Understanding the College Student Market

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Revision as of 01:07, 4 September 2007

Understanding the College Student Market is about selecting the right venture that will most appeal to your university's student body.

Overview

Market analysis of your potential customers is absolutely essential for your success. Before launching a venture you have to ask yourself "what unmet need is there at my school", "where can I provide something of value that people will want to buy?" Answering these questions will direct you toward the correct ventures for your chapter.

Each university student body has different unmet needs and a different composition of student groups and businesses attempting to serve those needs. Finding where your chapter can add value with the resources it has at its disposal is the first step towards actually making money.

What makes a venture

Ventures are blended value businesses that sell products & services bundled with a feeling that you're doing something good for the world. Ventures provide an outlet for ethical consumerism.

They don't have to intrinsically connect you to a cause. Education lotteries & Hold 'em for Hunger are prime examples of traditional businesses that can be turned into blended value businesses bases solely on the causes they support. This flexibility gives you the freedom to experiment with a variety of business concepts & ideas independent of the social value they provide.

First things First

Hunger Lunch is the ideal first venture for new chapters. It is relatively inexpensive, requires a short preparation period, and you'll be able to get instant feedback lunch after lunch. In addition, since you'll be selling food every week, it gives you a great presence on campus from which you can built your chapter. In some ways it is more difficult than other ventures because you have to get approval to sell food and find a caterer, but once you've crossed that bridge you'll be off to a good start.

After 5 lunches you should be able to assess whether or not you've hit your numbers and built a solid customer base. If your doing at least 100 in volume or raising at least $100 per lunch then you should feel comfortable with where you are at. If you're struggling to meet these marks then you should be asking these questions:

• Is Hunger Lunch in a high volume location. If not, then why not?
• How much promotion have we been giving Hunger Lunch. Have you followed every point on the Sales & Marketing page?
• Do people like the food? If not, then consider going for alternatives like grilled cheese or spaghetti
• Are you charging the right amount for food?

If you're Hunger Lunch is struggling and you've answered no to any of these questions then you should focus on applying concerted effort in these areas. Once your Hunger Lunch has reached these marks (100 in volume and raising at least $100 per lunch) you can feel comfortable about branching out and trying to launch new Ventures.

The Menu of Options

There are a couple of things to consider when deciding what assortment of ventures you should launch after Hunger Lunch.

• Is your campus open to social justice or are they apathetic?
• Are there equal amount of guys and girls on your campus or is it skewed in one direction?
• What kind of resources are at your disposal (ie. how many people, what skill sets/experience, time left in the semester)?
• Or similarly, what other groups can you collaborate with on a venture to supplement your team with talent.
• What are other groups doing on campus? Will you be facing competition if you run a certain venture?
• Can you help out with another group's venture and then get the proceeds donated to a Nourish project?

As you think about these things you should take a look at the Ventures page and see which ones you feel strongly about doing. Or you can go back to the Home Page and browse the selection of articles.