For the 80/20
assignment, I decided to go to one of the horse farms in the Ocala area and
talk to the owner. The horse industry is
very broad and covers a wide range from horses to hay.
The target audience
for the farm I picked included other local farms and individuals. This farm also markets nationally. The demographics varied greatly as well. For horses, wealthier people were more
appealing, as horses can be expensive and are an investment (or a luxury item
depending on the person). For hay they were mainly targeting other farms.
The marketing
strategy for this farm revolved around horse shows, the internet, and word of
mouth.
The customer’s needs
for horses revolved around good investments.
The horses are used for breeding a lot of times, and customers want a
good stock in order to turn a profit on their investment. For hay, the customers are looking for the
best deal possible.
I managed to get one
interview with the owner of another farm. I was not able to record this
interview because they did not want to be recorded. I asked about what needs they had when
looking for horses to invest in. It was
just as the entrepreneur thought it was, they wanted to make a profit on their
investment. This person was looking to
make money from breeding, and was willing to pay a premium if he thought it was
possible. I found this is a very tricky
business with a lot of risk from conducting this interview. However, this particular customer had seen a
lot of success when dealing with the other farm.
The need for quality
hay was high. This farm looked at price
as a big determiner, but also the quality of the hay. I thought that hay was hay, but apparently
not. They really liked the Alfalfa hay,
and hay that was not wet. The alfalfa is
good for the horses, and rain can cause the hay to mold.
I asked how he could
find opportunities on horses and hay, and he replied “the internet.” They look for deals on hay, but do use known
good sources. His loyalty to his
provider was strong, because he knew the quality was good. For horses, it depended upon what he was
looking for, and if he was in the market to breed or not.
I really enjoyed reading your blog. This is a first for me. I had never encountered someone who took the time and effort to travel to a horse farm and speak to an owner. You really thought "out of the box," and I appreciated that.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that in this day and age, you can find anything (literally even hay) from the internet.
It makes me wonder what people used to do in the past to get their quality hay.
Other than that, if you're bored, check mine out, but overall, good job: http://laurenent3003.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-twenty-percent.html
This is a very unique idea and I really enjoyed reading your blog post! Most people just look for a business around where they live and never really put in the time and effort like you did. Here is the link to my blog post in case you wanted to watch who I interviewed! http://shannoncea.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-twenty-percent.html
ReplyDeletePatrick,
ReplyDeleteGreat job man I really enjoyed your blog post you really thought outside the norm by talking to a farm owner. Although I thought this assignment required a video or audio recording an interview with customers who fit the target market of the entrepreneur. Yet, looking at majority of the class i feel like the instructions wasn't very clear. Anyways, keep up the good work feel free to comment on my post:
http://qdesousaent3003.blogspot.com/2016/02/ent-3003-twenty-percent.html
Let me first say that is a wonderful pictures of two horses touching noses. Seriously, how lucky are you to have taken that? I think you did a good job of looking for a broad industry there. You were able to learn a lot about many facets of an industry, and that's important. Funny how some cattle ranchers wouldn't want to be recorded, huh? Everyone is looking for the best possible deal, it doesn't surprise me that the horse ranchers would be looking for a good deal on their hay.
ReplyDelete