The opportunity that I utilized is primarily directed toward college students. In recent years, there has been a health kick in our country to encourage everyone to make better, smarter decisions regarding our health. That being said, even though it includes everyone, I am directly targeting students or young adults ranging from years 17 to around 24. Around this period in our lives, there is a lot of transitioning. A large majority of students go to college after high school and during this time it becomes very difficult to keep up a healthy lifestyle. Many customers, or students in my case, need a quick fix when it comes to eating meals or snacks. They end up resorting to convenient fatty foods that lack nutrition. Although they are aware that it might not be the best for them, they resort to it anyways because a lot of students are under the idea that healthy alternatives are quite difficult to incorporate in their diet due to preparation and they think it lacks taste. They choose to eat unhealthy food because its easy and simple, however I believe their loyalty to those products aren’t strong. They can be easily swayed or replaced once a better, and just as convenient product is produced. This opportunity can be very beneficial because it’s still pretty new. Not many people or organizations have targeted college students in particular. This opportunity is a growing industry and a rising lifestyle that can be implemented in campuses around the country.
Innovation/Venture Concept
My product consists of a delivery box system, with options of choosing a continuous delivery system consisting of various boxes delivered every 2 to 4 weeks based on the customer’s discretion. The other option is for the customer to purchase a single box, a part of our signature collection so they can opt out of subscribing to the service. These boxes that will be conveniently delivered to the customers’ doorstep will model an ideal healthy life style for a college student. Inside these delivered boxes, I plan to include “Health Help!” newsletters that would include fast tricks and convenient tips making the transition to a healthier lifestyle easy and enjoyable. In addition to the newsletters, I intend on including various snacks or other products that college students can afford. All of my boxes will include a little “sneak peek” into all the health world has to offer. Each box or delivery, for that matter, will have snacks that can range from granola bars to samples of different butters like almond butter or cashew butter. Customers can subscribe to the delivery system, and based on whether they choose the 2-week delivery or 4-week, the price will be adjusted accordingly. Around $11.50 for 2-week delivery and 12.00 for 4-week interval delivery. If they choose to buy boxes separately that may incur an additional price. My mission is to currently appeal to UF students and my vision is to hopefully end up implementing this business to state schools and universities on a national scale. That being said, I would like to incorporate the opportunity for local delivery systems. It may cut costs on product transportation in the beginning which would be very helpful as we start out. We can utilize students as bikers, who would deliver the pre-made box to their location on campus and those who are farther away can hire drivers for those runs instead. In the beginning works of this business, I would most likely be delivering products myself locally in order to keep costs minimal.
In order for customers to switch to this product there has to be a good amount of exposure. The largest obstacle we will have in getting customers to switch is the cost difference in their substitutes. Easy and fast meals that are commonly used amongst college students are products like Easy Mac or Lean Pockets. It will be hard to get them to switch if they haven’t heard about it before or are unfamiliar with delivery box systems. Competitors will consist of places around Gainesville that are offering healthier alternatives like 3 Natives or Tropical Smoothie. We can be potentially vulnerable since we wouldn’t have a designated store location for customers to see the product on hand or try it in person first. Packaging is vital. It’s the only physical element the customers will see of our company so it must be of well quality and very professional-looking. The capital to my company wont be too large employee-wise, especially in the beginning. Once the packaging is delivered, it will only need to be filled and delivered. So I will only need 2 to 5 employees at most in beginning. This venture will depend strongly on technology. It is where the majority of orders, subscriptions, interface showcasing products, product details and prices, and customer service will be conducted/shown. At first I would start the ordering by a website-only setup. But once the ball gets rolling, I plan to incorporate this system as a mobile app as well to easily preference or contact the business at hands reach, or thumbs reach to be technical.
My venture's secret sauce happens to do with its convenience. Locally, through UF's campus and the Gainesville area in general, I think that will be it's strongest leg up from other competitors. The convenience in subscribing, the convenience in ordering, the convenience in its delivery, etc. The entire processing, production, and delivery starts right here in the swamp.
What's Next for this venture? I hope for this product and its service to grow and expand throughout it's years, which will lead for it to reach different campuses. Once this business acquires enough capital, there will be enough flexibility to add new products, we can merge with other organizations and have symbiotic relationships with one another. Campus-wise there can be customized boxes per university. UF-themed, FSU-themed(not to psyched about this one, but very willing), and other universities can customize a signature box that their students can purchase.
And finally, What's Next for me? This course has allowed me to think of my dreams and aspirations that I once thought would only be dreams and aspirations, to go past that. Getting put into an environment out of my comfort zone, and thinking those fun thoughts in my head without the intention of ever telling anyone or making these ideas happen are now a thing of the past. This initial idea for me, I never thought it would be attainable but after research and exposing so many different elements of this concept, I can now see that this could actually work one day. I currently am not ready to make these foundations concrete, however I think this could be a great concept to incorporate amongst all the college start-ups that have taken off.
