Week 6 reading reflection

1.) One of the hugest surprises for me in this weeks reading was the authors declaration that competitive forces are the most important force to determine a companies profitability. It just seems like there are so many other things that could happen to determine profits, and the competitor being the priority seems unintuitive.

2.)One thing that confused me in the reading was how suppliers had so much power over profit. Especially when customers can have equal force. It seems that if suppliers would try to charge too much a larger customer would refuse to buy therefor causing costs to go down for them and every other customer. There must be a lot that goes into the buyer supplier dimension that was left unexplained in this article.

3.) One question would be: What kind of influence can a sole company have on barriers to entry? What sort of dimensions need to be considered when a company decides to enter a market that is already highly competitive?

4.)One thing I thought the author might have overlooked was the difficulty of implementing some of the advice he was offering. Although there are five distinct forces in competition, how can one company really focus on all of them while running a company? It seems generic to offer advice in such  foolproof way when in reality the technicalities are too far to grasp when it comes to competitive advantage.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1.)   My name is Brittney and I’m 24 years old, a mother, wife,  and student. I have ten years of work experience specifically in customer service. For this the LOV Fit Kit I hope I can get my kit on every shelf in huge retail chains around the country. I want to reach all first time moms so that they can see for themselves how important it is to have some variety before making a decision on what brand and size of diaper to use for their children.

2.)   The LOV Fit Kit is a need that hasn’t been met for reasons still unknown to me. It seems simple and realistic to implement my system. When a mother goes diaper shopping especially for a new baby, or a baby who needs a bigger diaper size because they’ve outgrown their old size, they should be able to test sizes and brands without having to commit to a $20 box of diapers from just one brand with just one size. With the LOV Fit Kit parents can walk into a store pick the size they need to test, and have $20 box of diapers with different brands so that they can find the perfect fit for their little one.

3.)   The LOV Fit Kit would be a great tool for parents everywhere. First time parents are  not brand loyal and would probably be the biggest target for our product. It would also be reasonable to target hospitals that deliver babies so that they can make sure every new family goes home with a LOVE Fit Kit to have the perfect fit for their brand new baby.

4.)   I think most parents would love to be able to shop around without actually spending the amount of money it would take to test every brand and size before picking out a diaper that’s right for your little one. A lot of the times parents go home with a box diapers and it turns out that this diaper is off an inch on the waste, or too long under their bottom. This kind of size misfit will cause leaks and stains, and stress to parents.

5.)   Our product will have a kit for every baby along every step of diapering. Newborns have especially sensitive skin, so we will carry a newborn package that has sensitive diapers from every brand that sells them. When the parent finds what they want, they will have coupons from that manufacturer to buy their first box of diapers. Manufacturers will want to offer these coupons because brand loyalty is huge for parents and getting parents to buy from them can mean a lifetime commitment for their first child and last. When baby moves up a size or seems to be in between two sizes, we will have a kit with size A and size B within to see which brand is carrying the size that seems to match the babies needs the most. Parents never have to waste money on diapers that don’t fit, don’t work, or aren’t comfortable for baby every again.

I think the concept fits together really well. These questions helped make the vision even clearer for me and I believe that this product could be the answer to diapering stresses for many parents.