The wearables market shows no signs of slowing down. Wearable technology continues to increase in popularity nearly five years after the first Apple Watch was released. In 2018, 172 million gadgets were shipped, up roughly 30% from the previous year. Even though many of those purchases were made by large corporations, there is still room for entrepreneurs in the wearables industry. More use cases are emerging as the technology underlying them improves. More use cases mean more target markets, which means more opportunities for new businesses.
Avoid Wearing A Smartwatch
A smartwatch accounts for one out of every three wearables sold. The smartwatch market is vast because tech behemoths like Apple and Samsung have poured billions of dollars on it. They've added every feature they could think of, and their consumers keep coming back for more with each new release.
Why not choose an open market rather than competing in a crowded one? Get specific. Myia Health, for example, collaborates with clinicians to develop wearable kits that allow heart failure patients to track their biometrics at home. The more specialized your niche, the less competition your startup will face.
Recognize A Time When You're In Desperate Need
Wearables accompany you wherever you go. Use that truth to aid in the discovery of a use case. LEAF, for one, chose the safety of women. Wearers of the company's security-enhanced jewelry can push a button to summon assistance, and on-the-ground security officers will be dispatched to the user's location. Find an "emergency" situation for your wearable that is similar. Professional drivers may get involved in car accidents. Why not offer impact sensors integrated into shoes to professionals such as truckers and delivery drivers? If a collision is detected, the boots may call for emergency medical assistance to be dispatched to the wearer's vehicle.
Don't Forget About The Kids
Wearables are ideal for parents and children since they move with them. Consider the Owlet Smart Sock, a child's foot-wrapped baby monitor. The Smart Sock sounds an alarm if the sock is removed or the wearer's heart rate and oxygen levels drop. Consider how many things babies do that their parents might wish to keep an eye on. Can you keep track of their eating habits? What about the number of times they go to the bathroom? Consider school-aged children as well. Could you design a device that alerts parents if their child leaves the schoolyard?
Foster A Sense Of Belonging
Is there anything that smartwatch manufacturers have gotten right? They created communities that sprung up around their products. Users can join groups of like-minded athletes, find nearby events relating to their fitness interests, and form private groups of friends and family with Fitbit's companion app.
If you're just getting started, putting your product on a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter is one approach to building a community. Not only will this help you collect funds, but it will also ensure that your product has a user base before it even hits the market.
Create possibilities for consumer interaction once you've put a product on the market. Set up forums for others studying the same language if you're working on a wearable translator. Assume you're working on a sleep tracker for folks who suffer from sleep apnea. Create a venue for persons with the illness to talk or simply for people who desire to sleep better.
Get Ready To Turn
The wearables market, like all technological markets, changes swiftly. Jawbone dominated the Bluetooth headset industry just a few years ago. After closing its doors in 2017, Jawbone has relaunched as Jawbone Health, a medical subscription service helping consumers prevent and detect lifestyle disorders early. Have a backup plan for any segment of wearables you're interested in. Consumer preferences shift throughout time. Businesses are constantly releasing new items. Remember that software products are more accessible to pivot than hardware items. Could you use a similar package to display turn-by-turn directions or emphasize the most incredible grocery store prices if you want to develop innovative eyewear that translates the text?
It's All About The Execution
The question should not be whether the idea is the most disruptive, but rather whether or not your company is best suited to explore that idea.
According to your strategy and business development team, cognitive computing is the next big frontier in wearable computing. Whether or if your organization pursues that opportunity will be determined by its core strengths and value chain's ability to execute the strategy.
Here's a strategy for increasing your chances of success while keeping the creativity throttle open while balancing your organization's core skills.
Wearables And The Internet Of Things Framework
The following concentric circles of connected networks can be used to classify wearables and the Internet of Things:
Wearable Advantages:
Hands-free operation allows the user to multi-task. What are some scenarios where having your hands free would be beneficial? Begin to compile a list of such possibilities. What kinds of activities do they participate in? What data do they require?
Interaction with the body is constant and consistent. What are all the ways that regular monitoring of your body could be beneficial?
Information is available right away. What circumstances and types of data would a wearer require right away? For example, searching for information on your smartphone while racing to catch a connecting flight with luggage and a laptop bag may be inconvenient. Perhaps someone seated next to you had an epileptic seizure at dinner. So, what are your options?
Frictionless authentication. How might wearables make accessing logical, physical, health, and other private information, as well as financial transactions, more frictionless?
The context of the wearer. Where have you gone? What exactly are you up to? What were you up to before this? What do you require right now? Future apps will be proactive, predictive, and present, always listening and making sense of your context in the background to give value-added information or recommendations at the right time.
How could wearables be utilized to improve one's physical capabilities, such as better hearing, optical character recognition to translate text into audible reading for the blind, or possibly using an exoskeleton suit to amplify the strength of a warehouse worker or soldier?
Augmented reality is a term that refers to the use of technology. How may AR or VR be used in the workplace to manage productivity apps in the air, digital overlay content on the physical world to deliver value-added information, or create an immersive experience that transfers you into a virtual world?
Media And Communication
We're starting to see some of the possibilities with Google Glass and GoPro, including hands-free video recording, photo taking, videoconferencing, and sharing. What new opportunities arise from the capacity to record, share, and communicate without using your hands?
Wearables Can Be Used As A Controller
What are some of the things we might be able to control with a wearable device? How could wearables be utilized to operate TVs, presentations, games, or IoT in homes and connected cars?
Data Gathering:
Data About Health And Biometrics
Sensors including heart rate variability, blood oxygen level, blood pressure, blood glucose, electrodermal response, temperature, EEG, and others provide a wealth of health and biometric data. How could these sensors be used to track your emotional, physical, and mental health?
Movement
What other ways might movement be used to comprehend better the context, activity, and physical response of the wearer?
Data, events, and transactions related to geolocation. All of this functions as a kind of cookie for the physical world, remembering what you've done, where you've gone, and what you've bought. How could past and present data be combined to create new value?
Are you trying to figure out the advantages and disadvantages of beginning a wearable technology device company?
Flexibility
You can devote as much time as you like to the company. You can start small and run all elements of the business on your own if you enjoy the work and have some prior expertise.
Being Able To Establish A Business From Home
You don't need an actual storefront or office space to get your business off the ground. Everything can be done from the comfort of your own home, at least at first!
There Aren't Many Beginning Costs.
The cost of starting a wearable technology device business is substantially lower than the cost of starting most enterprises, ranging from $12,209 to 27,209.
Rewarding work
Starting a wearable technology gadget company can be a lot of fun. After all, you're resolving a pressing issue for a customer and working on a project that you genuinely care about.
Scalable
With businesses and processes changing daily, new features, products, and services for your company will always be in demand. You can also use a variety of business structures and pricing tiers to appeal to a wide range of customers.
Your Website's Traffic
People will visit your website and return to you if you have a wearable technology gadget business.
High-Profit Margins
The gross margins on your wearable technology device business are usually about 40%, which is significant and allows you to expand your company while keeping costs under control.
Build Time Is Short.
The average time it takes to develop a product is roughly seven months. You will be able to bring your product to market more quickly due to this.
It's Simple To Encourage "impulse purchases."
You have a significantly better chance of persuading customers to buy on impulse in the wearable technology gadget sector. You can change the price, positioning, packaging, and promotional value to impact the buyer's decision.
Income Potential Is Limitless
There is no limit to how much money you can make by beginning a wearable technology gadget business. The more you put into your profession and the stronger your business abilities are, the more money you'll make.
You Have The Opportunity To Accomplish Something You Enjoy
When you establish a wearable technology device company, you get to focus your efforts on something you genuinely care about. To make the business profitable, you'll find yourself spending as much time and attention as possible on it.
You Have The Freedom To Work From Anywhere
You can not only establish a wearable technology gadget company from home, but you can also run it from anywhere in the world. This is the desire of every entrepreneur.
You Can Earn Money While Sleeping
Starting a wearable technology device business has the advantage of providing passive income and allowing you to earn money while you sleep. For many entrepreneurs, this is their dream.
Until you engage your imagination, the wearables market appears to be a congested environment. Is there a need for another fitness tracker? Make an unusual move. Choose a new audience, a new requirement, or a different hardware kind. There are still a lot of areas where a pro is needed.