NEXT STEP

The next step in terms of my products and projects is likely going to lead us to sell more animal-cleaning products, so I went to the Pet Smart and other stores of that nature to see what people had to say about the idea. First I interviewed some person with a dog, asking them what they thought I needed to do. Specifically, what should I be planning to do that I'm not already? The person I asked said I should look towards selling products that allow people to perform my service without me having to do it. That way, eventually it'll lead to a point where the products I sell become sustainable enough that they'll consistently sell in that market. The other two people were standing by this person and agreed with them after I asked them the same question.

I pondered the reactions that I received from these strangers and began to devise a plan for the future of my project. The first step would have to be beginning to plan out how to compete in this market against other cleaning and garbage services. The major companies already have a stranglehold on the people through advertising, marketing, and long-term campaigns that keep people returning to their products. To break into that monopoly will take a lot of dedication and require much expansion on my part.

The next part would have to focus on innovation in the market. Money and resources would have to be diverted from maintaining the service offered to the market and towards research and development of products relating to what our service is. This would hopefully allow us to leg in on the competition of cleaning services and even compete with other products in outdoors or animal-based markets.

The new market that I'd like to reach out to beyond the demographic I'm already aiming at is a more upper-class group. The University itself is also on the map, as it generates high enough income in the surrounding area. But, specifically, those who live in gated communities will be my next targets. They're always looking for a new, niche cleaning service. To study the market, I snuck into a gated beach community of sorts and managed to interview two youths playing with NERF guns. They said that the better option for entering this new demographic (I'm paraphrasing) was to sell products instead of using a service, because most families in the area have a maid or gardening service of sorts that they could get to do work for them.

This new market was rather interesting to me. I do come from a middle-upper-class background, but to see the kind of gathered wealth in one area was new to me. My family was rather isolated deep in the farmlands of Maryland, and a neighborhood of people like us was rather unnerving. It did surprise me to see how many of my predictions came true, as ironic as that sounds. Political banners on front lawns, people of minority ethnicity doing labor outside, brats left unattended by possibly alcoholic parents. Yeah, kind of the whole nine yards on a rich as Hell neighborhood.

After I left I did more reflection on the market compared to what I had previously going on and did some studying on it. The demographic of middle and lower class citizens had more stability in it given my relationship with my own neighborhood, but the chance to make more money increased as the class of people I aimed for did. Also of note is that my theory of humanity's movement towards complete automation pays off better in the upper-class neighborhoods, as they'll likely be the first to go. It's still an appealing new market, and I'd like to move towards it despite all the risks compared to the original plan.