19A

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?
My name is Ayla Adams. I am a junior transfer student who has just begun my first semester as a Business Administration major at the University of Florida. I have an undeniable passion for sustainability and eco-friendly alternatives in our increasingly wasteful world. I would describe my key skills to be my logical pattern of thinking and my desire for continuous learning. If I were to start this business, I would fully commit my time and attention to it. I believe it is imperative that people strive to reduce and reuse in order to save the planet for generations to come. This idea means a lot to me because many families are unaware of how harmful everyday products can be. If starting this business means more families can live happier and healthier, it would be very rewarding to me as a conscious consumer.


2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs).

For customers, we are striving to provide an app which can be useful when shopping at various stores. This app would allow consumers to scan the barcode located on said item, and receive a score based on their personal preferences for ingredients they are aiming to avoid, such as DEA-related ingredients and other harmful chemicals like parabens. This would allow curious shoppers to make health-conscious decisions for themselves and their families by avoiding these chemicals and avoiding illnesses linked to these toxic ingredients. Another market to target would people with allergies or other dietary restrictions. This app could prove useful for people who are looking to avoid virtually any type of ingredients, making it an extremely personalized experience.


3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

This product is for curious consumers who are ready to make an attempt at clean living by not bringing toxic chemicals into their homes or using these harmful ingredients on their bodies. Conscious consumers and mothers are the primary demographic for this app. These people are most primarily concerned with ingredients more so than the price they are paying. This app is also for people who have various allergies and dietary restrictions as one could also be looking to avoid ingredients pertaining to that. All of my customers are looking for an easier way to detect ingredients within products they are looking to avoid.


4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe it’s valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service.
The customer using my product care deeply about the company making the products, and the ingredients used within them. Conscious consumers don't want to support companies who don’t have families best interest in mind. Many of these companies use marketing ploys to appeal to these consumers, yet are not meeting their expectations. I believe this app would be become increasingly used more by consumers because of the recent “call out culture” and documentary series which explain the effects of these toxic chemicals. Many people are pursuing healthier lifestyles and using my app would help the consumer make it a smoother experience.


5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?

My core competencies include the barcode scanning method. This method brings this entire concept to a new level of efficiency. In scanning the barcode customers are able to avoid looking up individual ingredients, and also, saving them time from looking up a product by name. There are few websites/apps that explain ingredient lists in a competent, and easy to understand manner for consumers. Yet, they don't include a scan the barcode feature which acts as my competitive advantage. There is also a personalization component involved in the app. Any specific ingredient one can choose to flag so that when a barcode is scanned, one is immediately notified on whether or not the product includes said ingredient.


In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others.

I believe my business is very cohesive and overall, works well together. In modern day, many mothers don't have the time to sit down and research ingredients lists and companies in which they want to avoid. My app makes it simple to shop consciously, and efficiently. In allowing customers to scan while their shopping, they’re cutting out the extra time one may spend doing this research on their own. I believe interest in ingredients will continue to grow as more documentaries, and information about the harmful effects of these ingredients is revealed. Until then, my primary consumer base is people who are highly conscious of the companies they support, and the ingredients they use. Marketing is very important to the success of this idea because it is an app for consumers to use while shopping. I believe my customer base would be a very targeted demographic which is why effective marketing is crucial to ensure I reach my targeted customers. This could be considered a more "out of joint" component to my idea because it is a niche market. 

Feedback Memo: My classmates seemed to think I had a cohesive idea with this app. It was suggested that I also market the app to people with special diets, dietary restrictions, and allergies. I included this within questions #2 and #3 by stating that people who are avoiding ingredients in that regard could also find this app useful. It was also noted that marketing would be a crucial component to the success of the app since it is to a targeted demographic. I agreed with this because I don’t think that this app is for the everyday person since many people are prone to go with the more inexpensive options. I decided to touch on this in number six when I discuss the weaker and more disjointed components of my idea.