Opportunity:
As a pet-owner myself I can understand the concern of
losing a pet or ending up in the wrong hands. SafeAgain will help keep families
together and create even stronger bonds. SafeAgain
would be a product designed for customers that are willing to go that extra
mile to keep their pets safe. The product’s targeted customers demographics
would consist of homeowners, families, and people in their early 30’s and older,
pet owners, people with children and steady jobs. Although, the 20 percent of
the customers would be your typical household family with children, the parents
with a steady job, the product would be in the market for anyone to purchase.
College students and young professionals who have deep concerns or desires of
their pet’s safety will also see the usefulness of this product. The main focus
of this product is to help customers and their pets feel secure and completely
at ease. My costumers will all share the same view when it comes to the care of
their pets; that they become another member of the family and no one gets left
behind.
Pets are fun and loving and it is certain that they become
part of the family. But they are also unpredictable creatures and act on
instinct more than anything. There are many environmental factors creating this
opportunity to strive in today’s market. For instance, natural disasters, such
as hurricanes leave many pets lost and without a home and proper owner. Other
factors such as pets escaping from their homes, for any reason and not finding
their way back. These problems are more common than what people think. With
SafeAgain, it is better to know you are prepared to find your pet than to just
have hopes of finding them. The market for this product is considered to have a
traditional family composition, are more likely to own their home and often
have one or more children in the household. The geographic of pet owners
spreads out into large cities and rural areas. Thus, some pets are mainly kept
outdoors while others enjoy the safe accommodations of indoor living. Customers
are currently satisfying this need by the use of microchips. Even though
microchips have been used in the past to reunite families, SafeAgain stands out
with our unique satellite tracking system. Even though they are implanted
exactly the same way, they work in vastly different ways. With SafeAgain pets
will not have to be brought into a shelter or clinic in order for the owner to
be contacted; the user will automatically be able to track their pet with the
help of a smart phone and satellite signals, something that has never been seen
with any microchip. The collar that comes along with this product also helps
alert others that your pet is lost and is looking for their way home by
displaying flashing red lights.
This opportunity is very big and revolutionary to the
market. It is the first of its kind and could really make an impact in the
customers.
Innovation:
Thousands of pets end up in shelters every year, unsure of
how they ended up there or where their loved ones have gone. In many cases pets
have wandered off from home, nowhere to be found. This leaves owners with the
doubt of never seeing them again. The product I want to offer the public would
be the perfect solution for escape artists, lost pets and worried families. My
product will be a small GPS tracking system that can be implanted into animals,
right under the skin causing no harm or side effects. In today’s market the
only thing that comes close to this would be microchips, which is a miniature
grain-like device that is placed under the skin. These devices work by giving
the pet a unique 16 digit number within the chip, which can be scanned in
shelters/veterinary clinics, once scanned a staff member can contact the
microchip company and from there look up the owner's contact information. My
product, which goes by the name of “SafeAgain” will have distinctive
difference, for example; instead of a number assigned to your pet, you will
download the company’s app to your smart phone, after being downloaded a phone
will be linked to the tracking device via satellite. If a pet goes missing, the
user can send a signal to the device with the phone and capture a live-feed of
its current location. Along with the special chip comes a collar that will
flash red lights indicating that the pet is lost. This feature will help
indicate to strangers that the pet is in need of assistance and its owner is
looking for them. SafeAgain, which includes a GPS tracking system and special
collar, would be priced at $100.00. I would be selling SafeAgain to veterinary
offices and pet supply stores at a discounted price if they buy in bulk orders.
Venture Concept:
Customers would want to buy SafeAgain because there is
nothing in the market like it. It is safe for their pets and would not cause
any side effects. It is also reliable and fast and easy to use. It would be
hard to convince customers to start using SafeAgain because of the loyalty they
already have with their current system. Once, the product is out there and it
starts getting momentum the transition would not be as hard because of how
efficient the product is. The biggest competitor is the microchip. The
weaknesses microchips have are that it does not track your pet’s movement and
you cannot use it to locate your pet. Which is a big difference compared to
SafeAgain. The microchip only includes the chip and the code attached to it;
SafeAgain is more complex with its own specialty collar and app system.
The packaging, prices, distribution, customer support,
customer experience and business location does define my business concept. The
packaging has to appeal to the public and give out the right message about the
business and the product. The price is a big factor in people’s decision
process to buy something. Being a college student the price point would be high
for me but for the targeted customers it would be ideal. I have to consider I
good price point for everything the product is going to offer. Customer support
and customer experience is one of the main things people go off by. If someone
is unhappy with the service they would in turn tell three people and the
company would get a set reputation compared to someone that like their
experience would only tell one. The company would strive to meet all of
customer’s questions and concerns to the best of its ability. That’s not to say
the company is not going to have negative comment, it cannot please everyone. I
would organize a different part of the business to handle everything that is
customer support and service. I would hire roughly 25 to 35 people to handle
anything from tech support to question and concerns.
I have received
positive feedback about my venture concept. While many have commented about the
price, I have brought the price down. Other comments include having the chip
implanted in their pet. Even though, I see how this could be alarming the
public should not worry about this procedure. This procedure would be the same
as a microchip implant. It is the same as the animal receiving a shot or
vaccine. A lot of comments have been positive and would like to see this idea
sometime in the near future.
I changed my
venture concept price based on the comments I have received. Overall, that is
the only thing I have changed. People really like the idea behind the venture
concept and I feel I have incorporated an innovative design to meet their
needs.
