Opportunity Beliefs Assignment 4A

First, I do have a feeling that there is an opportunity that exists out there, in the form of an app. The app would use your location to pinpoint some of the quicker restaurants in the area, such as Chick Fil A and McDonalds, and let you know how long the line is at that current moment. My belief and this app stems from the fact that I often find myself arriving at some of my favorite restaurants, but the line is practically an hour long and almost out the door. I have always hoped for a way to know what the lines at restaurants were like before I left my house, and I have always preferred to go and get food quicker as opposed to waiting in a super long line. The people who have the need are those interested in eating at fast food type establishments and are interested in getting their food as quickly as possible. This need, for me, stemmed from my impatience, since I absolutely hate waiting in lines, as I'm sure many others do. As far as I know, the only thing that people are doing to meet this need is call the restaurant, but there are times that restaurants are too busy to even answer the phone. I would also assume that there is around a 50% chance that this type of app has yet to be created, since I have never seen or heard someone talk about an app like that, but at the same time it is tough to believe that that type of app has yet to have been created.

My prototypical customers would first have to be a young kid, around the high school and college age. The reason this would be my prototypical customer is because these kids can arrive at these restaurants on their own through the use of a car, and people that age are normally eating at restaurants like Chick Fil A and Chipotle as opposed to nicer restaurants, such as sit down places or steakhouses. My next prototypical customer would have to be parents with young kids. Those parents often take kids and their kids' friends out to fast food restaurants. Those parents are often just looking to get their kids a quick easy meal when they aren't cooking or going out as a family. My final prototypical customer would have to be someone in their mid twenties, preferably someone that still lives alone and is adjusting to everyday life as an adult. I target this class because I hope that instead of going grocery shopping routinely, they would just buy cheap, quick meals instead.

Prototypical Customer 1: Caitlyn, 20
Caitlyn is a friend of mine who enjoys fast food restaurants such as Moes, Culver's, and Chick Fil A. I approached her about my app because I felt that she would be perfect to question about by possible opportunity because she fit my first customer profile and I knew she enjoyed quick meals. I first asked her about her willingness to wait in a long line at a restaurant like Chick Fil A and she responded that she didn't see the point in waiting for a line at all, instead of simply going to another restaurant. I then asked her how often she experienced herself waiting in long lines at restaurants that have advertised themselves as being able to provide food fast, and she responded that she experiences those lines about one in every five times she goes out to eat. I then asked how she addresses the problem of long lines at fast food restaurants and she said that she simply just chooses to go to another restaurant. I found that in her case, she could find my app helpful since she is concerned about lines and is just looking to get a decent meal as quickly as possible.
Prototypical Customer 2: Nicky, 50
Nicky is one of my friends parents, and I gave her a call, because growing up her house was always the one that all the kids hung out at, and I remember that she would consistently bring us to McDonalds for lunch and dinner as young kids. I first asked her how often she found herself bringing her son, or his friends, to a quick restaurant like McDonalds, and she said that she would bring her son there about once or twice a week. I then asked her how often she would experience a long wait in line there and she said that she normally went during the lunch or dinner rush, since the kids were always hungry then, and she said she waited in an extra long time for about half of her trips. When I asked her how she felt about those lines, however, she was indifferent. I then asked her what she would think of a way to see which restaurants had the shortest lines so she could just get a meal for her kids as quick as possible. To my surprise, she said that she most likely wouldn't use an app like that one because for the most part, her kids were always dead set on a certain restaurant and were not interested in going anywhere else besides the restaurant they wanted. From our conversation I figured that she probably wouldn't be the best customer.
Prototypical Customer 3: Jeff, 28
Jeff is one of my friends older brothers and he has been out of college for six years now. I figured that Jeff would be a good person to interview because he was a young bachelor that recently got out of college, and assumed that he would more often go out to eat at quick restaurants as opposed to consistently grocery shopping. I first asked him how often he ate at a restaurant like Chick Fil A and he said about once a week. I then asked him how often he experienced long lines at the said restaurant and he said about a third of the time he sees that the line is unnecessarily long and just goes home and makes himself a quick, easy dinner. I then asked him about how he felt about being able to check the line for his restaurant of choice, even if it was just once in a while that he went out. He said that he felt something like that would be very beneficial and could even save him some time, money, and gas.

I felt that I learned a lot from my possible opportunity, the first of which, was how different classes of people had extremely different needs. It was clear after talking with three different people from three different age groups, how different separate groups of people really can be. Caitlyn's response came as no surprise since a lot of college students are simply looking to get a quick meal out. I was, however, interested in Jeff's response because it came as a shock that someone like himself only ate out at most once a week. I would have figured he ate out most nights, and that his demographic would be the group that identified with the opportunity the most. Finally, Nicky's interview gave me the most information. I would've figured that a parent would have loved the app just so they could get their kid a quick meal. That being said, I didn't take into account how set in their ways a kid could become. That being said, that information would become incredibly important had I or someone else actually looked to develop an opportunity like this.

After performing this research, I feel like my opportunity could definitely still exist. After conducting my interviews I found that just by scratching the surface, that there could possibly be a niche market out there. That being said, I should make it clear that a lot more research should be conducted before moving forward. I do believe that my opportunity is more accurate than when I first thought of it, because now I've got some more information about the opportunity itself. I have more of an idea of who the app and opportunity should be targeted at, and could possibly find ways to pivot my idea if it ever came to that. Finally, I feel that entrepreneurs are always willing to adapt their plans and ideas based off of customer feedback. It would be ridiculous for possible customers to state that they disliked a product or idea, and an entrepreneur would not take that feedback and information into account.