NFT Marketplace for Wellness Services: Direct Connections Between Providers & Clients

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

We are creating an NFT marketplace for wellness services that ensures cost fairness for both the providers and consumers. Additionally, we are introducing a new type of employee benefits for those working in web3.

The Problem

The wellness industry is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2025, this suggests that while the wellness industry as a whole is growing, individual wellness providers may not be seeing a proportional increase in their earnings. Wellness providers, such as yoga teachers, personal trainers, dietitians, and mental health professionals, often struggle to earn a fair income due to the significant cuts taken by middlemen like studios, fitness centers, and online platforms. These intermediaries not only limit the earnings of wellness providers but also inflate the cost of wellness services for consumers. For example, yoga teachers face a unique set of financial challenges. Primarily, their income is often based on an hourly rate, which varies across different countries and studios. However, the actual time commitment extends beyond the class duration due to preparation and student interaction, resulting in a lower effective hourly wage. Additionally, those who rent a studio typically pay a percentage of their earnings as rent, which can be as high as 40%.

On the other hand, consumers face high costs for wellness services, as wellness is often perceived as a luxury rather than a universally accessible health necessity. The rise of exclusive brands like Goop or Poosh has contributed to it, turning it into a status symbol.

Moreover, there is a pressing need for new employee benefits in the web3 space. Market volatility and technological advancements have contributed to mental health issues, productivity struggles, feelings of isolation, anxiety, and burnout. Corporate wellness programs are not enough to address these issues, and they can be expensive. Health coaching can cost between $140-$165 for 6 sessions, while employer programs can range from $150 to $1200 per employee per year.

The Solution

Our solution is to build an NFT marketplace for wellness services where:

providers create NFTs that represent the right to their services
buyers purchase the exact service they want directly from the provider
providers get a larger chunk of the profit, buyers get a lower price, because there is no middlemen
we will work with wellness service providers who are already a part of our community at Adawell DAO and in our network

What does this mean?

Direct connections between providers and clients.
Improved well-being for wellness providers and individuals seeking wellness services.
A more equitable and sustainable wellness ecosystem that benefits both sides.
Organizations can purchase Wellness NFTs for their teams/communities in the form of 'typical employee benefit'.

The Services

At this stage, the services provided will include:

Yoga sessions
Meditation sessions
Sleep workshops
Exercise sessions
Laughter yoga, singing and dancing classes

Service providers will create NFTs that represent the right to access one of the following services:

An NFT that grants access to:

daily guided meditation sessions
yoga classes
personalized home workout sessions with a PT
personalized meal plan with nutritionist
sleep improvement workshops
short and easy-to-follow sessions that that can easily fit into busy schedules

Service providers will experiment with different ways to package their services, and offer these as different types of NFTs, for their customers. For example:

Group sessions
1:1 coaching
Daily sessions
Monthly right to join sessions
Tailored services to fit each individuals/organization's needs
Even, pay-what-you-will

The Plan

The proposal is a proof-of-concept to validate the idea, the need, and the business model. To do so we will take a minimal technical approach:

Create an NFT marketplace using a service provider such as NMKR,
Build a sales website that integrates with the store,
Onboard wellness providers by working with them to create NFT packages for sale,
Put NFTs on sale on the store,
Promote services on social media,
Coordinate time and delivery method for the service,
Validate the service is delivered,
Collect feedback from service provider and client on the process,
Learn and iterate. Validate the business model.

Once we validate our business model, we will look to automate parts of this process to provide a fully managed service. This means adding parts to the website to select times for the services, NFT unlocked areas in the website to receive the service, and additional features that will help us scale the marketplace beyond a handful of service providers.

Additionally, if we validate that we can offer our wellness NFTs for purchase to web3 organizations, we can directly solve the problem of insufficient employee benefits in Web3.

What is unique about this solution?

Marketplace will connect wellness service providers directly with customers. This eliminates middlemen and lowers costs, benefiting both providers and buyers. Providers will receive a larger share of the profits, earning fair compensation for their services. Buyers will enjoy lower prices due to the absence of intermediaries and increased demand for group sessions with lower costs.
Individuals will gain fairer economic systems. Direct transactions between providers and buyers. It brings a use case showcasing the platform's capabilities beyond traditional financial applications. The solution addresses a key problem faced by wellness service providers, creating opportunities for income stability and growth within the Cardano ecosystem.

A proof-of-concept, the initial focus would be on validating the idea, need, and business model. The number of providers onboarded, the demand for wellness services, and the growth of the marketplace over time will increase once the idea is validated, the aim would be to automate processes, scale the marketplace, and attract a larger number of service providers and buyers by making wellness accessible and fair.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

One of the main aims of the challenge is: the Creation of different products that provide value to the Cardano community and wider ecosystem. This proposal aims to do just that. We will produce a marketplace that offers wellness services through the sale of NFTs. This is a new product without equal.

Benefits to the Cardano Ecosystem:

NFT Marketplace - Our offerings will be attractive to individuals interested in both blockchain technology and wellness. With the wellness industry predicted to reach $7 trillion by 2025, Cardano may become a leader in the intersection of blockchain and wellness. The Web3 ecosystem is predicted to be valued at over $87B (USD) by 2030, and wellness is expected to play a big role and have a significant impact on it.
Improved Wellness - Our initiatives aim to improve the wellness of individuals in the ecosystem, contributing to a healthier and more productive community.
Gender Diversity - Data and our own observations indicate a higher representation of women in the wellness industry. By leveraging this demographic trend, we aim to attract more women to Cardano and onboard them through wellness initiatives.
Ownership - NFT memberships provide ownership to wellness providers and incentivize them to actively join the network.
Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic - There is a potential collaboration to address wellness challenges and benefit the Cardano ecosystem. Charles Hoskinson's tweet on Grand Opening of the Clinic can be found here.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Measuring success

We will measure our success from these metrics:

the number of NFTs (wellness services) sold
the number of customers
number of services provided
number of repeat customers buying another service

All of these metrics will provide good indications of success, but the last one, number of repeat customers is truly the one metric that signals we have a good business model. This is the metric we will look at as we validate the business model. It is the metric that will convince us to push forward with the Proof-of-Concept and build an entire business around it.

The projects outputs will be shared with the service providers in the Adawell community and potential customers through social media.

Sharing with the community will happen as we develop the platform.

Sharing with the customers will happen as we are ready to provide the services.

Once we develop the proof-of-concept. and validate the business model, we will use the results generated from the project to turn the POC into a full on business. We will need to develop or integrate:

NFT unlocked events directly served on the website or through an integration with an app like Zoom
Easy scheduling for services
Extensive details about services and service providers

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

We are Adawell DAO, the first Wellness DAO on Cardano. We were funded in Catalyst Project at Fund 9 for a very small amount to build a wellness knowledge base, a community, and a team. In this time we have:

hosted 20+ mindfulness events, including meditation and yoga sessions. We offered sessions for communities such as littlefish, Cardano ATH, Metagame
gathered 15+ engaged members actively improving their wellness and offering their wellness services, 95+ community members
ran 5+ unique events and workshops, along with live music sessions
created 10+ wellness toolkits available for the community's benefit

Vision and Mission

At Adawell, we believe wellness is a necessity, not a luxury. Our vision is to make wellness accessible and affordable for all.

We start with our own community. Our mission today is to improve the wellness of our community members.

Our team is made up of experts in wellness and blockchain technologies.

Ada Raimova, a wellness advocate and the founder of the Adawell: Wellbeing DAO. I received funding from Catalyst in Fund 9 and delivered the MVP. I've built a knowledge base and community around wellness and my team and I have hosted more than 20 wellness sessions within the web3 space. My goal is to make wellness accessible to everyone, and I know a lot about the wellness world. I have extensive knowledge and a strong network within the wellness ecosystem.

Oriana Gamrot has a background in biomedical science, while Martina Glibo has a degree in Kinesiology and 15 years of experience teaching yoga. Cha Khan is a blockchain expert and founder of the littlefish Foundation on Cardano, and Praveen Kumar is a software developer with a special interest in wellness for Gen-Zs, using the latest technologies available.

Together, we have the expertise and capability to deliver wellness initiatives and implement DAO tools to build the most prestigious Wellness DAO on Cardano.

We have attracted wellness service providers who have already done demo sessions and are ready to increase wellness initiatives in the community.

Also, you can find what people think of us here. We are ready to make positive impact on larger population.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goal of the project is to validate the business idea and model. Our subgoals to get there are:

launch the marketplace,
onboard service providers and launch their NFTs,
create a system to deliver and validate the services are delivered,
sell 100 NFTs on the platform,
deliver 100 wellness sessions.

The entire project is thus to validate this business is viable. What will determine if it is viable is:

there is demand for the services,
the service providers like our platform and want to provide services,
we can generate enough revenue to pay for costs and future development

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1 - Build the landing page and launch the marketplace

Key Activities:

Build a landing page for the marketplace and launch it
Build the marketplace through NMKR Store or similar service and integrate to the website
Promote the marketplace on socials

Expected Timeline: 3 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: Functional marketplace built with a clean good looking landing page.

Milestone 2 - Onboard the first wellness service providers

Key Activities:

Work with service providers in Adawell team and community to craft packages for their wellness services.
Create NFTs that represent the services to be provided including relevant information in NFT metadata such as the type of service, duration of service, and any other details.
Prepare a process from NFT sale > pre-service details > delivery of the service > validation of the service and customer feedback.
Set the NFTs for sale on the platform.

Expected timeline: 3 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 3 wellness providers have NFTs on sale on the platform, offering their wellness services.

Milestone 3 - Make the first sales, deliver the first 5 sessions

Key Activities:

Promote the platform as ready to deliver the wellness services in Adawell community and socials.
Sell service NFTs and coordinate with service providers to deliver the service to customers.
Validate service delivery, collect feedback from customers and service providers to iterate on the process.

Expected timeline: 3 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 3 sessions delivered to customers.

Milestone 4 - Deliver 25 sessions

Key Activities:

Onboard more service providers, more services,
Promote the platform to onboard more customers,
Learn and iterate on the process from NFT sale to service delivery.

Expected timeline: 3 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 25 different sessions delivered in total.

Milestone 5 - Total 100 sessions provided

Key Activities:

Coordinate service providers to deliver at least 100 sessions of wellness services.
Promote the platform to get more customers.
Learn and iterate on the process from NFT sale to service delivery.

Expected timeline: 6 weeks

Acceptance Criteria: At least 100 different sessions made in total.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1 - Build the landing page and launch the marketplace

Output: A website including the landing page for sales, and the functionality of the marketplace ready to sell wellness service NFTs.

Outcomes:

We are ready to onboard wellness service providers.
We are ready to promote the platform and wellness services.

Milestone 2 - Onboard the first wellness service providers

Output: Wellness service NFTs created on the platform, are ready for sale.

Outcomes:

Wellness service providers are onboarded, their services are packaged as NFTs and are ready and on sale
We have a process ready for service providers to go from sale to service delivery. Providers are aware of the process and how things will work.
Customers can now purchase and receive wellness services through the platform.

Milestone 3 - Make the first sales, deliver the first 5 sessions

Output: First NFT sales are made, 5 sessions are delivered to customers

Outcomes:

We immediately know problems in the process and can iterate,
The first bit of customer feedback is in, helping us guide the sessions,

Milestone 4 - Deliver 25 sessions

Output: 25 wellness service sessions delivered.

Outcomes:

Lots of customers have received wellness services,
We now have a good amount of data on what type of services work, the providers can adjust their services with this knowledge
We have adjusted our processes so that from NFT purchase to service delivery the whole process is smoother.

Milestone 5 - Total 100 sessions provided

Output: 100 total wellness sessions provided.

Outcomes:

We have enough data to validate if there is a viable business here. These questions will give us good guidance:
How many NFTs are sold?
How many unique customers?
How many repeat customers?
What type of services are working out?
We decide if we move forward with turning the marketplace into a full on business or pivot.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Development of the website including the landing page and 3rd party NFT marketplace service: 500 USD

Promotion and Marketing: 2,500 USD
Business Development: 6,000 USD
Hosting and tool costs: 500 USD

Total = 9,500 USD

Total (at 0.33 ADA/USD) = 28,788 ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Ada Raimova - Project Lead

I'm the project lead and I will make sure that our proposal is delivered successfully.

I'm a wellness advocate and the founder of the Adawell: Wellbeing DAO. I received funding from Catalyst during Fund 9 and delivered the MVP, established a knowledge base, build a community and a team. I'm passionate about holistic wellness, health optimization, the web3 and blockchain technologies. I firmly believe that wellness should not be a luxury, but rather a fundamental necessity accessible to all individuals. I am dedicated to creating an inclusive space where wellness becomes attainable and achievable for everyone. My dream is to build the first web3 wellness DAO with a great community benefiting a large population. I possess extensive knowledge and a well-established network within the wellness ecosystem and Decentralized Science communities. My areas of expertise and interests encompass Science Communication, Blockchain, Wellness in web3, the Creator Economy, and longevity. I was a panelist in different events including Women of Cardano event.

I hold a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree and have non-degree education in holistic wellbeing, glucose revolution, sleep deprivation, hormone health, and health optimization. Before founding Adawell DAO, I gained experience including contributing as a wellness researcher in a longevity startup, a researcher in a defense think tank, and working in a public research company. I've also gained valuable insights into the corporate world through roles in HR, finance, and marketing intern at a marina. I am multilingual and fluent in English, Turkish, Russian and Uzbek. Feel free to connect with any questions you may have about Adawell DAO via:

LinkedIn

Twitter

Telegram

Martina Glibo - Wellness Services Lead

Martina's LinkedIn

Master of kinesiology and yoga teacher, founding member of Adawell DAO. As a passionate yoga instructor with 15+ years of experience, I share the knowledge and help people transform their lives on all levels physically, mentally and spiritually. Yoga has taught me discipline, appreciation, self awareness, patience it made me stronger, bolder, healthier and happier. I am joyful, positive person, I love my job, I love learning, traveling, meeting new people, new places.Education University Zagreb - Faculty of Kinesiology.

Facebook of Martina's Studio in Zagreb.

Oriana Gamrot - Wellness Research Lead
Cha Khan - Advisor
Praveen Kumar - Technical Lead

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Value for Cardano

For less than $10,000 USD, Catalyst will purchase a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in the $7 trillion wellness industry. Within four months, this project will create a new use case for NFTs and a new solution for employee benefits in Web3. The project will generate revenue for tens of wellness providers, spread wellness to many customers, and promote wellness in Cardano and Web3.

If we are correct and there is a viable business opportunity, the $10,000 seed investment will turn into a transaction-generating business that delivers long-term value to Cardano. It will grow to generate 10 times its current transaction value every month.

How we've decided the costs

The work in the proposal can all be done with minimal technical know-how and experience. We price it all at 10 USD/hr, the minimal rate needed to provide a passable wage to our team.

Development: 50 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 500 USD

Generate a landing page simply with AI tools
Integrate NMKR or other 3rd party service for NFT sales
Set up NFT metadata to reflect services

Promotion and Marketing: 250 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 2,500 USD

digital marketing strategy and messaging,
promotion on social media,
NFT drops,
promotion on Adawell community and other Catalyst communities.

Business Development: 600 hrs at 10 USD/hr = 6,000 USD

Development of the business process from NFT sale to service delivery
Working with service providers to develop service packages, price them, and create NFTs,
Coordinating session date and times,
Talking to customers and providers, collecting feedback,
Communicating with providers and customers to make sure services are delivered,

Hosting and tool costs: 500 USD

A small budget to take care of any tool expenses, such as chatgpt plus, notion, hosting, miro, zoom …

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