This week we are going to expand on my first napkin idea. With that, lets get started!
Who am I?
First, let me tell you about who I am. My name is Travis Bowen and I am a second year Finance major from Clearwater, Florida. I am really good at getting along with others and solving problems. I also consider myself pretty enthusiastic and ambitious. My experiences include working as a personal trainer at the gym and interning as a research assistant for a profressor here at the University of Florida.What am I offering?
As person who loves watches, I absolutely hate the fact that I can only own three of them. Every time I go into a store, I instantly look at the watches to only dream about one day wearing them. Also, I often find myself not being able to wear a watch because it is not the right occasion or it does not quite match my outfit. What I want to offer is a company that rents out watches. Customers would pay a monthly service fee to be able to come in and try out different watches for different occasions.
I would have three levels of customers, Bronze, Silver, and Gold and each one would correlate with a class of watches. So the bronze members would pay less per month and would only be able to rent watches up to $125 in value. The silver customers will pay a little bit more and rent watches up to $250. The gold members will pay more money and receive watches up to $750 in value. Before signing up, members must purchase insurance through the company for an extra monthly fee.
Who am I offering it to?
This concept would apply to pretty much anyone, but specifically college students and young adults. Many younger individuals who just graduate college have trouble putting together a nice wardrobe. Many people in their early 20s need to attend job interviews, weddings, and other nice events that require dressing up. Having a watch can add the perfect touch a nice outfit. I also am offering this to people who normally would not buy watches because of price but would be interested in trying them out.
Why do They Care?
People notice a nice watch, and it can really make a good first impression. Also, there are a ton of times where it would be nice to wear a specific watch for one occasion without actually having to purchase it. My company would allow individuals to both try out different watches before purchasing them or just use them for one occasion. Watches can be a lot of money, and it would be extremely convenient to have the ability to switch up watches whenever you like.
Core Competencies?
A business that rents watches has never been seen before. It is unique in its own way that it allows customers to practically own a wide variety of watches for a monthly price. Styles constantly are changing, so why not keep renting out watches for a low monthly price instead of paying hundreds of dollars for it to go out of style in a couple of years.
I believe that all of these elements fit perfectly into my business plan. The only criticism I can give myself is that I am really only targeting a small percentage of people and it is an extremely niche company. But, I think my business can bring watches back into style. If people had more money, they would definitely like a couple more watches to wear. Whenever creating a completely new business you are taking a risk, but other companies like Netflix have implemented similar ideas and have proven to be really successful.
Hi Travis,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this assignment! I think your business is a great idea. I know companies already exist that allow you to rent other items, such as dresses, and they're extremely successful. I definitely think people would subscribe to your business as they would love the idea and variety of options. Here's the link to my blog incase you want to check it out: http://julianakrevans.blogspot.com/2016/03/idea-napkin-no-2.html
Hey Travis, this is a really interesting idea. It would be really cool to have easier access to cheaper watches. One thing I would recommend would be to further evaluate your target audience. As a college student, I personally wouldn't be able to afford your service and I'm sure there are others who would be in the same boat as me. I think targeting people in their late 20s-30s would be much more interested in the app as they would have money to spare and might wear professional outfits more often that watches would go great with. Feel free to check out my idea for an app called TextSwap here: http://matthewent3003.blogspot.com/2016/03/idea-napkin-no-2.html.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really interesting idea that could work. Creating different membership tiers gives people flexibility with how much they need to spend to get a watch they want. My only suggestion would be to include the insurance as part of the monthly fee, rather than putting it on top of the fee. Check out my blog here: http://ryanent3003.blogspot.com/2016/03/idea-napkin-no-2.html.
ReplyDeleteHey Travis,
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome idea, much in line with the monthly clothing boxes, food boxes, shaving tools, etc...the type of service that has really taken off lately. I see absolutely no reason as to why this should not work. Especially if you can work with a few decent watch brands and get a good deal, there might be quite a bit of profit here. The one worry would be that if a watch comes back with even one scratch, you can't send it to someone else and it kind of goes to waste. I don't think insurance will care too much about a scratch either. Good luck with this. Feel free to read my post here.
http://fhostettlerufent.blogspot.com/2016/03/idea-napkin-no-2.html