Good Afternoon folks,
This week we are going to discuss my venture concept in depth for the second time. I know that I have mentioned it before, but now I am actually going to put it all together and see what happens. This time I really tried to go more in depth and see what was not clear. I think this time around it is more put together and easier to understand. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Summary:
My venture concept is a company where you can rent out watches for a monthly service fee. My target customers would be young adults living in the suburbs or near large cities. Customers can order watches online or utilize our mobile app.
Opportunity:
There are millions of college students and young adults across the United States that are unprepared to dress up for nice occasions such as job interviews and weddings. This reason is not because of ignorance of proper dress code but because of lack of money. Many people are just trying to scrape by the first few years into their career. Many young adults are not really worried about luxury items like watches and earrings. As we move on accessories like watches are beginning to make a comeback in the fashion industry. Adding a nice watch to an outfit can really be the cherry on top in winning over somebodies first opinion. Many of my potential customers will be young adults in there 20s to mid 30s and living near larger cities where dressing up is more prevalent. Any sort of city or suburb to a city are where a majority of my customers will live as many people try and begin their career in a city. Currently, customers are taking on debt, borrowing watches from friends, or not wearing watches at all to deal with this unmet need for watches. Many people do not feel the need to pay hundreds of dollars for a watch when they are barely putting food on the table. Cost seems to be a large issue for customers looking to fulfill this unmet need. I believe this opportunity is larger than people believe it to be. Many people admit they would wear a watch if it was more affordable, but the cost is the driving issue. The opportunity for customers are endless, it is just whether or not somebody can lower the price without cutting profits. This large opportunity will not be here forever, as it will quickly close if nobody takes advantage and finds a way to offer affordable watches to these potential customers. In conclusion, millions of young adults would love to wear watches if they were more affordable.
Innovation:
My innovation is radically innovative, as it has never before been seen within the watch industry. I want to be able to make watches more affordable to these potential customers by creating a company that allows consumers to rent out watches for a monthly service fee. Customers can select and order different watches to rent through our website or through our app. Customers will come in whenever they would like and rent out watches for different occasions. If customers really enjoy the watch they rent, they then have the ability to purchase that watch. There will be three different levels of membership: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Bronze members will pay $10 a month to be able to rent out watches up to $150 in store value. Silver members will pay $20 a month to be able to rent out watches up to $350 in store value. Gold Members will pay $40 a month to be able to rent out watches up to $1,000 in store value. Included with a monthly subscription, is free access to our mobile app, which allows you to browse through different watches and order a watch to your house on your phone. Members will be required to purchase our watch insurance for an additional $3 per month. Customers can rent up to two watches at a time. Customers cannot request a new watch until the previous one has been received. Customers can only hold onto a watch for up to one month before having to exchange it out of a new one.
Venture Concept:
My company will allow customers to customize their accessories without having to pay thousands of dollars to do so. I believe customers will easily adopt my service because it allows them to wear any watch that they like for an affordable monthly price. Because it is a brand new service within the watch industry, I would not have any immediate competitors. The only competitors I would have are the watchmakers themselves, and they are not able to compete with my variety and low price because they have to set up stores. Being able to operate solely online reduces my costs enough to lower the prices of my watches below my competitors. I would actually let me customers take advantage of brick and mortar stores to showroom the watch they would like and then rent it through my company. My pricing, packaging, and distribution of my product play a huge role in my business concept. Since my business is totally operated online, it would lower my total costs. However, consistently having to safely package and distribute the watches will play a huge role in my companies success. I would try to negotiate a deal with Amazon, FedEx, or UPS so that I will promise to utilize only that shipping company if they offer me a lower price on shipping. I would also negotiate a deal with multiple watch suppliers to receive a portion of the sales. For example, if Rolex were one of my suppliers, then Rolex would only receive additional money from me if a Rolex watch sold, not if a watch were just rented out. Watch suppliers would jump at this as a promotional method to put more watches on the market. If people see more people wearing a specific companies watch, it will influence them to buy that watch. Customers of my company will help determine the current style of watches, which could in turn benefit certain suppliers. Suppliers could also test out brand new watches through my company before actually placing them for sale.
Three Elements:
1.My company’s unfair advantage is its adaptability. Because I am not actually producing any of these watches, I can determine which ones I want to purchase for rent. If a certain watch goes out of style, I do not have to deal with that sunk cost making the watch.
2. My next opportunity is taking advantage of other accessories. I want to add other accessories such as earrings or necklaces, and I can easily incorporate that into my companies’ strategy. Once I get a foothold on watches, I plan to expand to other popular accessories.
3. I believe in five years, I want to be able to create a demand for watches that once was not there. I want people who did not wear watches, to begin wearing watches because of my company. In ten years, I want to think about expanding my company worldwide. Targeting people all across the world. After beginning expansion, I plan to sell my first company to begin another. I want to always stay ahead of the game, and I do not want to stay in the watch game for too long before it gets too competitive to make profits.
