20A – Growing Your Social Capital


               Hector Mendoza is a PS supplier in North Florida. He has been supplying PS for over 15 years as a middleman between retailers and growers. (supplier) He developed infrastructure between Lowes and Home Depot to provide the with straw at a bulk rate.  He has also worked a lot with land owners near Jacksonville to become one of the largest suppliers in that area. I contacted him by looking for market leader in areas out of my own. His contact was available on line and I called him. I asked them to speak to me about their company and provide some information about how he contacted the large retail chains. The possibility of selling to large retail chain could be a profitable venture.
               Emanuel Flores is a seller of PS to large real estate developments in south Florida. (Market Expert) He has been working in the industry for a couple years but he does not lead in his area. He’s market has very thin margins as the developer would spread the straw themselves and this leads to a lower price per bale. I contacted them by contacting a large developer I knew and asking him who maintained their landscapes.  I got his contact from him. I asked him to show me what he used to deliver the straw and he sent me images. He is a leader in selling to developments and has a portfolio of developments to work on.
               Dill Thompson is a retailer of PS and installer. He mostly perform his work in Jacksonville. He has a contract with retirement communities and hotels in the Jacksonville bay area.  I contacted him by talking to hotels and asking who did their landscaping. I asked them to meet with my and discuss what opportunities they had. They would be direct competition with us and as such he was slightly put offish, but we will meet soon?
This post was difficult for me because ive been working in myindsutry for a long time and I find it difficult to contact new people. However, I moved to market where I hadn’t been before and this helped.

Comments

  1. WadboyJuly 13, 2019 at 9:08 AM

    Hey Robert! Im sure that this activity is one of the few places where, being as integrated in your field as you are actually proved to be a downside. Im sure that venturing out to see and understand how others deal with the same issues that you do proved to be extremely helpful in your work in the industry right now and in the future. Great Post!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

Robert Rodriguez ENT3003 July 17, 2019 Opportunity  North Point Straw The opportunity for my venture concept is the degradation of pine straw in north Florida due to changing environmental condition. This degradation was first capture many years ago by examine the decline of Aces planted in north Florida year over year by Pine tree planters. This is the first sign that pine trees are becoming less effective at creating pine needles due to the slow degradation of climate conditions in Florida. Pine trees are to be planted under specific climate conditions for optimal growth. This has become increasingly difficult because the climate in Florida has been moving its temperature patters forward which creates a decreasing window for tree planting to be done. Trees are to be planted at below 45 degrees in order to ensure that the trees do not begin to decompose throughout the planting process.   Growers invest in refrigerated trucks, and nurseries in order to develop th...
Read more

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market.  Step 1: My product is a semi-commodity that has been a market staple for generations. PS is a market leader in the Mulch Industry and has been growing in popularity since other alternatives have been known to leak colorings and chemicals into the soil.  Step 2: All of my interviews resulted in the very common assumption that PS is an unmoving market. I believe this has a lot to do with PS being a safe, long term financial investment and landowners and owners wanting to see what they hope for any investment: Consistent, stable growth. Step 3: The most sense for my venture grew out of my existing market is to consolidate local landowners and suppliers to capture market share. PS is, with few exceptions, very commodities like with few initial costs, and anyone being able to grow/bale PS. This is only limited by the number of trees you own, and the number of people you have raking.  New Market. Step 1: This targeting will be focused on the B2B por...
Read more

26A – Celebrating Failure

I’ve failed recently at saving animals. I have a farm and we’ve had an abnormally high casualty rate this summer due to the intense heat recently. We’ve lost 2 chickens, 2 sheep, 2 calves, and 2 cows. Besides the coincidence of them dying in pairs, there has been little pattern in their deaths besides the slow exhaustion and sudden death. We’ve tried separating them and using heat shields and medicine but we’ve been unable to keep them alive from the high fever they experience.                This was a particular frustrating set of issues because the animals span different farms, months and food regiments. There is no set pattern or cause that could cause their casualties other than the climate. Its been a bit humbling to have so little control when it comes to mortality. Failure, in this case, results in a loss of investment years in the making. It's humbling but the development of a resistance of failure is imp...
Read more