Opportunity
Currently, there are still millions of mid-aged Americans that are buying earbuds that have long wires to connect into their device. As most college students know, these are a hassle to untangle each time they are taken out from a backpack or pockets. Even when people try to carefully place them away, they still manage to get tangled, and this creates frustration.
At the moment, there is still a huge need for this market. It will target those that use wire earbuds, typically those in the college settings, early 20s. It is important to note that with the increase in use of wireless earbuds such as AirPods, it is important to work quickly on this product. According for Fortune, Apple has sold over a million Airpods in the US alone, and thus this needs to be considered when looking at the target market. The "window" will still be open for a while, as not everyone will transfer over to these wireless earbuds.
Currently, to avoid this annoying issue, consumers just ravel their earbuds around their fingers before placing their earbuds away. However, this does not solve the issue. There are a few products online that attempt to solve it, however it is just a flimsy piece of plastic that consumers can wrap earbuds around and hope that it does not become unraveled. Thus, there is no strong loyalty, and that is one of the reasons that I believe my company would have a great way to enter the market.
Innovation
The product that I created is a device in which any pair of wire earbuds can be fed into a small circular device, which can then be pulled to either use the earbuds, or have them ravel into the device to keep from untangling. This technology essentially works like an ID that can be pulled from its circular device to be scanned, etc.
The estimated cost for this product would be around $3, depending on manufacturing and shipping costs. However, this is reasonably priced, and allows for our target market to afford the product.
Venture Concept
My product allows students to finally be able to plug into their earbuds without having to untangle the for five minutes. It prevents frustration, and another hassle.It is also so simple and lightweight, that it can also be transported anywhere.
This is something I could see being all over a college campus, as students listen to their music and lectures. It will not be a hard transition, as their is no loyal brand that people use to avoid their earbuds from getting untangled.
By having students be able to purchase various colors and designs, this becomes something more personable and "fun". This is also something that can easily be spread by word-of-mouth, as other students come up and ask where they purchased that from.
This company would probably be no more than 5 employees at the beginning stage. It is quite simple, as we only need a manufacturer. We would sell online until we earn enough revenue, to then have a distributor to put our product into stores.
Important Resource
Having a network of other entrepreneurs will allow me to leverage their experiences and advice to help avoid some problems my company may go through. I know people at each stage in the process, and this is very useful to apply to my own company.
Next Venture
Once our company becomes a familiar name, we can then broaden the scope of products we sell to our customers with ear buds. This would include trendy, custom-able attachments such as clips that can be added to earbuds to give them a nice accent piece.
Next For Me
Once this company is successfully off the ground, I want to be able to hand it to somebody else to continue to grow. This would probably take about five years. Within ten years, I see myself starting up another venture and seeing how well I can grow it.
Summary of Feedback
Overall the feedback I received was quite positive. It included the fact that I have a clear idea of who my target market is. I was also told that the steps I am going to take after launching my first product are smart because I will be reaching a segment of that market that would potentially be my competition for the first product (wireless earbuds).
One of the critiques I found was to include more information about the competition I would have for my first product, because it would not apply to those that have wireless earbuds such as AirPods. Thus, I added a little section under 'Opportunity' to address this issue.
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