4A - Forming An Opportunity Belief

1. I believe that there is a problem in that not all restaurants have expansive allergy menus.

2. I have grown up with severe food allergies and around others who have severe food allergies. I have always been more drawn to and virtually forced to eat at restaurants which have expansive allergy menus. Individuals with severe food allergies can have life-threatening complications when exposed to allergens and this is a problem in children and adults. Considering my experiences and the fact that the percentage of Americans with food allergies is roughly 10% (and the percentage grew by a factor of 3 between 1997 and 2008), it seems that a small restaurant business would be able to expand their customer base and improve their average customer experience if they are very capable of accommodating people with food allergies. I believe that a company would be willing to outsource the creation of an exhaustive allergy menu to an individual with experience relying on an allergy menu for a small fee. I would say I am about 50% sure this need exists.

3. The prototypical customer would be a newly created small restaurant business that is just beginning to establish customer relationships and a reputation and has not yet created an allergy menu.

4. I first conducted an interview with the owner of Bleubird Wings in Gainesville.

I asked him the following questions:

• Does Bleubird have an allergy menu?
• How often do customers come in with questions about food allergies?
• Have customers ever left the store due to the dietary restrictions caused by food allergies?
• Do you think it would benefit from having an allergy menu?
• Aside from the topics discussed above, are there any other issues you faced while starting your restaurant that an outside source could have helped you solve?

5. I learned that:

• Bleubird does not have an allergy menu.
• Customers may ask questions about food allergies between 3-5 times a week.
• The owner was not certain if customers had ever left due to food allergies
• The owner had never considered using an allergy menu and is not sure if it would be helpful to the business3. I have not changed my mind as to the prototypical customer, but I will begin gathering information from larger restaurant entities as well.

3. I have not changed my mind as to the prototypical customer, but I will begin gathering information from larger restaurant entities as well.

4. The next individual that I interviewed was the owner of PDQ in Gainesville.

I asked him the following questions:

• Does PDQ have an allergy menu and, if not, do you think the restaurant would benefit from having one?
• How often do you encounter customers with food allergies?
• Do customers ever leave the store due to the dietary restrictions of food allergies?
• Are there any issues that you have faced as a restaurant owner that an you could have hired an outside source to solve?

5. I learned that:

• PDQ has an allergy menu.
• Customers ask about allergens about 7-10 times a week.
• The owner is not sure if customers ever leave the store due to food allergies.

3. My prototypical customer remains the same for the time being.

4. The next individual I interviewed was the manager at Miami Grill.

I asked him the following questions:

• Does Miami Grill have an allergy menu and, if not, do you think the restaurant would benefit from having one?
• How often do customers come in with questions about food allergies?
• Do customers ever leave the store due to dietary restrictions caused by food allergies?

5. I learned that:

• Miami Grill does not have an allergy menu
• Customers ask about allergies between 3-5 times a week
• Customers occasionally are forced to find other restaurants due to food allergies

7. It still seems like some of my opportunity may still be there. I believe I need to speak with mire businesses to determine whether there is a need for consulting on the creation of allergy menus.

I am still very willing to adapt my idea according to the needs of the customers as I believe all entrepreneurs must be.