Idea Napkin No. 2

I'm Artemis Magliveras and was born in Greece. As a student majoring in Chemistry I was always interested in learning about food chemistry. I got more aware of how important having a healthy lifestyle is when I went through a period in my life where I wasn't as healthy as I wanted to be. I would exercise more than usual and, thus, lost a lot of weight. I didn't understand how important it was to keep a balanced diet with a balanced exercise. That deteriorated my health in some way. From that day on I was more aware of my limits and the food I was eating. This means I started to eat more, even if I didn't feel like eating, because I knew my body needed more energy than I thought it did. My father would also cook Asian and Indian food, which made me more interested in other cuisines. My aspiration is to raise awareness on how to eat more healthy and how important exercise is for one's health. So far, I have good communication skills and have gotten more involved with food, through cooking and winning an award for a recipe database I came up with some friends.

Since last year, I've been concerned about the food that is served on-campus and believe that students' choices are very limited. I think that my business idea of creating a new restaurant on-campus would make a lot of people happier. It will improve their college experience by offering them a more diverse menu, including meat, vegetarian and vegan options. Each day there will be one different cook from a different restaurant in Gainesville, cooking for UF students. The menu will be accessible on-line, as well as the option of ordering one extra plate for half price to-go. Students that get their meal will also get coupons with discounts from different supermarkets in Gainesville. This will encourage them to buy groceries and cook for themselves, too. In all, my service will provide students with healthier options at lower cost. This is the reason why students will pay for my service.

The restaurant will serve people of diverse backgrounds and diets, especially vegans and vegetarians.  As an international student, I always missed my homemade food so I really like the idea of multicultural food. This will give an opportunity for students to get accustomed to other cuisines as well and to never get bored of the same type of food options every day. Vegans and vegetarians I believe would also be able to have a guaranteed restaurant to serve their diets. In addition, all students need food that will boost their energy instead of depriving them of it. And healthy food does exactly that. It provides genuine energy to study and exercise. A lot of students at UF are hard workers and are into exercising, so they will definitely, and hopefully, appreciate this business idea. Lastly, I noticed in my customer interviews, a lot of students loved the idea of getting one extra plate for half, in combination to the supermarket coupons. I guess this financial strategy works well in attracting customers.

Although the service that I provide can be copied by anybody, the combination of my service and the environment is what makes my product unique. Young people in Gainesville have created a healthy lifestyle spirit by exercising a lot and cooking at home. This means that the community is very much aware of what means to be healthy. The campus, however, does not provide them with the appropriate supply to meet the demand of the students. Hopefully, my idea will change that and make students happier.

My goal is to get service from cooks in Gainesville, while at the same time sponsor their own businesses and, thus, create a collaborative relationship between us. This way both UF and other food services in Gainesville will benefit. My business idea would work upon UF's approval and funding. The only issues that might come is the food prices.I would try to make it as studentfriendly as possible ($5-7). Moreover, I would have to plan a year in advance the restaurant schedule, so that the cooks get the date booked for us. I will have to persuade all this different cooks to work for me, while they work for their own businesses. In addition to that, I will need to figure out how the money gained would be distributed to the different cooks, my restaurant and UF. Last but not least, I've been asked about how the food is going to be served in a timely manner. Just because it is going to be restaurant-like food, it is going to either be food that can be prepared and cooked within 15 minutes or be precooked meals that are going to be served heated and served. Finally, to ensure the quality of the food, the veggies will be grown behind the restaurant so that it is fresh and organic. 

I collected all this info and incorporated it into my Idea Napkin through my feedback on my last post and my 3rd customer interview. Below is the video of my 3rd customer interviews that I didn't have time to upload on time.

MULTI-COOK

Multi-cook, a newly UF funded dining service on campus, provides UF students with the option to eat healthier at lower cost. Everyday a cook from a local restaurant cooks lunch and dinner for the students, and thus ensures a wide variety of food for vegans, vegetarians, meat lovers, and so forth. With a different cook each day, the food options are diverse, healthy, and cost-friendly. The students have access to the menu via an app, and the chance to save money by ordering the second plate online at half price. The app also informs the students about the “Save of the Day”, the supermarket discount coupons offered with every meal.