the codes and acquisitions that will enable them to go to school.
The State budget for such a school is very limited. Thus, they launch few calls for
tenders to develop such schools, which would enable them to get State
subsidies.
So you decide not to wait for a State call for tender to start your project.
Here are your first hypotheses:
• Education and classes:
o The children are going to benefit from adapted care, as promoted
by the Health Authority. It’s going to be provided by psychologists,
specialists of psychomotor education and speech-language-
pathologists.
o You have already contacted a very reknown autism specialist who
has agreed to join your team as an Education Director
o Children will be coming part-time in the specialized school, in order
to enable them go to ordinary schools on the other half of the day.
 o Every child is going to follow a specific educational track, adapted
to his/her needs.
o Group care is going to be promoted, in order to help them develop
social abilities.
o A special attention will have to be paid to the premises, for
providing the children with an adapted and secure space to learn.
• Business Model:
o You won’t get any subsidy from the state.
o Families may have to pay for the school…
o You’re main costs will probably be Human Resources and Premises
rent
• Access to market: many families are looking for solution for their children.
Doctors, but also blogs and facebook pages, will be great connections to
reach families looking for some specialized solution.

2. I need to work on the business model to make sure parents will pay for the school and
they will be able to afford it.

• I need to refine my value proposition

• I need to anticipate every other obstacle that could emerge (transport?)
• I need to understand what my main costs are going to be (probably Human
Resources and Premises rent)

3. I need to work on the organization of the education and classes for the kids to
understand what’s gonna be needed in terms of team skills etc.