Domain Expert
1. I spoke to Ben Gold, manager of a local Walgreens in South Florida
2. He is a domain expert because he manages a store that sells various cleaning products and personal hygiene products.
3. I found this person while shopping in the local store and told him about my assignment and asked if he could talk for a few minutes.
4. He gave me some good information on how I should frame and market the product, specifically for its easy-to-use, on-the-go qualities. All he expected in return was my customer loyalty to the Walgreens.
5. This will give me a potential contact if I ever want to sell my product in pharmacies such as Walgreens.
Marketing Expert
- I spoke to my friend Andrew, the co-owner of a local cooler selling business that sells coolers for college organization formal events.
- He fits this slot because he also sells to college students as his primary market.
- I know him personally, as he is a member of my fraternity.
- I have known him for a while, so he did not necessarily expect a return favor, but I continue to use and refer to his company to my friends.
- The benefit of such a relationship is that he gave me advice on how to reach the market of young adults, which mainly included using a lot of social media since it is cheap and can reach a lot of people in a short amount of time.
Supplier
- I spoke to a mutual friend named Stephen, who works for a company that supplies Target with many of its cleaning products.
- This person fits into this slot because he works for a large, national supplier of a similar good.
- I found this person after reaching out to a friend to see if he knew anybody who worked for a supplier.
- Our exchange was rather short and he did not really ask for anything in return outside of asking me a few market/supplier research questions about his business. All in all, I just took a short survey.
- The benefit of this is that I now have a contact in the supplier business as well as the fact that I made a connection with someone who could introduce me to other people that would expand my network.
Reflect: This differed from some previous networking experiences I have had because it really made me step outside my comfort zone and not only talk to new people, but talk to older people that were not necessarily me peers. However, I am glad I did so because it had the positive impact of growing my overall network.
Hey Max,
ReplyDeleteFrom what you have written in your social capital, it looks like that you have contacted three great people for your opportunity. I think that having a friend as someone who is familiar with the supply chain of businesses like Target is essential in order to have insider knowledge that can be trusted to get your product on the shelves of businesses. And it is good to hear that you had a positive experience talking to older people that are not your peers.
Best,
Austin Felter
Hi Max,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have identified great experts and a supplier that were able to give you valuable insight into some of the real world aspects of your opportunity. I agree with your reflection in the uniqueness of this assignment. It was a nice introduction in the real aspects of business and what comes with it. Great work.
Best,
Reed Blevins
Hey Max,
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you were able to identify all the experts you required in your field. I am glad to see that it benefited you by making you look to those who are older and wiser in your field. Hopefully from the information you have gathered you will be able to continue developing your business concept and maybe even taking some recommendations from them.
All the best,
Luis