Frank ( Roommate, UF Student)- When I spoke to Frank I asked him how many times a week does he usually go out late at night and how many of those times does he find himself getting food. He admitted he always gets McDonalds after a late night out and it is something he was trying to stop but he says he is always hungry. He supported my business idea and said it would do wonders for his health. He says he does nit eat McDonalds every single time by choice its just that is the only place open late. He says this need always hits him as soon as he is either on the way home or already lying in bed.
Carlos (Roommate, UF student)- When I spoke to Carlos for fifteen minutes about this food problem in Gainesville and what I learned is that he too believes places should be open at such late hours. Being in a college town he too goes out to parties, clubs and bars at somewhat frequently and after the night is over he is hungry and has no options to eat besides McDonalds and TacoBell. Unlike Frank, Carlos just cooks when he gets home or does not eat at all. Carlos said the need always hits him once is home the hunger just slaps him and he is left with the choice of either going to bed hungry or making some mediocre food from leftovers.
Gilbert (Classmate at UF)- Speaking to Gilbert for twenty minutes about this idea in the basement inside of the Marston Library, he as well had this issue. Unlike Frank and Bello instead of staying late night out by Mid Town he says he either is at the library or gym everyday easily till 1am, which I thought was a bid different. So I then asked him how many others he would he say the library studying around that time in which he responded by saying it is actually quite full. This opened up a whole new group pf customers I had not even thought of. This can give me the possibility to maybe have a food truck next to the library or just simply deliver it to students who do not have the time to stop studying.
To conclude, I see where this segment of business concept truly lies. The key to the business is to be open late at night, and what is frustrating to the customer is when they have this need their only options to solve the problem is by either wasting their valuable time cooking or having to settle for low quality food that just makes them feel bad afterward. Therefore, there really is a need to solve this issue that UF students are facing weekly.
Hey David I really enjoyed reading your post. I think you really helped yourself out with these interviews. Based off of your conclusions, it seems like you learned a lot from the questions you asked. One point you made that I strongly agree with is that it is important to be open late. I think I can speak for most students here at UF that we tend to eat/order food from places that are open after hours. Places like Dominos, McDonalds, etc do a lot of business in the later hours of the day when other places are closed.
ReplyDeleteHi! I think that the idea of an on campus food truck is very intriguing. There is no shortage of people who traverse campus daily and with a food truck you could always place yourself in the middle of the action. And then when it was night time you cold move downtown. You would always be right on top of the people.
ReplyDeleteHey David,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the conclusions you came to from the interviews conducted. Just as the people you interviewed say that they normally eat fast food such as McDonalds and feel bad about it afterwards, I feel the same way. I hate how the only restaurants open late are ones that have really low quality ingredients. I always wake up the next day disappointed in not only my choices from the night before but what I ate as well.