4A - Forming an Opportunity Belief

1)    I believe that there is an opportunity for a coffee shop to be built in my neighborhood.

2)    The unmet need is not being able to get a quality cup of coffee and not being able to get the unique experience of being in a coffee shop. The people who have this need are people who really enjoy coffee, students or anyone in the workforce, or anyone who enjoys going to a coffee shop as a hangout. This need comes from the fact that we used to have a Starbucks years ago in a nearby shopping center that was a 10-minute drive from our house however, ever since they closed it the next closest one is around a 20-minute drive. This is a huge inconvenience for anyone who would like to simply grab a cup of coffee. In order to meet this need now, people are resorting to getting lower quality coffee at other locations such as McDonalds, brewing their own coffee at home, or spending gas on driving to the next closest coffee shop. I am 90% sure that this opportunity exists.

3)    People who enjoy coffee, students, people in the workforce, people who like to hang out in coffee shops

4)    Iteration No. 1: Viviana Pellon

Viviana is a hard working mother who works every week day along with every other Saturday. She is very busy and under a lot of stress from work so she tries to find time to relax and unwind when she can. She really enjoys coffee especially when she gets to drink it from a ceramic cup instead of a plastic to-go one which seems more casual. It’s hard for her to enjoy these kinds of moments when there is no coffee shop nearby. She resorts to driving to the closest Starbucks when she can which is actually quite far away. Overall, she is not satisfied with having to drive so far in order to fulfill her need for wanting Starbucks or other quality coffee choices.

Iteration No. 2: Alberto Pellon

Alberto is a father who is also busy with work all week long and sometimes has long commutes to other cities. He has always enjoyed having his cup of coffee in the morning before work. Having a coffee shop so far away makes it difficult for him to fulfill this need especially when he needs to get to work on time. To fulfill this need he take the time on the weekend when he can to go to McDonalds since it is the closest. He is not satisfied with this because of the lower quality of the coffee but it is the closest thing to him.

Iteration No. 3: Josefina Puertas

Josefina is a retired older woman who has always enjoyed drinking coffee throughout the day. She is dependent on her relatives to take her places since she does not drive so it is not ideal that if she would like to go into a coffee shop to enjoy some coffee the closest one is at least 20 minutes away. Her current solution to this problem is making her own coffee at home or waiting till a relative could take her. She is not so satisfied with this as this may not be able to happen as frequently as she would like and being at home is not the same as being in the ambiance of a coffee shop.

5)    I learned that my opportunity is something that other people would like to happen. All three of my iterations shared the same thoughts and feelings that I have towards this opportunity. What was most surprising is that all of them are as dissatisfied as I am about not having a coffee shop that is closer to us in order to enjoy its drinks and the overall experience.

6)    Done.

7)    I believe that my complete original opportunity is still there if not more since everyone shared the same feelings about it. I believe that it is more accurate now since I have other people that can testify that they would like this kind of opportunity to be fulfilled if it is possible. I think that every entrepreneur should always stick to the core message or meaning behind their opportunities but in the end should be flexible with what their customers have to say since in the end, these are the people who will help decide if the opportunity becomes a success or not. So there should definitely be a balance between the two.