You) I am a second year Computer Science student at the University of Florida. I have skills in programming, coding, web design, augmented reality, customer service, and public relations. Most of my customer and public relation skills come from my experience as an intern at the Museum of Discovery and Science, where I worked closely with executives to create a mobile app experience for the museum. My business concept is the development of eco-friendly face masks. Often times on the news or online, I see articles about how face masks are becoming a problem for the environment since people have been improperly discarding them.
What are you offering to your customers?) I am offering my customers the peace of mind that the product they use to keep themselves safe is also safe for the environment. The product I have in mind is a biodegradable/ recyclable face mask. I see my product similar to a service, in the sense that peoples' carbon footprint can be reduced.
Who are you offering it to?) I am offering this product to people who care about the health and well being of themselves, friends, strangers, and the planet. All my customers have the need and desire to protect themselves from germs and disease that can be prevented from a face mask.
Why do they care?) Customers would care because normal disposable face masks can harm the environment, especially beaches and the ocean. Face masks, if dumped in the sea (where a lot of them end up) are harmful to sea turtles, who confuse them with jelly fish.
What are your core competencies?) I have technical skills as well as relational skills that I believe that if used together in a creative way, can create interest and need for my product. I think that I can use the experience I have from web design and combine it with my customer service skills to make a website,
Even though I want to believe that all five of my elements fit together, I have to expect that they don't so I can prepare for that possibility. I think that maybe the element of my audience and customer base, can sometimes differ from the element of "Why do they care". I think this because sometimes all a customer is interested in is protecting themselves and others from sickness, so if they can buy more quantity of other face masks, they won't care if they are eco-friendly or not. So I believe that in conjunction to developing the masks, I need to also market them as eco-friendly and worth more than disposable masks.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThe evaluation that you did for your idea shows that you really have a form grasp of what your idea is. As far as the "why do they care" section, I think you don't think you really have to worry about it. This idea is very relevant and people have been concerned with the environment for as long as I can remember. I think everyone would be happy to buy a mask knowing it will help the environment.
Will Templin
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI think eco-friendly face masks are a great idea and something that is relevant in society today. I didn't quite understand who exactly you are going to target with your masks. I get why people should care, but you seemed very general when you are targeting people who care about health and planet. I truly like the idea and hope to see you develop this more.