Venture Concept No. 2

Holding my bike with one hand and an umbrella on the other while walking around University of Florida, I realized I wasn’t the only one who was forced to get off their bike due to the rain. Seeing how this was a regular occurrence, I asked myself “why?”. Why should I get off my bike rather than continue on biking through the rain? Well I and the majority of UF don’t want to get our personal items wet. Why not just juggle an umbrella on one hand while biking? That takes focus and too much effort. With all these questions roaming around my head, I thought of a product that would meet many bikers needs. Why hold an umbrella while biking when you can have one already installed onto your bike? No longer would bikers have to get off their bike or be forced to wear garbage bags on them. This is a big opportunity because this need is yet to be met and with the constant rainy weather in Gainesville, many students who both ride a bike as well as a motorcycle/moped will now be protected under a bike cover, umbrella.

   The name of the product I have designed is called “Coverella”. It’s not a normal umbrella attached to a bike, but rather a clear plastic material that is collapsible. You first attach it to the bottom of your seats bar and it will extend a few inches out towards the wheel and then be able to be pulled up and around you towards your handle bars under bar that is attached to your frame. This will allow you to be safely protected from the rain and wind while you’re biking. Not only is it a simple cover, but there will also be two things installed onto it to allow you to have clear visibility while biking. You will have collapsible rain wipers on all sides of your bike that are to be put into outlets that will power it to function. The second installation will be a small heating mechanism that will be attached to all sides of the cover that will heat the cover and evaporate the fog from the cover. The cover will also include to windows that you’ll be able to unzip if you need to. Once this product is officially developed and looked at it, I will start contacting stores who want to buy my product and have them in turn sell it to their loyal customers. I will also develop a website where customers will also have the option to buy it online rather than bike shops and other stores. It will go for sell on line for about 100-200$ depending on how much it cost to develop one and other related costs to keep the business running successfully.

   The main reason customers will buy this new product is because it's something they haven't seen yet nor heard about. It's exciting. This product is the solution to constantly getting rained in while biking or having to get somewhere on a certain time but is stopped by the rain forcing them to have to walk to their destination. I'm sure there are many out there who are tired of having to walk their bikes through the rain or tired of having to wait for the rain to stop to continue on scooting around town. Yes, my product will be hard to introduce and capture the audience, but once they see others around them biking around with Coveralla, they'll be wishing they had one or that will give them the push they need to buy my product.

    My product will be hard to copy because there none out there in the market like my product. You need to understand how and why my product is designed a certain way and how each mechanism works. People who wish to copy my product may only be able to make a cheap umbrella version of it. What's next for my venture ? I'm hoping to be a part of several innovation hub events where others will approach me with their feedback which I will then use to better my product and eventually seek investors.

The feedback I received was extremely helpful and informative. Two of the commenters were concerned with my product being too time consuming, little room space and my product seeming to ambitious due to it complexity . One other comments suggested turning my product to a more simpler product which would consist of a package that would include a poncho, umbrella holder for the bike and an umbrella. All feed back was helpful but I don't wish to change my product to just an umbrella because that was my original idea which was eventually shaped to the one I have now. I will however look into how much time one would need in order to install the product onto their bike or scooter.