Product Overview: a local student network that would help connect students who provide services (i.e. haircuts, fixing something, etc.) with students who want those services.
For our general market analysis, we are focusing our SOM to the Stanford community. Currently, there are about 16,937 students at Stanford, including undergraduates and graduates. At the SOM level, this is smaller than other institutions. We can take the student population at Berkeley as another estimate at 45,057 students. Looking outwards, our SAM looks at the general college student population in the U.S. as of recently, in which the active number (meaning they are enrolled in a fall course) of students in 2019 was about 16.81 million. In terms of evaluating the potential monetary value, this number would be multiplied by the number of services requested and the profit that the student providers make. At the largest scope, our TAM could include all college students regardless of active enrollment, which would be about 19.63 million students in 2019. The evaluation for monetary value would be the same. A factor that would affect our SAM/TAM is the number of institutions who would adopt our potential network, and so the numbers could be less.
We are primarily looking at college students who provide services, college students in need of such service, and the college student population as a whole. In focusing on this market space, we are considering a few different profit models, including: obtaining a small percentage of the money earned by the service provider, a membership fee, or advertising. More research has to be done to see what will be best received by our target market.
I interviewed two current students at Stanford to help better understand our market. Both are seniors, and one cuts hair for others. In discussing the variety of platforms used for communication, whether it be between friends or for finding information, one interviewee mentioned that personal customization would be ideal for helping them filter out the myriad of news that he is sent (in this case, he was referring to feeds or emails). He also identifies as a FLI student, mentioning that it would be nice to see what services are offered for students by students on campus. He cited convenience and generally more affordable prices as aspects that he would appreciate if he knew more about what services were available on campus. My second interviewee, who cuts hair, brought to attention the importance of personal trust and word-of-mouth communications with others. He often cuts for his friends, but won’t necessarily get paid just in money. Sometimes friends will offer food, favors, or he just wants to do it for his community. This sense of trust is key amongst students, and is important for arranging providers to seekers. He also acknowledged that his perspective was to make some side money for spending, whereas others might be depending on it more to provide for themselves. Regardless, the need for trust through recommendations was clear, and that factor should be strongly considered moving forward.
Note: Yesenia approved a small extension for this post until the end of the day on 10-11-22.
