Competitive Advantage of the Idea
Our business idea is to develop an online application for car parking spaces. The interested subscriber will be able to acquire notifications on their mobile devices on available parking spaces near their location. Our online application app has high competitive advantage in the market because competitor companies are relatively few (Hill 2008, p. 50). The app displays a high variety of content and has enhanced accuracy levels. Investors should invest in our online application for car parking because it is unique and we have conducted detailed research on entrepreneurial companies that may be planning to venture in the same market (Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt 2005, p. 45). For example, in London there is a similar app known as ‘Parkopedia’ which displays data quoting the time when car parks open and the lowest capacity levels in particular car parks. Through its use of algorithms, Parkopedia can attain 95% accuracy, however, it only works within London, and its efficiency can only be mathematically predicted.
Our app will be able to attain 100% accuracy through the application of 24/7 CCTV footage (Burgel and Murray 2000, p. 49). Another research we conducted on competitive ideas in the market is the use of roadside notice boards in towns that display available spaces and capacity levels in car parks. However, the disadvantage of such boards is that their details are too small that may deter driver’s ability to concentrate while driving thus increasing the chances of road accidents. Another competitive idea is the app known as ‘Car Parking Management’ (CMS), which focuses on rewarding motorists that abide by the parking rules and who report illegal or poor car parkers. The app, however, creates controversies because the primary goal of drivers is to acquire parking spaces and not to report those who do not follow the rules.
Apart from being 100% accurate, our app will maximize the effectiveness of the car parking system by minimizing the motorist’s time spent in searching for their car hence, increasing the number of cars being parked in a day (Kunz and Warren 2011, p. 354).
Implementation Roadmap
The major problem is the lack of adequate parking spaces, which presented the need for an effective and applicable system. Our team which consists of four researchers developed the online app for car parking not to increase the number of parking spaces but to maximize the number of cars getting in and out of the car park hence minimizing parking congestion (Yalcinkaya, Calantone and Griffith 2007, p. 88). Currently, a person takes almost 6 minutes searching for their car in the car park, but our online app will direct the motorist to a car park that has available spaces at any time of the day.
The idea is highly scalable, and plans are being made to implement and activate it as soon as possible. The estimated costs of launching and running the app are significantly less than the cost of constructing a new car park (Gans and Stern 2003, p. 346).
The app will consist of 24/7 CCTV accessibility in the car park hence highly accurate. It will also incorporate online purchasing of car parking tickets therefore saving time and enabling convenient transactions (Burgel and Murray 2000, p. 59). For subscribers who would want to buy the small chip, the app would charge £1.99, and the disk is inserted in the car to be scanned and registered by the ticket person. Another feature of the app is the car’s tracking map which will offer the user distinct directions to where their vehicle is located.
Reference List
Burgel, O. and Murray, G.C., 2000. The international market entry choices of start-up companies
in high-technology industries. Journal of International Marketing, 8(2), pp.33-62.
Gans, J.S. and Stern, S., 2003. The product market and the market for “ideas”:
commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs. Research policy, 32(2), pp.333-350.
Hill, C., 2008. International business: Competing in the global market place. Strategic Direction,
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Kunz, V.D. and Warren, L., 2011. From innovation to market entry: a strategic management
model for new technologies. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 23(4), pp.345-366.
Tidd, J., Bessant, J. and Pavitt, K., 2005. Managing innovation integrating technological, market
and organizational change. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Yalcinkaya, G., Calantone, R.J. and Griffith, D.A., 2007. An examination of exploration and
exploitation capabilities: Implications for product innovation and market performance. Journal of International Marketing, 15(4), pp.63-93.