Domain Expert
Evan Gehler is currently a salesperson for specialty appliances. While his product has a much larger scale than mine, he often works directly with restaurants or similar food-based businesses. I met Mr. Gehler through my parents, who I asked if they would recommend anyone for this blog post. I emailed Mr. Gehler to contact him. Mr. Gehler gave me a lot of insight in how to approach these large businesses and in return I offered my help or future career should he ever need help. Having Mr. Gehler in my network is extremely valuable, since he can offer personal experience with working in a similar industry as well as help me meet contacts.
Market Expert
Brenda Medrano is currently an assistant manager at Bahama Breeze. Bahama Breeze is an ideal example of a business my product could be introduced to. Brenda is actually a close friend that I have known for sometime. I texted her asking if we could discuss this assignment and she was more than willing. She explained how ordering and equipment works within a restaurant setting, and gave me insight to how much waste is created from plastic straws just within her restaurant. I told her about my potential product, and she agreed that it could be a great success in a restaurant setting like Bahama Breeze. Having this person in my network is valuable because, as the entrepreneur of the product, I have less direct communication with consumers, and Brenda is able to bridge that gap by connecting me to the patrons of Bahama Breeze. She could also be a future client or representative if I were to approach Bahama Breeze about my business.
Supplier
Ryan Morley is a mechanical engineering graduate, whose passion is solid works. His day-to-day consists of building specialty parts to supply other businesses. I used to be roommates with Ryan, randomly matched through UF. I called Ryan to see if he was available to discuss my product and assignment. As someone who builds specialty parts daily, he looked at my product from a very different viewpoint. He gave me insight as to how easy or complicated it could be to physically create my product and mass produce it. Ryan is a valuable person to have in my network because one day I may need a solid works supplier to produce my Metalli-Straw, and he may be the perfect option.
Hey Steven,
ReplyDeleteI think its great that you already had some people that fit into the categories in your social network. Every single person from each category would benefit your journey as an entrepreneur for this product. However, it would be great if you could find someone with more authority for Market expert. Being an Assistant Manager is great but I know that big restaurants like Bahama Breeze probably has more than one assistant manager.
Hi Steven !
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job searching for people to fit the descriptions we were give but I agree with Nathalie in the sense that maybe you could have gone a bit further out of your comfort zone. Although its great to add these individuals to your network, perhaps someone in similar domain or a profession supplying company may have been a bit more insightful.
Hi Steven,
ReplyDeleteFor this post, you got some insight from some really great people. I enjoyed how all of your contacts had very different backgrounds which really widens your scope and allows you to have helpful contacts in a variety of fields. Great work!