Launch Of LINX Smart Cycling Helmet By COROS †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Launch Of LINX Smart Cycling Helmet. Answer: Introduction Entrepreneurship is defined as the steps undertaken by the business organizations for designing, launching and running a business. Therefore, entrepreneurship allows the business organizations to create something new, unique and innovative by adding value and devoting significant effort and time. Entrepreneurship needs to consider the necessary social, psychological and financial risks that will help in receiving suitable monetary rewards. This report highlights the launch of LINX smart cycling helmet by COROS for the Australian market. The report sheds lights on the idea of the product, the mission of launching such a product by analyzing the industry and competitors market. The report also includes the marketing plan for launching the product by selecting the target customers as well as evaluating the critical risks in terms of the company and the product. Background to the idea Considering the Australian market, COROS is aiming to launch a health related product for the cyclists. The company is launching LINX smart cycling helmet for the Australian population. COROS is located in Perth, Australia. The Australian population prefers cycling largely due to health benefit and consciousness. This is because the youth are Australia is highly concerned about their health and the surrounding environment. Additionally, mountain cycling is a sport that has gained high popularity among the Australian population in the recent years. Apart from the local population in Australia, it has been seen that the tourists also prefers cycling for exploring the scenic beauty of Australia. Therefore, the company is excited and largely relying on the launch of the LINX smart cycling helmet (Caserta 2012). The main aim and idea of launching the LINX smart cycling helmet is to present smart facilities to the cyclists and influence their decision of adopting cycling for both daily use and exploring Australia. Additionally, the company aim towards providing utmost safety for the cyclists. The use of the smart helmet will provide opportunity for the riders to explore the scenic beauty of Australia and capture the moments. Therefore, the cyclists will be able to capture and record the Australian environment while cycling rather than explore the beautiful country in cars. As a part of exercising, many youths prefer cycling rather than hitting the gym or having personal trainer. Therefore, the helmet also provides facilities such as measuring heartbeat and recoding the number of calories burnt by the individuals thereby, influencing the purchasing decision of the target customers. The features included in the LINX smart helmet are demanded by the Australian market. Therefore, the company has launched the smart helmet with the features that is highly demanded by the Australian population (Teng, Liang and Nguyen 2014 ). Mission The company wants increase the profit margin, business and customers by launching the smart helmet in the Australian population. The helmet is one of its kinds due to the features such as making calls, capturing and making videos, voice enabled GPS navigation and measuring heartbeat and calories burnt. The company aims towards expanding the business by creating a unique image in the eye of the customers. Therefore, the aforementioned unique features will help the company in standing out in the Australian market from the competitors. Along with providing such features, the company also aims towards ensuring safety for the customers. However, the company also aims towards educating and enlightening the cyclists the proper use of the helmet in order to avoid accidents due to the new features in the helmet. Such features have not been incorporated in the helmet before therefore, the the innovation brought in by the company will help in engaging the customers in future. The sustainable bu siness idea will help the company in future for global and international expansion (Blanco, Cernicchi and Galvanetto 2014). Product offering The company has incorporated wide range of innovative and unique features in the LINX smart cycling helmet. Ensuring safety is the primary motive of the company for the cyclists. The company while manufacturing the helmet by considering the safety of the cyclists has used polycarbonate shell with EPS impact foam. The company has used aerodynamics-optimized ventilation up to 15 vents in order to decrease the level of sound for the cyclists. This will allow the cyclists concentrate more on cycling rather than the external sounds (Sheard and Corsini 2012). This will help in mitigating the chances of accidents for the cyclists. The helmet is launched in both medium and large size so that the product is available for the target customers in the Australian market. The various innovative facilities incorporated within the helmet include voice enabled voice navigation, mobile facilities and music facilities. Bone conduction transducers with sensitivity up to 100 decibel have been used for combating with voice calling and music listening facilities (Abolfathi 2013). The customers for both daily and exercising purpose can use the cycling helmet. Keeping in mind the requirement, the company has made the microphone wind resistant. Therefore, the voice enabled GPS navigation will not be hampered due to the feature of wind resistant microphone. The manufacturing material of the battery is lithium due to which the lasting power of the battery is up to 10 hours per day. Therefore, less battery is exhausted due to the facilities such as listening to music, recording and making calls. The compatibility of the helmet includes 4.0, iOS and android devices. The weight of the helmet has been considered by the company as using heavy helmet for extensive hours causing sprain and pain in the neck of the cyclists (Van Den Oord eta l. 2012). Chances of shoulder and neck pain among the target customers are mitigated by the company by manufacturing a light weight helmet Therefore, the weight of the LINX smart cycling helmet is approximately 400 grams. Additionally, the consumer product safety commission certifies the helmet. One year warranty has been provided by the company for the target customers keeping in mind special requirements such as disfunctioning and breakage (Ang and Kristoffersson 2013). Market analysis Prior to the launch of the product in the Australian market, it is essential for the company to conduct a thorough analysis in respect of the market and the competitors. This will enable the company to decide and implement appropriate marketing strategies in terms of promotion, distribution, innovativeness and pricing strategies. Market analysis will allow COROS to be aware of their position compared to the competitors in the market. Industry analysis Political: Under the parliamentary democracy, Australia is governed by the federal constitution monarchy (Bourke et al. 2012). Economical: The economy of Australia is one of the strongest among the leading countries due the presence of variety of natural resources. The main five principles based on which the Australian trade is conducted are unilaterism, non-discrimination, indivisibility, separation and transparency (Hatfield-Dodds et al. 2015). Social: Aborigines are the natives of the Australian population. However, English is the most commonly used language in the country after the European colonization (Stoeckl et al. 2013). Technological: The internet access by the Australian population has increased largely over the years due to the technological exposure. The government of the country has been facilitating the research and development largely due to the technological exposure (Jewell, Cherp and Riahi 2014). Legal: Independence of judiciary, justice and rule of law forms the basis of the Australian legal system. The country has one federal system as well as eight territory and state (Cheung, Chan and Kajewski 2012) Environmental: The country is rich in the natural resources and has large number of unique flora and fauna. However, the major environmental challenges include ocean dumping, global warming and conservation of marine life (Chan et al. 2012). Based on the PESTLE analysis of the country, it can be suggested that the country is facing environmental challenges largely. Extensive uses of technological advancements are hampering the entire ecosystem of the country. Moreover, the country has a strong economy and stable economy. Therefore, the launch of LINXsmart cycling helmet is a great choice of product for the Australian market. Competitor analysis The use of Porters five forces allowed the company to analyze the competitors in the Australian market. Threat of new entrants The potential threats for the new products that are entering the market are the entry barriers (E Dobbs 2014). The operational scope and the economy combine to form product differentiation, customer loyalty, structure of the cost and the switching cost. The helmet manufacturing industry is a large industry at the global scale thereby, including high capital cost resulting in fixed high costs. The helmet manufacturing industry encounters high economy leading to effectivemanagement of the cost capital. This helps the companies to manage their financial resources effectively and use it resources wisely (Yunna and Yisheng 2014). COROS aim towards presenting smart facilities to the target customers as well as ensuring safety. The innovative and unique features incorporated by the company in the helmets will help the product. The latter factor is dependent on the company and its management techniques, as the expansion rate of the helmet manufacturing industry is much slow. This is due to t he ignorance about the positive health and environmental impact of cycling that influences the purchasing decision of helmets among the Australian population. Threat to substitute products According to Baum (2013), only global recession hampers the purchasing power of the products by the customers. The role of the substitute product is to reduce the cost or charging higher price for the product. Based on the innovative features of the helmets, the companies in the helmet manufacturing industry can compete with each other. Therefore, the competition between the helmet manufacturing companies is based on the unique facilities provided to the customers along with ensuring safety for cyclists. Bargaining power of the suppliers The suppliers of the helmet manufacturing industry needs to emphasize more on the customer demand rather than considering the command that is shared by the business. This will help in gaining power for the manufacturing industry. The customers are vulnerable to the cost of the product and the product differentiation. Therefore, the customers might not prefer to spend extra amount because of the customer demand. Additionally, the features need to enhance the quality and image of the LINX smart cycling helmet (Lee, Kim and Park 2012) Bargaining power of the buyers The purchasing decision of the product by the customers might affect the bargaining power of the buyers of the helmet manufacturing industry. The target group of buyer of the LINX smart cycling helmet includes the individuals concerned with fitness, customers using cycle on a daily basis and the tourists. Targeting other customers will incur huge loss thereby; the strategy is restricted to the specific target groups (Marshall 2013). Threat of competitors The size and number of the competitors in the market determines the level of competition. When it comes to switching cost and product differentiation, the market tends to become fierce. The competition focuses more on costs that are not fixed (Perdana, Roshetko and Kurniawan 2012) Primary target market Targeting the group of customers is essential and considered as a wise decision when a company launches a new product in the market (Hollensen 2015). Targeting the customers allows the company to focus more the demands and needs of the customers before manufacturing and launching the product. The customers are attracted towards the products that fulfill their present needs and demands. Based on the demands of the customers, the company develops and implements promotional, operational and pricing strategies. The main customers targeted by the company are the children, young adults and the tourists. Reports suggest that majority of the Australian population suffers severe health complications. This is because the population is highly dependent on unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Majority of the population relies on fast food and foods with high calorie content. Therefore, majority of the Australian population suffers health complications such as obesity. However, recently, the young adult s and the children are becoming more health conscious to keep up with the latest trends. Therefore, targeting the young adults and the children are justified for the company. The number of additional features incorporated by the company in the helmets will influence the purchasing decision of the target customer. The target customers will be able to avail the various facilities that is demanded highly within the population (Muhamad, Melewar and Faridah Syed Alwi 2012). Additionally, targeting the tourists is a competitive business strategy implemented by the company in order to target the secondary customers. Large portion of the Australian economy is contributed by the tourism sector. The tourists come from different parts of the world that might have helmets that lack such innovative facilities (Tapp and Spotswood 2013). Therefore, targeting the tourists will allow the company to create and unique image in the eye of the customers thereby, invading the global market. Marketing As commented by Khan (2014), effective marketing allows the company to communicate their product to the target customers. Therefore, implementing 4 Ps of marketing mix will allow COROS to communicate the innovative and unique facilities of the product to the target customers. This will allow the company to create a unique image in the eye of the customers and stand out from the competitors in the market. Sales maximization will allow COROS in profit maximization and business expansion. Product COROS is launching LINX smart cycling helmet for the Australian customers. The product launched by the company differs from other products in the market based on the features provided by them. The helmet is manufactured by polycarbonate shell with EPS impact foam due to which it weighs only 400 gms. The wide range of facilities incorporated within the helmet includes making and receiving calls, video recording, and voice enabled GPS navigation along with listening to music and measuring heartbeat and number of calories burnt. The wide range of features can influence the target customers in using cycle at a daily basis, as this is beneficial both for the individuals and for the environment. Price According to the financial status of the target customers, COROS has implemented penetration-pricing strategy for the customers. Therefore, the company has decided the starting price of the LINX smart cycling helmet is $200. The company has kept the price to the minimal for the target customers initially, as this will help in convincing the target customers for using the helmet. Therefore, minimal price will not force the target customers to think much before investing and purchasing the product. However, the company has kept minimal profit for them (Sije and Oloko 2013). Distribution COROS has decided to sell the product from the stores physically. Therefore, the helmet will be sold from the various outlets that are selling sports and gym equipments. Distributing the helmets from the outlets will be beneficial for the company as this will them in engaging the customers. The target customers will be able to evaluate the innovative features personally before purchasing the product. Moreover, selling the products from the stores will allow the customers to know how to use the various functions of the helmet. Additionally, the companies will also sale the product online; this will allow the company to reach out target customers where the product is not present physically (Spann, Fischer and Tellis 2014). Promotion As the part of the promotional strategy, COROS can organize campaigns that will aware the target customers about the benefits of cycling both in terms of individual basis and environmental basis. Then the company can associate the features of the helmet as a promotional strategy. Additionally, the company can organize a grand opening for launching the product along with broadcasting the launch live in social media. This will help the company in engaging more customers hereby, influencing the purchase decision (Aliata et al. 2012). Financial plan Startup expenses Legal $1,300 Brochures $3,580 Consultants $3,000 Insurance $2,400 Rent $4,400 Store setup $10,000 Other $2,500 Startup assets Cash required $67,123 Startup Inventory $16,027 Other current assets $0 Long term assets $59,170 Startup Funding Startup expenses to fund $27,680 Startup assets to fund $142,320 Total funding required Non-cash assets $75,197 Cash requirement $67,123 Additional cash raised $0 Cash balance on starting date $67,123 Total assets Current borrowing $10,000 Long term liabilities $20,000 Accounts payable $0 Other current liabilities $0 Total liabilities Planned investment $140,000 Critical risks There are significant risks associated with the launching of LINX smart cycling product. The company has predicted that the product might fail to attract the customers to a certain extent. This is because that the innovative facilities might at against the aim of the product. The parents of the children and the young adults might be highly concerned with the safety of the children. The parents might think that the number of facilities such as listening to music and video capturing will distract the children and the young adults. As they will be more mesmerized with recoding the scenic beauty or making calls while cycling, their concentration will be hampered. As the target customers are not financially independent, unable to convince, the parents might be a critical risk. Another potential risk includes that the company might fail to convince the target customers to opt for cycling by demonstrating the health and environmental benefits. The children and the young adults might prefer availing comfortable transport facilities such as cars and buses. Conclusion In this report, it can be concluded that COROS is launching LINX smart cycling helmet that consists of various unique and innovative features. The helmet stands out from other helmets in the market as it provides unique facilities along with ensuring safety for the cyclists. The wide range of services incorporated by the company within the helmet includes listening to music, making and receiving calls, voice enabled GPS navigation along with measuring heartbeat and amount of calories burnt. The company has targeted the young adults and the children by considering their health and daily needs. In order to estimate the overall budget of the launch of the product, a financial plan has been developed. The report also highlights the market and competitors analysis in order to understand their position in the market and evaluate the strategy of the competitors. In addition to, 4 Ps of marketing plan has been developed for launching the product by COROS. 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