Assignment 24A- Venture Concept No.1

Opportunity

·      Nail polish chips very easily and often does not last as long as you want it to. This is a problem for women and men that get their nails done.

·      The forces that allow this opportunity to occur is increasing use of technology and science. Through multiple tests and trials, I plan to make this top coat nail polish last its intended four to six weeks and last this long without chipping. I also aim at making this top coat safe for use and, eventually, environmentally friendly.

·      As of right now, customers are currently satisfying this need by spending more money because they have to go to the nail salon so frequently and by getting other types of nail services done. These other nail services include gel, dip powder, acrylic, or regular nail polish.

·      This opportunity is pretty big as women many women get their nails done every two to three weeks.

·      Women spend an average of $1,345 per year on manicures and pedicures. This data, from wisebread.com, stated that nail salons in the United States charge about $19.50 for manicures and $32.25 for pedicures. These costs can add up very quickly and most woman do not realize it. These services take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.

·      With how fast technology and science are changing, I think that this window of opportunity will not be open forever. I think that there is still time, maybe five to ten years, before it closes.

·      Potential customers would be individuals, men and women, and businesses, nail salons. These individuals, majority being women, would be of any age but mostly between 16 and 50 years old. These individuals would be those who enjoy having well maintained nails.

Innovation

·      For individuals, my product will be sold in stores and online. For online, it will be sold on Amazon. I want to sell it on Amazon for a few reasons. First, many people want items as quickly as possible so having the option of Amazon Prime two- day shipping is a bonus. Second, so many people use Amazon when searching for things they need so my product would likely come up when people search for things like “nail polish”. Third, as more people buy my product on Amazon, people will leave reviews. These reviews will be helpful for me when editing my product and they will be helpful for future potential buyers. As for in store, I want to sell it at retailers like Target, Walmart, and Walgreens/ CVS. I plan to sell this top coat bottle of polish for $25-30.

·      For businesses, they will also be able to buy it online and in stores. They will be able to buy it at the same places as individuals, online at Amazon and in store at Target, Walmart, and Walgreens/ CVS. I would also like to sell my product at beauty and nail salon supplier store, which would only be available to businesses only. Here, businesses would be able to buy the top coat in bulk and at a cheaper price per bottle.

Venture Concept

·      Individuals and businesses will buy my product. The individuals that will buy my product will be those who paint their nails at home. Regular nail polish that is done at home chips very easily, therefore, individuals would be more likely to buy this top coat polish for long term use. Individuals would be able to buy this top coat polish at local stores or online. Businesses would buy this product to use on customers. With this product costing a little more, I assume nail salons will charge more for their products. Businesses will be able to buy this product at stores and online, as well as in beauty stores.

·      I do not think it will be hard for customers to switch to this new product. For businesses, they are always trying new products to get their customers to switch to new products. For individuals, it might be a little bit tougher just in the aspect of getting the word out there to them.

·      My competitors are other nail polish brands. In particular, gel and dip nail polish. Their weaknesses would be that their nail polishes do not last very long. In my experience, gel lasts up to two weeks and dip lasts a little bit longer.

·      I would first distribute this product to the girls in my sorority and my family to get their feedback and opinions about my product. This would allow me to get my name out there and could lead to distribution to the whole University of Florida Panhellenic Community. After this, I would distribute online at Amazon and in local stores.

·      Price points for my product are important as I do not want them to be too high or too low. It would also be important because a lot of my customers would be young women (some of whom are in college).

·      In stores, my product would be placed on a shelf and would have no packaging. Online, my product would be shipped in a box. I thought about shipping it in a bag/envelope, but I would not want it to break in transit.

·      To start out, I would need about 15 employees. Here are the employees I would need: an engineer/chemist to test the product and find the right balance of chemicals, health professionals to determine if the product is safe, a designer to design the bottle itself, marketers to advertise the product, and distributers.

My “secret sauce” for my product is that I am apart of Greek Life. This is an advantage because I am able to market to so many women that might be interested and who are all within a close proximity. If this product is successful, I would like to add nail polish colors. In the next five years, I want to have nails that do not chip and last me a long time.