Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity

The potential customers for my product, which is a solar powered battery charging station, are students at the University of Florida who bring their laptops or cell phones to campus and need a place to charge them. My potential customers has the potential to grow to other universities who will implement my product on their campuses. Also, the potential customers are people who value sustainability and look for new ways to live sustainable lives. My product gives them the opportunity to do so. The nature of the need lies in how there are limited areas to charge devices around campus and also in how UF tries to be sustainable wherever possible. Students at the University of Florida are on campus for multiple hours every day of the week, and many of them bring their laptops and cell phones to campus to use for school work and communication. There are limited outlets in the libraries and buildings on campus for students to use to charge their devices, and there are no places outdoors for students to charge them. It would be useful to place solar-powered charging stations in various areas around campus. Implementing solar-powered charging stations into the mix would not only contribute to improving UFs sustainability efforts on campus, but also provide students with places to charge their electronics on the go. Sustainability is a growing industry in that climate change and the fear of depleting our resources is a growing concern in the world. Implementing a product that is useful but also can give people the opportunity to see how easy it is to be more sustainable in their everyday lives may appeal to the market. There are solar-powered charging stations already, but my product would provide students with immediate access to the stations as they will be placed all over campus for usability. This opportunity I would say is not huge but it isn’t small either. With a growing need for being ecofriendly and with UF valuing sustainable practices, I think it would be easy to implement. This opportunity will be open until someone comes up with a more efficient way to use renewable energy!

Innovation

I am offering a way for students to be sustainable by using a renewable energy source (solar energy). I believe that my product is incrementally innovative because I did not invent the product, but I have a way to make a more useful product that people will use more frequently. My innovation is a station that will be set up on different parts around campus, that will have multiple battery charging outlets that students can use to charge their laptops or phones. The energy source comes from the solar power, so there will not be a need to plug in the station to any form of electricity; it just has to be outside with exposure to the sun. my idea is to use a strong solar panel that will allow for quick charging of devices, even if it is more expensive. Students are on busy schedules and need quick options especially for charging electronics. By plugging in your device to the station, it charges your electronic using solar energy. I originally thought this would just be a nonprofit business where students just use it for free. That is still the case, however, I want to sell the actual charging stations to campuses nationwide, for students to use all over and be sustainable. I would sell each station for $500, if I am able to contract with the solar contractor that I have contact with.

Venture Concept

My innovation will address the opportunity I have identified because it is an immediate way for people to be more sustainable in their everyday lives, and it is accessible and easy to use for anyone. By implementing this product, UF will have another way for students to be sustainable on campus and show how easy it is to implement solar energy into products that can be used in everyday life. People who value the earth and believe that climate change is a big issue will care about this product and want to use it. Customers would use this product because it is free to them and they can charge their electronics sustainably. The competitors of my product are other solar energy companies, such as the ones who sell cell phone chargers that are solar powered. I may add another product line to my product that would be a customizable solar powered charger that would be an individual purchase. Packaging does not play a significant role in my business, it is more about the benefits of implementing and using my product. I would find people who value the environment to help me start my business. I would also contact the UF Office of Sustainability for advice and about the possibility of implementing my product onto campus.

I think that my most important resource will be financial resources and business contacts. Both of these are vital to starting a business. Having a contact in the solar power industry will be a huge advantage when figuring out how to keep my costs low to start up my business. The next thing for my venture would be to increase my product offering such as selling solar powered individual chargers that are customizable to each consumer. What is next for me would be that I would hopefully build a prototype and sell it to the school, and then be able to sell my product to universities and campuses nationwide.