9A: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2



Opportunity: University of Florida teachers often cast an enormous burden on students by requiring expensive textbooks distributed by massive book publishing corporations. I want to create an annual subscription service for textbooks.


Who: I did realize that in my interviews, there are people who fall outside of my boundaries. A large chunk of those who fall outside the boundary are those who torrent/pirate their textbooks online through huge online databases. Additionally, those who take courses where older textbook versions are allowed tend to use rental services, like Amazon Book Rental, or the UF Bookstore rental service. Additionally, some teachers are beginning to understand the rising costs of textbooks, and are stopping the use of these expensive books in exchange for photocopied excerpts posted on Canvas.

What: The main problem with a subscription service is that it requires a large user base. While some general education classes require these expensive books, some upper level courses do not, so the school would lose business as students get older.

Why: If the subscription price ends up being more expensive, I think some people would prefer taking the risk of buying individual books on their own instead of subscribing to the service, thinking they can save money in the long run.


Inside the boundary
Outside the Boundary
Who


Students with courses requiring expensive books


Students with limited supply funds

Students not taking courses with expensive required books


Students with the necessary funds to buy textbooks
What
To save money when using textbooksNot forcing people to subscribe to a service they might not need
Why
To stop the cycle of book editions
Book publishers needing to make a profit

Comments

  1. VictoriaFebruary 7, 2019 at 5:18 PM

    I think you could expand on this a little bit to narrow down your audience a little bit. I may would check and see what majors typically require more expensive books or even what year student you would want to appeal to. I think this service would be great for freshman because from my experience the books for required classes tend to be more expensive. Plus if you think if you get the freshman student to use the service that is four potential years you would have a customer not including all the people they refer their service to during the years. This would bring up your profit margin beyond the senior who may only use the service one semester and not refer it.

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  2. Alex FastFebruary 10, 2019 at 9:25 AM

    Great concept. I believe that there will be some majors/concentrations that have more expensive textbooks than others (like Ag. majors have less expensive textbooks on average compared to Medical majors), so that's something to consider as well. Of course, the further along your degree you are, the more specialized and thus expensive the textbooks will be as well.

    Adding a kind of "all-in-one" deal like Victoria mentioned, where it's cheaper per year to sign up for 4 years would also ensure that you have a returning customer for 4 years. Maybe even offering some kind of incentive for professors to choose a book for their class that's in your system's database would also increase its use.

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