Strategic Advice for Uniiverse

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Strategic Advice for Uniiverse

Introduction

Uniiverse is the latest online peer-to-peer social exchanges marketplace. While it is an online marketplace it acts more like an aggregator. Unlike an aggregator online business model, it allows the customers to make the payments online (Hulott, 2005). However, just like the aggregator online marketplace business model, it requires the customers to conduct the physical exchange of the transaction offline, essentially. However, the differentiating factor of this online marketplace with others is that it allows the customers to exchange anything ranging from activities, goods, services, skills, company, etc. The customers are free to ask for any good or service from other customers or users and are able to get it, mostly in consideration for money. Therefore, Uniiverse is the newer comprehensive marketplace for not only goods but any other thing the user or customer is able to provide or desires (Kain, 2012).

Uniiverse has a great motto which reads that it is the world's local marketplace for collaborative learning. The company was co-founded by Craig Follett, Ben Raffi, and Adam Meghji, in 2011. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company started with the seed capital of only $750,000. The founders brought unique strategic ability to the company in the form of their experiences, knowledge, networks, and advice. The company currently has multiple seed and second-round capital investors available that are mostly angel investors (who provide free capital). Additionally, these investors are spread throughout the world and represent multiple countries ranging from United States to France to Australia (Kain, 2012).

Uniiverse is a peer-to-peer, shared economy enabling online marketplace. It helps the online users and customers to meet new people and to engage in various transactions with them that involve the sharing of literally anything ranging from used goods, to their spare rooms, to their specialized services, such as aerobics.

A Successful Strategic Recipe for Uniiverse

Maintain your Canadian origin

Uniiverse is essentially founded in and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Therefore, it is obvious that its primary market is Canada. Although it is an online marketplace that is accessible to the whole world, still its most enthusiast users remain Canadians. Foreigners will always look to it with dual thoughts. Therefore, the first strategic objective for Uniiverse is to be successful in Canada before it can claim success outside of Canada.

Fortunately, Uniiverse has a godsend Canadian origin. In this way, it will be able to gain traction in the worldwide online market if it sticks to its origins. The users unconsciously acknowledge the origins of any such social marketplace or shared economy website. Accordingly, they are only willing to participate in that website or online service if they can somehow associate themselves with the website. Consequently, Uniiverse will only get Canadian customers in the beginning. However, as it will become more popular and successful, customers and users from other countries will also begin to accept transacting on a Canadian online marketplace website.

The case of American successes is unique. Most of the ...