Venture Concept No. 1

The problem many elderly and disabled people face is lack of freedom due to their inability to drive. I have thought of a service that caters to those who may not have the same accessibility to go places they want, when they want. Any Ride provides a fast, reliable, safe, and comfortable solution. With Any Ride, users can call upon comfortable or specialized vehicle that will take them any where they would like to go. Through an easy to use app or website, riders can be picked up wherever they are in a matter of minutes. The application will also have an online format, for those who may not use smartphones. Furthermore, I think in order to market the service properly, newspaper advertisement and phone calls will need to be made. The elder demographic is not always up to date on applications, let alone technology, so finding a way to market successfully will be a main focus. Customers would care about the service because my service provides freedom to those who usually feel trapped. People would buy into the service because it is a hassle to be on-call for somebody else, even if they are family. People live their own lives and as much as you care about your family, sometimes you are unable to drive them to the doctor or places they want to go. My concept is a productive and useful service that will contribute to society. I believe the customer base could potentially be huge. Any Ride is a service designed for the elderly, along with disabled people. With effective marketing that targets elderly and disabled people and their families, the return can be huge; however, I have raised a few questions about my service. The main concerns are whether there are other services that provide specialized transportation, and whether people would need it because Uber. To answer these in one response, Any Ride would be related to a unique customer base that provides unique benefits. An ordinary Uber does not take into consideration the age of their client due to the use of ordinary cars. Chances are that the car sent to pick you up will not be comfortable for an elderly person to enter and exit, let alone be accessible to someone who is physically disabled. The problem that I specifically heard from elderly people I have talked to is that Uber drivers do not have much care for the business, which translates to an unenjoyable experience for those who need a little extra help. Additionally, the question I have posed to myself is whether I would have an inventory of vehicles, or open it to drivers already on the road like Uber. In order to have an inventory of vehicles, I would need a large investment and probably not a centralized headquarter for the vehicles; due to the fact I would need to get to the clients quickly. One other option is to have riders schedule ahead, which would work out in the case of a centralized location. I believe this would be the best opportunity, even though a similar business exists, it is not as comfortable and convenient as what I am proposing. As you can see there are still questions about the business that need to be worked out. The cost for a ride will be based on distance and time, and depend on what type of vehicle is needed, and overall, shouldn’t be much more than a standard taxi.