Idea Napkin No. 2

1.) You:  As I stated in my previous Idea Napkin, I am very willing to put in the extra work in order to succeed with my own venture. I find that I am more productive when working on my own and with my knowledge of Computer Science I have the advantage of making many of my personal projects a reality. If I were to start OddJob, the business would take up most, if not all, of my free time. I also have no problem speaking with members of my "target audience" and would be willing to try different approaches to spreading the word about my business.

2.) What are you offering to customers?:  With OddJob I am offering an easy way for individuals with some extra cash to get troublesome day-to-day tasks finished. As I stated in my previous blog post, this app would function similarly to Craigslist, but it would be focused on reaching individuals via their smart phones. Feedback from my last Idea Napkin indicated that there were concerns as to how to ensure the "hired" individual fully completes their task as well as how to perform security screenings on users of the app. The first point could be dealt with by making it so that individuals only received payment after completing the tasks. The "reporter" (person asking for the task to be done) would have to upload their payment to the app before accepting help, but this money would not be deducted from their account until their task has been fully completed. Security is a harder problem to deal with. The easiest solutions include having users take a picture of the ID and upload it to the app, after which they can begin using the app. OddJob would also display helpful tips, such as encouraging first contact with individuals outside of personal residences. The idea is that individuals will be much less likely to commit a crime or scam the system when forced to upload their ID and credit card information (in order to pay or get paid).

3.) Who are you offering it to?: College students would be the primary target audience for OddJob, at least at first. College students are more willing to out new technologies and often find themselves inexperienced with simple, but uncommon problems. At first OddJob would offered to UF students solely, but over time other colleges would also be eligible for OddJob.

4.) Why do they care?: College students would care about a product like OddJob because they are normally young, inexperienced individuals that don't necessarily have the knowledge or man power to complete day-to-day tasks. College students moving out without the help of friends or family members can struggle moving furniture. What about a student looking to put some art up on their wall but don't want to damage their wall? Name the task and there is surely someone out there who has struggled with completing it by themselves.

5.) What are your core competencies?: A.k.a what makes my idea different? College students are likelier to trust other students than they are to trust other strangers. While Craigslist is well known, it misses out on a younger market that is more and more likely to use technology their friends use. Additionally, the need for a smartphone to use OddJob can facilitate security checks and can lead to a safer experience for all individuals involved.

Feedback Memo:  After receiving feedback from my last Idea Napkin I was able to take away five main points from what I read.

1. Personal security is a concern - Students are worried about dealing with strangers and want to ensure there is some degree of safety associated with using OddJob
2. Payment guarantees need to be made - Without being guaranteed the monetary payment associated with completing a task, students will be unlikely to use OddJob
3. Completion of work must occur before payment - Similar to insight (2), students won't use OddJob if there is a concern of paying a stranger for work done incompletely or incorrectly.
4. Students like the idea so far! - Feedback I received indicated that at least those individuals that read my blog post would be willing to give the app a try.
5. A market exists with students that have not heard of OddJob's competition as of yet - While there are other apps out there that provide a similar service as OddJob, not all students are aware of their existence. 

I tried to incorporate the feedback I received from the last blog post by changing the second section of the Idea Napkin. Giving some possible solutions for maintaining OddJob safe and reliable definitely strengthens the idea of the app overall. I also came to realize that even though OddJob may have competition, there is still plenty of room to grow. Additionally, as I learned from one of our recent weekly readings, competition in a market can indicate that an idea has the potential to succeed with the knowledge that a market exists to begin with.