Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity that lies within the coffee market. While doing the Bug List Exercise one one thing that particularly bugged me was my  hot coffee drink getting cold quickly once being exposed to inside air condition over time. I believe that there is an opportunity to have warm mugs or cups to keep the coffee at an optimal drinking temperature. 

When ordering a hot drink whether it be coffee or tea, it is particularly enjoyed better when it is warm not cold. An NCA Survey conducted in 2012 found that 62 percent of Americans 18 or older drink coffee on a regular basis. This means that about 1 in 2 Americans face this issue on a daily bases. The need to having a warm coffee drink existing since the creation of coffee thousands of years ago. Today many people are reheating their coffee if they have access to a microwave, if not just facing a Luke warm to cold coffee drink. At this point I would conclude that I am 90% sure that the opportunity to fix this problem exists. 

While interviewing daily drinkers of hot coffee, I had discovered many things about the underlying issue. When bringing up the problem all of the potential customers of this product had realized they have this issue before some on a daily bases. 

Ex: Sheryl wakes up every morning to make a cup of coffee from her Keurig into a portable mug to work. Having a 40 minute commute to Fort Lauderdale by the time she arrives to work the coffee is no longer as hot and refreshing as it was when it was first brewed. 

Sheryl had taken measures to try and fix this by purchasing mugs online that keep beverages their temperature however she found that still after about an hour it was just Luke warm. 

When bringing up to Sheryl the idea of a mug or cup that continually warms the beverage to keep it the same temperature as first brewed her eyes lit up in delight. 

While interviewing my friend and college student Jordan he had also been familiar with the problem he had of his coffee warming up. Surprisingly, he had a different way of fixing this need. 

After his hot coffee has cooled down, Jordan then takes ice cubes and puts it into his beverage to turn the remaining amount into Iced Coffee. However, he admits that especially during colder months this solution is just a “bandaid” to the problem, as he would still prefer to have the hot freshly brewed coffee. 

The last prototypical customer that I interviewed was Annmarie. Annmarie like Sheryl gets coffee for work. Although rather than brewing a hot coffee at home she opts to get an Iced Coffee from Starbucks. One of the underlying reasons that she chooses this is because that she realizes that her Hot Coffee will begin to get cold while at work. So rather than facing the problem she chooses the alternative Iced coffee every morning. When asking her if she would rather have Hot Coffee especially during the colder months. She admitted that it would be nice to have a freshly hot coffee throughout the day, however, she has just adjusted to her iced coffee drink every morning. 

Throughout all of the interviews it had appeared to me that everyone of the “prototypical customers” of this product is familiar with the common problem that they face. They all have their own ways of combatting the problem but were all aware of it. This shows that a product that can help solve this issues advertised to them would definitely be something to fix their needs. During the interviews it became evident to me that the product would defiantly be great for hot coffee lovers alike, but would have to come at an affordable price as people don’t identify the problem to be huge. 

When launching any product to consumers I believe that entrepreneurs have to interview their potential customers to find if there is a need for the product and if their product will satisfy their need correctly. Launching a product in Beta also shows if it will satisfy their customer base at scale and help entrepreneurs to not risk as much money in the beginning. When developing your product you must adapt to what your customers want. We see big companies such as Apple and Samsung do this constantly with their phones year after year. In order to stay relevant, competitive, and profitable you must satisfy the needs of your customers by altering and better enhancing your product for the customers needs. Companies that don’t do this ultimately fail. In our current age we can see real life examples of companies that don’t adapt to their customers wants and ultimately fail. Such examples of this are Toys “R” Us and Sears not adapting to the online commerce environment that their consumers want. Not adapting to change can be a nail i the coffin for any entrepreneurs product.