19A- Idea Napkin No. 2

1) You. I am a senior advertising major at UF who is interested in account management in an advertising agency in the future. My talents include being very organized, great people skills, and able to handle a lot on my plate while still being able to meet deadlines. My friends and family describe me as very organized and dedicated as well which further makes me believe I am. I have experience managing a team from my internship this past summer when I lead a team of interns on a nonprofit campaign for a client. I think my skills and experiences would allow me to do very well with making my business concept successful. It would be a great addition to my life and I would be able to handle balancing my work and life well because its something I’ve had to do in the past as well.

2) What are you offering to customers?
My product is a plastic-like straw that is made from corn and hemp materials making it recyclable and biodegradable, unlike regular one-time use plastic straws. My product will make a huge difference in the environment if it is adopted by all restaurants, coffee-shops, bars, individuals, etc. I believe this will solve customer’s needs for a straw that doesn’t fall apart in their drinks (like paper straws) or hurts the environment and ocean life.

3) Who are you offering it to?
My primary target audience for this product is business owners who sell beverage products at their locations. This includes restaurants, fast food chains, coffee shops, bars, etc. These customers will buy my product in bulk and use them very often, this is good for my business and the environment because one restaurant location can use thousands of plastic straws a year. My product will stop this plastic from going into the environment. My second target audience is individuals who use one-time use straws at home. My customer is most likely a college student, age 21, who likes using straws to make mixed drinks with at home before going out. They are most likely female and buy their straws from wherever they grocery shop.

4) Why do they care?
My customers will pay for my product because many businesses are caring more about their footprint on the environment because their own customers care about it more. It would look very good to their customers if they used a biodegradable option instead of one that hurts our ocean life, especially restaurants along the coast.

5) What are your core competencies?
My core competencies are that I am very creative, passionate, and dedicated. If I set my mind to something, I will get it done. If I set out to make this business opportunity happen I know that I would be successful. I believe it is a good product that the world genuinely needs.

I believe these five elements fit very well together. I don’t see any aspect of my business plan that doesn’t fit in or is weak. I think this is an idea that could really take off, and I think it is something that my target audience would really get behind. People are realizing that we need to do something about our negative effects on this planet, and this is a big step towards making that happen.

Feedback Memo: One piece of feedback that I thought about when doing this idea napkin is the feedback I got from my friends and family about me. It was great hearing a lot of the things I thought about myself proven by the people who know me best. They also said some things that I never thought of, like how my dad mentioned I’m a good leader because of my experience in JROTC in high school. Another piece of feedback that has been very helpful is different audiences that I hadn’t considered to target. I realized there were a lot of places I hadn’t thought of until someone I interviewed pointed them out, such as coffee shops and fast food restaurants.