Sunday, January 31, 2016

Interviewing Customers No. 1

One night, my friends and I had an idea to open a restaurant. Specifically, it was a restaurant idea that would cater to late night breakfast needs of people who have been out and just want good food before they go to bed. Obviously these places exist (fast food, Denny’s, IHOP, etc.). However, the idea we had was to make the restaurant a far greater experience, especially late at night. The most prominent place to run a business such as this would most likely be in various college towns. Ideal locations are most likely in midtown (where I conducted my interviews), or other college towns. Ideal locations would be the strip at FSU, near UCF campus, and areas where college bars are popular. I asked a series of questions. The questions were along the lines of: How often do you eat out? Are you more likely to eat out at the end of the night than in the daytime? After a night of drinking? Do you think your late night eats are satisfactory? What could someone do better?
I got a lot of responses which I had initially expected. In this day in age a lot of people eat out, and are willing to spend their money on food. This likeliness definitely increases when people have consumed alcohol. Thus, I stand by my idea that a collegetown breakfast restaurant would thrive, especially on nights with great drink specials. This also opens up a chance to engage in partnership deals with bars. While the interviewees did state that they were likely to end their night of binge drinking with a good, late night breakfast, some stated that they were somewhat above eating at the likes of McDonalds, and that something of the likes of Denny’s or IHOP is sometimes too formal of an experience at that hour. This gave a lot of input as I now can understand what the layout and design of the restaurant would have to be. After talking to the customers, I learned that a restaurant that has both a drive-thru and good sit down experience is a must.

It was definitely important to get some input on the matter. While I spoke to five people, it is not quite yet a large enough sample size to determine anything indefinitely. If an idea for such a business is actually one day put in motion, it is important to get as much input as necessary from the consumers.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Alex,

    I like your idea and I sure do love breakfast late at night. Furthermore, I do believe this would be a successful concept. Your way of getting information was good and you did well at your research. Sometimes, it is good to have surprises but, knowing the answers only means you know the industry and market very well. I'd like to see you go farther with this idea in college towns. Good luck!

    Check out my blog as well: http://phatblogz.blogspot.com


    Ben

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex, your idea speaks a lot to me. I personally have lingered around campus late at night after midtown or downtown and wished that Gainesville offered such a thing.

    You are cool. This idea is cool. Plus, you would definitely be providing another competition for breakfast food options, besides Peach Valley (which I think is a bit overrated).


    This assignment was a bit confusing for me. So, after looking at yours, I just feel like I did it all wrong. xD

    But if you want to check it out, here it is:
    http://laurenent3003.blogspot.com/2016/01/customer-interviews-no-1.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Alexander,
    I appreciate this great idea of providing late night breakfast services to the students of UF. Having midtown as your ideal location is great. I believe that a location in midtown would be a major key in getting the most customers to come try out your business. You definitely would get the "party crowd", which are the people who have had a long night of partying and need some pancakes and eggs before they go back home. I could picture a place like this opening up and succeeding, so continue to add on to your idea and bring it to life. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete