Daily Archives: October 27, 2016

Okey, so I’m about to give you some real honesty. I didn’t have any expectations of this course – any at all. It was the one and only course fitting within my schedule, but that´s about it. I didn’t expect to learn anything new, I was actually convinced that the course was going to be 7,5 credits of clichés. Follow your dreams, only do things you love and you will be successful, blablabla. And then, of course, a written exam to show the teacher that you have learned all the phrases he likes. Yes, I am a bit cynic. But as a hardcore realist, the “fluffy” subjects are just not my cup of tea.

What I didn’t expect was for the course to be the exact opposite. Instead of reading books stating numerous of mindsets, we should just get ourselves out there. We were encouraged to participate in start-up events, meet up with entrepreneurs and network as if there were no tomorrow. We were encouraged to get out of our comfort zones, to do things we were afraid of and hadn’t done before. Of course it was not fun all the time – but most of the time, it actually was.

So, what was the outcome of all this? Well, even though I am still uncertain of some of the technical terms, I believe I am on my way to be a skillful networker. I am some friends richer, and certainly believe that there are plenty of people eager to give me opportunities – they just don’t know me yet, so I just need to put myself out there!

To receive useful feedback for our venture idea, I turned to some persons within my personal network. I did choose them carefully so that they represent different stakeholders of the future business.

The idea is, as presented in class, to provide an app that enable restaurant visitors to order and pay their food within the app. This is the feedback I received:

1. Employee at hotel, receptionist

“Would simplify for us in reception, since we then don’t need to spend time on transferring calls. The waiters are often occupied, resulting in guests wanting help to order food to bring to the room.”

2. Employee at hotel, chef

“My biggest concern is how this is going to synchronize with our present system. For us in the kitchen it doesn’t matter if it’s the customer himself or the waiter placing the order, but it should reach us the same way in the same “printer”.”

3. Employee at restaurant, waiter

“I like the thought of having some of the guests placing the orders themselves, especially during rush hours. The question is how to make the rest simple, like how I know where the guest that placed the order sit when to deliver their food. If there are not a proper system for this, the app would make my work harder instead of easier”.

4. Potential customer

“I don’t think I would use the app, since I prefer to order from a real person.

5. Potential customer

“Since I’m allergic it would be important for me to have some extra fields where I could put in those messages. It would also be necessary for me to see which of the dishes that I can eat.”

Conclusions

Since the persons I asked for feedback have different experiences and profession, the feedback I received was varying. Most of them where putting weight on the features and compatibility, but the most useful insight was a reminder of how important it is to continue collecting feedback from all different stakeholders throughout the developing phase as well as after. The idea of the venture project hasn’t changed due to the feedback received, but it has made the picture of the market and the challenges clearer. For the restaurants to choose to use the app, the features and number of users are most important, but for restaurant visitors to use the app we will need to encourage changes in customer behavior. The feedback was also important to set the direction of the report, since it enlightened the challenged that should be adressed.