Week 10
After refining our research on our competitors, we found out that our product was located in a re-segmented market rather than a new market. This was clearly explained as we could define who our customers were and at the same time consider what our edge was. The niche we are targeting- solar optics based active panels- is making our prototype highly differentiable in the solar energy industry. The differentiation of our product occurred as a result of the strong fit between our idea and the UC Berkeley patent of tech ID: 21053. Indeed, our project is directly related to the technology of the patent using solar panels for cleaning water at home according to a complex infrastructure of unique photovoltaic cells installed inside residential building facades. In the process, we learned that a re-segmented market was a great environment for building innovative ideas as well as for providing customers with effective solutions to their specific needs. Our main issue right now is to find out whether or not the solar panels can be produced using third-party manufacturers including solar companies. If not, we will have to decide what will be the best solution for minimizing the cost of our own manufactured solar panels. An additional meeting with the inventor Gutierrez must be done to solve the problem. We will take these coming two weeks as a proxy for finishing our interviews, perfecting our business development canvas, and creating our P&L statements to assess viability and profitability of our idea. So far, we have done a survey and have collected 5 responses that we have used for creating a comparison chart in order to understand our customers' need for the product.
Hi! It seems that you're really figuring out which approach you're going to take and how it's going to work in the market. What insight did you get from your interviews? Are you considering any specific potential market?
ReplyDeleteOur team also needs to talk about the manufacturing part. We have not decided if we're going to use a third-party manufacturer or we're going to produce our own.
Good luck finding this information and understanding your customers' needs
Howdy! I think you have a great idea in using a third party to manufacture your solar panels for you. The startup costs on making such a plant on your own would be astronomical, so if you want to entice a venture capitalist to give you money you've got to keep the ROI high which means minimizing capital costs.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to find out what your approach will be and if you will have the option of hiring a third-party manufacturer to manufacture the solar panels for you. My team is most likely manufacturing the chips on our own and we will sell it to manufacturers to include it in their final products. I am interested in learning more about the different strategies and what you guys will end up deciding. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi! I think your patent is very interesting! If solar companies cannot manufacture your solar panels will they become your competitors or your target market?
ReplyDeleteManufacturing can get pretty expensive, but I think you shouldn't have a problem finding a third party willing to manufacture your product, which will reduce your costs. Do keep in mind that economies of scale are very relevant for manufacturers, so you may have to factor in spending a little more at the beginning if your volumes are small, and plan on increasing your profit margins in the long term as you scale the company and increase your order volumes.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of your re-segmented market: what exactly do you mean by that? It is important to define exactly who your target market is and how to best reach it.