This week, I will be putting more pieces of the entrepreneurial puzzle together. This is my "idea napkin." It is where I will be jotting down thoughts on potential strengths and weaknesses and trying to be as objective as possible.
First, I will look at myself. I am a junior in college, and I don't have any experience starting a business. However, I have had some previous exposure to startups that succeeded, and a few that didn't. I can take things away from both of those by learning what to do and what to avoid. One of my strengths is working with people. That has always been a passion of mine. From competing in high school forensics, working with elementary age students, and teaching high school debate, I have always enjoyed being around people. This particular business endeavor I would see being a large part of my life, while still allowing me to have a full time job to provide for my family.
Next, I will briefly examine the product. I am considering a retractable phone charger. Think of a mechanism similar to that in a measuring tape. You can extend it for quite a ways, then lock it once you have enough length in the cable.
For the target market, I would be offering it to anyone with a cell phone. I would probably start with an apple charger, but I would quickly put other chargers on the market as well.
So why would customers care about this product? Of the 10 people I have interviewed so far, 9 have said they would be willing to pay for longer cord length when they purchase their phone. I know several people that have bought a longer cord, and they all love it. However, most of them complain that the extra length gets cumbersome from time to time and can be in the way. This is what would set my product apart from others: you would be able to adjust the length as you need it. Sometimes, you only need a foot or two to charge your phone. Other times, it would be very convenient to have 5 feet of cable. This product would give my customers the best of both worlds.
The challenge we would have is demonstrating our product. People will know if their charger is inconvenient or bothersome. However, the challenge we will have is showing people how our product works. I believe that if people saw it, they would be very excited about it, and the product would succeed. However, it would take some creative marketing to get the word out. Overall, I believe there is good potential in the product, but it would take time and a lot of effort to make it work.
I love the idea of a retractable phone charger. I often find that my charger doesn't reach a length that I need, especially when I'm not home and have to charge my phone in an unknown location. I really like how you've formulated your idea. Check mine out here- http://mudine.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html
ReplyDeleteI especially like the idea of the retractable chord, seeing as rolling the charging cords up tend to fray or tarnish the cord substantially over time. I'd also ask you maybe to consider stronger cords? A longer, stronger charge cord would be IDEAL as both a consumer and person critiquing your idea. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHere's mine:http://coffeemumbles.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no1.html
Hey Ryan, I really enjoyed reading your post and your idea is quite interesting, however, I feel like this product is already out on the market. Nevertheless, it is something I can see myself buying. Your interviewees were also right when they told you longer cords than the usual will be great. If you’re serious you should expand on this opportunity. Our ideas are very different but still check out my post whenever you can:
ReplyDeletehttp://jamalbrown4.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html