Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

·      I believe that an opportunity for my product is available for parents who have young children and firearms

·      I believe there is an especially large opportunity at this moment thanks to all of the recent school shootings and protests about guns

·     Currently, customers are satisfying this need with regular gun locks that can sometimes be bypassed by children or are not unlockable by all of the adults who should be able to have access to the guns. I do not think that customers are very loyal to any of the gun locks they are currently using. They only use them because they are the only ones available on the market at this time.

·     This opportunity is relatively large thanks to the large number guns present here in the United States.

·      I believe that the window of opportunity is at its peak right now but that it will be open for much longer. The recent shooting has really affected many people and there have been countless walkouts and protests that have taken place. I think that this shooting was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ and that serious reform will need to come.

Innovation

·     The product I was planning on selling is a gunlock that unlocks with a verbal password rather than with a key, pin, or fingerprint. I believe that this would not be considered radically innovative but rater incrementally innovative. My lock would essentially function the same as all of the other locks currently available. The only difference is that in order to unlock it, one must say a short verbal password rather than using a fingerprint or a key. This would improve upon previous designs because now children will not be able to unlock the gun if they accidentally find the key for the lock. It also will allow multiple adults to have access to the gun unlike the fingerprint scanner which limits the use of the gun to a single person. In a sense, my gun lock combines the positive aspects of each of the alternative options on the market without any of the negative aspects. I am more than sure that customers will willingly switch from their current locks if I am able to offer my locks at a price that is similar to the other locks currently on the market.  I am not currently sure of an exact price but I believe that I will be able to sell my gun locks for nearly the same price as the other alternatives currently available on the market.

Venture Concept

·      I believe that customers will switch from their current locks to mine for one simple reason: my locks are better. As I said earlier, my locks would essentially take all of the positive aspects of both the fingerprint gun locks and the key gun locks without including any of the negative aspects. I see no reason why they would choose to continue using their current locks when mine becomes available. 

·     The competitors would be the companies that currently make gun locks. The main weaknesses I can see within these companies is that my lock would offer many more advantages than their products currently do. This makes them rather vulnerable to my product when it enters the market. 

·     There are many other variables that I will need to take in to account. Packaging will not be much of an issue for my product since it does not require any special packaging and since it can be kept at any temperature. Distribution will not be much of a problem either because my locks will just be distributed to stores that sell guns and products relating to them. I do not believe that there will be much of a need for customer support for my product. If there are any issues with using my lock (setup or changing passwords) it can easily be done through the internet or through a phone call. Business location would not be much of a problem either I can set up my business pretty much anywhere. 

·     In designing a business for my product, I would not have a need for many employees. The main part of my business would be making and then distributing the gun locks to the stores. I would also only need a few employees to run customer service.

Most Important Resource

·      I believe that my most important resource would be my connections with people who are already in the industry I am trying to enter. Having connections is so important in business, especially when someone is trying to start a new business from essentially nothing. Having connections in the market I am planning to enter will undoubtedly be my most important resource (at least in the early stages of my business).

What’s next for the Venture?

·      I believe that my venture really only has one purpose. I think that it can continue to sell gun locks even after this period of paranoia has ended. The only thing I could see my business doing other than gun locks is other gun related products once the brand has established itself. 

What’s Next for You?

·     If my business launched and it was successful, then I think I would pursue it for a couple of years. Ideally, I would like to move on from this business within the next five years. This would be a great learning experience for me but I do not not see myself doing this my entire life.