Me
Talents: Competent with computers/electronics, systems tend to “make-sense”
Experience: Grew up with an architect mother and software engineer father. Immersed in tech and design for my entire life. My parents recently installed a solar array, so I learned a bit from that experience
Business Role: If I were to start this business right now, it would take a lot of work and time. If I wanted to stay in school at the same time, I’d have to drop the part-time work I do now and almost any other projects. In terms of the metaphysical life impact, this business would probably teach me a lot of social skills I do not yet have and how to properly balance life in general.
Offering
Reliability, affordability, and investment planning. The three things my customers need. How will we achieve these three? Reliability, we would only use panels which have been sourced by US companies with a high level of quality control. Affordability, we provide the panels as close to wholesale as possible. Investment planning, instead of sizing the system to just a percentage of the customer’s power consumption, we would design a system which has a ROI which fits the financial desires and goals of the customer.
To Whom?
Two main segments: residential and commercial. For residential, the target audience consists of homeowners who plan on staying in their current residence for 10+ years and earn between $70k-$100k, or more, annually. The commercial side is more diversified and has yet to be thoroughly researched.
Why do they care?
For the majority of my potential customers, money has its limits – it’s not infinite. In addition, in the eyes of a smaller segment, the environment has limits too. Because these resources are limited, financially conscious people want to do financially wise things with those resources. Going with the cheapest products may provide lower upfront costs, but everyone knows if you bought it cheap it probably won’t last. My company would provide would provide affordable, not cheap, and reliable, not risky, services and solutions.
Core Competencies?
I believe my core competencies can be boiled down to two things: connections and youth. Starting with youth, I am younger than most business owners, especially in the solar industry. Though that does imply I have less experience, it also means I can take on more risk and fail more often with less consequences. I have very little to lose. Having connections is not really a core competency in-and-of itself; however, when combined with my youth I would argue it is. Through my parents and my own personal interactions, I have access to a range of architects, engineers, and potential investors. Being that I am young, I also have a higher chance of getting help and advice from such individuals, because who doesn’t want to help a kid?
I believe my weakest link in this business concept is realizing the offering. US manufacturers tend to be more costly than their Chinese counterparts (however, with the recent rise in protective tariffs on imported solar panels, this is less of a case). Also, lowering the cost of the panels to near wholesale sounds like it will cut into a chunk of my profits. Maybe I won’t have to drop the price that low, it all depends on my competitors pricing. So, maybe this won’t be an issue, however, I won’t know until I get there.
Feedback Memo
From the two comments on my prior Idea Napkin, I gathered that 1. I’d probably be a good fit for this venture and 2. I may consider partnering with some larger competitors. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any place in this idea napkin to introduce the concept of partnering with competitors.
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