Opportunity
A bead of nervous sweat drips slowly down my forehead as I sprint through Turlington. I look down at my watch. It read 7:59. I have sixty seconds to cover a mile to make it to my class. I initiated a sprint that would put Usain Bolt to shame. Eventually I arrived to class seven minutes late. To no surprise, there were not any available seats. I sat on the floor and wallowed in misery and back pain. “I would give anything to have a seat right now”, I thought to myself. Situations like this are commonplace here at UF. I have sat on the ground more times in lecture halls than I can count, and have the back pain to show for it. The problem of not being able to find available seating happens in a number of places outside of the classroom. The world is full of places where seating is unavailable to provide one with rest and relief. This problem affects a number of people in a number of age ranges. Within the context of my opportunity, my customers are going to typically fall within the range of 18-35. They are currently satisfying this need by sitting on the ground, standing, or lugging around chairs that are the size and weight of two full backpacks. This opportunity is of moderate size, and the window for one to seize it will remain open for some time.
Innovation
The way I plan to exploit this opportunity is by producing a product that I call the “Porta-Chair”. The Porta-Chair is a lightweight and portable chair that is designed with frequent use in mind. The product will have a form factor that is nearly identical to a laptop. It will have a hinge connecting the backrest and seat itself. Four collapsable legs are attached to the bottom of the product. The chair will be constructed using canvas and aluminum tubes in order to keep it as light and portable as possible. Additionally, it will include a small, attachable desk that one can use to place beverages on or complete work on. I am going to price my product moderately at $29.99. I arrived at that price after researching the prices of other foldable chairs currently being sold.
Venture concept
- Customers will buy this product because of the convenience it offers them. The current offerings on the market are very cumbersome. The average fold out beach chair is larger than a car tire when folded up and weighs enough to make one not want to actually carry it around. I believe getting consumers to switch to my product will be of moderate difficulty. The largest hurdle I must overcome is communicating the benefits that my product offers.
- My competitors are companies that are currently making foldout chairs or other versions of portable chairs. The weakness for foldout chairs are their weight and size. The purpose of a foldout chair is to be portable, and their portability is hindered by their design. The weakness of other portable chairs is a lack of features. The only other small, portable chair I have seen for sale is only a foot wide and has no backrest. It is basically a stool.
- Packaging would play a fairly large role in my business concept. I'm relying somewhat heavily on the package to communicate product benefits to the customer.
- Price point plays a moderate role in my business concept. I believe that my product has enough benefits to generate value for the customer and justify its $29.99 price.
- Distribution is essential to my business concept. If I can produce a product, but am unable to get it to where the customer is, then I am going to make little to no sales. I believe distribution is critical to any business concept.
- I believe that customer support is not a large aspect of my concept. This is because I do not anticipate a large number of people seeking help or support for my product.
- I do anticipate customer experience to be a key factor in my concept. If a customer has a negative experience with my product, then a number of bad things could happen. They could spread a negative view of my product through online review or word of mouth.
- Location would play a minor role. Locating my company’s headquarters near my customers can reduce the cost of transporting my product to them.
- I would organize my business into the following departments:
1. Marketing
2. Social media management
3. Finance
4. Sales
5. Distribution
6. Research and development
I estimate the number of employees to be around fifteen when my company first starts out.
Unfair Advantage
I believe that my “secret sauce” will be the company culture that I plan to produce. I plan to create a work environment that fosters creativity, teamwork, and fulfillment for my employees. I will do this by conducting activities that foster each of the points listed above. This includes regular team building exercises and an unfiltered, open office space that will drive creative thinking.
What’s next?
After conducting interviews with my target market this week, I received a number of new product ideas that I would like to include in my product line. One of my favorites was a modular version of my chair. This would allow customers to purchase separately sold attachments in order to customize the perfect chair for their lifestyle.
What’s next for me?
Five years into this venture I would like to have a well though out and meaningful product line to offer to my customers. I want to produce something that is meaningful to them. In the next ten years, I would like to perhaps move on to another venture in a field where my passion more closely resides. This would likely be in the automotive or wristwatch industry. My first venture will give me the capital, experience, and connections necessary to be successful in my next venture.
A bead of nervous sweat drips slowly down my forehead as I sprint through Turlington. I look down at my watch. It read 7:59. I have sixty seconds to cover a mile to make it to my class. I initiated a sprint that would put Usain Bolt to shame. Eventually I arrived to class seven minutes late. To no surprise, there were not any available seats. I sat on the floor and wallowed in misery and back pain. “I would give anything to have a seat right now”, I thought to myself. Situations like this are commonplace here at UF. I have sat on the ground more times in lecture halls than I can count, and have the back pain to show for it. The problem of not being able to find available seating happens in a number of places outside of the classroom. The world is full of places where seating is unavailable to provide one with rest and relief. This problem affects a number of people in a number of age ranges. Within the context of my opportunity, my customers are going to typically fall within the range of 18-35. They are currently satisfying this need by sitting on the ground, standing, or lugging around chairs that are the size and weight of two full backpacks. This opportunity is of moderate size, and the window for one to seize it will remain open for some time.
Innovation
The way I plan to exploit this opportunity is by producing a product that I call the “Porta-Chair”. The Porta-Chair is a lightweight and portable chair that is designed with frequent use in mind. The product will have a form factor that is nearly identical to a laptop. It will have a hinge connecting the backrest and seat itself. Four collapsable legs are attached to the bottom of the product. The chair will be constructed using canvas and aluminum tubes in order to keep it as light and portable as possible. Additionally, it will include a small, attachable desk that one can use to place beverages on or complete work on. I am going to price my product moderately at $29.99. I arrived at that price after researching the prices of other foldable chairs currently being sold.
Venture concept
- Customers will buy this product because of the convenience it offers them. The current offerings on the market are very cumbersome. The average fold out beach chair is larger than a car tire when folded up and weighs enough to make one not want to actually carry it around. I believe getting consumers to switch to my product will be of moderate difficulty. The largest hurdle I must overcome is communicating the benefits that my product offers.
- My competitors are companies that are currently making foldout chairs or other versions of portable chairs. The weakness for foldout chairs are their weight and size. The purpose of a foldout chair is to be portable, and their portability is hindered by their design. The weakness of other portable chairs is a lack of features. The only other small, portable chair I have seen for sale is only a foot wide and has no backrest. It is basically a stool.
- Packaging would play a fairly large role in my business concept. I'm relying somewhat heavily on the package to communicate product benefits to the customer.
- Price point plays a moderate role in my business concept. I believe that my product has enough benefits to generate value for the customer and justify its $29.99 price.
- Distribution is essential to my business concept. If I can produce a product, but am unable to get it to where the customer is, then I am going to make little to no sales. I believe distribution is critical to any business concept.
- I believe that customer support is not a large aspect of my concept. This is because I do not anticipate a large number of people seeking help or support for my product.
- I do anticipate customer experience to be a key factor in my concept. If a customer has a negative experience with my product, then a number of bad things could happen. They could spread a negative view of my product through online review or word of mouth.
- Location would play a minor role. Locating my company’s headquarters near my customers can reduce the cost of transporting my product to them.
- I would organize my business into the following departments:
1. Marketing
2. Social media management
3. Finance
4. Sales
5. Distribution
6. Research and development
I estimate the number of employees to be around fifteen when my company first starts out.
Unfair Advantage
I believe that my “secret sauce” will be the company culture that I plan to produce. I plan to create a work environment that fosters creativity, teamwork, and fulfillment for my employees. I will do this by conducting activities that foster each of the points listed above. This includes regular team building exercises and an unfiltered, open office space that will drive creative thinking.
What’s next?
After conducting interviews with my target market this week, I received a number of new product ideas that I would like to include in my product line. One of my favorites was a modular version of my chair. This would allow customers to purchase separately sold attachments in order to customize the perfect chair for their lifestyle.
What’s next for me?
Five years into this venture I would like to have a well though out and meaningful product line to offer to my customers. I want to produce something that is meaningful to them. In the next ten years, I would like to perhaps move on to another venture in a field where my passion more closely resides. This would likely be in the automotive or wristwatch industry. My first venture will give me the capital, experience, and connections necessary to be successful in my next venture.
Their are multiple things that I like about this assignment. One of them is identifying truths about our product. In one part of your assignment you said "customer support is not a large aspect of my product," but I think that it is. You have to expand the experience to reach more of a customer base. What other times can you think of that you absolutely needed this special chair, and that can reach to the "culture" aspect of your product. This will also lead to the extra support that you don't think you have. I think that your first hand experience is great to have because the intro to the assignment engaged me.
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this post. I liked how you began as it was very engaging. I think the concept sounds good and I like the inclusion of the desk. I agree that communicating the benefits and gaining traction would be the hardest part, but once people start to realize how much easier and more portable this chair is I think they will readily be willing to switch over from other portable chairs.
ReplyDeleteCompany culture is key to success. That was what I put in my post as well. I firmly believe that if the people working for you are taken care of they will take care of their clients. Especially now as the landscape of the workforce is changing.
ReplyDelete