Assignment 25A- Whats Next?

• What's next for me:
• I believe a good next step would be to take my product into the realm of renters insurance. This is not an unreasonable jump from shopping around for apartments. Many people who will have used my product for finding apartments will also need renters insurance while they live in the apartment. This search is a long and tedious one as well as you need to find the plan that best suits your needs but finding it can take time. My product should be able to help cut down that time and help people find the plan for them
• Existing Market:
• In my first interview with a floor mate in my dorm he stated that a good next step would be going into the market for houses. He stated that it is not a large leap to jump into that market and that it could be just as profitable. After I told him of my thoughts in going into renters insurance he said that he understood where I got that idea from.
• In my second interview with a friend of mine from high school she told me that she could see this business going into the job search market. I thought that this thought was interesting because of how different it is from my original market. She told me that I could use the same concept in this new market. She told me that in this market it is taking large amounts of information and making it accurate and more accessible.
• In my third interview with another floor mate of mine he told me that he could see a business like this also going into the housing market. He gave many of the same reasons as my other floor mate saying that it is a logical next step and that it would be an easy transition.
• Reflection 1:

Based on my feedback and my own plans I believe a good path to take would be to take my product into the housing market. I had originally thought about doing this but dismissed it earlier. With this round of feedback it has opened my eyes to the fact that I should have talked to people before dismissing the idea entirely.
My first and second interviews showed me that people would be interested in this product in the housing market. I do agree that moving into this market would probably be the best move for my product. Even though there are realtors within the market already many people still like doing their own research as was pointed out to me by my third interviewee. I believe that if I adapt my product for the housing market I could be very profitable for me.

• New Market:
• The new market I believe that would be best for me to go into the housing market. After receiving feedback that supports this idea I feel more comfortable pursuing this venture. Many people do their own research on houses and where they want to live before meeting with a realtor. This is where my product can come in and provide the information to them so they can be confident going into their dealings with a realtor. I believe that this is a very important step in the house buying process and many people need help with it.
• Interviews:
• The first person I interviewed was my friend who has moved around his entire life. I explained to him my product and then asked if he thought people like his family would ever use it. He told me that his family would definitely use the product if it delivered on what it promises. He did say that one way that would help the product adapt to the market would be to have it maybe partner with realtors so that you can insure the customers are not skeptical of what it is offering.
• In my second interview I talked to my father who recently moved. He did say that he would be hesitant to use a product like this for finding a house. He said that he would be hesitant because of the fact that realtors are still needed and they can do this job as well. He suggested that if I could make the product easier to use than having a realtor look for you that he would consider using it. He also agreed with my friends suggestion of finding a way to partner with realtors when I told him about it.
• Reflection 2:

What I learned from these interviews is that some people would be more than willing to use this product in the housing market. Another thing I learned is that some people would not take to it without me doing some serious reshaping of the product. One thing that surprised me was the fact that people are so reliant on realtors within this market. My assumption that people would use my product to simply "window shop" was actually correct for some of the market which actually surprised me.
I will say that this market is not as appealing as my current market. Many people who I interviewed in the existing market were more than happy to use a new product that could make their search much less difficult. However in the new market many people seem to put most of their faith into realtors. This concerns me because it leads me to believe that many people won't take to my product in this new market. It doesn't seem like a good idea for me to leave a market where I know people will use my product, for a market where I am unsure if people will take to my product.