Enterprise & Entrepreneurship (E&E): Change of Idea

This change of idea was rather sudden, and in my personal opinion, maybe unwise to change the idea so late in the pipeline when the submission date is only a few days away. I was told that our original idea for Forge Studios was too difficult to research in as far as finance and we may not have been able to render our idea "bulletproof" when it came to the deadline.

We have now come up with an idea for a company which is similar to an Internet cafe. The element that drives this idea is the use of waterproof state of the art touchscreens. We have been inspired by the new touchscreen technology introduced by manufacturers such as Apple, with their iPad and iTouch. The idea is that these touchscreens can be used for ordering your refreshments and meals, as well as accessing the Internet, playing games and listening to music etc.

iPad Touchscreen

Because these touchscreens are waterproof means that we can incorporate food and drink into the equation more easily. These can be places where people can meet, socialise, eat & drink, play games and listen to music. It is a multi-purpose environment. The possibilities are vast.

The idea is that this will be an interior environment and the layout will be much like a cafe or sushi bar, however built within the tables are tilt waterproof touchscreens, that have Internet capability and have blue-tooth and wi-fi built in. These touch-screens will we be connected to the shops system so that drinks and food can be ordered digitally. This also enables Internet monitoring.

This is a place where people can unwind, have fun, have access to the Internet if there is no Internet service at home, the Internet can be used for business purposes such as receiving and sending emails and of course it is possible to buy food and drink.

It has been suggested that software such as iTunes, MSN, Skype etc will be installed within the machines, earphones will be provided when asked for behind the counter, which could cost 50p - £1. If they are returned then your deposit is given back to you. You will also need an in store account so that important information is not misused. Another idea we had is that the store could hold a monthly gaming tournament and an annual gaming championship event.

We also discussed the idea that there should be a fee for internet usage: 30 mins = 50p 1 hour = £1 2 hours = £2 etc. The max time u can use the internet is 4 hours. There can be unmetered access with a 1 day pass, 1 week pass, 1 month pass and 1 year pass. There could even be special offers with completely unmetered free internet usage. Ou target audience will be from the age of 13 - 19.

We have conducted questionnaires to ask people if they would be interested in this store idea and what times they would enter the store to see if there is a "peak time".

We have come to the conclusion that an experimental store would have to be set up as a trial to see if there are areas for improvement and if there really is interest in this sort of store for a year to two years.