Idea Napkin No. 2

Hey everyone! So this is round two of my Idea Napkin, hopefully you guys like the adjustments.

1.  *** This is directly from my first post since I haven't changed and my mentality has been the same for a long time haha ***
My name is Camila. I am a third year marketing student here at UF.  I could talk about my marketing skills, networking skills, etc, but you can just look at my resume for that. Aside from marketing, I am someone who loves to travels the world and experience new things.  I love helping people and animals most of all.  You can say I have weakness for those who need help. While I have traveled, I have always come across people and animals in need, and I think nothing fulfills me more than knowing I was somehow able to help them or at least make them feel better, no matter how small or big the situation.  As for aspirations, I hope that whatever I end up doing in the future will have a positive impact on other lives (human or animal), no matter how small that impact may be.  In terms of the concept I have for my dog cafe, my reason for it was to not only help college students in alleviating their everyday pressures but also help shelter animals receive more affection and possibly find their forever homes.  If this concept does come to life, I think it will play a huge role in my life, because I am a firm believer that whatever you do in life with love and dedication will impact someone else in a positive way.  (if you want a look at the initial idea before the edits, make sure to check this post! http://lovetravellives.blogspot.com/2016/02/idea-napkin-no-1.html )

2 & 3.  So the service I am offering is still the same as last time: a dog cafe. So like I had mentioned in my last napkin, lots of students on campus or in college in general suffer from a lot of stress and many of them don't really have an outlet for it.  My interviews confirmed that many students suffered from stress on a daily basis.  Studies have shown that dogs have the ability to lower stress levels in people, so I wanted to take advantage of these two topics and combine them into one.  Originally I wanted to give students a new place where they could study and relax in a fun way with dogs.  The comments from my first napkin were very positive on the concept, lots of students love the idea.  Not many gave me criticism so I took some comments from my other posts and students mentioned how making the place somewhere to study wasn't very appealing and could be distracting, so I made the concept more broad; my main focus is having a relaxing place for students to alleviate their pressures and hang out with friends with the company of dogs.  Although my main target audience is for students, anyone in the Gainesville area is more than welcome to come and be possible customers! I bet many UF faculty or even Gainesville employees also have daily stress of their own!  A lot of comments mention of liabilities or health concerns with regards to food.  I have been to very successful dog cafes in Asia, and the key to solve liabilities is just making customers aware of rules and making them visible so there is no confusion or possibly sign something before having access to the dogs (let me know what you think); also security cameras are installed to guarantee the safety of the dogs and customers in case of any liabilities.  As for health the kitchen and food prep areas are closed off and the dogs will not have access to those areas whatsoever.  Also my plan is the make the food like any other cafe, not restaurant style.

4. So why would college students even care? ***In regards to this section, not much has changed.  I decided to use parts of my previous napkin because they are relevant to what is going on now and to give a better idea and the comments on the first just further confirmed the interest I had gotten initially***: From the feedback of interviews, and even on my elevator pitches, many students actually like the idea of having somewhere to play with some furry friends and have it more accessible to them.  Some students mentioned how Gainesville apartments and UF dorms are very strict about having pets, so many students have to leave their furry friends behind at home or don't even get a chance to adopt one even after the first napkin.  I also had students mention how UF does the dogs events but its maybe one time a semester/year, and its inconvenient; they said it would be nice to have somewhere daily and near campus that they can go to have a little retreat from daily stress.  My comments on the info above from my first napkin further confirm the interest in being able to have a place to play with dogs and how some students can't have pets where they live in Gainesville.  Even after the first napkin, I kept receiving positive feedback from students and how they would definitely go to it if it were to open.

5. *** again, this has bits from the first napkin since the feedback I got did not really change the core competencies of my concept**: What sets this cafe apart from others like Panera or Starbucks is the dogs.  Theses dogs will not be pure breeds, but rather we will have dogs from the Alachua Humane society and other shelters.  So what makes us unique is that these animals will have the opportunities to be adopted and find loving homes, and students will have a unique environment to de-stress and have more accessibility to these furry friends that Gainesville seems so determined to keep away.  Something new: not sure if this is also a competency but I thought possibly making our menu more diverse than average cafes, with interesting names related to dogs and even food designs and presentation to resemble dog related objects (dog bone shaped cakes, or plates that look like bowls ahahha).  I think what makes a business stand out is also its presentation of all its aspects, so I thought of this a possibility. Let me know what you think!

At first you would think that all these elements don't quite exactly fit together, but I while in Korea, this type of business was very successful.  I want to be able to introduce this concept here.  The feedback I have gotten is very similar every time: students constantly think highly of the concept but worry about liabilities and health regulations haha.  So those are still parts that need work but I've businesses abroad do this business concept so it is just a matter of learning from them and research for these issues.

Feedback memo:  So since the feedback I recieved on my first napkin wasn't that diverse, I decided to include feedback I have gotten from both my elevator pitches and the interviews I have done.  The five main points from my feedback:

1. Don't emphasize it as a study area, because it is not appealing and can be seen as distracting.  Just focus on making a relaxing place.
2.Look into possible liabilites: dogs that may be dangerous, what if a person gets hurt, what if a dog gets hurt, etc.
3. Look into health code regulations and violations; make sure to see what restrictions can affect the business.
4. Students love the concept, especially those who are not allowed to have pets when in Gainesville; definitely creates a greater appeal to the concept.
5. Lots of positive feedback about the animals being shelter animals; helping them find homes has given students a more positive outlook on the business rather than seeing it as a money making machine.

From the feedback, you can see these points incorporated not only into this idea napkin but you can also see it reflected in my second pitch and other material.

Sorry if the post repeated things from the previous, but some of you never saw the first and also the fact the the feedback I have received has not altered the original concept by much, only a few minor tweaks here and there.  If you have any other suggestions to this, by all means let me know! I'm open to new feedback!