Q: identify 3 key issues facing the new venture and provide an analysis of these key issues. What are some reccomendations to solve these new venture issues identified.

Growing Pains of a Photography Start-up: Developing and Marketing "The Shelf" Camera Bag' I was at an entrepreneur fair sponsored by the Macquarie University Incubator and presenting my story about how I raised a million dollars through the intelligent use of crowdsource funding platform, Kickstarter (https:// It was at the end when I got a question from a genuine know-it-all: "Do you think that if you didn't get all that funding that you might have been able to make more money?" I was taken aback. Sometimes you get snide comments like that. Too many people in Australia just want to go after successful entrepreneurs and make them look bad. Honestly, tall poppies like me, building businesses and hiring staff, should be celebrated not attacked. "What?" I managed to get out. "What do you mean?" "I mean," he said, "did having a cushion of cash to burn through make you less able to see that you don't have a strategy?" I was stunned again so I went to the next question. And I decided that I wasn't going to present at any more of these fairs. Of course, I had a strategy. I make the best camera bag in the business. It is the kind of bag I always wanted someone to sell to me. Although I'm not yet in the black, I can see that it's not far off. I have a few more issues to work through on distribution and I'm more than profitable. The know-it-all tried to talk to me after my presentation, but I just walked away and talked to others. The nerve of that guy, really. Following My Dream: "The Shelf" As a professional photographer, I never liked the camera bags that were available for me to buy. Although the bags that are out there are just fine for carrying a camera and lenses to the field to shoot, the main issue is accessibility. When the perfect shot happens, you don't always have time to prepare, and the most accessible bags had major trade-offs between convenience and utility. After speaking to many others within the industry, it was clear that this is an area of frustration shared between photographers and I was determined to create something to take camera bags to the next level. Across the market there are different iterations of the sling bag, which ultimately adhere to a similar template. What I loved about this classic design, however, is that they are lightweight and compact, and the sling allows quick access to my gear while standing. The drawbacks were that the organization is less than optimal and I'd often miss a shot due to the layers of gear I'd have to rummage through. With "The Shelf" I wanted to expand this design. It became an absolute obsession, and I devoted every ounce of free time to solving this problem. I meditated on the pain points and focused on keeping the action orientated template while allowing for easier access and organization for your lenses and other gear. "The Shelf" folds down with ease so that what you need is there, organized, and you can adjust to the opportunity with minimum friction. "The Shelf" is small and compact when you don't need it and has an open layout for easy access to all your gear when you do. 1 This case was prepared for the purpose of class discussion and not as an illustration of effective or ineffective management. The case is based on interviews with industry participants, written commercial reports and publicly available sources. When information was judged sensitive, adjustment have been made to protect commercial-in-confidence information. Those adjustments may include changing names of the companies or individuals involved. After years of prototyping and field testing, countless hours of collaboration between various skillsets within the industry, we feel we've developed the perfect camera bag. We feel so strongly about this revolutionary product that we've patented this unique design and moved to Vietnam for a year to collaborate with high quality manufacturers. Therefore, I was proud to introduce "The Shelf", the camera bag for any serious photographer. Where the Idea Came From Professional photographers like me use many different set-ups for camera, none of which work particularly well. It's important to have a camera ready. Still photography is not like video. You have to capture the moment in a single frame. Although video is often used to tell a story, still photography will tell that story with a single look at the photo. You might take a hundred, two hundred photos. Only one will tell the story, having the composition, reaction, context, movement, drama to fully do justice to a subject. The classic set up used by photojournalists is two cameras slung around the neck on straps. You see these guys anywhere there's a story and they might have one of the cameras in their hand, with the other hanging, or both hanging. And when they hang together, they bang into each other, which is not only annoying, but it can also damage the cameras, too. Sports photographers are not too different from photojournalists. When there's a wide-open playing field like rugby or cricket, you need a couple different lens set up and you end up with the multiple cameras around your neck. The exception might be those who focus on skiing or motor racing where they can set up on a corner with a single camera on a tripod and wait for the subject to come into view and then click. But they still miss shots when athletes crash. Another set up is often used by wildlife photographers who just stays in one place waiting for their subject to walk in front of their camera. These photographers have a couple cameras set up on tripods as well. They just move between the tripods as the length of the shot changes. Patience is sometimes rewarded with the shot being right in front of you, but often times your patience isn't rewarded. Years ago, I was doing some hunt photography following around deer hunters in New Zealand. There, hunters use a stalking method of walking through the wilderness rather than staying in one place. But that means when you see deer you have to be quick bring up a rifle. Most of the hunters held their rifled over their shoulders with the barrel up, but that meant it was slow getting the rifle aimed. Some just held the rifle in their hands, but given they had to use their hands to get through the bush, that wasn't always best. One hunter had his rifle over his shoulder, but it was upside down with the muzzle down. To pull up the rifle he dropped down his hand over the scope, pulled up and rotated the rifle around counter clockwise such that the scope went from bottom to on top. The strap flicked off his shoulder in the same movement. He was darn quick getting the rifle up to his shoulder and I knew that was the solution. I wanted to be able to do similarly with a camera bag and my journey to the perfect bag was in sight. After considerable experimentation, the bag is sort of over your shoulder like a sling. When you want your camera, you slide the bag around and it becomes a shelf on your side, about half a meter wide by 30cm. It's not very deep, only around 17cm, but that's all you need. You simply touch the top and it pops up and there displayed out are all your camera sets ups for you to grab, housings, lens, everything. And it only takes about 1 second to go from shoulder to camera in hand. When photographers use it, they first think, "hey, this top is too easy to open, won't my cameras and lens fall out?" Nope, they don't. You can zipper that top to a tight close if you want, but the push button top stays closed when you need it closed and opens when you need it open. Starting on Kickstarter After working up some prototypes myself, I knew I was going to need help to bring this innovation to market. That meant I needed funding. Most entrepreneurs use their home equity to borrow against, but I didn't own a home. I had to find funding somewhere and that's when friends suggested Kickstarter. What Kickstarter is is a platform for business success. You put up on the page the essence of your idea and investors read that and decide to fund you. I presented my product idea well and the investors started backing me. It was amazing. And in a couple years I raised more than a million dollars. And all that money went into funding my business and put me on the path to success. Key Features Push Button Technology "The Shelf" has a secure quick release push button that was designed for race car hoods. Get full access to all your gear in 1.1 seconds! Alternatively, it has the same full zipper closure you're used to with other backpacks. Quick Access No more digging for buried and hidden gear like in other sling bags. The "The Shelf" offers a complete full access layout to all of your gear. Open-Layout With enough room to hold 8 lenses, a DSLR camera, 16" laptop, iPad, batteries, memory cards and more! Workspace The intuitive platform system from Shelf Gear allows you to use the main compartment as either a laptop stand or lens changing system. Let the "The Shelf" hold your camera while you change your lens and reduce the chances of dropping your gear. Elbow Stabilization "The Shelf" acts as a great platform to ensure you get those crisp photos and video, or when holding your drone remote. Dual Straps While in the field shooting you can use the sling setting for super-fast camera access. If you're on a hike, long walk, or needing a break from the sling strap you can instantly switch to dual straps so that the "The Shelf' becomes a full backpack for even distribution across your shoulders. Side Access "The Shelf" has a side access door for use in backpack or sling mode. Tripod Straps Having your tripod affixed to your bag and not shifting about is very important. "The Shelf" has hidden pockets with tripod straps and a pouch to secure your tripod feet. Pockets "The Shelf" camera bag is ready for any adventure. Built for easy access you can quickly grab your camera, phone, passport, or iPad in a matter of seconds. The Intuitive pocket placement allows for quick and easy organization and gear management. Store up to a 16 " laptop. Dividers High quality Velcro dividers to keep your gear safe and offer endless configurations that can be setup on the fly. Everyday Bag I've designed the bag with what we think is the perfect volume (22L.) It's large enough to hold all your lenses, and at the same time skinny and compact enough to use if you're going shooting with a small camera and need somewhere to put your jacket, water bottle, etc. Even if you're not utilizing the full volume of the bag, you still get to utilize the feature of "The Shelf" by accessing your camera lightning quick or switch out a lens quickly and safely with the stable platform feature. Specs Size: Outside 48cmx30cm17cm Interior 45.5cmx29cmx12.8cm Material: 500D Kodra Carbonate Coating PUX2. Weight: 4.4lbs/1.9kgs Kickstarter funding: >$1 million AUD Commercialisation: I clearly believe that this new camera bag addresses some of the pain's consumers are facing and offers a product to do a job that relieves those pains. Like lots of new ventures this has been built from the founder's passion for photography. The focus for this new venture has been new product development, but I now need to focus on the details of my business model to successfully commercialise my idea. To mitigate risk and develop knowledge I have been focusing on the Australian market initially, before considering looking for opportunities in new geographic locations. I also believe that my company has several important company strengths. I've outsourced bag manufacturing to a quality low-cost producer in Vietnam. I've set high margins based on a target retail price of A $380. I have category expertise in photography, and a differentiated product offering. However, I do have to also acknowledge some weaknesses including, but not limited to, poor distribution relationships and low brand awareness. My company has largely relied on Kickstarter crowdfunding for its market research testing and plans to use the capital raised to fund its marketing communications. So, with their branding decisions confirmed and funding and prototype development well underway the company now needs to start thinking about clarifying the feasibility of the market opportunity for "The Shelf" camera bag. IbisWorld reports that "Revenue in the Photographic Equipment industry is expected to decline in the current year, due to anticipated decreases in discretionary income and negative consumer sentiment. Demand for