4a Problem Solution

My belief is that there is alot of money being wasted on teenagers who don't know exactly what they want to do with their lives. Many 17/18 year olds go into college because their teachers and parents believe it is what they need to succeed. However, many of these teens waist alot of time and money in college just try to my to figure out what their interests are. College becomes even more expensive that regular when you take a bunch of classes you later don't need. Not only does this add onto your total amount of semesters, but usually after a certain number of credits the price of tuition sky rockets.

My ideal customer isn't the student, but rather the parent of a student who knows that their child is indecisive and prone to waste lots of time figuring out what it is they want to do. Usually most parents begrudgingly accept this, as it is seen that college is the best place to figure out what it is you what to do. My solution to their problem would be to offer a summer program for highschool juniors and seniors that helps them find what it is they want to do, and more importantly gain experience in that field so they can really understand if they like it or not. O believe it would be a big opportunity because it would serve as a much less expensive option than college. And their kids might even fall in love with more practical field that doesn't require college.

After interviewing multiple parents (mostly my friends mother's), I can see that this is something parents think about often, especially around the senior years of their kids. It's usually something they recognize with their second or third child after watching the first or second go through college. A lot of them also talked about the summer camp aspect of the solution I presented and seemed to like it. One mentioned that the idea is probably better than the summer programs she sent her kids too in middle/highschool. The main struggle with the idea is that while most of the parents had to struggle, they didn't all view it in the same light. Some said that it was kinda just part of life, so while she did think about it, it was never something she was actively looking for a solution too. Most didn't have a way of addressing the need because like the first one said, it's part of life. And unless they had connections in the field their child was interested in, all they could do was apply to internships. One couple thought about having their kids work for a few years before college. Two of the interviewees had a child that dropped our of college and now does something completely unrelated to their college majors. One also told me of a child that spent 6 years to get their bachelors because he changed majors in his junior year to something completely different.

After interviewing people on this issue it seems that the problem is clear to most people, but the solution isn't. So my idea might be a hard pitch, especially to those that just see it as a factor of life. But to parents looking for summer programs/internships for their kids anyways, it might solve two solutions. However, I would be competing with many free summer programs as well as paid programs by big universities. Becuase the parent has to have enough money to pay for summer program I should Target middle-class to wealthy parents. I still think the opportunity is there, but it may not be a problem parents are always thinking about. I believe the summer program aspect of it is definitely something I didn't see at first though. That is definitely something parents think about alot in summer time.So it's kinda like two birds with one stone. I think people should always change their views based on feedback if it's from their buyer persona/demographic.