Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. 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?

I'm Jennie Carmody and I'm a girl who is passionate about sustainability and helping people. I aspire to make positive changes in people's lives by showing them the value of preserving the environment and being sustainable. My talents include baking gourmet desserts, playing basketball, and excelling at my job. I would say I have good people skills because I am personable and aim to make people feel comfortable. I have experience in the hospitality industry, being a front of house manager and also assistant events coordinator for a restaurant here in Gainesville. I also have experience in sustainable practices as I learned about sustainability while studying abroad in Australia for one month. The experience I had there really pushed me to live a more sustainable life and to encourage others to lead sustainable lives. I aspire to be an event planner who uses sustainable practices in business. I see this business concept expanding into other opportunities to use solar energy in people's everyday lives, and hopefully it will encourage students to find ways to be more sustainable. 

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 a way for students to be sustainable by using renewable energy (solar power). This will be free to all students who wish to use it, but there will be start-up costs that I will need to look into. This is a business not for profit, but for the greater good of society and the planet, which will hopefully lead to other Eco-friendly projects that could potentially bring in some cash!

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?

I am offering my product to students and people who visit the UF campus. Particularly, I am aiming to satisfy customers who value sustainability and try to be environmentally friendly while also raising awareness of how important it is to be sustainable.

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 product is unique in that it is free to customers, but the value that it will bring to the Uf campus will outweigh the costs of starting it. By implementing this product, UF will have another way for students to be sustainable on campus and show how easy it is to implement solar energy into products that can be used in everyday life. People who value the earth and believe that climate change is a big issue will care about this product and want to use it. 

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

I have experience living and learning about sustainable energy sources. While I studied abroad in Australia, I stayed in various places that were completely solar powered or used renewable energy, and it showed me just how capable everyone and every country on the planet is of using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. I think that what sets me apart is my passion for the environment and spreading my knowledge to other people who might not know about ways to use solar energy that could replace gasoline and oil.