Initial Venture Concept Visual (Quality time hotels)

Primary uses: Affordable,

romance, rewards memberships
Secondary uses: sharing
experiences with close friends
and relatives
Problems to be
solved
-Every hotel is standard, expensive, etc.-Privacy for
early graduates/ young adults with roommates due to
expensive New York City lifestyle
Design Points:
-Create lasting memories to last a lifetime
-Nicer, cleaner, and non-traditional hotel experience
-Book online in advance
Target Customers
Early college graduates/young professionals ages 21-35
Service
-Hotel in New York City,
New York providing
affordable rates and
rewards memberships for
young professionals in
LDRs for weekend stays.
-Romantic suites; including
wine, rose petals, etc.
(optional service, no
additional fee)In long
distance relationships
(LDRs)
Customer Benefits
-Convenient location
-More affordable luxury stay (10% off first stay)
-Romantic getaway for young couples,
quality time spent with one another
-Female: a chance to see boyfriend w/romance
-Male: chance to make his girlfriend feel special
- Built in kitchen
-Share commonalities with other hotel guests

Venture Concept Statement

The Quality Time hotel is a hotel service that brings couples from all
around the world an exceptional hotel stay experience. It is a lot different
from our current competitors in many ways. The target market (early
college graduates/young professionals), is looking for the most affordable
hotel rate and a great experience. LDR can offer that and much more. We
can provide benefits such as discounted rates for the first weekend stay, in
addition to customized romantic setups(optional with no additional fee)
and a built in kitchen as an for each room. This will set us apart from our
competition because we will also offer rewards memberships with a
chance to earn more discounts after a certain number of weekend stays.
Target Customer Interviews
Questions Asked to Alex Howard, Colton Gordon, and Briana
Evans along with her boyfriend Kyree Jones
1. Do you view yourself as a potential customer for this
offering? What would be the different ways you want to use this
product or service?
2. How satisfied were you with the current products/services
you use now?
3. Do you see the proposed offering as distinctive from the
competitors?
4. How much would you be willing to pay for this offering
compared to the current products/services you use now?
5. How often do you buy similar products or services?

6. How much do you spend each time you make this kind of
purchase?
7. Where is the best place to buy products/services such as
this?
8. How likely is it that you would be willing to buy this offering?
9. What additional features are important to you with this type
of product/service?
Analyzation of Results
After collecting data from each interview, each potential customer I
interviewed seemed to be very interested in my product. Out of all of my
interviews, no one said they would stay less than 2 times a year, which is
relatively close to my goal of 3 times a year for each couple. They liked my
venture concept because of my emphasis on quality and wanting to
provide the best and most affordable experience possible to my target
customers. They also liked the idea of having a rewards membership with
my hotel in order to accumulate points and earn more discounts after they
reach a certain number of stays in my hotel. They said they would
definitely be willing to stay for the 10% discount for the first stay. Since my
rates would be $120 per night, they would save a total of $24 if they were
willing to stay Friday and Saturday night, which would make a total of
$216 for their first weekend stay. The interviewees were also okay with
resuming regular rates for their next visit as long as they were guaranteed
a membership enabling them to earn more points. One interviewer also
mentioned that it would be nice to provide a continental breakfast each
morning, in addition to offering coupons for nearby restaurants.

One of the people I interviewed had a recent hotel experience, but

the other two had not in a while because of how expensive their last
experience was. Other than the interviewer that had a recent experience,
the other two had not had the best experience during that last hotel visit. I
really hope to solve that problem with my business venture. I want to
make sure my hotel is as affordable as possible since I will be
concentrating on young professionals staying in my hotel. Although during
one of my three interviews, the male I interviewed mentioned that he
would be willing to pay more for a quality experience since he only buys
hotel rooms for special occasions. He said that it is really important to him
to feel good in the room he is staying in and he likes the feeling of a luxury
experience. I thought this was awesome because this is exactly the feeling
I want to provide for my customers. I want them to have a good
experience so they are not hesitant to come back a second, third, and
fourth time!

Venture Strategy
Industry niche: Hotel services
Target customer: Young professionals; early college graduates and
professionals ranging from ages 21-35
Products/services: Exceptional hotel experience with romantic set-up
included in hotel cost, built in kitchen
Positioning: Better experiences for better prices; earn frequent

customers
Product/Service Portfolio:

Venture Business Model

Revenue Structure: Standard hotel rates apply per bedroom(maximum of 2

guests) No two bedrooms will be offered to keep hotel rates and number of
guests consistent
R&D model: Partner with local restaurants in exchange for coupons that will
be handed out to hotel guests
Production model: Look into building hotel in outskirts of New York for lower
hotel costs in order to keep prices lower for hotel guests.
-Average hotel costs for start-up around $20 million(includes building
materials, labor, and machine costs for 115 rooms, averaging about 325
square feet) not including kitchen. Around $25 million with kitchen
Go-to-market model: Partner with local home stores for appliances in
exchange for direct advertisement in kitchen and bed furnishings. Partner
with local stores from which wine, rose petals, and candles will be provided in
exchange for advertisements

Revenue Projections:

City/State

People ages
21-35 In
NYC

Customer
Group

% of
Popl. in
LDRs

%
purchase
intent

$spend Purch Revenue 1st year

ase
frequ
ency
avera
ge

NYC, NY

1,395,369

Young
Adults in
LDRs

14%
=195,351

20%
=39,070

$240

Findings and Revised Venture Concept:

4
Startup cost=$25 million
=$960 Income=$37.5 million;
/year
Revenue=$12.5 million

Target Industry Segment/Niche The Customer Insight

Solutions for Customers
Hotel service
Buying for love/missing
Romantic set U.S. average for
someone
up with wine and rose
hotel industry
Buying as a necessary
petals on the bed
$165 billion
visit
In-home
Premium price
kitchen in case they
niche, 14%
want to stay in and
of U.S. population approximately
cook
Rewards
memberships
Target Customers and Uses
Business Model
Romance: Young
Average price
professional
of $240 for each
men wanting to provide special
visit(2 nights)
experience
The
Voice
of
the
Customer
Purchase
for their women(romantic
F: I cant wait to see
multiple times a year;
getaway scenario)
my man.
for special occasions
Experience:
M: My woman is going
and general
Sharing experiences
to love what I have planned,
Available to
with family and friends
and I didnt break the bank.
book online or over
F: I love spending time
the phone
outside of my apartment
Positioning and Branding
M: I have really been
Functional:
looking forward to seeing her
Great price to visit
after all these weeks/months
significant other
frequently
Emotional:
Longing to be together
Social:
Coupons to nearby
restaurants, recycle
unused paper
I believe in my venture a lot more now than I did in the beginning,
which is surprising because I thought it would be the other way around. I
believe my venture is very attractive to my target market, but I also know
there are some things I should add to make my business more attractive
based on the feedback I received from my interviews. Initially what makes
my product more attractive is the prices. Out of all my interviews they were

surprised at how affordable my prices were. But that also made me

question my pricing, which is why I decided to have a more upscale
service where I would charge more. This way, it still gives people the
option to stay in a more affordable room, or stay in a luxury room if they
desire. Since my venture will be expensive to startup, I know I will need a
lot of investors, rather than taking out complete loans. This way, I will have
less to pay back when I start generating revenue.
Overall, this project told me a lot about myself. Firstly, it told me that
I have a good heart. I want to provide a service that is important to me, so
in turn, and can provide the best service to my customers. By putting
myself in their shoes, I think it better equips me with the mindset of how
my customers want to feel, along with what they would like to pay as well.
However, it also told me that I am still focused on making my business
successful, so in order to generate more revenue I think it would be a
good idea to expand my target market, or at least come up with a solid
secondary market. If I were to actually start this business, there would be
a lot of work to do. But through this project, it shows me I am capable of
doing the beginning leg work of a potential business venture.

Bibliography
(2015). Build a Hotel Cost. Retrieved from
http://www.fixr.com/costs/build-hotel

(2015). 2014 LODGING INDUSTRY PROFILE Prepared by the American

Hotel & Lodging Association. Retrieved from
https://www.ahla.com/content.aspx?id=36332
(2015). Top down and bottom up design. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-down_and_bottom-up_design