OL 320 Module 2 Final Project Milestone One Market Research example

Milestone One: Market Research for Adaptive Pants Designed for Full-Time Wheelchair Users

[Student Name]

Southern New Hampshire University

OL 320: Entrepreneurship

Module Two Final Project Milestone One

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.

Milestone One: Market Research for Adaptive Pants Designed for Full-Time Wheelchair Users

The Idea and the Research Questions

SeatWell Apparel is a composite startup founded by a physical therapist to make pants for people who sit in wheelchairs most of the day. The design uses a higher back rise and lower front rise so the waistband stays in place when seated, removes back pockets and heavy rear seams that can press on skin, adds side zippers and magnetic closures for easier dressing, and cuts the legs to lie flat on footplates. Before investing in production, the founder needs answers to four questions: How large is the population who might buy? What clothing problems do they face, and how serious are they? Would they pay a premium for a solution, and how much? Where do they shop?

Secondary Research: The Population

National data confirm a sizable population. In the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, about one in four U.S. adults reported some disability, and mobility disability, serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, was the most common type among middle-aged and older adults (Okoro et al., 2018). A narrower figure matters more for this product. Census survey data show that about 3.6 million Americans aged 15 and older used a wheelchair in 2014 (Taylor, 2018). Not all use one full time, and full-time users, the founder's intended customers, are a subset of that number.

Secondary Research: The Need

Published research supports the need. Kabel et al. (2017) surveyed 113 respondents with mobility impairments, or the caregivers of such people, online; they reported unmet clothing needs, and for some, unsuitable clothing meant staying away from social events, employment and ordinary activities. Focus groups with people with disabilities, caregivers and health providers identified functional, cultural and sensory barriers related to clothing and called for innovation in the design, production, distribution and sale of adaptive apparel (Kabel et al., 2016). The research shows that the problem the founder sees in her clinic is widely experienced, not limited to her clients.

Primary Research: Survey

The founder distributed an online survey through two independent living centers, a spinal cord injury support group and two rehabilitation clinics, receiving 64 responses from adults who use a wheelchair at least six hours a day. Table 1 summarizes the key results.

Table 1

Survey of Full-Time Wheelchair Users on Clothing Needs

Note. Composite survey data for illustration. Respondents could report more than one problem.

Primary Research: Interviews and Fit Test

Eight follow-up interviews added detail that the survey could not. Several respondents described buying pants two sizes too large and having them taken in, and three said they avoid job interviews or events because they cannot find clothing that looks professional while seated. Two said adaptive clothing they had tried looked like medical wear. The market is asking for clothing that works when seated and still looks like ordinary clothing, not for medical products.

Six participants then wore prototype pants for four weeks. Five of six said the waistband stayed in place, and four said they could dress with less help. All six asked for a darker, more formal fabric option, and two found the side zippers hard to reach from one side, which will change the design.

Target Market

The research points to a specific first customer: adults aged 25 to 64 who use a manual or power wheelchair full time, work or are active in their communities, shop online and want clothing that looks professional. A secondary segment is caregivers and parents who buy for someone they support. Older adults in long-term care are a real need but a harder segment to reach, because purchasing often runs through facilities and families, and they are left for later.

Estimating the Market

The estimate is built in three layers, each with a stated assumption. Total addressable market: if roughly 1.6 million of the 3.6 million wheelchair users are adults who use one full time, and each buys two pairs of pants a year at 75 dollars, the market for such pants is about 240 million dollars a year. Serviceable available market: if 72 percent shop online, as in the survey, about 173 million dollars is reachable through an online brand. Serviceable obtainable market: a new brand might realistically capture 0.3 percent of that by its third year, about 520,000 dollars in annual sales. These figures are estimates, not measurements, and the full-time share in particular should be refined with better data (Hisrich et al., 2020).

What the Research Says About Price and Channel

Two findings shape how the product should be sold. On price, most respondents accepted a range of 65 to 85 dollars, well above the 30 to 45 dollars many pay for ordinary pants, but several interviewees tied that willingness to durability: they already spend money on tailoring, and a pair that lasts a year without alteration is worth more to them than a cheaper pair that does not fit. That suggests the brand should emphasize saved tailoring costs and time rather than luxury. On channel, 72 percent prefer to buy online, largely because stores are hard to navigate in a wheelchair and fitting rooms are often too small. Online sales, however, raise the risk of returns when fit is uncertain, so a detailed seated-size guide, free exchanges and videos showing how the closures work will be essential. The interviews also revealed that occupational and physical therapists are trusted sources of product advice, which points to clinicians as a referral channel alongside online advertising.

Limitations and Next Steps

The research has clear limits. The survey reached people connected to disability organizations and clinics, who may be more engaged and more willing to try new products than wheelchair users generally. A sample of 64 cannot represent every type of disability or body shape. Stated willingness to pay often exceeds actual purchases, so the 64 percent figure is an upper bound. The next step is a preorder test, which measures what people do rather than what they say. Even with these limits, the evidence supports the conclusion that the need is real, that ordinary retail does not meet it and that a well-designed product can command a moderate premium. Milestone Two will present the idea, its value and its uniqueness.

References

Hisrich, R. D., Peters, M. P., & Shepherd, D. A. (2020). Entrepreneurship (11th ed.). McGraw Hill.

Kabel, A., Dimka, J., & McBee-Black, K. (2017). Clothing-related barriers experienced by people with mobility disabilities and impairments. Applied Ergonomics, 59, 165-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.08.036

Kabel, A., McBee-Black, K., & Dimka, J. (2016). Apparel-related participation barriers: Ability, adaptation and engagement. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(22), 2184-2192. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2015.1123309

Okoro, C. A., Hollis, N. D., Cyrus, A. C., & Griffin-Blake, S. (2018). Prevalence of disabilities and health care access by disability status and type among adults: United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(32), 882-887. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6732a3

Taylor, D. M. (2018). Americans with disabilities: 2014 (Current Population Reports P70-152). U.S. Census Bureau.