25A – What’s Next?

What I Think Is Next:

·      I want to begin to specialize my idea for the future, currently my idea is a non-profit, but I would like to be able to begin to make some profit. I want to be able to open some of my own restaurants/bakeries under the same name of the service that any customer can come in and buy a product from and of course all of my leftovers will be donated to food banks. I think I could also specialize by holding seminars and cooking classes. Teaching people to be aware of how much food they dispose of at home is the next most difficult step in solving world hunger and I believe cooking classes, that help to bring people together, would be a good environment to do this in.

Reflection:

·          All three of the interviews I conducted had different perspectives on how I could differentiate. Interviewee one brought up the financial costs of having to start up my own bakery and market it and questioned whether this made sense. I do agree that it will be difficult, but opening my own bakery has always been a dream of mine and one that I would have done regardless of this non-profit idea so it is something I am willing to take a risk for. Furthermore, if the bakery is successful it will provide some extra money that I can put into my business plan.

         The second interviewee said that I could make a cook book centered around sustainable eating, also under my brand name, that would be another way to get my point across. I also found this idea to be incredibly interesting and one I had not though of before. The main cost in making a cookbook is time, compiling recipes can be a lengthy process but one that I can do at night in the comfort of my own home. I don’t know anything about publishing costs and stuff like that but it is something I would look into.

          Lastly, my third interview liked everything from the restaurant to the cooking, to the cook book, and just again reminded me of the cost and time investments that I was already aware of. Overall though, she thought my specialization ideas had a lot of promise.

New Market

·              With specializations including things like a bakery, cooking classes, and a cook book, this gives me the opportunity to move into more middle to upper class people. Although middle and upper class may not have the same issues putting food on their tables, they can still help to contribute to the cause by purchasing baker items. Furthermore, food waste in homes is another issue to tackle and they can begin to learn more about food waste at home. By beginning to raise awareness for lower, middle, and upper class, it may be possible to lower overall food waste and actually make a dent in world hunger.

Reflection

·              When doing these two interviews, I liked how open both of the interviewees were with me and their hopeful attitudes made me think that expanding into these markets may actually work.

·              The first interviewer really liked the ideas I was giving him and thought the best way to attract customers was all about location. For example, I don’t want to be in a suburb where I will most likely gain very little press but instead I should try to find myself in an up and coming city. What I like about being in a city is that there are people from the lower class, middle class, and upper class. By having all three wealth brackets in one are, I am able to advertise to all my markets which I believe will help me gain publicity.

·             The second interviewee suggested creating specific products for each class type to pull them in. For example, for more upper-class people you could have a wine and cooking night where they learn about sustainable cooking. I could also offer to make more expensive cakes or lavish desserts to be sold at the bakery. To appeal to the lower class I would continue my service but could also make more inexpensive desserts.