1. Domain Expert
The domain expert I reached out to is someone who has been working at Publix for a long time. I asked him about what different deals Publix offers and if the coupons they give out are used often. I also asked what he thought of my business idea. He said the idea itself is not bad but starting a new grocery store would be close to impossible. I found this person because he is a friend of my roommates, he works at Publix full time. Including this person in my network will be good because I will have someone who is in a grocery store everyday, interacting with the same customers I am trying to talk to. He can give insight on what deals the customers like and what types of promotions are not as popular.
2. Supplier
The supplier I will reach out to is the head of one of the biggest food importers in the country. I was an intern at this company over the summer and got the chance to meet a lot of people in the grocery department. Unfortunately it is a very stressful time in the grocery industry with the coronavirus so I figured now was not the best time to ask about my business idea. Adding this person to my network will be incredibly helpful because the company can potentially help supply the food to my grocery store. I know many food stores are competing to have them as a supplier, so if my store can get their help it would be very helpful for business.
3. Market Expert
I will again contact a person at the company that I interned with, who I had not talked to during my internship. This time I will contact the head of the marketing department that knows how to sell food to people in my target market. They will also help me with pricing and inform me on how other grocery stores they work with price the same items I will be selling. I would also like to hear their feedback on my idea from a marketing perspective.
This networking experience was great when I spoke to the person who works at Publix. However, due to the coronavirus I was hesitant to reach out to an executive during such a stressful time in the food industry. I know if I want my grocery store to be successful, I will have to have strong networking. I will need to deal with multiple suppliers for the many items that I will be selling. Networking will also be great to bring in customers. Word of mouth is a great form of marketing.
Friday, March 27, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Idea Napkin No. 2
Who you are- I am Eric Frank and I am graduating from the University of Florida in May with a degree in business administration. I will be starting dental school in July. I have experience in the food industry as I had a summer internship working pricing and sales for the largest privately owned food importer in the country. I understand what goes into the food industry and the logistics behind making sure you have the best food quality possible. If I were to truly start this business, it would have to be my number one priority and be a big part of my life.
What are you offering to customers- My idea is to open a grocery store where groceries are randomly given out for free to encourage more people to shop at the store. Originally I thought every 50 customers was a good number, but through the peer reviews I am starting to think that maybe every 100 customers is a better idea. I will still make sure that the food is of great quality, and with all else being equal to the top grocery stores in town, I think customers will choose my store for the chance of winning free food.
Who are you offering it to- Since everyone buys groceries this is pretty much useful for anyone. I think this store will be popular in college neighborhoods because students are always looking for the best deals. However, after thinking about it more I feel as though the store will be most popular for the people buying large amounts of groceries such as parents who are shopping for their families. If people are spending 150 dollars at the grocery store, I believe they will choose my store because there is a chance they won't have to pay anything.
Why do they care- Customers will choose my store because there is a small chance that they do not have to pay anything. If my store is next to a Publix and I make sure that the food quality and customer service is the same, I expect the customers to choose my store just because there is a chance at free groceries.
What are your competencies- It is obvious what will set my store apart from other grocery stores. We just have to develop a system of randomly generating who wins to make sure people are not taking advantage of the system. At the end of the day, one in every 100 people will get free groceries, however, it will be randomly scattered throughout the day so people can't count themselves.
Summary
I think these aspects fit together. The toughest part is to make sure that the quality of food and prices match everyone else. This plan will only be successful if all else is equal or better. I think people will really like shopping at the store and if they win once they will be a guaranteed customer in the future because they know that they can actually win. I would have to do more research, but I am confident that the amount of customers we bring in will off-set the cost of giving away free groceries. We will have to make rules such as not being allowed to return items at the cashier just because you don't win. We will also have to develop a random generator to make sure the winners are random and consistently 1/100 customers. When doing my interviews for the other assignments people had their concerns about this plan. If I want to make it successful I need to sell the idea in a better way for people to understand and to take their feedback seriously.
Feedback Memo: I did not change a whole lot from my first Idea Napkin assignment. The feedback was generally positive and they seemed to like the idea, at least better from when I first introduced it. The main thing I changed was who I am targeting. I explained above how I used to think college students was the perfect group of people to target, but now I think parents shopping for their whole family is a much profitable market to focus on.
What are you offering to customers- My idea is to open a grocery store where groceries are randomly given out for free to encourage more people to shop at the store. Originally I thought every 50 customers was a good number, but through the peer reviews I am starting to think that maybe every 100 customers is a better idea. I will still make sure that the food is of great quality, and with all else being equal to the top grocery stores in town, I think customers will choose my store for the chance of winning free food.
Who are you offering it to- Since everyone buys groceries this is pretty much useful for anyone. I think this store will be popular in college neighborhoods because students are always looking for the best deals. However, after thinking about it more I feel as though the store will be most popular for the people buying large amounts of groceries such as parents who are shopping for their families. If people are spending 150 dollars at the grocery store, I believe they will choose my store because there is a chance they won't have to pay anything.
Why do they care- Customers will choose my store because there is a small chance that they do not have to pay anything. If my store is next to a Publix and I make sure that the food quality and customer service is the same, I expect the customers to choose my store just because there is a chance at free groceries.
What are your competencies- It is obvious what will set my store apart from other grocery stores. We just have to develop a system of randomly generating who wins to make sure people are not taking advantage of the system. At the end of the day, one in every 100 people will get free groceries, however, it will be randomly scattered throughout the day so people can't count themselves.
Summary
I think these aspects fit together. The toughest part is to make sure that the quality of food and prices match everyone else. This plan will only be successful if all else is equal or better. I think people will really like shopping at the store and if they win once they will be a guaranteed customer in the future because they know that they can actually win. I would have to do more research, but I am confident that the amount of customers we bring in will off-set the cost of giving away free groceries. We will have to make rules such as not being allowed to return items at the cashier just because you don't win. We will also have to develop a random generator to make sure the winners are random and consistently 1/100 customers. When doing my interviews for the other assignments people had their concerns about this plan. If I want to make it successful I need to sell the idea in a better way for people to understand and to take their feedback seriously.
Feedback Memo: I did not change a whole lot from my first Idea Napkin assignment. The feedback was generally positive and they seemed to like the idea, at least better from when I first introduced it. The main thing I changed was who I am targeting. I explained above how I used to think college students was the perfect group of people to target, but now I think parents shopping for their whole family is a much profitable market to focus on.
Friday, March 20, 2020
17A- Elevator Pitch #2
The feedback I received on my first elevator pitch was that they liked the business idea but did not see it being feasible long term. I also was told that my video was too short last time, therefore I made it longer. For the first pitch I had it be 1 in every 50 customers gets their groceries for free. People worried this is too small of a number so I doubled it to 1 in every 100 customers.
18A- Create a Customer Avatar
This is Zach. He is a 32 year old electrician with three kids. His hobbies include baking, landscaping, hiking, and doing anything active. His wife is a doctor who works long hours so Zach is usually the one who grocery shops and cooks for his kids. He has been shopping at the same Publix for years and they seem to have everything he could think about buying. It is a little pricy, but there really is no other option unless he wants to shop at Wal-Mart. He has a fourth child on the way and he knows he needs to start saving up money in any way that he can. I do not relate too much to this customer because I am a college student and I only need to grocery shop for myself. Previously I thought college students would be the most ideal segment, but now I realize people like Zach are the customers that I should be targeting.
Friday, March 13, 2020
15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2
The segment I chose is college students. I think my grocery store would fit well with college kids because students are always looking for the best deals around town. When I asked the three people I interviewed what mattered most to them when choosing a grocery store, two of them said price and one said location. The person who said location does not have a car so this is understandable. With popularity of online grocery ordering on the rise, I asked if they prefer to order groceries online or shop at the store. They all said that they prefer to shop at the store. This is not surprising because online ordering is not common for college aged kids. However, if online ordering continues to rise in popularity, that may become a threat to my grocery store, since my competitive advantage of giving 1 in every 100 customers groceries for free requires you to be an in-store shopper. When asked about the post-purchase evaluation, all three people said they do not really regret anything they buy at the grocery store since groceries are low-risk purchases. Two of them did mention that they regret when they spend too much at the store and their food goes bad because they waited too long to eat it.
After these interviews I would describe this segment as very price-focused. Quality of food does matter, but the most important thing on their minds when they go shopping is "where can I find the least expensive items." This is a good segment for my company because my proposed grocery store will give students the chance to earn free groceries. In addition, after conducting the interviews I know that I have to keep my prices level with my competition. If my items are even slightly more expensive, there is little chance that the grocery store will be a popular place to shop.
After these interviews I would describe this segment as very price-focused. Quality of food does matter, but the most important thing on their minds when they go shopping is "where can I find the least expensive items." This is a good segment for my company because my proposed grocery store will give students the chance to earn free groceries. In addition, after conducting the interviews I know that I have to keep my prices level with my competition. If my items are even slightly more expensive, there is little chance that the grocery store will be a popular place to shop.
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