Venture Concept No. 2

My Venture Concept:

Opportunity:

• What is the need?
• The need is for a better litter box.

• Who has the need?
• My potential customers are cat owners.

• What is the nature of the need?
• The cat owners need an easier way to manage cat litter boxes.

 This opportunity has always been around, but forces that cause it to grow in size for two major reasons:

• The Baby Boomers are at or reaching retirement age.
• As they age, their capabilities of certain tasks decline.
•  The Millennials are reaching the time in their lives where they typically are starting a family.
• They possibly have young children running around and/or more than one type of pet living in their homes.

 My Market: 

• Demographically
• Baby Boomers - specifically the elderly who are cat owners.
• Millennials - parents of children under the age of 4; cat owners that also own a dog.

• Geographically
• Florida/Arizona - elderly retirees tend to reside here; a dog is typically too much work, but cats are just right for them.
• Suburbs - families with multiple pets and young children are typical finds in these regions.
• Cities - newly established families with infants and toddlers start out by living in these regions.

 My potential customers are currently satisfying their needs by:

• suffering through back pain while their litter box is on the floor
• placing the litter box on the counter

My potential customers are not loyal to what they use now; as a cat owner, I have no idea what brand the litter box I use now is. Cat owners are loyal to food and the brand of litter, not the box.

• How big is this opportunity?
• This opportunity is large because the market includes two major portions of the population, Baby Boomers and Millennials.

• How long will the "window of opportunity" be open?
• This "window" will be open for an infinite amount of time, or until another company takes on this opportunity. Cats have nine lives, they will be around for a long time.

Innovation: 

My innovation is The Purrfect Litter Box.

• What is it?
• It is an elevated litter box, standing approximately three feet above the ground. 

• What does it do?
• It provides a place for cats to defecate. 

•  How does it work?
• The cat will jump onto a shelf on the side and then to the top, in which is where the litter box is located.

The elevated part of The Purrfect Litter Box is one of the features, along with: 

• Mobility - the litter box is built into the top of a cart and is on wheels.
• Storage - the cart has two shelves that can be used as storage.
• Safety - all four wheels have locks.
• Easy Access - there is a carpeted and removable shelf on the side of the top shelf for the cat to jump on before jumping to the top of the cart.

  The Purrfect Litter Box

 The price, based upon materials and labor, will approximately be:

$59.99

Venture Concept:

 My innovation, The Purrfect Litter Box, will solve the opportunity that I have identified by:

• making it easier for the elderly to clean the litter box - no bending.
• preventing infants and toddlers from getting into the litter box.
• preventing dogs from getting into the litter box. 

• Why will customers buy my product?
• Elderly cat owners will want to prevent any further back pain that regular litter boxes cause.
• New parents want to make sure that their children are safe; including the prevention of exposure to cat litter and its contents.
• Cat owners that also own dogs are willing to buy new products to ensure that their dog will not get into the litter

Customers are willing to switch to my product because of the features it offers that their current litter box does not.

With great advertising, getting customers to switch will be easy; 

cat owners  do not have emotional connections or brand loyalty to their litter boxes.

 My Competitors:

• Brands include:
• Martha Stewart Pets
• Nature's Miracle
• etc.

•  Their possible weaknesses include:
• lack of significant innovation
• insignificant advertising

  

My Business Concept:

• The concept of my business is to distribute by selling online and in stores.
• I will form a contract with a pet store chain, such as Petsmart.
• The regular price will be $59.99, but I will offer promotions occasionally, such as 2 for $99.99. 
• The packaging will be vibrant and the product will need some minor assembly.
• My product will have online customer support, not face-to-face interactions.
• Headquarters (at first) : Gainesville, FL.

Organization of my Business: 

• My company, The Donnelly Clan Co., will be producing products, starting with The Purrfect Litter Box. 

• In the beginning, my business will produce the product in Astatula, FL.
• My brother will be head of production and has room to store the products.

 

Astatula, FL

• I will manage my own website in the beginning from my apartment in Gainesville, FL.

• My business will have only two employees at first - my brother and I.

• Once profits are coming in, I will expand. I will partner with a production company and they will create the product in bulk. 

• The product in bulk will ship to an office that I will rent in Gainesville, FL.

•   This office is for preparation for distribution and customer support. I will have 12 employees
• 6 - distribution to stores
• 2 - customer support
• 1 - website up-keep
• 3 - processing and handling

Additional Information:

My Unfair Advantage:

• I am majoring in advertising; my knowledge of marketing and advertising is how I can make my product different from competitors - better advertising and visual appeal.

My Next Venture:

• The next product I have in line is closely related to The Purrfect Litter Box. It is a litter box that has a hood over it. It will be easy access and comfortable for cats, as well. It can be stand alone, but it will also be able to fit perfectly in place of the litter box of my current product.

 What's Next for me?

• In five years, I see myself as an assistant creative executive for a major advertising agency in Boston, MA.
•  I plan to still be with my company, The Donnelly Clan Co., but not full-time.
• Producing new products from time to time.
• Headquarters: Gainesville, FL.

•  In ten years, I see myself as a creative executive - same company.
• I will continue to be a part of my company on the side.
• Consistently producing new products.
• Headquarters: Boston, MA.

 

Boston, MA

 

 

 

I will be honest and say that I did not receive any negative feedback, only positive. The only part that could maybe be considered as almost negative was that the price might be a bit high ($69.99), but would work with great advertising. Other than that, my feedback included how my venture concept was well-organized and easy on the eyes. Also, my organization skills that I put into this can come into good use when it comes to a business. 

 

I changed my venture concept in a few minor ways. Even though it is till temporary until I get legitimate estimates, I lowered the price of the product from $69.99 to $59.99. Also, I changed my headquarters from Orlando, FL to Boston, MA in the 10-year scenario; I plan to live in Massachusetts and would prefer my business to be more local. I changed the number of employees during the startup. It was initially 6 and now it will be 12. If I want my business to be a success, I have to think of it as a quickly growing business; after the ball starts rolling, my company will have 12 employees. In addition, I did add a couple more photographs to add more visual appeal. Otherwise, I liked how I set up my venture concept in the first version and saw no need to change anything else. 

 

And what kind of company would I be if I did not show you the star of our first product? 

Our Spokescat - Maia