8A – Solving The Problem

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The Problem:

Individuals with food allergies have difficulty navigating which restaurants they should visit/what food they can order safely when many restaurants do not have an allergy menu.

The Solution:

At this point, I am considering one of the following two routes:

(1) Approaching restaurant businesses (small places at first, and then potentially expanding into franchises) that do not have an allergy menu and explain to them the benefits of having an allergy menu for customers. After that point, if they would be willing to provide me with their nutritional information, I would charge a small fee to consolidate the information into a convenient, easy-to-use allergy menu.

(2) Creating a website where I could consolidate all local restaurants with allergy menus (and restaurants w/o allergy menus that are very solid at accommodating individuals with food allergies) and their allergen information so that students with food allergies at UF have an easy place to access a database of potential restaurants/meals to try.


I am hesitant to go with the second idea because there is no obvious way to generate cash flow. But, ultimately, its about solving a need, not necessarily making money. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open!

Comments

  1. PrincessKSeptember 21, 2019 at 1:03 PM

    Hi Johnathan!
    Thanks for expanding on the idea of incorporating a menu that could help individuals obtain the necessary information before going to the restaurant. This can help significantly for people with allergies to know what they can and can not eat on the menu provided by the business. Not only that, but if companies allow this change to happen in their restaurant, it will attract many more visitors, as well as help those who are unaware of the potential allergies that company may provide. This in turn can allow the individuals to choose alternative choices and make the company more marketable in the future. Great job,
    Kaitlin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Remi TaylorSeptember 22, 2019 at 1:27 PM

    Hey there Johnathan! Really great job on this post. I agree that there is definitely a problem for people with allergies when navigating which restaurants they should visit/what food they can order safely since many/most restaurants do not have a separate allergy menu. Adding this to all restaurants is a great idea that would help out many individuals.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brooke DesantisSeptember 22, 2019 at 7:40 PM

    Jonathan,
    I think your solution sounds like a great business proposition. Not only is it beneficial to the consumers but you would also be making money through your first proposal. This could truly grow into large business because this is something that could be down nationally by anyone with just a few training sessions. This idea, I believe, goes way beyond a school assignment but rather gives you a real life career plan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mauricio RSeptember 23, 2019 at 12:18 AM

    Jonathan,
    Both of the ideas presented sound like viable options, why not combine them both? I'd imagine that some restaurants may not be open to paying a fee to have their menu consolidated by a third-party, as they might want to do so internally. However some could opt for this convenience; even if they don't, I'm sure they can still provide nutritional value of their menu items. This information could then be applied to the second route you mentioned. Maybe you could charge access to the website that would contain allergy information or suggestions for all local restaurants. It could even have the potential to expand from local audience to a state or national audience! Since the website would be free advertising for certain restaurants, maybe you could partner up with some of them to offer coupons in a similar fashion to Groupon; this has the potential to generate revenue as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deasja PerrymanSeptember 23, 2019 at 9:18 AM

    Hi Jonathan,
    I think this is such a great idea. A lot of people have food allergies but some people are more sensitive when it comes to their allergies. For example, the most common allergy is peanuts, some people simply cannot eat them while others cannot even so much as smell them. Therefore, it is important that restaurants make their customers aware as to what their food may or may not come in contact with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daryl SutherlandSeptember 23, 2019 at 11:52 AM

      Jonathan,
      Have you thought of combining those ideas. Start with the second idea and then move into the first. Start off with the restaurants that already have allergy menus. When that is made companies will be interested in being on the website so that they get more customers. You do not have to start by making companies add a allergy menu but to focus on the ones that do already have one. It will be a pyramid affect from there.

      Delete

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