An opportunity can be described as an idea or a group of circumstances whose outcome is uncertain and it requires use of resources and involves exposure to risk (Cicero,M and Johnston, A, 2000). Assessment of advantages and disadvantages of a business opportunity form an important part when coming up with a new venture. MinuteBox is a site which acts as a market place for people to sell and buy advices. The site is a social network with an in-built video used for chatting purposes. It has the usual features of a social network site. Once a problem has been posted on the site, experts bid the request and provide advice for a given amount. MinuteBox also has a rating and billing system.
The idea of coming up with this site is an attractive business opportunity. The site provides an opportunity for experts or professionals to post their skills, experience and talents in order to sell them to viable clients. The idea meets the needs of persons who need quick solutions to their problems. It also makes the accessibility of these experts easy because they leave their contacts on the site. This site has numerous experts together with their rating per minute shown, thus one can choose an expert as per the money he or she wants to pay for the service. It is a quick way of finding solutions without travel costs. This business opportunity meets the needs of many regardless of their position in the world thus increasing accessibility and affordability of expertise to all.
MinuteBox has addressed the need of joblessness by reaching down to experts and providing an opportunity for them to serve clients (Minutebox, 2008). On the other hand Role point which helps professionals to connect to their employers; mostly companies. In RolePoint an employer posts a vacancy then qualified persons are referred in order to apply for the job. The idea is somehow limiting because only referred candidates can apply for a given job. Also on the other hand this idea depends on vacancies available in a company. The idea of being hired can be tricky to people far away from the location of the company, which means they could easily give up. To some extend this idea meets the need to create jobs but not as much as MinuteBox could.
MinuteBox has a high market potential in terms of capacity and profitability. A greater population of professionals would want to be self-employed and enhance their expertise rather than being employed. While MinuteBox solves client’s problems, it serves a big population of people. Role Point is confined to solving joblessness and mostly deals with companies’ based in the United States of America. This means MinuteBox has a decentralized market as compared to Role Point which has its main market in USA. MinuteBox also offers a wide range of services including technological, spiritual, economical and social aspects of life. This has attracted many professional of different fields of life joining the social network thus increasing its profit and numbers.
RolePoint on the other hand has employed massive referrals in order to maximize the potential available. Referred candidates can also make their own referrals too; this is done in order to ensure that no talent has been left out. The site also depends on other social networks like LinkedIn and facebook in order to enhance its availability hence increasing its capacity (Cicero,M and Johnston, A, 2000).
MinuteBox has an update technology to ensure that the technology used is not outdated which makes the opportunity attractive. It has blogs for all groups of people and small companies which are coming up. This makes the site to be preferred by many. MinuteBox has updated ideas which improve with changing times. An example is that of “spend/save” blog which teaches small businesses on when to save and when to spend in an effort to help the businesses grow. The blog provides young entrepreneurs with ideas how to spend their money well (Minutebox, 2012).
MinuteBox being a social network, it is technologically enhanced allowing interactive sessions between the professionals and the clients. It has all features of a social network which can be updated technologically. On the other side some clients are not satisfied with the rating and question the criteria of billing and rating. RolePoint has also employed high technology on its site which allows it to link with other networks in order to maximize the potential around. Such technology also enhances accessibility o employees at a give time and cost. The technology used allows the team to review and perform an in-depth summary of information in order to ensure that referrals are effectively and efficiently done.
MinuteBox has enhanced its products, services and accessibility in order to stay at the top of its competitors. Its brand name can be used as a barrier to entry. Comparing MinuteBox to Role point we realize that the products and services offered differ greatly (Rolepoint.com, 2012). To ensure that it is the most preferred site, MinuteBox provides solutions in a minute. It also deals with all aspects of life thus increasing its chances of being chosen by a client. Also to stay at the top of its competitors, the Company provides jobs for professionals and deals with them directly. This aspect makes MinuteBox stand out as compared to RolePoint which deals with big companies with jobs to be posted and money to be spent on people. Direct interaction between a user and an expert makes the site outstanding.
MinuteBox provides services to small and upcoming businesses. This makes it to be preferred more as compared to RolePoint which deals with large and successful companies only. The company has also enhanced consumer retention by ensuring that there is no anonymity in the site. It ensures transparency and openness hence clients and other users can easily reach the professionals outside the site. Such transparency gives the users’ confidence to pay for the services across the net, which in turn ensures customer retention. Such an attribute ensures that the company does not lose its clients to other companies or competitors. Another strategy the company uses to retain its clients is through discounts which are given to users depending on the frequency at which they use the services in this site. The uniqueness of the services and products offered helps the company beat its competitors.
On the other hand, RolePoint also has managed to retain their clients through efficiency in delivery of services. Focus on clients and customer representations are among the values upon which the company is founded upon.
MinuteBox has experts fit with skills including its founder who is an MBA graduate. A team which is capable of coming up with such services and products is skilled. The founder and his team of five are working on integrating the site with other social networks like twitter or facebook, which shows that they are skilled and able. The team at RolePoint is able and skilled too. It consists of four people; two business staff and two technical staff. Such a mix of business and technical team ensures that the site is running and stays upgraded and well marketed. Such a team is capable of putting up ides together and selling them in order to show how genuine are the products being offered.
With increased rates of unemployment, MinuteBox offers a strong opportunity for the economy by providing jobs to experts through self- employment. With recession and a high number of unemployed professionals, the only viable option remains for them to offer their services to those who need them at given fee. This is because many companies need to cut on their cost. At the same time the companies are in need of efficient and effective workforce. Through MinuteBox these professionals can earn some income throughout the recession period. This is through offering their services online while at the same time putting their skill into practice as they await a full time job. Through MinuteBox, individuals can get the advice they need (Cargan, 2006, vol.1, pp. 20).
With such scenarios, MinuteBox offers attractive opportunities economically. The online services are flexible and easy. The network has more than 3000 registered experts. MinuteBox being a social media, the probability of the number rising is high. Also social media is an effective tool in marketing of products and ideas because a greater population in the world can not live without. It is a meeting place for many. Such reasons explain the reason RolePoint is in twitter and LinkedIn. Economically and technologically services offered by this opportunity are viable. Some of the services or applications can be applied to smart phones and bundles of data are distributed though MinuteBox.
With the availability of online services, some clients don’t trust the experts. They always wonder how they will pay for services they are not sure of getting. Some users feel it could have been better if the experts and clients can met face to face. Such an idea limits some users especially those who are in different parts of the word. It is also expensive and time consuming.
MinuteBox needs money or finances in order to run smoothly. At the beginning of the project, it was funded (Minutebox 2012). With increased number of experts registering themselves the project makes a lot of profits. MinuteBox is a project worth financing. MinuteBox has gone miles in regard to its finances. Other resources that have made the opportunity Minute box attractive is time and increased degree of fitness. With time the program has improved as well as its products and services. The program with time has incorporated even small entrepreneurs. MinuteBox has become an essential part in today’s community as well as small companies. One of the major disadvantages of this opportunity is billing and rating. Also some users are not confident on whether to pay an online expert and how trustworthy they are.
In conclusion, MinuteBox presents an attractive business opportunity in today’s world where social media is part of our day to day lives. The opportunity has met the need of unemployment, especially in the hard times of recession. The opportunity also has a feasible technology as well as market potential as shown by its capacity and profits. It also offers unique services, products and applications. It focuses on its clients, thus providing consumer based applications, services and products. Another aspect of the attractiveness of this opportunity is that of skilled and qualified team. This ensures a smooth running of the site as well as updated technology and ideas.
References
Cargan, Marty, 2006. Assessing Product Opportunities. Opportunity Assessment, vol. 1, no. 1, pp.20.
Cicero, M. B., & Johnston, A. H. (2000). Opportunity assessment. Alexandria, VA, Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), Inc.
Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory, & United States. (1998).
Waste minimization opportunity assessment manual. Cincinnati, Ohio, Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Minutebox 2008, opportunity assessment. Web.
Minutebox 2012, opportunity Assessment. Web.
Rolepoint.com 2012, Opportunity assessment. Web.
Rolepoint.com 2012, Opportunity assessment. Web.