Idea Napkin No. 1

1) I am a third year student majoring in Business Administration and Philosophy major, and minoring in Sociology. My strengths lie in analytical and critical thinking. I believe these skills will allow me to effectively evaluate data and execute data analysis, which will be helpful for forecasting different market trends. In doing so, I hope to be able to adapt the business model so that it can be both sustainable and relevant in the future. I have a lot of experience working in team settings and collaborating with others---this has allowed me to develop valuable interpersonal and communication skills. My main aspiration in life is to understand people better and provide assistance whenever I am able to do so. If I were to pursue my business concept, a considerable amount of monetary funds would be needed towards research and development. Thus, I would allocate a considerable amount of time and energy to bring this business into fruition.

2) The current product in mind is protective headgear equipment for roofers that would protect these workers from lightning strikes and other hazardous weather conditions. This helmet would be composed of durable metal material. Contrary to common thought, since metal is a strong conductor of electricity, metal provides lightning a low-resistance path. Materials with higher resistance cause electrical energy to be converted into heat---making it conducive for fires or explosions. Thus, although this metal helmet will not be able to completely prevent lightning from striking roofers, it will aid in protecting the workers and minimizing the potential damage that is caused.

3) I will be offering this product to individuals within the roofing industry. Thus, this is more of a rather niche product. This product primarily applies to roofers because of the elevated surface in which they usually perform their work. Since lightning tends to strike taller surfaces, roofers are often at risk when it comes to unforeseen weather hazards. The current market size, measured by revenue, of the roofing industry is $47.1 billion in 2020, and the market size has grown 2.7% per year on average in the US between 2015 and 2020. Therefore, there is definitely a strong market for this product. This product does not have to be exclusive to roofers, however. Any worker who finds him/herself outside and on elevated surface while working (i.e. general construction workers) will find this product particularly useful.

4) Customers will be interested in this product because it provides a very essential value: safety. There are currently no standard protective equipment for roofers on the market---especially when it comes to weather conditions. Roofers are often susceptible to lightning strikes and experience severe injuries such as cardiac arrest and even death. Therefore, providing these workers with protective headgear will be very helpful in preserving their safety and wellbeing. This will be the main appeal in purchasing or using this product.

5) In terms of what sets my product apart from everyone else, one of my core competencies lies in the fact that there are not many existing competitors. In fact, there are no standard protective roofing equipment on the market currently. Since this problem has not been properly addressed before, my product has the opportunity to penetrate a very profitable niche market with little to no competition. Further, while there are helmets that may protect manual laborers from standard head injuries (i.e. the type of helmets that construction workers often wear), the headgear I am proposing is different since it addresses the danger of lightning strikes.

Overall, I believe all five of these elements fit together. Since my product is targeting more of a niche audience, I was a bit reluctant at first. However, after doing some research, I learned that the roofing industry is very profitable and still growing. Thus, there is a clear market for this product. This was only reaffirmed when I realized that there are very little competing products when it comes to the problem that I wish to address. I believe that the main obstacle will be in actually configuring and developing the product.