29A – Venture Concept No. 2

OpportunityA prominent issue in today's society is texting and driving. Now smartphones are becoming more distracting with all of the available social media, notification and apps. Many car accidents happen because someone was using their mobile phone. It can cause death as well if someone is not paying attention to the road and their surroundings. The forces that create this issue are smartphones. Smartphones are becoming more and more appealing because of of these cool updates, while people believe they can multitask when driving. The market is defined demographically. The ages range is 16-35 years old, people who have a smartphone and use it all the time, male and female. Customers are satisfying their need by turning the notifications off, putting the phone away or having someone else text or use the phone instead of them. People continue to text at stop lights, text in traffic, text while driving, change music and/or use it for maps. I've interviewed possible customers and they do not always use their solution. This opportunity is big because not many agree with Apple's new disable notifications while driving feature. I know people who have turned it off because they did not like it. I think this window of opportunity will be open until a person creates a solution people will actually enjoy. I haven't seen an effective app or feature that reduces texting and driving.


InnovationThis is an app for smartphones that will reduce phone usage while driving because it gives incentives to the user. The user has access to change music without changing the screen, receives points for not using their phone, a map for navigating and the ability to notify people when you are near/arrive at the destination. The longer the person does not use their phone or change screens, the more points a person gets. Points increase the longer the user stays off the phone. The incentives/rewards are free Starbucks, Duncan Donuts, Chipotle, et cetera. If not free, than discounts and coupons that people (16-35 y/o) enjoy. For example, 200 points would be one free Starbucks drink. Businesses that I partner get advertisement because customers would see the products available and obtain more business. The app costs 99 cents. This would make sure there were no advertisements to distract the driver. The only time an advertisement would show up would be when the customer is using their points to choose the reward.

Venture ConceptCustomers would switch to this product because it is cheap, they pay once and they gain rewards that are more than 99 cents. It would difficult to switch because no one wants to pay for something they are not sure they'll 100% love.To solve this, I offer a free trial for a week. The competitor is Apple's in app feature that has a do not disturb while driving. However, this can be turned off by users. There aren't many popular alternatives or competitors. Packaging, distribution and business location do not play a role in defining my business concept. However, customer support and experience play a big role because if a customer is having an issue, it needs to be fixed immediately. It is an app. If an app has bugs, people will not use it. This would not require a large employee base because it is an app. I would need a person to design/create the app, a coupe customer support employees and people to promote the app on college campuses, where I believe in the beginning is where I would gain most customers.

Important ResourceThe most important resource is my connection to the target customer: 19-24 year olds. Once I perfect my app, I can have my friends do a test run before I charge people. As they test it they can give me information on what they would change, add and fix until it is perfect to sell in the smartphone app store. Not many competitors would have access to their specific customers and be able to get feedback. Networking one of the greatest assets. 

Next Opportunity
The next (ad)venture for me would be working on my photography portfolio and gain business there as a side job/hobby.


Next Five Years
In the next five years, I would like to work for an in-house pr agency. I want to try a large non-profit and a popular company to see different sides of the industry. I love people and interacting with people. I like to expand brands and make changes for the better. This first venture helped serve a good cause: keeping people off their phone and focused on the road ahead.

Feedback & Change 
In the feedback for my first venture concept, it was all positive and many people liked the fact that I offer a free trial for the app. Many saw the passion I have for the app, but I do not think I would keep this until my dying days, but I would stick with it for a while. Also, people I have talked to discussed that the length of the free trial should be longer or it should be free until the user earns enough points to gain a reward. I liked that idea. However, when I talked about it with a few possible customers, they didn't enjoy it because they hate when apps do that and they are not warned. However, when I suggested that I say the app is free until the earn the first reward then they pay the 99 cents for the entire app. I had to put it in perspective and the possible customers liked the idea more. There are still small kinks to work out like the free trial situation and then being able to gain partners to be the rewards for the app, but many people like the idea. With the feedback I have received,I am changing the trial time (a person must purchase to receive their first reward), I will make it clear in the app how the trial time works, and continue to ask the customers what they want and need for this app. 

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