11A- Idea Napkin No. 1

1) Being a fourth year business administration student at UF, I have been able discover my passion for business. More specifically, the part of business I enjoy most is any aspect where I get to work and communicate with clients and customers. I am talented with numbers and math (not so much reading and writing). I am also a talented runner; I have a one-year-old dog who is my running buddy. I have been in the service industry for five years now, so I am very comfortable communicating with customers and networking. Being a server for so many years, I have been able to master the skill of working under pressure/ in a chaotic environment. My aspirations for myself after graduation are to secure a job with a company I believe in, and from there work my way up. I plan on saving and investing as much money as I can early in my career, so I can retire early and be financially independent. If I were to start my business idea (Canine Condiments, sauces for picky dogs), I could see my life having both more stress and flexibility; more stress because I would be responsible for the company's success and employees' well being and more flexible because I would be my own boss.

2) The unmet need I intend to solve is a way for dog owners, vets, etc. to encourage their underweight/ elderly dogs to eat. For several breeds, the dogs are so hyper that eating is too boring; they would much rather be playing or seeing what their master is up to. In the long-run, this causes the dog to be underweight; this happened with me when I got my puppy. On the other hand, elderly dogs loose their sense of appetite and taste, so they tend to loose weight easily or not gain the nutrients in their food. I would like to create a condiment for these dogs' wet or dry food that would get them excited to eat. I would call this product Canine Condiments and all the customer does is add some of the product to their dogs food and mix. With different flavors, the dogs will think of their food more as a treat, rather than the same boring kibble everyday. Canine Condiments also would be heavily tested to assure the nutritional value is evident. The product will not only encourage dogs to eat, but also help them gain an appetite over a period of time.

3) Ideally, customers would be the parents of underweight or elderly dogs. Nearly 47% of dogs are underweight, so the market is definitely there. Also, one of our b2b customers would be pet stores and veterinary offices. Selling to pet stores and vets will allow us to have our ideal customer in the end, while going through a different channel to reach them. Also, we could sell directly to the humane society and animal shelters; this would allow for new rescues to put on weight in needed. Psychologically, our customers would be caring and driven to help their animals.

4) The customers care because, in general, people will pay large sums of money if it will benefit their pet. People love their pets. Canine Condiments would be over the counter, so it would be accessible to all pet owners. Previously, per owners would be encouraged to try their pets on different food until they find something the animal will eat. I had to do this for my dog and it ended up being expensive and wasteful, as I ended up with several bags of dog food my dog refused to eat. Canine Condiments would be cheaper than buying bags and bags of dog food, while having different flavors to appeal to customers.

5) What sets us apart from everyone else is that we are made from all organically sources ingredients, unlike competitors. Additionally, Canine Condiments would be the first food additive for dogs that is specifically focused on weight/appetite gain. Something that we have that nobody else has is our secret, human-grade, recipe. This recipe would give confidence to owners that their dog is only ingesting the highest quality ingredients.

I believe that these elements fir together, for the most part. I think my business has a large market of potential customers, that would be willing to spend money on their pet (especially if there was a medical concern for their weight). I would like to improve the business's core competencies. I believe we can further stand out from our competitors, in order to make us the superior product. We can do this by gathering data from potential customers and finding out what appeals to them. Other than this, all of the elements fit and flow together nicely.