“Now imagine if we could bring this slave tour experience to Americans using VR technology. One can license the content for both educational and entertainment purposes.”
I am always drumming up new business ideas and admittedly, some of them are good and some are straight up terrible. I’ve always thought that it will be great if a platform exists where one could share their business idea and then get feedback from users right away.
About a month ago, we created a Facebook group, African Market Place, a forum for Africans both in the diaspora and back home to discuss business ideas. The plan is to vet business ideas and if any idea was deemed viable, members of the group could pursue the idea on their own or as a group and make it happen. In addition, if there is a need for funding, there could be members in the group willing to invest in the idea.
Over the past month, we’ve had some ideas members thought were viable and some not as much. I thought we could focus this week’s newsletter on an idea the group thought was viable and if anyone reading this newsletter has interest, you can run with the idea or form a group among readers to help bring this idea into fruition.
The concept of virtual reality has gained steam over the past few years and as a result, many video gamers include VR headsets as part of their gaming accessory and experience. For those not familiar with the VR headset technology, these are headsets users wear making them feel like they are physically participating in the event on the screen.
A by-product of this technology are virtual concerts, where musicians have unlimited access to fans globally and fans can attend a music concert virtually providing a similar experience to those at the event. For more information see Virtual Reality Concerts. As of today, VR headsets can be purchased for as low as $40 and as high as $600. As of 2020, there are over 50 million VR headset users which is expected to grow year over year.
As a kid growing up in Lagos, Nigeria our school took us on annual field trips to the Badagry slavery museums. For those not familiar with Badagry, Badagry is a coastal town in Lagos bordering Benin Republic. Badagry was the hub for commercial operations between Nigeria and Europe and was major slave outpost and market prior to British colonization.
Today, tour guides walk visitors through the experience of being a slave captured to be taken overseas. Visitors are shown pictures of slaves, chains and shackles used as well as other artifacts. Visitors are reminded of the place called the “Point of No Return” where slaves knew they were gone forever and never going back home.
Now imagine if we could bring this slave tour experience to Americans using VR technology. One can license the content for both educational and entertainment purposes. The product can be offered to the elementary school system for educational purposes to enhance their education and experience learning about the history of slavery.
Operations
In order to make this work, one could contact museum administrators in West African countries with the museums and foster a partnership with either an up-front fee or royalty contract. One will hire professionals to record the tours using VR compatible cameras. The film footage will be loaded into the VR app platform; the footage will be updated regularly to improve user experience based on customer feedback. As the technology improves, one can do live tours where viewers in the US can ask questions live and get an immediate response and interaction from the individual leading the tour in Africa.
Demand
A few wealthier schools in the United States have adopted VR technology, however this is bound to grow over time as the technology becomes cheaper. In addition, post-Corona Virus, schools will most likely increase the number of virtual field trips to replace in person trips.
The company ClassVR provides VR headsets and content to school systems within the US, some of their content include drivers education classes and history subjects such as the Holocaust. One can easily use ClassVR or its competitors as a distribution mechanism for the slavery tours.
Strategy
- Target market: US Elementary school system and Americans interested in the history of slavery
- Value proposition: Enhancing the US education system by improving engagement and increasing knowledge retention for students
Tactics
- Product: 3D video content to be viewed using VR technology
- Price: Charge per download
- Brand: Enhanced education
- Communication: School systems leadership and public influencers such as Oprah and Obama
Growth Opportunities
- Expand into other regions around the world such as Europe
- Penetrate the gaming industry for example video games such as players with the objective of preventing Westerners from capturing slaves in Africa
These are a few thoughts in regards to the business idea, if you are interested in pursuing this feel free to or you can also reach out to us via email at mydiasporachronicles@gmail.com to share your thoughts. We can put together a small team, develop a business business plan to determine the profitability of this idea and a project plan to execute the development process. Also, feel free to join the Facebook group, African Market Place, as we continue to discuss more business ideas and topics.
