Part 1: Original Venture Concept
Opportunity
Need: Someone wants to exercise but is unable or doesn’t
want to go to a park or fitness center due to many potential factors (e.g.
transportation or personal preference). The product/service I am providing is a
home exercise solution: a plyo jump box bundled with common home exercise
apparatus. Virtual personal coaching, access to discussion boards, and access
to more videos are other potential revenue streams.
Who has the need:
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Rural citizens that do not have access to a park
or fitness center nearby.
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People who do not have transportation to get to
a park or fitness center to exercise.
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People who otherwise do not go to a park or
fitness center for other reasons such as personal preference (e.g. privacy),
busy schedule, cost of membership/training sessions, conflict w/work, energy
levels, and operating hours. For example, someone’s shift ends at 2am, no gyms
open. Person gets most energy at 2am, no gyms open.
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People who need guidance and structure to
exercise but are otherwise motivated to exercise. Do not need physical
one-on-one support.
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People who get overwhelmed by all of the
available information on fitness and who need someone reputable to guide them.
Who does not have the need:
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People who enjoy exercising in a park or fitness
center and who are able to.
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People that need physical one-on-one support.
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People who are unable to do bodyweight
exercises.
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People who live rurally but commute to a more
urban area where there are parks and fitness centers (and they choose to go to
those locations).
I’ve noticed that people would prefer to stay at home when
doing certain activities such as watching movies. This translates into
preferring not to go to the gym to exercise. People also question the benefits
to cost of going to a gym since there are other methods for exercising.
There is a trend of people moving to exurbs rather than
living directly in an urban area. I’m included in that demographic; I moved
from Orlando to a more rural part of Ocala. This means that there are more
limited, if any, options to go to a park or fitness center.
My market is defined geographically by infrastructure. More
rural environments with limited or no selection of parks and fitness centers or
environments where there aren’t many transportation options would be good for
my idea. Urban markets would be too competitive with local public gyms, even
if there were more potential customers due to population density.
Customers are currently satisfying the need of exercise by
either pushing it aside, getting occasional exercise at a park or fitness
center, or by doing workouts at home through YouTube and/or with friends. The
most loyal of the bunch would be those who are proactive and watch YouTube
videos, it has limited cost. You already pay for internet, the only added cost
would be equipment.
I think the opportunity is large enough that someone could
help a lot of people and make enough profit to sustain the company for several
years.
The window of opportunity will be open most likely until the
next economic downturn. People won’t be focused on exercising; they’d be
distracted with other urgent things. Even then, exercise is a great stress
reliever so perhaps it’d have the opposite effect.
Innovation
The innovation would be the bundling, the storage function,
and the subscription model for the online resources. The bundling simply
provides value by giving people everything they need to get started without
having to scavenge through stores for each individual apparatus as they want
it. The storage function is most important for those who need to save space,
such as those who live in apartments or mobile homes. The online resources are
for added value. Virtual personal coaching would be cheaper than physical
one-on-one sessions, the discussion board would have certified professionals
answer questions and start discussion, and more exercise demonstration videos
help better engage the customer.
The plyo jump box bundle would be sold for $99.99. Another
revenue stream would be a subscription for virtual personal coaching, access to
discussion boards, and access to more videos. There would be different tiers
for different levels of access, such as $10/month for one item, $15/month for
two, and $20/month for three.
Venture Concept
Customers would switch because the product would allow them
to get more exercise in their daily lives by accommodating to their current
limitations and personal preferences. The online resources would allow them to
get qualified information and guidance for their fitness journey.
Competitors would be other plyo jump box and apparatus
manufacturers. Their weaknesses come from their lack of bundling. There is a
product available that is similar to mine that is $400, probably because of the
novelty of it.
Form function is important because of the storage component
of the product. The price point would be important for certain individuals
(e.g. busy college students that live off-campus). I’d try to do direct selling
online. Customer support in the form of virtual coaching and discussion boards
would be integral to adding more value.
I think my business would have 5-10 employees:
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I focus more on the vision, perspective, and
passion. I would work with my team to figure out how to best carry out the
business to get towards our vision.
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Someone to deal with supply chain management.
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Someone to deal with marketing.
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I’d have a couple of personal trainers that do
the virtual coaching, male and female. They’d also do the exercise videos so
that there’s a sense of continuity. The person you’d watch for exercise form
would also be the one to guide you if needed!
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I’d have a couple of people manning the
discussion boards. Perhaps personal trainers/physical therapists/kinesiologists
in the making.
My secret sauce is my vision, perspective, and passion. I
also think that the discussion board would be unique, since many people simply
sell home exercise programs and maybe personal guidance but not other ways to
engage the customer community.
What’s next for the venture is community events to come
together.
What’s next for me is continuing to empower individuals
whether through exercise, consulting, mentoring, tutoring, etc.
Part 2: Feedback
I got mainly positive feedback on my first venture concept.
I was told to think of something else to add to my secret sauce.
For my What’s Next, people suggested sticking with the existing
rural market as selling to an urban market would be a tough sell because of the
competition of public gyms.
Part 3: Changes
Bold statements in the venture concept are changes. I added why
I wasn’t going to urban markets due to competition. I also added the discussion
board as a secret sauce.
