Forming an Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity to create a more environmentally friendly (biodegradable) form of gum.

This is an unmet need because gum litters sidewalks all over cities and often sticks to peoples shoes. Basically, all of society has this need because it will simply improve the cleanliness of cities and will no longer ruin people's days. This need has existed as long as gum has existed because there is always someone that will just throw it on the ground. Cities will usually hire people to clean up the sidewalks, so society has a reactionary response to meet this need. I want to make more of a precautionary response. I'm 90% sure this opportunity exists because I see it everyday. I am just unsure of the response this product will have or of the competition that will come up.

My customer is essentially any customer that chews gum and is interested in a more environmentally friendly product:

Customer 1: After being asked about the nature of the product, customer one notices that gum on sidewalks is a problem and is unaware of any other product solutions. The customer has only really experienced this need when getting gum stuck on his shoe, which doesn't happen all that often. He believes the need has been there as long as he can remember because he's gotten gum on his shoes for that long. He is somewhat satisfied with this solution because it will solve the problem of having tons of gum on the sidewalks, but fresh gum that has just been thrown away can still cause the same issue of sticking on to shoes.

Customer 2: Customer 2 believed more strongly in the nature of the product than customer 1. Customer 2 says he has become aware of the need whenever walking around any densely populated area. He experiences the need a lot more often because he's more concerned with the aesthetic of the city. But he, of course, also hates getting gum on his shoe. He doesn't really do anything to address the need because cities will usually clean up the streets every so often. Otherwise, nothing is done about it. He believes I have a solid solution, but thinks it should be improved to not be so sticky.

Customer 3: After interviewing customer 3, I'd say she was more like customer 1. She saw a need for the product after I pointed it out, but didn't really think much about it before. She said that gum on the sidewalks doesn't really affect her, but every once in a while she does get gum on her shoes. She can't remember the exact time she discovered the problem, but it was a long time ago. She currently addresses the need just by cleaning her shoes after gum gets on them. She thinks it's a solid solution, but nothing revolutionary.

I learned that this issue doesn't bother everyone as much as it bothers me. Some people do share similar beliefs, but others just don't see it as a huge issue that needs fixing. The people that share my beliefs are usually more concerned with the look of having gum all over sidewalks. I would say the results were pretty surprising because it is such a pet peeve of mine.

Probably a little less than half of my opportunity is still there because just not that many people really care about gum being all over sidewalks. A lot of people only really care when it directly affects them by sticking on their shoes, which does not happen all that often. The new opportunity would be some sort of biodegradable, non-sticking, which covers more of the market.

It is definitely crucial for entrepreneurs to listen to the people in order to understand to what extent their market exists. They should mold their ideas to customer feedback, but should also be careful about constantly changing their product based off of feedback because you can't possibly please everyone and you need to maintain an identity. So it's not always worth constantly spending money to change the product.