Assignment 19A Idea Napkin No. 2

Assignment 19A Idea Napkin No. 2

1.Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically, regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

·                Most elements of this answer have not changed. I have been around the horse industry my entire life and have been working with racehorses for the past 27 years. I currently operate a training business with my husband in this area of high horse concentration, we are well known and respected for our work. I am now more aware of the degree of social capital that I have amassed in that time, this is a valuable resource that will carry over into this new business opportunity in my existing market.

I am familiar with the thought processes and motivations of horse owners because I am a horse owner. Completely unrelated to the horse world, I have been a massage therapist (for humans) for the past 19 years. Working in a therapeutic relationship requires a level of compassion and empathy. This experience would carry over into my proposed service of helping horse owners manage the aftercare of their deceased animals. I intend to continue to train from our farm while operating the horse cremation service separately.  I would like to transition from the very physical, hands-on role that our current business practice requires into a predominantly managerial position. After establishing the cremation service business, I would operate both the farm and the crematorium at different locations. I will construct a team to carry out the day to day activities of both the farm and the crematorium. I like the flexibility of self-employment, yet I aim to work fewer hours once the new business concept is functioning smoothly.

2.     What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

·                I am offering the service of whole horse cremation to highly emotionally and financially invested horse owners. My service includes ethical and respectful removal of remains that can be prearranged to coordinate with euthanasia or is available as needed during regular business hours seven days a week. The remains will be transported to a local facility where they will be cremated without dismemberment. The cremains will be available to the horse owner for memorial purposes along with various urn options. For horse owners unable to afford the expense of private whole horse cremation I can offer alternatives. The option of communal cremation will be available for a reduced fee, the cremains will then be spread in a designated memorial garden. As long as disposal is available at local landfills, we will offer transport services to accepting sites and will work with counties to provide an area separate from household refuse.  

I will be the first in this area of such high horse concentration to offer this service of

retrieval and cremation. Over 80,000 horses are owned in Marion County Florida, it is estimated that ten horses die every day in this area. Impending regulation will mandate an alternative to home burials and dumping.

3.              Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common? 

·                The option of whole horse cremation is aimed at the horse owner who sees these animals not just as livestock, but as pets or even family members. These are middle to upper-class individuals that have the income to support this type of animal care. This area is home to horse lovers that have spent hundreds of thousands to own their horses, for their pure enjoyment or as an investment. Aftercare that is proportionate to the upkeep provided throughout the animal’s life is a requirement for these owners that are not being met by the currently available options for removal. 

My target customers may be diverse in discipline and economic positioning, but they share a common perspective. These racehorse owners, breeding farms with prized stock, show horse owners, and backyard horse-people are influenced by their community of fellow owners and seek to follow norms in the areas of animal care and environmental responsibility.

·                The communal cremation is one step over from whole horse, respectfully reducing the animal's remains but without the expense of a private service. For the owner that wants to use a service that provides the utmost in dignity while using the most economic option of landfill disposal, that service will provide affordability.

4.     Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

·                My service will be the first in this area to offer this option to owners. Impending regulations limiting or banning home burial for the purpose of preserving soil and water quality will force owners of deceased horses to dispose of remains elsewhere. Currently, landfill or rendering plants are the only other options. For people who are willing to spend hundreds of thousands over the lifetime of these animals, a fitting memorial is a given. This community operates on word-of-mouth and shared experience, a positive cremation experience would trigger a chain of referrals. Although this is a service that is required in a limited capacity per individual, the size and scope of the community ‘will support the business.

5.              What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has?  

·                My core competencies are in the area of horsemanship, networking within this niche community, compassion, empathy for horse owners, 27-years operating a business within this community, and my detail-oriented strategic approach to developing and maintaining that business. I would be the first in this area to offer this service. I am recognized in the community for ethical, honest work practices and can use my existing connections with owners, trainers, veterinarian clinics, and county offices to launch and run this business.

In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. (For the "feedback memo" -- please summarize at least two main points that you took away from the feedback you received. Also, please describe how you incorporated the feedback into this idea napkin.) 

·                I believe that the combined elements of my personal identity, experience, intended service, local demographics, and my unique qualifications fit together for a solid business concept. The aspect that could present a conflict for me personally is the matter of being associated with the grim side of horse ownership. I have misgivings about the dual roles of training and deceased horse removal coordinator. I strongly believe in the need for such a service and can recognize the opportunity, yet I don’t want the operation to coexist on the one property with our current training center.

One main point that was made to me was to take advantage of the connections and reputation that I have already established within this market. To do this while developing and offering a somewhat morbid service feels challenging. I used that feedback to focus on the complementary aspect of horse cremation to general horse care. I don’t want to be seen as a horse undertaker, but this is a glaring need (opportunity) that must be met. Someone will fill the space if I don’t. Another piece of feedback was that few people are aware of the requirement for such a service. I tried to be as informative as possible with the simple mathematical facts about the number of horses that are likely to pass daily in this area.  

Assignment 20A-Growing Your Social Capital

Assignment 20A-Growing Your Social Capital 

Domain Expert:

Who they are, what their background is: 

Tim Ryan, owner of United Medical Waste Management Inc.

How this person is a “domain expert”: 

Tim and his company have over 20 years of pick-up, removal, and destruction of medical waste, which includes animal remains from veterinary offices and lab testing facilities in the northeast.

How I found and contacted this person: 

Tim also owns and races thoroughbreds and has been a training client for the past five years.

Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

I had been casually conversing with Tim about establishing and operating an equine crematorium in this area for the past year. We have spoken over meals, at our farm, and most recently, over the phone. He has shared detailed pricing information for incineration of animal remains his portion for retrieval and transport, also regulations specific to his territory in Mass. He made suggestions about including small animal work as well as seeking contracts with counties or the state in order to stabilize revenue flow. He’s making a lot of money (in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic) and plans to sell his company in the next two years. He wants to be kept updated on my project.

How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

With his industry experience, Mr. Ryan is a wealth of information and contacts. He likes to talk like he’s a bit of a gangster, which is an eyebrow-raiser considering he deals with the disposal of bodies. All kidding aside, Tim is a great person to bounce ideas off of and a valuable resource. 

Market Expert:

Who they are, what their background is: 

Joe Hennessy, a thoroughbred trainer, and farm business owner.

How this person is a “market expert”: 

Joe has worked with horses for forty years. He is very active in the local horse community, constantly on his phone building social capital with horse people of all disciplines. He is often sought out for advice

How I found and contacted this person: 

I have been sleeping with Joe for a while now (the last 26 years, we have two kids and a farm together).

Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

Obviously, we speak often, so I wanted to be somewhat formal in picking his brain about this business opportunity. He does not hold back when exploring the pros and cons of any of my ideas, if I want an honest response, this is where I will get it. Joe gave me a verbal laundry list of who might know even more on the topic of dead horse hauling and offered to help with research.  

How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

Joe is better at networking than I am, he is the face of our business, so this type of social capital exchange is right up his alley. He is the guy that people call to be bailed out of jail, fix a flat, or find a trainer to send to remote parts of the globe. He does a lot of favors so he can call them in when necessary, great guy to have on my team.

Industry Supplier:

Who they are, what their background is: 

Glen and Lisa Brown of Metro Animal Service. Second Generation owners of pet crematory service based in Illinois.

How this person is an “industry supplier”: 

This family has been providing the same service that I intend to offer, but in a different state and in an area without such high horse concentration as Marion County FL.

How I found and contacted this person: 

I came across their business’s site while searching for information on whole-horse cremation.

Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: 

I have reached out via email and have yet to hear back from them. They would not be competitors so I hope that if they have time, one of them would be willing to do me the “favor” of sharing some information.

How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: 

I believe in this business in theory but really would love to talk to experts in the market that have been in practice as long as they have. I am concerned about equipment procurement and maintenance, for example. They would have answers to these concerns.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

• I like this approach to researching for the business opportunity. I have been working in this market, albeit in a very different capacity. Everything gets done based on social capital, I am accustomed to that. I have taken it for granted that anytime we need to know something or need a connection, we just think, “now who would know that?” and in a matter of a few phone calls, you either have the answer or a connection to someone who will. Of course, this means you have to be willing to do a solid for someone else should the need arise. In my experience, people jump at the chance to be of service, this maybe because it’s like money in the bank when a favor is owed.

Assignment 18A

Assignment 18A- Create a Customer Avatar

My customer is a married 40-58-year-old white woman from the northeastern US or possibly the northern Midwest. She lives the majority of the year in Florida but maintains a home on the north shore of Massachusetts, and a slope-side condo in Colorado, oh, and the co-op overlooking Central Park.

I say that she is married, because she’s not divorced, yet she makes her decisions independently of her husband, and probably lives the majority of the year away from him. She most likely comes from money and is very well educated, has had several years in a career that she found satisfying, (law), and has grown children whose lives have taken a similar path. True, there’s a trust fund, but her parents were self-made so the work ethic is there. She owns a 10-acre hobby farm in Ocala where she performs all the barn and land maintenance tasks that she feels compelled to. Sometimes she tells her massage therapist how she thinks she really was cut out for blue-collar work, ”I feel so centered when I sweat!” The therapist rolls her eyes knowing that if the work wasn’t so optional, it wouldn’t be so “centering”.

She drives a Range Rover (next year’s), something small, convertible, and foreign, and has a duel wheeled pickup truck with a trailer in tow.

She has some kind of auto-immune condition. Mysterious but debilitating at times.

She loves her horses. She buys horses from Europe through younger Irish or Dutch Bloodstock Agents, former wunderkind prodigies of the jumping world. They see her coming a mile away, overcharge her for unsound horses that she imports and breeds. 

 Soon her farm is too full, she can’t bring herself to sell the young horses or part with the veterans, then one old horse develops laminitis and needs to be euthanized, this is where Equine Memorial Services steps in with the option of Whole Horse Cremation, complete with imported prestige rosewood case for the ashes.

What do I have in common with her? I ‘m a 45-year-old married white lady from New England. I do a load of farm work (not always as centering as one might assume). I have a love for horses in general, yet don’t get quite as attached. I have grown (ish) kids. I am married to an Irish guy but wouldn’t buy a horse off him.

I don’t think this is a coincidence. I have known this woman several times over. I have worked with her, for her (including the massage therapy part). This is who wants to cremate her horse in one piece and keep the ashes in one of her well-appointed living rooms.

Elevator Pitch Comments 17A

After receiving comments on my first pitch, I changed up the background and made it more apparent that I was standing up, used my hands more and attempted to be more engaging. 

That was useful feedback. After my public speaking class, I was afraid to use distracting hand motions but in an elevator pitch, more expression is appropriate for sure. 

Elevator Pitch 2

Assignment 16A What’s Your Secret Sauce?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wLkT5FizYY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnxssUi4gFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXPAYsRzt70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPLoXvmKuTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFHjH0taeac

Assignment 16A What’s Your Secret Sauce?

Five ways in which I think I have Human Capital:

1. Empathy- I have a willingness and ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. I can often see the situation from the vantage point of others.
2. Self-awareness- I know myself well and am conscious of the effect of my actions on others. I accept who I am and know to capitalize on my strengths
3. Communication skills- I have tapped into the power of listening, creating space for others to reveal their needs, fears, gifts, and knowledge.
4. Growth mindset -I am committed to lifelong learning and curiosity. 
5. Determination- I have a huge capacity for suffering in pursuit of a goal. This could be running a marathon, running a small business, 20 hour days as a parent, or entire weekends on the laptop for online classes.

Interviews:

Information provided here: 5 RECORDED INTERVIEWS.

Reflection: 
Okay, so I feel like they have my eulogy prepared if they should need one anytime soon. I was happy to hear that these five loved ones hit on the qualities that I happen to find most important. I’m not sure what the market value is for finding the humor in shitty situations but I have had a load of practice on that front as my sister pointed out. It appears that I have had the effect of helping others see their own strengths, I am curious to see how that could translate into entrepreneurial development. The confidence part makes me chuckle, I often feel so ill-equipped and have to fake bravery until I actually feel secure. Perhaps that’s an important skill in itself.

Assignment 15A

Assignment 15A- Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

Findings and conclusions from three interviews:

            I wanted to speak to people that were not particularly inclined to go to the expense of whole horse cremation. These utilitarians simply want a way to responsibly dispose of the inevitable result of so many aging horses in one area.

*My first interview came about organically when a vet came to the farm to remove some post-surgical stitches. He related a story about an acquaintance that waited so long for the removal of a deceased horse that he obtained permits himself and secured “dumping” rights at a neighboring county’s landfill. He bought a winch trailer and intends to offer removal service to others. There is such a need in our area for this service, with few options, horse owners will do whatever is necessary. We are talking about 1000 lbs of decomposing material.

*The next conversation revealed the desire of this segment member for her animal’s body to be used for research. It used to be common practice to donate a live horse to a university program but I do not think that the option is available for a previously deceased horse. Arrangements would have been made. Animal testing is not what it used to be. Forgive my being graphic, but limbs used for surgical practice can be obtained from the local rendering facility. This option of being a body donor would be available to so few if at all.

*That last individual was very heated about the subject of dead horse removal but was not focused on cremation in any way. He just wanted a fast, cheap, but ethical option. He thought the county should create a space considering the amount of revenue that the horse industry brings to the local economy.

My findings indicate that there is a separate need for simple removal without any conditions for what happens to the body afterward, they just need the remains gone. In the time that these interviews were conducted, there was a major shakedown in the racing world targeting those accused of doping horses. Part of the crackdown involved the disposal of the equine victims of the dangerous PEDs. This brought up a conversation around documentation of disposal for all registered racehorses. That will be an additional regulation likely to determine consumer behavior.