20 A- Growing social capital

1.     For my domain expert, I spoke to a family friend by the name of Erlin Koci. Erlin is businessman in downtown Toronto, Ontario. He owns several nightclubs in the downtown area, and they are all rather exotic, deep house music kind of clubs which is perfect for my market place.

2.     They are filling in the domain expert slot

3.     I have known Erlin for a few years now. We met when I was on a summer vacation on the island of Korfu, Greece. My sister and I were sitting at the ocean view bar sipping on moxitos when Erlin kindly approached us and offered to buy us a drink. We started conversing and later he mentioned how he owned several clubs in downtown Toronto and we should come and check them out if we are ever in the area.

4.     Luckily for me, I am a Canadian citizen so I travel to Canada quite often. When I first met up with Erlin after the vacation, it was very casual and it all felt very natural. We clicked right off the bat and he is a very easy-going, yet stern and successful entrepreneur. A few months later I emailed him a proposal of my idea and asked if this is something he would hypothetically be interested in.

5.     Having someone like Erlin in my network would greatly benefit my company. He is very experienced in this field, and he knows all the dos and don’ts of this industry. He also has all the right connections which would of course be very useful for getting my name and idea out there.

This experience itself was very different from my usual networking experiences. Considering we met at a little ocean bar on a tiny little island off of Greece, yeah I would say it is pretty unusual but also extraordinary and I would have never expected to have any sort of business relationship with him in the near future and in a completely different continent.

1.     His name is Petrit Is and he is known as “laflamma.” He is a Dj and sound producer based in Toronto, Ontario.

2.     The market expert slot

3.     I met Petrit through Erlin Koci (person mentioned above). Since Erlin is familiar with the club and music field in Toronto he hooked it up with Petrit. Petrit has been a DJ for over a decade and he as well is very familiar with the night life scene in Toronto.

4.     At first I was a little nervous when I was introduced to Petrit because I was afraid about him thinking foolish things about my idea. But I figured since Erlin was fond of it he should be too. Petrit is a great addition to my network strategy because he is very active on social media about his shows and sets and the more attention he gets, the more likely consumer are to show up to his shows. And this of course brings in more clientele for my idea.

5.     Again, having Petrit’s social media platform is crucial to the upbrining and success of my company. Of course it does not depend on it, but it is very helpful because it gets more people to come to his shows and therefore more people seeing and trying out my product.

This particular experience did not really differ because it would not be the first time I met somebody through either a mutual friend or business partner. Experiences like this though, do help me communicate more professionally and overall just make me a more effective entrepreneur in the making.

1.     His name is Stan Tampei and he is a business owner in Ontario, Canada.

2.     The supplier expert

3.     Once again I met Stan through Erlin Koci. Stan is a supplier to many gyms and schools in the Ontario area for lockers and storage equipment.

4.     Stan is a crucial part to my business because he is of course the supplier. With him and his team, we were able to design and come up with several idea of how exactly my product should look, and we were able to customize the sizes as well. The nature of the exchange was of course nerve-racking for me because it is the first time I have ever done something like that before. But Stand and his team were very creative and friendly and it made the process enjoyable.

5.     Without Stand and his company we do not have product and neither do the establishments.

19A- Idea Napkin No.2

1.     Hello! My name is Gracie Margolles and I am currently a sophomore here at the University of Florida. I am a political science major with a minor in Russian and a minor in innovation. One valuable attribute that I find within myself is persistence. I will stop at nothing to achieve my goals or whatever it is that I have my mind on. I am very determined and I do not let outside factors get in my way and affect my process. If I were to start this business, it would for sure at first be a side hustle because for now I have school to focus on. I would make sure to network and keep contacts close so that in the future if I do decide to pursue this full-time, then I would have some resources to lean back on.

2.     Essentially I am providing a product to establishments and a service to consumers. The product itself is a unit (the establishment gets to choose how large and how many locker compartments they want within each unit) that acts as a storage unit for consumers out and about in the night life. The establishment, whether it be a club or concert venue can rent each individual locker out to consumers to stpre essential items like phones, keys, wallets, etc… so they do not get lost or stolen. I will solve the need of not having a safe place to keep important and expensive things, such as the ones listed above. Giving the consumer a worry-free as well as a hands-free night out.

3.     Our customers are most likely going to be located in college-towns, big cities, or along strips that are dense with clubs, bars and diskotecas. Our customers ages can vary but most likely they are going to start at around 18 years old and range within the early 30s. Again this is subjective and it really depends on the place/venue and event that is taking place.

4.     Customers will pay to use this because it is better to spell the small fee they would pay to use the product than have to pay for the damages resulting in getting something lost or stolen. In the end, this could actually save them a lot of money, time, stress, and hassle. Not to mention it is reliable and easy to use for the consumer.

5.     I think what sets me apart is the fact that my product is not really like anything else in the night-life scene, there is a particular uniqueness to it. But at the same time the idea itself is very simple and nothing too complicated. I also believe this is an idea that can be taken overseas to countries like Europe for example where there are so many cities and towns with these kinds of venues.

I think my five key elements mold in together quite well. The product is unique but simple, the average and typical customer exists and there are a lot of places to fit this product/service into. Based on past interviews and feedback, the market and need for this product does in fact exist and people would be willing to use it to protect their valuables and enjoy themselves.

One of the main things I learned through feedback is to not be afraid to take risks. To be a great entrepreneur you MUST take risks, and the bigger the risk the better the outcome will be. It is also very important not to hesitate and to not be scared to go the extra mile or ask questions that you may think may seem foolish. These are some basic and cliché things I mentioned, but I think they give the greatest impact when pursuing entrepreneurial goals.

17A - Elevator pitch No. 2

https://youtu.be/Ob9rRS_pfJ8

2. What stood out to me as important was making sure I look put together not like I just rolled out of bed. When you look more put-together, people are most likely to listen to you more closely and take what you have to say more seriously. Because this is the first time I am uploading an elevator pitch, I have yet to receive feedback. But I am curious as to what people will say, and hopefully it will be beneficial to me so I can improve for the future.

3. Like I said, this is the first time I am uploading a pitch so I didn’t exactly “change” anything. But I made sure to look put together, have no background noises, have good lighting to make sure viewers can see me and see what I am saying. I also made sure to not waste any time introducing myself and tried to talk about my product as much as possible.

18 A creating a customer avatar

My customers can include a wide array of ages. It just depends on what they enjoy doing with their free time and what interests them. If they feel young at heart, my customers age vary. But they mostly all have to be 18 years of age or older. I think one particular feature of my avatar is being young because despite what I just said, I do think most of my clientele is in the 18-30 age range, but again there are exceptions.

What kind of hobbies does your customer have?

 I would say a lot of my clients are mostly students and are occupied with college events and extracurriculars such as different sports or clubs.

What kind of car do they tend to drive?

It depends on whether or not they have a job and what their income is. If my customer is a college student they mostly drive a regular sedan or any quintessential car a college kid usually drives. If my client is an event coordinator/planner or an attorney for example, they might drive something a bit more upscale.

What TV shows do they watch?

Reality TV, documentaries, or any binge-worthy TV show.

Do they have children?

Most likely not, but again there are always exceptions.

Are any of them adopted?

Probably not.

How old are they? How old do they feel?

Most customers in my market are probably within the ages of 18-30. But again, there could be older customers who enjoy customers and the night-scene. So in this case, they can feel young at heart.

A common quality I share with my customers is taking advantage of my youth and having fun as well as keeping myself and important things safe. I enjoy going out and letting loose, but I always make sure my friends and I are safe, and all my things are kept in tact and there is no negative aftermath of having fun.

15 A. Figuring out buyer behavior No. 2

1.     Over spring break, I traveled to Toronto, Canada to visit my older sister. Luckily she was able to give me some contacts of hers that work in the club/night scene in Toronto, and I reached out to two club owners and an event planner who are all based in the downtown Toronto area.

2.     There are several factors that are crucial when buyers and customers are seeking an alternative to this product/service. Essentially, the clubs and venues are the one buying the product itself to install into their establishments, and the people going out to these night clubs and venues are the ones paying for the service of putting their items into a locker to keep it safe. When it comes down to it, the factor that these people should consider when having to decide whether they should use this service is whether or not they want to lose their items during a night out. The alternative would be to simply just either not bring anything with them at all, or to have their things on them throughout the night (which again can be a but of a nuisance). The price consumers would pay when using these units on a night out definitely outweighs the larger price they would have to pay if they didn’t bring something they needed or even worse lost something of importance.

3.     For the venues and night clubs who are purchasing these units, they are most likely to buy online or over the phone. As far as customers who are using these units during a night out, they can either pay at a counter that the club sets up specifically for that little area, or maybe the establishments can go as far as even creating an app or quick service so the customer can have the quickest most reliable experience.

4.     The most important element for the clubs and venues for this product is of course whether or not the consumer will actually trusty and use this product. If not, it is just essentially going to be taking up space in the establishment. For the consumer who goes out, the thing that matters the most is if their items were kept safe and if they were able to retrieve them in a fast and efficient manner.

5.     All of the people I spoke to in the Toronto area were very interested in my idea. Because there are so many different places to go in Toronto, each place varies by square footage. The people said they would most be interested in buying this product online so they can pick the size that would be most suitable for their establishment, as well as picking how many lockers are in each unit. For consumers, the club would sell the rentals for them right there in place to avoid any confusion as opposed to doing it through an app or online.

6.     Gathering up all the information and feedback from my interviews, I would say my segment is centered around making the purchase decision efficient, customizable and worth the money. In terms of alternative evaluations and purchase decisions, I would say for the buyer of the units it comes down to whether or not the consumer buys in to the service and actually uses it and is satisfied with it.