25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

For my venture, the only thing to do going forward is to maximize the outreach for the product. Based on my interviews, I have deducted that the biggest gap in customers appears when comparing customers who have thought about buying the product and customers who actually purchase the product. This means that, going forward, I must focus on getting customers to actually purchase the product. I would shift my focus to informing customers about the marginal benefit of my product instead of imply letting them know it exists.

I will do this by using more detail in my explanations or in potential elevator pitches. When communicating with the customer, I will emphasize the product's ability to provide consumers with their biggest need. In this case, the biggest need for the consumer is safety. Going forward, I will deal with the college student market segment by giving them a brief on how the HSK saves student from potential harm or life-threatening events.

New Market

The new market I will target will be elderly residents, who may understand the devastation of Hurricanes, or the safety of the product, but will have a major need in the convenience category.

In order to target the elderly, I would need to create a super simple interface when users try to purchase the product. It needs to be as easy as any other online-shopping outlet. Elderly people are not the best with technology and the only way I can sell to anyone elderly who is not local is through an online marketplace. In addition to changing the user interface, I would have to shift my focus of marketing.

This time around, I would need to sell how convenient the product is. Before, with the college student market segment, I would push things like how reliable the batteries and emergency supplies are, and how much those supplies would come in handy during an emergency. However, for the elderly, I would need to focus on how much time it saves them. Through interviews with some elderly folk, I learned that it takes a lot for them to get up and drive to the store. With my marketing, I would push things like how easy it is to purchase the HSK, or how they would never need to leave their home to install shutters or buy canned goods. Overall, if I can pull this off, the elderly market segment may reach a potential of sales near the number of my main market segment.