Opportunity: The opportunity I have identified was created to meet the unmet need of many Americans. In the recent years many people have tried to take the next step towards a healthier lifestyle and the best place to start is with what you are eating. If you are like me you struggle with eating healthy and staying on track with a diet. Those who are interested in this opportunity want to make a change in the way we view food and move in a positive direction towards a healthier life. Today’s society is very focused on clean eating and making sure that what we are putting in our bodies is both safe and beneficial. There are many people out there who are looking to start eating healthy but just don’t have the desire or want to make meals ever single day. It is not just one group or the other it is everyone who wants to make a change, so the demographic is huge. As for geographically it is not just people located in one part of the country or the other it is everyone. As for how customers are currently satisfying their need for eating healthy it is typically done at the grocery store. In interviews I conducted many said that they feel overwhelmed when going to a grocery store because of all the options and the different ingredients listed on the back that they’ve never even heard of. If given the opportunity to know what is in the food they are consuming but still know it is delicious people are more inclined to buy. This is a rather large opportunity to exploit because many people are looking to start eating right and working on staying on track long term. I feel as if this window will never close because people will always need to eat to stay alive and by eating healthy you have the opportunity to live a longer healthier life.
Innovation: The service I am offering is a meal prepping business that is devoted to clean eating and encouraging our customers to take the next step towards a healthy lifestyle. We are offering customers a wide range of options so that they feel full after a nutritious meal and won’t be tempted to snack on unhealthy products. Customers have the ability to purchase a meal plan for up to a weeks’ worth of food so they can stay on track. We have specific meal plans for those who are trying to lose weight, those who are gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian. By offering a multitude of different options we are opening the business to a larger demographic of people. We will have a trained nutritionist on staff that works closely with our chef to ensure the food we are serving stays within the proper nutritional guidelines. Since we support local business we will be working with some of our local farmers to get the fruits and vegetables we need to create our meals. By doing so we are ensuring that the produce we are using does not haven any harmful chemicals or preservatives that our customers are not expecting. We want to make sure that all of our products are non-GMO friendly and are up to the highest standards when it comes to farming.
Venture Concept: The service I have identified will address my opportunity through offering a meal prepping service to customers that can either buy anywhere up to a weeks’ worth of food or just a single day. This will help to encourage people to eat healthy and stick with a plan, so they can achieve the results they are looking for. Customers will buy our product/food because they are looking to make the next step towards a healthier lifestyle. It was designed for those who don’t necessarily like cooking and want to have the ease and convenience of having it prepared for you. This isn’t a service that people would necessarily switch to it would be one that they are looking for to help them start the meal prepping journey. There aren’t many competitors out there who are specifically designed for meal prepping and that it what makes this business unique. There are places that offer healthy options where you can select what you want, such as Grill Fresh. Since we offer meals for up to a week we will make sure that that the packaging is recyclable, the pricing is fair, and we offer stellar customer support. Our main goal is to make sure the food we are serving is nutritious yet delicious and will keep you full. Location is not a main factor but It is important. If we were to start out business in Gainesville it would be beneficial to have our store located near a college campus. Many students want the option to have a healthy meal for a good price and having a store near campus would make that possible. To make sure this business runs efficiently we would need cooks, a nutritionist, workers to staff the front, and those who are dedicated to marketing our business to the community. One of the most beneficial employees to our staff would be the nutritionist, because they are able to ensure the food we are serving is healthy and stays within the proper nutritional guidelines.
The feedback I received from the first venture concept was very positive but it did not give me much insight into what I need to change to so that I could make my business better. I also received positive feedback from the what's next assignment. No one gave me any helpful tips or suggestions that would allow me to change my plan based on the feedback I received. I wish someone would have critiqued my work so that I would have something to base the changes off of.
Since no one gave any helpful suggestions as to how I should change my venture concept, I came up with a few of my own. In the opportunity section of my venture concept I looked at why people do not like the grocery store. I found that many people are overwhelmed by the amount of options and all of the ingredients listed on the back. So for this venture concept I would create an app that would help you while you grocery shop so that it would scan the nutrition labels on the bac and give you a detailed description of each ingredient used. This way you know what you are putting in your body and have the ability to stay away from harmful ingredients. As for the innovation section there isn't anything that I would change, I like my idea and think it has a lot of potential. The venture concept section need to be able to tell customers just how we are different and how this business is better than other options available.
