4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

Forming An Opportunity Belief

1.     One belief of an opportunity that I believe exists is in restaurants. I work at a restaurant and see a lot of people become unhappy and anxious when they do not receive immediate service. 

2.     In this case, the unmet need is the utilization of technology to its capabilities to enhance a customer’s restaurant experience.  Any customer who is in a time crunch or is hungry has this need. This need has always existed as restaurants typically rely on people to take customer’s orders rather than technology devices. I see a few big corporation restaurants put tablets on the table for customers to pay and order dessert, which is one step closer to this need being fulfilled. I am 75% sure that this opportunity exists at this point. 

3.     The prototypical customer in this case is a restaurant goer who wants prompt service.

4.     In this case, I spoke with one of the regular customers that come into my restaurant. They believed that a fully self-service experience ordering through tablets and getting prompt service would be beneficial. They become aware of this need during busy times when their server is unable to get to them as quickly as they would like to take their order. They said that this need has existed forever. They first became aware of it when they had a theatre show to attend one night and were late because they came in and were not given prompt service, having had to wait extensively for their server to take their order and get it through to the kitchen to be prepared. They say that at this time they have not taken any actions to address this need. 

5.     Upon reflection, I have learned that this opportunity does exist and would be beneficial to a lot of people. However, in talking with these customers, I also came to realize that utilizing technology to create a fully self-service experience would take from the interactive experience of dining out. For instance, regular customers of a restaurant enjoy interacting with their servers and forming relationships with them. The most surprising thing I learned about my opportunity is that there is a big downside when it comes to people who wish to go for the experience of interacting with others. 

A. The prototypical customer in this case is someone who is in a time crunch.

B. I spoke with a customer who came into my restaurant who rushed to counter to order a to-go and seemed to be in a crunch for time. I asked him if he believed there was a need for a quick option to get service without having to rely on people for taking his order      and he believed there was. He said it was in times like this where he was in a rush to get to his kid’s school event where he said it would be beneficial to having a self-service       option to getting his food as quickly as possible. At this given time, the restaurant was     not very busy, and he received very prompt service, but he did admit that he has          experienced prior instances in which he needed quick service and was not granted it. 

C. Upon reflecting on our very brief encounter, I learned that this opportunity exists but        with a twist. I believe the customer made a great point in mentioning that this        opportunity should be given as an option only for those who want it. The most     surprising thing I learned about my opportunity is that it can be extremely beneficial as an option, rather than being. set-in-stone. Now, only people who need it can use it.

A. The prototypical customer is one who is hungry.  

B. In this case, I talked with my girlfriend, who is always hungry when we go out and wants   immediate service. She is not one who goes as much for the experience, but rather for the convenience. She experiences this need quite often and became aware of it at a recent visit to a local diner, where we had to wait 10 minutes for our server to even         come over and bring us drinks. She says she first became aware of it a long time ago          when she almost walked out of a restaurant because it had seemed like she was forgotten, having to wait extensively for a server to even greet her. She now addresses   this need by ordering over the phone, so she doesn’t need to wait for her food, she   rather places the order and by the time she arrives it is ready. She is satisfied with this     solution but wishes there was a quicker way to dine out. 

C. I learned that a self-service restaurant would be most beneficial for a customer who is      very hungry and still wants to dine out while also having their food prepared as quickly      as possible. The most surprising thing I learned about my opportunity here is that this     option would really be the best of both worlds, as customers could eat as promptly or as      slowly as they wish.  

7.     There is no doubt that my opportunity belief changed as a consequence of my customer interactions. I do still believe that the opportunity is still there, however I located a lot of obstacles. In my encounters with the customers that I interviewed, the two main setbacks I face with this opportunity is that some people are not technologically savvy and may have a difficult time with sending their orders through a tablet, and that having everything be self-service would take from the interactive experience of dining out. I believe a new opportunity has arisen though, in offering tablets only to those who want them. Now, people who are in need of immediate service can get it, and those who want to enjoy an experience and want to interact can do so. I believe customer feedback is essential to locating opportunities and entrepreneurs should absolutely adapt based on it.