24A – Venture Concept No. 1: STADIUM SHIELD

The opportunity present has a high potential to succeed in the targeted market. The audience that is being targeted are those people and sports fanatics that attend stadium games regularly. The need is identified and realized when weather becomes a problem and ruins a game for sports fans. Forces in the environment are huge indicators of the need and business that this product can potentially reel in. The market is pretty expansive, it can be used in other occasions not only for those rainy game days. This product is a better alternative for an umbrella or poncho. This is a basic need for all people regardless of demographic factors, but it is going to be a target for those attending stadium games and to be sold in those gift shops. I believe there is no major brand loyalty when it comes to umbrellas or ponchos, with the help and partnership with the stadium or sports teams we can create brand loyalty to our product due to all the sports fans that drive our market. There is a window for an opportunity when it comes to selling to stadiums during peak football season. Especially to college towns where many students and alumni have season tickets and need a durable solution to a rainy game day or major sports events like the Super Bowl.

The product is an alternative and more durable and versatile solution to an umbrella and a poncho. It is essentially an overhead, transparent material, protection that you can strap on to your shoulders and chest. It is light, and the clear material that goes over your head and down, allows people besides you to still be able to see past you. This is a better alternative to an umbrella because it will not only keep you more dry but you do not have to hold it with your hand or completely obstruct other people’s views. The product essentially will be made to protect your upper body the most, much like a poncho. The only difference being that the material will be made to be more durable, the product will be made to be easily packed and transported. This differs from a regular poncho that is usually disposable and hard to carry once opened. I would make the initial price $17-$20. It is only a couple more dollars than an umbrella that usually goes for around $12 in a gift shop, this small difference is enough to arouse a potential customers curiosity and buy our product which in turn can create a customer base for the product. Due to the durability of the product, referrals and recommendations to other customers are what we are relying on. Perhaps we could start a point or coupon system for each referral that can be applied in participating giftshops or our website.

I think customers in the target audience will be excited about this innovation. The audience I am trying to target the most are middle aged men or women that are sports fanatics and may have a family. When attending these games that they spent a lot of money on and had a lot of excitement for, and it begins to rain, this is the kind of purchase they will lean towards. A newly innovative product meant to keep you and your family drier and can be used for any other sort of activity. I think younger audience members or college students would probably opt in for the cheapest option regardless of the quality. Therefore, the target audience is ideally older.

This product is going to be slightly more expensive than most of its competitors. This will be due to the innovative technology and durable materials used to create it. Since this is meant to be a durable product, there would be around a 3-year guarantee on it and could be fully refunded if it were to break. This would be catered to sports fanatics and the straps can be designed for each sports team in each stadium. It would also be family friendly and have smaller designs for children that would be less pricy due to the smaller size. The customer support would be easy to reach and communicate with. We will put customer’s needs first since our product is meant to safely protect our customers from the weather. With a potential partnership with sports teams and stadiums that can help fund the product, it will put the organization at an advantage above its competitors. Due to this being a newly invented product, it will give the company a head start to create those partnerships and be the only company able to sell to certain giftshops we have a partnership with. Obviously umbrellas and ponchos will still be available, but other companies trying to recreate our product would have to sell elsewhere.

This partnership would be the “unfair advantage” or “secret sauce” that our company has over other competitors. Like previously mentioned, this would create a contract allowing us to be the only supplier for this specific product in specific stores in stadiums. This would put us ahead of our competitors because most of these purchases are usually made when the need becomes present, like if it started to rain and the only solutions were in the stadium gift shops. The next big thing my company would focus on would probably be improving existing items. The idea and inspiration for the organization would be to make durable and possibly permanent solutions to recurring temporary problems. Maybe start trying to find innovative ways to improve on beach chairs, mats, water bottles, coolers, etc. I want this venture to take off and be successful enough to be sponsors to major sports teams. As an entrepreneur I see myself maintaining and making further improvements upon this business as well as holding and staring other small businesses.  This first venture could be a catalyst to how I begin and run future businesses. The failures experienced through each step is a lesson learned that could be applied to ventures I take on in the future.