25A - What’s Next?

1. Existing Market

• Step 1
• In my previous post, I entertained the idea of creating a somewhat different adaptation of my current venture, regarding a service that would allow parents to assign chores and other household duties to their children. I think this or some other sort of adaptation that makes use of my algorithm would be a fine addition to my brand.
• Step 2
• After interviewing three people in my current market, I got the idea that I should set goals not only to advance upon my current technology, but also to create similar services that are more tailored to other specific target markets.
• Step 3
• To set up a path for the future of my company, I must gauge the rate of growth that we will undergo. My expectations tell me that we will see a fair amount of success in our first year if we promote properly; if this is the case, then we can perform some more research to see which demographics best fit into the opportunity of our new market. Currently, my best idea is targeting parents of young children with a different adaptation to my original idea, ChoreMate.
• My interviewees gave me more general advice in regards to planning for the future of my company. It is not quite easy to think of similar but different markets to target, so I didn't blame them. They told me to set goals for keeping my algorithm up-to-date, for branching off into new markets, and for finances and profits.

2. New Market

• Step 1
• Since my primary target market is fairly specific, I will need to expand upon it in order to develop branching products and/or services. One market that is radically different from college students is that of elderly people.
• Step 2
• I had a hard time thinking of the value ChoreMate creates for elderly people, because their homes are never typically messy. Perhaps, I could tweak my algorithm so that it gives elderly people reminders for all of the household work that there is left to do, on a less stringent timeline than that of ChoreMate.
• Step 3
• Hmm... Who are two old people that I can call up for interviews during this quarantine? My grandparents!
• Step 4
• I learned quite a lot about this new demographic that I may consider targeting from my grandparents. Their household is always clean, because they still have the same maid that they did a decade ago! My grandma did mention how some of her elderly friends have learned to enjoy chores and cleaning as they got older. However, the most glaring surprise I got was my grandpa's brutal honesty, "that would never work." He followed up with the fact that old people use technology far less than younger generations.
• Since I knew how radical it was to choose the elderly to target with a new technology, my assumptions were spot-on. This new market does not appear as attractive as my existing one, because the demographics simply don't match up with the utility of the software.