Existing Market
Step 1: Talk about what you
think is what's next. You may rely on your analyses from "The Amazon
Whisperer" exercise (when you discussed what product you thought might
come next.)
Step 2: Interview three
customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them
what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your
business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning
to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next.
Video or audio record these interviews.
Based on feedback, and in order to remain competitive, I think placing compatible chargers for electric vehicles in stations that people can park their cars for 45 minutes to an hour and have the ability to stretch their legs and grab a snack or something to drink would be a natural extension of the existing concept.
With Tesla officially revealing the Model 3 and with the amount of buzz and hype this has generated, coupled with the fact that Chevrolet will be bringing to market their fully electric vehicle, the Bolt, this will create a market for a new type of charging station, in conjunction with the existing fossil fuel based filling station model that is currently in existence.
It would be silly to ignore the burgeoning market of electric vehicles and how they are eventually going to surpass and supplant gas and diesel powered vehicles in the long term. It would be a prudent move to get a head start on this type of locale and experiment with layout, customer needs and wants and the all too necessary requirement of what to occupy commuters time whilst waiting for their vehicles to charge.
The current transactional based process of paying for gas and driving off is an established and ingrained behavior for vehicle drivers and the switch to electric power and charging will require a paradigm shift for everyone. Currently there are publicly funded free charging stations as well as charge per session stations located throughout the U.S. They are located usually in parking lots and garages. I haven't seen a dedicated locale with multiple stations where you can park your electric vehicle and then stop in and get a snack or beverage and chat or watch the news or enjoy the free wifi. This would be a pretty neat setup and the next logical step for my concept.
New Market
Step 1: Identify a radically
different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're
currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're
currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very
poor part of society.
Step 2: Once you have
identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture
concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have
to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!
Step 3: Interview three
people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your
concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet
customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do
they think you should make to be successful in this new market? Video or audio
record these interviews.
Step 4: Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what
you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of
your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought,
appear to be as attractive as your existing market?
Currently I am strictly targeting the daily driver who requires fuel in order to commute to school or work. This requires the driver to locate the gas station when their vehicle requires fuel, they have to like the price and ultimately the stations cannot be too full or they will drive off and go to a different filling station. The radically different alternative is to target the consumer who drives and deliver gas to where they are located, that way they do not have to go to the gas station to fill up their gas tank. This would be a really cool alternative for places of employment that sees people commuting from communities and towns that are approximately 20-35 miles away or longer.
Instead of having to take time away from your day and plan accordingly, you can simply book an appointment with the fuel truck and they come and deliver the gas to you, saving you a trip and time spent gassing up. This is not a new concept but one that is not widely seen in consumer markets. There are a few companies, mostly out west in WA and CA that provide this service and are looking forward to expanding as more people adopt this new type of fuel delivery.
7 comments:
Ruben, I am interested in your business model of changing up the typical gas station experience, but how much more will it cost to get gas when you include the cost of attendants and such? I also think creating more comfortable charging stations for electric cars that are like gas stations with the option for snacks and waiting is a neat idea, and will definitely become more demanded as more and more people purchase electric cars. However, I only see one interview with potential customers and we were supposed to have six, that’s why I didn’t complete the assignment, I would be interested to see what your potential customers think of this.
Ruben, I like your idea! I favor electric vehicles for environmental reasons, too, and stations that would allow individuals to charge their cars while they sit back and relax for a few minutes sounds great. However, I think you should make sure that it doesn’t already exist because even though there are a lack of them it is possible that they already exist. I did not complete the assignment but we both want to deliver a sort of service to our customers. I want to deliver groceries and products and you want to provide them with charging stations, all for the convenience of the customer. I suggest you come up with different pricing and see where it would be best to feature your idea first. Good luck!
Good morning Ruben, You are certainly taking advantage of a coming change. I'm 40 years old so I'm not sure if I'll still be an active driver when electric vehicles overtake gasoline but no doubt it will happen. Or perhaps some new tech we aren't even thinking about will come into play. I do wonder where capital will come from for these stations. It seems like this is a very expensive undertaking. I know that wasn't a question for the assignment, just something I'm thinking about. I think the question of what else you could do with the real estate would be a very important one since you'd need to squeeze as much revenue out of it as possible. Good luck.
There should definitely be more electric chargers for cars and other electric equipment. Since we live in a society where we use so many things for electricity 'entertainment, traveling, information, emergency', there should be a emphasis on charging them. I personally want to drive an electric car but the lack of electric chargers around make me hesitate and wonder, 'will I be stranded on the road, etc.'. Definitely if there are more chargers on the way on the road that would be great.
Hey Ruben,
I was having a little trouble following along with what you were writing in regards to the videos. You were talking about electric cars in the beginning and then started to talk about a portable gas service. Perhaps, you can be a little more clear in your post in the future about what your venture and how you transitioned to the radical idea. On the other hand, I completely agree with the charging stations and that that is a huge opportunity in the future. Keep up the good work.
Hello Ruben,
I can't really understand the videos, but based on what i could grasp i can say that i think that you are taking advantage on something that is changing and very open to innovation, as well as taking advantage of our ever changing technology geared future. To finish off i would really like to mention that the layout of your blog is the best i've seen yet, i am considering changing mine to one that is similar and less monotone. If you would like to see my exit strategy, you can view it in this link- http://ent3003img.blogspot.com
Hi Ruben,
I like your idea of having charging stations for electrical cars. How would a person pay to use one of the electrical car charging stations? I agree with Zachary that it was a bit confusing when you first talked about electrical cars then changed it to a portable gas service. I think the more electrical cars that are on the road the more important this business will become. Here is a link to my blog
http://eastonmcginty.blogspot.com
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