Venture Concept No. 1

Venture Concept Write-Up

Opportunity:

What are the forces or changes in the environment creating this opportunity?

This opportunity is based on expensive prices local festivals for a good meal.  This allows someone to come in with a more efficient process to offer lower prices to make greater profit.

How is this market defined geographically and demographically?

This market is a very “captive audience” meaning the customers are there for the festival, and to enjoy the food that is there. Some customers even only come because of the food.

How are customers currently satisfying this need?  And how loyal are they to whatever they use now? 

Customers are currently satisfying this need by offering a service at a high rate of pay. This is because the customers are a captive audience and do not have many choices.

How big is this opportunity?

This opportunity is big enough to operate as a weekend business.  There is plenty of money to be made a larger festivals, but that requires a much higher commitment and experience.

How long will the “window of opportunity” be open?

This opportunity is open year round.  Florida is a state that is rich with festivals that are easy to be a part of.   The larger festivals are more difficult to attend unless you are a more well established business.

Innovation:

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 

The competitors are the other food venders at the festivals. Their largest weakness is the price they charge for the food.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?

This plays a huge role in that we can produce a quality product more efficiently and charge a lower price.  This will bring customers to us.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?  

This would require myself, and two other employees.  One employee to watch the front of the house and service customers, and one to cook.  I would oversee both and make sure both are in synch.

Venture Concept:

 

What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product?  How hard will it be to get them to switch? 


The reason they will switch is because of lower prices with better food. Not hard at all.

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 


The competitors are the other food venders. They are vulnerable because they charge outrageous prices due to their customers being limited on food choices.

What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?


The business concept is built around providing services at festivals in Florida.  The festivals are known for great food, but it is expensive.  Providing less expensive, however, better quality food will be our winning concept.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?


I have partly organized this business with family to start up.  After a winning strategy can be determined with success and failure will I seek outside help.


We will be successful because of knowledge of cooking skills, and also business skills.

Growing My Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

1) Who they are and what their background is.  My contact in industry works in exactly what I wish to market myself in, cooking seafood at local festivals. 

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.  He is a domain expert in this field as he has been successful with catering to this market.  He has been asked back to festivals just because of his business practices.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.  I knew this person through work, but he also works festivals in the same way I want to… On the weekends.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? He did not do a favor for me. However, I might possibly try to work for him to help build a business model.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? Knowing this person that will be working in the same market will help when I first start up the business.  Once the learning curve gets better, I will be able to operate more efficiently.

2) One person must be an expert on your market. This would be someone who is targeting your market with similar products services -- or knows a lot about conducting customer research in your area -- or represents a major piece of your market (this might be most applicable with B2B markets).

1) Who they are and what their background is. This is the same person I met with about being a domain expert.  He operates, and markets his own business.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. Market expert.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I know this person from work that also has a business doing exactly what I want to do.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?  He did not do me a favor other than talk to me.  He always has time for questions.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?  Getting his advice will be instrumental in starting my business.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry. 

1) Who they are and what their background is. I went by the local seafood wholesaler in my area.  They would be most important as suppliers go as this would really effect the price of the product.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. This would be the supplier.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I found the person through the internet.  I went to the business to talk to them.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? They did not do me a favor, but did enlighten me on how much shrimp can cost.  Basically, the more you buy, the cheaper it is per pound of shrimp.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?  Building report with a potential supplier is always key.  Becoming a customer will usually bring discounts later.

What constitutes 'contact'? Social capital exists in the "potential goodwill" that exists between two people. For you to establish "potential goodwill" for this exercise, you need to have obtained feedback from each of these people on your business idea so far. For instance, this could include meeting with them to show your elevator pitch or your idea napkin.

This exercise really helped me get another step closer to opening my festival tent.  I am really considering taking on this challenge because of the research I have done for these projects. 

Week 10 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

This week’s reading was about the financial side of entrepreneurship, the numbers.  There wasn’t really anything that was surprising as I have had many classes on accounting.  Reading the section on “Watching your Accounts Receivables” was interesting seeing how accounts receivables was handled.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The regression analysis can be confusing to me.  I thought the book did a good job explaining it.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

a.  I would like a little more information on the Internal rate of return method.

b. I thought the rest of the chapter was pretty easy to comprehend. Accounting is a necessity in business and knowing how to read the reports is a requirement.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

This was a very good reading on money for the entrepreneur.  I thought the author was right on with everything written.

Week 9 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

All of the differences in pricing stood out to me.  I know that value is complicated, and I was surprised at how much just varies in pricing.

2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

In the "developing a marketing plan" section, sales forecasting is difficult to me.  I am in a management class as well, and this is a big part of it.  Sales forecasting is very in depth.

3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

a. Mobile marketing, How is the best way to utilize mobile marketing with the changing technology of smart phones?

b. What is the best way to develop good tools for sales forecasting?

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I thought this was a great chapter on marketing.  I learned a lot on mobile marketing.  I know that getting the product out in the minds of customers is very important. 

Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

I am currently a Human Resources Specialist with a long background in the Marine Corps in vehicle maintenance.  I am also a great cook who loves to cook “Low Country Boils.”  The later ties into my business concept of cooking food at festivals around the state.  The local festivals are a great place to serve seafood as there is an almost captive audience. I have considered the aspects of cost, and judging by the average attendance at festivals, and the frequency at which festivals occur in close proximity, that the market is strong.

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

The needs of my target customers arise from attending festivals.  Festivals limit customer’s choices of where they can eat.  This also tends to make the choices expensive.  My business model is to limit my menu to one item, “Low Country Boil” (this is shrimp, corn, sausage, and potatoes all boiled together) and charge a lower price for quality food.  All of my thoughts on this are core of the business, really, really good food.

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

My customers are people attending local festivals.  These people are in the mood to come out and spend money on local and small businesses.  They are also a captive audience, meaning there are limited places for someone to eat.  Some people even go to festivals just for the food. Reading the feedback, this is a sound plan.

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

People will care because they want great food at a reasonable price. People are tired of their choices serving food at a premium price.  This is a sound concept that if managed well, will make a profit.

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

I have experience in the restaurant business, and I am a good cook.  I also know how to make the product very well in large quantities.  I also have the management abilities I learned with my extensive time in the Marine Corps. All of these elements combined make for a situation that will be successful.

 

I think that these elements do mesh well with a few exceptions.  My current position in HR is very demanding.  This takes a lot of my time and does not allow me to focus on putting a business together.  This is especially true while I am a student. Other than my lack of time, all of the other elements are a good match. I would have to dedicate a lot of time to this business which would have to be worked out.

 

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I believe all of the elements of my start-up ideas are very compatible.  Festivals put people in a mood to spend, they become a captivated audience and are willing to pay for food.  As described, some people really come to try the food.

For the "feedback memo" -- please summarize five main points that you took away from the feedback you received. Also, please describe how you incorporated the feedback into this idea napkin. 

The biggest criticism I received was whether the customer base would cover costs of the business.  That  could possibly be true, which caused me to change my business model.  The change is a focus on the frequency and availability of festivals to attend.  This would be a key point as the more attendance at festivals the more profit that can be made.