Opportunity
Dog owners everywhere have the need
for a place to take their pet when the weather is poor. The forces in the
environment that create this opportunity are poor weather conditions and dog
owners’ desire for a place to take their dogs where they can run around and
socialize with other dogs. The market for this opportunity would be much higher
in an area where rain is more prevalent and where there is a large number of
dog owners. In terms of defining this market demographically, there is not a
particular limit to the demographic that this opportunity serves, considering
dog owners vary by age, race, economical status, etc. When the weather is nice,
customers utilize outdoor parks, but when the weather is poor, they do not have
another option, so they are forced to stay home with their dogs. The loyalty of
the customers differs across the board. Some customers are extremely loyal to
outdoor dog parks and attend them frequently—some more than once a week—while other
customers attend them only once or twice a month. This opportunity is very BIG.
There are dog owners everywhere, who would love to have a place to take their
dogs all the time. The “window of opportunity” will never close because there
will always be dog owners and there will always be poor weather, so the mixture
of the two creates my opportunity. Dog owners + poor weather = my opportunity.
Innovation
The innovation I have come
with is an indoor dog park. There will be a large open area covered with turf
that is available for the dogs to run around. This open space will include
small artificial ponds, agility obstacles and some fake mulch pits for the dogs
to utilize. There will be staff walking around to monitor the dogs and to clean
up any messes that occur. In addition, there will be places to sit for the
owners to sit outside of the dog area and a café where the humans can purchase
snacks and drinks. Customers can choose between a monthly membership fee to use
the facility as often as they want or a one-time fee if they do not plan on
coming often. The monthly membership fee would be $50 while the one-time fee
would be $15. This means that if someone comes once a week, they would save $10
per month if they purchase the monthly membership over the one-time fee.
Venture Concept
My innovation of an indoor
dog park would address my opportunity by giving dog owners a place to bring
their dogs to play when there are poor weather conditions. The transition from
outdoor dog parks to indoor dog parks would be smooth enough for dog owners, so
persuading them to switch would not be too difficult. I have tried to make my
venture more appealing than an outdoor dog park is to better convince dog
owners to choose my facility over outdoor dog parks. Business location is very
important because if I am located in a place with a lot of dog owners and poor
weather then I will be successful, but if I am located in a place with few dog
owners and consistently nice weather then I will have a harder time succeeding.
I would create this venture as a franchise opportunity so I could manage the
company as a whole, but I would have help running the individual facilities.
Minor Elements
My most
important resources will be my passion for my venture and my dedication to high
quality customer service. It will be hard for my competitors to copy my success
because I will have so much passion and be dedicated to give my customers the
best experience possible. I would like to add the opportunity of doggy daycare
and dog boarding to my venture to allow me more opportunities to make money and
serve my community. 10 years after I launch my venture, I would hope to have
multiple franchises open around the country.
