Idea Napkin No. 2

Assignment 19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1)    You who you are, what talents are, what skills and experiences are

I am a Redshirt Junior on the University of Florida Swimming Team. I am originally from New Zealand and have been in Florida for 3 years. I am a Horticultural Science major. Being a student athlete, I live a very fast paced and time restricted lifestyle. Therefore, I have had to manage my time effectively to balance school and swimming. I believe time management is relevant to many other people in today’s busy society. I am experienced in using applications on mobile devices, as I often use aps to manage my life; to communicate with family at home, to order food, to assist my school work, to email school and swimming related people. I have also created a website, which allowed me to see how to build something from the beginning. I want to live my life as fully as possible and continue my swimming career. Therefore, with my business concept, I can see that it being web based allows me to continue my lifestyle and be flexible but also enable to focus on it and grow it. I believe that I am relatable to this concept and so can reach people like me as well as a wide variety of other people.

2)    What are you offering to customers?

I am offering an app that connects customers and restaurants, letting you check out on your time. This allows you to beat waiting times for the check and get on with your busy life. The server would give you a number at the start of your meal which correlates with your meal number on the app, when you order food or drinks, the restaurant will enter this in the system, so you can pay for everything when you are finished. They will be notified when you pay. For customers paying with cash or needing assistance, there will be a way to notify your server of this. Therefore, this can help assist people paying without cards too.

3)    Who are you offering it to?

This app is for customers and for restaurants in Gainesville. It is designed specifically for students, aged approximately 18-24, in Gainesville as this is a University town and nearly 40% of the population in Gainesville are students. Specifically, the app targets Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors, students that have transport, do not consistently eat on campus, and are readily involved in activities. The restaurant will correlate order numbers with tables and this will upload to the app so the customer is able to access their order. This app has more of a focus on students, as they are growing with the new age of technology, and, in general, are time restricted by living busily. They also tend to have up to date and modern technology. Although parents and high school kids are also busy, students tend to have cards to pay with and the technology available for this. However, there are many more people that fit this demographic, as this app could benefit any one that eats at a restaurant and lives a busy lifestyle.

4)    Why do they care?

This app can help daily life and benefit both restaurants and customers. Restaurant business might think, what are they getting out of this? But saving time for customers also means that tables are cleared faster and new customers can fit in, meaning more productive flow of customers. Servers can also focus more on attending to customers ordering food and providing quality service as they have one less task to do. The stress of taking a long time for the check and receiving criticism from customers diminishes, meaning happier staff. Customers can save valuable time where they could be studying for a test, doing activities with friends, or going to appointments.

5)    What are core competencies? What sets apart from everyone else? What have that nobody else has?

EasyPay is a way to beat time. But beat time with things that you already have with you. You already have your phone, and you already have your card information, why not utilize them? This is focused on not only efficiency, but effectiveness also. Effectiveness which stems from being proactive and making the most of every day. Through my experience of restaurants in United States, New Zealand, and England, I can provide a unique perspective. I also have an advantage as I am an athlete and in the age where cell phones can assist everything. I also have access to athletes who live very busy lives for feedback.

Evaluation:

This is based off the idea that students will be using cards rather than cash, so by having a way that people paying with cash can signal the server, this helps too. I also think that being able to signal the server helps if the customer needs anything, as with Chili’s touch screens, if they freeze, they need a server to come and help. I believe I need to develop more skills about making an app, and also learn more about the experience of being a server, and what restaurants view about the waiting time. Therefore, I would get the business’s opinion too. I also have a problem when it comes to people who do not mind waiting. Some places already have solutions to this problem, so I would need to prove that mine is better, this could be through gathering more resources. Being an athlete and international student fits well with this plan but I definitely think the skills and experiences section is still lacking.

Feedback:

The two main points that I took away from the feedback I received was that it was a good idea to include a way for people paying cash to be involved in this. Therefore, I provided more detail about how this app could help them. This allowed me to expand my target demographic. My feedback also told me that places like Chili’s with the screens, sometimes have problems and need the server to help them with the screens. Therefore, I included in my idea napkin, a way for customers to contact the server as well. Just for more background information, I added how this business would play a role in my life and more details.