29A – Venture Concept No. 2

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Opportunity:

Who has the need?: This need is had by companies who offer catering/delivery/takeout services to their customers and who value the opinions and repeat business of said customers. Such customers of my customers are really anyone at all: busy families, busy professionals, or anyone who is in a rush and needs said services.

The nature of the need: You know the feeling: you’ve just gotten off of work, and your spouse/roommates/friends want you to pick up food. You do so, thinking that you’re doing a good deed for everyone. But by the time that you are home, the bags are wet, soggy, and the food is cold! Everyone is on your case. This is not an ideal experience to have, and this is where my product comes in, ready to save the day. Whether it’s a family matter or a business event, we can make it happen.

How big is this opportunity?: Potentially, massive: as big as the restaurant industry. Food is a necessary thing for sustaining life, so the need for restaurants will always be around. That’s a given. As society gets more and more fast paced, delivery/takeout/catering will become even more prevalent, leading to more and more increases in business in my target market.

How long will the window of opportunity be open? As mentioned above, it will be open indefinitely.

How are customers currently satisfying this need?: Well, they really aren’t, and that’s what makes it an unmet need. Unless you go out of your way to keep an insulated bag in your car 24/7 for picking up food (let’s face it, we all forget), you’re probably not doing anything about it. You’re stuck living with those subpar plastic and paper bags that you get when you order food.

Innovation:

I would describe my product more so as a mix between radically and incrementally innovative. I’m not recreating the bag, but I am building a bag in a way and in a mixture of features that has never been done before. I’m using bags that are fully recyclable, lightweight, and insulated to keep foods protected and at their optimal temperature. They have handles and are available in a variety of sizes as well as custom sizes if orders are of great enough quantity. This allows us to provide basic solutions while also adapting to whatever a customer may need. They feature custom branding as well. Pricing will vary based on size and quantity ordered, but it is priced to match competitors plus an additional 25% per unit as a rule of thumb. This allows us to make our marks while still producing a quality and innovative product at a low price.

One additional future innovation that I would like to explore with this business and its product line is the introduction of a universal packaging/bagging divider system that allows for one bag to satisfy a variety of size, shape, and structural needs. This bag would provide flexibility in inventory. Instead of having to carry multiple bags of varying sizes, businesses can carry this singular bag, reducing wastage and overhead. In addition, it will allow businesses to divide the various foods up into compartments (keeping cold from hot, etc.) in order to keep contents safe and as they should be. As one can see, this will need some further development.

Venture Concept:

Companies care about how their customers perceive them: If they perceive them positively, they will get repeat business and good reviews. Yay! If they perceive them negatively, they will get no more business and bad, scathing reviews. This could kill the company! As one can see, it is ESSENTIAL for businesses to provide their customers with the best experience possible. One of the biggest flaws in such an industry is the bags (as mentioned in the opportunity), which is where my innovative product comes into play. It solves all of these unmet needs, providing a cost-effective way for businesses to not only make their customers happier, but to also get more repeat business and increase revenues in the process. It helps the businesses while also helping their customers. WIN WIN!

Overall, I don’t think it would be hard to get businesses to switch to my product, especially when they are presented with potential projections and examples of what in can do for them (but this will come with time as people start to catch on and adopt this idea).

My competitors would be existing producers of bags for B2B transactions. They could potentially beat me out by trying to knock my product off, so I would need to either trademark/patent my product in some way, or establish relationships and offer things to them that no one else could via things like customer service and a beneficial relationship. These both will be imperative to long term, sustained success in this industry.

In order to form this into a business, I would need to setup a contract with a manufacturer to build my products for me as they are ordered. I would also need to secure contracts or licensing with restaurants to ensure their business. The good thing about this is that I could do all of this by myself at first until I had the capital to hire people to help with logistics as I scaled. In time, I could potentially build my own production facilities, but that would be years down the line.

Three Minor Elements:

I truly believe that my most important resource will be the intimate partnerships that I build with restaurants and their brands. I will (especially at first) be heavily relying upon this, as I probably will not be able to beat others out on price, especially if they knock off my product. However, assuming that they don’t do this, my products qualities will easily sell themselves, especially with my relationship with businesses.

The next step in my business is trying to actually set things in motion. Up until now, it has just been planning, debating, strategizing, and interviewing. Now that I have the facts and the lay of the land, it’s time to go out and execute!

If I am to launch this venture, in five years I’d like to have at least 15% of the market share in the bagging sector of restaurants. For me personally, this would allow me to work for myself, on my own terms, and to impact my employees in a positive light- building a company with good culture and values above all else. It would also allow me to support my future family and to retire early in life.

Student Feedback:

Overall, all of the feedback that I got on my venture concept was positive. No one really had anything constructive or negative to say, citing that I seemed to cover all of my bases and did a great job with the revenue models. One reader said that he agreed a cheap knockoff could be a potential threat to my product, so it was nice to get this consent and support behind patenting it and or making strong connections with my clients. The other reader also agreed that my relationships with restaurants would be imperative to the success of my business.

In regard to the feedback on my “What’s Next?” post, I got really strong praise on the notion of a flexible packaging/bagging system for my clients to implement. This would solve the issue of needing multiple sizes and types of bags, replacing it with just one. This would reduce wastage and overhead while also satisfying customer needs. This is something I need to work more into the future of my venture.

Changes I Made:

I did not have to modify anything in regards to the opportunity section, as the opportunity at hand is still at large the same as it was some 2-3 weeks ago, with the exception of the boom in delivery and takeout due to COVID (this will be a trend to watch in the future, though!). However, I did add a lot to the Innovation section based on the feedback I got and realizations I had. I also added more emphasis to the necessity of patents and strong customer relationships in order to prevent losing sales and business to competitors or knockoffs.

Image from: http://americaninvienna.com/bagging-your-own-groceries-oh-my/