Part One: The Domain Expert.
1.) I emailed Jessi Knudsen Castaneda, one of the founders of Animal Wonders Montana, which is one of the organizations that has inspired my business idea. She and her husband Augusto founded and run a successful operation with a very similar model to what I would like to do, so they fit the slot of Domain Expert very well.
2.) Domain Expert. see above.
3.) I have been a follower of Animal Wonders on social media for years, and I found their contact information on their website.
4.) I asked Jessi for any advice she could offer to someone who is interested in starting a similar organization to hers (in a different region so as not to directly compete of course). Things like what the most important things to focus on during the early stages are and how to get word out in a local community about such an organization. She responded, which surprised me a bit because I expected her to be too busy or to have gotten this type of question too frequently to pay attention to. She Told me that when Animal Wonders was starting out, they operated out of her parents house and advertised through word of mouth. She recommended moving out of Florida, if I can, to a more rural state where these types of businesses are less common and land is cheaper, since having room to grow is very important.
5.) I don't expect to have regular correspondence with Jessi, but it was very cool to receive advice from someone who has done essentially exactly what I want to do. I may be able to reach out to her and Augusto again in the future if I feel I need to.
Part Two : The Market Expert
1.) I contacted the Education Department at the Audubon Zoo, where I interned last summer. I exchanged emails with a couple of people within that department.
2.) Zoo education departments have some of the most well-established connections with the type of clients I hope to reach, and they provide similar services in a similar market, though it's typically on a larger scale. I think that makes them a good fit for Market Expert.
3.) Most AZA accredited zoos have a department like this, but I chose Audubon because I interned with them and am actually Facebook friends with some of the education staff. I interned with the Ambassador department, which takes care of the animal husbandry for the animals that go out for presentations with the education department, so I interacted with the education staff quite a bit.
4.) My contact consisted of asking a few of the Education staff questions about how their presentations are advertised to the community and what kind of correspondence the zoo has with repeat clients such as libraries and schools that work with them every year. I also asked what they thought of my idea for Animal Discovery and their opinions were mixed. They all liked the premise, but there was some concern over the details. Only one person I talked to had valuable information about the market, which was that having name recognition and a really good website is important, as well as the ability to quickly respond to client inquiries. These exchanges were very informal.
5.) I plan on interning and working at more zoos before attempting to make Animal Discovery real, so I will absolutely make more connections like this and learn more about the market that way. I don't know if I will work at Audubon again, but it's a possibility, so I'm sure I will remain in lose contact with these people going forward.
Part Three: The Supplier
1.) I emailed the fine people at Josh's Frogs, a reptile supply business that sells a variety of reptile supplies such as feeders, habitat equipment, and decor at a reasonable price.
2.) I am pretty sure Josh's Frogs is a favorite for people who keep lots of reptiles and amphibians. Since herps will likely be a large portion of the animals I will start out with, I would consider giving them my business as well if they are able to fit my needs.
3.) I've heard of Josh's Frogs through word of mouth among other animal enthusiasts. They have a good website where their contact info is easy to find.
4.) Specifically, I asked if they do subscription style deliveries in bulk, since many of the animals I am likely to start off with will be reptiles. They replied to me the following day, and confirmed that they do bulk deliveries of insect and frozen rodent feeders. This was the only exchange we had.
5.) It is important, when keeping animals of any kind, to ensure you will have a consistent and reliable supply of food for them. Josh's Frogs seems like a good option for this, at least as far as reptiles are concerned. Rodent feeders can also be used for other carnivores, such as birds of prey and small cats like servals, so they are a particularly important thing to be able to buy in a cost-effective way. I don't expect to have a particularly close relationship with Josh's Frogs, but I am likely to utilize their service.
Reflection
This type of active networking is different from what I am used to. Up until now, I mostly just made a point of introducing myself and establishing a brief connection with any new people I meet that might have connections in the animal field. The network I already had was helpful for this assignment, but when I get closer to being able to make Animal Discovery happen I will need to do more of this active networking.
Friday, March 27, 2020
19 - Idea Napkin 2
1.) Who am I?. I am a zoology major with hands on experience working with several exotic and domestic animal species, and I consider myself to have fairly good public speaking skills. I've decided to focus my career on sharing my passion for animals and biology with others, as well as spreading the message of wildlife conservation. My proposed business, Animal Discovery, would be a non-profit outreach organization dedicated to this mission, and would allow me to personalize my message and cater to a wide audience.
2.) The primary service I will offer would be educational and interactive animal presentations. These can be tailored to various types of audiences, from elementary-aged children to adults. The presentations will include live ambassador animals and can be designed to fit a specific theme if the client so desires. The secondary purpose of Animal Discovery is to function as a rescue for displaced exotic animals in need of a new forever home, though we would have to be selective and would only take in animals that we have the resources to care for. As the business grows, so would our ability to take in more rescues.
3.) This service will be offered to both private and public clients. Our presentations will serve to fill the needs of people organizing events who are looking for engaging family friendly content that their audiences or guests will be sure to remember. The types of events I currently have in mind include library events, birthday parties, school events, and summer camp programs, though I'm sure there are other opportunities as well. I expect the most common type of audience to be kids and teens, but the customers will be their parents and event coordinators.
4.) The thing that gives our service value to the clients is the unique experience of seeing exotic animals up close outside of a traditional zoo setting. The exact species that would be used depends entirely on what we are able to house and rescue, but in general they would be various birds, reptiles, and medium or small mammals. It's valuable because it's educational but interesting and entertaining content that can appeal to people of all ages, and is something that most people won't have other chances to experience.
5.) My core competencies lie with my formal and hands-on education in the subject matter. While my presentations would likely be tailored to young audiences, I have the knowledge and ability to answer questions with information all the way up to the college level. I have experience and practice with this, too. In addition to simply having lots of knowledge about animals, I also have a good amount of public speaking practice that can directly translate into a presentation-like environment. I also have a passion for animal husbandry that will make the non-public operations less of a chore. This is quite literally one of the things I want to do with my life.
I think these elements work together pretty well, although there are definitely gaps and shortcomings. One huge issue is that I currently don't have enough experience or qualifications to actually start an organization like this. While everything I've outlined about my experience is true, I'll need more. Thankfully, I already plan to gain that experience over the next several years after I graduate. I will also spend that time attempting to grow my presence on social media, hopefully enough to get Animal Discovery some decent initial exposure if/when it ever becomes reality. Another limitation on this business idea is that it would be bound to a specific geographical region, since there is only so far I could travel for regular presentations at the start. Overall, I know this general organizational model can work because it's not novel: there are other organizations like this already in existence. To avoid direct competition, I would simply choose to operate in a region that lacks one.
FEEDBACK MEMO: I didn't receive any comments on my first idea napkin, so I didn't really have any feedback to go off of. I did revise a few things and make a few edits, but there isn't very much that has changed.
2.) The primary service I will offer would be educational and interactive animal presentations. These can be tailored to various types of audiences, from elementary-aged children to adults. The presentations will include live ambassador animals and can be designed to fit a specific theme if the client so desires. The secondary purpose of Animal Discovery is to function as a rescue for displaced exotic animals in need of a new forever home, though we would have to be selective and would only take in animals that we have the resources to care for. As the business grows, so would our ability to take in more rescues.
3.) This service will be offered to both private and public clients. Our presentations will serve to fill the needs of people organizing events who are looking for engaging family friendly content that their audiences or guests will be sure to remember. The types of events I currently have in mind include library events, birthday parties, school events, and summer camp programs, though I'm sure there are other opportunities as well. I expect the most common type of audience to be kids and teens, but the customers will be their parents and event coordinators.
4.) The thing that gives our service value to the clients is the unique experience of seeing exotic animals up close outside of a traditional zoo setting. The exact species that would be used depends entirely on what we are able to house and rescue, but in general they would be various birds, reptiles, and medium or small mammals. It's valuable because it's educational but interesting and entertaining content that can appeal to people of all ages, and is something that most people won't have other chances to experience.
5.) My core competencies lie with my formal and hands-on education in the subject matter. While my presentations would likely be tailored to young audiences, I have the knowledge and ability to answer questions with information all the way up to the college level. I have experience and practice with this, too. In addition to simply having lots of knowledge about animals, I also have a good amount of public speaking practice that can directly translate into a presentation-like environment. I also have a passion for animal husbandry that will make the non-public operations less of a chore. This is quite literally one of the things I want to do with my life.
I think these elements work together pretty well, although there are definitely gaps and shortcomings. One huge issue is that I currently don't have enough experience or qualifications to actually start an organization like this. While everything I've outlined about my experience is true, I'll need more. Thankfully, I already plan to gain that experience over the next several years after I graduate. I will also spend that time attempting to grow my presence on social media, hopefully enough to get Animal Discovery some decent initial exposure if/when it ever becomes reality. Another limitation on this business idea is that it would be bound to a specific geographical region, since there is only so far I could travel for regular presentations at the start. Overall, I know this general organizational model can work because it's not novel: there are other organizations like this already in existence. To avoid direct competition, I would simply choose to operate in a region that lacks one.
FEEDBACK MEMO: I didn't receive any comments on my first idea napkin, so I didn't really have any feedback to go off of. I did revise a few things and make a few edits, but there isn't very much that has changed.
Friday, March 20, 2020
17 - Elevator Pitch No. 2
1.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddTODbPyfqs
2.) Reflection of feedback from the first pitch
I never finished my first pitch so I didn't get any specific feedback, but I took into account the feedback I saw on other people's videos and did my best to apply them this time. The biggest things were having good lighting, keeping a confident and dynamic tone of voice (avoiding monotone speech), and using hand gestures.
3.) I decided to film outside so I could have good lighting and a more interesting setting. unfortunately the only camera I had was the one in my phone.
2.) Reflection of feedback from the first pitch
I never finished my first pitch so I didn't get any specific feedback, but I took into account the feedback I saw on other people's videos and did my best to apply them this time. The biggest things were having good lighting, keeping a confident and dynamic tone of voice (avoiding monotone speech), and using hand gestures.
3.) I decided to film outside so I could have good lighting and a more interesting setting. unfortunately the only camera I had was the one in my phone.
18 - Create a Customer Avatar
The segment I identified and decided to use for this assignment is librarians and library event coordinators. These are the people who are typically in charge of scheduling public events and programs, and such events usually have an educational focus, so Animal Discovery's educational animal presentations should appeal to them because they are a fun and interactive way for people of all ages to learn about biology.
My prototypical customer is a 36 year old librarian named Rebecca who has a personal casual interest in science. She enjoys hiking, owns 2 cats (one orange tabby and one calico), and her favorite ice cram flavor is butter pecan. She drives a white 2007 Toyota Prius. She does not have any children, nor does she want any of her own, because she gets enough satisfaction in seeing the children who frequent the library grow and learn. She rarely watches TV shows, but when she does, she likes medical dramas such as House MD. She likes too many books to choose a favorite, but she has read Harry Potter several times and finds YA fiction enjoyable. She is very concerned about the topic of scientific literacy and wants to find library programming that will inspire people to be more interested in science.
My prototypical customer is a 36 year old librarian named Rebecca who has a personal casual interest in science. She enjoys hiking, owns 2 cats (one orange tabby and one calico), and her favorite ice cram flavor is butter pecan. She drives a white 2007 Toyota Prius. She does not have any children, nor does she want any of her own, because she gets enough satisfaction in seeing the children who frequent the library grow and learn. She rarely watches TV shows, but when she does, she likes medical dramas such as House MD. She likes too many books to choose a favorite, but she has read Harry Potter several times and finds YA fiction enjoyable. She is very concerned about the topic of scientific literacy and wants to find library programming that will inspire people to be more interested in science.
What do I have in common with Rebecca? well we both like science and want to spread a sense of awareness of the natural world. We both have cats and enjoy YA fiction.
Do I think this is a coincidence? the part about cats and YA fiction probably is, but the shared appreciation for science is not coincidental at all. Obviously I am passionate about the service I would offer, and I expect any customer in this segment to share and interest in it; otherwise, why would they choose to hire me for events?
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