FireWire Surfboards Firewire Surfboards was created in the year 2005 by a group of colleges who happen to be friends. They all wanted to make a new kind of surfboards for the average person that wanted to go out and enjoy the waves. Firewire makes the claim that its surfboards are stronger, lighter and more flexible than any of its based competition’s surfboards. In order to keep up with the competition Firewire decided to start making custom surfboards instead of just their usual or original sizes. Along with making custom surfboards Firewire is doing other things in order to stay ahead of their competition. Channel Islands surfboards seems to be the major competitor of Firewire surfboards. However, it's surfboards aren't price efficient from what I’ve read, and doesn’t seem to come close to offering the flexibility and maneuverability that Firewires does. Firewire competitors mostly uses time dated technology and production that is thought to be harmful to the environment. Most “surfers prefer their gear old school,” that’s from what I’ve gathered, and the companies that have been established for decades had the upper hand on supplying this demand of the surf market. It also didn’t help that many of the surfboard manufactures had signed professional surfers and thousands of loyal customers that felt the technology “represented a real threat to the entrenched surfboard” companies that they had grown accustomed to. Firewire’s entrepreneurial team should have known their targeted audience as well as “their industries size as a whole, growth rate or the potential for growth, fundamental trends like up and down swings, and major players meaning those who do the same thing they do ”. Using this kind and amount of collective information, they will have a better chance of knowing how their competition will react to them entering this competitive surfboard industry and then they could have strategized their business plan accordingly. Firewire also needed to make sure they understood who their potential customers were and how best to suit their needs. If they know what their customers are looking for in the product they are selling, then the better chance they have of offering a product that those customers will buy. The surf industry has always been slow to adapt to new technology and materials from what I've read. Many surfers are traditionalists who feel the preservation of the surf soul trumps all other matters. Perhaps this is why shapers primarily used polyurethane foam to make surfboards since the 1950s. Not until the recent close of Clark Foam in 2005 did we see an influx of new surfboard construction with different foams and materials. One such new creation were the Firewire surfboards with their distinct wooden rails and funky air valve. Firewire’s core competence is their intuitive and groundbreaking technologies. They build lightweight, duel density sandwich construction surfboards that flex, thereby enhancing performance over the traditional, center stringer, single density rigid surfboard. Firewire Surfboards was launched in 2005 by a group of friends who wanted to create surfboards for just anyone that wanted to go out and enjoy the waves. The claim is that the Firewire surfboards are lighter, stronger, and more flexible than the based competition’s surfboards. In order to keep up with the competition Firewire decided to start making custom surfboards instead of just their usual off-the-rack sizes. Along with making custom surfboards Firewire is doing other things in order to stay ahead of their competition. Firewire Surfboards’ innovative technologies, processes and materials have given surfers those performance gains and more – superior flex, maneuverability, durability, and environmental friendliness as well. The boards are constructed through proprietary methods, utilizing a combination of high-tech materials previously not offered by any other large-scale commercial surfboard manufacturer, including expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, aerospace composites, epoxy resins, carbon rod suspensions and bamboo decks. The boards are lighter, stronger and more lively and responsive than traditional polyurethane foam boards. The innovative materials also emit only two percent of the harmful compounds of traditional boards – a fact that has earned the company. However, the real advances are in the factory, where, over the last two years, Firewire has developed a high-capacity computer-aided process that includes environmentally friendly lamination. The result is a featherweight product that suggests new ways of riding waves. "When Firewire came on the scene, it was a disruptive technology," says company CEO Mark Price, a former wave-riding pro. "It represented a real threat to the entrenched surfboard manufacturing interests. “It’s important for any premium, high-performance surfboard brand to offer custom boards if they want to be recognized as an industry leader,” says Price. However, there are a few major challenges that became prevalent with FireWire while developing its custom boards. One being the preference of hardcore surfers for boards that are custom-shaped to order – made for them specifically, to suit their individual styles and local wave conditions. Another challenge they seem to have was supply chain, eing a new company they had to find a company willing to make their parts. Firewire’s rejuvenation of the parabolic stringer with their Future Shapes Technology (FST) models, also features a parabolic stringer design combined with low density EPS foam. The idea was to strengthen the perimeter, where the surfer can apply a more control weight to the surfboard’s rail thus gaining more controlled buoyancy. Balancing stiffness and flexibility on the perimeter of a Firewire board allows you to lean in to the stringer in turns rather than a foam rail. As pressure is applied to the wooden rail stringer, this bends and shoots you into the direction you’re turning as it flexes back. My recommendation to Firewire would be to concentrate on what their customers are looking for in a product and deliver what suits their needs. To understand what is most desired by your customers / potential customers they can offer a product or products they will buy from them. However, the retail price of Firewire Surfboards are higher, yet still comparable to traditional PU surfboards. But, I think if someone is buying a new board, They wouldn't question the additional cost if the board performs anywhere near as well as what the manufacturer claims.