25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market. 

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

My ventures' products and services are Ecuadorian handcrafted artisanal products. These come from the Andean textile industry, found throughout South America, but distinct in every detail and concept.  

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

Jose Ignacio Montejo

He purchases these items every time he goes back to his home country, Ecuador. He told me that we should identify a new market of old people that are retired and just want to decorate their interior homes with authentic South American artisans. He told me that her Grandparents love to have unique artifacts such as the Andean textiles I include in my market. 

Andres Peñaherrera

Andres studies abroad in Spain, and he always carries some of the Otavalo pants because they remind them of his home country. He is an active member of this existing market, and he told me that I should sell to brick and mortar stores that sell this kind of products such as Miami, Saint Augustine, New York, etc. Its very hard to reach, but I can sell these hammocks and pants for a high price and re-supply them constantly every month or so. 

Santiago Cardenas

Santiago always dresses in a unique way because no one has his clothes. He purchases his clothes from vintage stores, retro shops, etc. He told me that I should target these stores and sell them with the concept I have acquired in the Etsy storefront. I think this is an interesting business, everyone guides me towards the B2B... I have a good feeling about this. 

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growth in your existing market.

I want to expand my growth and the e-commerce consumption has declined in the last three weeks, sales have dropped, and this did not happen with my prior business.  I think that I should have multiple sources of income in the same business, such as: different storefronts, selling B2B, selling in person, selling to contacts. I depend too much of e-commerce. 

I think the next step towards expanding my business is to contact different suppliers and inspect the possibilities of not relying upon online business. It's more work, definitely, but I need the different perspective of making actual sales and negotiating. I will begin to contact florists and negotiate a vendor deal, where I can give the subscription of premium Ecuadorian roses. Etsy, Amazon and Google Analytics are eroding my profits because everyone knows that before Black Friday, the sales are very low. I will wait until the sales growth if they don't I would seriously consider changing my business strategy. 

New Market.

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

I included predatory pricing at the beginning of my other business selling soccer memorabilia, and it worked. My profits decreased per unit, but my quantity increased. Now I have high prices since the products are high quality, and therefore I have low sales. I wanted to change my strategy, but it has not worked effectively for me. I will now look for college students that want to follow the new retro, hipster or bohemian trends. 

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

My new market has is radical, but I am surrounded by college students, and marketing can be very easy. I would lower my prices by A LOT. Maybe 50-40% and college students would be able to purchase my products because they would ft in their budget. 

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 

Nicole Aguilar

She likes to dress unique, and she really enjoys clothes that nobody acquires. She told me that my prices were too high, but after I told her I would reduce it to 50%, she even told me she could buy two or three products. 

Andrea Widmann

She lives in Savannah, Georgia and she enjoys the Andean Textile market clothing. She has a hammock bought from Peru. She told me that she found the prices too high and after I told her I would reduce the prices, she would MAYBE buy one. It is still too high for her. 

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

I was surprised that the prices were still high for one of the college students that I asked. I was impressed because College students do not realize that these items are handcrafted and artisanal, imported from Ecuador; therefore carry a higher value. College students do not recognize the value of these products, and older people do know that these products are high in value. All of my sales have been to my intended audience, from 25-60-year-old customers. 

I knew that if I lower the prices I would have more sales, but the VALUE of my store would not be the same. I know that sometimes people don't like low prices because of low prices=low quality. But as an Entrepreneur, I want to make sales, I need to give the current business I have a chance to grow or see what's going on, then react.