SCUTTLEBUTT

Sip the Gossip

Welcome to the solution on how to combat loneliness amongst elderly called SCUTTLEBUTT (rumor, gossip) – an app designed for more or less gossiping.

The loneliness in the past years has become one of the major mental problems of the nation. Especially amongst elderly. In 2023 36% of adults aged 55-85 reported feeling isolated from others. Also, 33% of seniors reported infrequent contact with people from outside their home.

It is in a human nature to search for conversations and companionships, it’s a necessity.

Even in the past there were examples of paying just for friendships and conversations. High-born ladies used to have lady’s companions for entertainment and chatting. Why don’t we modernize the concept and spread it by connecting the people who need such a companionship amongst themselves? Study shows that many people feeling lonely engage in social media as a sort of gateway. So, why not combat loneliness by creating a social network where users can engage in different conversations?

What to use to create such an environment?

• user-friendly video-meeting app
• accessible both through web and phone
• offering a range of action and discussion rooms covering diverse topics
• and connecting people with shared interests or those seeking companionship and casual chatting

Rooms

1. Chatting rooms
   Rooms for casual conversations covering all sorts of everyday life topics – chat and gossip
2. Discussion rooms – premium feature
   Experts from different backgrounds are hosting various discussions – chill and interactive version of masterclass
3. Action rooms
   Rooms where seniors can actively engage in diverse activities fostering a sense of community and shared enjoyment
   – Virtual dining rooms (67% of elderly claim they feel the loneliest while having their meals on their own
   

Why would elderly be a good target group?

1. First of all, they have a lot of spare time
2. They love to gossip – meaning the information between them spreads really fast, so they’d be a part of marketing team as well.
3. Also, they love giving opinions nobody asked them about
4. They are so easily convinced, with a little effort and the right person you can sell anything to them.
5. Many of them live alone, spouseless, meaning they need someone to talk to.
6. They are not very mobile so the fact that they can connect from their homes is a plus.
7. They are already using social media as a sort of getaway from loneliness

Even after all these things mentioned you are probably still thinking mhm, that’s great, but old people are stingy, how would we profit from them?
And YES, they are stingy!

Luckily for us, they have a few soft spots when buying online comes around:

• Virtual goods (stickers, themes…) – elderly love buying them, especially older ladies
• Lives and time on different apps and games ( probably they are aware that they don’t have much of either left in the real life so they are trying to at least get it virtually)
• Cheap stuff – no matter how shit it is, if it is really cheap, they will be thinking of buying it

Is the market big enough?

World population today is 7.88 billion people.  24% of them are people older than 55 – 1.88 billion in total

Surveys show that 59% of them have a smartphone making it 1.01 billion people and 48% are using social networks having them at 900 million people.

If we take into account that 35% of elderly are feeling lonely – the number of lonely people using social networks comes to 315 million.

To have it as a comparison, connected, they would be the 4th most populated country in the world, right after USA.

Why now?

Because the market is expanding RAPIDLY

Why?
For two reasons: smartphones and social networks

Some years ago, senior people had no idea what is a smartphone, not to mention social networks.
For instance, 5 years ago I barely convinced my 70 year old grandma to transfer from her Nokia 3310 to an iPhone.
Two months ago she watched live transmission of Apple Event looking for what she’s getting next.
Not to talk about her obsession with Facebook and Instagram.

Is there a competition?

YES and it is vast and powerful

There are a bunch of social media platforms and apps, and many of them are used by elderly
But, luckily for us, none of them use live video chatting
They are either chat based or image based.
However, the biggest competitor is Facebook since the seniors are overusing it.

Revenue streams

App is a freemium model.
Users have free access to chatting and action rooms and premium subscription plans with access to discussion rooms

Getting only 0.1% of the target group to subscribe for only one month, we would have an annual income of around 300k only from subscriptions.

Besides, we’ll also earn on:
– advertising: intrusive and non-intrusive ads
– purchases: virtual goods as themes, stickers etc.

The team

We are a team consisting of 3 people ready to conquer:

• The hacker – software geek for developing the app interface
• The hustler – appealing manipulator for public relations
• And myself, the designer – organisation and perfection freak, a mother who is “mothering” both the team and the app

Funding

As it comes to funding, we need around 250k for developing and advanced social network app – scuttlebutt.

For what?

• Tech – server hosting, maintenance, video chat technology, engineers, data security etc.
• Marketing – promotions, advertising, content creation etc.
• Personnel salaries
• Other expenses

So, dear young business angels, we all know you have money, meaning you’re probably really successful
Having this said, you’re 100% your grandma’s favorite.
Therefore, you don’t have to be listening to her explaining to you what happened on the reality show last night.

Invest in us!
Let the others take that burden.