Assignment 29A - Venture Concept No. 2

·      Opportunity

o   People across America currently hold the need of being able to drive and access their most-used device, their cell phones, without causing danger to others while driving. The nature of the need is that they are required to drive their vehicles while still being considered “hands-free” when accessing their cell phones.

o   The forces in the environment that is creating this opportunity is how competitors are only allowing consumers the use of specific applications while they are driving their vehicles.

o   This market affects people of all geographical locations and everyone demographically. This would pertain to individuals that are of-age to drive a motor vehicle and hold a valid driver’s license in the US.

o   Customers are currently satisfying this need by using the apps that are currently allowed on Bluetooth-capable in-car devices, such as Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. When they cannot access the apps that they need, they are still being forced to use their cellular device while they are operating their motor vehicle. Also, these two competitors are limited to people who have those specific devices.

o   In my opinion, I believe that this opportunity is huge. Allowing consumers the convenience of using their cell phone at the touch on a touch screen device that is integrated in their vehicles would deter drivers from picking up their devices while they are driving.

o   I believe that the “window of opportunity” will not be open for very long since technology develops extremely quickly.

·      Innovation

o   My innovation for this class would be to provide car manufacturers the opportunity to implement a touch screen device in their vehicles that would mirror your cell phone and allow you to use all applications that you currently use on a day-to-day basis. Implementing this device would allow for hands-free driving and would prevent future car accidents and deaths that relate to the use of cell phones. Especially with many states implementing laws that require you to drive hands-free from your device, this would empower the use of technology at ease and prevent future accidents. I would make money by signing contracts with car manufacturers that would be willing to implement my device in all new vehicles that they are selling. The contract would include how much money I would make on each vehicle that is purchased with my product. There would be no set price until we knew the number of vehicles that my product would be implemented in.

·      Venture Concept

o   My innovation would solve the opportunity I identified by preventing future car accidents and tickets that have anything relating to cell phone usage while driving.

o   Customers will want to purchase my product due to the many frustrations and issues that consumers are currently having with competitors. Also, there is no device that allows you to use all aspects of your phone while driving.

o   The reason that customers will want to switch to my product is that there is nothing like my product out on the market for consumers. I do not believe that it will be hard to get consumers to switch to my product due to issues with competitors.

o   The current competitors that I have are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Both of these competitors restrict consumers to the specific apps that they are allowed to use under their interface. Another weakness that both competitors have is that they are restricting consumers to the device that they are able to use with their product.

o   Packaging does not play a huge role in defining my business concept since my product will be shipped to car manufacturers to be implemented in new vehicles. Pricing is based off of how many cars my product will be implemented in and how many people are purchasing cars with my product built-in to the vehicle. Distribution is huge, as this is where I would be able to contact car manufacturers and see what companies would be interested in implementing my device in their future vehicles. Customer support is key when interacting with consumers and helping them solve their issues without fault or negative reviews of our customer support system. Customer experience plays a huge role when discovering if consumers are truly enjoying the use of my product in their vehicles. Location would be across the US.

o   I would hire people for customer support, a sales team, a marketing team, and find a location for our main headquarters.

·      Three minor elements

o   My most important resource would be being able to network to car manufacturers and see if they are interested in implementing my product in their vehicles. Something that I have that will be hard to copy is my personal experiences in the business world.

o   The next opportunity that I want to tackle is being able to implement my product in older vehicles, so consumers are not forced to purchase a new vehicle to gain access to my product.

o   In five years, I would like to be the current Bluetooth-capable device in almost all vehicles across America. I would also like to spread my product to other countries so that I can reach more consumers. Within the next decade, I hope that my product is used and loved by many consumers and that I can hope to take a step back as CEO and be married and start a family. This venture has helped me achieve my vision of reaching how to people and helping them in any way that I can.

Summary

Based on the feedback I received from Venture Concept No. 1, fellow students believe that I have a great idea to bring to market that can make a serious improvement related to accidents and incidents that occur with distracted driving. Based on the feedback I received from What's Next, incorporating a way to respond to emails while driving would allow me to have the upper hand with competitors within my market. 

Changes

The one main change that I will include in my product is the ability to respond to emails while driving your vehicle. Including this change in my product would support people who use email as a main form of contact for business or personal use. This would benefit people across the nation as many consumers use email to communicate on a daily basis.