Assignment 19A

1. I am experienced with raising and showing animals of different species. In my life, I have raised small animals such as dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits, as well as large animals including horses, cattle and hogs. With that in mind, I have had many experiences with feeding animals. On top of that, I worked at a feed store for over two years, and was able to talk to various feed representatives in that time, as well as see how much the feeds are sold to the stores for and how the markup on these feeds works. In the future, I aspire to be a sales representative for a veterinary pharmaceutical company.

2. The product that I would like to offer is a new, more complete and more inexpensive show feed ration for both show swine and show cattle for 4-H and FFA members and their families to use on their animals. This is something that I will expand on in the future, if this hypothetical idea/company was to come to fruition, to try to include more and more types of show animals and in turn benefit more people.

3. The specific customers that this will be directed at are animal owners, with the vast majority of the consumers being those that own animals that are intended to be shown or intended to have offspring that are shown.

4. There are three main reasons that people may be interested in buying this product. First of all, the goal is to make it more inexpensive than the existing products. Second, it will give them a way to get away from the large brand name corporations that some people have had bad experiences with and give them another option. Lastly, this will be a way for people to feed one feed as a complete ration, rather than having to mix in different feeds and supplements to make it cover everything that their animals need.

5. The first thing that I feel sets me apart from other people is my background. I have tried different feeds, including some that are not available locally that I was required to drive nearly 100 miles each direction once every two weeks in order to get the feed. On top of that, I have worked with feeds in a feed store and feel that this informed me more of the available options. Lastly, I have gone to UF and been educated by professors around the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including several that are in the animal sciences department. Therefore, I have a solid formal education foundation as well. In addition to these experiences, I feel that I am an honest person who people would enjoy doing business with. Through showing my animals, many people already know my name and who I am that are involved in this industry. I feel that these people would be willing to do business with me, simply because they know that I am going to treat them well and because they have watched me participate alongside them.

I feel that all of these points flow together relatively well. The problem that I am setting out to solve is very similar to the way that my idea is a solution, which is reflected by the fact that the points are nearly identical between the two. On top of that, the things such as my background and education are both the reasons why I understand the need for this solution and the reasons that I am confident that I could solve the problem. All in all, I firmly believe that my entire background and all of my experiences mean that this is something that I am well-rounded enough and well-prepared for.

Feedback:
I did not change my post much from what I initially said. In fact, the only change that I made is adding a new aspect to the plan for potential growth in the future. This is because in the feedback that I received, I did not really have anything new that I feel I needed or anything that I needed to change. The only reason for the growth being added to the idea now is due to the ultimate goals of this plan; to make money and to help FFA and 4-H students have a way to feed their show animals affordable feed. By expanding from just swine and cattle once the business is up and running, I would both open myself up to new clients and therefore more income and be able to help a growing number of people find affordable show feed.