25A What's Next?

Existing Market

What I Think is Next for the Venture:

I think the next step for the venture is improving the features and make it offer more than just daily goals. I think a reward system needs to be implemented in order to really drive people to want to complete the goals rather just “to be healthy”. Maybe get local sponsors to provide rewards if the users achieve certain milestones by certain amounts of time. If universities are offering this to their students, maybe help the universities create an incentive to get students to really work hard to compete their goals on the app. For example, if a student completes a milestone by a certain period time, they can maybe get a gift card for the bookstore or a free t-shirt. By having this reward system, it creates an extra level of motivation.

After describing my business concept, I asked three random college freshmen the following questions:

·        What should we be doing that we aren’t planning to do?

·        As a consumer, what other features would you like to see with this product?

·        In what ways could we improve our current ideas/goals?

·        What factors of this market do you think we are missing/not considering?

·        In your opinion, is this a good product to sell to universities to provide to their students? Why or why not?

·        Are there any resources that the market might want that we should add to improve the product?

·        Do you think having the “goals” feature would motivate people to want to make sure they are maintain a healthy lifestyle?

·        From a consumer standpoint, in what ways can this product “grow” in the future?

Interview #1:

Interviewee #1 provided the following feedback:

·        Allow the users to have milestone steps and user set goals rather than auto generated ones in order to improve the feeling of accomplishment.

·        Include a section in which people can connect with friends and share certain tracked items.

·        It is a good idea to sell this to universities because it gives them a better idea on how to help their students.

·        Help lines for when people are in distress due to mental issues

·        In order to grow, become widely used in businesses as well to increase the well being of employees and student interns.

Interview #2:

Interviewee #2 provided the following feedback:

·        In addition to the necessary aspects that someone needs to track, include aspects about social life and well-being. A section about friendships and relationships would be really helpful to help get the most out of social life.

·        When it comes to the resources available, categorize them per section. For example, include healthy eating habits in the diet section and fitness regimens in the fitness section.

·        Provide additional information about each section to stress the importance about each aspect and why tracking progress is important.

·        The product should definitely stress the importance of organization in the time management section.

·        Include incentives to motivate students to reach their goals.

·        In order to grow, build on each category. Perhaps add subsections to each category to become more specific.

Interview #3:

Interviewee #3 provided the following feedback:

·        Implement reward system for successes

·        Provide options to see lists of “healthy” foods or gyms within a certain mile radius.

·        Make sure you focus on the motivation aspect of things because sometimes “goals” is just not enough.

·        Teach people how to access options to maintain healthier lifestyles. Rather than just saying “exercise”, provide a list of activities to do in different settings

·        In order to “grow” makes sure to provide rewards as incentives.

Reflection:

After receiving and reflecting on my interview feedback, I have found that my venture concept can be greatly improved. All three had different points and different ideas on how to grow this produce. Based on all of these different ideas I can determine the “what’s next” step.

Like with my thoughts about it earlier, the interviewees stressed the importance of having a reward system. I think they are right when they said it would add an extra layer of motivation. Some people may find satisfaction with completing a goal. Others, it may take a reward in order to accomplish their goals. The ultimate mission of this product is to help people and I think incentives may help with this mission. After hearing it from the interviewees and how they see its importance, I am more confident in the reward system idea.

I also like the idea of focusing more on the social aspect and having the “friends” feature. In two different interviews, the interviewees stressed the importance of socialization and what better way to promote that with a share with friends section. Being able to share their results on social media may make the users more proud of their accomplishments and gives them something to talk about with others. Overall, I also have confidence in this feature.

New Market

My current target market is young adults who are freshmen in college. A radically different market that may be good with this product is the retiree market. Retiring is a major step in someone’s life. It is not as stressful as living on your own for the first time. However, when someone first retirees, their lives are very different. They are out of the workforce and have a lot more down time on their hands. This can possibly lead to changes in lifestyle that may not always be beneficial for a retiree’s health. It is for this reason that I believe that this product could see some success in this market.

After presenting them my venture concept and opportunity, I asked two local retirees the following questions:

·        In your opinion, are retirees experiencing a need of needing a way to track how well they are maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

·        Within the retiree market, is there any particular group or segment that you think the product could be beneficial to?

·        Within this retiree market, are there any specific resources that people are currently using or looking for to help with this need?

·        Which features of the product would be beneficial to the retiree market?

·        Which features of the product would not be beneficial to the retiree market?

·        In your opinion, what kind of features can be added to the current product to be successful within the retiree market?

·        Are there any other recommendations that you would like to add for us moving forward?

Interview #1:

Interviewee #1 provided the following feedback:

·        Retirees are somewhat experiencing this need. Being retired is a far less structured daily life. Some retirees could use a little help with being more productive.

·        It can also be helpful to the retirees who are less disciplined.

·        Currently, the retirees are constantly searching diet apps and suggestions.

·        Many retirees are already experts on living an independent life. Some of the less disciplined could find value in this product due to diet concerns or money management.

·        The most important features to add for this market would include money management, calendar for checkups, and inspirational tools to find happiness on your own.

Interview #2:

Interviewee #2 provided the following feedback:

·        The retiree is experiencing a similar need. As you get older, more health issues “pop-up” and people need to be more aware of what they can do to be healthy.

·        Since we all come from different backgrounds, some are more disciplined with keeping up with their health at an old age.

·        Those who are lazy and need to exercise or watch their diet would benefit the most. However, it is important to remember that everyone is different in what they want to do and how they want to do it.

·        Many services exist now. There are many age 65+ gyms available for the elderly.

·        Services that would benefit this group would be information on healthier food items and access to doctors.

·        It is important to remember that with technology, retirees may not be able to read the screen or know how to work the technology. Being able to print things might be helpful.

·        Moving forward it is recommended to categorize things and allow users to pick and choose which aspects to focus on.

·        A point system might be motivational.

Reflection:

After going these interviews, I have learned a lot about this new market. I found what would work for this target group and what would not. I also gained a better idea on the needs of this new target group. This information can help me paint a better picture on whether this market is as attractive as my current one.

What surprised me the most was the needs and features that the retiree market would need. Both interviewees stressed the importance of having information on better food options for this market, which would already be included due to the existing market. However, the features that I did not think of were money management tools and access to doctors. For that age group it makes a lot sense due to the different circumstances of the need versus a college student’s needs.

Although there is some demand, I did not take into account some other aspects. The retirees would have already been independent most of their lives and many would not find value in this technology. While some may still use it, I fear majority would not need something like it. Overall, I feel like my assumption is wrong and it is not as attractive as my existing market. This does not mean that there is not potential, but it does mean that a lot of changes would have to be made in order to fit the needs of this other market.