Assignment 25A - What's Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: What I think is next

• For my next venture, I see myself developing this product to its fullest capacity and then selling it to someone so I have time to start a new venture. I would like to continue on with the idea of helping students with their mental health. I would love to establish an online chat room that would serve as a place for students to vent about their struggles with school, receive advice from their peers, and also give advice and encouragement. It would be a positive platform that could hopefully curb the negative effects social media is having on students in recent years. My market would still be college students, but it wouldn't just be limited to first years, it could be open to all levels, undergraduate and graduate students. 

Step 2: Interviews

• For my interviews, I took advantage of the LLC I am living in and interviewed three freshmen who were studying in the Beaty Commons. I interviewed them separately so to not discredit their answers but I asked them all the same questions. 
• For the first interview, she said that she liked my idea and hadn't heard anything like it before. When I asked, what should I be doing or focusing on more she said that she is an aspiring marketing major and said that I should mention more on my plans for advertising and that I should consider making a logo for my business so that it increases its recognizability among universities. I then told her of what my plans were next and she said that the idea is nice but that the idea of the chat room kind of seems dated and I should find another platform to market it. 
• Next, for the second interview, I explained my idea and she said that personally she would not have taken my class but she knows of a lot of friends who would have greatly benefited from taking it. When I asked what should I be doing or focusing on more she said that I didn't mention anything about a help center for the universities who adopt my curriculum. she said that in its first couple of years, that there will be a lot of unexpected problems. So I should have something set up to help with them. I thought that this was a really good point that hadn't been brought up.  I then told her of what my plans were next and she also said that the chat room idea could be cool once I market it but the new generation of students have more experience with the newer side of social media and that I could appeal to more students with less work by using a different platform.
• Finally, for the last interview, I explained my idea to the student and he said that he is in the process of right now trying to figure some of the things out that my business venture covers. When I asked what should I be doing or focusing on more, he said that it seems like something a lot of girls would be willing and outwardly take but that guys would have a harder time admitting they need help, so to make sure I advertise it as gender-neutral as possible to reach all the students I can. I then told him of what my plans were next and he said that he wouldn't feel comfortable posting about his problems online if people knew who he was, he said that if there was a way people could choose to be anonymous, it would make it more appealing to people. 

Step 3: Reflection

For the future of my product, after speaking with the three individuals, I have realized that there is never a point where you should stop asking and looking for new ideas. Before these interviews, I had thought I had considered everything I needed, but I was wrong. Each individual in my existing market had a new perspective and suggestion for me to change/improve moving forwards. 

For my product, what makes the most sense is focusing on the outward appearance and presentation of it. I need to invest time and energy into making the logo for my business. This will help with brand recognition and help with marketing and brand awareness. I would hire a graphic designer to make the logo for me because I am not skilled in that department. 

Finally, for my new venture, I believe that changing my original idea of a chat room to a new platform like a blog, which is increasing in popularity, would resonate more with my target audience of college students in general. Making this change is one that will help me market my new chat room more and seem more approachable than I believe a chat room would. 

After all three interviews and my knowledge up until this point, I am confident in the two changes I have listed above in regards to the marketing and changing the platform from the chat room to the blog style. 

New Market 

Step 1: Identifying a New Market

• A new market that I haven't identified was younger kids. In this day and age, kids are using technology at a younger and younger age, so they are exposed to the dangers of social media, whether the parents are aware of it or not. I have not previously interviewed kids aged middle school or younger, mainly because of inconvenience, I do not live near any middle school aged students where I can easily ask them information and gather data. 

Step 2: Interviews

• Since I do not live near any middle/elementary school aged kids. I had to do my "interviews" with them over facetime. 
• The first interview was with my cousin who is in elementary school, I asked him which social media he was on and he said he watches a lot of youtube videos and has a snapchat account. I asked if he had been exposed to any bullying or bad things on social media and he said he doesn't watch the bad stuff but people say bad words and some people bully people in some of the online games he plays in. But he said he had never personally been subjected to it. I asked if he would like to talk about it, he said that he would if it didn't feel "like professional". He didn't want it to feel forced or like he had to talk, a natural conversation. 
• The second interview was with my bffs little sister who is in middle school. She told me she is on every social media except twitter, so she has seen a lot of cyberbullying and body shaming and stuff like that because she is a girl. She said in her opinion it is worse for girls because they like to compare themselves. I told her about my blog idea and she said she would like it if people were real, she said social media is full of fake people and it could only be good if the people on there were being honest and open. 

Step 3: Reflection

After talking to these kids I identified to be in my new market, I realized how much of a problem this is for everyone, no matter the age. I had a preconceived idea that the kids wouldn't be able to answer my questions or understand the concept I was talking about but both of them understood, which surprised me and also saddened me. Because when I was their age, social media was not this huge problem/prevalent part of my life so I wasn't exposed to some things these kids are at such a young age. 

This new market is as attractive as my existing market because there are a lot more kids in elementary and middle school, meaning more consumers from a business perspective. But also, they come with their own problems like age and how we direct it to the specific age groups. But the one thing I am sure of now is that they are an untapped market for my idea and even though the approach would have to be different, I believe the benefits would be very apparent.