Online Pitch for Innovative Product

Walk-e

The innovative idea we come up with to present at Eureka Fair is power generation shoe insole namely “Walk-efor charging portable electronics like cell phones, music players, or GPS devices together with location access. Foot-powered, energy harvesting devices are not anything new. What we are doing differently is building the device into a removable insole so it does not need to be embedded in a shoe. This means you can swap it between your favorite pair of sneakers and your hiking boots. It will also give a relief in areas where energy fallouts are huge and make the devices running all the time with your walking. This product caters the energy issue in Pakistan.

Way of working

The Working Mechanism is:

1. Put Walk-e into your shoe and snake the charging wire through your laces.

2. Plug the charging wire into the battery. The battery can either be fastened around your ankle or clipped to the top of your shoe.

3. Walk! you way.

4. Unplug the battery from the insole and plug it into your device.

It will take the linear movement of the step (the impression that occurs when the foot impacts the ground), converts it into a rotational energy, which then spins a generator. The insole will captures this energy and stores it in an external battery that can be accessed via micro or mini USB ports. What’s unique about our technology is that we will create a system that will allow the generator to only spin it one direction to make it a more efficient and robust.

Specifications

· Waterproof and weather resistant.

· Simulated to 100 million steps (i.e. you’ll wear out your shoes first).

· Between 2.5 and 5 miles of walking for a full (iPhone) charge.

· Passes clinical recommendations for insole size.

Target Customer:

The research is in initial phases to determine the proper target market where user will be primarily focused. Our initial target market will be hikers, backpackers, and other outdoor enthusiasts in need of mobile power. A business person might use Walk-e walking a trade show floor, a hiker would find Walk-e very useful for charging cameras or GPS on long hikes, anyone in a natural disaster could use Walk-e for emergencies. But where Walk-e really has the opportunity to help people is in developing nations. There are over 6 billion cell phones in the world, 1.5 billion of which are in developing regions. Portable electronics like cell phones act as lifelines, giving people access to everything from medical information to an education. The Millennials use gadgets, smartphones and other related devices heavily for all purposes and need constant battery power for which many people uses power banks. The New York Times said it best: “Life is becoming increasingly mobile, if only the batteries lasted long enough.”

Key JTBD:

What if people could charge their phones by going for a walk? No electricity, no power outlets, no more dealing with dead phone batteries. The main purpose for startup is to provide customers an innovative way to charge their devices without consuming any electricity. The demand for mobile power continues to outpace the rate of battery technology, creating an ever-growing problem for portable electronic devices. Walk-e’s self-charging, wearable technologies will help solve this problem, adding safety, efficiency and enhanced communication ability across a multitude of sectors.

Consumption Barriers:

As this is somewhat very new preposition in the market, we are considering several consumption barriers which include the following:

a) The size of insole is the technical barrier because the product should not affect the way people walk. A slight miscalculation may cause various issues because walking is a common phenomenon and comfortable footwear is its fundamental.

b) People still has the view that power generation sole when in contact with water / sweat may cause injury, harm or wound.

c) The medical and physical aspects that people thinks while using such product. For which podiatrist’s consultation is needed to cast away the doubts of customers.

Basic Business Model:

Our business model would be selling the insole of Walk-e online through website and delivery at customer prescribed address together with distribution at various tech shops following a brick and click model. In future an application will be developed to penetrate more in the market. Proper marketing will be done through social media and cold callings. As the target market belongs to millennials section online platform is the main attractive factor to generate revenue. Two ways:

Click: Availability on our branded website, where customers can order online and we will provide home delivery to customers. This would also include interaction with the audience via the social media forums.

Brick: Availability through a wide network of tech shops and also super markets.

Critical Uncertainties:

For every new product or business launch there are many critical uncertainties affecting its course of action. In our case the following uncertainties relate to our products:

a) Substitutes: There are currently no substitutes in the market but many are planning to enter in the market internationally which may be uncertainty for us.

b) Pricing: Pricing will be the major issue in large scale manufacturing because the technology embedded in the product is imported and expensive which includes rotational circuits.

c) Shrinking of size: This is the biggest uncertainty in designing the insole for effective use, because a power generation technology always come in a big size.

d) Getting to the market: Having said that it will be slightly expensive product, so taking it to the market and positioning it right will be the key to our success. It also possess a uncertainty because change in marketing track may ruin all the work.

e) Health and Physical Issues: The product basically targets the foot and ankle area so it needs to perfectly comfortable and suit the bodily parts in contact. This is the main technical uncertainty for which podiatrists are consulted.

Visual Depiction:

Prototype Example
Prototype Example

These are inspiration taken from research project in a foreign university, which we want to develop and startup as a new product in our country to somehow cater the issue of energy fall outs.

Testing Plan:

The testing will include two months cycle which will include daily commuters, hikers, walking enthusiast (beta testers) who will evaluate our product over the period; we will identify any problems with the device and incorporate fixes into the design based on the responses gathered from the testers.

a) At the end of the test, testers will be asked to grade their experience of the following on a scale of 1–5 (1=None, 2=Somewhat, 3=Neutral, 4=Significant, 5=A lot):

a. Comfortableness

b. Affordability

c. Power Generation

d. Design

e. Quality

b) The respondents will then be asked if they would be willing to pay a price for small and large canisters.

c) The respondents will be asked for explanations of their grading as well as that for their will to pay the price or not.

d) Negative feedback and any problems that arose during their use will be critically considered to make the product better.

Upon completion of the beta, we will start to walk with the design. We will integrate updates and improvements from the beta testers and validate our supply chains and manufacturing methods. Manufacturing tools are manufacturing aids like fixtures, dies, and cutters that enable manufacturers to make parts in high volumes; usually it takes a couple months to develop tools. This testing will therefore show if the customer actually believes that the product is providing the value that we aimed it would.

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