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Vivront - Season 2 Idea Jam 2

Season 2 Idea Jam 2


Season 2 Recaps brought to you by our partners Hypercolor Digital and the University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship



Innovate MN September 25 Idea Jam 9

 

Spotlight Business for March 2025 - Season 2 - Idea Jam 2


Vivront is a Minnesota-based company specializing in knife sharpening and kitchen tools, with a mission to enhance cooking experiences while addressing social issues. Here's what Vivront is all about:


Core Offerings

  • Knife Sharpening Services: Vivront offers professional knife sharpening through both in-store drop-offs and a nationwide mail-in program. They handle all types of kitchen knives, including premium Japanese brands like Miyabi and Kikuichi, with quick turnaround times.

  • Kitchen Products: The company sells high-quality kitchen knives, cutting boards, sharpening tools, and other kitchen essentials. They also provide unique gift options like charcuterie boards.

  • Knife Skills and Cooking Classes: Vivront hosts classes for individuals, teams, or date nights to help participants feel more confident in the kitchen.


Vivront


Founder Profile


Connect with Joseph Rueter on LinkedIn


Founding Story

Joseph Rueter founded Vivront in 2021 after identifying a gap in accessible knife-sharpening services. Starting from his garage during the pandemic, he expanded the business to include physical storefronts in Wayzata and later Edina. The name "Vivront," meaning "they will live" in French, reflects the company's goal of bringing vibrancy to kitchens and communities.


Vision

Vivront aims to make cooking easier and more enjoyable while fostering community connections and addressing food insecurity. It combines practical solutions for home cooks with a strong commitment to social good.


Social Impact

Vivront integrates social responsibility into its business model:

  • School Lunch Debt Relief: A portion of every sharpening order supports paying down student lunch debt in local schools. This initiative stems from founder Joseph Rueter's personal experiences with reduced lunch programs.

  • Community Engagement: The company collaborates with schools to provide knife skills training for nutrition teams and supports fundraisers for school lunch programs.


Interested in helping Vivront? Go to the store in Edina!

 

Clickable Chapters:



 

Event Pictures




 

Event Deck




 

Problem Statement

Vivront, a knife sharpening service, faces a challenge in building customer awareness about the importance of sharp knives and establishing trust in their service. Many potential customers don't recognize when their knives are dull, don't understand the benefits of professional sharpening, or are hesitant to entrust their valuable kitchen tools to an unfamiliar service. Additionally, Vivront needs to develop effective strategies to reach its target market, create convenient service options, and establish a sustainable business model for long-term growth.

Idea Jam Summary

During the Idea Jam, participants brainstormed ideas to help Vivront address these challenges. The discussion focused on two main topics: building trust with potential customers and developing effective business models and service offerings. Participants generated a wide range of ideas covering education, marketing, partnership opportunities, service delivery options, and pricing strategies.


For "Building Trust," solutions ranged from creating educational content to demonstrating the value of sharp knives through in-store demonstrations. For "Business Model and Service," participants suggested various approaches, including subscription models, community partnerships, expanded service locations, and targeted marketing to specific customer segments.


The idea jam emphasized the importance of addressing both the emotional and logical aspects of knife sharpening, highlighting the benefits to customers in tangible ways, and creating convenient service options that overcome barriers to entry.


 

Total Sticky Notes Used: Over 100+ sticky notes!


Come and be part of our upcoming jam!



Idea Jam Analysis


Topic 1: Building Trust

Key Themes:

  • Education and Awareness

    • "People don't know when their knives are dull"

    • "What is the knife lifecycle?"

    • "Knife safety/training days"

    • "Online video tie-in"

  • Demonstrating Value

    • "Show your product is better than at home"

    • "Visual proof"

    • "Seeing people sharpening"

    • "Free vegetable chop, try before buy"

  • Testimonials and Social Proof

    • "Testimonials from people you trust"

    • "Testimonial from local chefs/experts who rely on knives"

    • "Reviews"

    • "Social media influencers"

  • Service Guarantees

    • "Sharp test guarantee"

    • "First sharpening is free"

    • "Customer does the test"

    • "Trust - Don't ask me to trust my knives to US postal service"


Topic 2: Business Model and Service

Key Themes:

  • Subscription and Recurring Models

    • "Subscription plan - like Netflix"

    • "Subscription model"

    • "Send packages on a schedule"

    • "Prepaid subscription for regular knife sharpening"

    • "Like Netflix red envelope subscription model"

  • Convenience Options

    • "Pickup like cloth diaper service"

    • "Meet user at convenience point"

    • "Online scheduling"

    • "Make it like a haircut - pickup/dropoff"

    • "Partner w/ grocery delivery"

  • Target Audience Expansion

    • "Two types of customers: 1. sharpeners 2. non-sharpeners"

    • "High end customers?"

    • "Expand target audience e.g. ice skates sharpening"

    • "Add'l target markets: homemakers, CSA members, Masters games gardeners"

  • Partnerships and Collaborations

    • "Partner w/ local business cooking class"

    • "Local partners - Williams Sonoma, SouthDale, 50th & France events, Lunds"

    • "Mail partners - Hello Fresh, High end knife brands"

    • "Business partnerships w/ home goods retailers, w/ coffee shops, w/ cooking stores"


 

Innovative Ideas, What Stands Out, Insights

Innovative Ideas:

  • "Days since sharpened" fridge magnet 

    • to help customers track knife maintenance

  • Webcam of sharpening 

    • like the "doggy daycare" webcams to build trust

  • Knife loaner program 

    • for customers who want continued use during sharpening

  • Knife with notification lights 

    • (tech integration) indicating when the knife is dull

  • Vivront-branded "Pretty Litter" for knives 

    • a creative way to test knife sharpness

  • TikTok Live

    • "Talk Knives" storytelling to build brand awareness and education

  • Tiered Subscription Model

    • Basic: Mail-in sharpening with packaging and labels provided

    • Premium: Knife rotation service where customers always have sharp knives

  • Sleeve System with Reminders

    • Custom knife sleeves with scheduled return dates

    • Physical reminder system similar to oil change stickers

  • Neighborhood Evangelists

    • Local representatives who gather knives from their neighborhoods

    • Building community around the service while expanding reach

  • Meal Kit Partnerships

    • Collaborating with HelloFresh or similar services

    • Target audience already actively cutting and preparing meals regularly

  • Refurbished Knife Market & Trade-up Program

    • Creating a secondary market for high-quality used knives

    • Allowing customers to trade up to better knives over time

  • Visual Proof and Demonstration

    • Showcasing before/after results with microscopic views

    • Positioning the store layout to make sharpening visible from the outside


What Stands Out (Patterns):

  • Education is Key: Many ideas focus on teaching customers how to recognize dull knives and the benefits of sharpening

  • Trust Building: Strong emphasis on proving value and building credibility through transparent processes

  • Convenience: Multiple approaches to making the service easier to access and use

  • Emotional vs. Logical Appeal: Recognition that knife sharpening involves both practical benefits and emotional connections, such as health benefits, buying more fresh foods, and limiting frustration

  • Community Integration: Ideas for embedding the service within existing community structures and businesses


Implementation Ideas (Founder Validation):

  1. Tiered Service Model:

    • Basic drop-off/pickup service - enhanced visual that's customer-facing (infographic-like)

    • Premium subscription with scheduled maintenance

    • Luxury offering with loaner knives and in-home service

  2. Education Campaign:

    • Create short, informative videos about knife care (video on website)

    • Offer free knife skills classes that include sharpening education

    • Develop a simple "sharpness test" kit for customers

  3. Partnership Strategy:

    • Establish relationships with high-end kitchenware stores

    • Create co-branded events with local restaurants and chefs

    • Develop referral programs with culinary schools

  4. Technology Integration:

    • Create a user-friendly scheduling app (native mobile app)

    • Implement a tracking system for customer knives

    • Develop a customer database with knife maintenance records (leverage for target marketing as you grow)


 

Key Challenges and Considerations (Founder Validation):

  • Trust Barrier

    • Overcoming hesitation to entrust valuable knives to a service

  • Knowledge Gap 

    • Educating customers who don't recognize when knives need sharpening

  • Convenience vs. Quality 

    • Balancing ease of service with excellent results

  • Cost Perception

    • Justifying the price relative to buying new knives or DIY solutions

  • Scaling the Business

    • Finding ways to grow beyond initial customer base

  • Competing Priorities

    • Determining whether to focus on consumer market, professional chefs, or both

  • Service Frequency

    • Establishing appropriate maintenance schedules that balance knife care with business sustainability

  • Education and Awareness

    • Many people don't recognize dull knives as a problem

    • Need for effective messaging about the value of sharp knives

  • Scaling with Quality

    • Maintaining craftsmanship at scale

    • Training new sharpeners while ensuring consistent quality

  • Customer Return Rate

    • Getting first-time customers to become repeat customers

    • Creating systems to overcome inertia and forgetfulness

  • Logistics and Operations

    • Managing mail-in services efficiently

    • Balancing in-store and remote services

  • Brand Positioning

    • Differentiating from mass-market competitors

    • Building a premium brand while remaining accessible


 

Notable Quotes

  1. "I went, holy cow, these things are wicked sharp... Got them sharpened by Joseph and now they are immaculate."

    • Showcases the transformative customer experience


  2. "90% of people have dull knives... You haven't convinced 90% of people that dull knives are a problem."

    • Highlights the education challenge and market opportunity


  3. "We thought about ideas like webcams where you could have access to see when your knife was being sharpened."

    • Creative solution for building trust and engagement


  4. "The sleeve element has a little reminder date on it. Similar like oil change sticker. So that you work past the inertia of people forgetting to do it."

    • Innovative retention strategy using physical reminders


  5. "It's very hard to be good at something that you practice once or twice a year, and this is one of those things."

    • Explaining why professional sharpening is valuable over self-service (DIY)




 

Woohoo! Look'n sharp.





 

Thank you to our members and partners!


1 commentaire

bill
4 days ago
•

What a great service. The work that the hosts do to provide a comprehensive and informative and valuable analysis of the Jam is incredible. The hosts definitively are taking the roll of facilitator seriously. To take all the information gathered from the Jam participants, and provide a road map of the event is amazing. Great work! I am proud to have participated and look forward to learning a lot about problem solving and the creative process in future Idea Jams.

J'aime
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