Techly Smart Accessories
· Opportunity:
o Unfortunately, crimes involving sexual assault/abductions are still trending at a significantly high rate. As a college student, I have been exposed to people who have been victims of these crimes and this has allowed me to gain some new perspective surrounding this issue and how we can potentially combat these crimes.
o According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, an estimated 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives. An estimated 19-27% of women report being sexually assaulted during their time on campus, in comparison to 6-8% of men.
o When looking at abduction rates within the United States, an estimated 800,000 children go missing every year, which averages out to about 2,000 child every single day that go missing. With how advanced technology that we currently have, it is very shocking to see rates for both of these crimes so high.
o The need is for everyone to feel safe and not have to fear that they will be victims of these crimes. Going in even further, consumers want peace-of-mind that if they were a victim of these crimes, they would have the greatest chance at the best outcome.
o The forces that allow these crimes to occur are increased response times due to a lack of knowledge of where the victims are. Often times, children are the victims of abduction crimes because they are harder to locate and these increased response times make these crimes more prevalent. In addition, sexual assault crimes are still trending at high rates because police response times are not as efficient as they could be as they are unsure of where the victims are. Being able to identify victim’s locations will quicken police response time and should result in a decline in both of these crimes. Until these forces are addressed, there will be a huge window of opportunity.
o Currently, there is no real solution on the market to addressing this need. Cell phones are often used to contact authorities in times of distress, however police are not able to adequately locate these victims since phone batteries are not as reliable and criminals make sure to dispose of cell phones quickly. This leaves people having to constantly look over their shoulders and try to pray that they are never victims to these crimes. I would say consumers are not loyal to current solutions because they are ineffective. If they were effective, the statistics for these crimes wouldn’t be that high.
o Potential Market: College students (more specifically female college students) and families would be the primary consumers to target. Female college students are often the target for sexual assault crimes so they would likely need this product to help reassure peace-of-mind and keep them safe. Families want to make sure that their kids are safe and that they definitely are not victims to these crimes.
· Innovation:
o My product is designed to function as a standard bracelet, necklace, or ring, but with one exception: these accessories contain a “panic” button that alerts authorities and emergency contacts with your live location. Another version of my product involves a microchip with similar functionalities that provides a more discrete and versatile option for personal protection.
o When the “panic” button is pressed, authorities and emergency contacts are alerted and are given the victim’s live location. This allows the authorities to locate victim’s faster and give them the greatest chance at the best outcome.
o Each version of my product would be priced slightly differently, however the overall price range I am targeting is $40-$100. This makes the product affordable for my target consumers and is also priced lower than any of my potential competitors.
· Venture Concept:
o Switch really isn’t applicable to my product since consumers do not currently have a working solution to the problem. Thus, the main focus will be introducing my product and explaining how it effectively addresses their needs.
o Competitors: Right now, there are very few competitors to my product. They haven’t been successful in marketing their products because none of the features of their product really address solving consumer’s needs. Having a pepper spray necklace or a necklace that shoots a high-pitch alarm doesn’t really do much to help deter criminals. I think that the fact that these crimes are at such high rates will give me more legitimacy in taking over the market share within the industry.
o Role: I think that pricing and customer experience will all play a role in defining my business concept. Since I am targeting college students and families, I have to make sure that my product is affordable and effective. Consumer experience will play a strong role in establishing the legitimacy and effectiveness of my product. Customer support will also play a role in ensuring that the product is performing at the highest level and that consumers are getting the best from my product.
· 3 Minor Elements:
o Most Important Resource: I would say that my firm’s secret sauce is the current network that I have at my disposal. Having a team of people with diversified skills will help contribute to the success of my product. Having experience operating my own successful business, I know what it takes to make it and having strong relationships with people in computer science/programming/engineering will help ensure that my product has the best technology available to ensure a high-quality product.
o Next Opportunity: My next opportunity would actually be creating a prototype for the product. Utilizing the current technology that is available, I do not think it will be that difficult to create a working prototype. Creating a working model of the product will allow me to further test and refine my product to give consumers the best version possible.
o What’s next for me: I want to be very successful with this product idea and I think it will help kick-start my career in entrepreneurship. My vision is that I will be able to develop and create products that are aimed at solving significant problems that we face in society today. My next venture will likely be related to solving environmental issues that the world is currently facing as that is something that I can see making a major difference in the world.
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