What's Next?

What’s Next?

Existing Market.

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

             For products and services, I believe the next step, or really the most important step, would be breaking the course material in manageable assignments for the students. After all coursework has been identified and meets the needs for issues of living with roommates, then we could work on making the course compatible through Canvas or any other form of software UF wants to utilize. Upon expanding, the next huge step after that would be adjusting to other institutions systems and infrastructure.

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

Person 1: Darragh Groves, UF 

            Darragh, who interestingly is my own roommate, shared that it would be valuable to include testimonies from current UF freshman, since they would need actual proof that my opportunity exists for them and their students. Although I most likely would have included this within my initial pitch to UF, it is good to see that he also thinks that is a good idea as well. Darragh also shared that we should be making the course material and overall business simple, while avoiding complex or confusing strategies in the pitch, and this makes perfect sense because honestly, my opportunity is simple and should be treating as so (obviously leaving all the truly complex components to me and the company). He told me customers would want hands-on experience (perhaps teaching how to clean) just to simply keep them engaged and not dying of boredom. In close, Darragh agreed with my ideas about what to do next.

Person 2: Abraham Elmir, UNC 

            Abraham shared some interesting insights where he focused more on the course material itself being effective and non-problematic. Furthermore, he believes students should be exposed to normally troubling situations, without the help of anyone. He also said the evaluations completed by students and faculty should be the only factors that would change the course structure from semester to semester, regardless if we feel the considerations were faulty or not applicable (by this point, I would be older and might not be as connected to my customers as I was before). Although Abraham agreed with my ideas for what to do next, he did note to make them more specific and less broad.

Person 3: Brianna Alvarez, FIU

            Brianna believes, after UF decides to partner with us, is to provide workshops for other institutions that are not currently affiliated with my company. In her words, it’s an easy way to grow brand recognition, increase revenue, and have this extra cash-flow to grow our main business which is selling directly to schools. This was an incredible take because I have restricted myself this entire semester to only selling to schools, and never considered outside options. Therefore, she told me we should plan to include this in our operations as well. Brianna also shared that I have the right intentions and goals for what my customer would be wanting next.   

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

For the first 2-3 months of my venture, we would focus entirely on meeting the needs or demands of University of Florida, through meetings, emails, etc. These meetings will only consist of discussion and reflections about how both parties picture this class being offered, since it would not make much practical sense to develop an entire product without understanding what the customer wants and does not want. After determining what would for UF based off these preliminary meetings, then we would start to develop the product (probably would take around 6-8 months, although I’m just ball-parking). This would include writing the material, working with Canvas, UF personnel, acquiring resources and so forth.

Once we sign official contracts and UF implements the course within their system, then we will begin the next phase of company where we will be developing a system to provide this course in a condensed fashion through workshops. This would be logistically challenging because we would have to summarize the material into about 3-4 hours, worked with building owners to host such workshops, and have to move resources perhaps across the nation back and forth. These workshops will be for both students and non-students, and therefore both would be adjusted accordingly. After about a year or two years of doing this, we would then shift to marketing our product to any university or college that would be willing to work with us. In total, it should take around four years to arrive to this point, and honestly, I have no clue where the company will go from there (probably would be figured at some point in those four years).

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

Perhaps not entirely a “radically” different market, but we could target students in any age group through workshops or events. Realistically, I do not suppose adults over the age of 18 would consider participating in such events, so we would focus more on kids at or below 18 years of age. This way, we can still exploit the issues of living with roommates, where our customers (most likely their parents) will feel a benefit for their children to be exposed to this lifestyle before moving away.

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

The value is for both the students and their parents. For the parents, they will at least more sense of security and peace of mind, knowing that their kid(s) have been exposed to what it really means when living with other people. For the students, they gain also gain exposure, and will be able to handle situations more efficiently/peacefully compared to other students.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 

Person 1: Jordan Hricko, 15 years old

            Jordan, my cousin, is freshman in high school and she represents a decent age to go after with this new market. Although she is only 15 years old, there is no harm in being exposed to this workshop because this is a general life skill that people need to develop at some point in their life. That being said, she actually liked the idea of participating in a workshop or event related to living with roommates. Jordan told me she would rather be introduced to this way of life instead of being thrown into it, which happens to probably about 85% of high school graduates that leave for college. Interestingly, she told me that there shouldn’t be any adaptations because she wants the true experience of all the implications of moving out for the first time.

Person 2: Daniel Labrador, 18 years old

With Daniel, he represents our ideal customer because this is a time period where parents should be growing worried about their children moving away. Daniel also told me this is great idea, though he wouldn’t be sure if his parents would be able to find this service on their own, that is, it would have to reach them in some way. In a prior assignment, I wrote that social media will not be too important for my company, but considering this new market, I would have to create social media geared more towards parents. This was the biggest adaption he told me I would need.

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

What surprised me the most was that both of them weren’t against participating in such a workshop, and showcased curiosity for the idea. Because they had no experience living with roommates, I had anticipated for them to not understand the true and unseen complexities of living with roommates. This is a significant indication because it shows that they are also my customer as well, when I thought the parents would really be the only people who cared. Although this is an extremely small sample size, it something a company loves to see happen when you have more customer segments than anticipated.

In truth, this new market does seem more attractive than selling directly to the University of Florida. Although it would play to be more logistically challenging (with social media and traveling especially), the market would be easier to exploit. In comparison, UF has more rules, would have to agree to absorbing the risks involved with a third-party company providing educational material, and would be much more of a challenge to sell to. Knowing this, I have decided to shift to the workshop/event concept, rather than have UF as my sole customer; as there is fewer risks for the company and hurdles to pass for the company!