1) I am a Sport Management major heading into my final semester this fall. My talents and knowledge are centered around sports, management, building operations, and customer service. I have experience in various fields such as: building operations, baseball operations, and management.
2) I'm offering a cable service that runs as an independent company on the current cable grid. I believe that this model will be the model for cable companies in the future. The unmet need here is the fact cable companies force people into both contracts and minimum packages. My idea to fix the unmet need is similar to a streaming service. The company model will be set on letting the customers choose what they want to watch on a monthly basis, just like a subscription. The company can also have partnerships with streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. These partnerships would include the service and access to the application through the cable company, offering versatility.
3) The demographic that I am offering this product to are cable cutters. These cable cutters tend to be younger adults that are attempting to save money by not having to pay for cable. Thus, they "cut cable" and switch to streaming services. This demographic isn't limited to young adults, but it is certainly made up of mainly young adults. All of the customers have in common the fact that they want to save money, and watch good television. The cable service allows for this by allowing them to switch monthly from having all the channels they want to having none for a month.
4) Customers care about this because they don't want to buy into the system and monopoly that currently exists with cable companies. People will actually pay money for this because they would be saving money instead of paying for a package from other cable companies. They will also pay for it because they know they will use it. If a customer decides to get ESPN for the month, it is because they want to have ESPN, and are going to be watching it. When they pay for a basic cable package to watch ESPN, they also get 60 other channels with it that they probably won't be watching, yet they have to pay for it. And lastly, customers won't feel locked in with this sort of service, they will feel the same way about cable as they do with streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
5) What sets this cable company model apart is the fact that it is willing to accept a loss of money in exchange to gain market share for the later years when this model eventually gets adopted. While other companies will be forcing individuals to buy into their basic cable packages, and this cable company will be gaining market share for the future with those customers leaving the current system. The cable company could choose to make more by abiding to the current system that exists in cable, but it is about doing the right thing, and putting the customer first. This company will already have experience and partnerships with streaming services down the road, when other cable companies are forced to get their feet in the water with my proposed system. The company is about setting up a great long term goal of having more market share by providing a fair service.
These elements I've proposed fit together. The tough part about these elements fitting together is establishing the company. To gain market share in the current cable system, some serious capital would be needed. The monopolies that currently exist within the cable company system would try to create roadblocks for this sort of system to break through in the business. But, once those roadblocks are broken, it is just a matter of setting the correct marketing strategy and tactics to gain the correct market share. Eventually, when some market share is gained, partnerships with streaming services would begin. These partnerships would create word of mouth for the correct target audience with services such as Netflix or Hulu. Overall, the synergy is there for these elements, and the company must know the roadblocks will be there before breaking through into the market.
It is wise that you narrowed down one of your biggest obstacles beyond the idea of establishing the company to enter the market, more specifically to gathering the necessary capital. It might be a good idea to start considering possible sources of capital, and focusing your idea napkin and elevator pitches to reflect those specific audiences. A good question to think about is what types of investors or existing companies might benefit from a product like this?
ReplyDeleteI am also a Sports Management major with experience in operations at UF. I agree with Amira in that it seems like you have narrowed down some of the broader areas of your concept. One thing you could also take into consideration is how you will persuade companies who's channel isn't as popular as others to stay with your cable company.
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely correct about requiring some serious capital to start up anything like this, and even then you would be competing against some heavy hitters. Hearing people complaining about paying too much for channels they don't watch is definitely not a new complaint, so it's obvious why you'd choose this for your opportunity. I would do some digging though and find out how to make this profitable, perhaps by finding out why this opportunity hasn't been exploited before since people have been complaining about his for a long time. The more roadblocks you can anticipate the better. Good job on the changes.
ReplyDeleteI remember commenting on your earlier posts about this subject, and I still think that this may be a concept that could succeed in the real world. However, I think that nowadays, the younger generations, with more and more people entering adulthood everyday, I think that cable may be a thing of the past. At least for now, I think that your idea might be something that could still succeed if implemented correctly, so good job with this post.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I love the structure of your idea napkin, and I found it a lot easier to read and follow along then some of the other blogs I’ve commented on. Great job in the aspect, also first of all I love the structure of your idea napkin, and I found it a lot easier to read and follow along then some of the other blogs I’ve commented on. Great job in the aspect, also fully described everything and really put in the effort.
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