Chapter Three: Analytics
Introduction
Currently, web development is influenced by numbers and other aspects that play a role in shaping the perspectives of individuals in the modern world. Investors always ask for the numbers before directing their funds to finance a given project. Usually, well-doing projects capture the attention of investors because of the existing opportunities that inspire growth and development in any given instance. Understanding the basics of business and entrepreneurship in the age of informational technology has compelled business managers to engage in activities that can reveal the actual statistics to the world. In the same vein, innovators have developed internet tools that can be used to shape the perspectives of individuals in their immediate environment. In our group, we explored various approaches that could increase the value of our project and demonstrate its impact to potential investors and other shareholders interested in the products and services. By using a Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), it was possible for us to identify the benefits that can be accrued from the project and the way individuals can realize their vision in the business environment. Besides, the technique streamlines approaches that can be used by individuals to realize their potential in their immediate environment. For instance, it is possible for investors to understand our vision and mission in the corporate world by analyzing the VPC and aligning their objectives with our company targets. For this reason, there is a need for individuals to utilize the available techniques to understand the measures that can be used to understand the change reactors and their impact on the perspectives of individuals in the business environment. Utilizing technological innovations to define business operations is a strategic approach that can be used to realize company objectives through the development of viable solutions in the market.
Part One: Analyzing the Effectiveness of the Digital Tools
Basing our strategy on the feedback obtained from the VPC, it was possible to map out the benefits that would be accrued upon directing our investments towards a particular business objective. In this regard, the VPC acted as a visual map that enabled the team to understand its objectives and commitment to sustain our agenda when interacting with the people. Understanding the methods that would be used to overcome problems in the business environment would equip us with a competitive advantage over other industry players in the market because of our ability to address issues affecting people’s lifestyles (Couldry, Fotopoulou, and Dickens 2016). While our project, The Retriever, is built from a complex software, its ability to enable consumers to track their possession without worrying is a plus for our company. In many instances, one might misplace their keys and due to their unique identity, it is impossible to trace their last seen location or even review their mobility. However, using our project, it is now possible to ping the location of these items and eliminate the inconveniences that arises upon the loss of such possessions.
The VPC explains the functionality of the platform and how individuals can attach a location to their possessions, making it easier for them to trace and find their items upon misplacement. Even though misplacing items is normal in the modern world, everyone wishes that they could call or contact them because of the impact on their lifestyles. Using our platform, it is now possible to track the lost items by accessing the tracker from a mobile application that informs individuals about the relevant details (Nambisan, Lyytinen, Majchrzak, and Song 2017). In this case, the VPC offers powerful insights to individuals about the effectiveness of the tool and its influence in the outcomes of events in the world today. For investors, the cost factor is also indicated on the VPC and how one can benefit through strategic partnerships with the company. Our group comprises four students who are concerned about the nature of events that take place in the modern world.
Problem Canvas
Using the Problem Canvas enables developers to identify any problems that can emerge upon introduction of the project in the public domain. This way, it is possible to cushion an organization from any unanticipated risk that may interfere with the operational performance of an organization in the business environment. Understanding the needs of consumers offers individuals with an upper hand that influences the ability of an organization to achieve its objectives in the business environment (Cybulski, Keller, Nguyen, and Saundage 2015). One of the approaches that can be used in this project is understanding the customer persona to determine the early market adopters who will likely embrace and recommend the project to other people. From this observation, it was possible for the team to identify the reasons that would discourage individuals from partaking the application. During our analysis, we established that the target population knew about the problem to be solved but had limited knowledge on how the issue could be addressed. For this reason, the team focused on creating an awareness that would lead to the discovery of the platform and possible peak in the business environment.
Our digital campaign did not meet our initial expectations because of the limited resources that we used to conduct our survey. However, there was a room for improvement that could be tapped through consistent and specific marketing exercises, which would enable the company to understand the market needs. Innovations in the business environment today focus on the way they can benefit through solving people’s problems (Spiller and Tuten 2015). This way, it is possible to identify the longevity of a business and prepare for future problems that hinder individuals from realizing their dreams in the corporate world. The main objective of this company is to develop an innovative solution that can enable individuals to track their lost items such as keyholders, wallets, purses and much more. Nonetheless, the changing market environment poses a problem to start-ups and SMEs because of their inability to put in measures that can cushion them from external business factors such as government policies and stock market changes. Hence, it is imperative for the organization to explore the issues that can favor its operations in the market when competing against established firms.
Google Analytics
When pitching an online business opportunity to potential investors, company managers are compelled to use statistics to back up their promises for profits and revenue generation. Google Analytics is one of the platforms that can be used to analyze the performance of an organization from organic users. After exposing our website to the platform, we realized that 167 individuals visited the site in 5 days. On the first day, the website attracted 112 visitors with a lower bounce rate of 59.83%. The average time taken by the users was 6 minutes and 26 seconds, a move that indicated their interest in the project. Besides, the Retriever site managed to achieve a 60.71% new visit rate that demonstrated its ability to accomplish set objectives upon successful execution. From this realization, it is evident that the market needs can be achieved by putting in place measures that can be accomplished by numerous issues affecting the lifestyles of individuals in their immediate environment.
Fig 1.0 A graphical representation of the numbers obtained from the Google Analytics tool.
On the second day, we realized that the website had received a 100% new visit rate that demonstrated the impact of the company in the business environment. Given the influence of the platform in the world today, it is expected that the organization can improve people’s lifestyles by focusing on existing opportunities to change the perspectives of individuals towards their problems. However, creating awareness about the product appears to be the most viable idea that can be explored to inform people about the existence of the product and its viability in the market (Domingo, Masip, and Costera Meijer 2015). Out of the visitors we expected to interact with the site on the second day, 11 were new users who left the platform after 8 seconds. Unlike the initial turnout who visited an average of 6 pages, the visitors on the second page accessed only one page before exiting from the platform. This user behavior compelled us to analyze the causes that could explain the sudden lack of interest from the platform and its inability to satisfy their changing needs.
On the fifth day, there was only one user who seemed to have accessed the website by mistake because of the time he or she took to interact with its contents. While we believed that it could have been a robot because of the high bounce back rate, the declining numbers demonstrate a problem that could be responsible for the poor performance of the website. In this regard, there is a need to understand the issues that could be used to explain the various instances, which interfere with the perspectives of individuals when interacting with the platform (Acharjya and Ahmed 2016). In many occasions, developers are compelled to analyze the pages and examine their responsiveness from a client perspective rather than from reviewing it from the back-end. My team decided to explore alternatives that could be used to popularize its existence in the digital world and improve its potential to accomplish set needs and objectives.
Using Tools to Improve Efficiency
Growing the Business
When engaging in a business activity, it is imperative for individuals to review their potential to accomplish set objectives and examine the market reception of the entire project. In this regard, we failed to carefully analyze the market and establish the approaches that could be used to reach out to the target audience. Importantly, the market plays a crucial role to the success of a product because of its impact on the outcomes of events that take place in the world today. Understanding the issues that take place in the contemporary business environment enable business managers and start-ups to diversify their operations and comprehend the changing nature of individuals in their immediate environment. From this observation, one of the techniques that should be explored involve engaging individuals in a series of events that promote awareness. Since we have established the problem is persistent in the modern world, it is imperative for us to create awareness regarding the solution that can be used to overcome the problem.
Different Applications of the Value Proposition Canvas
In the market today, VPCs offer a certain element of newness that compel customers to align their interests and expectations with because of the non-existence of a similar offering in the business environment. Importantly, our VPC failed to offer this aspect because of our limited marketing approach that failed to engage the people on the solution. However, customizing the product to make it more appealing may compel individuals to embrace the solution and reach out to us on the issues affecting them in their immediate environment. Customization offers a personalized touch that improve the bond between clients and organizations (Caliandro 2018). Importantly, our company can tap into this loyalty by engaging customers in the market and understanding the issues. Offering products that specifically address the needs of both men and women is a task that can be accomplished through market research. In many instances, company managers fail to interact with individuals and overcome problems that affect their lifestyles because of the aspect of uncertainty that hinders small businesses from realizing their potential.
Alternative Analytic Tools
Even though Google Analytics is the best software in the market, there is a need to understand the cause of the problem that affects the performance and effectiveness of a website. In this regard, Spring Metrics can be used because of its simplified approach towards analysis that makes it appropriate for learning purposes. Unlike Google Analytics that requires individuals to understand the meaning of some of the entries, Spring Metrics interprets every entry and makes it easier for individuals to identify the problems. In the same vein, it is also easier to initiate improvements because of the existence of a certain condition that could be responsible for the outcomes recorded by the platform. Notably, Spring Metrics provides developers with an ability to align their decisions with dependency management concepts that improve the overall performance of the site or the application.
Investment Opportunities
Crowd-Sourcing and Angel Investments
Sourcing funds from the people creates awareness and allows them to participate in the change process especially when introducing the product to the masses. In this regard, there is a need to highlight the issues that emerge when developers and company managers fail to consider the existence of the public when testing the finished product for bugs and user experience. The users play a critical role in reviewing a website for effectiveness. During the beta stage of a web project, it is imperative for individuals to understand the issues that can be used to examine the outcomes of events in the modern world. Identifying investors who believe in our product and its ability to solve the problem is one of the methods we might use in raising funds because of the need to accomplish the identified objectives in the market (Drover, Busenitz, Matusik, Townsend, Anglin, and Dushnitsky 2017). Hence, it is possible to understand the methods that can be used to identify the right associates because of the need to accomplish set objectives in the business environment.
Benefits and Limitations Associated with our Investment Decision
Bringing new people on board before the project has been embraced in the market equips them with a decision-making power over the founders because of their ability to facilitate the projects that are being executed in the market. In this case, we are under-resourced because of our status as students. From this observation, it is possible for angel investors to buy our innovative idea through appeasing pay cheques, limiting us from claiming any copyrights to the finished product (Teichgraeber and Brandt 2017). While we believe that this idea can be turned into a resourceful project and venture in the market, it is important to identify the existing threats and weaknesses that might be used by investors to deprive us from benefitting from the final product. However, if we succeed to identify like-minded individuals, our project will experience a smooth sail in the business environment.
Limitations of Other Finance Options
When developing this concept into a fully-fledged idea, we realized the financial gains that we could accrue by offsetting the project into the hands of an investor. However, a total buyout may seem lucrative because of the immense amounts of capital we may receive but it is a short-sighted decision that will only benefit other people. In the world today, many people are exploited through being lured with instant cash that can be used to mitigate problems in their lives (Kohler 2016). However, I believe that complete buy-out cannot take place because of the need to convert this project into a fully-fledged idea that we can claim ownership rights. Since we have worked hard for this project, it would be unwise to dispose the concept to other people who may interfere with the original idea and fleece the target audience. We seek to be part of this project and solve people’s problems using our skill.
Part Two: Reflection
Creating the online presence for “The Retriever” exposed us to a wide range of dynamics that influence the outcomes of events in digital entrepreneurship. In this regard, I realized that some of the concepts we had learned in class could not be applied in our case because of the changing nature of the market that compels company managers to adapt by improving their offerings to the consumers. Personally, I learned so much on the digital space because of my involvement with the metrics and analytical tools that helped us to understand better the approaches that can be used to interact with potential consumers. In the world today, individuals are mostly inclined towards online reviews and tend to trust companies that are hosted on independent networks. One of the reasons that I believe caused the poor uptake after launching the website was the borrowed domain. Hosting a website on a sub-domain lowers the expectations of individuals towards the company and interferes with their ability to develop a website that can meet their expectations. However, given our limited resources and the time-frame of this project, it would only be wise to host the platform on a subdomain before transferring it to an independent domain for commercial purposes.
Interacting with the feedback obtained from Google Analytics opened my eyes and allowed me to see the digital space from a first-hand perspective. Consumers are hard people to please especially when introducing products that have not been researched well. Conducting an intensive market research allows company managers to understand the approaches that can be used when introducing a concept into the business environment. Even though the main findings challenged our progress, it offered us with an opportunity to develop solutions that can be used to mitigate future problems. In the same vein, there is a need to identify the issues that can be explored whenever an organization encounters unanticipated challenges in the business environment. As a start-up, it is imperative to identify like-minded individuals who can facilitate the execution of ideas to reduce the workload of developers.
Conclusion
Utilizing technological innovations to define business operations is a strategic approach that can be used to realize company objectives through the development of viable solutions in the market. In this regard, there is a need to observe the impact of VPC when setting up a digital platform and its influence the possible outcomes that can be achieved by an organization. In the modern workplace, strategic decision-making processes inspire the success of projects and enable individuals to accomplish set objectives in the corporate world. Using tools to review our progress improved our understanding of the crucial procedures that should take place in the modern world. Importantly, influencing the perspectives of consumers in the market allows them to realize the need of the finished product because of an existing problem. Marketing in the digital space is a crucial element of success that should be explored by company managers in their immediate environment because of the different issues that interfere with the outcomes of events. Thus, there is a need to understand the approaches that can shape up conversations in the digital space.
