Forming an Opportunity Belief: A Twist on Opportunity Identification

I feel there is an opportunity when it comes to alarm clocks and people tending to sleep through them. Some people tend to sleep through their alarm clocks either through their phones or traditional alarm devices. I found this need through personal experiences of sleeping through my alarm countless times. I feel there isn’t much out there that people are doing to fulfill this need. At this point I feel there is a 80% chance this opportunity exists.

To find out whether this opportunity existed, I went out to a mall and asked random people a series of questions. The questions are listed below.

Do you typically sleep through your alarms?

If so, how long has this been occurring?

How are you currently addressing sleeping through your alarm clock? Did you come up with solutions to solve this issue?

If so, are you satisfied with your solution? Why?

Reflection: After conducting the interviews, I concluded that my opportunity might not actually be feasible. 2 of the 3 people I interviewed say they place their phone near there pillow with the vibration turned on. This makes it easier for them to wake up. The third person used a smartwatch with a vibration feature to wake up in the mornings. I never thought of using wearable technology as an alarm to wake up in the mornings. I feel this alone made my idea obsolete.

Summary: In percent terms, I feel around 10 to 15% of my opportunity still exists. This is mainly because there are people out there that probably need more than a little vibration in the morning to wake up. My opportunity now is more accurate after conducting the research and interviewing prototypical customers. I feel entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. Getting customer feedback is the great because you are getting data about your product from people who would be using the product or service.