1) The segment I picked was businesses have a need for a better straw, paper straws do not satisfy customers.
2) I interviewed 3 different people. A manager as a fast food place, a waitress at a restaurant, and a manager at a smoothie place to get a wide viewpoint of the potential market I could reach.
3) There is a clear need for each person I interviewed. The waitress stated that customers complain heavily about having to use paper straws, especially older folks. She said her tables complain about them being soggy and falling apart. The manager of the fast-food place experienced the same issue. The smoothie place manager stated that paper straws do not work well with their products. That customers state that paper straws ruin the experience because of how fragile they are.
4) The businesses located in Gainesville were unaware of plant-based biodegradable straws and did not think of looking for other solutions because of the plastic straw ban. The order paper straws because the ban is countywide and had no other options they were aware of.
5) I have found that there is awareness of the problem and that people are desperately looking for a better solution.
6) I find that the product that I would sell to these businesses would be a great way to compete in the market while offering a better product. The ban is recent and the quicker we get the product out there, the more sales we could make. I firmly believe that plant-based biodegradable straws are superior in every category compared to paper straws.
Hey Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI like how you went through and fleshed out your idea of biodegradable straws. Your interviews made me realize that some beverage-based businesses like the smoothie shop may be losing out significantly with how ineffective paper straws may be losing them business! Best of luck as you continue to develop your idea.