Assignment 7A: Testing the Hypothesis, part 1

              For this post, students were asked to pick an opportunity that they would like to pursue. This is important, because several posts later in the class will build on this one. After the opportunity has been identified, students have also been asked to “test the boundaries,” of the basic who/what/when/where/why of their opportunity through 5 potential customer interviews. I’ll be sticking with my same opportunity belief from last week’s assignment 4A (http://michaelkandler.blogspot.com/2018/01/assignment-4a-forming-opportunity-belief.html) , a coffee shop on the property of my family’s condo, located at Laketown Wharf in Panama City Beach, FL.

              The original opportunity belief is that (who:) Laketown Wharf Residents and Guests (what:) are currently unable to get a cup of coffee made for them on the resort grounds (why:) because there is not a coffee shop on campus or within walking distance.

              Challenging the who:

-           Laketown Wharf has a large staff that should also be considered as potential customers.

-          The resort is located within walking distance from several residential areas, a coffee shop on the grounds would also be the closest coffee shop to those neighborhoods.

-          Some rooms may already have coffee makers in the kitchen

-          What about brand loyalty to other coffee shops?

              Challenging the what:

-          Why coffee? There may be other things at Laketown Wharf that people are missing out on.

-          How important is getting a cup of coffee without leaving the resort? People drive to Starbucks every day.

-          What percentage of residents/guests are even coffee drinkers? Even when they are on vacation and not trying to wake up for work?

              Challenging the why:

-          Is there a reason that there isn’t a coffee shop here already?

-          How many of the surrounding restaurants sell coffee but just aren’t “coffee shops”?

Conclusion: After going through the interview process, the questions and statements above really stuck out to me as important. I still believe that the opportunity exists, however it’s not quite as cut and dry as I once believed. I know that to decide whether this opportunity is viable or not, a great amount of market research will be necessary. I now realize that there could be some hidden competition, because coffee can come from almost anywhere, not just coffee shops.