What's Next?

Existing Market

1. In terms of what is next (assuming I have accomplished the aspect of reselling unused restaurant inventory), I believe that the business can evolve from COVID-related to a generalized business that allows restaurants to sell direct-to-consumer. For example, in the future, a restaurant that sells delicious and homemade empanadas can utilize my specialized firm to sell consumers leaving the restaurant a kit for them to make empanadas at home that includes the empanada dough, meats, and cheeses needed. This is just one example of how the business model can be adapted to the future.

2. For this step, I interviewed three customers at one of my parent's restaurants. In terms of what their ideas were, two did not suggest any new ideas and said they believed the business model as it was could be sustainable. The third customer mentioned the idea of creating centralized locations filled with options from hundreds of different restaurants for consumers. When told about my idea to change the business in the future (the empanada example), all three customers said they believed it was a good idea, and all three agreed that they would be interested in purchasing take-home kits from restaurants.

3. What makes the most sense for my venture in terms of growing in our existing market truly is adapting. My business model, as it stands, is based off the current times of crisis and COVID-19. If it were to become more adaptable to the future, it would firstly need to find a different opportunity that can be solved using the same specialty acquired over time through the existing firm.

Secondly, the firm would need to tweak their processes and structure in order to successfully innovate for the new opportunity. I do believe that, while it would be possible to just start from scratch, a firm with the knowledge and experience of reselling unused inventory would already hold a significant advantage.

New Market

1. Currently, we target the B2C market in the restaurant industry. In the future, we would like to target the B2C market in a completely different industry such as tourism. The tourism industry is also undergoing a very difficult time due to COVID-19. While the same innovation does not exist for this industry as it did in the restaurant industry, there is surely something that can be done.

2. Currently, the opportunity exists in the dwindling cash flow of the tourism industry. A venture concept can bring some value by pre-booking post-COVID trips, hotels, and cruises now at a reduced rate from the suppliers in the industry. These suppliers (hotels, cruise-lines, tour guides) are willing to sell future trips and stays right now at a lower cost so that they maintain cash flow. Then, in the future, a venture firm can resell these trips and stays at a slightly higher cost than what they acquired them for, which consumers would be willing to pay after coronavirus has passed.

3. For this part, I interviewed two friends who work in the hospitality and tourism industry in Orlando. Both thought this was a good idea, but that it was less of a win-win as my other idea for the restaurant industry. They believe it is a win for the suppliers who are in need of cash flow, but do not believe it is a win for consumers who will end up paying an elevated cost in the future.

4. What I learned about this new market is the severity of how bad the crisis of coronavirus has affected it. The worst effects are seen on island nations or remote areas that were almost fully reliant on tourism for income. It has literally left millions of people in tourist destinations worldwide with reduced or completely diminished income. 

On second thought, however, this new market does not appear to be as attractive as my existing market. This is due primarily to stability. For the food business industry, we know there is stability because people have to eat! But when income is low, people do not have to travel and usually go out of their way to cut these unnecessary expenses.

Comments

  1. PChase19July 26, 2020 at 7:30 PM

    I thought it was very interesting how you compared the tweaked consumer market to that of tourism. This made me think that it must be very hard for many businesses that solely rely on tourism for their annual income. How can you offer services to people in other countries? And if are you capable of doing that, would you be able to do it safely?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nicolas ShenoJuly 27, 2020 at 10:06 AM

    Hey Jean,
    It was interesting to read about what you would plan on the next steps being for your company. I especially agree with what you said about adaptability, I believe that is a necessary trait for every company to have as the world we currently live in is constantly changing and we have no idea what could be next, so having the ability to adapt I believe is what could make or break a company. I think it is interesting you went to tourism for your new market, I could see the similarities you were talking about but I do agree it would be tough to get into.

    ReplyDelete

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