19

1) You. 

Again, my name is Emily Patton. I am a sophomore at the University of Florida pursing a major in marketing and a minor in Japanese. I am 20 years old and from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. My talents include being a dedicated worker, a skilled dancer, and a compassionate person. My aspirations include graduating in the next 2 years with a Masters in International Business from UF then pursuing a career in Beauty or Fashion. With my plans of now, the business I have devised in this class would be more of a part time or later on kind of thing. I understand that my mentality is very non-entrepreneurial of me but I have worked really hard to accomplish my goals and would like to see them through. 

2) What are you offering to customers? 

I am meeting the unmet need of protective head gear on the campus of UF for the thousands of bicycle, moped and skateboard users who risks their lives every day by not wearing a helmet. My product, cap your cap, is a stylish and functional helmet-like headgear that would encourage more students and faculty to wear their helmets. Eventually I would like to see this product hit different Universities in America, then different ages of people in the US, and then internationally. 

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?

I am offering this product first to college students who ride bicycles, scooters, and skateboards. The psychographic behind this are for those who feel pressured NOT to wear a helmet because it is “ugly” and for those who feel adversely about it because it is “inconvenient.” In my marketing classes I have learned that those two attributes turn customers away the most from a product. Although price is of course an important factor, functionality and style are vital buying factors. Helmets are without a doubt a great product but they lack functionality in the sense that they are bulky and hard to carry around especially if you are walking around campus, you can not lock them to your bike and they could easily get stolen. And lastly, they really are not attractive, or fit in with everyday lifestyle. Hats on the other hand, are worn by most everyday. I think incorporating a protective system into hats will encourage more people to “cap their caps.”  

4) Why do they care? 

I believe customers will care because bottom-line this product is not to serve as a fashionable side piece but as a staple way from sustaining a serious head injury. The demographic I am targeting thinks that they are invincible but I know that their parents or guardians know that they are not and are worried about their safety. Part of my plan is to present facts about head injuries resulting from bicycle and scooter accidents to parents and guardians so that they feel compelled to buy their college student a “cap your cap.” For the most part, I think parents will care about their kids safety and understand that as a college student, their kids either don have time or don't care about being safe. 

5) What are your core competencies? 

I think that my focus on the marketing and style aspect of this product is what will set me apart from my competitors.  

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

As I mentioned above, I think my background in business, specifically marketing will really join alot of the aspects of my idea together. The one thing that I fear is out of joint with the others is how I will actually be able to construct a durable and equally protective as a helmet like hat. 

Feedback Memo: 

I got great feedback from my peers from my first napkin pitch. What I have changed around this time after reading their comments was a slight tweak in my demographic. After many weeks of working on this Ive come to understand that the demographic  I was targeting are the ones who need the product but maybe not the ones who are willing to buy it. By also focusing on the parents of college / highs cool students I am targeting a segment that has a more steady income and is worried about the safety of their children. I learned that in theory college students care about their safety but take fews measures to ensure it because they think they are invincible. But their parents truly know that they are not.