Assignment 19A: Idea Napkin No. 2

This week’s assignment will follow the trend from the past few weeks of focusing on feedback. More specifically, students are being asked to follow up the first Idea Napkin assignment by incorporating the feedback that we received from our peers into a new Idea Napkin. For clarification purposes, I will be posting the feedback below. Let’s get started!

“Michael,
I like how defined your business model is, but the restaurant industry is very volatile. My family has owned restaurants my entire life, and you really have to have a product that differentiates your business from the competition in order to succeed. Without knowing if there is any competition or other businesses like yours in the area that you plan on starting the coffee shop, it is hard to project whether or not your claims about a dedicated base of customers will actually exist. Thanks for sharing!”

“Hey Michael!
I agree with RJ, from your previous post, you mentioned the 5 steps and the models that you would like to follow for the coffee business. I really like how you went into more depth of how and why people would buy your product. It is still different from the loss information about your competition, but I believe research can easily fix that. Thanks for sharing!”

1.)    You-  I am a graduating senior this semester at UF. Being a business major, my academic skills are strongest in math and critical reasoning. My experiences thus far have been in sports, tourism, and financial services. My biggest aspirations involve working for myself in some capacity and traveling. If my business were to take off, I would feel great fulfilment at work, as well as in the lifestyle that my business would provide for me outside of work.

2.)    What are you offering to customers? -    I’ll be providing my customers with Coffee and assorted breakfast items, which they cannot get made to order anywhere very close to our location.

3.)    Who are you offering it to? -  My customers will be the guests, residents, and staff at Laketown Warf Resort. The typical guest is a family of four on vacation. Most residents are either young singles or retired people. The staff comprises of locals and seasonal workers in the summer. This is a very broad range of people, allowing me to have a diverse customer base.

4.)    Why do they care? -  Customers will care about our shop for a variety of reasons. First, caffeine is addictive, so while people won’t need a cup to get ready for work, their body will still crave that coffee. Second, there is not really a convenient place nearby to get coffee. Third, and last, people tend to go out to eat more while on vacation.

5.)    What are your core competencies? - My core competencies center around my work ethic and positive attitude. I believe that your mindset will ultimately determine success.  

I believe that these five factors fall together harmoniously. The customers will be on-sight regardless of whether the coffee is there or not, so I think demand will be easily projectable.

Feedback memo - I always appreciate feedback and have taken these two pieces into consideration for my revised Idea Napkin. While I did find this feedback useful, I think that it is worth noting that I have mentioned in several previous posts that there is not a coffee shop within 10 miles of my desired location. However, just because there are no coffee shops does not mean I would be the only one selling coffee in the area, so I guess there is still some competition.