The person I interviewed is Tristan Zullo, who is an
entrepreneur who started his own custom headlight company called “American
Retrofits”. Tristan declined to be
filmed. Tristan said that he prefers not to say that he targets specific covers
because he likes to have a product that stands out so that people want to find
and contact him, but if he had to pick a target, it would be men 18-65 years
old.
The customers unmet needs are custom headlights at a
reasonable price and delivered in a reasonable time. Tristan meets this unmet need by researching
build time and prices of competitors, and make sure he gets it done quicker,
for less money, and with higher quality work performed.
Tristan finds his customers by using many platforms of
social media, such as twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. He finds customers that are following many
trucking and off road-based pages, which is the demographic of customers he
services.
After receiving these interview answers, I went out and
asked 3 target customers the same questions.
The three people I interviewed all refused to be filmed, because most
strangers do not wish to have their privacy invaded and be put on a college
student’s public blog for the world to see for his class. When I asked the customers these questions, I
received mixed answers. I asked one man
who seemed a little elderly, as Tristan said that his company appeals to men up
to 65 years old. The older man stated
that he is in fact not interested in Tristan’s product, and finds it more for
the younger generation of truck drivers. I also asked a college aged kid, who thought
that only kids his age were into custom headlights. The third person I asked was a young adult
male, approximately late 20’s or early 30’s, who stated that he sees the entire
demographic being appealed to by this product.
I believe that Tristan understands his customers problems
pretty well, but may have his demographic off by some.
Hello Zachary. I think the entrepreneur that you interviewed has a unique company, especially since I’ve never heard of that particular headlight company before. It seems like Tristan has an idea of whom his target customers are. I can understand why his customers would want an affordable price for custom headlights, however, because they are “custom made” then it would be understandable why it would be a bit pricier. For the customer interviews, I think you could have audio recorded the interviews, in that you wouldn’t really be exploiting their privacy because not everyone can figure out who one is through their voice. That’s what I did. Here is a link to my post http://clarissaidos.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-80-20-rule.html
ReplyDeleteHey Zack, good job on finding an entrepreneur that has a unique product. I think the demographic could work but this product would appeal to people who into cars as a hobby. If he can get the price below his competitors and still make a profit then he cold be successful. Make sure you include audio recordings so we can get all the information from the customers. Good job overall. Here's the link to mine http://ufent3003.blogspot.com/2016/02/twenty-percent-rule-week-8.html
ReplyDeleteThis is a very unique service that is provided by the entrepreneur you chose. I think that in this industry the 20% does make up the 80%. I believe that this entrepreneur does not have a large market, even though he did state that he targets men between the ages of 18-65. I believe that this is not an extremely popular product, and it is probably a bit expensive since there are not many buyers. Overall, this was an interesting choice, and I think it definitely shows how 20% can account for 80%. Check out my blog at http://luissoto93.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHey Zachary, I really enjoyed reading your post and it is really interesting. I know it was difficult to get video recordings of the owner and the costumers but you could’ve ask if audio recordings would be okay. Nevertheless you did a great job getting all the information you needed. It seemed that the owner already knew his 20 percent. I didn’t get a chance to do my assignment but you can still check out my blog:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7423653201335911285#allposts/src=dashboard
Hi there Zach
ReplyDeleteI thought the entrepreneur you interviewed is very interesting and I really liked his the idea he had for his business. I thought his predicted age group has a huge margin of 40 years. I was not surprised when the old man told you he wouldn't be interested in Tristan's product because I feel that people of older age have less care for 'frivolous' things like custom headlights. I feel at that age they are probably worrying about saving money and reaching retirement. Overall, I think you did a great job. Here is the link to my blog if you want to check it out: http://lbritthoff.blogspot.com/2016/02/my-friend-samyr-qureshi-is-co-founder.html