Assignment 19A: Idea Napkin No. 2

1) My name is Laura Franken, I am an exchange student from Germany and studying Business Administration for one semester at the UF. Before I have started to study, I did my apprenticeship in a German bank. During that time I realized that I am very ambitious and focused to reach my goals. I am good at listening to peoples’ concerns and problems. This helps me to identify their needs and help them to solve their issues. Further skills are that I am empathizing and open-minded towards others. I want to make daily life issues easier for people and want to offer them a solution for their needs. This is why I believe that my heated bicycle seat cover and additionally to that heated hand grips are one solution for satisfying a human need and the first step to start an own business.

2) The heated bicycle seat cover is a product that helps people riding the bike to keep their bottom warm during cold seasons. It is also a way to prevent getting a bladder infection because of a cold bicycle seat. A lot of people in Europe for example in the Netherlands or Germany ride the bike daily, even during the winter. This is an opportunity to meet their need of a warm bike seat. But also people in the US might have the same issue for example people riding the bike in Chicago or New York that is why it is also important to consider entering the American market. Additional to that I want to offer heated hand grips to protect against cold hands when riding the bike, because it is very uncomfortable for people to ride it with cold hands. It would be possible to meet two needs with one fundamental idea.

3) People who are riding the bicycle also during cold season. They often have to ride it because it is the only possibility to get for example to their job or to university. Most of the people save time when riding the bike. Especially in city where the traffic can be horrible e.g. in New York or Chicago. Potential customers often live in countries or cities where riding the bike is quite common and a kind of trend. Especially people living in Europe and America are potential customers, because a lot of people take the bike there. Furthermore the US has a population of about 321 million which represents a huge potential market. Women are also a main target group because they are often afraid of getting ill. Summary of key characteristics:
à People who are riding the bicycle

• Also ride during cold seasons
• Have to ride the bike
• Often students or employees
• Especially women who are afraid of getting ill 
• Riding the bike is a possibility to save time
• Countries and cities where riding the bike is common
• Countries where the traffic is horrible and difficult to manage with a limited time frame
• People often don’t have a warm location to park their bike

4) People often have no alternative to get to their job or to university. They take care of their health and want to protect it. There are annoyed by riding the bike on a cold bicycle seat during cold seasons. Furthermore they are bugged by cold hands, because it is very uncomfortable. People will spend money to solve those problems and it will create a high value for them and they will just have to spend a small amount of money to satisfy two needs with one small investment.

5) Currently there is no product like this existing. It would be a possibility to be first to enter the market, to exploit the customer’s potential and to generate relatively high profit margins. The heated bike seat cover and the heated hand grips will be a good suiting combination and will satisfy two needs. They will be complementary products which will support the sale of the products.

Evaluation:

I believe that these elements definitely fit together and I will be a good opportunity for starting the first business. The cost of production are quite low when offering a bicycle seat cover consisting of a grain pillow. But even when using other materials that are more flexible in their use, which have a longer service life and wherefore people won’t need a microwave to heat it up, it won’t be too cost intensive. I also believe that it is smart to offer the heated hand grips because they create an extra value for the potential customer.

‘Feedback Memo’:

The first aspect I took away from the feedback I received was to focus on other markets for example on the American market with big cities like New York and Chicago where people ride a lot of the bike as well. The second aspect is that I will definitely have to conduct more market research for the different markets. I also included an advice from another assignment, where someone suggested to offer heated hand grips. I love this idea and added it to this assignment.