Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

Assignment 25A – What’s Next?

"What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

What I Think Is Next:

I think the next move for Hyperspeed would be to branch out and differentiate and diversify our offerings. I would like to get all aspects of the business up to their peak earning potential.  Hyperspeed should do some local marketing to attract the first clients to perform testing and begin to make improvements in the infrastructure of the company.

Existing Market Interviews:

1 – I talked to Jason, a DJ in Miami.  After hearing the business plan, he suggested to split the packages, such as one for beginners, intermediate and expert, using tiered pricing and adding more features as customers go up the line, an intriguing idea.

2 – I spoke to Reyes, a sales engineer at a local marketing firm.  He liked the overall business idea and its multiple revenue drivers, but also stressed the importance of generating awareness in your target market.  Without clients, you don’t have a company.

3 – I talked to John-Paulo, an advertising consultant for a technology company.  He liked the company and echoed Reyes’s recommendation for advertising.  He said for me to target my advertising efforts on the group of people I want to reach with Hyperspeed.

Reflection:

These interviews have showed I should prioritize expanding my core offerings, and most importantly, start to build awareness in the minds of consumers.  Both potential directions for the company require some degree of advertising to others and gaining exposure to build a base of clients to use the service.  With the collaboration aspect as well, this business would rely on human connection and strengthening my network.  This would allow me to attract more top mid-tier talent that my customers would be seeking at this price point. 

To kickstart this process, I would print off some flyers and hang them in the local Gainesville area.  There are already a bunch of newsletters and ads tacked up on the boards around town, Hyperspeed would use this strategy as well.  I would also hang around the music building and hand out business cards to students that might be interested.

New Market: 

A new market to enter would be equipment rental to established music companies.  Since the business is based off rentals and equipment, it might make sense for Hyperspeed to provide equipment for events and gatherings and collect fees from that. 

New Market Interviews:

1 – I talked to my neighbor Joe, a large time party and event planner and audio engineer.  He does party planning for a living and could help me enter the new market with his connections and insight.  He recommended to have a professional logo and business cards, so I could hand them out and publicize the company at the venue I rent to.  Joe advised to focus on initial marketing of the company and get free advertising wherever I can.

2 – I spoke with Donny, a friend of my friend’s who works at a Miami beach club.  He is involved in a lot of events and parties hosted by the club, and represents a perfect test market.  He recommended to charge a lot more for the venue rental than I would to the consumer.  Places like hotels or beach clubs have big entertainment budgets, and want the best equipment possible at reasonable rates, potentially providing more revenue than the consumer facing side.

Reflection:

What surprised me the most is how the new market might be surprisingly easy to get into. My first interviewee Joe is already well connected in the space. He said he would help me out if I chose to pursue that avenue.  The party planning sector represents a good opportunity for the company.
            I think this new market is somewhat attractive, since parties are very common, and Hyperspeed has access to good quality equipment to use for events.  Getting into this space would serve to diversify my offerings and expand my community outreach, gaining more company exposure.