25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

Step 1: Talk about what you think is what's next in terms of products and services for your venture.

I think I would expand my network of merchants to more retailers and commercial stores that are not the main set of merchants I want to approach first. I also think rolling out our own card would be good and implementing a card reader dongle for merchants just like square would be good. However , I think it will be chip-only cards as it is more secure and I will market our product as more secure than bank cards which are not secure if they have magnetic stripes. I also want the system to help people switch to digital receipts and remove the hassle of keeping physical receipts especially for returns.

Step 2: Interview three customers who are already part of the market you have identified, and ask them what they believe is next for a venture like yours. Describe to them your business, and simply ask "What should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" Next, ask them about your ideas of what customers might want next. 

They said they use cards compared to mobile phones because sometimes its just easier to swipe or dip their card , but sometimes they do forget their wallet and having a backup way to make payments is good.
They said having a card for the payments might be useful.
They said having a budget feature for users might be useful , to help them keep track of their spending , especially on overseas trips

Step 3: Based on your own expectations and the feedback you received from customers, set a path for the future. In two to three paragraphs, describe what makes the most sense for your venture in terms of growing in your existing market.

I think having a card for the payment system would be good but will not be a priority as the plan is to focus on digital payments. Also adding financial features for end consumers would give more purpose for users. I also think having the system provide digital receipts would be a benefit users would like.

New Market

Step 1: Identify a radically different market from what you're currently planning to target. If you're currently targeting B2B, think about going after a B2C market. If you're currently targeting an affluent part of society, think about targeting a very poor part of society.

Consumers that don't travel much , like to use cash or credit card , doesn't like mobile payment/not mobile savvy , don't online shop and has many perks from their bank cards/ membership cards

Step 2: Once you have identified a radically different market, describe how you think your venture concept might be able to create value for people in that market. You may have to get creative with this -- that's OK -- and perfectly welcome!

One system that is adopted by many merchants , allowing purchases everywhere , helping to keep track of receipts and no need handle money and coins. Has features to help in financial planning/budgeting , helps get perks from merchants and gain rewards for not spending due to token voting.

Step 3: Interview two people from this new market. Again, describe to each interviewee what your concept is. Then, ask them how they think your business might be help to meet customers like them. What kinds of adaptations to the product/service mix do they think you should make to be successful in this new market? 

The product should be very user friendly and simple with advanced features to be toggled on or on additional tabs for other more tech savvy users. Offering them cards might be useful. Providing simple , accessible tutorials could help. Having merchants encouraging users to use the application can be an option as well, so merchants need an incentive to  help onboard users as well

Step 4:  Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

I think it would take time to get people used to mobile payments especially when they are used to using cash as the benefits of credit card/debit cards are not as attractive (which digital payment systems share the same benefit). However, one thing in common I feel is that there is no easy way for users to keep track of their financials as they have to log into the bank's website to look at the bank statements and payment history. Incorporating it or some other features into the payment system might bring a benefit that might be not an immediate or obvious benefit , but could be one that ends up driving adoption.

I think I am trying to gain as many users both consumers and merchants at the end of the day , it is just that I have to focus on a select few merchants and work with tech savvy consumers or benefit-seeking consumers before expanding efforts for widespread adoption