As I interviewed my prospects, I realized that there is low
awareness for a service such as housekeeping among Gainesville students. Not a
single one of my interviewees had ever seen or heard about that service in
Gainesville, nor have looked for one because they simply thought it didn’t
exist in the town. As a result of that I think that competition will not be a
problem, at least at the beginning since I will be the only one in town
targeting students. They all mentioned how important price was for them, but
they guy in my second interview was concerned with security and guarantees too,
and what would be the procedures in “special” occasions.
Since my option for the business idea is a service, it would
be web based, which means that students searching for my company would go online
and use my website/app. About the payment methods, there are two options, monthly
or by service delivered. In the case of the people I interviewed for this specific
assignment they all preferred monthly. But I have interviewed other people and some
mentioned that they would preferred to pay one by one.
My third interview was with a girl, who focused a lot on
what she would expect from my service. She said that the most important think
is that I deliver my promise of making her life easier. It is key for my
company that the client notices that their apartment was cleaned, but at the
same time, that the person cleaning doesn’t interrupt anyone in the apartment.
What I mean by that is that I want my customers to see the outcome, not the
process. My first interviewee said that housekeeping service needs to be
constant and stable to be worthwhile. It needs to be done every week, so dirt doesn’t
pile up.
In conclusion I think that there are not many alternatives in
town for my business idea, therefore, it would be very important for my startup
and growth to have a strong marketing campaign around campus, to get students
to know about me. Once they know this service exists, comes my role in teaching
them what the benefits are and then, fulfill the expectations.
