Opportunity:
There is an opportunity in the college-student market for fresh, home-cooked, low-priced meals delivered weekly. The environment changes this opportunity as college becomes more and more rigorous and students have less and less time to take care of their personal health. Also, student loans are quickly becoming commonplace, allowing more students to attend college while staying conscious of their increasing debt – meaning they spend time outside of classes at part-time jobs and are not keen to spend a lot of money on food. My belief is that this need is not separated geographically, as college kids across the nation likely fit into the same market. I also believe, from interviews, that females tend to be more prepared to cook for themselves while in school, though they may still not have time to. Customers currently satisfy this need by sacrificing either their health, their bank accounts, or their time – eating fast food, eating expensive but healthy meals out, or spending about 1-1.5 hours cooking for themselves every day. I believe that this opportunity is a big one, and if I can time it right and advertise well, I could gain a lot of customers in a short time. I also believe that this window of opportunity will not only be open for a long time, but it will continue to grow as college evolves and more kids attend university and higher education becomes the new high school diploma.
Innovation:
My innovation is an adaptation of an existing product/service scheme. Currently, weekly meals are sold for $10-20 per meal and are advertised as purely organic, or as paleo, or as fitting a very specific macronutrient breakdown. College students don’t need nor want such intricate meals, all they need is pre-made food that won’t poison them and that won’t break their banks. I am offering low-priced meals that could have come out of their parent’s kitchen. I am offering two different-sized types of meals, ones around 400-500 calories and ones around 700-900 calories, based on the interest from different people. The more meals bought, the cheaper they will be, but for single meals the smaller ones will be priced at $4 and the larger meals at $5. I am offering 7 mall meals for $25 or 7 large meals for $30.
Venture Concept:
My innovation will address the opportunity I found in the college student market. College students need good food for cheap, and very convenient. I will supply them with that food and with delivery service, so that students can focus more on their homework and classwork. Customers will want to switch to my product because there is currently no product that meets all of their health, time, and monetary needs all at once, and my product/service offers this. There are no direct competitors, but all of the convenient restaurants in Gainesville, like Chipotle and Moe’s, could take customers away on a daily basis. My pricing defines my business concept, as well as customer experience. The customer must love the food and the low price in order for the business to work. I would probably employ 2 employees, one to do the advertising and recruiting and customer support and one to assist with the cooking and to deliver the meals and collect the money.
Minor Details:
My most important resource, as defined in my “Unfair Advantage” post, is my cooking capability. I have a certain style of cooking that is my own, and I am good at what I cook. Others are also good cooks, but maybe they do not choose to combine the same ingredients I do for the certain taste I enjoy.
Next for my venture, I would want to expand my offerings to offer breakfasts and desserts, if the market demanded them.
As for myself, I’d want to be a small business owner with a larger employee base, so that I might have 2 days off a week….as if entrepreneurs get days off. I’d probably stay in Gainesville with 4 employees, while having a base of 5 employees in Tallahassee creating meals for students at FSU.
Feedback:
I got some great feedback on my first venture concept post. One student mentioned that I would have plenty of customers...but only if the my cooking style matched the tastebuds of enough people. Another student suggested that I create a brochure showcasing all of the meal options so that the customer can pick their meals.
What I would change about my venture concept:
Before I would launch each new recipe, I would head to turlington with samples of the meal and very short surveys. I'd ask passing students to try the food and fill out the survey. The questionnaire would probably include questions asking if they liked the food, if they would eat a whole meal of it, and what should be added or removed.
After thinking about it, I don't think I would actually let the customers individually pick their meals, at least at the start of the business when I have less than 10 customers and no employees. The reason I can do it so cheaply is because I can cook in bulk, so essentially all of my customers would need to eat the same meals as each other each week. I would have a set of meals I'd be cooking, and students can agree to buy them or not. Of course, I would receive feedback from customers on their favorite meals and which meals they don't enjoy, and I would try to make the most people happy the most often.
*Google image, not my meals*
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