Assignment 29 - Venture Concept No. 2: The Porta-Chair

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 in order to make it to my class on time. 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 in the lecture hall. I sat on the cold, hard ground 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 the University of Florida. 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. It happens in the library, DMV, and in long lines during big events. The world is full of places where seating is unavailable to provide one with rest and relief from standing. 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 age 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 quite 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, portable chair that is designed with frequent use in mind. The product will have a form factor that is nearly identical to that of a fifteen-inch laptop. It will have a hinge connecting the backrest to the seat itself. Four collapsible legs will be attached to the bottom of the chair. 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 at $34.99. This price is higher than I noted in the previous version of my venture concept. After conducting further research on the prices of foldable chairs, I believe that I can charge a higher price for my product because it will generate enough value for customers to justify the price increase.

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 moderately difficult. The largest hurdle I must overcome is communicating the benefits that my product offers to consumers.

- My competitors are companies that are currently making foldout chairs or other versions of portable chairs. The weaknesses of foldout chairs are their weight and size. They are large, bulky, and heavy. The purpose of a foldout chair is to be portable, and their portability is hindered by their design. The weakness of other versions of 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 foldout stool.

- Packaging would play a fairly large role in my business concept. I am relying somewhat heavily on the package to communicate my product’s benefits to the consumer.

- Price point plays a moderate role in my business concept. I believe that my product offers enough benefits to generate value for the customer in order justify its $34.99 price tag.

- Distribution is essential to my business concept. If I am able produce a product, but am unable to get it to where my customer is, then I am going to make very little sales if any at all. I believe distribution is a critical part of any business concept.

- I believe that customer support will be a fairly large part of my business concept. Customer support can make or break the experience of a product. I have been revisiting a particular clothing manufacturer for years largely because of its customer service. I want our customers to return to us not only for our products, but also for our outstanding service.

- 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. That would be detrimental for my business.

- 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. Employees will work more efficiently and effectively if company culture is strong.

What’s next?
A short time ago I conducted a number of interviews with customers inside and outside of my target market. In doing so I was able to generate ideas for my company’s next three products. The first is a modular version of the Porta-Chair. This product will have attachment points for a number of accessories including a sun umbrella or a portable phone charger. The second product will be sports team branded chairs. Sports fans are incredibly loyal to their teams, and will pay a premium for a product that has their favorite team’s logo on it. My last product will be a premium version of my chair. This model would use premium materials such as leather and suede and have more cushioning than the standard model.

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 products that are meaningful to them. In the next ten years, I plan to sell this company and move on to another venture in a field where my passion more closely resides. This would likely be in the automotive, wristwatch, or fashion industry. My first venture will provide me with the capital, experience, and connections necessary in order for me to be successful in my next venture.

Summary of Feedback
I received very useful feedback from my “Venture Concept No. 1” and “What’s Next” blog posts. What people liked about my venture concept was the hook and product idea. The people who left comments on my post noted that the hook was engaging. They also let me know what could be improved upon. One commenter noted that customer support should be a larger part of my venture than I had considered it to be. On another post, people gave me feedback about where I should go with my product line. They noted modular versions of the Porta-Chair and chairs branded with sports teams as additions I should consider.

How I Changed My Venture Concept
Based on what I learned from my feedback and research, I made a number of changes to my venture concept. I raised the price of my product from $29.99 to $34.99 based on my research of the current prices of portable chairs. I re-evaluated the importance of customer service in my business and changed my thoughts on the importance of it in my business concept. Additionally, I re-wrote the entire “What’s Next?” subheading of this post. I expanded the number of products from one to three, and described them in far better detail than I did in my first post. Lastly, I did an overall edit of my entire concept. I changed a number of words and sentences in order to provide stronger, more descriptive wording.