Unifob: The Universal Key Fob

TCA Part B

Logan Davis, Katie Fasola, Kelsey Sucher

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Objective

Orientation

Each individual has numerous keys, which they use daily. Keys can be either hardware or

software, hardware referring to a physical object, and software referring to a unique code

accessible through a universal cloud. The use of individual keys can often be frustrating because

they are commonly misplaced.

The term “fob” refers to a key fob, or a security hardware device which manages access to

a variety of facilities and devices. Key fobs serve as keyless remote devices that are small enough

to be kept as personal devices. Key fobs have been evolving for over a hundred years. To grant

entry access to a specific key fob, landlords or companies authenticate an individual code, which

is often referred to as a PIN. A small chip within the fob itself then generates a transmission code.

Near field communication (NFC) is activated once the fob is in the realm of the device or building

which needs to be unlocked.

Fobs have the ability to allow, limit, or block entry to specific individuals at any given time

or place. One of the greatest benefits of a key fob is the security aspect. If a physical key is lost,

there is the risk of someone finding said key and breaking in to the device or facility. However,

with a key fob, the unique passcode can be simply discontinued with the quick press of a button.

Now picture using a universal fob solely for the real estate market. Currently, if an

individual is looking for a home, they often enlist the help of a real estate agent. Real estate agents

access homes through the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS. To get into houses, real estate

companies often put electronic boxes on properties. To attend a showing, individuals are required

to call their agents to get into the house itself. This can often be inconvenient and require excessive

effort. With the use of a key fob named Unifob, clients can now easily access houses during
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specific durations of time without the inconvenient communication between real estate agent and

client. Upon hiring a real estate agent, the client would be given this Unifob. If they needed to

access a house without their agent, access would be granted to the clients’ key fob, and clients

would then be able to easily attend home showings.

Each Unifob lock will retail for $150, with each key fob

costing an additional $25. The monthly SaaS fee for in-depth

data analytics will be $20 per home per month, the price that real

estate firms will pay. However, once the product reaches

consumers who do not need such detailed analytics, a lower tier

of software will be offered for only $10 per home per month.
Figure 1. Typical Smart lock design
Installation fees for homes will be $80 for the first installation

and $30 for each subsequent lock on the home after that.

Prior to the initial launch of the product, both a target

audience and pertinent stakeholders will be identified. The

Unifob will first penetrate the real estate market, beginning as a

business-to-business (B2B) company. After a trial run and a few

years of successful implementation, the company will develop a

Figure 2. Key Fob
business-to-consumer (B2C) model.

List all pertinent stakeholders.

Stakeholders refer to individuals or organizations holding a particular interest in the

product. The decisions of stakeholders can affect the business, as can the business’ actions affect

the stakeholders. Pertinent stakeholders for the development of the Unifob include real estate
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agents, homeowners, keyholders, and insurance companies. We hope to first penetrate the real

estate market by forming partnerships with many firms. Given the expectation to begin the

company in Cincinnati, potential partnerships include RE/MAX, Comey & Shepherd, and

Coldwell Banker West Shell. The innovative design and functionality of the Unifob will be new

to the market, so the stakeholder firms can simultaneously serve as investors.

Homeowners are pertinent stakeholders as their feedback can make or break our business.

In order for the Unifob to thrive in the housing market, we need homeowners to be pleased with

the improved ease of access to their homes. This device should appeal to homeowners of all ages,

and it should have the opportunity to grow as the market changes.

Keyholders are similar to homeowners in the fact they will need to properly manipulate the

technology. Once the RFID transmitters are developed at the entrances of houses, we need

keyholders to ensure the convenience of design. Keyholders, as stakeholders, will analyze the

effectiveness of the data technology as well as the lockbox software system. If there is a change

to the back end of the system, keyholders will know how to best compromise our design.

Insurance companies also serve as potential stakeholders. Similar to Apple Care offered

for Apple devices, we can offer insurance on the physical key fob and lock. With this idea of

protecting both the software and service, insurance companies can help market the Unifob.

Insurance will ensure the safety of both the physical devices as well as the client data.

Evaluate stakeholder interests and take the position of a powerful stakeholder.

Taking stakeholders into account is key to a successful business model. By incorporating

stakeholder feedback and opinions into our future plans, we will have a better feel for the market.

Understanding our stakeholders is similar to consumer research. By researching consumers’

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preferences, attitudes, and behavior through surveys and campaigns, we will be able to effectively

problem-solve.

There are various relationships a stakeholder can have with the business. Listed below is

a categorization of stakeholder relationships.

● Primary stakeholders – This category of stakeholders includes individuals or organizations

which will be directly affected, either positively or negatively, by the decisions of the

company. For example, real estate companies would classify as primary stakeholders.

● Secondary stakeholders – This category of stakeholders includes those individuals or

organizations which are not directly affected. Rather, this category of stakeholders is

indirectly impacted by the actions of the business. For example, locksmiths could serve as

secondary stakeholders. Although not directly impacted by the Unifob, if the installation

of Unifobs succeeds, the demand for locksmiths would decrease. This would be due to the

universal key fob design, which would not need to be physically altered.

● Key stakeholders – These are individuals who are decision-makers within the company.

The entrepreneurial team (Logan Davis, Katie Fasola, and Kelsey Sucher) would all be

considered key stakeholders. Our decisions have extreme bearing on whether the company

will fail or succeed.

Depending on the individual or organization, stakeholder interests will vary. Common

interests include economics, social change, work, time, safety, and security. For example, taking

the position of a homeowner, my primary interests would be time, safety, and security. I would

be interested in the decreased time I need to spend safeguarding my physical keys. With the

Unifob, I would be particularly fascinated by the ease of access the device allows to my home. I

would also be interested in the safety and security concerning my personal data as well as my home
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itself. I want to ensure my information cannot be hacked through the system, and I would also like

to ensure the physical lock will not permit intruders to my home.

Create (at least) one BHAG for the organization from the vantage point of that stakeholder.

From the vantage point of a homeowner, one Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the

Unifob would be to have less than two data breaches within the first year of implementation. Cyber

security is crucial to the success of the Unifob.

As key stakeholders of the Unifob, we have developed two additional Big Hairy Audacious

Goals (BHAGs). The first of which is to sell one hundred Unifobs in our first year. This goal is

achievable, as approximately 42,000 homes in the Greater Cincinnati area are sold each year. This

is a mere 0.2% of that market. Our second BHAG is to initiate the installation of the Unifob within

twenty percent of homes on the real estate market of Greater Cincinnati within five years. Through

reading the tentative sequence of actions highlighted in the next section, we hope to achieve this

goal.

Tentative Sequence of Actions

Create and prioritize a sequence of actions to pursue the BHAG.

1. Approval of Patent Pending (between weeks 1-37, by April 2019)

2. Find security-minded database architect to develop the back end of the software system

(weeks 1-26, by Feb. 4, 2019)

3. Programming of RFID chips to go into the key fob (between weeks 18-26, by early Feb.

2019)

4. Development of data analytics to track entrances into the house (weeks 20-26, by Feb. 4,

2019)
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5. Design of front end website for customization of access and data tracking (weeks 27-37,

by early April 2019)

6. Design of physical key fob and lock (weeks 16-26, by early Feb 2019)

7. Outsourcing to a plastics manufacturer to produce the key fobs (weeks 27-37, by early

April 2019)

8. Security testing on Unifob system (May 2019)

9. Initial partnership with real-estate firm that will exclusively use Unifob in their to-be-sold

homes (beginning June 2019)

10. Penetrate the real estate market by forming partnerships with many firms (by June 2021)

11. Expand use into non-real-estate consumers, starting with those who bought homes already

fitted with the Unifob system (2021)

Identify and challenge assumptions.

● The software can be developed so that customized access to Unifob locks can be granted

to separate key fobs.

● Software development will go smoothly with no security issues.

● The patent for Unifob technology will be granted.

● Real-estate firms will be willing to pay for lock installation on each house they are selling.

● The provided data analytics will be useful in the real-estate sector.

● Consumers will continue using the Unifob lock installed on their house after buying it.

● Homeowners will trust the security of the Unifob lock.

● The company will have sufficient capital to produce the product, and Unifob locks will be

affordable.
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The technology of RFID locks is already developed. The RFID reader/radio frequency

module and control unit (inside the lock itself) emit a high-frequency electromagnetic field, and

the RFID tag (to be inside the key fob), when within range, triggers the lock to unlock. This

technology exists, as well as the ability to grant lock access to multiple RFID chips, but the

challenge will lie in the ability to change these access levels in real-time and offer pre-set access

for a specified period of time. We must make the assumption that the technology can be built out

further to allow for software on the server that can be remotely programmed to allow access to a

specified, ever-changing list of key fob RFID chips.

Many of the other assumptions depend on the security of the Unifob system and

homeowners’ trust in it. Software development must go smoothly with no security issues. There

can be no potential for secure information to be hacked or accessed by the public. If there are any

glitches in the software or it does not work perfectly, the product could get tied up in years of

security testing to ensure that it is safe and ready for the market. Not only would this disrupt the

planned production timeline, but security issues in development could lead to a perception of

mistrust of the product, which could be incredibly harmful to sales.

It is necessary that Unifob maintain a good reputation for safety and reliability so that the

system will be trusted by homeowners. If homeowners do not trust that the lock offers their house

an unparalleled level of safety and security that cannot be found in antiquated, traditional metal

keys, they are less likely to install the locks on their houses. Part of the future business plan hinges

on the assumption that after buying a house already fitted with a Unifob lock by a real-estate firm,

consumers will continue using the lock and paying monthly subscription fees. For consumers to

be willing to incur this added cost, they must be assured of the safety and reliability of the Unifob.
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All of this depends on the assumption that the Unifob system and data analytics behind it

will be useful to real-estate firms. Real estate firms must be willing to install the Unifob lock on

each house they are selling and provide key fobs to each agent and aspiring homeowner so that

they all can be granted access when needed. The firms will also be paying for the software service

to receive the analytics on each home’s “foot traffic.” The system will be advantageous to firms

in attracting new clients through the ease of use and the added security--keys to the house will not

have to be stored in a lockbox that could be stolen or broken into. Additionally, the analytics will

offer valuable insights into the showing patterns of certain houses and give recommendations for

selling tactics and price.

Identify risks.

● Potential for Supra eKEY or other competitors to make their existing, outdated products

more technological in response.

● Consumers may not be willing to pay the monthly fee for the system after they have bought

a house with a Unifob lock already installed.

● Consumers will want an app-integrated system rather than a physical fob.

● Fear of hacking and privacy concerns.

Supra eKEY is currently the largest supplier of lockboxes for the real-estate market, but

there is limited technology involved in their simple key-holding lockbox. However, there is the

potential for the company to see the opportunity that Unifob has found in an otherwise largely

complacent market, and that could spur Supra eKEY or other competitors into action to develop

new products with a greater range of technology. This is why Unifob will seek a patent on the

system and penetrate the market before competitors can catch up.
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There is also the concern that consumers will not be willing to pay the monthly software

fee on their already-installed Unifob system after buying a house. To combat this, the company

plans to offer a lower rate for those who do not desire complex data analytics in order to retain the

customers rather than losing them back to a traditional lock and key system.

Another major risk is that consumers may look for app integration in their phones rather

than a physical key fob. However, we believe that having a physical key fob that can be kept on

a key ring and used even when a phone is misplaced or out of battery life is the safer, more reliable

option.

A final risk is that of data privacy. Consumers may be concerned about the potential of

someone hacking into the system to see where they have been or where they are planning to be in

the future. Unifob will be sure to hire best-in-class database architects who are focused on security

of the system so that this will not happen.

Recommendations

Real Estate Sector

Our recommendation is that the Unifob first penetrate the real estate market of Greater

Cincinnati in order to gain exposure for the product and establish a base of consumers. The Unifob

system is a perfect fit for this market, as it will allow a greater degree of control over who is

allowed into houses for showings and at what time. The data analytics being offered also have

much potential for use by real estate firms in pricing homes and deciding when would be best for

open houses and other showings. The penetration of this market will allow for the company to

grow from the publicity and inflow of capital, setting the product up to be successful in other

markets as well.
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The initial step in this will be to find a real estate firm and develop a contract detailing that

they will exclusively use the Unifob system on all homes they are selling. As an incentive for the

agreement, they will receive the system at a discounted price and will have access to free

installation of the locks on homes they are selling. Each home will be fitted with a Unifob lock,

and each agent and customer will receive a fob. With this, access to homes can be granted to an

agent or, if a customer wishes to view a house on their own, to a customer only for the period of

time in which their showing is scheduled.

The firm will then pay a monthly fee based on the number of locks they are using for access

to the software and data analytics that will be offered. This data will include a record of every fob

that has been used to access each lock, as well as the timestamp of when each entry happened.

From this, real estate firms will have the ability to make decisions about the pricing of each home

based off of the frequency of showings and amount of time on the market. After data has

aggregated over a period of time, the analysis could even go a level further--it could be possible

to see the effects a multitude of variables have on home sales, such as time of day of showings,

number of open houses, number of realtor showings versus individual buyer showings, etc. This

could be incredibly valuable information in helping real estate firms to tailor their sales strategies

to ensure maximum success and maximum profit.

After the first piloted partnership, Unifob will begin to establish relationships with other

real estate firms in the city. Realtors will see the clear benefits of the system and will want to be

a part of it, from the data analytics to the unparalleled security. The Unifob lock offers a layer of

security that cannot be found in the widely used real estate system of lockboxes that can be stolen

or broken to extract the key and enter the house. Many lockboxes are accessed via a code. If

someone is given the code to open the lockbox, they cannot be made to forget it and could, as a
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result, gain access to the home at any time. With Unifob, access can be granted and retracted in

real-time, and the only way anyone will be able to enter the house is if they have a scheduled

showing and are granted access to the home during that time. This benefit should be emphasized

in marketing strategies.

The Unifob can also be sold to homeowners who are selling their houses themselves

without a real estate agent. This will be especially beneficial to them, because it is more difficult

for these homeowners to find time to show their homes than it is for real estate agents. To combat

this difficulty and, again, attain a higher degree of security, the homeowners can give interested

parties a fob and grant access to the home only during the period of time that the showing is

scheduled for. With this, homeowners can show their home without worrying about needing to be

physically present.

Through partnerships with real estate firms and use in “for sale by owner” situations, the

Unifob system has the potential to become the new standard of accessibility, analytics, and security

for the real estate market. Once home buyers see this in use, they will begin to expect this level

of technology from all homes they are shown, and real estate firms will want to partner with Unifob

so they are perceived to be giving their best to their customers and staying up-to-date on the newest

technology and innovation.

Homeowners

The logical next step for Unifob is to expand into the market of homeowners, especially

those who have bought houses with the Unifob lock already installed. Instead of changing the lock

back to traditional metal lock and key, they can continue to pay for the monthly SaaS for use of
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the system. As most people do not need the level of data analytics that will be offered to real estate

firms, a lower monthly rate will be offered to these consumers without the analytics package.

The use of the Unifob system will offer many benefits to these consumers which can be

capitalized on when advertising and marketing, first and foremost being security. As stated before,

Unifob is exponentially more secure than a traditional lock and key. The lock cannot be picked,

the key cannot be copied, and the software will track whose fob is used to enter the home in case

anything is amiss.

The Unifob lock will also be useful for those hiring house-sitters and pet-sitters. These

employees can be given a key fob, and the homeowner can customize when they are allowed access

and see when they have entered the home. This entry-tracking could also be a selling point to

parents who want to see when their children arrived home and used their fobs to unlock the door.

When homeowners are transitioning to the Unifob system, they will likely want the locks

on all entrances to the house as opposed to the singular entrance that real estate firms will have

used the locks on. Because of this, Unifob should offer a discount to those buying multiple locks

to make the price of securing an entire home seem less daunting to the consumers.

In the digital age of technology, social media and word-of-mouth marketing greatly

contribute to a company’s success. As homeowners install multiple locks on their entrances, the

frequency of use will lead to many people seeing the Unifob in action. For example, if a Unifob

user were to host a family gathering, family members will witness firsthand the functionality of

the device. Through observing the performance and security the Unifob provides, these

individuals will be more likely to purchase the Unifob device for their own homes. Word-of-

mouth advertising can come in the form of a online promotion, tweet, or even a simple face-to-

face conversation. According to a 2015 study by Nielsen, eighty-three percent of consumers trust
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recommendations from friends more than any other form of advertising. By utilizing word-of-

mouth advertising, the Unifob can access a large audience of potential homeowner clients.

Assume Role of Competitor

The Unifob is entering a market with no direct competition, and very little indirect

competition. While there are many other key and lock systems on the market, none are like the

Unifob in the sense that the locks can be programmed to grant ever-changing periods of access to

multiple key fobs and offer SaaS and data analytics functionality. Therefore, the Unifob will be

the first to market with this technology and will be able to patent its SaaS and universal key fob

system. This will prevent other companies, as well as anyone looking to enter the market, from

directly competing with Unifob.

The Unifob’s greatest competitor is Supra, who produces both an eKey and ActiveKey that

can open universal lock boxes, and also offers basic SaaS. The eKey is an smartphone app that

allows users to open the lockbox using a given code and bluetooth, while the ActiveKey is a

physical keypad that must be used. Their SaaS is able to identify who is opening the lock box on

a certain date and time - but offers no other insights. In order to compete, they will want to do one

of two things. First, they may decide to remain with their lock box system and begin a marketing

campaign explaining why it’s better than the Unifob. For example, they could argue that their lock

boxes don’t require an installation or that they’re able to be moved from house to house with ease.

On the other hand, they may choose to adopt a variation of our universal key fob system, or add

greater SaaS functionality to their lockboxes. Since they’ve already penetrated the real estate

market, it’s in their best interest to act quickly in response to the Unifob. Their actions will

determine whether they begin to lose market share or if they’re able to hold their ground.
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Competitor Recommendations

Our team believes that Supra should focus on marketing the advantages their universal lock

box system has over the Unifob. They should place an emphasis on the ease of purchase and use

of a lock box, rather than a lock that must be installed, and they should offer the lowest possible

cost to their consumers. Because they already have brand awareness and a share of the real estate

market, they will have a great opportunity to convince their customers that installing new locks

will be a hassle with little advantage over their current system. Additionally, by making their lock

box system as inexpensive as possible, they will have a large advantage over Unifob because they

will have a one time cost, whereas Unifob has both an installation fee and a monthly charge for

the SaaS.

Adjusted Unifob Recommendations

The main issue our team anticipates is those within the real estate market being resistant to

switch from Supra to Unifob, or to adopt either technology at all. However, we plan to offer

incentives for real estate companies to use our system - including free lock installation - and we

also plan to emphasize the usefulness of our SaaS functionality. Although Supra is able to track

who is entering a home on a certain date and time - the Unifob is also able to track those things, in

addition to analysing the data to provide trends and insights. For many real estate companies, it

would be extremely helpful to know, for example, which houses are having the most or least

showings - so they can adjust the price accordingly. Additionally, it will provide insights into

which real estate agents show the most houses, and at which dates and times most occur. We will

also stress that we anticipate a significant portion of the industry to transition to the Unifob, which
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will make those who don’t make the switch seem like they are behind in the latest technology.

Additionally, having a Unifob already installed will be an advantage to potential buyers, who can

then transition to using the Unifob system themselves on their homes and use the SaaS for security

means if they so choose.

Conclusion

Unifob has positioned itself in a market that is here to stay and will provide a steady stream

of customers. There are new houses put on the market each day, and if a real estate agency chooses

Unifob, they will be fitting each of those houses with the new lock system. The innovative RFID

technology and data architecture the Unifob provides is truly first-in-market. Through starting in

the real estate market, Unifob will be able to reach consumers directly and drastically grow its

consumer base outside of real estate in a matter of years. When homeowners purchase houses

already fitted with the Unifob lock, they will embrace this new technology and continue using the

system. Unifob has great potential for growth selling to both businesses and consumers.
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