Breath Alcohol System | Business Plan
Executive Summary
The main of the report was to present a new business idea which is based on gaps in customer’s lives. The business idea is about development of Breath Alcohol System which is a device for monitoring the level of alcohol in human body, and if detects alcohol above 0.05% then stops ignition system of car from starting. The features and specifications of device are clearly highlighted and market for product is expected to grow rapidly over the years. The marketing of product will be carried out through both online and offline modes of communication. The business strategy of integrated cost differentiation will be followed by business to ensure competence within industry. Finally, it is forecasted that business will earn profit from initial years of its operations.
Business Gap based on analysis of customer’s needs
Customers are extremely concerned about ethicality of their actions and they want their actions to be highly regulated, such that no harm is offered to others and their own selves. In spite of managing their actions, the customers might not judge the exact level of alcohol in their body, which might exceed 0.05% level (Carey, 2015). Based on this reason they want a product which can regulate their driving by monitoring the exact level of alcohol in their body.
In terms of influence, the social group to which customers belong, the community they live in and immediate families of customers play significant role. The concern for safety of the person who drives, co-passengers and of pedestrian are the key messages which are used to influence the need of customers to make purchase of Breathing Alcohol System (Market Watch, 2019). Additionally, the media and advertising also play substantial role in shaping the desire of customers to opt for a product which can assure their safety, under the influence of alcohol.
Additionally, the focal customers of Breathing Alcohol System are proactive to adopt new technology, being living in the era of automation. They prefer products which could use automated features without demanding extra efforts of customers (Carey, 2015). Customers do not prefer to undergo test to detect blood alcohol level, as it is not possible to perform prior to each driving session. Therefore, they want a solution which is automated, can sense the level of alcohol in their body just by examining their breath and then can regulate the ignition of vehicle to control driving of individual under influence of alcohol.
An ideal customer of Breathing Alcohol System holds the view that while consuming alcohol, it might become difficult to exactly measure the amount of consumption and there should be a system to detect actual level of alcohol. They need a system to stop them from drink driving, with the purpose of assuring their own and other’s safety.
The pains of customers are mainly about the risk of drunk driving, which could be linked with enhanced propensity to suffer from an accident and can result in serious injury or fatality. Finally, the compliance with driving regulations of Australia, avoidance of drunk driving and assurance of driver’s and other’s safety are all considered as gains for customers (Rae, 2019).
The detailed investigation of customers’ needs for underlying product is given in empathy mapping, which has been shown in table 1. Based on these details, the Breathing Alcohol System will be developed to meet the core preferences and needs of customers in effective manner.
Table 1. Customer’s empathy analysis
|
Element |
Breath Alcohol System’s customer |
|
What customers think and feel |
· Concerned about ethicality of their actions · Need a product which could monitor level of alcohol in their body and can stop ignition system to assure safe driving |
|
What they hear? |
· Influence of friends, families and social group · Concern for safety of the person who drives, co-passengers and of pedestrian are the key messages · Messages of advertisers and media hold importance |
|
What they see? |
· See technology as life saviour · Proactive to adopt new technology · Need automated solution for controlling drink driving |
|
What they say? |
· The hold the view that it is not possible for an individual to keep track of level of alcohol in their body · There should be an automated device to help them address the issue of drunk driving |
|
Pains |
· Risk of drunk driving · Risk of accidents, injuries and fatalities |
|
Gains |
· Compliance with drunk driving regulations of Australia · Assurance of safety for drivers, co-passengers and pedestrians |
Customer Journey Mapping
The journey map of customers can be seen in table below, which has considered five stages of customers’ journey including; awareness, discover, purchase, use and bonding.
Proposal of business idea
The business idea is based on the introduction of safety system named Breath Alcohol System, which will be integrated with ignition system of vehicle, with an aim of detecting the level of alcohol consumption of driver. The reason for embarking upon this business idea is based on the notion that alcohol can adversely affect driving in many ways (Arria et al., 2016). For instance, it can lower the ability of driver to judge distance and to control speed. The development of over confidence and enhanced propensity to take risk is also witnessed in driver when alcohol concentration is increased in blood. In similar manner, attention and coordination is reduced, ability to take any immediate action is affected and vision might also be impaired (Fell et al., 2017). Given these adverse consequences of drunk driving, Australia has set 0.05 % level of alcohol concentration in blood of full license holder drivers. Regardless of these regulatory measures, still the rate of alcohol consumption is high and large number of accidents are caused due to drink driving in Australia, each year.
Based on these reasons, there is greater need of a system which could auto control the vehicles to completely restrict the ability of person to start engine, when alcohol concentration is beyond set limit (McGinty et al., 2017). Breath Alcohol System will be linked with ignition system of the vehicles and it will use breath sensors to detect the alcohol status of driver. When the level of alcohol will be detected above 0.05% when auto command will be given to ignition system and driver will not be able to start the vehicle. This system is likely to help the enforcement of drink driving legislations and thus the product is expected to revolutionize the transport sector. The product will have following benefits;
- It will address the issue of drunk driving by acting as an interlock device attached with ignition system of autos.
- It will help in prevention of accidents caused by drunk driving and will subsequently reduce the rate of injuries and fatalities.
- Breathing Alcohol System will aid in law enforcement by restricting driving above 0.05% level of alcohol concentration in blood of driver.
- The product will act as problem solver, which could eventually lead to creation of need.
Minimum Viable Product
The product will be manufactured by using breathing sensor technology, such as breath analyzer. The ignition will be controlled by a logic circuit, which will hinder the action of driver to start the vehicle. The level of blood alcohol level is pre-defined at 0.05% and even a slight increase from this value will control the engine from ignition. The use of infrared beams will allow to sense and then analyze the breath of driver, within 10 seconds of detecting the breath of driver. The ignition will cut for 5 minutes, such that another person (any companion of the person whose breath is being detected with alcohol concentration of 0.05%) might drive followed by another test of breath. The product specifications can be seen below;
- Size of device will be 160mm × 50 mm
- Automatic detection of breath, while a person sits on driving seat
- Only detects alcohol, with no response to hydrocarbons
- Time of analysis is 10 seconds
- It cuts ignition for 5 minutes
- Light and portable device
- Breath Alcohol System has graphic LCD display
- Display of alcohol quantity with three decimal places
- Certified by AS3547 Australian standard
- Product has memory of around 100,000 logs and its memory can be erased for re-usage
- Warranty of 18 months
Market Analysis
Analysis of Australian market has highlighted that rate of annual fatalities due to drink driving are 30% (Market Watch, 2019). This percentage is alarming and much higher than UK, where only 12% road accident fatalities are caused by driving under influence of alcohol (Market Watch, 2019). In recent report of Australian Bureau of Statistics (2019) it was found that around 25000 NSW and 15000 Victorian vehicle drivers were found to engage in drunk driving, which indicates alarming situation within Australia. Regardless of strict drink driving regulations within Australia, the high accident rate due to drink driving demands consideration of vehicle industry to develop a system through which alcohol level of driver can be detected and driving can be restricted (Budget Direct, 2018). The analysis of market indicates that there is substantial need of Breath Alcohol System, with an aim of assuring safety of drivers and of pedestrians.
In Australia, almost 16,368,383 people own personal vehicles, which shows that there are 0.72 vehicles per person (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). In Australia, around 78.8% people consume alcohol, either on regular or occasional basis (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). The occasional consumption is mainly linked with consumption of alcohol on weekends or specific events. This percentage clearly indicates that there is high consumption of alcohol in Australia and there is substantial demand for the system which can regulate the driving of people who are under the influence of alcohol and can assure safety of people at large.
Additionally, the industry wide analysis has also highlighted that motor vehicles companies are highly inclined towards automation. The installation and integration of automated control mechanisms is attracting the attention of vehicle companies, which shows that there will be huge demand for Breath Alcohol System. Moreover, it is noted that currently 8% vehicle companies are using some kind of sensors in their newly developed models to regulate the drink driving (Budget Direct, 2018). This percentage is likely to increase by 20% by the end of 2025, which shows that there is high demand for Breath Alcohol System in vehicle industry and product has huge growth prospects.
Market size, market value and scalability
The analysis of market shows that demand for ignition interlock devices for alcohol detection is increasing rapidly in Australia and people are willing to spend on devices which could assure their safety while driving under the influence of alcohol. The market concentration is considered as low, and market has not matured yet, which provides substantial prospects of success for new products in this category. The decline has been witnessed in the average price of product, based on development of technology as well as based on lowering cost of raw material with progression in technology. In a recent report of AustRoads it has been highlighted that there is likelihood to make alcohol ignition interlocks compulsory in all vehicles within Australia, with an aim of cutting the rate of accidents caused under the influence of alcohol (Rae, 2019). It indicates that market is expected to grow significantly over the coming years, which provides substantial success prospects for Breath Alcohol System. Currently 8861 vehicles have fitted alcohol interlocks and this number is expected to grow at the rate of 3.5% each year (Rae, 2019). These facts show that demand for Breath Alcohol System will increase substantially over the years.
Unique Value Proposition
The unique value proposition of Breath Alcohol System lies in the notion that it will offer an automated solution to customers for regulating their driving under the influence of alcohol, by detecting the exact level of alcohol based on breath sensors. This system will not allow the driving when alcohol concentration will increase 0.05% level, which will assure compliance with Australian regulations of drunk driving. The product serves the purpose of continuous monitoring of blood alcohol level and it is easily installable into cars. The product needs not to be installed by manufacturers, but customers can install it based on their own preferences. Finally, it analyzes breathing, which does not require any specific action on behalf of driver and start operating once a person sits on driving seat and breaths near gearing wheel. Breathing Alcohol System will only take 10 seconds to detect the level of alcohol and thus takes immediate action to stop ignition of engine.
