20A-Growing Your Social Capital

     1.) Domain expert- John Janusz a scientist.

a.     John is a scientist who is currently working in the chemical department at Proctor and Gamble. He graduated from Yale graduate school many years ago. Although his current focus is chemistry he has worked in physical sciences for many years and knows much about magnetism.

b.     John is filling my domain expert spot. He is somebody who can talk to be about the physical nature of my product. I need to know how and if the magnets will work. John can help me when it comes to making this product a physical reality.

c.     John is my great uncle. He has always been the person I turn to when I had questions about science related issues. Being a biology major, I have grown up intrigued by science and have been taking numerous science classes throughout my high school and college career. I face timed John to discuss my product.

d.     John and I talked about the nature of my magnets. I asked how strong the magnetic field would need to be to actually pull in the weight of a chair. He told me that the force of the magnet would have to be very strong. A low grade electromagnet would work but they are expensive. The ultra strong neodymium magnets in theory could work. He said their effectiveness depends on where I place them on the table and chairs. If I orient them correctly, I could get the attractive forces just right to a position where they would slide in with ease. However, he did remind me that I would also have to think about getting a magnet that is not too strong as to cause harm to people. If the magnets are too strong they can end up pulling in chairs tightly even when people are sitting in them. This is a big issue that will take a lot of troubleshooting to fix.

e.     Having John in my network will help me make sure that my product is safe and works well. He is somebody that will explain the physics and complicated science behind magnetism to me. This will help me when I go to start physically designing the product. He will also help me to draw up designs and put me in contact with builders.

      2.) Expert on Market-Rachid Choifani, restaurant owner of many restaurants in Orlando, FL

a.     Rachid is an entrepreneur who has opened and owns 5 restaurants in the Orlando Florida area and is currently looking to expand into South Florida. He began by opening his first restaurant, Marakesch, in Epcot at Walt Disney World. Since then he has simply grown his empire to expand all around Orlando.

b.     He is the expert on the market. He fills this slot because I am targeting this product to restaurants. My product will save time and make life easier for many restraint owners, managers, and servers. Rachid would be an expert here because he has been in the restaurant industry for many years and has been in many different restaurant settings. He would know a lot about the issues of chairs being left untucked and the problems that they cause.

c.     Rachid is the father of my father’s assistant. We have known the family for many years and have even visited them a few times in Orlando. I contacted him by way of a phone call.

d.     When I spoke with Rachid I showed him my idea napkin. He was very impressed with the idea. He liked the product very much and said it could definitely be a help in many of his restaurants. He told me about one specific waiter who was injured while working due to bumping into a chair that was left untucked. This was unfortunate because the server was then disabled for the rest of the shift and could not move as efficiently. Rachid told me that I needed to discuss more about why the restaurateurs should care about this product. On a surface level it seems like a good idea but is it really a product that many people will feel that they need to spend money on? He told me that I would attract some but not all. I needed to sit down and think about better reasons as to why this product is necessary. Saving time and efficiency simply just does not pull in enough buyers. In return, I will sit down and try to solve this issue and speak to Rachid once again after I have more ideas.

e.     Having Rachid in my network will help me greatly. He is now a resource I can speak to when I am questioning the success of this product. He represents my potential buyers. He is the market I am targeting. I can go to him and show him future idea napkins and elevator pitches and see if they are effective or not.

       3.) Supplier-Rick Blomqvuist, supplier of Florida sugarcane.

a.     Rick works for FloSun, one of Florida’s largest suppliers of sugar. He is the department head for the distribution center. Rick is in charge of making sure restaurants and businesses get their sugar.

b.     Rick is filling my spot for the important supplier. He is selling sugar to my industry, the restaurant industry. He will know about how to get the product out to certain businesses.

c.     Rick is the husband of my mother’s boss. I have always heard briefly that he was a sugar distributor and when I was thinking of people to reach out to connected to the restaurant industry, he came to mind.

d.     I asked Rick all about how to contact the businesses and the processes of getting people to distribute your product. He told me that his company is much more large scale than mine would be for a long time so the processes that he deals with is different than what I would start out with. He did though talk to me about how to sell my product in a way that distributors and restaurateurs would like to buy it. He told me that I needed to make it more marketable if I wanted to sell it on a larger scale. I would have to start with a few small restaurants and work my way up to larger distributors. Eventually, this product has the potential to be purchased by a big restaurant or food service and product developer. This would mean that I would not be the sole person selling the product. Instead, a large corporation would buy it from me and get it to restaurants and businesses all over the world. A feat I could not reach on my own.

e.     Rick will help me out by teaching me how to move up in the business world. He said that he will help me market and sell my product to a few smaller businesses. After that I would get the name out of my product to more and more people until finally I can reach out to a larger business. Since his career mirrors my end goal he will be helpful in telling me how to get there.

Reflection:
       I think that this assignment was a very good one to have us do. It got us started in the world of networking. It is a skill that entrepreneurs defiantly need to have because we will be trying to market our product or service and need to make connections. I now know how to ask people questions in a respectful yet still inquisitive manner. These people are different from those we have been interviewing in the past because they are more professional. I have not really had much experience with networking in the past as I am pre-health. I have never attended a career showcase or large scale recruiting event before. This experience though finally allowed me to do so.