Assignment 11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

Assignment 11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You:

Hello! I am a 24-year old UF Online Student who works Full Time for a Non-Profit Association as a Full-Time Event Planner. We do 60+ events per year and rarely repeat the same venue, so I am in constant communication with various restaurants and values. I have an extensive Hotel/Hospitality background beginning at the Front Desk and moving up into Sales. For this reason, my skills include creating a friendly atmosphere and I have developed good interpersonal skills. Seeing the various communication styles through my current position, I have noticed both the good and the bad. In fact, for the same event at three different locations in the past three months, I've had what is probably the worst experience, the best experience, and one that simply does not stick out to me. Because of how much the experiences fluctuate, it led me to develop my idea for my product. As mentioned before, this is a Portal that will help to increase communication between management and floor employees. Every change that is made, additions, etc. will send a push notification to all Points of Sale locations as well as the individual employees smart devices they have on them. This will help promote accountability where the employee cannot say "You never told me". Alongside this, a training service would be implemented to help teach the employees how to properly use it, and through this service management and employees will work alongside the team to develop the best way to implement the usage. It'll have everyone on board and allow them feel like their voice is being heard rather than management simply expecting them to do it their way. Should this business idea become a crucial part of my life, I would be doing the initial selling and then implementation while growing a team of salespeople and product coaches alongside me. The product would essentially become my life, at least for the time being.

2) What are You offering to customers?

In theory, I'm offering a solution to their communication problems. This likely won't fix everything but will help to provide the framework to building employee accountability and create an effective process. It would be subscription-based, where the management and employees would have access to the portal based on how long they subscribed for, and additional add-ons would be available based on the amount of departments, how specialized the management wants to get, or if they want to have continuous training over the span of certain amounts of time. The biggest thing that I need to accomplish is figuring out the best way to make restaurant managers and owners recognize that they need this product. 

3) Who are you offering it to?

Restaurant managers and owners. Line-level employees will be affected by the product, but they're not the decision-maker. By appealing to the decision-makers, they can determine if it will be worth it. My target audience would be mid-to-high-level restaurants with 15+ employees. Anything less likely will not have the revenue to find value, and also will have too few employees for it to matter. The larger chain restaurants (such as Applebees, Chili's, etc) will be a difficult sell because they usually have Standard Operating Procedures company-wide. The mid-level chains or individually owned are my primary target (such as Bar Louie, World of Beer, or local chains).

4) Why do they care?

They care because the problem I'm addressing affects not only their day-to-day operation but sometimes their revenue. In cases where a food allergy is not communicated and a guest has an allergic reaction, a potential lawsuit may be pursued. If a guest is notified too late that an item they requested is out of stock because the server didn't know, the guest will likely request compensation. Through the portal I'm providing, it creates a simple and seamless way for employees and managers to communicate non-verbally and eliminate some of these quick situations.

5) What are your core competencies?

For one, my background. I have worked in little rinky-dink hotels on the beach to a world-renowned five-star resort and have experienced a lot, most first-hand. I've given the compensation myself and have been the one to be written up for a mistake that was not communicated to me. I always felt like there was room to grow where communication is concerned. Even with my position now, I see it as it's happening where I ask one server a big question and then I am asked the same question by someone else. One thing about the product itself I think is unique is the service that is associated with it. It sets itself apart because there's all sorts of Portals out there, but few come with a training opportunity that will allow employees and managers to create an operating procedure that pleases both.

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I believe all aspects fit together with my product, although I believe the service-end may be a tad bit stronger. While most people will utilize the product itself, what is unique is the customized training that is provided. This may cause a future where people will use the service more than the product as I feel it could cover a variety of things including management/leadership training, and other difficult areas where developing and efficiently implementing Standard Operating Procedures has proven to be too much.