Idea Napkin No. 2
Idea Napkin:
1. My name is Alex Richardson and I am a second-year Economics major at the University of Florida. I have worked in the finance and accounting industry for over two years and have been able to work with almost 50 different businesses and individuals in this time. My business will allow me to use these knowledge to connect with small business and work to improve their finances and purchase decisions. I love working with individuals, and as the child of a small business owner have learned to recognize the importance of small businesses in our communities. I want to work to make their lives easier so that they can continue to do the amazing work they do in benefiting the people around me.
2. My business is one that will allow large corporations, nonprofits, political groups, and others to invest in advertising with small businesses through the placement of logos or slogans on reusable packaging and bags. Small businesses will then be able to select bags to order based on their needs which will be partially or completely subsidized by these advertisements. If the business wants their logo to be the most prominent on the bag, they can pay per bag and decrease the price by adding other advertisements to it. They will also have the option to pair with other small businesses and organizations to bulk order as a unit and have all of their logos equally displayed. If the business cannot afford either of these options or has no need to display a company logo, they can choose from a limited number of products that have been completely subsidized by another business or organization in exchange for their logo being the most prominent.
3. My service is primarily advertised towards small business owners who cannot afford to make the shift to reusable shopping bags and packaging. Many of these businesses are being forced to make the change due to local legislation or increased customer demand, but do not have the space in their margins to make the change with the available purchasing options. My service will also be marketed towards businesses and individuals who want to invest in grassroots marketing. I think that I would most likely target politicians and activists groups who are trying to spread their messages within a community. I could also reach out to growing large businesses who are trying to spread their product and message into new areas.
4. This service is valuable to small businesses because it will allow them to make the change towards using more reusable and sustainable products without completely upsetting their budget. For some businesses, my service may even make it cheaper for them to use reusable products in lieu of single-use plastics. This service will be beneficial to businesses and individuals who want to advertise because their logo, image, or slogan will be distributed by local retailers and carried around by customers. Their brand will become more recognizable in communities and will allow them to better spread their message or sell their product.
5. I think that my core competencies are in my understanding of basic economic and financial principles, especially those relating to small businesses. I will be able to explain to business owners how my service can benefit them and use terminology and concepts that they will actually understand. I also have a very outgoing and salesman-like personality that has grown out of working in a small retail business my entire life. I know how to sell products and I think that this will help in finding advertisers for my business. I also have lots of connections in my community. I chose to go to a college in my hometown which has allowed me to maintain and build relationships with many local politicians, business owners, and managers. I think that this will give me a platform and community to start my business in, which will then allow me to expand.
Evaluation:
I think that all of these elements work together because I have already considered both ends of my service. I have figured out how I will approach advertisers who will put money into the business and figured out how to sell and distribute this product to small businesses that will actually do the advertising for the sponsors. I think that I have the personality and background to make these connections which will be beneficial for growing this business in a community.
Feedback Memo:
Many of the comments that I received on my first idea napkin focused on how I would be able to show value and market my service to customers and advertisers. Based on this feedback, I decided to focus more of my idea napkin in those areas. I discussed more of my background and how that would be beneficial in these areas and went more in-depth into how the product will actually help the investors and the customers. I also realized that in my last idea napkin, I focused mainly on the small businesses and failed to recognize the importance of finding advertisers and people for the small businesses to work with. I made sure to include that in this post and analyze how these two groups will actually interact and how they will benefit from working together through my service.
1. My name is Alex Richardson and I am a second-year Economics major at the University of Florida. I have worked in the finance and accounting industry for over two years and have been able to work with almost 50 different businesses and individuals in this time. My business will allow me to use these knowledge to connect with small business and work to improve their finances and purchase decisions. I love working with individuals, and as the child of a small business owner have learned to recognize the importance of small businesses in our communities. I want to work to make their lives easier so that they can continue to do the amazing work they do in benefiting the people around me.
2. My business is one that will allow large corporations, nonprofits, political groups, and others to invest in advertising with small businesses through the placement of logos or slogans on reusable packaging and bags. Small businesses will then be able to select bags to order based on their needs which will be partially or completely subsidized by these advertisements. If the business wants their logo to be the most prominent on the bag, they can pay per bag and decrease the price by adding other advertisements to it. They will also have the option to pair with other small businesses and organizations to bulk order as a unit and have all of their logos equally displayed. If the business cannot afford either of these options or has no need to display a company logo, they can choose from a limited number of products that have been completely subsidized by another business or organization in exchange for their logo being the most prominent.
3. My service is primarily advertised towards small business owners who cannot afford to make the shift to reusable shopping bags and packaging. Many of these businesses are being forced to make the change due to local legislation or increased customer demand, but do not have the space in their margins to make the change with the available purchasing options. My service will also be marketed towards businesses and individuals who want to invest in grassroots marketing. I think that I would most likely target politicians and activists groups who are trying to spread their messages within a community. I could also reach out to growing large businesses who are trying to spread their product and message into new areas.
4. This service is valuable to small businesses because it will allow them to make the change towards using more reusable and sustainable products without completely upsetting their budget. For some businesses, my service may even make it cheaper for them to use reusable products in lieu of single-use plastics. This service will be beneficial to businesses and individuals who want to advertise because their logo, image, or slogan will be distributed by local retailers and carried around by customers. Their brand will become more recognizable in communities and will allow them to better spread their message or sell their product.
5. I think that my core competencies are in my understanding of basic economic and financial principles, especially those relating to small businesses. I will be able to explain to business owners how my service can benefit them and use terminology and concepts that they will actually understand. I also have a very outgoing and salesman-like personality that has grown out of working in a small retail business my entire life. I know how to sell products and I think that this will help in finding advertisers for my business. I also have lots of connections in my community. I chose to go to a college in my hometown which has allowed me to maintain and build relationships with many local politicians, business owners, and managers. I think that this will give me a platform and community to start my business in, which will then allow me to expand.
Evaluation:
I think that all of these elements work together because I have already considered both ends of my service. I have figured out how I will approach advertisers who will put money into the business and figured out how to sell and distribute this product to small businesses that will actually do the advertising for the sponsors. I think that I have the personality and background to make these connections which will be beneficial for growing this business in a community.
Feedback Memo:
Many of the comments that I received on my first idea napkin focused on how I would be able to show value and market my service to customers and advertisers. Based on this feedback, I decided to focus more of my idea napkin in those areas. I discussed more of my background and how that would be beneficial in these areas and went more in-depth into how the product will actually help the investors and the customers. I also realized that in my last idea napkin, I focused mainly on the small businesses and failed to recognize the importance of finding advertisers and people for the small businesses to work with. I made sure to include that in this post and analyze how these two groups will actually interact and how they will benefit from working together through my service.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteI think your idea is great and I can't believe that it hasn't been done before. It is such a great idea and the nature of it is it helps out both small businesses and also the larger businesses at the same time. There is a mutually dependent relationship that is almost exclusively paid for by the larger company and both companies will be happier and gain from the relationship. Good job in coming up with this!
Hey Alex, It was really cool to be able to read through your idea napkin and see how your experiences and passions tie in together to create a product that you really believe in. It's kinda amazing to know that you've worked with so many businesses and this lets me see you as a credible source when it comes to figuring out what they need and the struggles a lot of them have when it comes to being environmentally friendly. I think that your outgoing personality would also help you to make the connections necessary to make this product work since it also relies on small businesses coming together to be green, Good work.
ReplyDeleteHey Alex
ReplyDeleteI love everything you was talking about and this was my favorit point is when you saidI think that my core competencies are in my understanding of basic economic and financial principles, especially those relating to small businesses. I will be able to explain to business owners how my service can benefit them and use terminology and concepts that they will actually understand. I also have a very outgoing and salesman-like personality that has grown out of working in a small retail business my entire life. I know how to sell products and I think that this will help in finding advertisers for my business. This was a great point.