23A- What makes you so special?
1. Marketing experience
- My food and product marketing experience in unique and inimitable, because it is my particular skill set. There may be a wide range of people talentented or interested in marketing, but none of them will market a product the same exact way I will, because their experiences and knowledge are completely different.
- Like my marketing experience, my leadership style may mirror others' in certain aspects, but they are unique in many ways. My life experiences and leadership opportunities have allowed me to be focused on servant leadership and strong leadership qualities. My goal would be to not only apply these to my work ethic, but implement them in my company team.
- This product may seem more expensive, since you're not buying in bulk, but it would only be a few more cents per unit of the product. It would actually save money in the long run, because when the person cooking is not wasting the food, those few cents are being used, rather than thrown away with the food.
- As an individual who faces the problem of not having individually packaged food, I would be understanding and sympathetic to the customer. Many CEO's are interested in making money, but it is rare for the company creator to be interested in the satisfaction of the customer. It is unique, but it actually makes a good business plan. People are more likely to spend money in a place or with a product that they feel values them.
5. Business connection to supplier
- Having a quick connection with someone who would actually be interested in stocking the product is super beneficial to my product. It would be a quick and easy entry into the market. This type of connection is not only important for production, but also for marketing and distribution.
6. Lack of similar products on the market
- Very few individually packaged food is on the market right now. The products offered are either children's snacks or frozen meals, which lack necessary nutrition. Big companies are less interested in the individual wasting the product, but rather in just selling large amounts of the product.
7. Convenience and Health
- This product is convenient, because it allows for easy cooking and eliminates almost all need for meal prep, which is time and energy consuming. Rather, the individual would be able to make a large variety of dishes, with ease and without worry of wasting the leftovers from that dish.
8. Customer connections as a part of the customer demographic
- As a college student, the potential customers I have spoken to are very interested in this product. With an average size social circle, full of potential customers, it would be easy to pass the product along, and easily reach a large range of customers. These connections would also make it easy and convenient to receive customer feedback and make improvements to the product.
9. Marketability in area
- In a college town, there is a large number of college students and young, single individuals that would be interested in this sort of product. It would be easy and convenient to begin distribution in this type of area, and then grow from there. It would be easy to begin and control growth on a local level.
10. Current customer interest
- Based on my interviews, along with friends and acquaintances that I've spoken to about this, a large number of people would be interested in a product like this. Many said they would definitely buy it. Even with the small increase of price per unit of product, they felt that they would be more likely to spend the money on it, because they felt as if their money was being used, rather than thrown away.
Most important and unique: I think the most essential one is cost-effectiveness. That is essential the driving force behind the problem being solved and the necessity of this product. Many single individuals feel that their money is being wasted and they would like to ensure that the money they spend is being used. College students are all on a tight budget, while also trying to be health- conscience. This product fixes this issue, by being cost-effective and allow for the individual to easily cook, and not overeat, in order to avoid leftovers.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure you covered the VRIN analysis on all the listed resources, which was part of the assignment. This would have helped you in choosing the most important resource. As of now, I am not sure if cost-effectiveness is the most valuable one to your business, even if it may be for your customers. Cost-effective is valuable (V) and non-substitutable (N), but not really rare (R)(as being bulk is also cost-efficient) or inimitable (I).
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteIt is true that your cost-effectiveness is probably your most important aspect because college students biggest focus is always money. If you were to market this in the correct way it could be a hug hit on college campuses and even to young adults looking to save money as well. The marketing experience you listed could help with doing this!
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteYou made a great list of resources and explained each in a clear understandable way. I think that a few of your best resources were your cost effectiveness, your connections to suppliers and understanding of your products demographic. All three of these resources are great for the launch of a new product or new product type. I think that through this identification process you learned a lot more about your product and what you have and don't have to get it started.