What a Waste

Industry

There is a very large market that we would be able to target. The natural resources defense council, an environmental action group has just finished a four year analysis of the bottled water industry and they made a lot of conclusions. Firstly, they claim that over half of all Americans drink bottled water and about a third of the public consumes it regularly. Plastic water bottle sales have tripled in the past 10 years, to about $4 billion a year. This is a pretty large market to target.

It is very hard to find numbers on Nalgenes numbers but how many times do you walk down the street, sit in class or on public transportation and see people holding nalgenes or other types of water bottles? It is very frequent.

It terms of competition, there is not too much but they are definitely around. Backtothetap.com is an organization that creates sports bottles that filter themselves. I do not own one nor have I ever seen one being sold but they are not good looking. They look like any old sports water bottle. In order to really sell a filtered water bottle, it needs to be trendy and slim so that consumers can feel comfortable walking around with it.

Filta: Fulfilling Consumer Needs:

Currently, there is not a convenient way to get fresh water on the go. This is a problem that consumers are faced with everyday. We aim to solve this consumer pain with Filtra, our filtrated water bottle. 

 

The need for clean water is currently being met by in-home filtration devices, or bottled water. There are problems however with each of these.  The in-home filtration devices clean your water and make it taste good but can only be used at home. What happens when you are on a bike ride and need to refill your water bottle? You could use your Nalgene, but where will you get the clean water to fill it? Perhaps you have access to a store and can purchase bottled water. However, bottled water is expensive, harmful to your health, and damaging to the environment. 

 

The Filtra water bottle, especially fitted with a filtration device, will enable consumers to enjoy the clean taste of filtered water when they are out of the house, with out the harmful effects on their health or environment. Filtra water bottles will save consumers money. Filtra is free to use after the initial purchase, much better then paying a $1.50 for every single bottled water. Filtra can take any water and make it safe and delicious. If you are hiking you can fill the Filtra bottle with stream water, which it will purify and make drinkable. Filtra can be filled from the bathroom sink or the public water fountain, giving the water the extra filtration it needs to be pure and taste fresh. Filtra will improve the way people consume water, offering convenience and affordability, while being good for consumer health and the environment. 

Buying Local

This weekend I spent 5 hours at the Saratoga Farmers Market. I worked with a friend who is selling a coupon book, at first sales were very slow, but once people realized that they could save money and support the community, they were on board. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising- people trust their friends before they trust some stranger. There is a genuine concern within the community- people feel good supporting a cause. On Sunday I worked at an apple orchard making donuts. It was a similar crowd- people where there enjoying music and eating cider donuts and going apple picking. They were paying $7.50 for 12 donuts- and these donuts were small- but the demand was enormous. The donuts were hot, and very good- but cost the company practically nothing to produce. People kept on coming up to the donuts converyer belt and asking for free samples, and we either shooed them away or snuck them a donut. A way that they could be more efficient would be to add another cash register by the donuts machines. This would not only get people in and out faster, but it would get people in the heart of the store and make them want to purchase more things while they were waiting. So out of this weekend I got- People want to feel a part of something. Saratoga has a natural beauty that you can become drunk with- this inebriation can make you spend a lot of money. There is a large market to buy local- giving people an option online- to buy local- could open it up to more people and potentially create a lot of business.

Online Living Guide

Everyone is looking to buy local and purchase organic foods, but the biggest problem is that organic foods are too expensive.  We would provide a compilation of online coupons that people would pay 10 dollars to access, and then be able to save up to $2000 with all of the coupons.  The companies would pay a small fee- around $100- to put an ad and coupon on the website.  This would be much cheaper than designing a book- because we would not have to make the actual product, people could print them out as they wish.  This product would allow people to buy organic local food at a lower price.

Online network for college athletes

An online networking system for college athletes. It would be similar to Facebook, but geared specifically for collegiate athletes. The site would contain player's stats (individual and team), team schedules, sporting events, etc. Athletes can check out their competition before matches, it would promote sports on college campuses, and build team camaraderie.