29A – Venture Concept No. 2

1) Provide, again, your venture concept description

Opportunity:

• Who has the need
• grocery stores/drink shops/stores that typically use single-use plastic bags/straws
• the nature of the need
• single-use plastic is being banned in more and more cities across the globe, and the present alternatives are not meeting consumer expectations so businesses must find solutions, or be forced to use the current paper alternatives that are leaving customers so dissatisfied.
• What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?
• The forces/changes are the lawmakers, local governments, and environmental activists who are pushing for a plastic-free planet as pollution due to plastic keeps rising. Also, just the overall climate change that the world is facing is partly due to the plastic industry which has angered many, and people are also disturbed to see the impact that single-use plastic has on ocean life and animals.
• How is this market defined geographically and demographically? 
• To narrow the market down geographically, I would say to limit it to the USA, although this is technically a global problem, and demographically I would place it upon food/drink stores that provide the end-users with the single use products.
• How are customers currently satisfying this need? And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?  
• Businesses are currently using paper products that have left end-users dissatisfied, or encouraged end-users to bring reusable items for a potential discount. Those who have developed a habit with reusable products are probably very loyal, but those who can't always remember them, or who are stuck using paper products are probably not loyal to what they are using. The businesses themselves are probably not set on being loyal to paper products as it is the only option as of now.
• How big is this opportunity?
• I would say this opportunity is very large as it does reach a global scale.
• How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?
• I see this window of opportunity closing within the next 5 years as most consumers will probably settle for paper products or someone else will come out with a different alternative.

Innovation:

• what the product is
• The product consists of 2 single-use plastic replacements: the bio-straw and bio-bag.
• what the product does
• The bio straw and bio bag are single-use products that mimic the features of single-use plastic while being completely biodegradable. It does not disintegrate or melt like paper products do, and it doesn't harm the environment like plastic products do.
• how the product works
• The bags are made of organic compounds of which mimic the look and feel of plastic including the thinness and durability, and the straws are made of the same compounds which are safe to ingest and are flavorless.
• what is being sold and for how much
• The bio bag comes in packs of 50 for $2 and the bio straw comes in a pack of 100 for $2

Venture Concept:

• What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch
• The reasons customers would switch to the bio bag and bio straw are either that their local legislation has just banned single-use plastic, or the ban has been in place and the end-users are dissatisfied with the not so great paper replacements, putting pressure on the businesses providing it. I think for some end users it will be hard to get them to switch if they are already used to using reusable products in their daily routine, but for those who are faced with the ban and paper products, I think they will switch over with ease as they should see little to no change with their routine and these products. The businesses I think will be quick to switch to keep their customers satisfied if it proves to be more reliable than paper.
• Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?
• The competitors are those who produce reusable products, and those who produce paper products. The possible weakness for those who produce reusable products is that consumers may not want to invest in something they have to constantly remember to commit to using and maintaining, and they may not want to support reusable products if they were made in an unconventional way. The paper product competitors have the durability of their products as a weakness. End-users get dissatisfied when they can't drink their drink because the straw disintegrated or their paper grocery bags rip before they even get inside, and will look for alternatives to satisfy their needs, possibly looking for businesses who do not offer paper products.
• What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept? 
• I think packaging does not need to be fancy, just functional. It needs to be eco-friendly as well otherwise it defeats the purpose of the product. Price points I think are fair in comparison to competitors as the bio bag and bio straw are priced equally to the paper products. The distribution will play a large role as I feel it needs to start at local businesses to build its way up to a global scale. Customer support will also be a huge role as word of mouth and customer satisfaction will help build the trust and support the product needs to thrive. The customer experience falls with customer support as the customers will support the product if satisfied, and reject it if dissatisfied.
• How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?
• I see the business production being done in a manufacturing plant somewhere in the US, it does not necessarily need to be micromanaged by me, rather the plant will be given the steps on how to produce the products. As a startup, I could see at the most 10-15 employees (this could grow if the product really takes off). I would have employees focus on marketing to local businesses and consumers, employees who identify locations hit by the plastic ban, and employees overseeing the quality of the products. I would also try to have employees to be in charge of collecting customer feedback and establishing what is working well or failing.

3 minor elements

• What the most important resource will be
• The most important resource I would say would be the values and ambitions behind the bio bag and bio straw. The business is here to make an eco-friendly transition from plastic and wants to see a difference rather than just make money. Other businesses that attempt to copy may not be successful because they may be more money-hungry than focused on making a change.
• what's next for the venture
• I think the next opportunity to tackle would be to eliminate commonly used single-use plastic items (cups, silverware, plates). This targets the existing customers, as well as potential future customers as the customers and local businesses who support the bio bag and bio straw, may start to use these products.
• What's next for me - where will the company be in 5 years
• In five years I want to see this business create a new way of life, one without single-use plastic altogether. Whether it has created a ripple amongst other companies and these eco-friendly products are being produced by others as well, or the business has reached a global scale, I want to see a plastic-free world. 

2) Provide a summary of the feedback:

I didn't receive much feedback for this assignment, and the feedback I did receive emphasized how strong my post was. On the Whats Next assignment, I received similar positive feedback which just emphasized my ability to create such a product. I didnt have any negative feedback.

3) Describe how you changed your venture concept, based on what you learned from the feedback:

What I did end up changing was that I felt I needed to clarify exactly who the customer for the business would be, and who would be the ultimate end-user of the product. The businesses that need to adapt to the ban would be the actual customers for the Bio-Products, however, their need for the BioBag and BioStraw are driven by their end-users needs.

4) #SaveTheTurtles and I oop...