24A - Venture Concept No. 1

THE HEARTY GATOR 

Opportunity 

• Who has the need?
• People who need my product are college students and staff who value eating a healthy, well-rounded diet but do not have the time to buy and prepare these types of meals on a day-to-day basis.
• Nature of the need
• This need is described those on campus who want a nutritious meal - whether it breakfast, lunch or dinner - but did not have the time to either prepare a meal in advance and refuse to settle for fast-food.
• What forces create this opportunity?
• This opportunity was created by the feeling of defeat where you want to stick to your healthy food regime but your class or work schedule points in the direction of fast-food. As college students, balancing your budget, meals, class and maybe work or extra curricular's is a constant struggle, leaving little room to make it to the grocery store and fill up on a week's wroth of french produce. However, if there was a place on campus that provided these types of meals at a reasonable price then the hassle of meal prep and grocery visits would be eliminated. 
• How is the market defined?
• I believe the highest concentration of this need is college students and staff.
• How are customers currently satisfying this need/how loyal are they?
• To my understanding, customers are currently satisfying this need by trying to schedule a specific time to not only go to the grocery store, but to prep a weeks worth of meals at home. Nonetheless, this method is not one that many people ate loyal to since everyone is busy with prior, more important commitments. 
• How big is this opportunity?
• I think this opportunity is a big one because it addresses an issue that many students and staff members on a university campus face.
• How long will the window of opportunity be open?
• Though there are similar restaurants or grab-and-go places around town, there is not one on the University of Florida campus so the window is open.

Innovation 

The product, or more so the service, I have designed is called The Hearty Gator. The Hearty Gator is a healthy, grab-and-go restaurant or food joint located in the center of the University of Florida campus (specially near Turlington hall). It provides well-rounded meals for those on campus at all hours of the day. The meals will be completely affordable and the quality of each and every one will be up to par every single day. I am selling nutritious and delicious meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I anticipate making money when students are hungry for just that.

Venture Concept

This service will meet this need by reassuring students and staff members that they do not have to break they diet or healthy habits while on campus. They will choose to purchase my meals because they value eating healthy and know that the food I am providing is high quality, filling and delicious. I do not think it will be difficult to gain a clientele as many people's values align with those I have set for my restaurant. I am certain that this service will be successful as there is no other place in the heart of campus that does what mine will. 

Three minor elements...

1. My biggest resource, in my opinion, is the fact that I am creating service that is both convenient and of high-quality, as there is no other healthy food spot on campus that is easy to get to and provides completely healthy meals. 
2. The next venture for my service would be developing an app that allows customers to order a meal and pick it up in advance.
3. Assuming this service was a success after opening, I would probably stick to doing exactly what I set out to do in the first place. If it were a hit, I would of course take feedback into consideration but I do not think I would completely alter the service as a whole.