Assignment 29A - Venture Concept #2

Assignment 29A

Opportunity:

The presence of online classes is becoming more prevalent with the spread of technology across the globe and is increasingly in multiple aspects of daily life. As students turn to online classes to better fit their life routines and the ins and outs of daily life, the chance to maximize their time efficiency is becoming an avenue for financial gain. Creating hours during the week to watch lectures that merely reinforce the lessons taught in the textbook and do not create thought-provoking experiences is becoming a path less and less taken by online students, and instead, they look for a replacement to augment and speed up their learning experience. The nature of the need comes from the changing of the educational demographic in conjunction with the aspect of technological influx, as the creation and adoption of increasing online classes allows for an increasing marketplace within alternatives to viewing daily lectures. Currently, customers are limited to supplemental products that take the wide view on curriculum, and advocate for cramming mass amounts of information in less than a week rather than promoting slow and steady growth. I believe the opportunity to fill a void within this marketplace is ever present and is prime positioning in the status quo, as the business will grow with increasing technological expansion, while also dictating marketplace demand by being the first in the space. The University of Florida is a logical place to start due to their adaption of technological devices and methods in the educational workspace quicker than most public universities in the United States, but as previously stated, exponential growth can take place as more schools being to adapt to basic technological trends in the classroom.

Innovation:

My business model is based on old techniques but adapted to a market that has previously been without this sort of strategy. Because it is a subscription-based service that provides a summarized review of each individual lecture, the student it required to pay a price per lecture that extends them to a minimum ceiling of one semesters length. Similar to the previous strategy of Study Edge and other educational services, students will pay on a per-monthly basis but they will be livened with incentives and discounts that reward someone for signing up for more than one class. Again, while an outsider might look at this approach and see the similarity to previous solutions, the speed to market with the product itself and subscription-based approach to educational augmentation has not been implemented in the past. In terms of broader monetary approach, due to the nature of class schedules and weekly differences, students may pay $10/week so that those who experience higher classes per week but similar time in the classroom in terms of hours are not penalized. By combining a revolutionary approach to educational help in terms of the payment structure offered and the speed for which the product is delivered into the customer’s hands, my venture checks all the buttons that lead to sustained success through proper innovation.

Venture Concept:

I believe the success of this opportunity relies on giving individuals access to the product, and a high return rate will follow. Because of outside competition that buyers may not understand the differences between, I believe giving a free trial will provide the basis for switching ideology when it comes to choosing which study guide to purchase. Again, the basis for competition is one filled at the moment with worthy adversaries, but the difference between my venture and those who stood before me is the focus on curriculum. While others take a macro-view of the curriculum, I break each component down per lecture and provide an attachment that steadies growth in the short term to build foundational knowledge in the long term. Another differentiation between myself and competition is the method of acquisition, as my fully online business with home-printing capabilities eliminated overhead costs and storefront issues. This also does not account for the differences housed in the payment structure of my business, as being a subscription-based service that is applicable for the entire semester of classes gives room to set a pricing structure that few are able to contest due to the fact that subscription-based educational services are few and far between. Finally, the business does not need much help in terms of employees to sustain the ongoing operation but would require additional help with advertising and customer service to focus in on customer acquisition. I personally stand by the idea that this venture will produce tangible results constantly with a steady influx of customers that can share its positive impact with people close to them.

Three Minor Elements:

-       Secret Sauce: The speed for which my product is within the customer’s hands is the secret sauce behind the success of my company. There are alternatives that give summaries of entire chapters, but giving literal play-by-play of a given lecture hours after it takes place is something that no one opposing me can say they are taking part in.

-       What’s Next for The Venture: For the sustained future success of the venture, I want to continue milking out the monetary potential that remains within the current space I would occupy. Specifically, I want to create exam practice tests that mimic the past questions asked by a given professor, and this extension to my business model will created added financial capital.

-       What’s Next for Me: As an entrepreneur, I hope that this venture jumpstarts a career full of ideas and successes. Within five to ten years, I would hope to have sold off this business and recouped enough capital to sustain my next four ideas whether or not they turn out to be successes in the long term.

   What Changed After Feedback:

After reading the feedback I was given, it became clear to me that my business model needed slight tweaking in terms of the pricing structure and changing it from a weekly to monthly service. My initial plan was to charge students on a per-lecture schedule, but instead the advice given to me helped me understand that it would be more convenient and easier for everyone involved to make flat purchase on a longer-term timeline. They did agree with the incentives that would decrease pricing at certain points, and that is why that clause remained the same while the broader aspect ended up changing.