Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity. An opportunity may be defined as a group of customers with unmet or under-met needs. When you describe the opportunity you have identified, you need to be sure to describe both (1) who has the need (i.e., who are the potential customers?) and (2) the nature of the need. Other questions you should address in this section:

(1)  Who has the need?  Commuters/drivers in the suburban area near the University of Central Florida

(2)  Limited availability of gas station/convenient store with an added service flair not seen in other local offerings

What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?  There is a limited number of gas stations or convenience stores located in the direct vicinity. 

How is this market defined geographically and demographically?  Population density is fairly defined, demographically speaking it is very diverse and has a good spread of age groups, from families to young college age students.

How are customers currently satisfying this need?  And how loyal are they to whatever they use now?  They are driving approximately 3+ miles to another gas station or store to fulfill their needs.

How big is this opportunity?  Not terribly big or very lucrative but definitely one that I deem necessary and so would many others.

How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?  Until the retail space or intersection is repurposed for a different use.

Innovation

My innovation is to take the existing gas station/convenience store model and change the layout as well as the way the products are dispensed and delivered.  The gas station is simply a place to fuel up and maybe buy a soft drink or chips and then move it along.  To further elaborate on the gas station, my idea incorporates changing the layout to one that is conducive to facilitating the flow of drivers without getting stuck behind anyone else.  We’re also providing an attendant who will pump the gas as well as take payment via tablet to prevent identity theft or other types of payment fraud.   

Venture Concept. A venture concept may be defined as the application of a specific innovation to address a specific opportunity. In this section, describe how your innovation will solve or address the opportunity you identified. You also want to explain why customers will buy your innovation. In describing the concept, you also want to be sure to cover issues such as:

·      What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch?  People are used to pumping their own gas while dealing with lines if attempting to gas up during peak times.  You also run into the possibility of getting stuck behind someone while gassing up without the space or maneuverability to be able to drive away.  My layout would make it so you would have someone gas up your vehicle, take payment, and have you drive away as the lanes are built diagonally and individually to allow the flow to not be impeded by parallel and inline positioning of the pumps. 

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?  Existing gas station companies.  Their weaknesses involve the lack of service as well as they are usually not the cleanest places.

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?  It plays a very big role and is the differentiating factor when considering buying gas or convenience items from someplace else.  We would be a great alternative as we are going to provide a faster way to gas up and a pleasant experience as well. 

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?  The business would be straightforward in selling gas and convenience items.  We would require 10 employees, mostly station concierges that assist with fueling. 

The three minor elements

I also want you to cover three final elements in your description. Your treatment of these questions can be relatively short. Please focus most of your time on the opportunity, innovation, concept descriptions above.

First, describe what you think your most important resource will be. You might call this your venture’s “secret sauce” or “unfair advantage.” Besides your actual innovative product, service, or process, what will you have that will make it hard for competitors to copy your success?

Our customer service would be the most important factor.  I think providing this in all of our gas stations would make us different and provide something other places don’t. 

Second, what’s next for the venture? Describe either the next opportunity you want to tackle with your current innovation, or describe the next new product, service, or process that may be aimed at your existing customers.

We would want to offer on site gas delivery/fuel up via delivery truck at your current location. 

Third, what’s next for you? Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture? Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does this first venture help you achieve your vision?

I would want to continue to expand and create additional locations as long as the original venture is profitable.  In the next 10 years I would want to be my own boss and continue to grow my business and possibly venture into other business concepts/models.  My original venture would provide the spring board to be able to start the other concepts that my team would come up with.