Assignment 25A- What's Next?

Existing Market: In terms of what is next for my product, I believe that geographical expansion is the next big step. I could possibly try to implement my program into different schools around the country or even in high schools. This would allow high school students to possess valuable financial information before they even get to college. Also, I think that eventually it will be important for me to expand my target market. Currently, I'm just focusing on college students, however my service can be useful for a plethora of individuals and businesses.

Interview 1- This individual stated that I should be planning as if I'm going to be unsuccessful for the first few years. I should have a legitimate back up plan and understand the financial risks if my product completely fails. Also, we should be planning on we are going to respond to negative feedback and negative growth for our product. This individual focused a lot on backup plans and worse case scenarios. However, this an essential piece of information for our organization and is a very realistic possibility.
Interview 2- This individual focused on the content of my product and suggested that content expansion could be the next big thing for my service. For example, instead of simply focusing on how to save money in college, we could provide information about mortgages for houses, interest rates, loans outside of school, car loans, etc. Provided information about these topics can allow my service to grow and also broaden my target market because now I will be able to focus on a different group of consumers.
Interview 3- This individual suggested trying to dive into different businesses where my information could be useful. For example, there are always businesses that are looking for financial help or financial advice. We could hugely expand if we were able to dive into some of these markets. Banks, grocery stores, real estate agencies, etc., there is a plethora of businesses that we could attempt to reach out to and expand our business.

In terms of growing, it seems that geographical expansion would be best move initially if our product becomes successful. Expanding our product to numerous locations around the world and increasing our brand awareness will give us a huge advantage when trying to venture out into larger scales. This will allow us to develop connections and relationships with individuals who could help our business reach the next level. After expanding geographically, I believe that content expansion can be a huge benefit for our business. Having a versatile service can allow us to reach different markets with different purposes. We don't want to become so broad, that we lose sight of our core mission for our service, but providing more areas of service can be a huge benefit for us.

New Market: My initial market is college students, the new market that I think my product can venture into is individuals who are nearing retirement but still have some years to go. Many individuals are looking for financial advice which can be beneficial to them within the next 5 to 10 years or once they are getting ready to retire. This is why I feel that my product can be of service to them. The core of my product focuses on college students, however many of the principles can be applied to older individuals as well.

Interview 1- This individual suggested that my product has the potential to benefit to this group of individuals, but I will need to cater the information to the needs of older individuals instead of 18-20 year old students. For example, a unique approach could be to focus on the children that are present in the household. While many individuals want to manage their finances properly for themselves, an essential reason is so that their children won't have to suffer when they are older. Parents have a true weakness for their children and making sure that they have everything they need to be successful, this is a potential area that my service could try to penetrate.
Interview 2- This individual suggested that it may be difficult to attract customers for this new market. The primary reason being that, many older individuals have their beliefs and they stick with them and don't have time or energy to invest in something else. They may consider my service the same "stuff" that everyone tries to sell to them. This grounded attitude may make it more challenging for me attract customers for this new market.

My new market does not appear to be as attractive as my new market. It seems as though it will be very difficult for me attract new customers because of the stage in life that many of these individuals are at. They do not want to endure radical changes which require extra time and energy. They want to stick to their routine and focus their energy on what they can currently control. I did not analyze this aspect of the market when I initially thought that this market could be a potential new venture. Furthermore, this market will be much more difficult to penetrate than I anticipated.