A study of Log In2 Life.
Public Summary
This unique service provides one secure login for all of the customer’s desired sites.
The Product / Service
‘Our product is your very own website.’
This unique free homepage provides access to all of the users’ favourite websites and RSS feeds. Thus through one medium they will have the world at their fingertips. The initial screen requires only one username and password to access the personalised homepage. The user will be able to view their local time and weather on the page. They will be able to add websites of their choice, which will appear as miniature boxes. For those websites that require a log in, such as Facebook, the user will be able to place the cursor over the specific box, and up will appear the number of notifications that person has. The user will then be able to click on the miniature Facebook and this will open up the already logged in Facebook in a new window. Log in2 Life will also have an RSS reader, for those interested in viewing feeds from blog entries, their favourite news headlines, etc.
Why open up several different tabs when all your desired sites can be initially viewed from one page? Why waste time logging in to several email accounts, when you may not have any new mail?
These are questions Log in2 Life is able to address. It is well known that opening up many different tabs slows down the Internet speed. This service satisfies the impatient culture in the way the world yearns for. Its aim is to speed up the rate at which we visit websites, as the individual entry for each and every site can become a laborious routine. Log in2 Life reforms this routine and, because of its simplicity, Log in2 Life holds the future for the Internet.
Our unique selling point is the concept of a personal homepage, one that allows the user to check for notifications for several different sites all through one medium, without actually having to leave the homepage; just enter the website address and log in. This technology is entirely unique, creating a fresh market in which Log in2 Life becomes the first mover.
We conducted some very useful research through focus groups on the phenomenon of ‘Twitter’ and gained extremely positive insights .
The Market Opportunity
The market need is for an easier, less time-consuming, faster way of using the World Wide Web.
According to Nielson Online, in June 2009 the number of Internet users in the UK had reached 79.8%, therefore equating to 48,755,000 Internet users.
As we are providing a user-friendly service, we will be targeting the mass market of all Internet users. From the young to the elderly, from sports figures to couch lovers, from businessmen to aspiring students, our service will be one for all.
One example might be a housewife who has an email address, keeps in touch with her friends from school through Friends Reunited and Facebook, regularly checks for news updates on BBC News and is an Avon representative which requires her to check regularly to see if there are any updates. With Log in2 Life she doesn’ t need to log on to Avon, Friends R eunited, Facebook and Hotmail, as the se can all be seen from her very own homepage.
The s ize of our target market will therefore be 48,755,000. These will be the potential customers and end users of Log in2 Life.
Competitors
As our service is completely unique and has never been seen before, we do not have any ‘direct competition’.
A n onlooker who may not understand the concept of Log in2 Life may see potential competition from Safari, Google Chrome, iGoogle.com, Yahoo.com and bookmark tabs in computer platforms.
Safari is a web browser which has a homepage that enables customers to store up to 24 of their most recent and preferred websites in a block list format. The customer also has the option of keeping logged in to certain sites, so clicking on a website from the block list, for example an email account, will take them to their refreshed email account without having to log in. Google Chrome is also a web browser, with very similar traits to Safari.
Yahoo and iGoogle are websites that act as a personal homepage. They are designed so that users are able to store their favourite websites, have their preferred news feeds and be able to check their local time and weather, all from one page.
On computer systems such as Microsoft, Macintosh and Linux, the customer can save a website by pasting it in the bookmark tab.
From the above, we can see that these companies are not solving the market need. With the web browsers and websites, users are only able to see those preferred websites on the one computer platform. If a customer were to go on iGoogle at work, they would not be able to see those desired websites that are stored at their home address. There are many problems here, as the personal homepage theme no longer stands as soon as you wish to use a different computer. This is also in conjunction with the bookmarking option.
This is where Log in2 Life is able to accommodate these market needs, where creating a personal homepage really means a personal homepage. The customer will be able to access their homepage on any platform anywhere they please.
In recent years, the introduction of b roadband Internet has caused the masses to become completely influenced by the web. From the Office for National Statistics we can see that a staggering 70% of households in the UK contain an Internet connection, allowing all to receive information instantly. The world is in a race to perfection and impatience is a dominant trait. Log in2 Life is a combination of these characteristics and is a perfect tool even for novices of the Internet. The market urges such a tool as it speeds up and eases the Internet experience. Trends on the Internet are a seemingly unstoppable force. The popularity of new ideas is spiralling to new heights, which is evident through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We aim to kick- start another trend to take the world by storm through Log in2 Life.
Market Entry Strategy
We are so convinced and intrigued by our own product that ultimately we will be the first customers. This clearly would not make a profitable business, so initially we will be bootstrapping our website primarily for Queen Mary University Students.
We will not be spending any money on marketing and promoting our product to potential customers in our bootstrapping stage. As we will be the very first users of the personal homepage, we will be able to show peers at Queen Mary University the concept of Log in2 Life. We will be setting up Facebook groups, inviting all of those belonging to the Queen Mary University Network to join. On there, we will be able to advertise our product and upload video demonstrations of this new phenomenon. We will send out emails through the university network, creating awareness of our product. As a few members of the team have good relations with the SU, we will be able to post a relatively large article in the university magazine and newspaper. These are only a few initial ideas of ways in which we plan to market our product to a primary target audience. Word of mouth will also play a large role in spreading awareness of our product and raising its reputation and popularity.
As we do not have any direct competition it is hard to tell how the likes of iGoogle would react. As they are an ever-expanding giant in the Internet world, I doubt they will feel threatened by Log in2 Life. Realistically I believe that they will copy our idea, whilst making it slightly better. This is why we have to produce sound barriers to entry. At Log in2 Life we believe that the most effective barrier to entry for us will be customer loyalty. We have to be able to appeal to the mass market of Internet users, and gain their membership before similar products start emerging. Loyalty Programmes, Reward Schemes and Customer Relationship Management are all examples of how we will be forging closer relationships with our existing customers to help ensure they stay with us well into the future. We will also trademark our logo and catchphrase, in case anyone tries to imitate our site, passing off as Log in2 Life and taking potential customers away from us.
After the bootstrapping stage, deciding to take our product to the mass market, we will try to create alliances in order to reduce, or even eradicate, marketing costs. We hope to form alliances with companies that will be willing to advertise our company on their website, or in their shop window, in exchange for Log in2 Life advertising their company. We can initially approach companies such as The Youth Conspiracy by showing them the abundant number of students using our homepage, which will be very appealing due to the category of work they are involved in.
Log in2 Life aims to design and produce a first prototype of the homepage. Then, as we will be the first customers, we will thoroughly check the homepage, making sure any early faults are solved. We then will see our target audience’s reaction by inviting several different groups to free demonstrations. Before creating general awareness to our product, we will release it to our target market (Queen Mary University students initially for the bootstrapping stage). We will do this to increase the popularity and reputation which will be gained by friends referring friends to Log in2 Life, which will be better than an outsider trying to sell the product where there is no initial trust with the potential customer. As the number of users of Log in2 Life increases, we will be able to approach suitable companies to sponsor us for advertising their product/service on our website. The initial profits gained will be invested back into the business.
All these ‘milestones’ need to be achieved in order to commercialise Log in2 Life.
Growth Plans
In order for us to grow we need to know where we are going. Over 66% of the fastest growing businesses have written plans. We need to articulate the future that we want at Log in2 Life. That is why when we are able to grow we will be drawing up another well thought out plan.
We will not risk what we have by entering foolish enterprises; we will be ‘sticking to the knitting’ by enhancing our existing product. We will be updating our homepage, by adding new features. We will be adding a chat service for all those that are members of Log in2 Life. We will adda notes box, where the user will be able to type up loose notes. We will incorporate a media player into our website, where users will be able to add music from the computer platform to Log in2 Life, enabling them to listen to that music on any other computer platform.
An astounding 88% of high growth firms grow successfully by selling more of their existing products and services to their existing customers. That’s not to say we won’t innovate, far from it. We will introduce new products and services when the time is right.
At Log in2 Life we realise that we need to work on the business rather than in the business. This is why we have become well learned in the strategist approach, looking forwards and outwards, planning for the future. We will be looking to enter new markets, expanding worldwide rather than sticking to the UK.
Very few businesses achieve consistent profitable growth. O nly about 2% do. This is why at Log in2 Life our passion and belief in our product will enable us to successfully grow profitably, by keeping that fire burning.
There may come a stage where we have taken our business as far as we can. We realise in order to keep our company growing we may have to sell a portion off, to someone like Google or InterActiveCorp.
Elevator Pitch
A revolutionary personali sed homepage granting instant access to one’s entire web desires, on one page, at one click of a button, through one log in. After launch Log in2 Life will soar globally forming a new phenomenon. The rate of innovation continues to accelerate, led by technology. The technology behind the homepage is pioneering the way we use the Internet, making it quicker and simpler and so satisfying the increasing impatience of human nature. The homepage will generate turnover from advertisers across the world. Growth is almost instantaneous, allowing our service to benefit Internet users worldwide. The heights that Log in2 Life can reach are truly limitless.