Venture Concept No. 2

My Venture Concept No.1:

            We live in the 21^st century where technology is constantly changing our lives, some will agree for the better or for the worse. Sitting here I like to look at it as where would we be in our lives if certain inventions were never created? For example, where would we be if cars were never invented, would we be biking and riding horse’s everywhere? What if planes where never invented, would we never see the other side of the continent? What if computers were never invented, would I be handwriting this assignment and turning it in? Whether you’re on either side of the argument, I think we can all agree that technology helps us in our day to day lives. Think about it. We drive our cars to work. We use our computers to do our work. We use our microwaves to heat our food. We use our phones to conduct business. Where would we really be without all the technology advancements that have been made to this day? Living on farms and growing our crops? Riding our buggies to church on Sunday? I don’t know about you, but I rather be using my GoPro while sky diving out of a plane.

            The venture concept I am presenting you with today will most definitely involve technology and will certainly simplify your life. Nowadays everybody carries around these stuffed wallets filled with their credit cards, debit cards, bonus cards, cash, and change. Men have to try to figure out how to stuff these oversized wallets into their pants pockets, while women have to try to squeeze them into their purses. This is a never ending struggle that I believe needs a fix and a change. This current method of the exchange of money for goods and services is very inefficient. I believe with today’s technology it can be made more simplistic, and efficient. We live in the 21^st century there has to be something better, something that can make our lives easier. That something better is right in front of you, your cellphone. Everyone today is constantly glued to their smart phones. You walk down the street and about everyone you cross paths with will have some form of a smart phone in their hand. Now what if your cellphone could also be used as your wallet? Your cellphone has applications on it, so what if an application could be used to replace your wallet? What if this application could be used to store your credit and debit card information on? These were the exact questions that were running through my head when I pondered on this venture concept.

            The venture concept I am proposing to you is an application that can be used on your smart phone. This application will be either ran by your bank or your credit card company. For example, if you have a Bank of America credit card you will open up the Bank of America Mobile App, sign- in, and then Bank of America application will transfer you to my application. If your credit card is through Visa, you will login into the Visa application which will then link you to my application. Having my application directly linked to your bank accounts or your credit card accounts allows for your credit or debit card information to be stored safely within your smart phone.  Once you are redirected to my app, you will be presented with a screen that has the front picture of all the stored credit or debit cards. Having the picture visible versus your account numbers will make it easier for you to recognize and distinguish from your different cards. From here you will click on the card you wish to make your current purchase with. After clicking on the card, the stored cards personal barcode will be presented on the screen. You then turn your phone toward the cashier and they will scan the barcode with their barcode scanner. This prevents cashiers from every handling your cellphone, which again allows your information to remain safe. 

My application will be purchased through the App Store on your phone, just like all applications that are available for use on your smart phone. There will be two possible applications you may wish to download. The first application will be the FREE version. Within the FREE version there will be advertisements, which will be presented on the page that has the pictures of your stored cards. The ad will pop-up and you will be forced to close the tap before you can pick the card of your choosing to make your purchase with. The second version will be the paid version. The paid version will be a onetime cost of $4.99. On the paid version, you will never experience an advertisement pop-up. Also with the paid version you my download the updated application at any time free of charge.  Since the application is linked through your bank account or credit card account, there will also be a version that is free for certain users depending upon their account. For example, if you have a bank account with Wells Fargo they may offer free smart phone transactions if you have the College Student account with them. Therefore, by having a specific account with them they are offering you free smart phone transactions. My company will receive a set payment annually from Wells Fargo for the use of my application. These three methods for downloading my application onto your smart phone are the three ways I plan to receive profit from my application. 

My hope for this application is that it will revolutionize our current exchange of money for goods and services. We no longer need to use cash and coins to make purchases in our everyday lives. We are the generation that is ready for the change from cash exchange to barcode exchanges. Through my application that will be available for use on your smart phone, I would like to make that change possible with my application.

Venture Concept No.2:

Opportunity

My opportunity is for individuals who are in-store shopping consumers. The nature of the need is that it is not a necessity, but would simplify our lives. The changes in the environment that are creating this opportunity is the increase of smart phones in technologies within our everyday life. I believe the market for my application can be defined geographically by countries were smart phone use is  daily thing and demographically with the younger generation. Customers currently are satisfying their need by using plastic credit cards and cash to purchase their goods. I do not believe most people are very loyal to the tradition way of purchasing goods. I believe this is a significant opportunity that can ultimately change our way of purchasing goods for the exchange of money. The window of opportunity will last as long as the use of smart phones continues.

Innovation.

My innovation will be an application that is run through your personal banking to store your credit/debit card information in. This application can be used at stores or restaurants to allow the cashier to scan and purchase your goods.

Venture Concept

The reason I think customers would switch to this new product is because it is an easier way to purchase goods in your everyday life. I believe getting the younger generation to switch to this use will not be difficult. I do believe that it will be hard to get the older generation to switch to this method of purchasing goods. My competitor is the Apple iPhone application eWallet. Their possible weakness is that they are not linked to your personal banking. I would organize my business to support the ongoing production of my new application by hiring a young staff that is the most related to the use of technology and applications. The role of my venture is to continue to please my customers with a simplified way to purchase goods.  

I sadly only received one comment from my Venture Concept No.1, but it was still very helpful. Allie informed me that the iPhone wallet app does allow you to store your credit and debit information, but the Android application does not.  Based on what I learned from feedback I still will continue with my same venture concept because I believe running my application through your personal bank adds an advantage to this application form.