Venture Concept -Shark Education Center

Opportunity: For the creation of a shark education center in South Florida, I have identified a few key customer segments. Our main target segment will be teachers and home school parents/educators within 100 miles of the center. This can then be broken down into smaller segments including elementary school teachers and home school parents with elementary school aged kids. The needs will vary from group to group, but overall, include the following

• Field trips and hands on activities for students of all ages
• Interactive programs with one on one interactions for students
• Access to experts in the field, rather than just reading about it in a text/book.
• Activities to align with standards and curriculum requirements
• Flexible planning for activities
• Smaller group interactions and programs, rather than competing with multiple groups.
• Reasonably priced and easy to schedule

Overall, parents and educators want hands on learning experiences where students can directly interact with experts in field. They want these experiences to connect to larger global issues and concepts, while still connecting students to local opportunities. They want small group interactions and a reasonable price. They feel like there is a shortage of these opportune or those available do not meet all their needs.

Our online program allows us to meet this need for people in a much larger geographic range ( globally actually), but I do not believe people will drive further than 100 miles for a field trip/learning experience. Our center will offer unique programs, so it’s possible some people might travel further.

Customers are currently visiting other education centers and aquariums for these kinds of experiences. They can still visit this places as well as ours. As the home school community is growing, the amount of people with the need for these programs is expanding. This means our potential audience/customers are growing.
There is no set window, as people are always looking for these kind of experiences and learning opportunities. The standard school year will be when teachers have the most need, but summer camps and community groups will have the need year round.

Innovation:
Our online shark education programs were created from experts who work as marine biologists, conservationists and videographers. The content was developed to meet national education standards, making it easier for parents and educators to incorporate in their lesson plans. The innovation comes from our knowledge and experience as well as our ability to create unique visual content. The idea is not innovative, so to speak, but the combination of media and experience has allowed us to deliver a broad range of programs in an innovative manner. Other organization have similar components, but nothing close to our overall program and all the opportunities we already provide. The center would be a physical extension of this, providing students the opportunity to work directly with experts and access to learning programs not available in other locations. The innovation is also in the team of people who would be working with students. It will not solely be interns or people with an education focused background.

• Income will be generated through various customized programs
• Week day for schools and home schools
• After school for community groups and clubs
• Evening presentations for specialty certificate programs and guest speakers
• Summer camps
• Long term certificate programs
• Weekends open to the general public

Venture:
Our programs will solve the unmet need of educators and parents looking for specific learning opportunities for students. I believe people will come to the center because we will offer unique access to experts and customized programs for each group.
Our main competitors will be other education centers and aquariums in the area. They are designed for larger groups and can be expensive. They do not offer a one on one customized program for groups.
We will start out with me as the only employee and have interns and volunteers assist with the groups as we grow.
Our most valuable and important resource is our team. We bring decades of experience and first hand knowledge, studying and working with sharks around the world. The ability to combine this experience is not easily replicated.
The center will allow us to also grow our online programs and curriculum. It will give us a space to work from and to work with others.

Five years from now I want to see the center running full time, I want to have published 2 more books and developed an entire new curriculum to go with the programs at the center. I also want to have an unrivaled library of educational videos and visual content. I want to see education teams in various areas around the world also running our programs. I want to be traveling and teaching kids around the world about sharks and really focus on areas with major shark conservation issues. This is my passion and how I want to spend the rest of my life. I want to teach kids around the world about these amazing animals and saving our oceans.