Innovative Entrepreneurship: Expanding Virgin Group Carpool Services Group's Services through Carpooling
Question
Task: How can Virgin Group Carpool Services Group enhance its brand by investing in innovative carpooling services while promoting youth entrepreneurship?
Answer
Introduction
With the concerns related to global warming and pollution on the rise and with everybody pointing a finger at automobiles as the major culprit causing pollution, many governments are growing stricter regarding automobile ownership. This is bad news for private automobile owners but it’s the perfect opportunity for innovative brands like Virgin Group Carpool Services Group to expand their operations to offer a new service and tap into the new source of income while the demand remains high.
With the intensifying pressure on the government to ban and remove the maximum number of vehicles from the roads cab pooling has become an interesting and viable venture (Drucker, 2014). Today cab companies offering cab pooling services are registering a sharp rise in demand and many are registering huge profits due to many people finding it cheaper and more convenient to hire taxi services as opposed to owning vehicles.
this makes the venture a perfect one to consider for Virgin Group Carpool Services group to expand to since the brand must keep adopting new innovative ideas and ventures to continue generating income and profits (DeFillippi, Rieple, & Wikström, 2016). The projects can be started in Europe and gradually expand to rapidly developing nations like India, China, and South Africa which are registering increasing pressure on automobile ownership norms making people turn to Car Pool service providers to cater to their daily commuting needs.
Why Choose Virgin Group Carpool Services Group for this Proposed Project
Risk-taking “Virgin Group Carpool Servicess Name of the Game”
Virgin Group Carpool Services group is synonymous with being a brand which is willing to take huge risks in the name of innovation and business expansion. Sir Richard Branson is popularly known for promoting innovation and brand development more than profits making Virgin Group Carpool Services group the ideal brand for young entrepreneurs to approach with new ideas (Rothacher, 2004, p. 201).
Self-Financing Of Innovative and Viable Projects
Virgin Group Carpool Services groups is also famous for pumping millions of dollars into new and innovative projects with the most recent being the Virgin Group Carpool Services Galactic which is a commercial space liner that allows common people to experience zero gravity. The project has registered constant consumer interest and has already begun seeing many interested clients pre-booking their tickets to experience zero gravidity. Virgin Group Carpool Servicess groups rely on internal or self-funding which allows the business to expand on new and promising ventures quickly so as to tap into the market while still in high demand (Meyer & Crane, 2010).
Opportunity towards Every Innovative Idea
Sir Richard has always involved and promoted his staff and young entrepreneurs as long as they offer innovative and viable ideas allowing young entrepreneurs to approach the brand with their proposals. This helps encourage entrepreneurship and innovation among the youth which is rapidly depleting in recent years due to the reducing number of opportunities (Schawbel, 2014). Sir Richard promote innovation and willing to take investment risk in the name of innovation making Virgin Group Carpool Services group among the most viable brands to approach with regard to promoting a new and innovative idea.
Virgin Group Carpool Services Car Pool Services
Road congestion, high maintained costs, environmental awareness and increasing levels of pollution are factors which are discouraging private automobile ownership in major cities across the world. With public service vehicles like buses and trains limited to transporting people to a specific and fixed location, the need to travel in automobiles still remains high among the commuters.
This has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of cab services offering both private and pooled cab services in most major cities across Europe and Asia (U.S.D.T, 1975). Presently the market is dominated by private cab owners which results in delivering unreliable service quality to the commuters thus opening up an added need for a major cab service brand which is well recognized by clients across the world. Last minute cancellation is the main problem associated with the private cab services resulting in many clients frustrated but unable to make major reforms in due to the consider being limited to an individual cab owner or driver.
By introducing a Virgin Group Carpool Services cab Service fleet offering both private and pooled services, commuters are more likely to opt for this brand service (Ho & Tang, 2012, p. 190). This is due to the customer being able assured they will get high valued services and at the same time be able to act on the service provider in case they have been served in a professional manner.
Fast Integration and Establishment of the Project
Project integrations and the establishment is a major factor while considering any new venture since project integration is a period in which the investment is made towards project establishment with no returns. this, therefore, makes it very important for any proposed project to have a fast track approach thus allowing the investor to complete and begin operations as soon as possible and begin recovering his or her investment.
The proposed Virgin Group Carpool Services carpool service can be established and started within 6 months since it requires a limit number of the legal and logistical requirement to be integrated before establishment (Witte, Ott, & Vos, 2017). The proposed project only needs to set up the operations office and management, book various cab vehicles types, comply with the legal paperwork and licensing, hire experience shofars, higher parking area and service centre and advertise the new services. These are all operations and facilities which are required to establish the venture and begin operations in a maximum of 6 months. The projects would allow the Virgin Group Carpool Services group to begin recovering its investment in a maximum period of 6 months and have completed repaying the investment capital within 36 months.
Target Consumers and Market
The Target consumer and market would be residents living in megacities in both developed and developing markets. The shared cab service would aim at delivering lean, comfortable and affordable cab services to clients who may opt to either hire the entire Cab or opt to take a shared ride to for an affordable rate. Most major cities in developing economies like India, China, and South Africa are already implementing stringent regulation related to private automobile ownership which is discouraging people from purchasing private vehicles. But the clients still require automobile transportation thus many are turning to pool cab services which offer the same computing experience as private vehicles but at a much lower cost and is much more convenient since there is no need to search for parking and other inconveniences (Ferrell & Hartline, 2013).
Fleet Size and Type of Vehicles
The fleet would begin with 50 vehicles which would be located in one major city and will consist of a verity of vehicles ranging from budget rides to luxury rides. This would allow the Virgin Group Carpool Services cab services to target the entire consumer market ranging from the budget to luxury client thus helping maximize the income generated from the venture. The vehicle distribution will mainly be focused on targeting budget consumer thus the majority of vehicles would be 4-6 eater vehicles.
There will also be some larger vans and small busses which can cater to larger groups of 15-25 passages traveling in groups. The services would be limited to remaining within 50 KM of the city centre but can be hired for long distance trips on special service terms (Munby & Watson, 2014). Once the first fleet batch is established and operations have been organized smoothly Virgin Group Carpool Services cabs can consider expanding to a new city and gradually expand their operations to developing economies like India, China, Brazil and South Africa.
Technological Requirement
To maintain and ensure smooth operations of the venture it is critical for the latest technologies to be integrated into to the [proposed venture. GPS tracking, on-board CCTV surveillance, Business to Customer connectivity and other advanced technological features must be integrated to the venture (Håkansson, Prenkert, & Waluszewski, 2009). This will help connect the client to the customer and allow the back end executives to monitor and manage the operations while ensuring customer satisfied is always achieved. In today’s day and age, it is critical to connect the client to the service provider using mobile technology but to ensure this is achieved Virgin Group Carpool Services cab services will have to put in place an efficient customer support back-office operation that connects to the client immediately thus increasing the chances of making sales.
With the number of competitors likely to increase in future, delivering customized and personalized customer support system will help retain clients and help the business increase customer confidence in the brand's service delivery (Andriole, 2014). The proposed Virgin Group Carpool Services cab service must integrate the latest technology which will ensure smooth operations and improve the business performance thus ensuring customers remain happy at all times.
Cross-Functional Management of the Venture
The proposed project's management plays a huge role towards the project’s success but to manage the project effectively it is critical to ensure all stakeholders are involved in the management process. Cross-functional management ensures information is collected from all stakeholders and their direct involvement in the operations and management. It is critical to place all stakeholders responsible for managing their individual operation and areas of expertise and make contribution or report on developments and areas of possible improvement.
This helps encourage the stakeholders to actively participate in the management process given reach ownership of their responsibilities and duties (Lambin & Schuiling, 2012). This help ensures each one retains focus and dedication towards their role and helps the business tap into the knowledge and experience which can be documented for future business management and operational improvements. Senior management must also provide the lower ranked officials and associated with this privilege as it helps encourage stakeholders to express their innovation and communicating their knowledge towards improving the process. Virgin Group Carpool Services Cab services would be heavily dependent on the human resource to manage and operate the cab services thus ensuring their active petrification in the process is critical towards the proposed businesses performance and growth in the future (Marvel, 2012).
The proposal project will stream line with Virgin Group Carpool Servicess current business objective as it would deliver and additional type of service the brand can offer its customers. This will help the business increase its operations and performance thus helping build the number of services delivered by the brand and increase income generated by the business.
Conclusion
Every major brand is constantly keeping its eyes peeled and on the lookout for enterprising and innovative young entrepreneurs. This is due to the businesses needing to retain their popularity among consumers as well as maintain their brand name and competitive edge in the market. Being able to involve young and innovative entrepreneurs to the business helps build diversity which is a critical requirement for any business to develop and grow. Virgin Group Carpool Services Group is among the most famous international brands that promote youth entrepreneurship since the youth are tomorrow’s leaders but they can only demonstrate and build their skill if they are given the opportunity to implement their proposed plans (OECD, 2017).
Given the younger generation, an opportunity to excel from an early age also helps boost their morale and ensures they develop into successful and enterprising young professions in the future. Investing in the future generation and promoting their interest in business is critical for individuals, businesses and the nation as a whole thus its critical for young entrepreneurs to be encourages to develop their ideas and present their proposals to interested investors who should evaluate and invest on the best proposals so as to expand the brands diversity in business as well as adopt younger and talented entrepreneurs in to the business.
References:
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U.S.D.T. (1975). Carpool Incentives and Opportunities: Report of the Secretary of Transportation to the United States Congress, Pursuant to Section 3(e), Public Law 93-239, Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act. U.S. Department of Transportation.
Witte, B. D., Ott, A., & Vos, E. (2017). Between Flexibility and Disintegration: The Trajectory of Differentiation in EU Law. Glos: Edward Elgar Publishing. Virgin Group Carpool Services
