24A Venture Concept No. 1

         James and co- Hurricane protection at an affordable rate!

Opportunity- Residents of South Florida in Broward County have this need. They are my target market segment. Hurricane season is impactful each year in South Florida and everyone knows how important it is to prepare the exterior of their homes. I believe I have many people that are my potential customers whether they live in a house or apartment. Demographically speaking, my customers come from a variety of backgrounds and differ greatly in age. The nature of the need is urgent and somewhat hidden. We are still in the midst of the Corona Virus pandemic that began in March. Countless Americans have been laid off and are facing tight budgets. Thousands of people are still being affected and that is the only thing we hear on the daily news. Due to the whole country being preoccupied with the virus, I believe many people are forgetting that hurricane season is beginning. I think people will seek my service instead of competitors because of my extremely low prices. People will be looking to save as much money as possible. There are already some tropical storms forming in the ocean so I definitely think it is time for people to start preparing. Customers will satisfy this need by enlisting the help of services like mine to install their hurricane shutters. As previously stated in earlier assignments, this is only something my friends and I do when home for the summer each year. Therefore, the "window of opportunity" will be open for roughly three months.

Innovation- My innovation is a creative service that may be applied in the marketplace to address customer needs of protection and saving money. My innovation is hurricane shutter installations. My customers provide my crew with the shutters and we put them on each window of the home. This ensures maximum safety from dangerous hurricanes. There are different types of shutters but my employees are experienced with all of them. Homes with 7 or less windows will be charged $125. Homes with 8-15 windows will be charged $150. If the home is two stories, an additional $25 will be added to the total. Competitors usually charge anywhere from $300-500 for hurricane shutter installations. There is no doubt that putting up shutters is grueling work. However, I think the prices some people are charge are very unreasonable. As a result, I think many customers will seek out my service upon hearing my prices. I envision making a lot of money from this venture because I believe everyone will be trying to save money.

Venture Concept- The venture concept write-up guide defined one as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. The main innovation my service incorporates is low prices and the opportunity for people to save as much money as possible. This pandemic has put countless people on a tight budget and I understand that. That is why the prices I am offering are so low. People want to be well-protected from hurricanes and will be more than willing to pay for it. On top of my attractive prices, customers will buy my innovation because my team has more than 5 years of experience. We do our jobs efficiently and effectively. Additionally, we are all South Florida natives. We understand how chaotic hurricane season can be and have experienced them firsthand each year. This will help us relate with our customers, form a real connection and ensure them that they are in good hands. I do not think it will be hard to get customers to switch contractors for this service because of the price they usually pay. I am offering the same service for more than half off what they normally pay. There are many competitors and their main weaknesses are not having enough employees and over-charging their customers. Essentially, I am saying that they "rip-off" their customers. The location is set in stone since I live in South Florida in a big county called Broward. My pricing plays a huge role in defining my business concept. We also send our customers a survey to rate the service upon completion of the job. I currently have 12 employees and that is more than enough. We are able to split up and work on multiple houses at once. I am the main communicator, set up the appointments and assign the crews to the homes.

The three minor elements- I think my most important resource will be my unbeatable low prices. This is my venture's "secret sauce" or "unfair advantage". Besides my actual innovative service, I have authentic employees who are born and raised in South Florida. This gives us firsthand expertise on top of our 5 years of experience installing shutters. This will make it hard for competitors to copy my success. The next step for the venture is potentially launching a shutter removal service. This is difficult though because all of employees are college students and sometimes go back to school before hurricane season is over. However, I definitely see a need for this service because my customers know that my prices will be the best. In five years, I want to be one of the most sought after people for hurricane shutter installations in the summer. I do not anticipate on this being my main focus or job. This is only something I would participate in on the side each hurricane season. This is exactly how I have been operating for the last 5 years. I am still a college student and have bigger aspirations. Lastly, I do not have any desire to be an entrepreneur in the next decade. All in all, I think I will continue to grow my business each year and attract more customers. I want to help as many people in Broward County stay safe and save money.