What's Next?

Existing Market

1.     I think the next step for my venture is to expand into related services like medical assistance and hospice care. These are services that may be needed by my current clientele and are still in the industry of senior care.

2.     Interviews:

·      Interview 1: My first interview was with a working mother of two who often helps her elderly mom. After describing my business and asking what we should be doing that we weren’t, she said that we need to offer physical therapy services, as her mother needed in-home physical therapy after falling and breaking her hip. When I mentioned that we were also considering expanding to include hospice care as well as medical services, she said that it sounded like a natural progression that would allow us to continue to help our clients even as they became more dependent.

·      Interview 2: My second interview was with a man who helps care for his father-in-law. He thought the venture should expand into offering group services, like organizing a bus that goes to the local library or grocery store, since these were common activities that seniors may need help with. When I explained my vision for the future of the venture, he agreed that medical services were a logical expansion, but noted that we would need to hire different personnel.

·      Interview 3: My third interview was with an attorney who wants to hire help for her in-laws. She thought that the next step for the venture should be offering patient care services, like assistance using the restroom or shower. When I mentioned that the venture was considering expanding to include medical services and hospice care, she said that those services would really compliment what my venture currently offered to clients.

3.     I was pleased that my interviewees seemed to concur that expanding in medical services and hospice care were the best next steps for my venture. While my second interviewee raised an interesting idea with the thought of group services, many senior living communities already offer similar services to their residents (all of whom live independently). This idea also did not precisely fit my venture concept, since my venture focuses on individualized rather than group care.

Expanding into medical services and hospice care will help my venture grow within its current market because it will allow us to continue caring for our customers even as their needs change and their health declines. Currently, our customers have to find another service if they need qualified medical assistance. This is a loss of potential business, as our customers would most likely use our venture to meet these needs since they have a high degree of trust and familiarity with our service.

New Market

1.     My new market would be seniors who have some form of insurance that covers long-term care. My prior market was the adult children of seniors, who paid for the service out of their own disposable income. This new market does not have disposable income and relies on insurance to pay for the care they need.

2.     I think my venture concept will create value for people in this market by providing a needed service to an underserved demographic. Seniors still need help maintaining their independence, regardless of their personal or familial wealth.

3.     Interviews:

·      Interview 1: My first interview was with an elderly man who is wheelchair-bound and has long-term care insurance. When I described my venture and asked how it may benefit people like him, the interviewee said that it would really help him as he often has trouble running basic errands, like going to the grocery. He said that the service would need to be covered by insurance to be helpful, and he mentioned that most services needed to offer some form of medical assistance to qualify for insurance coverage.

·      Interview 2: My second interview was with an elderly woman who lives alone. She said that the venture could help her get to her doctor’s appointments as they are on the opposite side of town from her home. She also said that she would appreciate help driving. She said that the service would have to be covered by Medicare for her to use it, as she has no supplemental insurance and is living on a fixed income.

4.     My assumptions that this market lacked disposable income but still needed the type of services that my venture offered were correct. The most surprising thing I learned about this new market was the importance of qualifying for insurance coverage. Earlier customer interviews mentioned how it would be helpful if the service was covered by insurance, but I still didn’t understand exactly how crucial complete insurance coverage was for this market.

While I think that this new market is certainly viable, I don’t think it is quite as attractive as my initial market. Because this new market relies completely on insurance, any business that chooses to enter it must be extremely well versed in insurance coverages, which are diverse, confusing, and convoluted. Getting paid by insurance companies also means that the venture will most likely earn less money per customer, which may sink the start-up. Because of the limited income potential and the technical difficulties of dealing with insurance, I think that the venture will be staying with its initial market for the time being. That being said, the venture might choose to expand to this new market at some point in the future.