4A- Forming an Opportunity Belief


1)    I have a belief that an opportunity exists to create a product that combines the steps of three-hole punching and the hole protector stickers.
2)    It is a tiresome and expensive process to buy the sticker hole protectors and combining those two steps would save a lot of time and money. This product also has a universal need, which means the target market is very large. The need came from my own experience sitting down and having to stick hole protectors on hundreds of pieces of paper because the paper was ripping from being in my binder. I am sure this opportunity exists because I have talked to others that have also experienced the need for this product.
3)    The prototypical customer can span anywhere from a typical student/school to the professional work environment.

Iteration no. 1 Chad Girnun

-       Three-hole punched pages usually are easily ripped from your binder so there is a need for having sticker protection on the holes.
-       Experiences this problem every time he three-hole punches paper and puts it in his binder.
-       He has had the need for this product since he 10
-       He is currently using folders instead of binders because he does not want to have to buy hole protectors and take the manual time to put them on the paper
Iteration no 2. Brad Freedman
-       He feels that he used to have more of a problem with three-hole punched pages ripping when he was younger, but know he is using his laptop a lot more
-       He feels that this was an annoying problem and certain professions like lawyers would greatly benefit from this product.
-       He has been using this product since elementary school
Iteration no 3. Brian Smith
-       He believes that this product could have a very large reach to many different people.
-       People of all different ages spanning from elementary school to professional and retired life deal with paper and binders.
-       He thinks that most people are already aware of this need they just have never thought that it could have previously existed.


Reflection
-       I think that the interviews provided me great feedback that my product has a chance of being very successful. I do have to take into account the future of being paperless and people moving towards doing everything digitally. However, I think that we are still many years away from that and the current need for this product is evident.  
Summarize
-       My original opportunity is still there, the product has not changed but how I need to market it and external factors I have to consider are more prevalent.
-       I believe that my opportunity is more accurate than when I first started because the three people that I interviewed provided me with very different outlooks on the product that I had not considered.
-       I think that entrepreneurs should be very flexible especially when they receive feedback from customers because those are ultimately the people that are going to be paying for their product. They can be hesitant at first to make changes, but if enough people are constantly making the same comment then it should be addressed.

Comments

  1. Taylor GoldFebruary 2, 2020 at 3:50 PM

    I think this idea is pretty clever and it is practical in terms of the large market and probably a fast time to revenue ratio. Personally, I use an iPad to take all of my class notes, but I have experienced this need every time I need a binder for something. I like that you did take into consideration the future of paperless writing, but I also agree that there will always be a market of people who do use paper and would benefit from this product. Overall, cool idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Mainzer PostFebruary 2, 2020 at 11:13 PM

    Michael,

    I think this is a very interesting idea. The main reason I stopped using hole punched paper is because of how easily it rips out of note books. As you mentioned the future is moving towards paperless, but at the end of the day the technology is already there but there are people that prefer using paper and will not switch over to the digital paper. With that being said, I believe this is a great problem for you to solve that could bring ease to other peoples lives and save people a lot of stress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jack KuehlerFebruary 3, 2020 at 1:40 AM

    Hey Michael,

    I think your idea is very clever! The only problem I can see you running into is that the paperless technology continues to take over the paper market. The majority of college students nowadays type their notes using their laptops, iPad, or eReaders. However, I don't think this means your idea is a bad one. I think an idea like this one solves really a tedious and annoying thing; papers ripping out of your binder. 3-hole punchers have been around for decades but combining that with the hole protector stickers is a very clever idea. Great post

    ReplyDelete

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