Opportunity
The opportunity
that I’ve have discovered brings two ideas into one major idea to remedy a huge
problem a majority of the college population face at some point in their
college careers. As college students, we are forced to live in apartments and
houses that we can’t simply afford by ourselves; instead everyone, even
incoming students, will find themselves rooming up with random roommates to
help lessen the total expenditure on housing. The potential customers will
include college students throughout the nation. Whether they are second and
third year students or incoming freshman, the website will be used by the
students, apartment complexes, and college dorm administration groups to help
sort through the millions of students that enroll every year. Another potential
customer base could be students who have moved to big cities to start their
career and can’t afford the expensive living arrangements in the big cities. This
opportunity presented itself when I ran into the exact situation last year. I
had to move from one place to another and it happened last minute; most of the
people I knew in Gainesville had found other places to live in with other
people and I was left to look for my next roommates on craigslist. Scrolling
through the pages of craigslist, I found out many people have the same issue I
did. The environment that helps keep this opportunity going is the constant
change we students go through every year and the incoming students the colleges
get every year. The market is defined to areas around college campuses, mainly
apartment complexes and communities built for the students themselves.
Demographically, the market is defined by the college student. Most students
who are attending have to stick to a budget and this forces them to find places
outside of campus living and a little farther away. Mainly students from a
middle or low class demographic will find themselves in this market. Customers
are satisfying their need mainly through word of mouth and their connections.
Most students now will start the hunt for roommates before the Spring semester
starts in order to secure the people they want to live with and the place they
have in mind. Those that are left will jump to craigslist or let whatever
apartment complex they’re moving into pick the next roommate they’ll live with.
When it comes to loyalty, I find it hard to believe these students will be
loyal to the craigslist method of finding roommates, but the best option still
falls on the word of mouth or connections route; students will want to stick to
this route the most since they already know the other person and have seen the
potential to become roommates. I have a strong belief that this opportunity is
huge. Implementing this idea throughout college campuses throughout the nation
and the constant influx of new students, will keep this venture concept in its’
prime. Considering the constant changes new and current students go through
every year with their housing opportunities, I believe this window of
opportunity will be open for quite a while.
Innovation
My innovation
brings the ability of “matchmaking” to the roommate search we endeavor as
college students. I plan to develop a website where one can find their perfect
roommate by answering some questions about themselves and looking over other
student profiles to room up together. The surveys and profiles will depict all
the interests, like and dislikes, ratings and possible background checks that
one can use to select their perfect roommate. The website will start by having
the customer create an account, provide an email, and specify the location they
wish to move to or that they’re a part of. Once they’ve provided this
information, the next step is the questionnaires. These questionnaires will be
designed to pinpoint the likes and dislikes of the individual answering them to
find the common ground they will have with other individuals. These questionnaires
will have about 40 to 50 questions; therefore, we can get a good sense of the
what the profile should be for that individual. Once the questions have been
answered, the website will produce results with your best matches to other
individuals. At this stage, you can browse the individual’s profiles and find
out more of what they like and dislike. What sort of arrangement they want in
the new lease whether its half a year, a couple months, or a few years. This list
will be provided in order for the individual to see the potential that has been
uncovered. Once the individual chooses another individual to be their potential
roommate, they have the opportunity to see that individuals email or message
them through the website but they have to pay at this point. A $15 fee will be
assessed if the individual wants to send them a message or get their email
information in order to send them their contact information. The $15 fee allows
the user to make contact with 3 other individuals; if they want to contact
another few individuals, they would have to pay another $15 fee. Another phase
of this process will allow the customer to get a background check on a
potential roommate before matching with them but at their cost. This background
check will have a $10 fee per individual.
Venture Concept
Through this
venture concept, I will help solve the constant hassle of finding a roommate
you ACTUALLY want to live with and bring a stop to random roommates. This website
will help bring two individuals with the same interest into contact to
potentially live together without the fear of living with someone you despise.
I believe customers will buy this into this innovation because this is a huge problem
that students deal with and if they find themselves with the wrong roommates,
it can create an overabundance of stress and anxiety. Customers will switch to
this product easily because the alternative options include meeting people the
day you move in with no knowledge of what kind of person they are. My website
helps them find individuals they will most likely grow fond of. There really aren’t
many competitors since the only other methods of finding roommates is through
word of mouth, craigslist, and the random selection some apartment complexes
do. I’m a strong
believer in customer satisfaction and support; making them happy will always be
my first priority. My price points will fluctuate a little bit depending on
what seems fit at the time or until I find the right price to suit the needs of
the customer and my company’s. I would organize my business through different
roles in the team. Obviously someone would be in charge of the research and development
and constructing teams of the website. There will also be a strong customer
support and satisfaction team that will only focus on benefiting the customer.
Lastly, I will find the right group of marketing experts to help research the
potential markets that haven’t been touched or enhancing the existing methods
for the same market.
·
The most
important resource I have is the intellectual resource my business will
develop. Through the intellectual resource, my business will develop better
software every time so no competitor can really substitute us. This will also
help bring customer satisfaction to higher levels since our constant innovation
of the software relies on their feedback.
·
The next
opportunity for this business will be to bring the same methods to property
owners that want to find tenants suitable enough to lease or rent their
properties to. This website will give the property owners the ability to match
with the tenants they want without dealing with the hassle of property damage
and other issues that can rise from random tenant signees.
·
In
five years, I would like to still be a part of this business venture. This business
venture has a huge open window to progress and keep being innovative with the
constant inflow of college students. As an entrepreneur, I can see myself looking
for new opportunities close to the same field this first venture was. The
experience gained from this can help grow another opportunity quicker.
