Existing Market:
For my thoughts on what could be added to my existing market is creating a separate department for selling health and fitness products such as protein shakes, health bars, all natural snacks, and stuff like that.
After my interviews, I learned of a few extra things that I could add to my business. One of the things suggested to me in my first video interview was to also add the promise of 100% locally grown ingredients to the beverage menu. For example, making our own Comfort Food inc. lemonade and tea, just to add more uniqueness. Also, people seem to love when restaurants have their own drinks, like Panera's green tea. The argument here was that if I am selling this food with the intent of providing a healthy eating establishment, then selling soda as a beverage may just be counter productive and slightly hypocritical. Does this mean that we are going to completely remove soda from the menu? That is a possibility, but nothing is for certain right now. Please comment on what you think.
Another idea that was given to me was giving our customers the recipes for some of our dishes so they can attempt to make them at home. Besides, our ultimate goal is to help people live a healthy lifestyle, so this would be a good way of doing just that. Also, a lot of people (especially college students) do not exactly excel at preparing home-cooked meals, so if we can teach them, then that is another victory on our part. This can also help create a personal bond between business and customer.
New Market:
My current market as of right now is college students and young adults, since this healthy eating craze is prominent in this demographic. That is why starting up in Gainesville would be awesome, being the giant college town that it is. However, I soon came to the realization that everybody can use a healthier diet, so therefore, the world is my oyster. Well not really, but a good majority of people do care about what they eat.
One example that one of my interviewees gave me was Charlotte. He told me that Charlotte is a growing city, and that the older population there generally have a higher income. So that may be a nice place to set up shop in the future.
In the end however, I still do strongly feel that the young adult population is my best target. There is a higher number of these people who would be willing to eat at my restaurant since a good majority of them are trying to get that summer bod, amirite?
Here is the link to my videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkA-tgBt2k&list=PLVH-QDhpYK1y0UYKHJSePcjeCaDHujXxQ
Hi Dakotah,
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea! As someone who is constantly looking for cool new places in Gainesville where I can get good food and eat healthy, I would definitely support your venture concept. I actually used a very similar thought process to come up with my bakery idea since I also noticed that people prefer home cooked food, but do not always take the time to make it. If you want to check out my post here is the link - http://daniellesteinent3003.blogspot.com/2016/04/whats-next.html
Hello. So I think this is a great idea. The first thing that came to my head is yes you can most definitely sell soda. I'm not sure if you have ever been to Satchel's Restaurant here in Gainesville (if you haven't you need to because it's a legend) but they also use all locally grown products in their foods including their homemade all natural sodas. They Ginger ale is my favorite and they use actual ginger root mineral water and cane sugar. Keep up the great work. You can check out my post here:http://theentrepreneuriaou.blogspot.com/2016/04/whats-next.html
ReplyDeleteDakotah,
ReplyDeleteVery good job getting the interviews done and a great analysis of what you learned from those interviews. I thought this was a very interesting assignment because it is kind of like going back to the first step but with an idea already in place. In the beginning we ask what is lacking in a certain market and we figure out a way to fill that void. Now we are asking customers more specifically what they feel could improve int he market and we take that to our product to see if it is there or not. If not, how do you add it to the product or service in a cost efficient way.
Dakotah, I think you did a great job with this assignment. You chose individuals based on their current relevance to your business and asked them relevant questions to better understanding possible ways to enhance your business. Also, in your post you expressed your understanding and analysis of the customer responses, which is always greatly important for the success of a business. Great job, and feel free to check out my post here, http://jessjohns1.blogspot.com/2016/04/whats-next.html
ReplyDeleteHey Dakotah! I think you have some really great ideas here for expanding your idea and customer base.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you got some expert opinion on a place to set up shop! Sometimes, the hardest part is location-- where will people see my product/business and want to use it?
You're definitely headed in a great direction, and your ideas could really be viable for the future!
Good job! Check out my blog at http://memazal.blogspot.com/