Assignment 29A: Venture Concept No. 2

 "BIKE LOVER - WARM COVER"

Opportunity:

In countries where the winters are cold, exist an unmet need in regard to heat bicycle seats. People who ride the bicycle for example to get to university or to their job, have the problem that the bike seat is usually very cold during that season. It is also striking that there is a lot of rain and snow during the winter so that the bicycle seat is often wet as well. Especially women are afraid of getting a bladder infection. For Women in age of 15 to 39 the probability of getting a bladder infection at min. once a year is about 15.2%.
Covers for the bike seat are already existing to protect the bike-rider from getting wet. A lot of people are using those covers. But there is no comparable cover existing that can prevent people from getting cold, when sitting on the cold bike seat because the normal seat covers can’t be heated.
A lot of people are riding the bike because it is a possibility to save time, especially in big cities it is hard to be on time during the peak hours because of massive traffic and crowded public transportation systems. Furthermore riding the bike is becoming more popular due to rising environmental awareness which is caused by the climate change. This is why the possibility of heating a bike seat is a big opportunity to meet the people’s unmet need of a warm bottom during cold seasons. This “window of opportunity” will be open until cold seasons won’t exist anymore or another entrepreneur will solve this need.

But also in countries where it is getting quite warm for example during the summer, exist a similar unmet need in regard to cooling bicycle seats. The bike seat can become very hot during that season and sometimes it is nearly impossible to sit on a hot bike seat. This is why the possibility of cooling a bike seat is also an opportunity.

Innovation:

My innovation is simple but very effective and efficient. I will invent different types of heatable bicycle seat covers. The first product will be one that contains a heatable pillow that the customer can warm up in the microwave. Afterwards they just have to pull the cover over the seat and when riding the bike, people will feel warm and comfortable. Additionally to that there will be other types of heatable covers, for example seats that can be heated by the energy generated by riding the bike. There will be a wire that connects the pedals with the seat and which will transmit the energy. Furthermore people can order heated hand grips to keep the hands warm and the customer will be able to choose between different patterns for the seat cover and the hand grips. This leads to individuality and recognizability. The price for the heatable seat cover will depend on the type of cover and also on the pattern which will be chosen. The cover that contains the heatable pillow will cost as the basic model about $15. When choosing special patterns this will lead to a price by about $20 to $25. The other option (wire that connects pedals with seat) will cost about $60 because it needs to be installed by a bike workshop employee. The hand grips will cost the customer about $10.

The second main innovation will be a seat cover that contains something like an ice pack, but made out of soft material, so that it will be still comfortable to sit on the bike seat.

Venture Concept:

My Idea is to sell heated bicycle seat covers, because people riding the bike during especially cold seasons often get ill. Mostly women suffer from getting a bladder infection, but also men prefer to sit on a warm bicycle seat to reduce the risk of getting sick. The heatable bicycle seat cover will help to prevent people from getting ill or feel uncomfortable and will help to keep their bottom warm. People take care of their health and want to protect it. They are annoyed by riding the bike on a cold seat. That is why they will spend money to solve those problems, it will create a high value and they will just have to spend a small amount of money compared to the value that can be created. Furthermore the heatable seat cover will have a long lasting lifetime so that it will be a small investment for the customer compared to the useable time of the cover.
Competitors will be those companies that already sell bike seat covers which protect the bike rider from getting wet due to a wet seat. It will be quite easy for them to implement an extension of their product. Their weakness will be that they will enter the market after I have already entered it. Furthermore it could be useful to patent this innovation in order to minimize competition. This will give me an advantage to reach a huge target group and to build up a loyal customer base.
It is very important to be fair with the price I will offer. If it is too high, the value that could be created for the customer will shrink and they will prefer to freeze instead of investing for a comfortable riding experience. The seat covers can be sold in every bike repair station or accessories shop and also mainly via the internet. It is important to create a positive buying experience for the customer and to focus on the main advantages – protection of health and individuality through different patterns. Cross-Selling can be offered by the heatable hand grips.
At the beginning I won’t need any employees, I can produce the basic seat covers and hand grips on my own and can sell them to the customer via the internet. When the demand for the seat covers is rising, I can think about expanding my business for example with offering cooling seat covers during the summer.

Three Minor Elements:

I think my “unfair advantage” is that I will offer a product that can be easily designed individually for each customer. This creates a high value for the customer without having high increasing costs because the production process will remain the same. With offering different versions of the product, it will be quite diverse and will provide an all-purpose applicability.

An expanding exploitation of the opportunity will be to offer the second option as well as more different patterns and at least cooling seat covers for the hot summer season.

After the launch with focusing on the next five to ten years, I would love to satisfy other unmet needs especially concerning bike issues, but also exploiting other opportunities with reference to the protection of our environment. This will be possible when making more people feel comfortable with ride the bike instead of driving the car for example.

Feedback Summary:

• The idea for heated seat covers could be successful
• It is good to diversify the seat covers by using different patterns
• Good concept 
• Concept enables a good look at my product
• Create more expansions with having a view on my competition
• Not only focus on a heating seat cover when describing the opportunity, but also add a short paragraph for the opportunity of cooling seat covers
• Sign up a contract for a patent on the invention

What I have changed:

• I have added the opportunity of cooling bike seat covers for the hot summer seasons
• I want to try to patent the invention to minimize competition
• I tried to include the thought of an expansion by offering cooling seat covers