The first person I established a connection with is Tracy, a Manager of Produce at Sprouts. This person fills my domain expert parameter because of the position they hold at Sprouts and their experience dealing with goods requiring refrigeration and storage. I found this person through my mom, as her daughter is a nurse at the hospital my mother works at. I contacted them by getting her phone number through my mom, from her daughter. This person made sure I was able to know what was necessary for storing frozen or cooled products, such as meat or seafood. Tracy informed me what to look out for, what prices made sense, and how to store the food.
Market Expert
The second person I made contact with is James, a University of Georgia business graduate. This person fulfills my expert in the market requirement because of their internship experience with Whole Foods. James told me about his work at Whole Foods including research on their demographic. I was able to locate this person through my friend Sebastian, who goes to UGA. I sought them out by asking Sebastian for James' social media, and contacted him through Snapchat and Instagram. This person gave me a good idea of what I needed to look out for when considering who I am trying to cater to. He compared my idea to Whole Foods, and felt that it would make sense for me to try and appeal to a younger audience.
Supply Expert
The third person I made a connection with is Robert, Senior Project Manager for Siemens. his person is responsible for being my supplier expert because of the type of equipment and technology involved with operating a grocery store. I had known this person my mom's friendship with them and their wife, and I emailed Robert to ask about what he knew on the supply side of things. This person provided me an immense amount of advice for what to do regarding transportation and equipment.
Finally: Reflect
The importance of networking was highlighted immensely from my experience in this assignment. Much of my experts were found through my connections with people I already knew, or people that knew someone that knew them. I would say it differed from my past experiences because many of my networking experiences involved some type of event, rather than a one off occurrence.
Find Rubric
Hey Nicholas, great job on this post. I think you contacted the right people for your business plan and it seems like you got some great feedback as well. I hope this gave you enough information to one day pursue your business plan!
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