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Hello everyone. I have tried my best and hoping my best will be good enough. I never chose an original venture, but took an existing one and indicate what I would do if I were in charge. As a result, I conceptualized a company called “Reading Solution” to present the eBook product.

Reading Solution: The Digital Innovator

Introduction

In order to be a successful entrepreneur or investor, it requires smart thinking and risk taking. This kind of thinking should be out-of the-box driven with careful analysis of the present market and what it might look like in the future. In the present marketplace, there is a steady increase in ventures in technological devices and applications that facilitate teaching and learning. Despite the creative nature and great potentials of these ventures, there will always be room for improvement. It is often said that the spectators always see the better plays on the field and not the actual players. It is with this notion that I am going to adopt the eBook venture which will be operated from my company; “Reading Solution” and make it my own. In essence, I will be putting forward what I would do if I were in charge of this venture. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the e-book as “an electronic version of a printed book, but e-books can and do exist without any printed equivalent. E-books are usually read on hardwaredevices known as e-Readers or e-book devices. Personal computers and some mobile phones can also be used to read e-books. In order to attract potential investors, I will be using aspects of the “cube analysis” to persuasively put forward the market type, offering, the buyer, global target, market status and competition that will shape the future success of this venture.

Team Members

Here at “Reading Solution” we operate as a TEAM and strongly believe that Together Each Achieves More. The top decision makers are as follow: Mr Everton Walker ( CEO, Manager), Mrs Sharon Jones ( Assistant Manager), Miss Delpha Frater (Production Manager), and Mr Andrew Brown ( Marketing Manager).

Type of Market

The eBook venture is geared at satisfying the global education sectors which is easily one of the biggest markets in today’s society. At the rate it is growing, my intention is to target the categories of K-12 and Higher Education and explore them as potential business partners. A few short years ago, the world was quite rightly shocked at UNESCO’s announcement that there were 900 million illiterates in developing countries, representing nearly 25 per cent of the world’s youth and adults (UNESCO, 2000). With this alarming figure, there can be no doubt that something is fundamentally wrong with the materials and instructions being used or the lack thereof. The education system, whether public or private has been showing vested interest in learning technologies and we intend to be at the top as it relates to satisfying their technological needs. As it relates to the K-12, we have strategized to gradually to revolutionize the way reading is done and to greater extent; research and learning. It is quite obvious that every parent, like myself, would like to have their children reading at grade level and certified literate. However, this is not currently the case as students continue to struggle across the globe to read as they are constantly confronted with traditional teaching approaches and materials. Our team, therefore has been creating eBooks to solve this major problem and it has been working so far. First, we are targeting struggling readers globally with our special features and applications; namely built-in dictionaries, text-to-speech feature, bookmarking, reminder of where the reader stops the last time among others. We have realized that struggling readers shy away from reading because their interests are not catered for and therefore we have used our new Kindle to address this issue. Based on feedback from struggling readers, majority of them who use the text to speech feature on the Kindle claim that it helps them understand what they are reading better because they can hear the text while seeing it. In addition, they claim that the text to speech feature and built-in dictionary aid with their vocabulary development (Engel-Unruh, 2010). In addition, students are no longer confined to to solely choose from the physical library but now have 690, 355 ebooks as of September 3, 2010 from which to choose. As a result, we intend to increase storage space on our devices so we can double that amount in short order. This easy access to books is essential in moving students past the basics (Krashen, 2006). With our state of the art language translator, we will be going global but taking special aims at China, Japan and several European countries that are currently using eBooks in education. This is so as there is a drive to teach English as a second language and reading overall but need the expertise and state of the art solution. We have realized that eBook fits into this situation perfectly and we are about to launch our product in their institutions. Special talks will be done with these powerful countries as a lot of interest is being shown in our product for classroom and commercial purposes.

The Offering

Naturally, our venture is product and service oriented as we are willing to provide training in schools as it relates to using our devices and applications to maximize their full potentials and increase users’ competence and awareness. In order to manage our scope and suffice our demands, we are planning on setting up major outlets in South East Asia to cater to those massive markets which are estimated to yield billions of dollars over the next 5 years based on our projections and market demands. Similarly, we are taking aim at learning institutions and their governing bodies in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean; with Africa being a special place of interest. As it relates to Africa, this is untapped territory and the literacy rate is very low in a number of countries on this massive continent with countries like Mali, Chad, Guinea, Niger, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Berkino Faso and Sierra Leone having literacy rates below 40% ( UNESCO, 2007). This is like an oil reserve waiting to be drilled and we have the resources and expertise to do so that everyone benefits.

In relation to tertiary level education, the same vigor and enthusiasm will be employed. With so many universities and colleges offering online courses and extending their reach all over the globe, our aim is to make life much easier for students and staff alike. To cater to everyone, we are going to offer options where they can download digital books to their computers, ipads, mobiles and also provide them with our ebook readers. In addition, we are about to strike a deal with the major publishing companies to create a digital format of all the paperbacks produced; with both parties splitting the profit of the sales on the digital format. Within the targeted institutions, we intend to enter in a joint venture where we will take on the task of digitalizing their collection of books, magazines, journals and other printed text at a reduced rate. A part of the deal would be for them to purchase our devices and engage in promotion and research to see how it enhances reading and learning to a greater extent.

Of equal importance, our team has done research and realized that eBooks work well with the gifted learner. Therefore, our effort is two-fold at this moment. It is estimated that between 20–50% of gifted students underachieve (Ford & Thomas, n.d.). West-Christy (2003) suggests five useful scaffolding techniques that eBooks provide for readers who might be reluctant or remedial. These five techniques are:

• offer a wide range of reading materials,

• use prereading techniques,

• incorporate large print materials,

• engage multiple modalities, and

• teach important vocabulary.

Being cognizant of the challenges face by gifted learners, the drive is now on to develop additional applications to combat the challenges faced by struggling and reluctant readers. As a result, application developers will be compensated for their effort but will be specially rewarded if their applications do well on the market and results are yielded in the classrooms. Therefore, our team on the ground will provide us with quarterly report an the status of each application’s effectiveness and the success produced by the target regions. This will give us an indication if we should stick with a particular market or change our marketing strategies. Reading Solutions believes that every business action should be research-driven and researchers are always welcome to join our efforts. There is no limitation on this product and we think there is always room for enhancement and improvement. As a part of their mandates, they will carry out their tasks in the present target regions to analyze the product’s popularity and the impact it is having on teaching and learning.

Market Status

Currently, the market is functioning quite well but needs rejuvenation and extra impetus so that it can reach a wider global audience. In America, there was an $11.6 billion sale in 2010 showing an increase of 3.6 percent when compared with 2009. Ebook sales continue to break records with +164.4 percent gains for 2010. Virtually every book publishing category showed growth in one or both comparisons, with the phenomenal popularity of E-books continuing. As more formats have evolved and are served by the publishing community, consumers have more choices. These strong sales numbers reflect the efforts of AAP publishers and the response of book audiences,” said Tom Allen, President and CEO, AAP (Association of American Publishers, 2010). Likewise, countries such as France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Italy, South Africa and the UK have shown growth in sales and boast revenue over 2009 from 0.5 to 9% (International Publishers Association, 2011). These markets are huge and epitomize untapped oil reserves and will definitely be getting our undivided attention. With such a solid foundation and the great business potential showing in the embryonic stage, doesn’t the future look exciting and prosperous? This has been our motivation and the fuel on which our innovations are running on.In order to extend our reach, we think it is in the company’s best interest to take our product to the masses as we do not believe in the wait see attitude; especially in a competitive business environment. As a result, we see it fit to set up offshore establishments with the respective regional directors and managers to rigorously market the product on the ground.

Global Target

Having seen the status of the current market, it is quite obvious that the spread of eBook is not where it should be and “Reading Solution” is ready to take it to new heights. However, we will not be doing it alone but will be inviting others to get on board and be their own business personnels or boss. Even though it is said that learning technology doesn’t always go where the Internet goes, our aim is to be a game-changer and ground-breaker in this industry. With the confidence and belief we possess, we are willing to take risks if that’s what it takes to penetrate the market significantly. In essence, we will be targeting the aforementioned markets plus some that are untouched. To achieved this feat, we will be engaging in network-marketing. Here at “Reading Solution”, we do not think you have to be qualified to do well in a business and persuade persons to buy and invest in a product. Therefore, we will set up online accounts for interested individuals free of cost to involve them in network marketing. Currently, over 13 million persons are involved in network marketing in the US alone and the results are staggering and great (Directed Selling Association, 2011). Simply put, interested customers will be compensated for the sale of every eBook they sell. The ultimate aim is to make the consumers become apart of the network after purchase. Whenever an eBook is purchased, the sellers will be compensated for each eBook they sold and the trend continues with the consumer now seeking potential buyers to receive similar benefits and build his or her network. Therefore, you will be compensated for the effort of everyone who falls below you in your network. Additionally, we will be going on public education drives on the ground to educate stakeholders in education in the target countries about ebooks and their effectiveness at all levels. Through these initiatives, we will also adopt a few institutions as a way of giving back to those who serve us well and also that a company needs to spend money to make money.

Competition

One cannot deny the fact that we have competition in the marketplace but that’s what keeps us growing from strength to strength and continue to innovate. This kind of competition is not a case where we are competing for market share with a similar product; but rather with other technologies in the field of education. The great advantage that we have is that our product is integrating nicely withing the education sector and attracting users from various levels. We are becoming a force to reckon with in learning institutions as we compelling educational stakeholders to rewrite their curriculum, restructure their reading programs and re-establish their libraries. Print has been a natural staple in persons academic diet for centuries and this is showing no sign of decreasing. Therefore, this market if rather safe and is here to stay. As a result, we are literally competing against ourselves as we are very unique in what we do and produce. We are like an animal in the wild with no natural predators and as long as we can continue to innovate and improve our product, reading will eventually be redefined. It would be unfair to say that paperbacks are our rival or competition when their status is like a drowning man clutching to straw. Currently, paperbacks are trying to survive in the market rather than compete so they are not seen as a threat. However, complacency will not set in as we exist in a competitive marketplace where educational technology innovation is on the rise and showing no signs of ceasing.

References

Ford, D. Y., & Thomas, A. (n.d.). Underachievement among gifted minority students: Problems and

promises. Retrieved July 10, 2005, from http://library.adoption.com/Childhood-Learning-and-

Education/Underachievement-Among-Gifted-Minority-Students-Problems-and-

Promises/article/927/1.html

Jones, P. (2011). Charting the global e-book market – exclusive. Retrieved November 20, 2011from http://www.futurebook.net/content/charting-global-e-book-market-exclusive-data

Krashen, S. (2006). Free Reading. School Library Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2010 from

www.schoollibraryjournal.com.

Soares, J. (2010). Book and E-Book Sales Data for the United States Retrieved November 21, 2011 from http://productivewriters.com/2011/02/16/book-e-book-sales-data-united-states-2010/

UNESCO (2007). Institute for Statistics estimates based on its Global Age-specific Literacy Projections model.

UNESCO (2000). World Education for All Conference. [online]
http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/index.shtml

UNESCO (2003)USA Literacy Rates Vs Educational Attainment.Retrieved November 20, 2011 from
http://www.uis.unesco.org/TEMPLATE/pdf/LAMP/LAMPLeafletEng.pdf

West-Christy, J. (2003). Helping remedial and reluctant readers. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/29