Idea Napkin No. 2 - When the Entrée Comes Out

My name is Isabella. I am a junior at UF studying sociology. I am 20 years old and would classify myself as somewhat creative. I grew up a dancer and have tons of creativity within a dance studio or stage setting. In regards to business building and being an entrepreneur – I would not classify myself as being talented as it is not something I am very familiar with.  I believe I have strong people skills along with experience with the general public. My aspirations would honestly be to get this idea off the ground. My brother recently graduated from UF with a business degree and it would be really awesome to team up on this concept. To actually begin making a prototype or having potential customers would be really awesome to see happen. This would play a huge role in my life as it would be my business and work. I would make sure everything is up to date, customers are happy, and always trying to think of ways to make my product better. Whether that is teaming up with top names in the industry or offering better warrantee or price comparing to make it the best.

What I am offering to costumers is a device to attach to a steering wheel in a vehicle to locate emergency vehicles sound coming within a 2 mile radius of the vehicle. This device would then alert the driver by vibrating the wheel. This would be beneficial to hearing impaired drivers who may not detect the sound as quickly as others. I am offering assurance to hearing impaired drivers. Being hearing impaired myself, it is really difficult to detect where sounds are coming from and often hearing impaired drivers are delayed with their response. It may also be helpful to other drivers; as nowadays many use their phones and other devices while driving. Being alert is important for anyone behind the wheel. My product would have the name "Here Wheel." I will be solving customers unmet needs by providing a safety feature within vehicles that has not yet been introduced but is much needed this day in age.

I am offering this product to anyone who is hearing impaired. This includes those whom are just slightly hearing disabled. It is not just intended for fully deaf individuals. As stated above, I think others who are not hearing impaired would also benefit from this product. In that aspect I am targeting young teens, possibly those learning to drive (i.e. permit drivers), young moms with children riding in the car as distractions, and college age students with loud sound systems too. I project that a majority of my costumers’ will be hearing impaired and they all would have less than “normal”/average hearing in common.

Customers will pay me money to use this product as I made this connection and designed it with the hearing impaired in mind. As someone who is hearing impaired, it has depth and perspective from the inside versus being a company or inventor of a device that is from the outside looking inward on the issue. With that being said, it is a product that has purpose and use for hearing impaired drivers who need more assistance with locating siren sounds and warning time just as everyone else does.

My core competencies include being able to understand marketing toward hearing impaired drivers and population as a whole. There are certain phrases and ideologies that are very offensive toward a majority of those who are hearing impaired. Marketing is key in this production and being able to understand the balance line is important. I am very close to my hearing specialist as well. My specialist is well known in the North Florida region and well respected. I think this sets me a part by having a “shoe in” with someone to advertise and push my product with his patients. He is known all over the U.S. as well as his home country which could really help market my product internationally. Although someone may have a hearing specialist nearby – or find one via Google Maps, I have a personal connection to my specialist that could spread the word internationally.

All in all, I do think all of these elements fit together nicely. I do have a primary focus on helping assist hearing impaired drivers. Although someone reading this post may see some disconnects, overall I think so far it is okay for the stage I am at currently. My only concern would be if this product were to be developed further that someone may think I created a hasty generalization when in reality, I am not. I do think my weaker points for my business concept is my doubtfulness when it comes to believing it could really take off. This then affects my ability to sell a pitch and goes downhill from there. I have hesitation about how it may be perceived but I suppose that is part of the process! 
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Feedback Memo:The three comments I received from my first napkin idea were all very kind. What I did was go back and reread them and sat thinking about their feedback. I then reread my napkin idea and tweaked what I feel differently about now. Overall, I do feel the same about my product idea and the process thus far. The comments were nice and all felt that I had a connection to my product, creativity, determination, concrete planner, and knowledgeable about my product market.