Assignment #4A

Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an opportunity on UF campus regarding restaurant choices. As of right now, it seems there is a complete lack of inexpensive, healthy options for students. Almost all on-campus dining sites are fast food and those students who wish to eat a healthy meal have extremely limited options on campus. I have noticed this need throughout my four years here at University of Florida, and I am sure this need existed before I got here. There is only one truly healthy option on campus currently in Croutons, and that specifically applies to those who like salads. For the remainder of the UF student body that tries to eat healthy, they are forced to either pack a lunch or go off campus to eat, which is troublesome for those with busy schedules or lack of transportation. My business opportunity would be a restaurant catered to those who exercise and value nutrition, by offering high protein meals such as chicken or beef with rice and vegetables, while avoiding the high oil, high fat meals that are currently offered throughout much of the fast food restaurants on campus. As someone who tries to eat healthy myself and have lived on campus my first year here at UF, I am 100% sure that this opportunity exists.

1.       My girlfriend Fern, known for her nutritional and exercise experience at UF

a.       Q: Do you feel UF has enough on campus dining spots catered to those who value eating healthy and working out?

                                                               i.      A: Honestly not at all, the only on campus restaurant that I can think of that isn’t fast food is Crouton’s in Reitz, and I don’t really think they are that good either. I’ve eaten there once and it wasn’t something that I would be thrilled to eat again.

b.       Q: When do you feel the need of a healthier restaurant on campus is most apparent?

                                                               i.      Only on the days that I didn’t have time to pack a lunch or go home to eat. Even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t eat out all the time just for the sake of doing so.

c.       Q: If UF was to begin implementing healthier options on campus, do you see yourself going out of the way to eat there?

                                                               i.      A: Probably, there are a lot of days when I am stuck on campus between classes and don’t have enough time to go back home to eat, but I don’t want to eat on campus either since most of my options are fast food. If UF added another restaurant focused on health, I could see myself eating there on the days I can’t go home.

d.       Q: What food options would you like to see at this restaurant were it to be opened?

                                                               i.      A: I would like to see something more along the lines of Vale or Bolay, something quick but not sacrificing health for it. Those restaurants are great because you can choose your own proteins, carbs, and vegetables without having to stress to much about fats and other high calorie foods that are often found in fast food restaurants.

e.       Q: What are you currently doing for food knowing that UF doesn’t have healthy options on campus the days that you have class?

                                                               i.      A: A lot of the days I will meal prep something for the breaks I have between classes, or try and squeeze time to go home so that I can avoid eating out.

2.       My friend Palmer, who I know doesn’t watch what he eats but does value exercising

a.       Q: Do you feel UF has enough on campus dining spots catered to those who value eating healthy and working out?

                                                               i.      A: I can’t really think of one off the top of my head. Most of the time when I eat on campus, I eat Chick-Fil-A so I’ve never even really looked into it.

b.       Q: When was the first time you’ve realized UF’s lack in healthy food options?

                                                               i.      A: I didn’t really think much about it until you just asked me. I’m not really like you in the sense that I’m not always cautious of what I eat. If I’m hungry I will usually just eat at the tastiest place for the cheapest price.

c.       Q: If UF was to begin implementing healthier options on campus, do you see yourself going out of the way to eat there?

                                                               i.      A: That depends on a couple of things for me to be honest. If it has good food and it isn’t as expensive as most “healthy” restaurants, I could see myself trying to eat there over Chick-Fil-A. Location on campus is important too though, if it’s in a weird spot on campus I’d probably just go eat at home instead.

d.       Q: Are there ever times when you are craving a healthy meal on campus but can’t due to lack of restaurants?

                                                               i.      A: Yes actually. This happened to me the first week of school when I wasn’t feeling too good and wanted a lighter healthy meal, but couldn’t really think of anywhere on campus so I decided to get Pita Pit at Mid.

e.       Q: Are you satisfied by having to go to Mid to grab a healthy meal or do you think opening healthy restaurants on campus would be a better alternative?

                                                               i.      A: I think having on campus options would definitely be better for students who don’t have transportation or time to go and eat off campus. The Chick-Fil-A I usually go to is in The Hub, if there was a good, healthy restaurant there I would eat there all the time.

3.       My friend Mitchell, who is vegetarian

a.       Q: Do you feel UF has enough on campus dining spots catered to those who value eating healthy and working out?

                                                               i.      No, not really. Being vegetarian it’s often hard enough for me to find somewhere to eat on campus, and if I do it’s usually a below average salad from Wendy’s in Reitz.

b.       Q: If UF implemented a healthier restaurant, catered to those who value eating healthy and included Vegetarian options, do you see yourself eating there more when on campus?

                                                               i.      A: Yes, if it’s in a good spot on campus and it isn’t insanely expensive, I would choose that overeating fast food restaurant salads. One of the biggest problems with being vegetarian is a lot of the times I feel like my only option is to eat a salad, and since I work out and stuff a lot it would be nice to have some meals high in protein and carbs without just eating lettuce.

c.       Q: How long have you noticed this lack of healthy options on campus?

                                                               i.      A: Surprisingly enough, I didn’t really notice until I decided to become vegetarian sophomore year. That was when I realized there’s not really anything here for people who eat healthy or like a good vegetarian meal. It kind of sucks because a lot of the time I have to actually go all the way back home to eat, which puts a time constraint on me the days I have small gaps between my classes.

Reflection: It was very interesting to interview three people with unique views on eating habits and health, so I feel I got a nice range of views on the potential for success for my opportunity. For example, when interviewing my girlfriend, I already knew she’d likely feel UF had a lack of adequate healthy options on campus and would likely support the idea, which she did. However, I thought it was intriguing that both Palmer and Mitchell also heavily supported the idea, mainly because I know Palmer never really cares about how healthy his meal is, just as long as it tastes good and is cheap. As for Mitchell, getting a vegetarian view on the matter was also interesting because I was curious to see how a more “niche” market would react to the idea, and based on his interview I feel vegetarians would also be viable customers to a healthier restaurant on campus. I mainly learned that there is an opportunity for a healthy restaurant on campus, however I do feel it may be a little harder to attract students who don’t really care about what they are eating unless the restaurant is truly delicious.

Summary: I believe a large amount of my original opportunity is still there, however after speaking to Palmer I am a little more skeptical about the ease in attracting students who aren’t so adamant about eating healthy and exercising, unless the restaurant is successful in delivering a low price or very delicious food. I believe my opportunity is indeed more accurate than when I started. This is largely because I felt all students would feel how I do about the lack of restaurants that deliver healthy food on campus but after the interviews I don’t feel that is necessarily true. College students often value time and money, if they get health along with those two aspects I think they just view that as an added bonus. Therefore, by realizing I need to deliver on either of those aspects for my opportunity to be successful, I think that is much more well-rounded of a belief than what I had thought initially. I feel there is definitely a trade off between adapting to customer feedback and staying firm in the sense that you must value potential customers opinions and thoughts on certain matters involving your opportunity, largely because this is the market you are trying to cater to. However, if you begin to bend too much to what other people’s opinions are, you may lose sight of your original plan solely because other people told you to. Instead, I think it is best to take customer feedback into account, and to see if you can manipulate your opportunity to emulate this feedback.