25A- What's Next?

Existing Market
1. What's next
Within my current market, I believe that what comes next is more products that aim at reducing the use of harmful materials and replacing them with more sustainable, environmentally friendly material. I hope to start moving from straws to cups or reusable grocery bags, and stray away from plastic and aim at producing these with recycled or organic material.

2. Interviews (Called people)

1. The first interview was my roommate Carson who is a college sophomore female and moderately participated in environmentally friendly practices. When I asked Carson, she said that she believed a really good step for my venture would be to improve the designs of the reusable, retractable rubber straw that I currently have on the market. In other words, Carson says that she would love to see the same straw in a different design, and maybe made of a different material that is more similar to plastic. She also recommends creating straws with flashy designs such as sparkles or animal prints in order to attract a wider crowd. When asked about my ideas, she believes that although it is a good idea, she thinks I may be moving too fast and should probably stick with stabilizing the straw sales and enhancing this product before moving on to a new one.
2. The second interview was my sister who is a junior in college and cares a lot about the environment but has never owned any sort of reusable straw. When asked, Victoria said that she believes I should also seek feedback from customers about the straw and try to modify the straw according to the feedback received. She believes that there is no better way to enhance a product than by fixing where it went wrong. With regard to the other question, Victoria believes that after this is done, we should work towards creating other products that focus on materials that are completely sustainable and organics. She thinks if we have a wide portfolio of products that are made in a sustainable fashion, this will attract more people.
3. Finally, I interviewed my good friend Kam who is a college sophomore and is very keen on using products that are good for the environment. She also owns a couple of rubber straws herself. Kam believes that we should start looking into making plastic-free cups as a compliment to the straws. Since she uses a reusable cup every day for her coffee, she sees this as a great way to increase straw sales and introduce a new product to the business. Next, she thinks that my idea of starting to introduce new products is great. She acknowledges the importance of widening my portfolio and sees a huge window of opportunity in regard to selling products that support the planet.

3. Reflection

After sitting down and reflecting, I think that I have a clear vision of how it is that I want to expand within my current market. Although I thought there were mixed feelings about where I should take my venture, I have decided to take various suggestions into consideration. By applying all of their suggestions, I believe that I will ultimately be able to attract more people from my current market. Ultimately, I think that a combination of modifying my existing product and later venturing into a new product will help attract a greater amount of people within my existing market, thus increasing profits.

What makes the most sense is to first seek feedback on the straws from multiple customers who purchased the product. By using this feedback, I will be able to enhance the straw and make it better and more attractive to a greater amount of people within my market. This will create a wider reach and once people see how good the product is and how it keeps getting better, they will want to purchase more of my products. Then, I will begin to move towards new products such as reusable cups that are also made from recycled and organic material. This would come as a complement to the straw and then make more people want to buy both products.

New Market

1. What's next

I decided that instead of targeting college females, I will shift towards a market that consists of adults, of either gender, who are between the ages of 45-50. These adults will be primarily of politically conservative views, differing completely from my current market. In order to attract these people, I will begin to create reusable grocery bags and lunchboxes.

2. How will it create value

I know that my new reusable grocery bags and lunchboxes will be very attractive to this new market. First of all, a lot of the people who are between these ages tend to do a lot of grocery shopping, so I know that the bags will be of great use. Also, the lunchboxes could be used for work to keep food hot or cold, and that is very attractive to this target market. People of my previous market do not use lunchboxes so it would not be a success, but I know people of this age would make better use of them. 

3. Interviews (Called people)

1. I first interviewed my mom who falls perfectly within this market. She believes that offering reusable grocery bags will be a great complement to the straws. She sees people like her who go to the grocery store a lot being able to use the bag on a daily basis. As far as the lunchbox goes, she says she would use one if she had one. She brings lunch to work every single day, and it is never in a lunch box. She uses a Lululemon bag, but it does not keep the food hot. Having a lunchbox that does this would be very good for her. As far as adaptations, she believes that the reusable grocery store bags that I make should definitely be insulated. They should be able to keep groceries cold if need be, just like the lunchbox. She recommends using the same exact design on both and sees the product as way more attractive this way.
2. I then interviewed my neighbor who is also within the same market segment that I am hoping to reach. My neighbor is a stay at home mom but has two kids. The lunchboxes she sends her kids to school with usually get the job done, but they do not keep their food hot. The kids generally complain about it, so she says that if I offered lunchboxes for children that did keep food hot then she would definitely invest in some. As far as the grocery bags, she does groceries many times a week, and loves reusable bags. Again, she also recommended having ones that kept groceries cold or hot if necessary, and that would make it much more attractive.

4. Reflection

Overall, I can say without a doubt that this new market is completely different from the market I am used to serving. This market has a different lifestyle than my current one, and that comes with different priorities and responsibilities that all ultimately help decide what these people will invest their money in. For starters, this market who has kids may not be so inclined to spending money on trivial things like my products. Instead, they may be focused on buying things for their kids and family stuff. Also, political views differ immensely, and it is hard to please everyone.

What surprised me the most was how different priorities are in this market. Obviously, I knew they would be different from my current target market, but this is a complete 180. My expectations were correct when I figured that this market would make very good use of the reusable grocery bags and the lunchboxes. Upon reflection, I realize that this market definitely is not as attractive as my previous one. Since I am far in age, it is difficult for me to truly understand this market and be able to accommodate to all of their needs. I would much rather work with my current market because I understand it very well.