Forming an Opportunity Belief 4A

1.     I wanted to form an opportunity belief about something that was a little bit different even if it is a weird or awkward topic. I believe that many people are aggravated when their feet “fall asleep” on the toilet. After doing some digging on the internet, I was relieved to find that I was not the only one with this problem so their may be a messy opportunity here!

2. I feel that the unmet need is the pain and discomfort people feel when they are uncomfortable, and their feet fall asleep on the porcelain throne. People that take their time in the bathroom, people with diabetes, and people that are overweight frequently have this problem. The need is not new and has existed most likely since the modern toilet. People do not have a specific way to deal with this problem and most either hurry up or just deal with the discomfort. I am about 70% percent sure some form of an opportunity exists here.


3. Teenage male, spends a lot of time reading and playing video games on his phone:

4. “It happens to me three times a day when I go. This has been happening to me for as long as I can remember. When I lean back against the back of the toilet it helps relieve the pins and needles. Never thought about a different solution but I am not 100% satisfied with my solution. If I tried out a new solution and it seemed to help, I would be interested. It would have to be something that I could try out before I bought it because I never thought of something like that. I want to avoid the discomfort I feel when this happens because it is quite annoying, and I like taking my time when I go.”

5. Reflect: I was very surprised that this person said they experience the discomfort three times a day. This person seems to be someone who likes to hide out and take their time and so they experience some of the discomfort associated with your feet falling asleep. This person definitely supported an idea that would relieve discomfort but they also were skeptical of something helping that would be worth the money.


3. Retired male, slightly overweight:

4. “My feet never fall asleep or hurt when I go from what I have seen. I only sit for 3-5 minutes. No pain so I do not need a solution. I don’t take my time in the bathroom. I also do not sit hunched over because I read that was bad for you. I feel the problem is when people take a long time and hunch over and because I read that was bad for you I do not have the problem of my feet falling asleep. Sometimes I try sitting different ways that help sit up straighter and this seems to help me not strain which I also read can cause discomfort and your feet to fall asleep. Because of these things I already do, I really do not need any solutions.”

5. I was surprised when this person immediately said that they never had this problem. I thought that this person fit the mold for the target audience and that they would be someone that could have this problem. I was also surprised that this person had some knowledge on what was healthy and apparently changed things so that they could sit in a more healthy manner.

3. Middle aged male fits in the middle of a standard consumer base:

4. “My feet do fall asleep sometimes when I sit on the toilet. When I sit there for more than 7 minutes. I would say this happens to me about once a week when I decide to take more time than usual and hide away for a little while. This has been happening to me for about the last 20 years. I do not do anything to address the discomfort currently. I would be open to having a different solution. I might would consider paying up to $50 dollars for a good solution.”

5. This was a good interview that I thought seemed promising. This person said they experience the discomfort about once a week which is in between the other two candidates and seemed to be more of the middle ground. It was good to here that this person was still not satisfied with their current discomfort and would consider purchasing a product that satisfied his discomfort.

Summarize:
I was really surprised by my over experience interviewing other people. Two of them seemed like they did experience some of the discomfort of their feet falling asleep while one claimed to have no discomfort at all. I feel like the opportunity is still present, but I now feel about 50% confident. It was also pretty awkward for some people to talk about this which I understand, but it could make finding if people have the discomfort moving forward trickier. I feel like my opportunity is still pretty accurate, but it may not fit as wide of a customer base as I thought. I do believe that entrepreneurs should adapt from customer feedback because after all a customer is like the boss for an entrepreneur. Without customers an entrepreneur cannot be successful. The entrepreneur must weigh the benefits of shifting goals due to customers and be mindful of what is and isn’t possible.