Idea Napkin No. 1

1)    You. Who you are? What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically, regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

My name is Elio Murillo, I’m in my first semester here at UF working on a bachelor’s in business administration. I also work full-time for Merrill/Bank of America in our Retirement Benefits Contact Center. My experience and skills are mainly in customer service and financial services. I think this has strengthened my people skills, which allows me to understand people and build relationships. This has helped me become a good listener, and I’ve also learned how to empathize as well. I think this would be useful in starting my own business because it would help me understand my customer’s needs and provided a great product along with good service. Like many business owners, I think starting this business would require dedication and resiliency to get through all the peaks and troughs.

2)    What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I’ll be honest, at this point, I still only have an idea for a product, not an exact blueprint of what the product will look like. My idea is to provide a litter box that is low maintenance and self-cleaning while being welcoming and comfortable for your pet. There are currently a lot of “solutions” in this space, but I think there’s an opportunity to provide a better and more efficient product.   

3)    Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

This is pretty clear and straight forward for my product. The demographic includes households that have an indoor cat. Everyone that has an indoor cat has to deal with the pet’s way in some way or another. This is what creates an opportunity for my product.

4)    Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its value to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.

Who doesn’t want to avoid having to clean cat poop? Anybody with a cat that has to deal with a litter box will be interested in a product that would make this chore easier.   

5)    What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

I would say that my competencies right now are understanding the problem and knowing that there is a need for a better solution.  I think this is what would set me apart from everyone else as well. I think that a lot of people are settling for the solutions that are out there. This is where an opportunity exists for a new product.

I think all of the elements of the business concept fit together well. There is a population that has a need for this product. This is clearly manifested by the market of different “solutions” that already exists and attempt to solve the issue. My weakest point is obviously not having a clear solution. I’m still in the phase of researching the solutions to come up with something better.