Venture Concept No. 1

The opportunity I have in front of me is incredible. Despite the current pandemic, I have put a lot of thought into how society treats generation and our interests, and we are typically written off as lazy pleasure seekers with no sense of discipline. I know that's not true, and I know that my generation works hard and as they get older, their free time becomes smaller and smaller, therefore, it's essential to spend it right and not waste it. A busy school schedule, extra activities, full time jobs, family responsibilities and more can take a pretty big toll on people my age and I think due to that, what free time they have available should be spent right. That’s why my idea revolves around a social media styled app that allows users to see real time pictures and videos of the event, bar, restaurant, concert, club that they want to attend and even chat with users there. Each event or venue will have their own page which will describe the cover charge of the night, drink and food specials, wait times, operating hour, deals and tips, etc. This will eradicate the ever growing problem of people so excited to spend their Saturday night somewhere fun with their friends, only to wait in line for an hour and pay $20 to walk into an empty room.

My demographic centers around college students and young adults in urban or populated areas. You must be 18+ to join the app as a member and create your profile. I believe people my age don't have anything like this currently, and I would be filling a need for them to better plan and execute their freetime. There are a few similar apps to mine in terms of providing information on deals and drink specials specifically for college town bars, but what makes mine really special is the social media aspect of it and the real time updates and live videos from the event or venue itself. Users can even chat with other individuals at the event and meet new friends and connections. I think this opportunity is big and can provide some real good for people. Although this window is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all social gatherings and social settings have been put on pause, once this ends there will be a huge influx of people dying to go out and let loose. That is where I can come in and market this app. Even for extended periods after their virus people will always want to celebrate life and make memories with their friends.

The innovative aspect of my idea, and the part I like the most, is the idea of having two streams of revenue from my app. There will be a payment of $2.99 a month for users after their first free month of usage as well as businesses paying to advertise their venue or event through the app. Also, businesses can pay to be endorsed by the app and shown more frequently to users with similar interests. However, these businesses must earn our endorsement, I will not send individuals to an event I felt was poorly run or just plain bad, for the sake of money. The app would lose credibility and its essential purpose. I felt that having both these streams of revenue can help me make the app the best it could be, hire great technical support, find brand ambassadors, create merchandise to sell and more! As much as I would love a huge payday, I would throw much of my profit back into the app and make it the best it could be.

I think it will be fairly easy to get individuals to switch from other event based applications to mine because it includes many more features and angles that these other apps just don't provide. Also, from the research, the two existing apps that are similar to mine cost $5 and $10 a month, so my price point will give me an advantage. My competitors don't have a very realistic price and they dont give users enough bang for their buck. My strengths are price, variety and features. I think this concept is unique and I could do it extremely well. My app is entirely about experience and connecting with others. By having an almost intangible product I have reduced my costs and can focus so much more on the experience my customers have had using the app as well as the experiences they have had socially from using it. I would focus on using employees for customer support and brand ambassadors. The main people who would be posting and providing content for the app would be the users and businesses themselves that are a part of it.

I think my most important resource would definitely be my experience running and creating my own class that I taught to others. Not only did I get great experience, I learned how to create something from scratch and lead others as well. Doing that at such a young age showed me I wanted to be my own boss and leader. What's next? I would like to look into my idea more and do more research into my market. Provide some sort of poll or survey to a large audience of my target market, around 100-300 people, and see if I can foreseeably get this concept done before this pandemic is over. In five years if this could be my full time career I would be over the moon. I would still like to be the CEO, but I could see myself employing a team, specifically focusing on the technological aspect of the app, and taking more of  a backseat. There will also be busy young people looking to spend their free time the right way, and I’d be honored to help.