Assignment 19A

1. My name is Joe Sanders and I am a fourth-year food and resource economics major here at UF. I think I am pretty good at interacting with people. I like to think I’m someone people are comfortable talking to and somebody who can talk to anyone about anything with ease. This helps me during interviews when I am trying to gather information about the needs and situations of those who might be interested in my product. With my experience in both customer service and as a supervisor, I know that not always are people aware of the true nature of their needs. One day I would really like to own and operate my own business, but that’s not something that absolutely has to happen. If this business were to take off and become something real, I could see myself spending the time to develop this into a full-blown business. I think the bag is something that could really benefit a lot of people and a business based on that would be interesting.
2. The unmet need I am looking to solve is the need for a bag that can double as both a small overnight bag and a large out-of-the-country bag. The bag I have come up with has zippers along the edges so that it can be unzipped and expanded. This allows the bag to be either small or large, depending on the needs of the consumer. The adaptability provides ease of storage and space if somebody buys items on a vacation and are coming home with more than they started.
3. Many people have small homes or apartments and don’t have the space to store two bags, or even just a large one. This will allow people with not much storage space to own just one bag for all their traveling needs. This bag would also be very helpful to people who travel a lot and bring back souvenirs. The bag would be small enough on the flight there that it could be carried on, and on the way home when it’s full of souvenirs (and been expanded) it could be checked. These potential customers all have a common need of being unable to have multiple bags for a trip, with different restrictions as to why.
4. In my interviews, I have found that people like the bag because it gives them an option for having just one bag and not needing to worry about trying to store two of them or finding the right bag to cater to each trip. Being a college student I know that many of us live in small living spaces, and personally, I don’t have a large bag because I have nowhere to keep it and because I am normally traveling for a weekend maximum. This bag would allow college students to use the same bag that they use to go home a visit parents, to take a trip abroad with their friends over spring break. The bag would also have removable wheels (think along the lines of Heely’s) so the bag could easily be moved and wheeled around when it is in the expanded (and most likely heavier) state.
5. What sets me apart from others is my ability to communicate and gather information. I was able to refine my understanding of the target market because the people I interviewed gave me good answers to the questions I was asking, but if I wasn’t able to ask the right questions I wouldn’t be getting helpful information.

I believe these elements all work well together because it allows me to understand who exactly might be interested in my product. It also works well because with a relatively simple concept for a product, understanding the need exactly is extremely important. My position as a college student helps me find other college students to interview and with that, I am able to specifically identify what might make somebody interested in the bag, as well as what would turn them away.

I really didn’t receive much feedback on my first idea napkin, but I was suggested that wheels on the bag would make it much easier to move around. I really liked this idea because the bag is all about being easy for the consumer and helping them by being adaptable for every situation, so wheels really would help those times when the bag is just too heavy. Since I had no other feedback I decided to take the idea of wheels further with removable wheels, that way the wheels won’t be in the way while they aren’t needed. I know wheels can be clunky so being able to remove them allows the bag to be small and lightweight when it's just being used for the small size.