Group 2:
Valerie- MA1N0220
David- MA1N0219
Bảo Bảo- MA1N0230
Amos- MA0N0241
Introduction
 In mid 2006, Scott Dunlap and his wife went to mall. His
wife needed to find boots on magazine, and she found it
from store to store. Dunlap is a man and not shopper, he
wanted out of there. He thought “why isn’t there a search
engine for malls where shoppers can go online to see if a
product is available and where is cheapest?
NearbyNow
 From the industry feasibility analysis side, one thing
that was heartening to Dunlap was signs that although
people like to search and do price comparisons online,
they prefer to shop offline so they can touch and feel a
product especially for higher-priced items. While
online sales are climbing, shoppers still like to be able
to feel and touch their products. especially clothes and
shoes, before they buy
From that idea, the venture NearbyNow was born
NearbyNow
 NearbyNow is presently in about 200 malls, was with 50
percent of US consumers within 30 miles of a NearbyNow
enabled mall.
 The company has captured the attention of several strong
advocates.
 In April 2008, it raised a fresh round of $11.75 million in
funding, which raised its total to $19.25 million since
2006.
Q1: Write a concept statement for NearbyNow. If NearbyNow was
still in the star up stage and Scott Dunlap asked you who he should
distribute the concept statement to, what would you have told him?
 NearbyNow takes the shopping experience to a whole new
level by allowing shoppers to compare prices and find out
the availability of the product that they are looking for in
stores right at their fingertips, making it a hassle free
experience for all shoppers
Q1: Write a concept statement for NearbyNow. If NearbyNow was
still in the star up stage and Scott Dunlap asked you who he should
distribute the concept statement to, what would you have told him?
 If NearbyNow was still in its start-up stage, he need to distribute
his concept statement to the group that would benefit from this
concept the most:
 Shoppers and shopping center executives for shoppers, the
selling point is that their shopping experience will be more
convenient.
 Since NearbyNow somehow provides a shopping database,
making it easier to search for product and at the same time,
compare prices.
 For shopping center executives, it would help them increase sales
depending on the number of visitors and from there, deriving
the number of customers who actually buy from the store visited
by those customers.
 It is actually a win-win situation for everybody
Dunlap’s Gum shoe research
Q2: What types of gumshoe research did Dunlap
benefit from, and what additional gumshoe research
could he have conducted while he was investigating the
feasibility of NearbuyNow?
• A gumshoe is a detective or an
investigator that scrounges around
for information or clues wherever
they can be found.
Dunlap’s Gum shoe research
 Shared idea with colleagues at work
 Talked to shoppers, retailers and mall managers about
how to use internet to enhance the retail experience
 Talked to >2000 people , some focus groups, some
one-on-one “whether people really wanted
NearbyNow services”
 Reading findings of relevant business research articles,
e.g. 2007 study article by National Retail Federation
and Forrester Research
Dunlap’s Gum shoe research
 Sit on a stool @ local mall, next to mall directory,
figured out which store customers were going to. “can I
help you..? Tell me if ….? Raffle draw…..$500 gift
Certificate”
 Additional Gum shoe research
 ….finding out about system o taking inventory in
different stores
…
 ….
Q3: Did you know that the majority of malls in the US are owned
by 6 companies? If not, how might you have discovered this
information if you were conducting a feasibility analysis for a
product or service that would be placed in malls?
 Note: 90% of malls in US are owned by 6 companies ( persuading 1
company might lead to having the service in the majority of malls)
 No we did not know
 Online research about the ownership structure of US
malls
 Discussion with some of the shopping mall managers
Q4: Complete a First Screen analysis for NearbyNow. What do you
learn from the analysis?
Point of view in
2006
 Part 1: Strength of Business Idea
Low Potential (-1)
Moderate Potential (0)
High Potential (+1)
1.
Extent to which the idea:

Takes advantage of an environmental
trend

Solves a problem

Addresses an unfilled gap in the
marketplace
Weak
Moderate
Strong (+1)
2.
Timeliness of entry to market
Not timely
Moderately
timely (0)
Very timely
3.
Extent to which the idea “adds value” for its
buyer or end user
Low
Medium
High (+1)
4.
Extent to which the customer is satisfied by
competing products that are already available
Very satisfied
Moderately satisfied
5.
Degree to which the idea requires customers
to change their basic practices or behaviors
Substantial changes
required
Moderate changes
required
Not very
satisfied or
ambivalent (+1)
Small to no
changes required
(+1)
Point of view in
2006
• Part 2: Industry-Related Issues
Low Potential (-1)
Moderate Potential (0)
High Potential (+1)
1.
Number of competitors
Many
Few
None (+1)
2.
Stage of industry life cycle
Maturity phase or decline
phase
Growth phase (0)
Emergence phase
3.
Growth rate of industry
Little or no growth
Moderate growth
Strong growth
(+1)
4.
Importance of industry’s products and/or
services to customers
“Ambivalent”
“Would like to
have” (0)
“Must have”
5.
Industry operating margins
Low (-1)
Moderate
High
Point of view in
2006
• Part 3: Target Market and Customer-Related Issues
Low Potential (-1)
Moderate Potential (0)
High Potential (+1)
1.
Identification of target market for the
proposed new venture
Difficult to identify
May be able to identify
Identified (+1)
2.
Ability to create “barriers to entry” for
potential competitors
Unable to create
May or may not be able
to create (0)
Can create (+1)
3.
Purchasing power of customers
Low
Moderate
High (+1)
4.
Ease of making customers aware of the new
product or service
Low
Moderate
High (+1)
5.
Growth potential of target market
Low
Moderate (0)
High
Point of view in
2006
• Part 4: Founder- (or Founders-) Related Issues
1.
Founder or founders experience in the
industry
Low Potential (-1)
Moderate Potential (0)
High Potential (+1)
No experience
Moderate
experience (0)
Experienced
new ventures in
online businesses
2.
Founder or founders skills as they relate to the No skills
proposed new venture’s product or service
Moderate skills
(0)
Skilled
3.
Extent of the founder or founders professional
and social networks in the relevant industry
None (-1)
Moderate
Extensive
4.
Extent to which the proposed new venture
meets the founder or founders personal goals
and aspirations
Weak
Moderate (0)
Strong
5.
Likelihood that a team can be put together to
launch and grow the new venture
Unlikely
Moderately likely
Very likely (+1)
Point of view in
2006
• Part 5: Financial Issues
Low Potential (-1)
Moderate Potential (0)
High Potential (+1)
1.
Initial capital investment
High
Moderate (0)
Low
2.
Number of revenue drivers (ways in which
the company makes money)
One
Two to three (0)
More than three
3.
Time to break even
More than two years
One to two years (0)
Less than one year
4.
Financial performance of similar businesses
Weak
Modest
Strong (+1)
5.
Ability to fund initial product (or service)
development and/or initial startup expenses
from personal funds or via bootstrapping
Low
Moderate
High (+1)
web ad and revenue
sharing
Point of view in
2006
 Overall Potential
 Each part has five items. Scores will range from -5 to +5 for each part. The score is a
guide—there is no established rule-of-thumb for the numerical score that equates to
high potential, moderate potential, or low potential for each part. The ranking is a
judgment call.
Score
(-5 to +1)
Part 1:
Strength of Business Idea
Part 2:
Industry-Related Issues
Part 3:
Target Market and CustomerRelated Issues
Part 4:
Founder- (or Founders-) Related
Issues
Part 5:
Financial Issues
Overall Assessment
Overall Potential of the
Business Idea Based on Each
Part
4
HIGH POTENTIAL
1
HIGH POTENTIAL
4
HIGH POTENTIAL
-1
LOW POTENTIAL
2
HIGH POTENTIAL
10
HIGH POTENTIAL
Suggestions for Improving the
Potential
Short work experience in
shopping mall management
Short work experience in
shopping mall management
Summary—briefly summarize your justification for your
overall assessment:
 First screen analysis shows us that the business idea has high
potential
 Has 1 possible bottlenecks:
 Founder related issues: founders could develop more contact and
social networks in shopping mall business (participate in different
business events, shopping malls opening) and meet important
contacts. Or use professional online social networks (e.g. LinkedIn)
 By focusing on this 1 bottleneck, NearbyNow can develop a
successful business since the crucial part (finance) are
sufficient to spread this service by recruiting talented
employees.
Q4: What do you learn from the analysis?
 This easy tool enables us to quickly evaluate all the
necessary parts of a successful start-up and help us
decide:
 if to move forward
 or develop some part (industry related, financial or
other) more
 or go for another idea
NearbyNow today…is something else