4A - Forming an opportunity Belief

1) I believe that an unmet need exists at my local store. one problem that I always run into when shopping is not knowing exactly how much all of the items in my cart cost before
I get to the checkout.

2) The opportunity involves the need to calculate the purchase cost of items while shopping. everyone who shops at a store while keeping a financially conscious mind set suffers from this need. As far as I can tell this need has existed since the implementation of stores. Right now in order to meet this need people are using personal calculators and elementary math skills to calculate the cost of the items in their shopping cart.

3, 4, 5, 6)
Customer 1:
- customer 1 agrees that there is a unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping.
-the customer experiences this need on a regular basis when shopping at the store.
-The customer first became aware of the need when she started shopping by herself and had limited funds to spend.
- the customer uses her phone calculator to add up the cost of the items and calculate sales tax for those items in order to limit overspending at the store.
- The customer is not satisfied with this current solution citing that it takes her twice as long to shop at the store.

Customer 2:
- Customer 2 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.
-This customer experiences this need on occasion when shopping at the store.
-This customer first became aware of this need when he moved and needed to decorate is new place but had limited funds available to do so.
-The customer currently calculates the cost of his items in his head while shopping and includes an estimate for the anticipated cost of tax for his items.
This customer is not satisfied with his current solution noting that his calculations are often wrong from the actual total cost.

Customer 3:
- Customer 3 agrees that there is an unmet need to calculate the cost of items in their shopping cart while shopping at the store.
- This customer experiences this need once in a while when shopping at the store.
- The customer first became aware of this need when she nearly spent double what she had intended to spend at the store due to not tracking the cost of the items that she had put into her shopping cart.
- The customer currently makes a shopping list before she goes to the store and only buys what is on her list in order to keep from over spending at the store.
- The customer is somewhat satisfied with this solution but does note that sometimes she does not or can not make a shopping list and is meet with this need.

Reflection:
I learned that an opportunity does exist and that this unmet need is felt by other shoppers in my area. All three customers have been aware of this need. The most surprising thing that I learned is the different ways that these customers have adapted their habits to meet this need. Like myself customer 1 uses her phone calculator to keep track of the items that she puts into her shopping cart while customer 2 does similar with keeping track of the cost in his head. Customer 3 on the other hand limits herself completely to the items that she had written on her shopping list before entering the store and being tempted by the various deals and discounts that the store offers.

7) Summary:
I think the need still exist , however I realize that not everyone who shops at the store has this particular need. Because of this fact, I believe that my perception of the need is more accurate than before I began this project. The opportunity exists but its impact may not be as significant as I would have previously believed. I would think that having a strong customer focus and adapting the opportunity to customer needs would only serve to benefit the entrepreneur. There is definitely a trade-off between adapting an opportunity to better satisfy your customer's needs and staying firm with an opportunity to better satisfy your own needs. After all, the customers are the ones who are buying, or not buying, what you are trying to sell.