25A- What's Next?

For this assignment, I am looking to go out in the area and locating potential customers for my service according to my customer segment that I have previously identified, and then I am going to locate some new potential customers from a different segment.

Existing Market: 

In the terms of "Homebound", I am thinking big and starting small. Starting out, I will be located here in Florida. As a fresh organization, I will be working in collaboration with a lot of additional organizations with similar goals and ideas. What I mean by this is that since I will be freshly starting, I will not have a whole lot of start up capital at the start, and my organization will start by outsourcing many of the services that we will be offering. As we grow, we will become more self sufficient, able to provide all of the services needed ourselves. We will have more of our own job recruiters, counselors,  real-estate agents, and more. We will become a fully functional body working together to work fluidly. 

     I went out to search for the three interviewees/potential customers that fit my current customer segment, and it was a hard task to tackle. Finding retired military men and women that need assistance and are willing to accept assistance was not as easy as finding a potential customer for a candy bar sale. Once I found a handful of potential interviewees, I actually spoke with four individuals. I presented them my idea for Homebound, tossed my elevator pitch and used my venture concept as well. I then asked them the question, "what should we be doing that we aren't planning to do?" As a whole consensus, the potential customers all told me that I was definitely headed in the right direction. One individual thought that it was a great thing that I was thinking big but starting small. She had said that even though it is aggravating at first, that is the best approach to take. Allows to grow at a rate that you can keep up with.

     I did have two individuals that told me that I needed to plan to differentiate my organization a little more. I asked what they meant, and they told me that I had a great idea, but when marketing, I needed to focus on expressing on how my organization was different than the others. They said, "there are a million different organizations out there, and yours is a great idea, but you need to make sure to emphasize how you are different. Express with more emphasis that your organization is to ALL military men and women, AND their families."  They went on to explain that differentiating myself would be crucial for donors, and it will allow for more people to look to us for their needs. 

Feedback:

      After  interviewing my potential customers, I think that I got a lot of good feedback from them. I always love hearing that I have a good idea, and I also am glad to hear about how I can improve my ideas. I think that no matter how good we think we are, there is always room for improvement.

       I really got to thinking about what the two individuals told me about making sure to differentiate myself and my organization to make sure that I maximize my success. What they were really telling me was that I need to make sure that I implement an effective marketing strategy and market right to be able to survive in an industry that there are currently so many different organizations apart of. Sure, I have a different business format and idea in mind, but I have to make sure that I show that to everyone else. 

     What I have taken away from the feedback is definitely that I need to make sure that I have a superior marketing and advertising sector for my organization. It cannot be just good. It has to be superior, and it has to be presented effectively for what it is we are trying to accomplish.

New Market:

So far with the venture that I have been participating in, I have been going to all of my potential customers with a B2C approach, going to the clients and talking with them. For my new market approach, I will be taking a B2B approach, selling myself to other businesses and organizations. This is just as, if not more, important as the customers. If I cannot join an alliance with these other businesses and organizations, I will surely fail. Creating the bond using the B2B approach is crucial. The goal of doing this is for both my organization and the business or organization I speak with, to be better off with the relationship. We will both be assets to each other. 

      For this part of the assignment, I went to businesses and organizations to conduct my interviews. My dad does home restoration and remodeling for a living, and he has many good relationships and accounts at many large home improvement stores. The first interviewee came from Home Depot in Gainesville, Florida. I knew that Home Depot was a military friendly company and that they would be good ones to go speak with. I spoke with the head manager at this particular Home Depot and pitched them my idea and what I was looking to do. I then explained that I wanted a relationship with them to be able to have a source of employment for my veterans that come to me for employment help. In return, Home Depot is receiving disciplined mature individuals to work in their stores. The individual I spoke with told me that he loved the idea of what I was looking to do, and he thinks that it would be a great idea to form such a relationship. He reassured me that with the relationship, it did not guarantee anyone a job, but it definitely opened another possible opportunity. He suggested that before I send them out for employment to make sure that they are going to be up for the task and that they will be hard workers.  That way my organization's standards will be held reputable. 

     The others that I went to were smaller businesses in the Gainesville area. I kept all of my interviewees in the Gainesville area because I knew that there is a VA hospital for any veteran affairs, a multitude of jobs available, and eager employers needing quality candidates. I went out briefly and pitched my idea at a few bike shops, bars, and construction companies. I knew that these smaller owned shops would have more flexibility on hiring processes and such, and that even if they didn't have job openings, they could help point us in the right direction. I had very positive results from all of the business places that I went, and many of them were very helpful. One shop owner told me that he was actually a military veteran and he would definitely be willing to help out with my goals, even if it was only part time positions. 

Feedback:

       The feedback that I received when I went out and spoke with businesses about partnering up was very positive. Many of the small businesses that I spoke with appeared to agree to the partnership for pure patriotism. Others seemed to agree because it appeared to be a good marketing move for their business. Even though this is not really the reason I would want them to join me, they aren't wrong, and the more bonds that I can create, the better. 

     After the experience, it made me realize that the job search part of my organization may not be quite as hard as what I had originally suspected. The one individual that told me that I need to make sure that those that I was seeking employment for would work hard is great advice. If I send a bunch of individuals out from my organization that are "shitty" employees, than I will be burning bridges. I will definitely have to first and foremost ensure that those that I am helping seek employment are going to be hard working individuals and are ready to get out into the workforce. If they aren't, that is just another task that we will first tackle prior to job seeking. 

     All in all, I think that I had good results from this assignment. I gained some good feedback and a lot of helpful advice that I had not previously thought of. It was good to get some other perspectives and gain new knowledge.