29A Venture Concept No. 2

Planet Green

Opportunity:

I have identified an opportunity for an affordable vegan friendly restaurant with a diverse menu near the University of Florida campus. Most vegan students, teachers, and locals currently cook meals at their own homes or pay higher prices to eat the same vegan meal at local restaurants. Many University of Florida students are becoming vegan for the following reasons:

·      Healthy lifestyle

·      Environmental reasons

·      Animal rights

·      Self-image

This opportunity arises from the lack of healthy vegan friendly restaurants in the Gainesville area. Vegan students and locals are tired of eating the same meal at their sorority house or constantly cooking meals at home. Although some restaurants in Gainesville may offer a few limited vegan options, these restaurants usually only provide salad or beans. A healthy restaurant just opened in Gainesville; however, the restaurant charges exorbitant prices for vegan meals. Therefore, vegan customers are looking for an affordable, diverse menu in one restaurant.

The market for potential customers encompasses a broad range. After conducting interviews around campus, I found both male and females in the age ranges of 18-22 who decided to go vegan. Sorority girls at the University of Florida make up a higher percentage of vegans on campus than males at the University of Florida. Not only do undergraduate students partake in a vegan diet, but I have also discovered teachers in the 30-40 year old range who identified themselves as vegan. Athletes, body builders, and gym rats in the Gainesville area also maintain a vegan diet to maintain the best shape and health.

Potential customers are satisfying their needs through the following ways. Vegan sorority girls at the University of Florida are mainly eating the same salad from the salad bar at dinner. Some students are cooking all their meals at home to avoid eating the same meals daily. While some vegans prefer cooking at home, the vegans who like to eat at restaurants usually only have the option of Grill Fresh or Designer Greens with limited menu options. I should be able to persuade the customers who eat at their sorority houses and the other restaurants to purchase my vegan meals and eat at my restaurant to find the cheapest, most delicious options in Gainesville because they do not seem extremely loyal to these methods. After I market my restaurant properly and word of mouth spreads about the affordable prices and various options, I am sure I can convince the vegans who cook at home to step outside their comfort zone and try my restaurant.

This opportunity for a vegan friendly restaurant should exist for a time unless someone quickly capitalizes on this market with a major lack of competition in the Gainesville area. If I can open the first vegan friendly restaurant with decent prices and various options, I can maintain a huge competitive advantage and profit over future restaurants that may open.

Innovation:

I have developed an effective solution to the fully satisfy the unmet needs of vegans in the Gainesville community. Although my solution proposes a unique vegan restaurant, some restaurants do currently exist with vegan options in the Gainesville area. I plan on offering my potential customers a wide variety of vegan options on my menu for low prices. Not only will my restaurant use fresh ingredients shipped from all over the United States, but the staff will also be able to educate customers on the ingredients of every dish and the most popular meals. You can order vegan-friendly pizza, snacks, and meals for an affordable price. Instead of breaking the bank to keep a vegan lifestyle, you can actually afford the fresh, vegan friendly meals I will offer. I would ideally like to open my restaurant in the downtown Gainesville area as a family owned restaurant with a very warm and friendly atmosphere. The diverse menu will denote all the ingredients used in our specially designed recipes and the calorie count. In addition to serving customers inside our restaurant, we will offer takeout and delivery to accommodate the busy schedules of our customer base. I will make a profit by selling vegan friendly meals to my customer base for cheap prices. For example, I will offer vegan friendly pizza with different toppings for the low price of 5.99. When I first open the restaurant, I intend to offer special discounts to students in Greek Life and specific clubs to encourage them to try my restaurant.

Venture Concept:

My venture solves the problem of the lack of vegan friendly restaurants around campus. Potential customers will buy the diverse and delicious meals I am offering to satisfy their unmet need of healthy vegan foods in the Gainesville area. Customers will choose my restaurant over other restaurants and home cooked meals because I will provide the highest quality meals for an affordable price. Instead of paying high prices for meals in other restaurants, customers can purchase my uniquely designed healthy meals for a price that fits their budget.

I would create my restaurant by hiring servers, kitchen staff, and a social media marketing team. I assume I would probably have around fifty members on my staff to maintain the upkeep of the restaurant. The support of customers will disseminate the high quality and low prices to persuade other vegan customers in the area to eat at my restaurant. The customer experience also plays an important role because customers who have an excellent experience will become regular customers and encourage others to eat at my restaurant.

My venture’s unfair advantage is my unique business concept and lack of competitors in this industry. The unique meals and lack of competition provides me with a competitive advantage to capitalize on the market.

The next step in this venture is formulating the unique recipes for the restaurant and accumulating funds and sponsors to cover start-up costs. I plan on reaching out to family and friends to help me cover start-up costs.

I would like to see my restaurant running smoothly and satisfying the needs of vegans in Gainesville. If I can garner enough support, I would like to expand my vegan restaurant into a chain within the next decade. Expanding my restaurant into a nationwide chain will help me achieve my vision of owning multiple businesses and offering healthy food to the maximum amount of people.

Although I did not receive any feedback on my venture concept, I did improve a few parts of my venture concept. I decided to give students in specific organizations and clubs at UF a discount on my restaurant to garner their support. In addition to honing the innovation section, I included exactly how I intend to cover start up costs of my restaurant by reaching out to family and friends who may want to become potential donors. This venture concept has inspired me to build a healthy restaurant in Gainesville and expand it to other cities to maximize the availability of vegan restaurants nationwide.