Entrepreneurship Assignment: Product Launch of Reusable Stainless-Steel Water Bottle “Larq”

Question

Task: Write a detailed entrepreneurship assignment critically discussing about a product which you want to launch in the market.

Answer

Proposed Future Business
The product undertaken in this entrepreneurship assignment that is being planned to be introduced in the market is a self-cleaning reusable stainless-steel water bottle called Larq. The bottle will be available to the customers in five colors. The bottle has been designed in a way that will help prevent the effort of finding purified water and can clean the water themselves automatically. The customers will have the chance to drink filtered water by just pouring the water in the water bottle. The self-cleaning water bottle Larq actually purifies any kind of water filled in it. The customers just need to charge the water bottle in time using its portable or wireless charging features (REA 2021). The innovation that the product has bought in the market is a portable water filter that a person can carry anywhere and this has reduced the need to use water from water filtration tank. It uses UV-C LED technique with auto clean function that clean the interior of the bottle without any inbuilt filters in them (Futuremarketinsights 2021). This sets them apart from regular filtered bottles. The bottle has combined advanced portable filtration technique along with sustainability. The business will use trademark as intellectual property right to protect the innovation and distinguish it from other businesses.

Customers
The customers of the product will be B2C where the end users of the bottles will be normal consumers in the market that will buy this product to drink purified water from this new technology water bottle. The business will target customers based on three segmentations such as demographic, behavioral and psychological (Camilleri 2018). Demographic- the business will target the young customers and athletes for their products because it will help reduce the need of these customers to find filtered water during different activities.

Behavioral- it will target young people that engage in recreational activities such as trekking, cycling or others and face challenges in keeping their bottle clean. The bottle will meet their need for cleaning the bottle easily and efficiently.

Psychological- the bottle will target customers that prefer to stay safe and maintain self-hygiene during the rising covid-19 situation. The bottle will meet their need of safe and hygienic water using advanced technology.

Unique selling point of the Larq self-cleaning water bottle will be “the UV powered self-sanitizing water bottle by Larq is the easiest and simplest way you can achieve clean drinking water, free from any germs and bacteria. You do not have to worry about your schedule or your place, as the bottle is ready to zap all waterborne microbes, regardless of your source of water” (Henthorne et al. 2016). “The most affordable and advanced technology self-cleaning water bottle that is suitable for everyone’s need”. The business will positionthem as high-quality low-price product.

Competitors
The potential competitors of the water bottle are the company isselling waterbottles equipped with inbuilt filters. However, the number of competitors is only few because it is a technology inductiveindustry and not much can enter the industry easily. Some key competitors are the Crazy Cap, Mahaton, Quartz, Luma Bottle, Noerden and others. These players have significant market share and can hinder the growth of the new product (Futuremarketinsights 2021). The customers should purchase the new Larq self-cleaning bottle, instead of its competitors because it is eco-friendly material unlike its competitors and sanitizes the bottle along with cleaning it. Moreover, the new bottle is charged at economical price so that it is affordable for customers from all income groups. This is making the bottle unique than its competitors and customers should prefer the new sustainable initiative.

Skills Analysis
For the management of the new self-cleaning water bottle business the skills that I have for the development of the product and taking the business idea forward are management and leadership skills that can effectively manage the development process of the product and bring it in the market. I also have some technical skills that can be implemented effectively for designing and developing the self-cleaning water bottle. I have been involved in manufacturing area of water industry and has gained training and certification on technical and management skills.

The bottle is a highly technological product and thus the skills that are required for the development and selling of the new product are core technical knowledge, research and testing skill, marketing and sales skills and financial skills (Capritto 2021). Thus, to address the gaps in the skills required for the development of new product I will conduct recruitment through recruitment agencies and direct advertisement. This will help in getting access to most efficient pool of resources and expertise that can effectively developing the new product. Each of these personnel will be recruited based on their experience in similar role and will be hired under different payrolls.

Projected 2 Years Financials
Profit and Loss Account

Pro Forma Cash Flow

Break Even Analysis

Funding
There are number of funding sources that a business can use to grow its ideas such as private debt, crowd funding, self-investment or borrow from friends and family. The sources of funding that will be used for this new business opportunity will be self-funding and borrowing private debt from the bank. Self-funding the new business is the most viable option available to run the new venture and helps in giving a control over the finances. 60% of the new business will be self-funded and 40% of the fund will be taken from the bank as private debt. This is yet another efficient source of funding because it gives the investor the access to steady returns from business and help maintaining a separate asset class or emergency fund.

Plan for Obtaining Resources
The tangible resources that will be obtained for the business are cash or funds, building space, equipment and human resource. The plan to acquire tangible resources is through bank loans, renting building space for manufacturing, purchasing equipment and online hiring of human resources.

The intangible resources required by the business are trademarks, utilities, management information systems and sales cost, which will be obtained through trademark registration processes and advertisement or marketing functions.

Breakdown of Start-up Cost

Management Information Systems
Management information system is important for the enhancement of operational productivity of the organization and helps add value to the organizational products and services. The kind of management information system that will be required in Larq self-cleaning water bottle are process control, management reporting system, sales and marketing system and human resources automation system (Biemba et al. 2017). This will help in implementing automation in various business areas and gain control in its business processes. Office automation systems are a network of various information technologies and people that is required to conduct the managerial tasks efficiently. Further, the business will form partnership with various online advertising partners to efficiently manage their sales and marketing system. Similarly, the business will also require cloud computing-based MIS that will reduce the overhead cost of the startup and provide best support for visualizing, analyzing and coordinating information under one ground.

Vision of the Business
The vision of the new business that is aiming to sell self-cleaning water bottle is to combine the innovative technology along with unique design and benefit the people by giving them access to pristine drinking water in a sustainable and easy way. The company aims to become the most demanding and innovative self-purifying water bottle in the market by combining technology with sustainability. It has the vision to help customers to make a healthier choice for their daily drinking habits.

Key success factors are:

• Good quality purified water.
• High profile allegiances or dealership network.
• Long lasting and durable water bottle.

References
Biemba, G., Chiluba, B., Yeboah-Antwi, K., Silavwe, V., Lunze, K., Mwale, R.K., Russpatrick, S. and Hamer, D.H., 2017.A mobile-based community health management information system for community health workers and their supervisors in 2 districts of Zambia. Global Health: Science and Practice, 5(3), pp.486-494.

Camilleri, M.A., 2018. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning.In Travel marketing, tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 69-83).Springer, Cham.

Capritto, A., 2021. 3 self-cleaning water bottles for tastier tap water. [online] CNET. Available at: [Accessed 21 May 2021].

Futuremarketinsights, 2021. Self-cleaning Bottle Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Opportunity Assessment 2020-2030. [online] Futuremarketinsights.com. entrepreneurship assignment Available at: [Accessed 21 May 2021].

Henthorne, T.L., George, B.P. and Miller, M.M., 2016. Unique selling propositions and destination branding: A longitudinal perspective on the Caribbean tourism in transition. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 64(3), pp.261-275.

REA, F., 2021. This $95 water bottle uses UV technology to self-clean and purify your drinking water. [online] Business Insider. Available at: [Accessed 21 May 2021].