Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

Step 1:

I think that actually getting the vending machines into the University of Florida’s libraries is what is next for my venture. In addition to just having the common phone and computer chargers, it will be important to eventually include the less common ones as well.

Step 2:

Customer one was my boyfriend, a senior at the University of Florida. He thought the next step should be to market the idea and get people excited before it even hits the libraries. Customer two is my roommate, a senior at the University of Florida. She thinks it is important to also market the idea, but to create an Instagram and social media campaign to really showcase our innovation. Customer three is my little, a junior at the University of Florida. She thought the next step should be to talk with the board at the University of Florida and pitch my idea to them in a groundbreaking way. Whether that be though diagrams, a presentation, or both.

Step 3:

After speaking with customers in my existing market and thinking about my own expectations, I have created a plan for the success of my company. First, I will pitch to the board at the University of Florida my idea through a really well thought out presentation. They won’t be able to say no after I pitch my idea. After that, we will move on to a huge marketing campaign. We will utilize all forms of social media, concentrating our efforts on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. These three forms are the most commonly used by our future market. We will provide promotions for those who use our service after learning about it through social media. From there we will place a vending machine in Library West, the most popular library of them all. We will test out which chargers rent out the most frequently and going forward when we place vending machines in other UF libraries, we will concentrate mostly on the most frequented chargers. Lastly, we will grow to other Universities on the same concepts, repeating this cycle.

New Market

Step 1:

I think a new market would be bringing these vending machines into high schools. There is not as much need as many students do their work at home, but as computers are becoming more intertwined with school, there will be an increased need for chargers at high schools.

Step 2:

My venture idea will create value for people in this market because in high school you switch classes many times a day. In mine specifically, there are nine periods and thus you are doing a lot of walking and don’t want to carry a heavy bag. A computer charger is bulky and has weight to it. Thus, if students are able to rent chargers in their different classrooms where they use computers, they won’t have to lug their own from home around all day.

Step 3:

I interviewed my high school English teacher, where we often used computers to do research, write reports, and create presentation. She thinks my idea would have to be altered to be a set, one-time fee for the year for high schools. The next person I interviewed is my family friend, who is a math teacher at a local high school. She thinks it would be a great idea and to make the vending machines work off of a specific card that is pre-loaded with money from parents. She also thinks to lower the price for high schoolers to 25 cents an hour.

Step 4:

I learned that universities are not the only markets I should expand to for my venture. High schools and schools alike, may provide a great market for my idea as well. I did not originally think of this market, but once speaking with interviewees I really see how my idea can be altered to fit this new market. I think what surprised me the most is that teachers think it is a valuable idea to have these vending machines in high schools. I expected to charger a lower price at high school and also thught about a form of pre-payment for the vending machines in this new market. This idea agrees with what my interviewees said. On second thought, with a lower cost of rental in this market, I think it is more attractive to expand into my existing market. I will have bigger markets and opportunities to make more money at universities than high schools.