Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

There is opportunity in everything that we do. Nothing is perfect and everything can be improved. My idea is based on the idea that an opportunity exists in every major city that has highways which become constantly congested.

Traffic is a constant in major cities. I am currently writing this paper from out of town in New Jersey and in order to get to my hotel we passed three separate accidents on the way over. There were no express lanes available and so our options were to sit it out and wait and suffer with the majority of people, or find an alternate route which would take us way out of the way and add unnecessary mileage and gas expense to our car.

Everyone with a car or other mode of motor transportation runs into this problem. The most common issue arises in family households in cities where the parents need to commute to and from a job that isn’t right next door to where they live.

No one enjoys waiting in their car in the hot or cold weather for extended periods of time with no warning that an accident is about to occur in front of them, causing them to be an hour or more late to their work meeting or event.

The forces creating this opportunity is our growing population, our large crowded cities, the growing amount of cars being put on the streets, and the need to get a job! The biggest potential is in large cities. Customers of other express lanes aren’t loyal to a certain express lane, but to the idea of getting somewhere faster. The opportunity is very hard to exploit as it would take a very large amount of money to accomplish, but if it can be done, then the opportunity window stands to remain open until someone takes advantage of it!

Innovation:

With this idea, we are selling a service to the people who drive. Express lanes are extra lanes that cost money to use, but allow faster moving vehicles to bypass their slower counterparts. We essentially would add lanes onto existing highways with high levels of congestion, and charge those who value their time over traffic to use them. The concept is not new and there are many in existence (this is going to be critical for investors, knowing that it is a market in existence and not a major risk of money loss in a new market). However, even with those few in place, there is still constant traffic, congestion and other incidents that cause driving to become hell for those participating in the terrible and stress level rising event. The price could not be too high or people wouldn’t be willing to use it, but it also must be high enough that we make our money back over time. It would be a timely expense but in time we could make our money back 10 times over once the building has been completed.

Venture Concept:

Because this is not a brand new concept, it will not be hard to get people on board with what it offers. People are very familiar with the time saving aspect of express lanes and they are used quite often in the large cities that have them available. As the customers of current express lanes are not loyal to a brand, but to the aspect of saving their own time, it would be fairly simple to get people to use our express lanes; for a decent price. The other aspect of this is that we can not place express lanes where there already are ones placed. So in order to even have this become a possibility, I would have to scout out places in desperate need of the service and look to have them built in those cities where there is a lack of.

Unlike many other ventures, this isn’t so much a competition with other competitors because they can not be used in place of each other since each express lane is in a different place. The competition lies with how convenient the alternate routes are in accordance to how convenient and cheap the express lanes would be to use.

Minor Elements:

My venture’s “Krabby Patty Formula” if you will, would be that we would have packages and bundles for a variety of prices that would allow a majority of people to use our services at least part of the time, if not all of the time, for a reasonable price. Other express lanes all charge a certain price no matter what. A loyalty card that lowers costs to those who have used the express lane enough also has the potential to be a huge advantage.

The next service that we would be able to offer customers would be potential cheaper services with car repair companies. If I am able to network further in areas that need my express lanes, then adding a partnership and allowing this to go through would be HUGE! And at no extra charge to the drivers.

Assuming that the bank would allow me to take out such a large loan to build multiple express lanes in prime territories where traffic is high, I would still most likely be paying the banks back in the near years after. However, once the loans are paid off, this would be a constant source of income as long as the cities remain relevant and growing! On top of that, I would feel accomplished as I would be helping out all those drivers in need of precious time, and I too would be using my own service because it is actually very helpful!

2. Summary of Feedback

The feedback I received was all positive and therefore did not cause me to change anything. Both Campbell and Elton stated that there is potential in this market and the assignment was done properly.

3. Change

Because all of the feedback was positive, there was no need for me to change any aspect of my venture concept. However, there was one bit of info that I received from a comment that I did add into it! Campbell Usmar brought up an excellent point in stating that that because the market is already in existence, investor would be more open to the idea of investing instead of having to risk money in a market that may or may not succeed. This was an excellent point that was brought to light. 

                                                         Roads without express lanes ^^

                                                         Roads WITH express lanes ^^