Custom pepperoni?

[shaun.p.lawrence]

How about this idea......pepperoni that breaks away from the traditional circle shape and offer a step further to include shapes like the nike swoosh, college logos, etc.....I can sell the custom stamped pepperoni to local pizza shops in college towns, etc....

[The Stealthy One]

I think that's a great idea! What's the keep the pizza shop from doing it themselves, though?

[takeanumber3333]

Its going to look a alot different after coming out of the oven than it does going in.

What would you do with all the scraps?

[shaun.p.lawrence]

My family ownes a large cattle and hog farm, so the scraps could be used in making hot dogs!

As far as it coming out different after it's cooked, that's where a lot of trial and error and my chemical engineering comes into play.

[akula]

no, I don't see any reason to classify this as anything other than a poor opportunity, although I'm certainly open to someone pointing out such a reason

what problem does custom pepperoni solve?

[CP Mr Ofevaw]

Dan... It solves the need to feed

[shaun.p.lawrence]

The custom pepperoni is more of a marketing idea rather then a problem solver. For ex. Their is a local pizza shop on a college campus that has college students as their main clientele. The pizza shop needs to compete with the other pizza shops in the area, so in order to increase sales for the pizza shop, I will approach the pizza shop with my custom pepperoni that has the schools logo, which will increase sales.

[chriswick]

That sounds like a mint idea, but if I invested I want 200% of your business, and also want your familys hog farm!

I'm only saying yes becuase akula say no! ;-)

You know I had a another idea like this the other day it was a machine that makes money, I personally couldn't see the business opportunity in it, so I wanted 400% of his business so your lucky!

[akula]

excellent answer, you're doing problem formulation. about time!

that's the start of a successful business

I want you to do two things:

1. GSQ problem formulation. When pitching a problem, you must present it in the following form - general, specific and quantifiable

e.g. Generally, up to 90% of pizza shops can expect financial difficulties within the next 12-36 months. Specifically, 15 shops in [insert local area] have closed down over the last 5 years because of failing to achieve forecasted revenues. Quantifiably, this has happened because pizza shops have enjoyed negative returns for their marketing spending.

and then you pitch the solution....

Using our award winning package, we can help you extend your catering business and multiply your marketing R.O.I, to achieve upto 500k more in annual profits!

2. Go and survey pizza shops in your area about their marketing activities, so you can a) have a list of prospects and b) have a the data to be able to do GSQ type pitches

important point: notice that problem formulation is telling you that you're in marketing services. there's a lot of marketing services that you can offer. some of these may be more profitable and effective than selling custom pepperoni. Your surveys will tell you if the prospects prefer custom pepperoni over other services. And if they want other services, you're gonna have to make decisions

Don't wanna do these two things? It's your ass, not mine

Lower your risk, do the surveys, and choose wisely :-)

[shaun.p.lawrence]

I just thought of a problem though......how to overcome the problem of the custom pepperoni being sliced up when the pizza is cut and then the pepperoni not being readable.

[akula]

well....with custom cakes...this doesn't really matter, so it might not matter for pizza

but yes, that becomes a question of whether your solution (the custom pepperoni) is either desirable, or practicable, or profitable, or valuable

1. the shops might not want this solution
2. even if they do, you might not be able to deliver it
3. even if you can deliver it, for the price that you're charging, it might be unprofitable for you manufacture, market and transport this product
4. and even if you can make a profit, the product you're selling is easy to copy which adds greater risk to you getting squeezed out of the market (which devalues your business if you wanna sell it)

when you think about this stuff, compare this opportunity to other possible opportunities....it's only when this opportunity compares the best to other opportunities in relation to points 1-4, then you can rationally say to your self "hey, custom pepperoni is a good idea, because it's better than other ideas!"

but again, everything starts with point 1. are pizza shops even looking for new marketing solutions? maybe they are not, or maybe they are

[rachelleg]

This sounds like a creative idea, however, it doesn't sound realistic. I dont think that custom shaped pepperoni is going to draw in any new customers, so from the pizza joint's standpoint, it isn't economical. You'd have to do a lot of market research to prove that customers would enjoy this novelty.

[shaun.p.lawrence]

Or I could take this one step further and sell the custom pepperoni in grocercy stores. Right next to the regular, boring circular pepperoni. Say for ex. in Indianapolis, where the colts just won the superbowl...I could sell packages of custom pepperoni with the shape of the colts team logo.

[G_Ina]

I can see it now, heart shapes for valentine's day, clovers for st. patty's... Santa for Christmas!!

Go for it man! It may start off small, but it could grow into a National icon!!!

[zoobie]

I'm just wondering how much does it cost? If it's custom made more likely it will be more expensive than the ordinary pepperoni sold in groceries.

If that's the case probably mothers will have a second thought on buying such custom made pepperoni.