The best ideas are always the one where you hear it and think, how come no one has done that before?" Business Pundit uncovers one, asking why the car-bound mobile professional doesn't have their own type of car. The post covers an interview in Businessweek of Clayton Christensen, the author of The Innovator's Dilemma.
There are about 30 million Americans for whom [a car] serves as their office. Isn't it interesting that nobody has designed a car to work as an office? They pull up to Starbucks (SBUX) and go in to use their T-Mobile hot spot or if they're in Silicon Valley they'll pull up next to someone's apartment building to mooch off their Wi-Fi because they can't access the Internet in their car.
They stop at a stoplight, their notebook computer falls onto the floor. They can't recharge their computer because the electrical system was not designed to do it and there's no docking station. They throw sales literature in the backseats. Nobody's designed a car to do that job. If you understand the job, the opportunities to differentiate are just extraordinary.
For years, the standard sales car was the Ford Taurus. I still have mine, in large part because when a former boss told me to go out and buy a sales car, I thought a Taurus would do the trick. Not too flashy, so they wouldn't complain about the bill rates, but not too cheap, so they wouldn't think you were a bad salesman.
In uncovering this section of the market, Christensen shows that 30 million people might be tempted to buy a car that provided room for four to sit comfortable, trunk accessories for sales materials, wireless capability, and spaces for laptops, rechargers, and a work space. I would have jumped all over that car because it's usefulness would outweigh the premium.
And car makers - it's not too late. It worked for Mary Kay, it will work for you.
