nieuws

We are Dome Grown. Our concept is designing a new cladding technology for the agricultural greenhouse industry. Our goal is to reduce greenhouse energy consumption – mainly for heating and lighting - by providing high tech, highly insulating and strong cladding that provides  an excellent alternative to existing glass and polycarbonate greenhouse cladding.

Recap meeting between Dome Grown and Flexotels
One of the best ways to learn what it takes in setting up a business is meeting with experts and people who have travelled the road before. This is exactly what we of team Dome Grown did when meeting Hubert von Heyden, owner of Flexotels: a company that rents out foldable small scale hotel rooms and short stay accommodations.

However, the road in designing, marketing, producing and ultimately selling a new product and technology is not trivial. The road is full of hurdlers and difficult decisions to make. Nonetheless we are excited about developing our concept and are aided by various facilities and support like the TU/e contest and the TU/e’s own Innovation Space.

An example of such help was provided by the TU/e contest in setting up a meeting with Hubert, who we of Dome Grown already met during the TU/e contest days. The meeting was planned on Friday the 10^th of November, on invitation.

During this meeting great insight was given by Hubert into the process of turning his idea into reality. A small tour through his company showed the foldable short stay accommodations and he told us his story about the product (workings), hurdles and design decisions. We placed our questions on the table and asked about difficult “cross-road decisions” we now face in prototyping and reaching out to potential customers. His answers and personal experience provided us with insight into critical stages: how to reach potential customers, what to ask them and guidance in situations we do not have to worry about much!

The meeting has proven to be of great importance and such meetings can perhaps even be the primary source of valuable and practical business experience. The meeting with Hubert has provided us with a starting point on the road in developing a start-up. We will use his advice and information in developing a validation plan with potential customers and apply this knowledge to the development of our first prototype.

Michael Verhage
Koen de Raad
Stuart Smits