Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Venture Concept No. 2- Rachel Mead

Opportunity
I saw an opportunity to help students who need to make money while also maintaining high grades by paying them to study. This is when I came up with idea “Study Money”. My opportunity is targeted toward students who also need to work. What has created this environment includes the increasing competition to get into graduate schools and also the rising cost to apply and attend those programs. The geography for this market is mainly universities. The demographics will mostly be made up of students who need money as well as anyone who is qualified to be a part of our staff. Customers are currently struggling to keep their grades up and making money by sacrificing time to one or the other. Whichever is more of a priority to the individual will receive more attention while the other option suffers. Currently, there are no resources that I know of in which students can get around this so they are very loyal to this way of living. As of now, students have to sacrifice time to focus it all on school and working with little down time so they are dedicated to this system. I think this opportunity is definitely a game changer. I believe that at least 70% of the student population would try my program and 100% will benefit. Some students I have spoken to believe that studying is not something students should get paid for because is it a part of what we need to do for our education. However, I think if this business were available to them, it would do no harm and only help them. Ultimately, this opportunity will be open until a business such as mine is created. Until then, this opportunity will always be available.
Innovation
            “Study Money” will be a service that provides students the opportunity to get paid for studying. Students will sign in to my facility and just begin studying. They will be paid $5 for every hour spent studying and an extra $10 for every A they earn on the exam or project they were studying for or working on. If students need to use computers, they will either use computers that we provide so that we can monitor the sites they go on or be on wifi with restrictions. Only sites related to school application will be allowed to ensure students aren’t taking advantage of our program. Only sites related to school application will be allowed. Not only are the students able to make money, but staff will be paid as well. Even one of our suppliers has offered to employ some of our most promising students or staff members in his workplace. This particular employer works at a bank and can provide future opportunities to students and staff in different areas of his business. This truly is a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Venture Concept
            My innovation will solve the issue that students face to keep high grades and make money at the same time. Customers will be interested in this innovation because there are currently no other programs that offer both of these features. Customers won’t even need to switch to this program because it will be the first of its kind. Students will have no trouble using this program. There are no competitors at the moment, however we are prepared to face some in the future and have plans on how to succeed continuously with or without competitors. Competitors will have lack of originality and it will be hard to keep up with this business because we will constantly be improving our system and methods. The most defining feature of my business is the means for funding. Everything else will neatly come together. The funding will be supported by scholarships, grants, and investors. In order to organize this business to exceed expectations, we will focus on marketing, seeking investors, and allowing learning opportunities for employees. The venture will consist of the role of the student, staff, and funders. There is no need for distribution, as there will be a facility in which students can go to in order to participate in this service. We are confident we can combine these elements to create an effective business.
Resources, Future for the Venture, Future for Me
            My most important resource will be the demand of students who need high grades as well as money. This program meets two of the most important needs that students have. Competitors will have a hard time replicating my business because we will be the most original and are open to customer concerns and suggestions. We will get first hand feedback and be able to make any modifications necessary to ensure we are meeting the needs of students. To make this program more advanced, we would like to offer scholarship opportunities. I believe this will give students even more incentive and motivation. In five years, I think this program would drastically decrease the amount of local competition amongst students and allow easier access to the things they’re truly interested in. I see myself a much more insightful business owner and better prepared to face my other aspirations. I think this adventure would make me more knowledgeable in running my own veterinary practice one day.  In a decade, this business will provide me credibility that I am capable of running my own business and be innovative. I think this will help me be more objective and be better able to criticism and suggestions as well. It will be easier to recognize what makes a business more or less successful.
Comments
       The comments I received on the last venture concept were pretty supportive and encouraging. They gave me confidence that I could make this business happen as long as I stay organized and make sure I have proper funding. Some people even offered their own ideas on how to incorporate my business into existing ones! Overall, the comments were helpful.
Edits
Not much has changed from the last venture, I simply added a few more things that I thought would make my venture a little more specific. The comments didn't have any major suggestions other than the ideas mentioned above so the venture concept is pretty much the same. 

3 comments:

  1. Hey Rachel,

    I think this is an awesome idea! I plan ahead for the month based on when exams are scheduled and this allows me to have specific days to work and specific days to study. I would love to have the opportunity to continue earning an income on the days where I spend all of my time studying. You mentioned funding would come in the form of scholarships, grants, and investors. My question is, in terms of the investors, how will this venture generate revenue for investors to get their investment back and make money in the future? Students are being paid to study, but I don't understand how your venture is set up to take in any sort of income. If you have some time I would love to hear your feedback on my venture as well. Check it out if you get the chance. Good luck!

    Richard

    http://richardjeffries.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html

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  2. Hi Rachel,
    I like the idea of making money for good grades, but at the same time I can't really see how this idea differs from the essential function of a scholarship. I know the means through which you actually acquire the money is different, and logging hours into a database is certainly more concrete than applying for scholarships, but at its core, they fulfill the same purpose. I also think there is simply too much room for the abuse of your system. Is there really a foolproof way to determine whether or not people are actually studying? What's to stop me from simply leaving the page open while I do other things and simply click around every once in a while to give the appearance of being active? I could easily mike my log look like I was studying all day except when I am asleep. Until you come up with a more effective way to actually ensure people are studying, I don't believe that anyone will want to fund it, as they will fear there money is just being gamed away by students abusing the system.
    Thanks for sharing! Here is a link to my own blog: http://ablog4c.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html

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  3. Rachel, great job on your blog post! I think your opportunity is really good, and could be very popular with consumers. To play devil’s advocate though, this isn’t very different than a scholarship. All that makes it different is that the money thy receive is an hourly “wage” and it is earned in a facility. I think if you can find a way to make your opportunity different than a scholarship, then it would have great potential to succeed! Feel free to check out my blog post for this assignment!
    http://ent3003mt.blogspot.com/2016/04/venture-concept-no-2.html

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