24- venture concept

Opportunity:

The opportunity I noticed was that I was tired of having to constantly use dull razors to shave, or be forced to go out and spend time and money buying new ones. My facial hair grows out fast and I like to stay relatively clean shaven, so repeatedly buying new razors is not really an option when you shave as much, and have as little money as I do. People who find themselves shaving often, and don’t have the time and money to buy new razors all the time are the people who would be in need of a product to solve their problem. Furthermore, there are many demographic and/or geographic niches who may be affected by this issue, because people of all ages and genders who have the need to shave could use a product that solves the problem. Shaving and more broadly personal care is a huge industry and having a product that solves the problem of razors becoming dull too quickly seems to be a big opportunity that could last for a long time.

Innovation:

The product that I came up with to solve this problem is an automatic razor blade sharpener. The razor blade sharpener would look like a mechanical box with an open slot in the top. Inside the box would be a whetstone block attached to a mechanism that would be run across the blades and sharpen them. The device could be plugged into the wall for use at home or run off a chargeable battery for on the go. As mentioned early the device will be automatic so a razor can be placed into the slot and left there until the user needs it for their next shave. In this time the blades of the razor will be sharpened, and cleaned by a fan to remove any residue on the blades. Furthermore, there could be a detachable, side compartment on the box, away from the machines, that power washes the blades to give them an extensive wash. The goal would be to make old, dull, dirty razors look and perform like new. I don’t know how much the product will exactly cost to make, so I do not know what it will be priced at, but I would likely enable the standard procedure of selling the product for twice the cost of manufacturing it. The price this comes out too will very likely not be fixed in place, but based on supply and demand will change with consumers preferences. Additionally some models could have more features than others and will be sold at different prices.

Venture Concept:
The razor blade sharpener will provide a solution to the issue and capitalize on the opportunity mentioned in the opportunity section because by sharpening old razors making them as good as new for an extended period of time, people will very rarely have to go out and waste time and money buying new razor blades. Furthermore, no matter how advanced razors get, the metal on the blades will always dull out eventually, so the blade sharpener will be around for a very long time, solving the other large issue of blades dulling too quickly. The blade sharpening product is also convenient, so the people who use it won't have to manually sharpen and clean their blades because the product would do it automatically at home or on the go.

The biggest issue with this product is that it would really hurt razor blade companies, and since they can only make a blade last so long, they will most likely try and make a product similar to mine to sharpen their old blades. This is the main form of competition and it would seem to be very hard to prevail with the extensive resources in the hands of top razor companies. To combat this, I would look to be the first of its kind on the market and also focus heavily on customer satisfaction. Getting a good reputation would be extremely valuable to the survival of my business because of the threats brought on by large razor companies.

When starting the business, I would try and hire only the essential engineers to get the product to a stage where it can be sold on the market and do its function properly and provide good quality and efficiency to the customer. However, as the company grows, I would look to try to secure a manufacturing sight with many workers so I could mass produce the product. 

3 Minor Elements:

1. My most important resource would be my connections.My connections to my community, entrepreneur colleges, former employers and family and friends involved in marketing, finance and computer engineering would be extremely helpful when trying to start up my business, market my product and manage my finances.

2. The next steps of my venture would be similar to what I mentioned above. If the blade sharpener itself works, then models with the fan, the detachable power wash, travel friendly design etc. can be produced for customers to pick and choose which they would prefer. My two ideal scenarios are - 1. Doing extremely well and securing a large portion of the shaving and personal care market and I can make new products to solve other needs people may have, or the (surprising) more likely ideal scenario 2. Becoming just enough of a threat to the larger companies that they want to buy me out for millions of dollars. Will either of these two things happen, most likely not, but I would not start this business with the goal of being mediocre.

3. If either of my ideal scenarios work, as an entrepreneur I could use the money I make to keep designing new products and develop new business that aim to solve problems. However the more likely scenario would be, me investing in other business while living a wealthy life. The product becoming a huge success is the only way this happens.