Monday, February 14, 2011

Markets and Positioning

The third article was not too relevant to my venture idea as I am primarily targeting residential users in the US (and potentially other industrialized nations). The reason for this is the high aggregate and per capita energy consumptions in industrialized nations.

EEme connects residential users with utilities, product/service providers, municipalities and provides them with relevant EE rebates and loan terms. Given the multifaceted nature of this service I face different customers and propose different values to each group of customers:

1. Residential users will save on their energy bills.
2. Utilities will avoid facing harsh monetary penalties that are posed by their states when they fail to meet their energy conservation targets as set by their states. Further, EEme will help utilities monitor their Demand-side Management (DSM) programs and reduce their DSM administrative costs.
3. Product and service providers will enjoy increased business volume.
4. Municipalities and other social investors which provide financing for the residential users to deploy EE measures, will enjoy a return on their investment.

Although there are a few newly established startups (e.g. Energysavvy, Energy Efficiency 2.0, etc.) which provide users with an online tool to capture their EE potential, such services are fairly unknown to most users. Hence, a new demand area is being created. EEme's competitive advantages compared to the other companies are:

1. Utilization of social media for user awareness and participation.
2. Enhanced rebates via partnering with product and service providers.
3. Loans via partnering with municipalities and other social funds.
4. Utilization of aerial and street-view thermal imaging to refine target market and thus not require the users to take an online energy audit (unlike e.g. Energysavvy)
5. Clear value communication to users via avoiding detailed energy jargon. Easy-to-understand bang for the buck type of approach will help user tap into relevant and cost-effective measures.

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