Gravity Lights as a Business Concept - Essay Example

Heading: Business Concept Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date 1. The Business Concept: The problem and solution In both developing and developed countries, energy is one of the main problems that these countries must face. The common source of energy for industries is commercial power mains. Other common sources of power includes solar and wind, some developed countries use nuclear energy. All these energy sources are expensive, solar and winds are relatively cheaper. Energy is used in all households to provide light and power for electrical appliances. Since commercial power is expensive and installed only in residential places. If there is a power outage due to failure of a transformer, or torrential rain and other forms of disasters, an entire town or estate can go without power; this significantly affects the life of the residents. In some cases, solar and wind energy may be ruled out because it takes time to construct and relatively expensive considering that this process is only temporary. More so, in camping sites, batteries and rechargeable light sources are commonly used; this is a major disadvantage because it means dependence of distance energy source for recharge, more so carrying batteries and torches to camping sites is a burden (Blyth, 2009, p.123). As a result, it is clear that there is need for a much cheaper and simple to use form of light which can be used in occasions explained. Gravity Lights is the chosen business concept because it solves the identified problems and hence commercially viable. Gravity lights work by using gravity as a source of energy. In essence, the user only attaches a weight for a few seconds and the device produces light for up to 30 minutes. Gravity Lights can be used when power outage occurs, it can be used for camping, it is good for people who prefer to save energy, it is by far cheaper than solar energy and wind energy, it only cost less than $20, considering that it only uses gravity, no batteries are required as it is the case in other alternatives like solar and wind, and it is also friendlier to the nature. 2. Business Opportunity Assessment 2.1. Market, customer, and industry The target customer demographic ranges, the main target for this particular product is people interested in saving the cost of camping activities through eliminating the cost of lights, the other target groups is the customer base interested in maintaining emergency source of light in the event of a disaster that demands other forms of light. People who also need to save energy is another potential target customers as they will purchase this form of new energy that does not use batteries or electricity (Blyth, 2009, p.124). As evident, it is clear that the market for this product is available and can thus be exploited. Since the energy sector is the driver of any economy, new forms of energy are always welcomed. This particular product is creative; it fundamentally provides energy for a unique client base. This is important because it focuses on the market gap available in the energy sector. It also has advantages over other products service the same purpose in this sector. By focusing on weaknesses of similar products in the industry such as expense, flexibility and requirements that should accompany the products as well as the effectiveness of the product as compared to other similar products, this product has a clear and distinct market focus in its industry (Blyth, 2009, p.124). 2.2. Product and its uniqueness The product chosen is viable; in essence it is creative and by far much cheaper as compared to similar products available in the market. Gravity Lights are easy to carry to camping sites; they are easy to light considering that it does not demand batteries and other accessories as compared to solar and wind sources of light. Gravity Lights is uniquely helpful for people who are in camps because of the time it takes to start the light. By using only a small weight for a few seconds, the light emitted can last for more than 30 minutes. This is one of its useful functionality, other common sources of cheap light such as the solar take more than 30 minutes to be charged before being used to light the house. Another disadvantage is its dependency on batteries, if the batteries are of poor quality; it means that the light may not last for long. More so, solar energy fully depend on the weather, it demands some form of light and hence a major disadvantage if the weather is not favorable (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2012, p. 306). Similarly wind energy demands a windy place; this means that it cannot be situated in any location, more so its installation also consumes time and hence limiting its usefulness in the event of a disaster or for people who are camping. 2.3. Organization and management team Teams that will focus on difference sections are needed in this venture, the financial handlers, the marketing team, the production team as well as strategic advisers. In order for the venture to be successful, all these key people will be of great importance as they will substantially contribute to the success of the venture. Their unique role will ensure that the venture is successfully executed. The financial handlers will handle the capital as well as source for capital from the key stakeholders. The marketing team will focus on way of marketing the product to the target market; they will also foresee the formation of strategic partners responsible for the distribution of the product to the target market. The production team is the heartbeat of the business venture since the quality of the product will determine its market feasibility as well as financers of the product. The production team will be mandated the responsibility of producing quality product. Strategic advisers will be responsible for evaluating and assessing the focus of the business as well as advising on strategic steps that the business should take in order to gain more competitive advantage (Vyge, 2012, p.232). 2.4. Evaluation of the business concept 2.4.1. Risk involved There are a number of risks involved in every new product in the market. This product also has its own challenges and risks. The risk of patents costs and government regulation considering that the product is new exist, the risk of market changes and economic downtime can also hinder the products market, the cost of mass production of the product is also a massive risk since it depends on the sale of the product to cover the cost of production, market uncertainty is also another risk. 2.4.2. How to mitigate the risks The cost of patents will be distributed to the key stakeholder in order to lower it, the government will also be involved as a guardian in the initiative, the potential of saving energy and creating employment will be the focus of encouraging government support by limiting costs. Expanding the market focus will reduce the potential risk of the economic downtime. More so, using different marketing and distribution channels will ensure that the product is sold despite the economic challenges. The cost of production will be distributed among the key stakeholders in order to reduce its cost. Market uncertainty will also be addressed by thorough customer focused marketing strategy. 3. Business strategy The first step of developing the business strategy is clearly formulating concise business vision, mission and objectives. The vision of the business initiative will be “to be the best and cheapest energy source providers in the world”. The mission of the business initiative is to provide viable alternative energy source. The objectives of the business initiative will be to: 1. Target unique customer base interested in alternative and cheap sources of energy for household use. 2. To provide light in environment where other sources of light are not available or expensive. In order to ensure that the business initiative is successful, important stakeholders will be required. This is essentially because of the cumulative cost that will be incurred in setting up the initiative. The target stakeholders will be interested partners such as friends and other people interested in the business idea. A clear and objective business report will be used to convince these stakeholders on the viability of the product (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2012, p. 306). Strategic partners will also be required in order to ensure that the product distribution is successful. Partnering with providers of camping caravans in Australia, owners of camping sites, sellers of emergency appliances and accessories will be of strategic importance in the dissemination of the product to the target market. This is because these partners deal directly with clients that may be directly interested in the product. Partnering with them will therefore set a good necessary for the product to attain its optimum pick in its product life cycle. Other distribution channels that will be exploited includes: direct distribution to the customers and through retailing at the manufacturing stores. According to Loudon, Stevens & Wrenn (2005, p.2) the initial market awareness approach will be initiated through online platforms; a company’s website will be designed, marketed through freely available tools such as Google analytics and blogs targeting the relevant market. Other useful tools such as Ad Choice and search engine rankings will be important are ensuring that the product awareness is achieved. References Blyth,J.(2009). Key Concepts in Marketing. New York, NY: SAGE. PP.123-142. Loudon, D.L, Stevens, R.E.,&  Wrenn, B.(2005). Marketing Management: Text and Cases. Melbourne: Routledge.PP. 2-6. Pride, W.M., Hughes, RJ., & Kapoor, JR.(2012). Foundations of Business. Sydney: Cengage Learning. pp.306-310. Vyge,J.(2012). The Dragons' Den Guide to Assessing Your Business Concept. Michigan: John Wiley & Sons. PP. 232. Read More