Together - The UF Campus Cooperative
Opportunity
I will be analyzing my idea for my on-campus co-op through this venture concept plan. When creating this opportunity, I first had to identify my target market. This target market consists of University of Florida students. This market is defined geographically in the Gainesville, FL area because that is where the University of Florida is located.
The future customers for this business concept are currently satisfying their needs by trying to prepare health conscious food for themselves, or just paying more money than they would like to for healthy, fresh foods on or near campus. Customers that are currently satisfying this need may have loyalty to certain restaurants, but they do not hold full loyalty anywhere.
I believe that this opportunity has lots of potential to be big. UF has a very large student body and even if a small percentage of the students held interest in this idea, it would be enough to begin and expand this idea even further. I think that this window of opportunity will stay open for quite a long time. This need has been around for a long time because students are always hoping to strike a balance between health and time. I think this would be an excellent strategy that takes both of these factors into consideration.
Innovation
This idea stemmed from my belief that the UF campus should have more health and price moderate food options open for students. Through this, I developed an idea that the student body should take this into their own hands by creating something that would satisfy all of their different needs.
Through this, I developed a concept for an on-campus co-op. This co-op will be a store/restaurant that works with various different departments and organizations at the University of Florida. Essentially, this co-op will be student run and student planned and it will be a place where students can purchase high-quality food for low prices. By partnering with the University of Florida agricultural departments and the local Gainesville community, students will have access to fresh, local, and seasonal produce.
This produce alongside other local ingredients will be used to create fresh meals and snacks for students that participate with the co-op organization. The students that choose to take part in the co-op will volunteer for a certain number of hours per week. This volunteering shift will give these students access to low-priced food options provided at the co-op. Students who do not want to be a part of the volunteering program will also be able to participate, they will simply purchase meals at a higher price point than those that volunteer.
When I envisioned this co-op I actually pictured a non-profit organization run through the University of Florida. I think that the system of belief behind this cooperative is togetherness and a central focus on health and ease. While I do have other ideas that will generate a profit, I think that for this topic particularly, my entrepreneurial spirit is not capital driven.
Venture Concept
What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?
Customers would switch to this product because of the simplicity and because the “green” students at the University of Florida would appreciate the motivation behind the project. I think that in order to make students switch, we would need to advertise on multiple different platforms and we would need to recruit a trial group for the campus co-op to make sure that the process flows smoothly.
Who are the competitors? What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities?
The main competition for this business will be the Krishna lunch that is on UF campus everyday. This would be the principle competition because it is inexpensive, healthy, and vegan. However, the timing of the lunch makes it inconvenient for some with different class schedules.
What role does packaging, your price points, distribution, customer support, the customer experience or the business location play (if any) in defining your business concept?
Each of these factors will play a small role. Packaging’s role will be important because packaging must be eco-friendly and as minimal as possible. Location is also extremely important because UF is an extremely spread out campus, so a prime location will mean a lot in terms of the business’ success.
How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?
I would start this co-op off as a student organization and I would go via existing organizations and garner interest before beginning the venture. Then, I would start the venture off with approximately 40 employees and then increase the number with time if necessary. The idea behind this co-op is that everybody does their part, so keeping it small in the beginning is essential. There will be many different roles, there will be administrative roles, culinary roles, and customer service roles mostly.
What are the reasons to think customers would switch to this new product? How hard will it be to get them to switch?
I don’t think that it will be difficult to get customers to switch to this organization because I think that they will support the cause. I think the best way to get them to switch, will be to educate them on the offerings and benefits of this type of organization.
Feedback and Adjustments:
Although I did not receive any feedback on my Venture Concept No. 1, I went back through the assignment and reviewed the things that I think I could have specified more. I want to further specify the fact that this business would operate more as an on-campus organization rather than a profitable business. I also want to stress the idea that with time and actual experience, my ideas about how to run this organization will change and develop as I gain real experience.
