Ideabase Analysis 8: The Hotbox

Anyone who’s stayed on a campus that’s more or less removed from the rest of society, pulled all-nighters and had hunger pangs kicking in at a time when everywhere that sells food is closed, knows the pain of having to resort to junk food from vending machines or cup noodles. So do the 4 students who founded Hotbox, who decided to do something about the lack of decent food after-hours. Partnering with supper stalls around the island, the Hotbox delivers meals to students who request them right to their halls of residence four days a week, plugging a much-needed hole in terms of campus amenities.

Furthermore, NTU is a university that actively promotes entrepreneurship, going so far as to offer a minor in entrepreneurship. It is promising to see students be spurred by their own experiences and provide a service that is lacking within the campus.

• Currently, the Hotbox serves only students living on campus in NTU.
• This would be very good for students living in hostels as well.
• Office crowd who works late, or who have night shifts.

• Through the food orders

• In a university campus, word will undoubtedly travel by word of mouth, especially since the Hotbox is a rather specialised service that currently has a monopoly on the market. And as the target market consists of frequent users of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the Hotbox is also accessible via those sites.

• Apart from expanding into other campuses, budding entrepreneurs may also want to consider other markets: foreign worker dormitories, for instance, or business parks with a significant number of people who work till late and often miss out on dinnertime. Entrepreneurs may also choose to specialise in certain types of food. Those who are vegetarian, for example, often have a harder time finding food than their non-vegetarian counterparts, and may appreciate a food service that caters specifically to them.