Monday, December 13, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Kris Konish New Bartender
Problem: New Product Strategy: It's Sunday afternoon and the football game is on. You want to go down to the bar and have a few drinks with your friends. When you arrive you see that the bar is full and the bartenders are backed up.
Idea Generation: Wouldn't it be nice just to sit down and have the drink of your choice ordered and brought to you without talking to the bartenders.
Idea Screening: I have recently graduated from Keystone College with an Associate degree in Culinary Arts. During those years I have worked in restaurants and took a mixology class. I also spent a few nights working as a bartender. With the numerous amounts of different drinks I had trouble learning them and keeping up. Wouldn't it be nice to have a machine where all you do is select the mix drink you would like and it would pour it for you?
Business Analysis: Looking at price with this product wouldn't be cheap, but not very expensive. Since you would be replacing your bartender you can invest into this machine that can store 1,000s of drink combination and has the ability to “learn” more, if a customer would like to create a drink the machine would remember and be able to mix it in the future.
Development: The machine would be able to rest on top of the bar. With the ability to mix up to six drinks at a time. The built in computer allows owners to program the mix drinks they offer. The machine would be bottled feed with a sensor relying when a bottle needs to be changed. Also the machine will be able to hookup to the soda fountain.
Test Marketing: First we would test the product in small bars, for free, working on the bugs and possible errors. We can have a “Bartender Challenge.” As the product develops further we would test the projects at larger bars to see if the machine can work harder than your average bartender.
Commercialization: The biggest way we can create customers is by getting our product out there on the market. We would advertise in commercial kitchen magazines and at commercial liquor stores.
Idea Generation: Wouldn't it be nice just to sit down and have the drink of your choice ordered and brought to you without talking to the bartenders.
Idea Screening: I have recently graduated from Keystone College with an Associate degree in Culinary Arts. During those years I have worked in restaurants and took a mixology class. I also spent a few nights working as a bartender. With the numerous amounts of different drinks I had trouble learning them and keeping up. Wouldn't it be nice to have a machine where all you do is select the mix drink you would like and it would pour it for you?
Business Analysis: Looking at price with this product wouldn't be cheap, but not very expensive. Since you would be replacing your bartender you can invest into this machine that can store 1,000s of drink combination and has the ability to “learn” more, if a customer would like to create a drink the machine would remember and be able to mix it in the future.
Development: The machine would be able to rest on top of the bar. With the ability to mix up to six drinks at a time. The built in computer allows owners to program the mix drinks they offer. The machine would be bottled feed with a sensor relying when a bottle needs to be changed. Also the machine will be able to hookup to the soda fountain.
Test Marketing: First we would test the product in small bars, for free, working on the bugs and possible errors. We can have a “Bartender Challenge.” As the product develops further we would test the projects at larger bars to see if the machine can work harder than your average bartender.
Commercialization: The biggest way we can create customers is by getting our product out there on the market. We would advertise in commercial kitchen magazines and at commercial liquor stores.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Michael Brown - XSI (Executive Security Inc.)
Idea: War has changed. The days of standing armies are largescale land battles are numbered. Vietnam was proof enough that small strike teams utalizing guerilla warfare is more than effective for facing traditional standing armies. In recent years private military contractors (PMC's) are proving more and more profitable for their company owners' and less expensive for the governments. For example every US Soldier is insured with $400,000 life insurance which although handle through a private company (Service Member's Group LifeInsurance) almost all funds for this are backed by the US government. Also the government must pay for all theri gear, food, and lodging which all these costs add up. According to the book Black Water: Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, the US government only paid 5.4 million to have 20 former Navy SEAL and Army Special Forces Troops to guard Kabul for 6 months. This may sound like a lot of money but compared to the cost and logisitics of placing 20 soldiers to do this job, the contractors are cheaper, and unlike the soldiers, PMC's are better paid due mainly to the lack of government having to provide everything for them to operate. War has gone from being just or unjust, right or wrong, moral or immoral, to profitable or ont profitable.
Target Market: Foreign Governments who can back payment for contracts in assets other than paper based currency, which is no longer backed by the gold standard.
Services offered: Our operatives will work in a wide range of fields to include aviation. We will use Blackwater and AAI as the building models for this company. However, we will distinguish our brand by offering other services than just traditional boots on ground security, as is offered by most companies, but will also take use of emerging technologies such as unmanned ariel vehichles to provide less dangerous more tech based security of an area.
Payment: Amounts billed to governments will be based on the number of operators, assets, and time that we use in order to accomplish a mission. Payments will be collected in non-currency form (i.e. gold, diamonds, or a currency that is still backed by gold). The reason for this is because this company in order to exist will automatically have to be international, and gold is usually very stable and the value grows over time despite trends in the market. Also gold can be liquidized into any currency. This way when we pay our employees if they are from a country other than the US in whatever currency they wish (i.e. Mexican Pescos, Euroes, etc..) hence increasing morale within the company by doing what our employees want.
Market segmentation: First and formost we will tailor to needs of Core Nations (i.e. UK, US, China, etc...) due to the fact that these countries spend the most amount on contracts yearly. The US spends $346,750.00 per Black Water Operative in Iraq per year (Schahill, 61). Next we would tailor our services to less industiral second world governments like Sierra Lione. These countries were mostly former British Colonies, and in the case of Sierra Lione they control valuable assets, Sierra Lione controls above 60% of the worlds diamond market. Finally we would tailor to third world contries, but only if they are backed by a core nation (i.e. New Iraqi Government).
Data and Market Research: As to where we will acquire intel, we will do it mainly through secondary data and use other PMC companies that have exisited before us as the blue print. However, for the Unmanned Ariel Section we would have to rely on data from the government since most contracting firm do not own any aviation assets none the less unmanned aviation assets. However, I can tell you from personal expirence as a UAV operator that the US government has a keen intrest in this field. Enough to drop $3,000,000.00 per Shadow system and $100,000.00 per Raven, and even untold more amount for predators, hnters, and global hawks. Also, our data could potentially come form our employees since most of the time a pre-req for becoming a PMC is atleast 6 years of service in the military in which every field you are trying to work in.
What makes us so diiferent: Once again UAV's. This will make our operations safer for our employees, and more importantly let us offer a service offered by few to no contracting companies in US let alone the world. Also, to combine our UAV securit services with traditional on the ground security will set us apart due to the fact that the only company that I know of that offeres extremely limited UAV security to the US government only (AAI Corp) does not offer traditional ground security and must be inserted and supported by traditional US Military. By combining the two with my company we will able to operate independent and unsupported by a country's military and provide our own security, hence allowing us to operate in more diverse location and not making ourselves bound to the laws of geneva conventions, as Blackwater proved in 2004 when their contracors came into an emergency situation.
So there you have my idea for a more complete security package offered by my company. The idea is to be as secure and independent in the battlefield as possible while cashing in on the fact that our service are cheaper to governments than standing armies, and the fact that the increasing guerilla nature of modern warefare has lead to an increase in demand for highly trained soldiers and technology.
Books used: Jermey Scahill. BlackWater
John Geddes. Highway to Hell
Target Market: Foreign Governments who can back payment for contracts in assets other than paper based currency, which is no longer backed by the gold standard.
Services offered: Our operatives will work in a wide range of fields to include aviation. We will use Blackwater and AAI as the building models for this company. However, we will distinguish our brand by offering other services than just traditional boots on ground security, as is offered by most companies, but will also take use of emerging technologies such as unmanned ariel vehichles to provide less dangerous more tech based security of an area.
Payment: Amounts billed to governments will be based on the number of operators, assets, and time that we use in order to accomplish a mission. Payments will be collected in non-currency form (i.e. gold, diamonds, or a currency that is still backed by gold). The reason for this is because this company in order to exist will automatically have to be international, and gold is usually very stable and the value grows over time despite trends in the market. Also gold can be liquidized into any currency. This way when we pay our employees if they are from a country other than the US in whatever currency they wish (i.e. Mexican Pescos, Euroes, etc..) hence increasing morale within the company by doing what our employees want.
Market segmentation: First and formost we will tailor to needs of Core Nations (i.e. UK, US, China, etc...) due to the fact that these countries spend the most amount on contracts yearly. The US spends $346,750.00 per Black Water Operative in Iraq per year (Schahill, 61). Next we would tailor our services to less industiral second world governments like Sierra Lione. These countries were mostly former British Colonies, and in the case of Sierra Lione they control valuable assets, Sierra Lione controls above 60% of the worlds diamond market. Finally we would tailor to third world contries, but only if they are backed by a core nation (i.e. New Iraqi Government).
Data and Market Research: As to where we will acquire intel, we will do it mainly through secondary data and use other PMC companies that have exisited before us as the blue print. However, for the Unmanned Ariel Section we would have to rely on data from the government since most contracting firm do not own any aviation assets none the less unmanned aviation assets. However, I can tell you from personal expirence as a UAV operator that the US government has a keen intrest in this field. Enough to drop $3,000,000.00 per Shadow system and $100,000.00 per Raven, and even untold more amount for predators, hnters, and global hawks. Also, our data could potentially come form our employees since most of the time a pre-req for becoming a PMC is atleast 6 years of service in the military in which every field you are trying to work in.
What makes us so diiferent: Once again UAV's. This will make our operations safer for our employees, and more importantly let us offer a service offered by few to no contracting companies in US let alone the world. Also, to combine our UAV securit services with traditional on the ground security will set us apart due to the fact that the only company that I know of that offeres extremely limited UAV security to the US government only (AAI Corp) does not offer traditional ground security and must be inserted and supported by traditional US Military. By combining the two with my company we will able to operate independent and unsupported by a country's military and provide our own security, hence allowing us to operate in more diverse location and not making ourselves bound to the laws of geneva conventions, as Blackwater proved in 2004 when their contracors came into an emergency situation.
So there you have my idea for a more complete security package offered by my company. The idea is to be as secure and independent in the battlefield as possible while cashing in on the fact that our service are cheaper to governments than standing armies, and the fact that the increasing guerilla nature of modern warefare has lead to an increase in demand for highly trained soldiers and technology.
Books used: Jermey Scahill. BlackWater
John Geddes. Highway to Hell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)