Assignment 20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1.     Who they are, what their background is: Julie ( I will not state the name of any of my interviewees for safety reasons), moved from Vietnam, has lived in the area for many years, is married and has 3 children

2.     How this person is a “domain expert”: She owns a nail salon in the Tampa Bay area. I have been going to the nail salon that she owns for a very long time. She works with all kinds of nail polish and nail products.

3.     How I found and contacted this person: I had her as my nail technician when I was getting my nails done.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: As Julie did my nails, I told her about my business idea. She told me that she thinks it could be a very successful idea if I were able to test it in labs to make sure it was safe and true to its word. She said she would definitely buy it for her salon, especially since many of her customers are busy mothers who also have jobs.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: It was interesting to get her take on my product idea. Even with her salon’s services being relatively inexpensive, most customers spend around $50 every time they come in. Many of her customers are regulars and come in every 2 weeks, she said. Speaking to a “nail expert” was very helpful because I got to listen to her side of being a nail technician and how they run their business (which products to buy).

Market Expert:

1.     Who they are, what their background is: Lexy is a girl in my sorority here at UF.

2.     How this person is a “market expert”: I could not find someone who researches information about nail polish, so I spoke with a friend who frequently gets her nails done.

3.     How I found and contacted this person: Lexy is in my sorority, so I spoke with her at meals.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: I asked her some questions about getting her nails done such as how often she goes, how long she spends there, and how much money she spends. I also pitched my product idea to her and asked if she would be interested in purchasing my product. She said she loved the idea and would definitely give it a try.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: Lexy is someone who is a part of my target audience. It was nice to know that someone in my age group would be interested in using this product.

Industry Supplier:

1.     Who they are, what their background is: Lucy

2.     How this person is a “industry supplier”: She works as a manager in sales at a Target in the Tampa Bay area. She works with other sales managers in the area to determine what kinds of products they will and will not sell.

3.     How I found and contacted this person: I was shopping at Target and asked to speak with a manager. I spoke with her one-on-one.

4.     Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation: I told her about this class and the product idea I have. She explained to me the process of how they decide which product to sell based on location.

5.     How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity: Now that I know the process of how Target decides what they will sell (which I’m sure is pretty similar across the board), I know what I need to focus on if I continue with this business idea beyond this class.

Finally: Reflect. I think that doing this assignment will benefit me a lot in future networking events. I loved having to go find people to interview for each of these parts. It was fun to go and find someone who did a certain job and ask them questions about their job and about what they thought about my product. With this experience, because I liked the subject, I was more into the networking aspect. I felt like I was actually making this idea come to life. For future networking events, I will try to be more attentive to peoples responses and ask them more in-depth and follow up questions.