Writing Homework Help. Southern New Hampshire University Screening of Ideas Discussion and Responses
I will need my initial post and two classmate responses done.
Visit the website and read about business ideas that have failed. Think about why it is so important to screen a business idea before you complete a feasibility analysis; write a business plan; and spend a lot of time, energy, and money. Choose one failed venture and explain why, in your opinion, simple screening could have saved the entrepreneur from failure.
https://www.businessinsider.com/33-startups-that-d…
In your response to other posts, comment on their opinions. Do other students’ posts reveal new reasons to screen ideas?
To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.
1st classmate response needed
2-1 Discussion: Why Screen Ideas?
Andrew Morrison posted Sep 9, 2021 4:53 PM
Hey Class,
The company that I chose to focus on for this discussion is Xmarks (failure #9) which started as a Firefox extension but then later spread to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari, and Google’s Chrome. The extension let people synchronize their bookmarks, passwords, and open tabs. The company was founded by Mitch Kapor in 2006 as Foxmarks but was later renamed Xmarks after being acquired by Lastpass in 2010. In 2018, Lastpass announced that the Xmarks service would be shut down permanently.
Mitch Kapor had a great idea and had plenty of consumers that wanted and used his product. The product was really popular but the reason Xmarks failed was that they couldn’t find a way to make a profit. Xmarks offered the synchronization service for no charge, predicated on the hypothesis that a business model would emerge to support the free service. This never happened and so Xmarks shut down because they couldn’t pay the expenses that came with running a business.
This is the reason why it is so important to screen an idea before doing anything and they should have figured out a way to make a profit before launching their business idea. Your business will not last if you can’t make money to pay the bills and Xmarks thought that they could find a way to turn a profit but instead failed. If they would have screened their business idea before putting in all this work, they would have realized that there was no plausible way to make a profit.
Andrew Morrison
References
Kingsbery, J. (2013, June 29). 33 startups that Died reveal why they failed. Business Insider. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/33-startups-that-died-reveal-why-they-failed-2013-6?op=1#failure-10-we-made-deadly-cultural-and-strategic-mistakes-10.
Shankland, S. (2010, September 28). Xmarks shutting down bookmark sync service. CNET. Retrieved September 9, 2021, from https://www.cnet.com/news/xmarks-shutting-down-bookmark-sync-service/.
2nd classmate response needed
2-1 Discussion: Why Screen Ideas?
Edward Carmichael posted Sep 9, 2021 8:45 PM
The failed business idea I will pick is number 1 the condom key chain. I think this business failed because it was a bad idea. I believe this failed at the business plan level. They did not develop a strategy for selling the Condom key chain. The following should have been researched.
- Competitive Advantage: First you have to find out if you are selling something that everyone wants. They should have surveyed to see if people would buy the condom key chain.
- Understanding the Market: Having the ability to listen and keep your customer in mind. Not just selling a product because you think it is a good idea. Also, I think that if this company had partners they were the wrong ones.
- Wrong Choice of business: Do not open a business because you think it is an easy way to make money. Do the research using consumer reports. And have a professional presentation, using a skilled word set and a good selling pitch.