Assignment 11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

Assignment 11A – Idea Napkin No. 1

1.     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?

o   My name is Alyssa McCaskill and I am a senior at University of Florida studying Finance. I am graduating this semester and will be moving to Atlanta for my full-time job in Private Wealth Management. I am talented in working with people and using critical thinking to make important decisions. I also enjoy working with numbers and solving math problems. I have experience speaking in large and small groups and through that working with people to discover what their goals and wants are. I hope to eventually be able to work directly with people with whatever job I am doing. I would like to be able to advise them on their financial decisions. Regarding this business concept, I think it would initially have a big role in my life. I would enjoy working with students to learn what they want in Gainesville and hopefully help improve the area.

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

o   I am offering to customers and new experience in Gainesville. This new bar opening would improve the Midtown experience both during the day and at night and make it more enjoyable for everyone to go out there. A new bar opening will solve customers’ needs of having more options of where to go in the area, reduce their wasted time from waiting in lines, and make their overall experience in Gainesville better.

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?

o   I am mainly targeting two groups of people; UF students and Gainesville residents. In regards to UF students, my idea is for both males and females between the age of 18-25 years old. Although the restaurant/bar will be 21+ at night, anyone will be allowed in during the day. These students will be people who go out to Midtown either for a night out or a bite to eat. The prices will also be targeted at those who are looking for an affordable experience, not an expensive night out. In regards to Gainesville residents, it will be focused on males and females ranging from 25-50. This is a wide spread age group but the food and drink options will meet the needs of everyone. These people will most likely enjoy going to Mid for a meal.

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. 

o   Customers care because my solution is something that people enjoy doing in a college town. Students and residents already go out to Midtown, there just aren’t enough options for them. When they are offered a new, fun, and affordable option people would be excited to go experience. And when they enjoy it, they will continue to go. It will be the experience at my bar/restaurant that will cause customers to be happy to pay to come.

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

o   My restaurant/bar will offer a different experience in Midtown than compared to the other restaurants and bars there. It will still have the upbeat/fun Midtown feeling, but it will offer some of the best parts of downtown as well. There will be more themed nights, drink deals, and tasty food. There is currently not a bar in midtown that goes from being a restaurant during the day, to a completely packed bar at night. I am hoping that this unique idea will accomplish that.

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. 

o   I think that all of these elements do fit together with my business concept in some sense. It is important to be have a clear idea of what my business goals are for each of these sections, however some are stronger than others. Firstly, I think it is important that my bar/restaurant is set apart from other Midtown options. My current business strategy is only scraping the surface of this. The other element that is weaker is the two groups I am targeting. College students and Gainesville residents are very different groups of people. What they want and hope to see in a restaurant/bar is going to differ greatly. And it will be difficult to reach each group.

Assignment 10A - Elevator Pitch No. 1

Assignment 9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Assignment 9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who: Throughout conducting my interviews, I learned that there are certain people that fall outside of my opportunity boundary. The main group that is not in my market are college students who do not go out in Midtown. This is a large portion of the UF population.

o   During my first interview, I spoke to a student who is 21 years old and chooses not to go out because it is not something they enjoy doing. When we discussed adding another bar in Midtown they showed no interest in it.

o   I also spoke with a student who is under 21 years old that simply cannot go out in Midtown because she won’t be admitted to the majority of the bars. She said that although the new bar wouldn’t immediately affect her, she would be excited to go once she turned 21.

o   In my third interview, I learned that there was an unexpected interest in my opportunity. He is a Gainesville local who enjoys going out, both at Midtown and Downtown. In Midtown, his favorite bars to go to are Swamp and Social. He said if the new bar that opened was similar and served food, he would likely go often.

o   For my fourth interview, I spoke with a student who lives right behind Midtown in a house. However, she does not go out because of how often she is studying. She is in the nursing program and has spent the semester choosing to stay in studying, rather than going out. She said a new bar in Midtown would be interesting, but didn’t feel it was something she would utilize.

o   My last interview was with a senior who is graduating this semester. He goes out a lot now, but will be leaving Gainesville after graduation. He was excited about the idea of a new bar, but quickly realized he would be gone before it would be built.

What: Throughout my interviews, I have learned that the crowdedness and long lines in Midtown will always be an issue. In any city or college town, there are lines on popular nights. Adding one bar will not fix the issue, but it may help.

Why: I think the needs are different for those who are within the boundary, compared to those who are outside. Students who go out often believe the open block in Midtown would be a great place to open a new bar. However, students who do not often go out would probably prefer to have a new restaurant or parking garage to open up there.

           

	Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who:	UF students who go out          often in Midtown Gainesville residents who go out in Midtown UF students who will be turning 21 soon and will then go out	UF students who choose to not go out in Midtown UF students who are not old enough to go out Gainesville residents that do not go to Midtown
What:	To reduce lines and crowding in Midtown	To completely get rid of lines and crowding in Midtown
Why:	For the number of people that go out, there are too few bars There are only about 3 popular bars that students go to, creating long lines	Bouncers limit the number of people allowed inside for safety reasons