4A Forming an opportunity belief

1) Beginning point: I believe that there needs to be a better solution to paper straws. While I agree it is a better solution than plastic. I do not believe that paper straws are a true solution. I think the future is moving to plant-based biodegradable plastic straws. It offers the best of both worlds. Being durable yet environmentally friendly.

2)Describe belief:
Unmet need: Needing an environmentally friendly solution but still offers the same benefit as plastic.
Need: People who care about the environment and Gainesville residents since plastic straws are banned.
Where did the need come from? People want to help the environment and Alachua county residents have to use straws that are not plastic.
What are people doing to meet this need now? Companies are switching to paper straws to help the environment and not get finned.

3)Identify the prototypical customer: Food restaurants that need straws and people who care about the environment.

4) Iterations

#1 potential customer)  Potential customer feels that to move forward as a country we must start to focus heavily on our environment. She felt the need for it because she became aware of the situation with plastic straws. The need came recently. She appreciates the change the county is making and does not mind paper straws compared to plastic straws. She is open to the idea of trying biodegradable straws because plastic straws feel better on her lips compared to paper. She thinks it is a great solution.

#2 potential customer) The next potential customer hates paper straws. He became aware of the situation once Alachua county started to enforce no more plastic straws. He hates how flimsy the straws get when they are wet and once the plastic straws back. He is currently just dealing with the issue because it is out of his control. He believes that biodegradable plastic straws would be a great alternative to the far inferior paper straws.

#3 potential customer) The last customer mirrors the same opinion as customer #2. She cares about the environment but does not think that paper straws are the future. She feels like they do not work well with super hot or cold drinks since they fall apart easily and ruin the experience. She also became aware when every place she ate started to use paper straws and realized there was a ban that went into effect. She is willing to try other solutions especially biodegradable plastic straws because they would be better than paper straws.

Reflect 5) They learned that they can have plastic straws that do no hurt the environment. Using plant-based biodegradable straws lets customers and food establishments have durable straws while being environmentally friendly. I found it amazing that people were unaware of the ban that went into effect yet were upset with a lot of the restaurants for getting rid of plastic straws.

Summarize ) I think the opportunity in the market is high. More places are only going to continue to ban plastic straws and we should team up with franchises to make a deal and get ourselves into the market. I believe my opportunity is to focus more on the restaurants rather than customers. Buyers who buy big quantities would be the ones to offer our product. I think it is important to adapt to feedback. We need to provide the best product we can. It is similar to updating a phone or laptop. Things change and we must adapt before we get left behind.