25 What's Next?

Existing Market:

Step 1 My Next Step:
My vision for the future of my product, an environmentally friendly mask, is for it to be distributed by online retail services like eBay or Amazon. However, I need to first make sure that my research for a sustainable and recyclable material safe for being used as a face-mask is accurate. Either it should be recyclable or decomposable/compostable. I would also have to come up with a design for the masks that is adjustable to be as comfortable for customers. The service my company would provide would be the research, production, and the design of the face masks. We would then send them through an online market to sell them. I also think that I would have to create a website or app for my brand that would be able to explain our product more in depth. A brand image would help spread the product.

Step 2 Interviewees:
After telling my interviewees my next step for my product they provided insight to what they think I should add to my next steps. I received the recommendation that after I research materials that are viable for a eco-friendly mask, I should test it in real-world applications before selling them to the general public. I can then use theses results to back up my claim that my masks are safe so that customers feel more inclined and comfortable knowing that the masks are safe and reliable. my interviewees also thought that I should create the materials used in the face mask myself. Since this allows me more control in the production aspect while also allowing me to easily control what materials I use in the masks, giving me the ability to quickly change what materials go into the mask to be as safe as possible.

Step 3 Path For the Future:
The most realistic and viable thing for me to do is to first research the viable materials that can be used in my environmentally friendly masks. I think that this is easier than my other future steps because I there are many resources available for me to look up what materials that are clinically safe to use in face masks.

After doing research, I think that my next realistic step would be creating a website and a brand. This will help my product become more well known and create a customer base. it will also help me gauge how much my product would be in demand by different segments other than the ones that I targeted.

New Market:

Step 1 Identify a Radically different market:
The segment I am focusing with my product is the segment of college students that are affluent enough to spend more money on luxury goods. The face masks that I am thinking of making can be substituted for cheaper single use face masks, however they won't be as comfortable or eco-friendly as mine will be. So, a radically different segment that I would target would be people that don't care about how their actions effect the environment. This segment would also be a lot older, and maybe not totally comfortable with wearing a face mask.

Step 2 Create Value in Radical Market:
I think that in order to create value in a market segment group of people that don't think about how what they buy and use may affect the environment, I have to focus more on how comfortable I should make the face masks and how affordable they can be. I would have to sacrifice some of the eco-friendly aspects that I wanted to incorporate into the face masks that sets them apart from other similar products.

Step 3 How to Generate Value for Interviewees:
After asking my interviewees how my product would create value for them, they all gave me one similar answer, that they feel better using the face mask that I want to make since they feel that it would be better for the environment. One of my interviewees was interested with what the masks would look like after i found a viable material, they recommend that I not make the masks blue or white to be different and stand out.

Step 4 Reflect:
From the interviews I conducting, I was correct in my assumption that the new market segment I identified is not as open to spending money on masks and cares about affordability over other aspects, if the masks were to be comfortable that would be a plus too. My method for selling my product wouldn't change either, from my interviews I gathered that this new segment also buys most of their goods from online stores like Amazon and eBay.