In my life I think there are opportunities all around me. I simply try and be myself and be friendly and I have noticed opportunities fall into my lap. For example, I one day went into the Apple Store to fix my phone and ended up talking to an employee for a while about the store and working in the store. He liked me so much he wanted to get his manager so I could have an interview. Unfortunately, I had to let the opportunity go because I live in Gainesville, FL and the Apple Store is in Tampa, FL. Although there are those types of opportunities, there are also opportunities inside my community for entrepreneurship. For example, many people are constantly looking for new and different places to eat. The unmet need is that people in my community want diversity in what they eat. This need came from the city of Tampa being a melting pot of people, each brining their own culture and food, so there is always something new to try. People currently are innovating in the food industry like never before and trying many things people never would have thought about.
The prototypical customer is a middle class citizen whoo wants to try something different than the everyday restaurants he usually goes to on his lunch breaks. The first person I interviewed was my father. He works a nine to five office job and frequently tries new places on his lunch break. He said that he is looking for a restaurant that has quality food, but is quick because he needs to get back to work. He also aid he is looking for something that is under $10, otherwise he would be better off bringing in his own lunch. He also said he eats lunch out about 4 days of the week, frequenting Panera and Chick-Fil-A often.
The second person I interviewed was my uncle. He owns his own printing company and does not usually work the normal hours, however eats lunch out almost everyday because he is taking clients to lunch. He prefers to spend around $15 on a meal. He also wants something that will take a little bit of time, has a nice environment, and is in a good location, as to impress his clients. He enjoys local restaurants because he is very proud of being a small business owner and wants to contribute back to his community.
The final person I interviewed was my girlfriend. She works part time at an on campus gym. She says for lunch she just usually grabs the closest thing, but does like some variety. She tries to spend no more than $7 on a meal and needs something quick. She hardly ever is looking to have a sit down meal, and only goes to a sit down restaurant on special occasions. She needs something quick because although she only works part time, she is also a student, so she needs to eat and then get back to her studies.
Upon reflecting on my original opportunity, I see that it is still there, but very hard to achieve because most of the time the people i interviewed are going to the chain restaurants such as Panera, Chipotle, or Chick-Fil-A. Unfortunately, the quick lunch market is somewhat cornered by these big names, however, for people such as my uncle, there is a large market. My uncle is looking for that trendy new place to impress his clients. He wants to take them somewhere no one else would so he can create his own personal experience with them. I think through this experiment, I have discovered that my new opportunity is more promising than my old. I also do think entrepreneurs so always adapt to the situations around them because they need to invent something different so they can stand out and have a unique quirk about them that keeps people coming back.
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